Chapter 1- Forest Strolls

Wembley stadium slowly emptied, the crowd still energized from the performance. A sea of ponies flowed out into the crisp night air. A multitude of colors and voices filled the air, as the lights from the stadium obscured the stars from sight. Chatter from fans and the clopping of hooves on pavement echoed through the night air. In crowd, the energy and excitement from the concert remained, not destined to peter out soon.

Two pegasi walked side-by-side, matching hoofstep for hoofstep. One pegasus was male with a red coat and an aqua blue mane. On his left flank, there was a mark depicting three horizontal lines of different lengths, each curling up into a spiral at the end. Said pegasus was happily grinning at a lime green mare with a curly pine-green mane. The green mare did not have a mark on her flank.

“Streak, that was incredible!” The lime green pegasus said. She was drunkenly happy and giggling, still excited from the concert.

“I told you it would be amazing.” The red stallion grinned, blushing slightly. “I’m glad you liked it, Prism.”

The pair walked and talked, heading towards a small, less-used entrance into the forest surrounding the stadium. The path was packed dirt, hemmed either side by grass and tree roots. Crickets chirped while birds chattered and leaves rustled in the background. Indistinct shapes flitted to and fro on the grassy forest floor; shadows from the moon played on the ground. The cobweb of shapes, when paired with the ambient music, made the pair feel at home. The wind blew a wide leaf onto the top of Streak’s muzzle, and he attempted to blow it off. The leaf lifted up into the air, only to settle back down onto his muzzle.

Prism chuckled at the red stallion and snuggled against him. She closed her deep blue eyes and leaned her head against the aqua-maned pegasus’s side. The steady thump of his heart could be heard, whereas her own was fluttering wildly. She acutely felt the way his coat rubbed against hers. It was warm, comfortable. It felt right.

As unbidden sounds escaped Prism’s lips, she realized that she was speaking.

“S-Streak.” At first it was a whisper. The red pegasus stopped, ears perked as if he had heard something. Prism’s nervousness intensified. He was listening!

“Streak...” Prism gulped. Speaking those words brought a warm sensation to Prism’s face, and her coat did nothing to hide the rose tinge emerging on her face. Prism licked her lips nervously, her heart throbbing in her chest. “ Streak, I—”

“Shh,” hushed the aqua-maned pegasus. He cocked his head, as though he had heard something. Streak stood stock-still, listening. His ears were standing erect, straining to pick out a single sound.“I think I hear something.”

The gentle breeze whispered through trees, leaves rustling in indistinct conversation. Night birds called to each other in the background, adding to the indistinct chatter of the nighttime forest.

“Hear what?” Prism looked at Streak, confused. “Can we keep going? It’s getting cold.”

“...Sure,” Streak said. “Let’s go.”

The pair resumed walking, keeping close for warmth and company. As they moved on, the trees seemed to become lighter and friendlier. Grass sprouted on the path. Things became... more natural.

As grass began to appear more frequently, the path came to a fork. Two signs aimed down either side of the junction, with the left-side sign pointing to ‘Chevauxshire.’ The one on the right was made out of old rusty metal, long since rendered illegible. The “path” it pointed down had been reclaimed by nature, plants and tree roots erupting out of what used to be concrete.

The the signpost was a divider, separating the gentle and friendly forest of the ponies and the harsh, dangerous wilds of the Everfree Forest.

“Isn’t this where we part?” Prism turned to Streak. The red pegasus ruffled his wings and ran a hoof through his aqua-colored mane.

“Actually, I have a different idea,” Streak began uncertainly.

Prism’s ears perked up as she wondered what the stallion might have in store.

“Umm... Well, I was thinking that you could, you know, stay with me for the night? I mean, there’s no school tomorrow, so I thought that—”

“I would love to!” Prism threw her hooves around Streak,

“Really?”

“Really.” Prism nuzzled the red stallion reassuringly.

In the forest, leaves rustled and twigs snapped. The sudden sounds startled the two pegasi, who each glanced cautiously at the forbidding forest.

“C’mon Prism, let’s go before we catch a chill.” He turned to go down the left-hand fork.

“Wait!”

“What?”

Prism turned towards the Everfree, ears up. She lifted a hoof as if to walk towards the Everfree, but paused, unsure.

“Prism, what is it?”

Seeming not to hear him, Prism peered into the depths of the forest. She tentatively took a couple steps down the overgrown path, as if she hadn’t quite made up her mind whether to go.

“Prism, what are you doing?” Streak called.

The mare opened her wings, committing to the forest path. She appeared to have forgotten Streak altogether. Prism took a running start and took flight down the disused forest path. After several moments’ hesitation, Streak galloped after the green mare.

