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// Down From the Start (prelude) 
// Story: Guilt Changes Everything 
// by shadowminded 
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	Taking one step forward and crouching low, Twinkle tensed one more time. He threw himself forward and lunged into the air - hoofs outstretched before him grasping at the fruit that has hung tantalizingly above his head for the last half hour or so. The juicy plum swung from a branch just out of reach, pulsing with a vibrantly deep purple that whispered to his taste bud's imagination. As all the times before however; Twinkle's jump wasn't quite enough and he found himself plum-etting back towards the ground into a mud puddle, skidding along, and forcibly nuzzling yet another tree trunk. The impromptu embrace shook a few leaves from the tree. Two descended and covered his eyes as they got stuck in the mud caking his face. Twinkle sighed and slid deeper in the mud.
A rustle of leaves greeted his ears and gave Twinkle a reason to stand once more. He turned around and was confused by the fact that he couldn't see anything before realizing that there was mud plastered over his face. He wiped the mud from his face and called out with a wispy "hello?" not haven spoken for some time. He cleared his throat and tried once more to address the noise. The Everfree forest responded with a snap of twigs, startling him and urging him to take a step back where his hind-hoof found itself braced against a root. Twinkle tensed up and lowered himself preparing to run before letting a wavering "who's there?" leave the safety of his lips to seek out the source of his fear.
In answer to his question a creature darker than the depths of space, which the glowing green eyes so similar to those of the aliens in Twinkles favorite comic series would suggest it had originated from, burst through the foliage of the shrubbery with a shrill snarl. Twinkle was taken aback by the unearthly sight and stumbled backwards, tripping on the root he had braced himself against and was engulfed by the bushes behind him. He watched as the bushes shot towards the sky and he felt the air caress the fur on his body as he fell, much farther than he had expected to because he had not known of the cliff edge the bush concealed. 
With an unpleasant thud, Twinkle found himself tumbling in barrel-rolls down the side of the cliff, giving what must have been every rock he met on the way down either a kiss, a hoof-shake, or a full on hug. Only once he stopped rolling, having reached the bottom laying on his stomach near a stream, did he notice the warmth that began to ebb over him. Gentle and pleasant at first, it was like a mothers reassuring touch after waking from a bad dream, but soon it turned into the blistering seize of a python from the depths of Hades as it bore down on him in excruciating agony. The only thing restraining his cries for mercy being the rock which had decided to replace the back part of his right jaw. As night set early for the young earth pony, he was lulled to eternal sleep by the echoing calls of his mother.