//------------------------------// // Prologue: A Speck of Snow // Story: A little drop of snow. // by grammar404 //------------------------------// Far north, the skies were filled with twinkling stars. The colourful aurora waved like tails of a celestial god. The moon hung high above the mountain, its pleasing light covers the land. Far into the woods of the icy mountains, a pony galloped with a torch on its mouth. Behind the pony, inside the dark woods came a long howl. Four ferocious looking dire wolves emerged, running after the pony. The mare bore no horn, nor wing, but she had the muscle to carry herself with ease. Her cloak flapped over her saddlebags as the northern winds increase in strength. Running along a cliff, the mare spots a cave a few meters high. The side was steep but the mare was able to climb it. Unfortunately one of the dire wolves had scratched one of her hind legs, leaving a trail of blood. The large mare let out a sigh of relief as she dropped her torch and fell on her belly. She made it. The dire wolves growl beneath her. A chilling gale blew her russet mane and sent shivers pass her fluffy caramel coloured coat. The mare decided to move inside the cave, careful with her injured leg. Her eyes wandered the walls and ceilings, decorated with crystal formations. At the end of the cave has three glowing sapphires, placed in a positions of a triangle. The mare shrugged off the stones and attended her wound. She dropped her saddlebags by the wall. She unclasped the cover of one and grabbed a bandage from within. She wrapped it over the wound, which had not stopped bleeding. She just wished it wont lead into an infection. The harsh gales outside is still audible but the mare could not feel its cold embrace. The mare grabbed a small container from her saddlebags and chugged its contents. The hot cider filled her with warmth as she patted the other side of her saddlebag. The medicines from the Crystal Empire would surely help their village, just as the new seeds imported from Equestria would. The mare could feel her eyelids getting heavier as she let out a yawn. Using her saddlebag as a sort of pillow, she drifted to sleep. Unknown to her, the blood trail she made was affecting the sapphire stones. The stones glowed as the blood was sucked right in the middle of it, forming a small bubble of red life. A filly was reborn. Rosie hammer woke up with a yawn. She stretched her fore legs up in the air then she heard a thump, and a small yelp. Rosie looked beside her to see a pegasus filly, her coat was a light colour of blue and her curly hair was white and blue. The mare let out a shriek of surprise. The filly's eyes widened and she ran in around circles while giving a shriek of herself. "Where am I? What's happening?" She said while running around. A bit Confused, Rosie tried to calm the frantic filly. "H – h – hey, stop!" The filly stopped and glared at the wall. "Who's there?" A bit more confused, Rosie tried to direct the wee filly towards her. "Um.. I'm over here." The filly's eyes widened before she hopped and turned to glare at Rosie. "H - hi! My name is Rosie, what's yours?" Rosie said in a calm voice. The filly's glare softened. "Snowdrop.. Snowdrop..." After saying her name the second time. The filly's face turned to a worry, her former act of bravery gone. Rosie looked at her with worry, thinking if something was wrong. "Why? What's wrong? Was it something I said?" The mare was pretty sure she just tried to be friendly. "I can't remember..." Snowdrop whispered. Tears threatening to fall down from her eyes. Rosie walked slowly towards the filly. "Hey, is something wrong?" "I can't remember..." Rosie cocked her head. "Say that again?" "I can't remember anything besides my name!" "Come on! Just glide down and I'll catch ya!" Rosie shouted. She was standing below the cliff, waiting for Snowdrop to get herself down. "But I told you! I'm blind, I can't see!" The filly shouted back. Her face was full of uncertainty of the unknown. "That's why you should trust me and glide down!" Rosie had decided to take Snowdrop into their village. It seems, the filly cannot remember anything besides her name and the basic stuff like Equish and the like. Hopefully there was someone who knows her in the village, a relative perhaps, but that does not defer the question of: why is she here, and why she cannot remember much? But the mare decided to push the questions aside from now and focus on getting back home. She would not pay for another night stay in the forest. "O – okay! I'm going now!" Snowdrop said. Biting her lip, she readied her wings. "Alright! I'll prepare to catch you." Snowdrop jumped off the edge and glided down softly. Rosie's eyes widened. "No! Stop, you're travelling faster than I expected! You're heading straight to a tree!" She said. Trying to catch up on the gliding filly. Given the new information, Snowdrop panicked and lost control. She plummeted into the snow barely missing the tree by a few inches. She raised her head from the thick snow. Rosie came running to help her. "I'm so sorry, I thought you'll simply glide down, I never thought you'll glide straight to a tree and beyond. " She tittered. "I – it's okay. Umm... Can you help me up?" "Oh, yeah! Sure." Rosie lifted Snowdrop from the pile of snow and began to whisk off the snows on her mane and back. "Lets get these off too." She wiped the one on Snowdrop's muzzle too. Snowdrop flinched at that, closing one of her eyes. Rosie giggled, finding the whole spectacle cute. After cleaning Snowdrop's muzzle off with snow, she gently tapped it with her hoof. "Boop." The russet maned mare chuckled. "Come on, let's go." Rosie offered her hoof which the filly gladly accepted. The two walked through the forest, vastly covered with snow. The tall pine trees stretched high in the sky, protecting little critters from cold winds. The blue sky was mostly clear of clouds, only two or three were floating high above. Mountains stood tall in the horizon. A filly hummed a beautiful tune as she was guided by her new found friend. "Um... Hey?" Rosie said. Still looking forward, keeping her steps in sync with the filly's muffled clops. "Hmm?" Snowdrop replied, stopping her humming song. "Aren't you cold? You can have my cloak if you want." "No, I'm fine. I don't feel cold." Rosie turned her head to look at Snowdrop and raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She returned her gaze back to the path ahead. "Huh," she blinked. "Your coat is less thicker than ours, so I thought you might be feeling the chill more than me." Snowdrop continued to hum. "Say," Snowdrop stopped to hum and turned her head towards Rosie. "Huh?" "What else can you remember?" Snowdrop turned her head forward. "Nothing, really. All I remember is my name and how I fell on the cold stone. I was pretty exhausted, I don't know why. I heard you snoring quite a bit so I headed towards you." The filly blushed as she cocked her head downward. "You were quite warm and soft so I've fallen asleep without knowing." She turned her head towards Rosie. "I hope you're not mad." Rosie chuckled. "Why would I be mad? You're a lost filly and you needed some company. I'm just glad that I had found you. It'll be worse if the dire wolves had found you. So, it's alright. Right?" Snowdrop giggled which made Rosie giggle too. The two stopped at the top of a hill, overlooking a valley. A circle wall of tall and pointy woods protected the village, and a straight wall at its back protected more of its inhabitants. "Why'd we stop?" Snowdrop asked. "We're almost there. Come on." Rosie resume to walk with Snowdrop in one hoof. Then from the woodland behind them came a long piercing howl. From behind the trees came the dire wolves. Their mouths drooled with saliva as they showed their pointy teeth. Rosie's eyes widened in fear. "Impossible!" She yanked Snowdrop onto her back,getting a surprised yelp from the pegasus filly. "What? What's happening?" Snowdrop asked. "We'd have to get to the gates quickly!" Rosie took a running stance. "Hold on!" The russet maned mare shot through the tundra as fast as she can. The filly on her back grimaced, with her eyes closes, while holding on for dear life. The wolves howled once more and began pursuit of the two. A delicious meal of two was all they can see.