Bad ∞ End ∞ Night

Fiora's couldn't help but feel like those two hundred bits of payment were not worth this trip. She had taken special requests like this before, and usually it was because the receiver was hard to locate, or the house was located in the middle of nowhere. However, it was never a problem for her. Being the good flyer she was, she had always been able to to deliver whatever the sender requested, and that's why whenever some emergency needed to be taken care of, she would be the first in line.

This time however, she felt like she had finally met a challenge. The package was not heavy. In fact, it was a simple letter with a name on it. The sender had told her the vague location of the house. It was in a mountain that she had never been to before, but that didn't stop her from taking the job. After all, two hundred bits is quite a fortune, and she had never had a hard time locating even the tiniest hut from high above. But this pouring rain had ruined her plan. She was forced to take cover in the thick woods, wandering around looking for the supposedly not-too-tiny mansion. From time to time she would take flight into the sky, looking above the woods to see if she can see anything, but every time she was greeted with disappointment as her wings became soaked in rain water. There was nothing but tall pine trees as far as her eyes can see and certainly not any mansions.

Slowly fear began to crept upon her spine. She had always been known as brave and fearless, but this situation had turned out to be much worse than she expected. The rain showed no sign of stopping anytime soon, and it would be a real problem if her wings became too heavy to lift her up. She was cold, wet, hungry, and exhausted, but there was probably no pony in miles that could come to her rescue.

She shuddered from the cold. The freezing rain combined with the natural dampness of the forest made each inhale felt like the air was mixed with needles made out of ice. She could see the white fog forming in front of her muzzle when she exhaled, and she felt the pit at the bottom of her stomach growing. As it started to get darker and darker, she couldn't help but feel like she was being followed. Once or twice she thought she saw something flashing right behind her, but when she turned around, she found nothing but the same old trees. It was just her imagination, she told herself. But that didn’t stop her legs from tremblings with nervousness and fear.

She had completely lost track of time. It may have been hours since she had entered this forest to avoid the rain, but there was no way she could tell. The dirt underneath her hooves had turned to mud from the rainfall. Though she was not overly obsessed with keeping herself clean, she couldn't help but let out a small squeak every time her hooves stepped into a puddle of muddy ground.

Maybe it was time for her to give up. It would be even colder during the night, and her coat was so soaking wet that she would definitely catch a cold if she stayed here. The best option would be to make her way North-East towards the nearest village, but even that was extremely dangerous. It was at least two hours of walking, and there was no guarantee that she would be able to find her way. She was not completely lost yet, her compass was still hanging from her neck, attached by a string. She walked forward slowly as she valued her options, biting her lower lip as she calculated the best way out of this.

Then suddenly, her hoof made contact with something unfamiliar. It wasn't the leaves that had fallen from the trees, or the slimy mud that had stuck to her hooves. No, it was something solid, something hard and cold. She jumped backwards and screamed a little. In this forest, it could be anything. She panted as terrifying possibilities flashed before her eyes. Dead body? Skeleton? Zombies?

She perked up her ears and waited for something to happen, but there was nothing except the sound of a million tiny rain drops splashed against the branches, leaves and the ground. The forest was dead silent. She didn't smell any blood, she didn't hear anypony breathing other than her own, and there were no bloody hooves reaching for her neck.

She worked up her courage and stepped forward again, and she felt the same sensation with her hooves. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but she instinctively felt that it wasn't something natural. Somepony must have put this here. She put her weight on three of her hooves and stretched out the other one, moving it across the surface of the strange object. It was very smooth, and slippery even as the rainwater washed upon its surface. She moved in closer and examined whatever was right in front of her. The matches she brought had been soaked with water, and she had no other sources of light. However, the rain seemed to have gotten lighter, and the dim light that managed to pierce through the heavy leaves above had given her enough light to see clearly.

It was a simple tile carved out of stone. It was level with the ground around it, so she imagined some pony must have buried this here and left the surface uncovered. She looked to her left and right, and with some effort she made out the shape of a couple other similar rocks, all placed neatly one after another on the ground.

Her heart lit up as soon as she realized what this was. There was no doubt about it, this was a road. She couldn't see it from above because it was so heavily covered by the leaves on top of it, but it must lead to something, perhaps the mansion she had been searching for so long.

She stood in the middle of the road.  Lifting the compass up towards her face, she looked at it carefully. The little magnetic needle waved back and forth, before eventually standing still and pointing forward and slightly to the right.

So the right side leads to the village, thought Fiora. She turned her head towards the left and looked down the road. There were no signs of anything there, just a dark road leading into the mist raised by the rain. Fiora thought about delivering the mail first and then returning to the village for some rest, but a rumbling noise from her empty stomach reminded her that her body was already at its limit. She had no idea how much further she would have to go to reach the mansion, and the safest measure would be to head right and get some rest at the village first.