Streak was shocked. Why was she doing this? This kind of thing was usually left to Streak, and Prism rarely approved of any of his investigations due to curiosity. Normally Streak would be curious about something and chase his curiosity, mystifying those around him and dragging Prism along for the ride. Of course when those events happened, both were in perfect health and able to fly. Also, the locations were, for the most part, safe, or easily escapable and easily accessible. None were the Everfree Forest.

The path into the Everfree was dark and treacherous. Roots threatened to trip up the running pegasus with every step, and broken concrete endangered his footing in the dark. The trees looked as if they were about to reach out and grab the pegasus, with their low-hanging branches and arched trunks. Something about the forest screamed at him; made him want to turn tail and flee. But he had to follow Prism.

Streak followed the bobbing pine-green tail down the ‘Ponyville’ path, careful not to get too far away. After a few exhausting minutes, Streak caught up with the dark green tail. Prism had stopped to wait for Streak at the outskirts of what seemed to be a ruined town.

The green mare had a wide grin on her face, her eyes lit up like a pegasus foal experiencing flight for the first time. She was clearly enjoying their escapade. “This way, I think I see something a bit further in.”

The couple made their way into the ruined town. Vines twisted up walls and into houses; trees grew through houses, destroying their infrastructure. Any remaining metal was unrecognizable from decades of moisture. Unable to bear the burden of time and nature, most of the houses in town had collapsed. The trees of the forest seemed to lean over the town as if trying to smother it. A great sadness hung over the ancient town, a feeling that subdued and silenced the ponies trekking through it. The feeling condensed as they got closer to a giant tree which looked oddly like a home. It was now wild, limbs and leaves making ferocious shapes on the ground. The upper boughs of the tree, which might have once been habitable, were twisted around into themselves. Thick roots erupted from the ground, churning the earth around them. At the base of the tree, a pony-height arched discolored section of wood suggested a door. Nestled in front of that was a pony. The pony’s dark coloration made it hard to see in the gloom, but there was strange, night-sky luminescence about it.

Streak was hesitant about picking up the pony. It could be a trap; it could be an illusion. A strange pony in the middle of a ruined town? To Streak, it seemed something out of a horror novel. In fact, the town seemed to be crying. It was like entering the room of a recently-deceased parent. One could still feel the presence of the person, could feel the memories residing in the room.

The pegasi cautiously approached the pony, watching for threats. Up close, the pony was revealed to be a unicorn mare with odd, blade-like wings folded at her sides. Her dark coat had the deep quality of the night sky, yet at the same time possessing an oddly radiant quality. Her mane was a tangle of nighttime purple splayed out around her head. It was as if she was deposited there.

“So…” Streak began quietly. His voice trembled, trying not to be too loud. It did, however, disturb the fog of inactivity that stifled the town. “What now?”

“We take her back,” Prism said simply.

“We what?” Streak said, surprised, even though he had no right to be. Whenever they went out on their ‘expeditions,’ Prism, without fail, wanted to bring home a souvenir. Except, they normally weren’t fully grown unicorns from the middle of the Everfree.

“We’re already out here; we may as well take her back when we leave,” Prism said, justifying her previous statement. “I’m not going to leave an unconscious pony on the ground in the middle of the Everfree.”

“But this is so sketchy. We walk into the Everfree on a whim, through mysterious ruins and find a pony next to a tree. How do you know this isn’t a trap? We can barely see! How do you know that somepony’s not trying to kill us or trap us in their spell? Have you read The Story of the Blanks? It could be like that! Somepony could-” Streak rambled, ears and eyes swiveling around as if trying to observe everything at once.

“Stop panicking. Your rambling isn’t helping at all.”

“But—”

“Come on, be positive. We’re almost done. Here, I have an idea.” Prism quietly stepped up to the pony and, taking a second to steel herself, slid her nose under the mare in an attempt to slide the mare onto her back. “Streak, help me.”

“Err, I don’t think that’s going to work.” Streak commented, eyes wide, surveying the situation.

In the end, Prism managed to load the unconscious unicorn onto Streak’s back, then slipped underneath to share the load. The two trudged carefully out of the Everfree, taking care to watch their step. Roots and stones were a hazard to the unicorn-laden pegasai, as well as the fragmented concrete path. At one point, the duo narrowly avoided tromping straight through a puddle of mud.

