//------------------------------// // 1. A cry for help // Story: Twilight's World // by grouchopony //------------------------------// The forest was pitch-black. If there had been any light, one would have seen nothing but gaunt deciduous trees. The onslaught of winter had long since stripped them of all of their foliage. At the moment these trees were bowing their branches down, groaning under a burden of ice. Up above, exposed to the full fury of the winter storm, the crowns of those trees were bent almost double by the heavy layers of ice upon them. The branches hardly moved, no matter how the icy winds gusted and agitated them. Upon the forest floor, the ground was obscured by a thin layer of snow upon which a crust of ice was forming. Through the arboreal darkness came a strange glimmer of light. At first, all that could be seen was the unusual movement of a pale, reddish light. It bobbed up and down, as well as slowly weaving right or left between the trunks of the trees. At times, the light became occluded behind the trunk of some tree. At other times its movement was strangely arrested for a brief pause. The light continued its way through the forest. Finally, it drew near to the forest's verge. As the light emerged from the forest, one could see that it was emanating from a relatively small four legged creature. In the soft light, the creature had a dark coat which glistened with moisture. A bedraggled mane of dark, almost black, hair was situated upon its head. Similarly, it had a tail of tangled black hair. Standing, it was somewhat over 1 meter tall. The creature bore some resemblance to a tiny pony. However, this pony was unusual in that it emitted a steady light, with a subtle reddish tinge, from a point in front of its head. If one looked closely, past the glare of that soft light, one could see that there was a horn on the pony's forehead. That same horn was, in fact, the source of the soft light. The pony, for though it was a unicorn – it thought of itself as a pony, had been trudging through the forest with weary steps, its head held low. The pony had been focused on its footing and was for the moment less aware of its general surroundings. As it reached the edge of the forest, the pony had kept on walking, not noticing at first that it had left the trees behind. Several paces beyond the forest's edge, the pony suddenly stopped. A sudden blast of wind, accompanied by a stinging swirl of rain and ice pellets brought the pony to the realization that its situation had changed. Up until that moment, the trees had sheltered the pony from the worst effects of the storm. The pony stood there for a moment, with a slight splayfooted stance. A closer look revealed a sad and pathetic figure. The pony's coat was thoroughly wetted down, with tiny ice crystals adhering to its fur; occasionally, shivers would dance across its small body. Heavier accumulations of ice, like tiny strings of pearls were embedded in its mane and tail, dragging them down. Reacting to the lash of the storm, the pony raised its head up to look around. It stood in the small pool of light provided by its horn, with only the white snow and ice covered ground showing around it. No longer could it see any trees within range of its dim illumination. The pony's head turned upon its supple neck as it looked back over its shoulder. Suddenly the pony's horn lit up with a much greater flash of light, revealing the line of trees behind it. Even in its weary condition, the pony's breath caught at the sight of millions of twinkling lights being reflected back from the heavy ice which coated every branch and twig of the forest's trees. The forest's appearance was like a dense wall of stars, circling about in random orbits as the wind sluggishly stirred the branches. Entranced by the beautiful sight, the pony stood there for a few brief moments, quietly observing the glittering majesty of the forest. That is, until another gust of wind born ice broke the enchantment. The forest ends quite abruptly, and its edge looks to be a straight line, the pony contemplated. That could indicate the forest was cut back, and that maybe I am standing at the edge of a farm or something. Looking, down the pony noticed that the snow lay even on the flat ground, with no stalks of grasses or weeds poking through its cover. If I'm right, the lack of vegetation might indicate that this is a cultivated field rather than a wild meadow. As another gust of icy rain slashed across the pony's face as it considered its options. This weather is beyond nasty. I don't think I would last very long out here in the open. Strange as it seems, I'm freezing! The pony thought as a great shiver danced over its barrel and its teeth began to chatter. I thought pegasus magic made me resistant to cold weather. Clearly, it’s not working here. I think I will be better off going back into the forest. I'll wait until daylight– The ponies