She made up her mind and walked towards the right. But just as she was about to turn her head, something caught her attention. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't have hallucinations, but it became even clearer than before. There was orange light coming from between the trees and the leaves. It was weak and faint, but it was definitely there. Fiora walked towards the light and tried to get a better look, but the light disappeared into the darkness of the forest as abruptly as it appeared.

There must be somepony there. Fiora imagined a pony walking down the road with a lamp on their back. She had been alone for so long that she got quite excited at the thought of finally finding somepony in this creepy forest. Before she had given her action much consideration, she had stepped onto the stone surfaced road and ran towards the direction where the light had come from, chasing after it.

The light seemed to be playing a game with her. One second it would appear that it was right around the corner, but as soon as Fiora caught up it would simply vanish and appear somewhere further away. One time the light was so close that she felt like it was no more than a few meters away, but with the blink of an eye it disappeared from right in front of her and reappeared far away down the road, taunting her as it slowly moved further away.

It wasn't natural, and Fiora felt like she was being played with, but she had no choice. Her body was worn out to the point where she couldn't even feel anything anymore. Her brain had gone numb with pain and exhaustion. Normally she would have stopped by now, suspecting a trap, but the only thought she could manage was to stumble towards the light that could mean safety, help, and company.

Then suddenly, with a little flick, the light vanished from her sight completely and Fiora was thrown into complete darkness. It was as if the only thing supporting her had snapped, and all the discomforting feeling rushed back into her body like an avalanche. Both her physical and mental strength were at their limits, and it was a miracle that she had not fallen to the ground and passed out. However, she could not work up the strength to start walking again.

And then something completely unexpected happened, so sudden that it felt unreal. Fiora felt everything around her lighting up. Was she dreaming? Or was she going insane? With the last bit of strength she had, Fiora lifted her eyes and looked forward.

The forest had opened up to reveal an open area. There were no trees right in front of her, but she wasn't facing an empty ground either. Standing in front of her was the mansion she had been searching for. She had pictured it to be simply a really big house, but this was way beyond her imagination. The impressive stairs leading up to the front door, the golden decals on the window and door frames were all carefully crafted and put into place. The perfectly aligned, well-lit windows with solid frames across the front of the house showered Fiora with warm, gentle orange light. This could easily be the royal residence in the center of Canterlot, and just looking at it made Fiora's heart melt.

She rested for a bit and smoothed her breathing before walking up towards the front door. As she got closer to the mansion, she realized that, while at first sight the mansion looked astonishing, it was actually quite broken down. The front door frame had gotten loose over what looked like years of usage and the windows which appeared crystal clear had a thick layer of dust stuck to the outside. The paint near the bottom of the walls had already been washed off, revealing the dark wood underneath. However, Fiora couldn't care less about the condition that the mansion was in. There was light inside, and that meant there must be ponies there, and Fiora hoped... no, she was sure that they wouldn't mind providing her with some food and shelter given all the trouble she went through to get this letter to them.

She ascended the stone stairs and stood at the main entrance to the house. The front door looked even more enormous that she had gotten closer to it. It looked slightly damaged, but it was still hanging gently on giant golden hinges. She took a deep breath and prepared herself. Even though she was desperate for their help, she still managed a swipe the graveness from her face and managed a smile before she approached the doors.

Knock knock knock.

She tried to be gentle, but the sound was surprising loud. It echoed outwards towards the dark forest, causing some birds to take flight.

Fiora waited for a couple seconds, but there was no answer. There were definitely ponies living here, or the lights wouldn't be on. Confused, she looked up to the windows, but they were all protected by closed orange curtains and she couldn't get a clear view inside.

She waited a bit longer and knocked again nervously. Oh please oh please let there be somepony who can help me, she thought, and that's when she heard hoof steps approaching the door from inside. Seconds later she heard the sound of the door being unlocked, and she stepped backwards as the pony inside slowly pushed one door open. Suddenly, an idea crossed her mind as she was about to come face to face with whoever opened this door for her, and the idea terrified her so much that the smile instantly disappeared from her face. What if all of this was just a trap to lure her in? What if the other pony was holding a knife behind his back and was ready to jump on her any moment? Did she even have enough strength to take flight and get out of here as soon as possible? She had just realized how rash her actions were, but it was already too late. Before she could think of a way, the door had opened.

The air rushing from inside of the house surrounded her and gave her warmth. With the gentle orange light, she got a clear view of the pony standing right in front of her. It wasn't a fat pony cannibal with bloody shirts and a butcher knife, or a vampire with long fangs coming out of his lips. In fact, he looked just like a normal earth pony.

