> In the darkness there is only yourself > by JazzyFeather > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trixie galloped along the muddy trails leading to the everfree forest, leaving that dreary old town Ponyville behind her. They should have known better then to attack the great and powerful Trixie. Her gallop slowed to a trot as she neared the edge of Everfree, and then she stopped completely. Looking into the forest. She had heard the stories of how it was like in there. And frankly, she did believe them. But she didn't have a choice, she couldn't go back to the town that shunned her. So she breathed heavily, swallowed and trotted slowly into the forest. As she entered the forest, the darkness closed around her. "Stupid Trixie, why didn't you bring a torch" she thought to herself as she trotted in the darkness. Except for the muffled sound of hoofs trotting through mud the forest was quiet. Trixie looked around herself as she kept trotting through the forest. After a while she decided to take a rest at a lake. The cold hadn't really sat in, but the lake was frozen solid. Trixie sat down on a stone by the lake, her stomach was rumbling. She had planned to eat after the show, but since she was no longer welcome there. She had to take off fast and run with an empty stomach. Trixie thought to herself, while she sat on the rock. Looking at the frozen surface of the lake. "Would somepony really miss Trixie if she vanished?" She thought about it, but erased it from her mind. She didn't really want an answer to that anyway. Her stomach rumbled again. Trixie got up and continued her trot through the darkened tree's of the Everfree Forest. Even she knew that staying in one place too long was not a smart idea. As she trotted deeper into the forest it seemed to get colder. She had left in such a hurry that she didn't bring her coat or any other clothes with her. She slowed to a walking pace. Her stomach growled again "OH Trixie, you need to get yourself some food" she said out loud, she didn't mean too though. She was so tired that she couldn't even think straight anymore. She continued her trot when she noticed an apple hanging in a tree, the ONLY apple it seemed like. She walked closer, it was a Zap-apple. Rainbow-colored apples that were native to the Everfree Forest. Trixie used her magic and pulled the apple from the tree, it took a bit of effort but she got it down and munched it down as fast as her mouth could. It took a bit before it dawned on her, that was the only food she had and she had eaten it all at once. Trixie sighed and continued trotting deeper into the forest. It started to lightly snow as Trixie trotted. The everfree forest always had random weather patterns. Trixie shivered a bit and continued trotting through the mud-covered path. She looked down on her hooves as she shuddered again, her gorgeous blue coat covered in mud. She didn't really care, but it was a way for her mind to not think about the current situation. She breathed out slowly as it started to get colder, she could see her breath hang in the air because of the cold. Trixie shivered again and started to look around for a place to settle for the night. After a little while she spotted a small cave, it looked empty though she couldn't be sure. She took three unsure steps forward and yelled. "Anypony in there!?"... No one answered, Trixie breathed out lightly and trotted into the cave. Some snow had fallen in, not much but it was noticeable on the darkness of the rock floor. As she laid down on the floor of the cave, she winced at the coldness against her coat. She felt the cold from the abruptly shifting weather creep into her body. Trixie tried to light a magical fire with her horn, but because of her exhaustion it was impossible. Her stomach rumbled again bringing back thoughts of her parents. She sighed and looked up at the darkened sky, she could barely see the moonlight through the trees. After what seemed like forever to Trixie she started to fall asleep. She curled up into a ball to huddle in the little warmth that her body gave away. Trixie took one last breath into the air and slowly closed her eyes, thinking of her family as she started to fall asleep. The next morning, snow had covered the cave entrance and trapped Trixie inside. There was visible frost on her coat, frozen tears running down her cheeks....