Heart pounding, he ran like the wind. Silent in the forest as if he was a specter passing through worlds. Behind him thudded the beast, as silent as his quarry. With a grunt, he leapt over fallen logs, vaulting over streams and banks of burbling clear water. Fish scattered as his footsteps caused massive ripples in nearby pools of water.
He could hear the beast's panting now. With a burst of adrenaline, he smiled carnally. A smile that stretched from ear to ear. The fatigue in his muscles left him as he redoubled his efforts, putting on an enormous burst of speed which rather than tire him, exhubarted him and refreshed him. He felt as if a veil previously cast had been lifted. Everything took on a brighter hue. The trees became greener, the water more crystalline and effulgent. The sun cast its light through the canopy, touching the trees and caressing the water and sending tendrils of sunlight skimming and glistening across the surface.
He couldn't care less however as he leaped into the air letting out a bellow of pure ecstasy. With an almost herculean effort, he reached out in mid-leap and latched onto a nearby vine and swing from one end of the river to the other. Below him rushed the white waters, they seethed and roared with a hundred watery voices. A certain doom awaiting his first and last mistake.
He however, didn't make mistakes. Using his mid-driff as a support, he forced his abdominal muscles to move his legs, gaining artificial momentum. With this system down, he swung from vine to vine, letting go at the apex of the swing only to latch onto a nearby seemingly innocent tendril of green poking from above the treeline canopy.
With a smile, he crossed the river, swinging, pulling, jumping. As soon as he was over dry land, he let go of his last vine and free-fell. Swinging his arms in a circular fashion in an attempt to cushion his fall. It was more an instinct though as he hit the forest floor hard and rolled.
Behind him, he heard a started yelp. Turning around, he smiled toothily as the beast touched the water's edge and jumped back, licking his lips with anxiety as he pawned the ground.
He put both hand to his ears, splayed his palms and blew a raspberry as he took off into the woodland.
He didn't get far however. Not even 10 feet in, he felt the temperature drop and a cold chill touched his exposed arms. For a moment, the vivacious green of the forest turned blue. It was as if some god had taken the world and reshaped it in their image. A tinge of winter-tainted purple light blazed across his eyes, turning his vision white for a moment. He had to stop to cover his exposed eyes. And as soon as he did, the winter light fled. Leaving only darkness.
He dared open his eyes, and sighed in frustration at what he saw. There, siting in front of him, was the monstrous grey beast. It's tongue waggled as it slapped its tail repeatedly into the soft spring earth, the tail making a soft whump as it's impact was absorbed.
With a happy bark, the beast descended upon him, holding him down with it's weight as it relentlessly licked the boy's face. For his part, the boy could do nothing but laugh, the beast's tongue tickled and sent him into an epileptic laughing fit. The beast itself barked it's happiness. It had one again.
After an unnamable amount of time had passed, the wolf got up and paddled the ground next to the boy who just laid there from exhaustion.
Another eternity passed as the boy simply sat looking up at the swaying treetops. Little dots of sun darted between the overlaying branches to cast light onto the denizens before.
With a devious smile, the boy finally got up. The beast who had been dozing, lifted his head, ears perked and eyeing the boy with curiosity.
With a victorious shout, the boy reached out and tapped the wolf as quick as lightning. The beast let out another startled yelp as it too jumped to it's feet. But by now the boy was off. Running.
But this time, his run was different from before. Instead of sprinting and thudding along the forest floor, he ran as silent as the wind. As deadly as the predator stalking his prey. As softly as the first snow's landing. But as quick as the raging rapids. It was a special type of run. He could slip into a world all his own when he did this.
He heard a distant howl. A long solemn note carried on the wind. And soon enough, he was joined by his companion. Now a moving black shadow against a stark white backdrop. Two shadows moving in the midwinter. For in the place they ran, time, nor reality mattered. Time ceased to matter and bowed to their whim. The earth itself slipped away as a physical force, now replaced by endless ground. All around them, the lush foliage had been replaced by snow laden trees and bushes. The earth gleamed with snow, snow everywhere.
The two moved, silent shadows amidst this backdrop, ducking, weaving, vaulting, sliding. They lost no pace running at the speed of a cheetah. Behind each was a trail of black that stretched as if it was a cape attached, fluttering in a non-existant breeze.
Eventually, the boy began to tire and lose his focus. In his eyes, the snow and silent forest seemed to melt away. His vision stretched for a moment before he finally gave into his body's screaming demand and he simply collapsed, rolling to a stop. The beast followed soon after, although he trotted to a stop.
The boy breathed heavily for a moment, his eyes closed as dark and white spots dotted his vision. He had overexerted himself. Every muscle in his body screamed and contracted. He breathed deeply for a few more minutes, willing his body to become silent. And it worked to some degree, the pain lessened until it was merely a nagging dull thudding. The beast let out one high pitched bark, obviously distressed. He smiled even with his eyes closed.
After a few more minutes. He lifted himself onto his right elbow. Opening his eyes, he held a hand against them, dark spots and dizziness still plagued him, but it was better than the feelings of utter nausea which had threatened to overwhelm him not a few moments ago.
After another moment, he opened his eyes again, and there sitting in front of him, like before, was the wolf. His companion.
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Zecora sat on her stick, balancing with practiced ease as he let herself go into the Place.
She had no name for the Place. For it was nameless and timeless. It was a place that existed, yet didn't exist all the same. It held a definite feeling of Here and Now, as well as Far away and Long ago. It held no physical form, but for her, it held a form all the same.
