Twilight gets lost in the mountains as she searches for a missing Sunset Shimmer.
Twilight chases what looks like her missing friend into the mountains and finds a red dragon which she becomes close friends with as she tries to survive the Canterlot Mountain of Death
Twilight felt her heartbeat quicken as she nearly dropped the posters she was carrying. Her arms felt numb and her legs felt weak. She tried to do anything, but she was frozen. Time itself seemed to slow to a stop as she saw her missing friend, standing right across the street from her. Twilight let her legs finally move as she placed the "missing" posters carefully on the ground. She began bolting, half stumbling in disbelief, towards her friend, preparing to throw herself onto Sunset.
But, Sunset turned and ran in the other direction. Twilight pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose in confusion before picking up her pace and going after Sunset. She called Sunset's name once and then she stopped herself as she saw Sunset running for the EverFree forest. Twilight sighed.
This wasn't Sunset. Surely, it was the fog playing tricks on her. Sunset would've come running straight for her and probably stood there while Twilight strangled her. Still, the thought made Twilight curious. Of course the slightly toxic fog would make her hallucinate Sunset Shimmer, but why though? Maybe it was something more than that? Twilight didn't know, but it was worth investigating. Walking over to the edge of the woods, Twilight looked at the path where the -supposedly- imaginary Sunset went off to. Looking at the markings on the ground definitely showed someone or something had been here. The leaves looked like they had been not exactly stepped on, but moved aside by a breeze, maybe. It was strange but it made Twilight's heart speed up once more.
She zipped up the jacket that Sunset herself had given to her and began walking into the woods, a joyful smile on her face for the first time in weeks. Before the foreboding trees swallowed her up, a voice began calling to her. Sunset's voice.
"Twilight, I'm here."
"Twilight..."
"Keep going, Twilight..."
The voice was beckoning to her to come deeper into the forest. The voice quickly began to be drowned out just as soon as it appeared, but it was just enough to get Twilight to break into a sprint. Twilight began running with all her might, faster than she ever had ran before. The desire to see Sunset again was insatiable. Twilight ran until her legs hurt and her chest burned in agony. She stumbled over and collapsed to her knees. After a few minutes of breathing, Twilight looked up and had a mini heart attack. She had no idea where she was. The forest had twisted and turned. All Twilight had been thinking about was blindly following the voice. It had doomed her. Twilight stood, hurriedly.
"Hello?" She tried, but was met with no response. How could she have been so stupid? Why couldn't she just have gone home instead of staying out in the toxic fog? Oh dear... what was she to do? What would she do now? Starve? Dehydrate? Go mad? Get viciously mauled to death by some sort of animal? Twilight began to break sweat as she began panicking. She sat back down as she tried not to seize or have a panic attack.
She steadied her breathing. She focused her mind. "Okay, Twilight. No reason to FREAK OUT!" Twilight yelled suddenly as she heard a loud thump from behind her. She scrambled up, in a state of terror. She turned and backed up against a tree. Two yellow eyes peeped out of the woods at her. Then more eyes. Twilight turned and ran as howling erupted from all directions. Timberwolves! 'But I thought they only came out at night!' Twilight thought, hoisting herself into a tree. She knew wolves couldn't climb. The Timberwolves began bounding out of the trees and collectively gathering underneath Twilight. They began jumping up and slashing their claws at her. 'Maybe I should've picked a taller tree!'
The pale and sand colored wolves began to jump onto nearby rocks and attempt to jump the tree. One made it, but Twilight pushed him off. He landed with a yelp and a whimper as the ground broke his fall. "Sorry!" Twilight yelled, climbing her way to the top of the tree. The branches were protecting her for now, but she heard the wolves still trying to get her. Soon, the tree began to shake and rumble. It began to FALL OVER.
"HELP ME! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY!" Twilight yelled, knowing it was impossible that someone could hear her. No one goes into the forest anymore. The tree tilted and Twilight felt tears coming from her eyes. She was going to get eaten by Timberwolves and no one would know. Or perhaps even care.