thought’s were interrupted suddenly as a violent cracking noise sounded behind it, followed by a loud squealing groan, ending finally in a whole multitude of crashing noises. “Eep!” the pony gave a little scream and leaped forward, high into the air. As the pony came down from its panicked leap, all four of its hooves slipped on the ice-crusted snow, causing it to pancake down onto its stomach. The pony lay there for a moment, shivering from its sudden fright and the pain incurred by its undignified belly flop. Looking fearfully over its shoulder, the pony increased the illumination from its horn again, seeking out the source of the noises. Feeling stressed from its recent excitement, the pony spoke aloud. “Heh! That's a relief. It’s only a big branch that broke off that tree and fell down.” After a moment the pupils of the pony’s eyes constricted down to little circles as it whispered to itself, “A really big branch, practically half of the main trunk. What could cause that?” The pony looked about, anxiously seeking a reason as to why the tree's limb had broken. After a moment, the pony turned its gaze to the other, as yet undamaged trees and for the first time noticed how heavily those tree's limbs were bowed down. “Oh no!” the pony exclaimed. “The ice! There's so much ice that the tree limbs are at their breaking point!” An indignant look crossed the pony's face. “Who would dare schedule such terrible weather? Don't they know what kind of damage it's doing? That's criminally negligent!” At that point, a creaking groan accompanied by more cracking and crashing noises, sounded off somewhere in the darkness, beyond the range of the pony’s light. The pony's expression took on a blank look as it spoke further to itself, “No, I mustn’t go back into the forest. It's not safe.” After recovering from its fright, the pony carefully raised itself up on its hooves again. The wind continued to bombard the pony with droplets of freezing liquid. As the supercooled droplets struck the pony's coat, they splashed, penetrating deeply among the hairs, before freezing solid. It was becoming too much for the pony. “Argh! What's with this crazy rain?!” the pony ranted. “It's like some kind of liquid ice. I've never heard of anything like it! Pegasi are supposed to be immune to the weather, but this stuff is shooting ice right up against my skin.” “I can't go back into the forest to wait out the storm. And I can't stay out here!” Said the pony. “And I’ve nearly used up all my magic. I don't even have enough to shield me from the rain. Who knows how long this storm is scheduled to last.” Come on Twilight. Think! She urged herself. I am probably standing in some farmer's field. So maybe somewhere out there across this field, there is somepony who can help me. Or, at least I might find some building where I can take shelter. Twilight turned her head to look forward, her eye squinting against the stinging rain and ice pellets. At first, she saw nothing other than the ruddy glimmer of the raindrops' dancing reflections illuminated by her magic. Quenching her light, she looked again over the darkened field with utmost care. She saw nothing. A feeling of despair fluttered about, attempting to settle about her withers but she was having none of that. Instead, Twilight fired up her determination and continued her search. Eventually, she was rewarded by a faint glimmer ahead and somewhat off to her left. “A light! Oh sweet Celestia, I can see a light!” Twilight attempted to move towards it. She had only taken a few steps, however, when her right front hoof skidded out from under her, causing Twilight's other foreleg to slide out as well. With a crunch, her face hit the snow, smashing against the hard crust of ice on top of the snow. “Ow! What happened?” she groaned to herself, holding a hoof to her face. Pausing to collect her thoughts, Twilight suddenly noticed the thick layer of ice covering the snow as it lay glistening before her eyes. What is this?! she thought, indignantly. Ice belongs on lakes, not on top of the snow. This place is crazy! After a moment’s cogitation, she came to a discovery. It's this crazy rain again. It's freezing onto everything! Onto the trees and then breaking them. It’s freezing the instant it hits the snow. It's even freezing onto me. And every second, each drop of rain is adding more and more ice. I've got to get out of it. Carefully, Twilight got up on her legs again. She was amazed that the ice on top of the snow was strong enough to support her weight fully. She cautiously attempted a step forward, but her hoof slipped out again. Luckily, she caught herself this time and avoided a second face plant. “How am I supposed to walk on all this ice?” she shouted in anger, and stamped her hoof. The impact caused her hoof to break through the layer of ice upon the snow, and suddenly she found her leg had penetrated down into the underlying snow by about a hoof. Though