Love transcends the wall.

Another one gone today.

One came back, but i sorely wish that she had not...

She was broken, a husk of her former self, a shivering wreck.

I am thinking of abandoning the project.

Although i fear the wrath of my princess if i stop now...

- starswirl the bearded

She opened her eyes.

She looked at the room, she did not know where she was, she did not know know who she was.

she did not know.

a trickle of memories struck her, immense pain, a nightmarish dream, and her name. yes, her name, it was... Ethera.

she sat up with a look in her eyes of a frightened animal that was being hunted, "I have to find someone to help me." she thought to herself. she stood shakily and walked through the nearest doorway that she could see. for some reason she was silent when she walked, as if she had trained for years to walk as she did now. she did not know why, but that was not at the foremost of her thoughts at the time. her eyes had caught on the back of pink pony sitting rather dejectedly and scribbling on several pieces of paper, Ethera opened her mouth shakily, as if she might hurt herself doing so, and said rather shakily "h-h-hello?". the pink pony jumped and cursed silently for being startled. Ethera shied away, afraid that this pony may hurt her, and started whimpering in the corner. the pink pony looked at her with a mixture of confusion and pity. the pink pony asked for her name, and she told her quietly.

Cheerilee was bemused by the pony, and at the same time she was sad too. whatever this mare had gone through had obviously left her broken and scared, or it could just be that that was part of her personality; fluttershy was rather similar, if not so chronic as this. She worked out the best way to approach the mare, years of dealing with children hadn't just given Cheerilee a knack with injuries, she walked up to Ethera slowly and spoke softly to her, "Don't worry, i'm not angry at you. please don't be afraid.". the mare looked up and uncurled herself from the odd little ball she had unconsciously formed, "where am I?" Ethera asked in an uncertain voice, still not entirely trusting Cheerilee."why your in ponyville dear, where else did you think you would be?". Ethera looked at her in an unsure manner and stammered "I um, dont know." cheerilee was feeling rather confused by this whole situation, and invited the mare to a cup of coffee and a place to stay for the night. a thought had struck cheerilee's mind just awhile earlier: An impact that large? it was a miracle that this poor thing was not dead, let alone walking. it wasn't entirely out of the question that she was suffering from amnesia. the day wore on, and eventually the sun dipped below the horizon, an amber haze settling over the peaceful town; bathing Cheerilee's house on the outskirt's in a warm glow. Cheerilee decided to call it a day and go to bed. She retrieved a quilt from one of her cupboards and tried to make a comfortable place to sleep for Ethera. as she was fussing with it her new friend walked up and said gently how she would be fine on her own with it. Cheerilee blinked once and nodded, she left the mare to do as she wished, and went upstairs to go to bed.

what an odd day.

Ethera tossed and turned in her sleep, she was falling, forever falling. endless. the wind rushing past in her mane snagging on the odd rock or shard of glass, ripping strands clear out of the roots. she screamed wordlessly, it was if invisible hands were reaching into her mouth and snatching the sounds before they could be uttered. the tunnel was pitch-black and claustrophobic, a blast of heat hit her from below, searing her underside and making her flesh crawl beneath her skin, her cheeks were caked with tears and blood.

impact.

she sat up screaming blue murder, the room seemed to spin whilst she was looking at it, she slowly curled up into a ball and started crying and whimpering softly into the pillow that she had found. cheerilee rushed down the stairs tripping up at the last step and face-planting the ground, she looked as if she had hurt herself but Ethera couldn't fathom anything at this moment except the immeasurable torment that she had just suffered, she watched the pink pony get up and rush worriedly over to her, she looked almost as frightened. "goodness gracious, whatever was it that made you scream so loudly?" she exclaimed. Ethera looked up and said softly "The dream, it was so real." this was accompanied by an undertone of whimpering. Cheerilee looked worriedly at Ethera and asked if she would like to sleep at the foot of her bed instead, Ethera nodded slowly. she rose in a fragile manner and between them they dragged the bedding up the stairs and set it in the best way that they could in cheerilee's room. Ethera once again bade cheerilee goodnight and lowered herself onto the bedding. she was doubtful that she was going to be able to sleep again after that dream; the horror was still as fresh in her mind as if it had actually happened, it was as if she was being punished for some reason. why would anyone want to punish her? she thought to herself. "i'm just weak minded and fragile mare..." this time she said it aloud without really noticing, and cheerilee poked her head up over the bed."Now don't talk about yourself in that way. i'm sure your just ill, it wont last forever." she gave Ethera a reassuring smile and it was replicated, if a little less enthusiastically. they both knew that it wasn't true, it was just one of those awkward moments when neither pony was willing to admit it. either way it helped Ethera a little, and she drifted off into a light sleep. It wasn't perfect, but the nightmare did not return. at least not tonight.

The sun rose slowly, and having her house on a hill, cheerilee always caught the first rays of light before anyone else in ponyville, and on this particular morning the sky was perfectly devoid of any form of cloud and the rays of light trickled through the window carrying with it a soft buttery warmth that slowly crept up her bed. as she gently opened her eye's she yawned softly, it had been a sleepless night. recounting the events of the past day, her head started to spin a little. it was all so daunting. she crept out of bed and went to check on Ethera. the space was empty and the bedclothes neatly folded into a pile in the corner. she blinked, and trotted down the stairs. Ethera was at  the door talking to a mailpony. just as Cheerilee got to the foot of the stairs, the door shut and Ethera turned around with a mouthful of mail. "How are you this morning dear?" Cheerilee asked. "Mmmph." Ethera replied. Cheerilee chuckled softly and told Ethera that the mail was fine on the table in the kitchen. She went to stack up the wood in the fireplace and then noticed that it had already been done. she blinked with surprise and looked down, the floors had been dusted as well. she walked out to the kitchen and asked why Ethera had done all of these chores, Cheerilee simply got the answer that she hadn't slept well and that she owed it after letting her stay there for the night. cheerilee thanked her anyway, and insisted that made breakfast for them both. as per usual she went out to pick some flowers for sandwiches, and gasped in shock. all of the flowers had been blackened and scorched surrounding Ethera's impact site. she hadn't noticed it at first because of the severity of the situation. disgruntled but not beaten she retrieved her stock of dried flowers and made toast instead. she had allot to do today, she had to go and see twilight in her library, deliver the test papers to the board of pony education and, she sighed, buy some new flower seeds. she told this to Ethera then asked if she would be alright on her own for most of the day. She nodded enthusiastically, rather an improvement on the previous day, and with that Cheerilee gathered her stack of tests and set off on her trip into town. Ethera however did not plan on spending the day recuperating, she intended on going and making some new friends, and she new the perfect place to start.