She squeezed her eyes shut, and prepared for the impact of the ground. The tree groaned and cracked until finally, it fell over. Twilight tumbled out from the top and put her hands over her face. The wolves were to be coming out to eat her any second now. But, once Twilight refrained herself, she looked up. There was nothing but the broken tree she had been in. Had she imagined the wolves just like she imagined Sunset? But, she couldn't have. The tree was knocked over. What on Earth happened? Twilight pressed her hands to her face, which was damp from being out in the fog. Twilight crouched on the ground, quaking in fear. She was going to die out here within the hour, she knew it. She began to sob, her shoulders shaking. This wouldn't be the first time in her life that she had no idea what to do. She was scared and lost. She finished getting her sad out and stood up. Her legs were a little muddy from crouching on the ground. Twilight turned back towards the tree, examining it. She went around towards the front and saw the deep gnash that the wolves had left. It was terrifying to see how close to death she had came to. Looking grim, Twilight began to go over everything she had learned about surviving the woods in her mind. The first thing you were supposed to do to survive was try to find water. You're most likely to die by dehydration than starvation. Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, listening.
Water. Running water.
The sound made Twilight's heart sing. Maybe she was going to live after all. Twilight went towards the sound of the water, now that she could focus. As she broke through the trees, she saw it. The sight of a waterfall bursting from the rocks was glorious, of not slightly foggy. Twilight suddenly realized how thirsty she was. What a lovely time to not be able to order a pizza, though. Twilight had left her phone at home. She made a mental note to never do that again, after this experience. Twilight unzipped Sunset's jacket and pulled out her handy water bottle. She began to fill it up with the clean liquid. It was so clear, it almost looked unnatural. Twilight would need to hurry though. Who knew when those disappearing Timberwolves would be back?
"Twiiiiiilllliiiigggghhhht...." Sunset Shimmer's voice called. Twilight nearly dropped her water bottle into the little pond, but she caught it.
"Sunset! This isn't funny! Show yourself!" Twilight demanded, stamping her foot like an impatient pet owner.
"But I'm right here." The voice sounded like it was coming out of nowhere. And now that Twilight could really hear it, it didn't sound like Sunset. Mildly, but not exactly.
"Where?! I don't see you!" Twilight called, backing up ever so slightly. She was getting nervous. Whatever was talking to her wasn't her friend.
"Oh, come on, Sparky. Just come a little closer and take a look-sie," The voice said, somehow sounding like a breeze on the water. "If you really want to see me that badly, I suggest you take a look."
Twilight gulped, finding her throat uncomfortably dry. "How do I know I can trust you?" She asked, taking yet another step back. All the alarms were going off in her head that told her to break into a run.
"Because I know alllllll about you. We're friends, right?" The voice said, still refusing to show its form.
"I think I'll just leave," Twilight said, taking another step back. Her heart dropped when she felt something touch her back. She looked up, her face getting covered in slime.
"No, you won't," The tree said, the holes in its face moving to make words. Vines immediately lashed out to take Twilight by the waist. Twilight screamed as she was lifted up.
"Good job, Oakley," The mysterious voice from earlier said, its owner rising from the water. It looked like a turquoise, scaly sea monster. "Truth be told, I wanted to get the last laugh before we split her for dinner," It said.
"D-dinner?!" Twilight screeched, her eye twitching. She was done for, now.
"Okay, Saka. Should I kill her first or do you want to?" Oakley -the tree- asked the dragon-presumably Saka- who shrugged. The tree made a face and began lowering Twilight down to its gaping mouth. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut as she prepared to get eaten for the second time. But, the tree stopped.
"Saka, did you say something?"
"No, Oakley, I don't believe I did."
"But I heard you tell me to "drop her or else." Are you messing with me?"
"Maybe your psychic powers picked someone's thoughts up from outside the forest. Now get to eating, we don't have all day," Saka said, studying her claws. Twilight began scanning the sky, her eyes filling up with tears.
"No, no it's not that. It's louder now," Oakley said, making confused grunting noises. They all jumped as Oakley's branches suddenly burst into flame. Twilight screamed, as did the tree. "OW!!" Saka yelled before she slashed back into the water. She disappeared beneath the surface of the water before the clear top would only show her red blood. Twilight was ripped from the tree's grasp and pulled into red talons. Twilight gripped onto the scaly hands that held her, but gave a yelp as the creature yanked her away and into the sky with it. 'How many creatures are after me?!' Twilight thought, knowing she'd probably never get her answer. The red dragon, whose talons she was being carried in, flew at a harsh speed until Twilight was dropped on the side of Canterlot Mountain. Twilight hit her head on a rock and blacked out at that moment. The red demon looked at Twilight and realized she had put her down too hard. Her ears lowered and she growled at herself. She lifted Twilight up and began carrying her to her lair, where she would wait until she woke up.
