//------------------------------// // the Nightmare // Story: Arctic Blizzard // by BubblexTrouble //------------------------------// It was cold in the Frozen North and Amethyst’s tiny hooves were buried in the deep snow and she was trudging along slowly. The snow was falling hard and it difficult to see. Amethyst kept her head down to block her face from the wind and snow. “Hey!” Her older brother, Everest, yelled from in front of her “How about here?” Amethyst looked up and saw that he was pointing towards a small cave not too far from where they were. “Um…yeah I guess that works.” She yelled back. Slowly, she trudged her way over to him. On her way there her front hoof hit a rock buried in the snow and she fell into the cold snow face first. “Hey, Amethyst? Time for napping will be in the cave not out here in the cold silly! ” Everest exclaimed with a big smile. He then helped his little sister up and they went into the small, dark, yet warm and cozy cave. They set down their things and rolled out some blankets. They were finally safe. For now. Sometime during the night the snow had stopped falling. Amethyst woke up outside in the shivering cold. She looked around and remembered that she and her brother were in a cave. She forgot how they got there. “Everest?” she shook him a couple of times but he was fast asleep. She decided to look around for a bit and went out of the cave to see what time of day it was. Since they were deep in the cave it was hard to see any light. When Amethyst got outside she looked up. There were only stars. No moon. No clouds. Just bright glimmering stars. She looked back at the cave to hear if he brother was awake but she didn’t hear any movement. She looked back at the stars. She gazed up at them for a long time. Then she noticed that she couldn’t see any constellations that she knew of. No Orion, no Canis Major, or Cassiopeia. It was just a bunch of random stars everywhere. At first she thought this was strange, but soon she forgot and was mesmerized by the stars’ beauty. She started to walk away from the cave. The stars twinkled more and more with every step. In the sky she saw a shooting star whip across. She said “I wish that I was home with my family, and that I was snug in my bed, safe and warm from any harm.” Just then a cry for help rang into her ear. Everest was yelling for help. Amethyst looked back. She hadn’t realized how far she was. She was too captivated by the strange stars. It was like they were pulling her away. Amethyst started to bolt back. Everest was crying from so far. “Get away from me!” he yelled “Let me go!” A big arctic wolf was carrying him away. Everest tried to struggle free but it was no use. Amethyst was almost there until she tripped over a rock that was hiding under the thick snow. She managed to get up and she started to run again but she stopped. She watched in horror as the wolf slammed Everest down to the ground and when it was about to slice her helpless, older brother open, she awoken with a startle. Her brother was shaking her awake. He pulled off the covers of the bed and said “Wake up Amey! It’s time to get up!” Amethyst shuck her head and tucked back under the covers. “I don’t wanna get up today Ever!” she said with her voice muffled by the sheets. Everest pulled the covers off and hauled his sister out of bed. “Ever!” Amethyst bawled at him. “Come on Amey. School isn’t so bad. Just think of it as a…a…” “A what?” “A…new adventure.” He said smiling at his sister trying to cheer her up. Amethyst rolled her eyes at him and got up and went over to the door to go downstairs. Now that she was up she might as well get some breakfast. On the way down she thought about her dream she had last night. It seemed very strange to her that in that dream she had, she wished she was home and here she was, safe at home in the Crystal Empire with her family. Her mother was out that morning in the library like she usually was finding books about gems. Her brother, Everest, stayed home with her and worked as a royal guard some days to earn some extra money. Amethyst was only eight and couldn’t bring money into her home, but she wanted to. She hated school. All the ponies there had cutie marks and she didn’t. She, like her mother, loved gems and wanted to have the same job she did. As a gem hunter and collector. She loved her family and she never wanted it to change. Somehow though, something didn’t feel right when she woke up that morning. It felt like something was different. Like something, shouldn’t be there. She also found it odd that there were no constellations at all in her dream. She thought it didn’t matter though since it was just a dream. Then again, in her other dreams, there were stars with constellations. So why was this dream different? It still felt strange to her. She decided not to tell her brother or mother just yet though. She wanted to try again tonight to see if things were the same. She went off to school alright and went in and sat down at the back like she usually does. She took out her sketch pad and started to draw gems of all shapes. Her entire book was filled with different gems. Not just drawings but descriptions too. She started drawing a big dark, strange and scary looking crystal. When she finished it she upon it and felt a shiver down her back. And in the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow like thing slip under the door of the classroom.