The colours of the forest muted as light left the world. Far away, the goddess of the sun lowered the ardent sphere of flame and put it to sleep. Its last yawn painted the sky pink and orange, but spectacle was hidden under the canopy of the cold forest by the countless needles and branches. Nevertheless, one could still see that night was coming.
In this bleak world of shadows, shades of brown and green had always ruled supreme, but were challenged when a lavender creature with a purple mane appeared in the forest. The tall pillars around her bobbed as a gust of wind blew on them and whispered You do not belong here.
The only other sounds in the forest came from the rustling undergrowth beneath her wandering hooves. Every now and then she stopped, frowned and rubbed her forehead before continuing. Eventually she stopped before a clearing. Below the shade of leaves of small plants lied countless tiny berries, but they were rotten and old.
"Winter must be coming, then," she mumbled. "Unless the plants work differently here than they do in the Everfree forest." Her stomach grumbled and demanded food.
A while passed. "Oh Twilight," she muttered to herself, having no one else to speak with. "Why did you postpone reading the Camper's guide to Camping and read The History of Barnoque Art instead? Why did you never go camping with your friends? Why did you let her go? Why did you cast that spell? Why did you believe her? Why? Why?" Her frustrated questions received no answers, and the trees remained silent.
The ground below her began to slope upwards. Her weary body revolted against walking onwards, so she sighed and sat on a nearby flat boulder covered with a few patches of moss. "Think, Twilight, what would Yearling do in this situation?" She closed her eyes, plunged into the murky and deep pool of memories with nostalgia as her guiding light, and realized that 'Daring Do' certainly wouldn't wander aimlessly looking for food. In Daring Do and the Forsaken Sentinels she had been stranded in the wilderness, and the first thing she had done was look for a source of water and afterwards build a shelter for the night. Twilight opened her eyes and chuckled. "Even fiction books can teach you a useful thing or two."
She stood up and hopped off the rock. "I should mark this place so I can find my way back," she mumbled, looked at the top of a nearby tree, winced and turned it bright purple with a spell cast from her horn. "That should do the trick," she said with a smile that then disappeared. She frowned and rubbed her forehead again.
Twilight headed east. There was still some time before nightfall and she would use it to explore her surroundings. If she got lucky, she could find food or water, but at the very least she would learn what the forest around her was like so she wouldn't get lost. Then she'd come back, start a roaring flame for the night on top of that rock and build a shelter if she still had time and energy.
She winced as she stepped on something more solid than moss and undergrowth. Looking down, she saw a seedless cone. "I hope I don't have to resort to eating that," she muttered. "But it would still be better than having to hunt and eat the body of someone who once breathed and lived."
The sky darkened and the first stars were brought to life. A full moon rose above, and Twilight recognized the pores on its round face. She smiled. At least one familiar face in this foreign land.
After a while she arrived at a clearing and raised her eyebrows. A large pool of water shimmered on the ground, the trees warily staying some distance away from it. "Looks like I'm lucky, and not a moment too late," she said as the last rays of the sun ran across the sky above.
Her dry throat begged her to go to the pool and quench the searing flames of thirst, and she happily complied, trotting to the edge of the pool. Tall reeds stood silently and watched her lower her head near the pool's surface.
She stopped when she saw that the light of the moon had turned the pool into a mirror. She saw her tired visage, her unkempt hair and the bags under her eyes. For a brief, disturbing moment it had been an unfamiliar stranger staring back at her. Patches of grime still hung from her face, having grasped it when her head had lied on moss. "I should probably wash my face first," she muttered and lowered her hoof near the surface of the water so she could splash some of it on herself.
A pale hand shattered her mirror image and wrapped its lanky fingers around her hoof.
She yelped as the hand pulled her into the water, and before she could cast any spells the liquid maw of the pool swallowed her whole.
Wind blew once again, and the sentinels of bark let out a sigh of relief. The stranger was finally gone.