Twilight could hear the dragon's lumbering footsteps from miles away. It's massive feet slapped on the stone ground, sloppily. Reluctantly, she followed it. Twilight had only heard such tales of creatures in the EverFree forest, but had never believed it. The dragon lumbered on, lazily, complete opposite of the dragon it had been mere hours ago. Now, the sun was just starting to set. Twilight zipped up her jacket as the chilly wind blew by her. The two walked out into the open grass, the foggy mist surrounding them at all angles. Twilight's glasses constantly needed a cleaning because of it and it was absurdly annoying. She saw the dragon reach up to a tree. It was very tall, almost the same size. Twilight was a little confused about what it was doing until she heard an odd noise. The dragon turned around, in its clawed hand was a pink fruit. The dragon turned, wrapping its fluffy tail around Twilight's waist and began pulling her.
Twilight stayed quiet, giving no objections to the warm fluff that now shrouded her. Twilight went along, taking the warm puffs into her hands. No one knew she was here. She had obviously gone missing too. Without a trace probably. Nobody would know. The serenity of the place where the dragon had made its lair was tranquil and peaceful. Twilight quite liked it, but she preferred home.
The dragon purred softly as she offered the pink fruit to Twilight. She smiled a toothy grin, nuzzling Twilight’s shoulder with her snout. Twilight pushed her away, without leaving the warmth of her tail.
“No thank you, I’m not hungry,” Twilight said, looking out over the horizon. The dragon laid her head on Twilight’s shoulder, purring and purring and purring.
“You know, you’re kinda cute,” Twilight said, as the dragon nibbled on Twilight’s shirt. She grumbled cutely. Twilight stroked her snout and pet under her ears, causing the dragon to purr louder.
“You kinda remind me of my friend, Sunset Shimmer. She went missing a while back. I really miss her,” Twilight said, stroking the hair of the red scaled beast. The dragon looked up at Twilight, with an expression of confusion. “Hhhhrrrr?” She rumbled, laying her head down on Twilight’s lap.
Twilight looked thoughtful for a minute. “You know, I’m going to have to call you something. I can’t call you Sunset, because... well...” Twilight paused as the dragon looked at her from the corner of its eye. “How about Sunburn? You look fierce enough,” Twilight said, patting the head of the dragon, who seemed pleased by her new name. She put the pink fruit back into her talon and put it to Twilight’s mouth. She nudged it away. “No thanks, I told you, I’m not hungry,” Twilight said, tapping the dragon’s snout.
“Grr!” Sunburn growled, putting the fruit in Twilight’s mouth anyway. Twilight bit into it, embarrassed. Sunburn wagged her tail, happily. Twilight’s eyes lit up as she ate the fruit, a bit of the juice trickling down her lip. Sunburn seemed happy with the result.
. . . .
After a while, the setting sun gave way to the blackness of the night. It was getting colder and darker by the minute. Sunburn brought Twilight into her cave, which was small and not that cosy. Sunburn nuzzled Twilight into the corner of the room, laying her down onto a bed of flowers. Twilight was confused until the dragon friend she had made laid down on top of her.
“Oh,” Twilight said plainly. Sunburn seemed to laugh at her, brushing her fluffy tail over Twilight’s face. Twilight began to feel the warmth of the heated scales, even if she were horribly annoyed. The purring dragon was adorable though.
. . . .
The first night for Twilight was hard. She began worrying about all the things that went bump in the night. She began wondering if anyone was looking for her. About every hour, Sunburn would get up and leave for about 5 minutes, leaving Twilight in the cold night. She’d come back in and lay back down, but Twilight could tell the dragon was having trouble relaxing. They’d occasionally make eye contact with each other, and when they did, Sunburn would come over and give Twilight’s face a reassuring lick. She’d pet Sunburn’s head and try to go back to sleep. Twilight began to wonder why her friend kept getting up like that. She didn’t know.
. . . .
Twilight remembered waking up in a cold sweat from a nightmare about Sunset. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was about, but just the thought of Sunset right now put her on edge. Sunburn wasn’t in the cave either, but Twilight could hear running water outside. Twilight stood and wiped the dirt off her skirt. She felt kind of bad about crushing those flowers. Treading cautiously, Twilight looked out over the glade from the exit of the cave. The sun looked like it had risen a while ago, and the grass was slick with morning dew. The blue sky looked radiant and several white and puffy clouds were already scattered about. It was a beautiful sight.
“Sunburn?” Twilight called. Twilight was still sleep deprived and her back had an ache in it from sleeping on the ground. It had been a rough night.
“Sunburn?” Twilight called again, this time, louder that the last. A few birds chirped, and then there was a loud squawk, followed by silence. Twilight began hearing the familiar heavy footsteps of the lumbering dragon. Twilight thought that Sunburn must’ve been hunting or something. Twilight turned to see the flash of red scales by the trees. There was a majestic waterfall that seemed to be glimmering in the light. Twilight rubbed her aching shoulder as she continued to move down towards the little pond that nature had provided for her. Nervously, Twilight began to strip off her clothes. She folded them up neatly and put them to the side. Twilight carefully got into the water, refreshed to find that it wasn’t freezing. It was clear and see though water, not murky like one would expect. Twilight began to swim out to the waterfall, and flipped over onto her back. She sighed deeply. This was relaxing. She thought that once she found Sunset, she’d bring all her friends back here to enjoy it with her. They could meet Sunburn and become friends with her too. Twilight could write to the Princess of Friendship about her journey here. Twilight was snapped from her thinking when she heard a slash from the other side of the pond. There, in the clear water, was Sunburn. The dragon had a talon over her eyes, obviously being respectful of Twilight. It almost made her want to chuckle.
“You’re cute,” Twilight giggled, swimming over to the red beast. Sunburn uncovered her eyes, slowly. Twilight blushed, shrugging. “It’s okay. It’s not weird or anything,” She said, pushing her glasses up her nose. They were foggy from the water. Twilight could stand in the little pond, but Sunburn has to crouch to be at her eye level. Giving a soft lick, Sunburn brushed Twilight’s bangs out of her face with her tongue. She purred and sniffed at Twilight, which made Twilight want to coo because it was adorable.
“Heh heh. You like me, don’t you?” Twilight said, petting the dragon’s snout. The dragon snorted, puffing out a bit of smoke. She appeared to be blushing, even through red scales.
“Crrrroooo... crrrroooo,” Sunburn grumbled, swimming around Twilight. Twilight let out a shriek as she was lifted onto Sunburn’s shoulders. The water rolled right off her body. Twilight put her feet into the crooks of the wings to steady herself. She held onto Sunburn’s neck to keep from falling. Sunburn began stomping over to the waterfall, and went under up. The water felt like sharp needles on Twilight’s back and her glasses got water on the lenses. Now, inside the water fall, was a small space. Sunburn put Twilight down, calmly. Twilight sat down on the floor of the cavern, which looked like it was made of glass. It was beautiful.
“Wow,” Twilight said, her voice echoing off the walls. It was pretty in here. Sunburn sat down in front of her, putting her claws on Twilight’s legs, with a joyful look on her face.
“Crrrroooo,” She murmured, nuzzling Twilight softly. Twilight suddenly didn’t feel awkward anymore. She scratched under Sunburn’s snout, which caused her to purr.
“You know, I think I’ve found a new friend,” Twilight said, giving the dragon’s snout a kiss. Sunburn immediately became shy again and made a joyous laughing noise. She covered her face with her talons and her ears dropped in embarrassment.
There was a little light coming from underneath the doorframe.
“Sunset?” Twilight called as she peeked into the room.
“Oh, hey Twi,” Sunset said casually. She was draped across her bed, wearing her pink pjs.
“So... Sunset, I was wondering what you were doing tonight,” Twilight said. She rubbed the back of her head.
“Nothing much. Why do you ask?” Sunset said, rolling over onto her back.
“I was just feeling a little lonely and I was wondering if you would like to go to the Café with me?”
“Right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, okay. Let me throw some clothes on and I’ll be right there.”
That would be the last time they would interact for a long while.
. . . .
Twilight lay in the sun -on the roof of Sunburn’s cave- her usual shirt and pants laying next to her. She modestly wore her undergarments, feeling uncomfortable without any scrap of clothing even when no one was there. The water was gone from her skin, even though her hair was darkened and damp. The light of the sun was like the one on a beach; blazing, unforgiving without sunscreen, and obviously, bright.
“Ugh...”
Twilight rolled over, finding that it hurt to move. She sat up and poked at a slightly pink spot on her skin. She was getting roasted alive out here. Twilight put her clothes back on -rather reluctantly because of her sunburn- then carefully climbed down from the cave top, shimmying down the side and grunting as her skin shrieked at being touched.