this unbalanced her nearly to the point of taking another tumble, Twilight realized that she had an answer to her rhetorical question. With renewed determination, Twilight set out again in the direction where she had spied the light. As she walked, she would carefully strike the ice with the forefront of her hooves. It required a great deal of mental concentration. Striking the ice just hard enough to gain an edge for her hooves. If she struck too hard, it would result in her hoof completely penetrating the ice, sinking deep into the snow. When that happened, the sharp edges of the ice that rimmed the hole would cut at her pasterns and fetlocks. If her hoof struck too lightly, the ice remained unbroken and treacherous to walk on. In effect, Twilight was forced to walk tippy-hooves over the treacherous surface. Her progress was very slow. She found the task to be extraordinarily demanding. As time passed, all of these difficulties were taking their toll on Twilight. The driving ice-rain had penetrated her coat deeply, causing the heat to drain from her body and her muscles to stiffen. Her cautious 'spear' steps brought on a weary fatigue. Often, Twilight would lurch in a sudden misstep, as her legs trembled, nearly giving out beneath her. Oh no! This is bad. This is really bad, she thought fearfully to herself. At this rate, I might never get to any shelter. But, I have to. Come on Twilight. You can do it! Gathering her determination like a cloak about her, she resumed her journey, treading carefully upon the treacherous ice, willing a strength which she did not have into each footstep. ---------------- Twilight's muscles now burned constantly with fatigue. Her mind was weary from the effort of having to precisely and deliberately plant each hoof into the ice. It was such a dull, repetitive task, but it required her absolute concentration. Though she did not know it, her legs were bleeding from the numerous times they had plunged through the ice crust, grinding up against its sharp edges. The driving ice rain, no longer blocked by the trees of the forest, stabbed through her coat and clung to her body. A deep bone chilling cold had already worked its way through her body. It was a desperate nightmare of a journey. Through some mysterious inner sense, or maybe just luck, Twilight managed to keep her chosen course without deviating from it. To make forward progress, she needed her horn's light in order to observe her footing, but it blinded her to the faint beacon she strove to reach. Occasionally, Twilight would pause, extinguish her horn's light, and search for that glimmer of light upon which she had rested all her hopes. Gradually, that light of hope grew brighter, waxing from an occasional twinkle into a steady spark and eventually becoming a bright shining star. Wanting so desperately to gallop towards the light, Twilight was constrained to a slow mincing progress, carefully planting each hoof. It nearly killed her spirit. It was a grinding, drawn-out journey, conducted at an excruciatingly slow pace. It extracted from Twilight, all of her strength and determination, and then even more than she knew that she had. By the end of her journey, Twilight had lost her sense of time. She moved as if in a living nightmare, her whole being filled with pain and the singular determination to move forward. As if the journey had been set in motion from the beginning of time and would continue on until the end of same. Eventually, Twilight did arrive and reached the promised light. She stood there, with her head drooped down, staring dumbly at the snow and ice in front of her face. She was, for the moment, incapable of any thought or feeling. She felt neither joy nor relief over her journeys end. A slow minute passed by in silence beneath the icy rain before Twilight finally awoke to the fact that she had come to a stop. Returning to a state of mentation, Twilight found that she had walked herself right up to the light. Some instinct having halted her motion before she bashed her head into a thick wooden pole set into the ground. High up on the pole was a single lamp which cast a bright pool of illumination about the area that Twilight stood in the middle of. The light up on the pole was very bright and illuminated several surrounding buildings which Twilight had not previously noticed. She was dismayed to realize how far gone she had been, to not have noticed any of these buildings before now. She realized how close to collapse she was. Behind her, and to her left, was a wide, dark building with what appeared to be a massive door nearly as wide as the entire building, its purpose unknown. She must have walked right past it on her way to the light. Further back and farther off to her left loomed an even larger building. She could not make out any details, other than the fact that something was there. Ahead and to her right was another building. Unlike the other