Once out of the forest, they set down the right-hand fork, trudging down the path home now laden with and unconscious unicorn. To the right, the Everfree forest fell away, giving way to fields dotted with trees. As time passed, a sign on the left appeared, welcoming them to “New Ponyville.” Leaving the hard-packed earth behind, the road became paved with impossibly close-fitting stone. Lights fitted into the sides of the road illuminated the night with a soft, natural light. A crescent moon sat bright in the sky, casting its own shadows on the the ground. In some places objects gained two shadows, whereas in other places the shadows pooled into deeper darkness.

At this point the road split in two; one road bypassed the town and headed to “Chevauxshire,” the other headed straight through town. New Ponyville was a rural and rustic place; a throwback to older times. Streetlights dotted the road, hemmed by quaint two-story houses. The wide streets and medley of colors lent a homely air, warming you like a lit fireplace. Streak, Prism and the unconscious pony they were carrying crept into New Ponyville, taking to the side streets as soon as possible. Heading towards the outskirts of won, they attempted to stay out of sight, grateful for the cover of night. Turning off the streets, they came to a house that at first glance seemed to be made out of a large tree. Instead of leaves, however, the foliage and upper branches were made of cloud.

Streak and Prism stumbled up to the front door with their unconscious companion. Prism nosed the door, and it swung open revealing the unlit interior. The pair stepped in, Prism flicking the light on with her tail. Panting heavily, they let the dark violet unicorn slide off their backs and onto the floor. Freed from their burden, both ponies promptly collapsed on the floor; the full toll of their effort had finally set in. The two exhausted pegasai fell into an exhausted silence.

“...Well, should we put the unicorn on the couch?” Streak’s voice echoed loudly around the room. Prism hauled herself to her hooves, and helped Streak up.

The pair wearily shuffled over to the unconscious mare. Streak put his muzzle against her side and pushed, rolling the mare slightly.

“Streak stop trying to roll her, and help me lift her onto our backs one more time.” Prism said, lying down next to the unicorn.

Streak lifted the unicorn across Prism, who stood up on shaky legs and quickly slid next to Prism to share the weight. Together, they stepped across the room, putting one hoof in front of the other, towards the couch. Streak kneeled some, and the unicorn slid off pegasai’s back and onto the couch.

Streak yawned. It was late, and he was exhausted. After an exciting concert with floor tickets, getting out near midnight, trekking through the Everfree and carrying an unconscious unicorn, Streak was good and ready for some shut-eye. Currently, he could barely keep his eyes open. “Are you as tired as I am?”

“Yeah. Where’s your bed again?”

“Upstairs,” Streak sighed. “…Stupid injuries.”

“What now?”

“I injured my wing in practice,” Streak answered, “So now, I actually have to walk up the stairs.”

Prism poked the belligerent stallion in the side. “So hurry up and get to it. The faster you get upstairs, the faster you can get to bed.”

Streak didn’t budge.

“Okay then. You want to do this the hard way? Let’s do this the hard way.”

~_~_~_~

"This is echo unit, reporting in," A slate-grey pony in full military armor said. He was standing among a group of similarly-dresses ponies, gazing pensively into the dark of a forbidding forest. "We have arrived at area code 'Black Hole.' Waiting for permission to enter."

"Echo unit, you are cleared for entrance. You have authorization to use all necessary force. Over." The response buzzed through the comm in his ear.

"You heard the commander. Move out!" Raising their weapons, the six ponies cautiously advanced into the haunting woods. “Be on your guard. We're facing an unknown threat."

Twigs snapped and leaves rustled as the army ponies tromped through the forest. Lightning flashed. At the following crack of thunder, a few of the ponies started.

A brick-red pony spoke up. "What are y'all jumpin fer? 'S just some thunder. Nothin more."

"That ain't just thunder. That's some kinda voice, man. I'm tellin ya." A burnt yellow-coated pony was the one who responded.

"Psssht. Ya'll r just scaredy-ponies.’Specially you, marshmallow," The red pony was speaking again.

"Don’t fuckin’ call me ‘marshmallow,’ you country hick." The burnt yellow pony stopped and faced the brick-colored earth pony.

"Butters, are ya askin’ fo an asswoopin?" The large brick-colored earth pony advanced on the smaller, burnt yellow pegasus. "Cuz Ah'll gladly give ya one. It don't matter if yer a winger or not, Ah'll still beat 'cha."

Butters launched himself at the brick pony, and found himself surrounded in a grey magical aura.

"Ha, yer—" The brick pony began to taunt Butters, only to find his mouth sealed shut and his hooves magnetized to the ground by that same grey aura.

"Just because I'm the new squad leader doesn't mean you can fight on my watch. I will not hesitate to anchor you both to the ground within a hoof's reach of each other and leave you here. