//------------------------------//
// Chapter Eleven - Voices on the Breeze 
// Story: When The Snow Melts 
// by Bluespectre 
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CHAPTER ELEVEN


 


VOICES ON THE BREEZE

 
 
The princess slowly opened her eyes, carefully allowing the barest trickle of light to filter in. Quietly, she took stock of where she was. If somepony was here, she didn’t want to startle them and provoke a possible reaction she wasn’t ready for.
 
Celestia relaxed, stretching out her senses into the room. There was very little sound here, only the occasional snap from the fire beside her that had burned low. By the looks of it, it had been unattended for some time.
 
She was in a shack or hut of some kind apparently. The shutters were closed, but a small amount of daylight still managed to filter in through the cracks. It wasn’t much, but fortunately an oil lamp sitting on a low table nearby offered more, allowing her to better see her surroundings. She was alone.
 
From outside came the occasional muffled sound of snow dropping from the roof, but there were no signs of life nearby that she could detect. Where was she? Celestia closed her eyes and felt for anything wrong with her body, any abnormalities, any pain. There was none, or at least very little. She breathed a sigh of relief. Somepony had brought her here, one who was clearly skilled in the arts of healing and helped her. The princess smiled. Kindness was not just limited to ponies after all, it seemed, but who was her mysterious host?
 
Carefully flexing muscles that hadn’t been used for… she didn’t know how long, Celestia closed her eyes and tried to stand. Everything ached: her legs, her neck, each muscle and joint sending its own voice to the symphony of discomfort that assailed her. With a final heave, she managed to stand, albeit a little wobbly. Not bad, all things considered. The princess checked herself over more thoroughly. Healed and still healing wounds covered her from muzzle to rump. Some looked quite serious too, or had been. However, the stitching and herbal work was superb. She eyed the neat needlework and gave a light chuckle. She couldn’t have done better herself!
 
Still, there was the very immediate question of where she was, and most importantly, how to get home. Celestia could feel her magic was still very weak. It wasn’t nearly strong enough to open another portal to home. Normally, she wouldn’t have overexerted herself the way she had, but the surprise attack by that dragon queen had nearly been the end of her. Add to that her flight to forest, opening a dimensional portal and…
 
She shook her mane. No, it didn’t do to muse too much. She was lucky to be alive, and alive she was. It was a good starting point. But, gods, she was so thirsty! She sniffed the air, her sensitive nose detecting the smell of…food. At least, it was something that could feasibly be considered food. Good grief, did ponies actually eat this? Celestia’s stomach growled and rumbled ominously. It suddenly seemed a lot more appetising than it had at first, and she fell upon it with abandon.
 
There was no decorum here. The princess ate like a creature possessed, dropping to her haunches and lifting the bowl in her hooves, licking every last piece. It was delicious!
 
Whatever it had been was certainly unfamiliar, but the flavour and delicate touch with the herbs went far beyond her expectations. The water too, it was so pure, cool, full of life… She drank it down greedily.
 
Still thirsty, Celestia noticed the water barrel in the corner of the room and trotted over to it. Pulling open the lid, she plunged her muzzle inside, taking in great mouthfuls of the life-giving nectar, feeling it restoring and replenishing her. She shivered; it was cold! However, at this rate, and with some good rest, her magic would recover in no time.
 
The princess let out a little burp, covering her mouth with a hoof shyly. “Pardon!”
 
She smiled to herself. There was nopony here to see her lack of decorum, so what did it matter? Come to think of it, how long had she been here? There’d been a fight, two of those things…
 
Celestia gritted her teeth. They’d come to capture her, or kill her, but they’d fought one another instead. Ridiculous beasts, more animal than sentient being, and as foul a thing as Nightmare Moon could have conjured. Celestia picked up a cloth, dipped it in a bowl of water, and wiped herself down the best she could. She’d quickly noticed her normally vibrant mane and tail were a dull pink here in this world. Lifting the hair up in her hooves, she clicked her tongue. Lifeless. She shrugged it off. With her magic so depleted and the magical field of this world still an unknown, Celestia was unable to tap into its natural resources to help replenish her. Time would do that for her, of course, but it still felt decidedly uncomfortable.
 
A faint smell of something floral caught her nose. What was that, lavender? No, not lavender, but something nice. Whatever it was smelt wonderful! Her host, whoever it was, had really cared for her, even going to far as to wash her mane and tail. She’d have to find out more. This pony, or whatever it was, knew herbs and knew them well. They would be a fine asset to the Celestian forces back home. She tapped a hoof against her chin, her mind pondering the possibilities.
 
Celestia stopped suddenly, her eyes falling on the armour piled up by the wall, her halberd leaning against it, with her blanket draped over the rafters above. The dark stains, still visible despite the best efforts of her kindly host to clean it, clearly showed the ferocity of the fighting. She’d nearly died, and so many of her own people had died. Was this what it had all come to? War, killing, so many dead, so many whose homes and lives had been destroyed, and for what? What in Equestria was it all for?
 
That thestral, the older one had said something. What was it now? Oh, yes.
 
“Don’t be so damned foolish. There’s already been too much killing today. See sense, Princess.”
 
Celestia repeated the words to herself and sighed. Was it really so simple? To give herself up to her sister to save further suffering and pain for her people, or would it allow the darkness within Luna to consume her completely, turning the world into a true place of hate and nightmares? She didn’t know. Everything seemed so confused right now. The princess yawned. She needed to rest.
 
Making herself comfortable, Celestia snuggled into the reed bedding. The smell of the natural material was surprisingly comforting; a fresh, natural scent that made her feel at ease. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She was so tired…
 
Dreams didn’t come this time, only the distant sounds of cries and shouts of fear. Gods, they were so real; faint, yet almost… Couldn’t they leave her alone? She knew how they had suffered, she knew! They didn’t need to…
 
Celestia opened her eyes. Those sounds… They weren’t in her dreams; they were real!
 
From far away, although it was hard to tell for certain in this cabin, she could distinctly hear the screams and shouting of creatures in distress. Carried to her on the wind, she could make out one voice in particular, a voice she remembered from her fever dreams, one full of compassion and selfless devotion. Whoever he was, he needed her help, and Celestia would be damned if she’d stand here and do nothing.
 
The princess gazed at her armour for a moment, before discounting it with a huff and grabbing her spear. Lightweight it may be, but she didn’t want anything to hamper her movements, and she was all too aware of her still weakened state. Celestia’s magic had recovered enough to allow her to use her telekinesis, but even that was a bare shadow of its usual strength. It wasn’t enough for prolonged fighting, but it was better than nothing. She stomped a hoof, testing its strength. She could fight using her hooves like an earth pony. Muscle and brawn would be her magic this day. With a loud neigh, she flung the door open and headed off into the night, following the cries that still echoed across the snow-laden hills.
 
The wind was beginning to pick up, collecting the loose top layer of dry snow and blowing it around, stinging her eyes. Celestia shook her head. This was no night to be out. If somepony was injured and lying out here alone, they wouldn’t survive until morning. A shriek from somewhere off in the distance made her start. What was that? It sounded familiar, and yet…
 
It came again, louder this time, only now it was accompanied by another answering cry from further away. Small padded tracks in the snow gave her pause, and she snorted in irritation. Foxes. Their eerie, screeching calls always made her hackles go up, and out here their barking shrieks carried for miles. She was probably mistaken then. All that panic, and for a fox! Her rescuer was most likely already back at the shack, wondering where his ungrateful charge had galloped off to in the dead of night.
 
“Some show of gratitude that would be,” she muttered to herself, turning back the way she came.
 
The moon was bright tonight, but it was no Equestrian orb that bathed the forest in its wan glow. In her desperation to escape the enemy soldiers, she’d rushed the rift spell and ended up…where? If this wasn’t Equestria, then where was she?
 
Her ears pricked up. There was that sound again! No fox this time—no, this was something else altogether. Whatever it was, it was also accompanied by a snapping, crashing noise like a heavy object falling through foliage, and finally ending in a watery splash. Celestia lifted her head and tried to locate its source. From what she could tell, it was definitely nearby. With a quick shake of her mane, she was off again, galloping as fast as her tired legs would allow.
 
White snow, mixed with the rich soil of the forest floor, kicked up behind her hooves as she ran. It was close now, but there other sounds as well: cries for help and the rumbling of many creatures fleeing in terror. She pulled up, her heart racing. Why was she doing this?! Running towards danger? That was surely what she was doing right now, and it ran contrary to everything instinctual within her. She was still recovering from the last fight, and her injuries ached and pulled uncomfortably. In fact, she was convinced she’d opened some of them again. A quick check revealed a few had, but nothing too serious, thank goodness.
 
Celestia took a deep breath, settling her mind, and looked about her. This was where the sound seemed to come from, but it was deathly quiet here, and there was no sign of…
 
A black shape ahead of her moved against the backdrop of the forest, a distinctly ‘pony’ shape. The princess sniffed, wrinkling her nose. She could smell the beast’s foul stink from here, carried to her on the chill breeze. Immediately, she knew what it was without even seeing the thing clearly. Murderers, killers… it was one of those accursed beasts from the Wither world. Celestia felt a surge of anger run through her as she stared hatred at the evil thing.
 
“Thestral,” she hissed.
 
It hadn’t seen her. For some reason it was staring straight ahead at something, or rather down at something. It was hard to see in this light, but there was the distinct sound of running water and a dark gash in the landscape that was probably a ditch or gully of some description. The beast had cornered its prey. The princess narrowed her eyes. She knew enough about the nature of these otherworldly warriors to know that whatever was down there would be killed without mercy, without compunction.
 
Unless she did something to prevent it.
 
The thestral took a step forward, its glowing eyes casting a fiery red tint to the white snow, advancing on its quarry. Concentrating her magic reserves, the princess lifted her halberd and charged. One quick thrust and the thing would fall—all she needed to do was get in close. There was only one of them this time, the other probably hunting more hapless victims while this one murdered yet another innocent.
 
Celestia had never hated before. That was an emotion that her parents had always warned her to be on her guard about. If only Luna had taken that lesson to heart, if only she’d listened. All of this, all of the horror that had been unleashed on their world would never have happened. Now, now it was happening in this one. She would be damned if she’d allow these monsters to cause any more pain here. They would be stopped, and if that meant risking her life to do so then… so be it.
 
Her thrust missed its mark. The golden glow of her magic had given her away, the thestral ducking just in time to avoid being impaled on her wickedly sharp halberd. Shockingly, rather than retaliate, the beast turned tail and ran off into the forest, disappearing like a ghost into the darkness. Celestia stood there, holding her weapon in her hooves and breathed in the night air. Why would it do that? Dirty cowards, all of them.
 
A soft moan from the gully drew her attention. There, lying in a heap and half-buried under branches, rocks, and snow, was the broken body of a living creature; the target of the thestral’s interest, whatever it was. She snorted and looked closer. It was a bipedal being, clothed, and obviously hurt. Friend or foe, she wasn’t sure, though at the back of her mind there was a familiarity that niggled just out of reach. Did she know this creature? Stepping carefully down the low embankment, Celestia crossed the shallow stream and leaned forward, sniffing the odd creature. It definitely smelt familiar, a memory of…kindness, caring, gentle words, and…tears? She lifted up a hoof to her face and stared at it. Was she crying?
 
The creature was trying desperately to speak, but its strength was failing before her very eyes.


She leaned closer and spoke. “Can you hear me? Who are you?”
 
The thing’s face was cut and grazed, covered in mud from the fall. The embankment on this side was a lot steeper than the one she’d come down herself, and this creature must had come down hard.


It opened its mouth, and she listened intently. “S…Snow.”
 
Snow? She looked about herself. There was plenty of it here, but why ‘Snow’? It didn’t matter of course. What really did right then was helping this poor thing and getting it back to the shack where she could provide it with some shelter and warmth.
 
Half-closed brown eyes looked up into hers. “Snow…”
 
She smiled. “Hold on now, I’m here. Everything’s going to be alright.”
 
It smiled at her and closed its eyes, passing out.
 
Celestia managed to pull the creature onto her back and began the long walk back to the shack. Following her hoofsteps from earlier was foal’s play, but she was conscious of keeping a steady pace in case she caused further injury to the already hurt ‘thing’. What was it? It looked like a kind of intelligent monkey or ape. She’d seen similar in Equestria, but none with the intelligence that this being clearly had. It was clothed, it could speak, and it was capable of making and using tools by the look of the long knife hanging from its belt. She’d removed that. No sense in risking harm to herself, or… was it male? It smelled male, and that familiar scent too. It smelled of the shack, the herbs. She nodded to herself. That was it! He must be the one who had cared for her when she was hurt!
 
A wave of warmth rushed through her. Tonight hadn’t turned out nearly as badly as she thought it might. If nothing else, now she could repay the kindness of one who had given her shelter and care when she could so easily have perished in the cold of this alien world. Another thought struck her. In some ways, it was her fault he’d been hurt. If she hadn’t panicked and jumped through the rift into his world, if the thestrals hadn’t followed her through, then…then he wouldn’t have been hurt. She sighed. There was no sense in dwelling on the past. What mattered was now, and now this one needed her.