It was the very contradiction of nature. A place within the mind where nothing of the physical world held any value. Where nothing held reason. It was purity in the most pure sense.
In the physical world, a light breeze flushed through the forest, sending the leaves and trees swaying. In her metaphysical world, the same light breeze took the form of a tuft of light, snaking and looping in the air.
In her world, she sat underneath a massive mushroom tree. Birds chirped in the distance as different tufts of light glowed like illuminated dust motes. Gently swaying in the breeze or just floating. This place, this was the place where she could truly think. Where she could let her mind wander into any and everything. She could gaze into the future, unrestricted by a body. Her mind could fully form thoughts left half-finished as her thoughts, previously occupied by some trifle occurrence.
Here, her thoughts took on an..encompassing turn. Here was the place where she could see everything. She could see into her soul, she could hear the movement of ants as they scurried to and fro their food supplies and home. With her mind's eye. She could visualize them as they carried small particles of food in individual marching lines.
In a single word: she could see life. In the ways each animal or plant interacted with their prey or co-inhabitant. Like a venus fly-trap enclosing a fly lured in by its sweet nectar. Or a manticore as it skulked through the forest. She could hear the gnawing of the tics as they buried themselves in it's skin and sucked it's blood. She could feel the trees as they grew day by day. Becoming thicker and bigger.
It could not be explained. How can one even begin to explain it? It simply was. A doorway to the impossible. A key to enlightenment.
But as she sat there, she suddenly felt a very familiar surge of cold. Her metaphysical wonderland seemed to shudder and contort a bit. She stretched her mind's eye until she saw it: Snow capped forest. A chill and...peace. The calming effect of peace.
It was far. She could tell. It was far, but everyday she felt it grow nearer. But with this intrusion, her concentration was broken. And she sighed as she opened her eyes and hopped off the stick.
"Who could you be? My mysterious entity?" She wondered aloud. The sounds of forest were her only response as she clucked her tongue and headed back into her hut.
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Twilight sighed in frustation and exhaustion. Today's sorting day had been a complete and utter draining experience. The influx of books from Canterlot sent by Celestia after Twilight mentioned her impressive feat, that is to say, she finished almost all the books the library had.
And Celestia had sent twice it's volumes.
Twilight just sat, rooted to the spot by sheer, mind numbing exhaustion. Not only did she have to keep up the telekinesis spell all day as she found and correctly catalogued each and every book, but she had to cast warping spells all day to increase shelf space to hold the seemingly endless supply of books that floated around her. Even though these spells used individually weren't tiring, using in succession and right after one another was enough to tire even the most sturdy of magicians.
With a pained grunt, she shifted herself until she was sitting cross legged on the hardwood floor. Spike had left as soon as the books began flying. And he would be out the whole day, no doubt tending to Rarity.
With a sigh, Twilight slipped into the other place.
She had no name for it, as much as it infuriated the studious mare. It was simply there. The best she could come up with was a sudden shift in hormones allowing a release of Serotonin which flooded the neuro-transmitters with feelings of well being. But it was so much more than that. Infinitely more. She felt her mind take on a crystal like clarity previously forgotten against the haze of her exhausting chores. She could feel her senses heighten as she robbed herself of sight.
Some called it meditation. A practice of shutting down the body in favor of the mind. Others simply called it their happy place.
Twilight didn't really have a name for it, but if she did, it would most undoubtedly have been The Library.
For when she did. All the knowledge she had every taken into her self. All the books about History, Sciences, Maths, Philosophy, and a whole host of information.
It flooded back into her conscious. Everything locked in her sub-conscious for safe-keeping. It was marvelous.
Wave Theorems mixed with information about Crickets and their different frequencies used in their language. Chaos Mathematics mixed with Histories. The very nature of Chaos Theories, they granted her impossible insight to the minds of rulers gone by. And in this world, as information flooded her mind threatneing to overwhelm her. She found she was at her most....alive. She could switch her focus from philosophy to mathematics to the intricate workings of creatures and their various components. It was brilliant as two things worlds apart bridged impossible logic gaps to create understanding on deeper levels than fathomable.
One minute, Schrödinger's theory became insight into the very workings of her world. It existed, but it didn't exist. It was impossible as dictated by the laws of physics. But it existed all the same. Everything worked seamlessly in her mind. Without any petty thoughts to distract her, she was able to gaze into the very meaning of knowledge itself and gleam from it, how it worked in her life.
But as she thought and thought. A sudden feeling of magnitude and peace hit her. Hard. The world she had been building around herself. Envisioning, suddenly morphed. Her world was a simple library, but now, the giant oblate window at the back of the library which on most days, would let a ray of sunlight into the interior, instead let snow in.
She gasped suddenly as her concentration was broken. By this new found feeling of...inner peace. It felt as if everything was just. As if everything was in it's exact place. A feeling of...standing still for lack of a better word.
Pondering this, she opened her eyes. It had become late during her session, and her legs had fallen asleep. With a grunt she stood up and stretched, feeling the satisfying pull of muscle and bone moving back into it's correct position.
She decided to go pick up Spike from Rarity's, but not before taking a look at the massive window.
"What in the hay was that?" She wondered aloud, quickly shaking her head as she slid out of the treehouse. Leaving it in silence once more.
(A/N: Patience readers. All will be revealed as more chapters come.)