The Windowless Town
The chilly mountain air rushed past my face freely, tiny bits of snow bouncing off my goggles. I sped downwards, gritting my teeth against the wind that attempted to slow my descent. All I thought was, go faster, go faster! It was difficult to refrain from yelling with excitement. I wasn’t a foal--I didn’t just do this for fun. Skiing is serious business.
Skillfully avoiding pockets of slippery ice below me, I swerved sharply from side to side. I felt the strong urge to close my eyes, allowing myself to simply glide down the snowy mountainside. Of course, I could only manage a short blink before I was forced to fix my eyes on the next obstacle--a crooked branch craning out of the snow. Instead of doing the smart thing of dodging it, I lifted my two left hooves, allowing the edge of the branch to zip out from under them as I flew by. Thumping the two hooves and the ski back on the ground, I continued to whirr down.
Ah, I thought contently, This is home. The cold mountain air, the flakes of snow brushing against my fur. Some ponies thought it uncomfortable. I could understand that. Others felt it was dangerous. True. But, for the some who thought the mountains were treacherous, I say, Ha! Those ponies had never learned the intricacies of the mountain. Sure, there were landslides and avalanches, but would you call a field treacherous because it has tornados? In any case, the mountain was just another world for me. A more private world. A more safe, comfortable--
“By Celestia’s mane!” I gasped as a shard of ice shot straight up out of the snow in front of me. I swerved, bending at a strange angle in a desperate attempt to avoid it. Instead, I felt my flank slam violently against the cold edge, knocking what little breath I had out of me. I opened my mouth in shock, tumbling down into the snow. My hooves were wrenched away from my skis and I felt my helmet bend off to the side, exposing one side of my face. All I saw was whirling white and gray tumbling around me, and then nothing.
A brown haze appeared in my vision, fading in and out of clarity. Eventually, I could make out a wooden ceiling, and, groaning, made my way to my feet. I blinked, finding myself to be sitting on a sort of mattress, a solid floor beneath me. I was indoors, on a bed. What had happened?
Then I remembered. Tumbling, rolling down the hill, slamming into something hard before blacking out. Had someone found me? By Celestia, it was a miracle they did.
Just as I was pondering who had saved me, I heard a squeaky voice somewhere over my shoulder, “Oh, dear, you’re already awake.”
I whipped my head around, gritting my teeth as the room spun around me. “Egh…” I groaned before collapsing back on the bed, still--thankfully--conscious. I heard the clatter of metal on the floor and saw two green hooves reach around my shoulders.
“Come on now, stay awake,” said the squeaky voice urgently. I opened my mouth to reply but just as I did a hard hoof slammed across my jaw. I let out a yelp in surprise.
“By Celestia’s mane!” I shouted, gingerly rubbing the sore spot on my cheek, “I’m awake! I’m awake.” I focused on the face in front of me--a green unicorn with bubblegum pink mane. Her eyes were wide, scared. I groaned once more and sat up, glaring at her. She gave a nervous laugh.
“Sorry,” she squeaked, “I don’t know too much about...medical...stuff.” She glanced around, then suddenly dashed off away from the bed, only to return with a slice of bread in her hooves. She shoved it forward in my face. “Here.”
I blinked, awkwardly taking the food in my mouth and chewing it all. I swallowed only after thirty seconds of gnashing the soft bread in between my teeth, all the while giving false reassuring smiles to the nervous medical mare. She didn’t appear to know much about treating stallions with head injuries, and she said that she wasn’t particularly knowledgeable in medical stuff. Perhaps she was a student? But then, why would her mentor leave her alone here, to tend to me?
I shrugged, swallowing the last bits of the bread and leaned forward. “Where am I?” I asked the medic mare. “And, uh, who are you?”
“Oh! Right, yes,” the mare squealed, “My name’s River Stone, and you’re in my cottage. You were found out by the base of the mountains.” She chuckled. “Your head was buried in snow.”
I blushed, glancing away from her gaze. I looked around the small room I was in, trying to figure out exactly where I was. Something told me this mare wouldn’t answer far past “her cottage,” so I tried to remember what I was told about places like Vanhoover, Appleloosa...Manehatten? No, it was too quiet. Perhaps Ponyville? Maybe. The architecture was definitely similar, except...You see, when I had last been to Ponyville, every building seemed filled to the brim with windows. Large windows, short windows, some frosted, some clear, some just awkward holes in the walls. But this room...this room was dark and enclosed. Only a lamp of twitter mites and a tiny candle in the corner illuminated it, and that light was a gritty, unhappy yellow.
I crawled out of the bed and stretched my limbs, shaking off the feeling of sleep. My head still ached, but I could ignore it, and besides, I needed to get home.
“Well, thank you for, eh, rescuing me,” I yawned. Quickly covering my mouth, I continued, “But I’m afraid I’ll have to return home. You see, I live up in a village by the Crystal Mountains. I was here on a trip, and, uh...well, you saw how that went.”
“Oh, of course,” River Stone stammered, “I mean...uh...Starlight Glimmer said she wanted to see you, and uh...I…” Concerned, I trotted over to the mare. She was stuttering like she was about to faint herself, and I was definitely not having this medic pass out while I was in a stranger’s room.
I nuzzled her shoulder. “Calm down,” I whinnied. River sighed and cuffed the floor with a hoof, quickly relaxing. She lifted a hoof and gently pushed me away.
“Listen,” she said coolly, “We have a leader here named Starlight Glimmer. She’s the one who found you in the mountains. Before you leave she’d like to see you.” I blinked. A leader? Did she mean a mayor, or governor? Ah, well, it didn’t really matter. This Starlight Glimmer was the one who had rescued me, right? It was only polite to meet her and say thank you. So I nodded, gesturing for River to lead me. She dipped her head and turned, trotting over to the door.
She opened it with a sparkling green aura and slipped out the opening. I followed.