“Hi, Sunburn. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Twilight said, noticing that her foot had landed on the Dragon’s tail. The reptile has been rolling around in the grass, sniffing daisies and tulips. Twilight bent down to pet her friend, then she stretched and began stiffly walking over to a tree. Sunburn followed her, walking on all fours instead of the usual upright stance.
The dragon grumbled and picked Twilight up. Twilight gasped in surprise as the red beast lifted her into the tree. There were the pink little orbs in the tree, just waiting to be picked. Twilight reached out and grabbed a fruit in each hand, happy for Sunburn’s help. The red dragon smiled at Twilight as she helped her down.
“Nice teamwork!” Twilight said, tossing one fruit to Sunburn, who caught it. It was strange how oddly human this thing looked.
“Sunburn, can I ask you something?”
Sunburn looked up from her fruit that was in her talons.
“Crooo?”
“Are you from this planet?”
She shook her head. “Crooo.”
“Equestria?” Twilight asked.
Twilight earned a nod.
“Do you think you could tell me how you got here?” She asked.
Sunburn looked around. She seemed to get a little overwhelmed with this lauguage barrier, so she decided to instead lick Twilight’s face.
“Okay, that was no help,” Twilight said, getting the sticky spit off with her fingers. The dragon growled an apology. Twilight looked out over the fresh grass, taking in the air. That was, before her stomach growled. Sunburn’s ears shot up as she heard the intriguing noises come from her human’s belly.
“Yeah, I know. I gotta eat... but fruit gets boring after a while, don’t you think..?” Twilight asked, taking a bite of her pink fruit. She hadn’t had anything besides fruit since she had gotten stuck on that mountain.
“Croooo.... crooooo...” Sunburn said, giving a soft nuzzle to Twilight’s hungry tummy.
“Sorry, scaley. That’s not going to work. But I guess I have no choice other than to get off of this mountain. I have friends and family who are probably worried sick... as much as I’d like to stay, I’ve got to get out of here...” Twilight explained.
Sunburn’s ears drooped.
“It’s okay, I’ll promise I’ll come visit you. If I don’t get killed, of course,” She responded, trying to make a lame attempt at a joke.
Suddenly, Sunburn growled. Twilight jumped as her eyes flashed an evil, green color.
“Sunburn..? Are you okay?” Twilight asked.
Sunburn continued growling. Twilight was gently pushed aside as Sunburn paced past her.
“What was that all-“
“HOOOWWWWRREEERRRR!!!!”
“-about?!”
Twilight yelped as she got her answer. Twilight jumped back as a giant monster exploded from the bushes, mouth blazing. Sunburn immediately jumped into action, using her giant front claw to bat at the other dragon’s face. It hissed, snorting fire in frustration. It breathed fire at Sunburn, who howled in pain as she jumped away from the smoldering hot flames when they hit her. This new green dragon was a lot smaller than Sunburn, but Twilight could tell that it was much quicker. Twilight hid in the bushes, trying to be as hidden from the fray as possible.
“Groowwwwwrrrr!!!” Sunburn snorted as she was hit on the underbelly. The green dragon began striking repeatedly against the soft belly, causing Sunburn to roar in pain and thrash around.
“No!” Twilight yelled as she was about to stand up. The green dragon’s eyes swiftly went to Twilight as it heard her make noise. Twilight felt dread fill her stomach.
“Ggggrrraaaaagggg!!!” The dragon hissed as it jumped towards Twilight.
“Croo!” Sunburn howled, breathing fire at the leaping dragon. It was knocked off its course and it hissed as it tumbled to the ground, covered in sparks and ashes. Birds were squawking because of the disturbances. The newcomer shook it off and leapt at the bush Twilight was hiding behind. Twilight jumped out of the way, taking a hard tumble in the grass.
“Ow!” She cried out, clutching her knee close to her body. It would have a bruise on it.
The green beast opened its mouth and prepared to fire, before it was struck with a hammer to the head. It fell down unconscious.
“Huh...?” Twilight said, in a daze.
“Ah, if it isn’t a child, my dear! Tell me, what are you doing all the way out here?” The wielder of the hammer asked. She was wearing a dark cloak, so that Twilight couldn’t see her face, yet she could still see that her skin had dark black stripes on it with a while outcoat.
“Who... who are you..?” Twilight asked, shielding her face from the shining sun.
“My name is Zecora. You’re lucky I found you when I did. Otherwise, you would have ended up worse that a fishing net and a squid!”