buildings, this one appeared to be constructed of bricks. From the number and arrangement of windows, it appeared to have two floors. There even appeared to be a door in the centre of the wall closest to her. One of the windows located on the upper floor shone with a dim yellow light. Twilight had been standing quietly for several minutes now, as she considered her surroundings. During this pause, the heavy toll on her body began to manifest itself. A wave of weakness swept over her, and Twilight had the sudden urge to lie down and fall asleep. Even the ice in her coat didn't seem so bad to her anymore, she could hardly feel the cold. Twilight's eyelids drooped down and briefly closed. The beckoning tides of sleep pulling at her fuzzy thoughts. As her muscles relaxed, Twilight's right rear hoof slipped on the ice, startling her to wakefulness. She jerked her drooping head up. No. I can't fall asleep here. Not here. Why not? Twilight argued. It's not cold anymore. With that last thought, a sudden spike of fear shot up from her tail and through her spine as she realized that she was no longer feeling the cold. “I can’t feel the cold anymore. I'm hypothermic! If I fall asleep here, I'll die!” Twilight exclaimed in a panicky voice. Awakened by her fright, Twilight looked about herself again and seemed to notice, for the first time again, the building ahead of her. The one with the light shining in the window. I need to go there and ask for help. Summoning her strength for one last effort, Twilight resumed her careful walk. Soon, she was approaching the door. A broad low platform, elevated by a height of about three hooves, was located in front of the door, forming a stoop. In her depleted condition, Twilight found the task of climbing up two simple steps to nearly be beyond her. It took her three consecutive efforts to attain the last step. Finally, she reached the door. Despite her depleted condition, she still spared a thought to puzzle why there appeared to be two doors. An outer door mostly made of glass. And an inner door made of wood. How is an earth pony or a pegasus supposed to navigate that obstacle, she thought. No matter, that looks like a doorbell, she thought as she looked at the door. Summoning her telekinetic magic, Twilight pressed the button. DONG… A melodic chime faintly sounded from within the building Twilight stood there, waiting for somepony to answer the door as another wave of weakness swept over her. Twilight's patience came to an end as she realized that she was in danger of collapsing right there in front of the door. Twilight fought back by focusing on some simple task. With unconsciousness encroaching, the only task that came to her mind was the last one she had performed. Press the button… DONG… The distant chime sounded again. With desperation, Twilight clung to her simple task. Press the doorbell button, and wait, was her mantra. DONG… DONG… DONG… DONG… Time passed as Twilight gamely fought off approaching unconsciousness. Every use of her telekinetic magic seemed to drain her, increasing her weakness. DONG… DONG… DONG… DONG… A stomping noise grew louder from inside the building and then stopped. A sudden 'clack' sounded from the inner door which was then violently pulled inward. Revealed in the light was the silhouette of a tall creature rearing up on its hind legs to nearly twice Twilight's height. Its forelegs lunged forward towards the outer glass door. The tall creature punched into the outer glass door, slamming it outward as it screamed out. "WHAT! WHY ARE YOU BOTHERING ME AT THIS TIME OF NIGHT?!” Twilight was suddenly very awake. The sudden appearance of this bizarre alien creature was quite a shock. Its screaming challenge was an even bigger shock. The pupils and irises of Twilight's eyes constricted to tiny dots. She felt an overwhelming urge to run. Unfortunately, her legs chose that moment to give out, and she fell down into a four-legged crouch. After its initial outburst, the alien creature had stopped screaming. Suddenly, it had a puzzled expression on its face as it looked around suspiciously, attempting to find the perpetrator of the supposed doorbell prank. Finally, the creature looked downwards to see Twilight lying on the platform. It froze. As quickly as it came, Twilight's adrenaline surge wore off. She suddenly felt calm as the vanishing adrenaline took all traces of her panic with it. The encroaching lethargy allowed her mind one last moment of clear thought. It's so simple, she thought. Either I’m rescued now, or I die. There’s nothing more to worry about. Twilight looked up into the eyes of the creature. Their eyes locked for a moment, then she spoke. “Please...” Her voice croaked huskily. She tried again, “Please, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I really need your help. I–” The faint light from her horn faded as the waiting darkness roared in victory, finally having come to engulf her.