Well, not exactly normal. He was wearing a very nice looking shirt that covered  his neck and chest, made of materials that Fiora had only seen among the richest of the ponies from Canterlot. He had a monocle for his left eye, hanging right on the tip of his nose. He also had a mustache that grew sideways from his upper lips, and there was a piece of white cloth folded neatly in a pocket right in front of his chest. His mane was quite long, but it was tied into a ponytail behind his head. He looked alerted at first, but as soon as he saw Fiora his face relaxed and he smiled.

"Hello Miss, how may I be at your service?"

His voice was steady, friendly and humble as if he was greeting an old friend, though Fiora was sure they had never met before. Fiora opened her mouth to reply, but suddenly the stallion let out a laugh.

"My apologies, where are my manners? Please, come on inside. This is no place to talk." He stepped aside and made room enough for Fiora to pass. Lifting his front hooves up, he gestured Fiora to come into the house.

Fiora hesitated, but only slightly. She accepted his hospitality and walked in. The stallion closed the door behind her with the gentle thud, and she was immediately greeted with warmth.

The inside of the house looked so glorious that it almost took her breath away. Though the outside of the house looked slight decrepit, the inside of the house was flawless. There was red carpet right under her hoofs outlined with black borders, and the smell of fresh flowers filled the air. Right in front of her was the most magnificent staircase she had ever seen. Decorated with curved handles carefully carved out of solid wood, it led up to the second floor and then split into two staircases leading left and right. In the middle of the stairs, there was an expensive-looking grandfather clock. There were hallways to her left and right, and her stomach made an embarrassing noise as she smelled something delicious coming from the left side.

Thankfully the stallion didn't notice. He was looking up at the staircase as if he was looking for somepony. "Tinkle! Could you bring us some tea please?" He said as somepony came around the corner.

"Of course!" Fiora only caught a glimpse of Tinkle before her tea-leaf green tail disappeared into the hallway upstairs. Fiora could not turn her mind away from the thought of what kind of food would be cooking in the kitchen, and she gulped to stop herself from drooling.

"Ah I have not yet introduced myself yet, have I? My my, we haven't had a guest for so long I have forgotten all my manners. Please do forgive me. My name is Mellow Winter, and I am the butler."

Fiora held out her hoof and he grabbed onto it with his own, giving it a firm shake. Feeling some blood returning to her pale face, Fiora replied, "A pleasure to meet you. My name is Fiora Flameheart."

Mellow let go of his hoof and he pointed towards a well-lit hallway, "This way, please." He started walking and Fiora followed him closely, actually afraid of getting lost in this mansion.

"So, what brought you all the way here?" Mellow asked casually.

"I came here to deliver a letter."

Mellow raised an eyebrow in surprise, "From where, if I may ask?"

"Ponyville."

"That's quite a long journey. You flew all the way here? In this weather?"

"Yes. I was told it was important." Fiora said so as she reached for the waterproof bag on her back and grabbed the little letter. She gave the letter to the Mellow, who looked at the envelope and put it into his chest pocket.

"Ah, it's for the Master. Thank you so very much for coming here. We have been expecting this letter for quite some time."

They reached what looked like a dining room. There was a long table in the center with several chairs surrounding it. There were several vases on the table as well, each one filled with fresh flowers, filling the room in a refreshing smell.

"Actually, why don't you join us for dinner? You must be exhausted."

Oh, how every cell inside Fiora had screamed at her to accept his kind offer, but Fiora had her own standards as well.

"Oh I am not sure... That would be so much trouble..."

"Not at all. Everypony would be delighted to have some guests once in a while. Please, do make yourself home."

From asking to insisting, it was as if Mellow could sense her resistance melting like butter in a hot oven. "In that case, thank you so much for your hospitality," Fiora replied.

Mellow gave a small, gentlecolt-like bow, "My pleasure. Now if you excuse me, I have some business to attend to. Please make yourself comfortable. Tinkle will bring some tea in just a moment."

Fiora smiled as Mellow turned and trotted away. She watched the butler disappearing down the hallway, and she settled down on a chair near the fireplace located at the far end of the table. She felt her life slowly returning to her as she stretched out her hooves towards the warm flames. She sighed in relief as the warm air slowly drained the water from her soaked coat and mane, and she finally felt like herself again. She rubbed her hooves together and felt an immediate surge of energy spreading throughout her body.

Looks like everything was going to be just fine, she thought as she laid back in the comfortable velvet chair, her mind and body both relaxing. She closed her eyes and enjoyed this moment.

"Just a quick nap. I will get going as soon as I had some rest." She thought as she felt the exhaustion taking control of her body. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep in the warm couch.