Unforgiven Winter

by Rambo

Homecoming - Part 1[1/2]

Unforgiven Winter

Chapter 3

Homecoming – Part 1

Note: Don't think there will be any references in this chapter. Just a heads up if your preparing yourself for a hunt. This chapter and the next one will tie up and or solve any of your thoughts but are not the endings. Ending is a VERY big surprise you'll decide what happens, literally.

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The sun. It rose forcing the night's retreat. The work of Princess Celestia must be a stressful act to do every morning, to know your job is to wake everypony in Equestria from their long sleep. Slowly the young Twilight Sparkle awoke as the sun beams had struck her eyes. "Twilight, sweetie, wake up" a mysterious voice called out to her. She opened her eyes only to be blinded by the light which forced her to shut them again. Straight out of nowhere, Twilight felt somepony tap her lightly on the cheek. "Get up Twi, it's morning, we have a lot to do today since next week you do go to Ponyville". As soon as the sleeping tired unicorn heard this, she stood straight up with a jolt of energy and looked around her environment.

She was in Canterlot, gazing out of the stranger’s bedroom and the snow fell lightly and many ponies were out for a stroll. "Twi, sweetie what’s wrong?" asked a voice, now sounding more familiar. Twilight gasped as she remembered where she heard the voice. A smile formed on her face as she turned around slowly and before her stood the one and only, Syra Swirlz. "Welcome home dear" said Syra as he returned the smile back. "Syra! Oh how I missed you!" Twilight stood up from the bed and ran towards him to embrace a hug, but when she made attempted to wrap her front legs around her, she disappeared and a black shadowy aura outlined Syra. "You shouldn't have left Twilight, none of this would have happened and most of all, you shouldn't have betrayed me, now do me a favor, and don't come back". Suddenly the black aura engulfed Syra and his entire body turned into shadow and consumed the entire bedroom. The magenta alicorn was suffocating, everything was black, nothing could be seen, and her cries for help were drowned in the shadow.

Suddenly a flash of white appeared in the darkness and the shadow's scattered in all directions as if the light was death. From the light came through Khaki coated Pegasus. "SYRA! JUST GO! SHE ISN’T THE ONE TO BLAME FOR ALL THIS! JUST LEAVE HER ALONE!" The flash was then consumed in the shadow and a laugh of evil was spread in all directions in the darkness. Again, another bright flash appeared and this time followed by a defining sound echoed through Twilights eardrums and the shrieks of terror from all 3 were shared in this fight between the darkness and light.

"GAH!" Twilight was blinded by the white flash and deafening sound, as if a timberwolf itself had howled into her ear. The buzzing ceased and the flash retreated. The lilac unicorn now found herself standing in front of the door to the outside and saw hoof prints of snow leading to the door, the problem was, there was only one set. As she opened the door slowly, Victor voice was heard saying "Don't come home", Twilight jumped and turned around to see him but instead nothing stood there but a single rocking chair, similar to the one Tyco, the merchant had. Twilight gulped nervously scared to see what the other side has in store for her, but when she opened the door, all that was seen outside was night and slow heavy snow falling, this time however, there was no fog obscuring Twilights Vision.

In the far distance, there seemed to be a light post with a flickering torch of the color blue that had revealed a figure next to it. The blue flames could not shine enough to reveal the whole night, only a small portion. Looking back at the house one last time, she stepped forth into the darkness and winter, leaving the shelter of Kale's home. "Where is everypony? Where am I even at?" Twilight whispered as she continued to walk towards the figure and blue flame. Even in the darkest of nights, one can be able to make out a few figures in the darkness. But instead, absolutely nothing was visible, only a small path, and the light post with the figure.

After a few meters, growls of hunger started to sprout out of the silence. The mare was frightened and looked around in the night, trying to see what was hidden in the shadows, but the only thing that came out of the dark was growls and panting as if whatever lied in the night was exhausted. Almost reaching the light post, red eyes started to appear in the night, all of them looking down on her. She looked back to see if reaching the shelter of Kale's home was possible but even the house itself was consumed by the darkness, it was absolutely invisible now. The Mare took a gulped down her saliva nervous if the eyes of the figures would race out to attack, but they all kept looking at her every movement followed by growls and coughs.

The thousands of red eyes all started to disappear and the sounds of the predators ceased. Twilight was able to make out the figure by the blue torch now; it was Kale standing there with his back turned to her, not moving at all. From the night, the howls of a thousand hungry timberwolves completely broke the silence and their mighty howls lasted for a few seconds before they edged down. Twilights heart was now beating heavy and fast, sweat dripped from her forehead as she was now only yards from the light post. The tatters of thousands of paws hitting the snow were heard coming behind her. Twilight went into a sprint fearing the worst behind her but as the blue torch illuminated her face, she turned around and nothing was there, only her hoof prints signed into the snow covered ground.

The light post containing the blue torch illuminated the ground to reveal that a small portion of the ground surrounding the lightpost and Kale was that of grass and a few leaves of purple roses, matching Twilights coat of fur. The magenta alicorn regained her strength and senses to know that she was safe but was confused on why this mysterious flame had warded off whatever it is that was in night's darkness. "What the?" Twilight noticed that small insects crawled around the grass around her and life lived around the blue flame, as if though the torch was emitting some act of witchcraft.

"Kale?" Twilight said as she calmly walked towards her khaki furred friend. He had frost on his mane and on the corners of his knees. Kale didn't move, "Kale?" Twilight called out to him once again before she actually made a serious approach towards him.

"Stop kidding around Kale, lets hurry back home" commanded the unicorn but when Twilight had laid her hoof on his shoulder, he was solid and freezing, as if though it were only a rock of ice in the form of Kale standing in front of her. She let out a gasp of horror at remembering how Rarity was in this state as well and also how a familiar voice shot out from the behind her. "Ahhhh! Stranger! Twilight Sparkle! Is it not? Happy to see you here!" Tyco the merchant had stepped out from the shadows to reveal himself in the blue torch. Twilight gaped in horror at the face of Tyco, half of his face was skeletal and had an eye of red, to be even more exact, this portion of his face was illuminated by the blue torch whereas the rest of his face was still hidden in the night, but she was able to make out the rest of his face was normal.

"Ty...Tyco? What are you doi-... how did you? Where? WHAT?" Twilight stuttered until Tyco let out a deep crackling laugh. "Oh Twilight, you should have listened to my warning, I told you there was nothing waiting for you here, yet you come here to Canterlot looking for HIM" Tyco yelled as he pointed at Kale, still having his back turned. Twilight was speechless and dismayed. Tyco waited for an answer and having received none, he let out a loud laughter to crack the silence, but not break it. "You still don't get it do you Sparkle? Just look around and you'll see" As Twilight turned around to face Kale, he was turned around with his face frozen in a state of absolute terror. His eyes were gauged out and had no pupils of any sort. His eyes were as black as the night itself that surrounded them, except for his blind left eye that remained blank. Most importantly, he also was encased in a prison of ice, however, Tyco was able to move.

Twilight took a few paces backwards horrified at the unpleasant sight only to bump into Tyco. He held Twilight in his front hooves and let out a horrifying laughter as he pushed Twilight into view of the blue torch. Tyco now stepped into complete view of the torch, his face now fully skeletal. The mare’s poor heart was the loudest sound around the area; true fear had once again struck her. Crying was no option, but a must. Tears streamed down Twilghts face as Tyco picked her up from the ground where she had stumbled upon, except Tyco had not picked her up with his forelegs, but black shadows coming from out of his black winter coat. The shadow tentacles had brought Twilight face to face with Tyco.

"He's gone Twilight, he's all mine, and will always be part of me" said Tyco to Twilight in a whisper. The now mortified alicorn turned to see the ice form of Kale was beginning to crack on all sides.

Tyco reached his head with his fore hooves and gently clapped his hooves together. He slid down the hood off his head and swiped the scarf covering his face off. He consisted of having a very familiar mane. With a quick jerk of his head upwards, Twilight was now face to face with her old faithful friend, Syra Swirlz herself. The lilac mare was now being killed by a new enemy that had joined the ranks of the night, fear. Syra's eyes had a glow the same red as that of the eyes of the darkness. The breathing of the tangled unicorn became heavy and rapid as she was brought closer to Syra's face. Tears ran down her face only to be stopped in place as they froze on her cheeks.

Then, there was no sound coming from the area around them, as if time itself froze. She opened her eyes to see around herself, the snowflakes that were falling, stopped, the ones that were already making the journey towards the ground, had frozen in place. The blue flame no longer flickered and moved to the ways of the wind, but stood still. Everything around them froze completely to the will of Syra or nature itself, but when Twilight looked back at the glowing red demonic eyes of her friend, Syra smiled.

The heart of the magenta unicorn could be heard even from Syra, as she put her mouth next to Twilight's ear. She rubbed Twilight chin and shoulder and let out a groan of anger.

"Oh Twilight, listen and listen good" syra whispered into her ear.

"I warned you before, he's gone, he'll never see you again, so do me a favor, and don't come back"

Twilight gasped in a terror as Syra jerked her head away from Twilight's ear. Whatever Twilight saw then, was an image that will never be erased from her mind, for years to come. Syra's face was absolutely frozen and pale. Her white fur mixed in with the frost that grew on the tips and light blue ice spread all over her face. Twilight's pupils dilated in horror and Twilight herself were now feeling a chill, an unexpected cold that ran up her spine and started to grow from her back legs upwards. The insane unicorn's horn grew a black aura, as if the horn itself was casting shadows. A demonic laugh of triumph echoed through Twilight ears as the waves of the laugh bounced from wall to wall in her skull.

The shadow tentacles let go of her and Twilight looked down at herself, she was standing out of reach of the blue flame, but the flame illuminated a partial area of Twilight, her front legs. Moving was impossible, the snow from all around her gathered around and as if it had a life of their own, the snow started climbing upwards onto her legs over her body, and up her neck. The cold element stopped their infection midway up her neck, as Syra walked towards Twilight.

After what seemed like centuries, Twilight finally spoke to her long lost friend. "Syra... what happe-... why are you doing this? I'm your friend, Twilight! Remember Syra! Twilight!"

A small frown formed on the blonde alicorn's face as she kept approaching, but once she was face to face with the powerful unicorn herself, a grin formed from ear to ear. "Friend, Twilight? A friend?" A howl of laughter was casted by the insane unicorn, to make matters worse, the timberwolves themselves had howled in chorus to the laugh of Syra.

"Oh Twilight... as if you don't remember what you did. Goodbye, and if you survive, don't come back" Syra spoke. Her back was turned to Twilight and the infection of the ice continued to grow onto the alicorn when from the darkness itself, a red flame that shone brightly, zipped through the night, leaving a trail of fire as it went. Twilight could only keep her eye on it for so long, until the ice had completely taken over. The ice hardened slowly, blackness filled her eyes and Twilight knew that death was now her next step in life.

The screech of an unfamiliar animal awoke Twilight before she had given up all hope in life. Twilight lifted her eyes one last time in the small space she had left inside of her frozen tomb. She didn't expect the scenery to change, only to see Syra walk off into the night leaving her stranded to become one with winter. The red flame reappeared which is what caught her eye, she figured she'll just stare as the flame the size of an ember soared away, but it was the complete opposite, instead, this bolt of fire rocketed right towards right at her in an amazing speed. She feared the worst of what the flame will do, so she shut her eyes awaiting for her death, as well as embrace herself for the impact but instead, she could feel heat forming around her face, and her mane drifting slowly back over her forehead, wet from the melted ice.

Soon, heat was restored all over her body, maybe a little too much heat. Twilight noticed the end of her mane was on fire. "AHH!" she quickly put out the fire by slamming her head onto the snow. When she stood back up brushing away the remaining snow and ice on her body. It was until then, that heat was felt on her back and noticed her shadow was casted over the snow with an aura of a moving red aura. Twilight quickly turned her head around eagerly to see what creature was it that had not only freed her from the prison of ice, but saved her life altogether. A smile formed on her face, as two figures stood before her.

There in front of her was Kale and Philomena, Princess Celestia's pet Phoenix. She was absolutely speechless but more so, confused on the entire event of what had occurred that day. Twilight only took a single step when suddenly Philomena rose a few yards above the ground. The mystic creature twirled in a pattern and finally shot straight up to unleash a powerful blinding light of orange and red. As the mare closed her eyes from the rays Philomena was casting, the bird ceased its power and landed safely on a patch of grass. All around the 3 figures, grass and flowers were found.

"Kale, what's happening?" Twilight ran to embrace a hug from Kale, hoping to finally speak with him, but as she did, nothing was felt. She stopped her sprint and looked back at Philomena lighting up Kale's body and face. The Khaki furred pegasi was transparent but still had an aura of blue outlining his body. He approached Twilight slowly and she walked closer towards him. When only a few feet from each other, Kale held out his hoof to notify Twilight to stop walking. Confused as she was, what made her melt with joy, was Kale, coming up to her and lightly laying a kiss on her cheek. Twilight only blushed and when about to return the kiss, Kale had literally evaporated into thin air right in front of her. Philoemna screeched a cry and soared past Twilight right side.

She was confused; nothing made sense, what was happening? She believed she was insane, just as she told herself on the chariot she was riding on from her encounter with the timberwolves and Rarity. "Kale?..." no one answer to her, but someone had tapped her right on the shoulder. Eager to see Kale, she turned around in joy quickly to finally talk to her lost love. Syra stood in front of her again, this time with half of her face melted off. Philoemena's work, Twilight assumed, but half of the melted face of Syra and revealed her skull. Twilight's breath was taken right out of her lungs as the sight.

Face to face with her newly found enemy, Syra said one thing and one thing only.

"Go home Twilight"

Syra pushed Twilight with such force, it knocked her backwards. Bracing for the impact to hit the ground, Twilight felt nothing, instead she continuously flipped through the dark void she had fallen in. Pitch black darkness consumed her sight and the laughter of evil accompanied her fall. She was lost, forever, in oblivion.

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Thanks for reading this far people. I know, I know, this chapter is probably the BIGGEST mindf*** so far but PLEASE remain calm. I promise you the next chapter (Homecoming - Part 2) will clear up HALF of the events that took place just now. Chapter 5 will basically reveal more, and next chapter more, etc. etc. I am doing the best that I can to provide weekly chapters so stay with me, don't sweat on me! Again, thank you for reading, you all are getting a free ride on my Huey sometime in the future, if Charlie doesn't kill me.
- With love and Bullets, Rambo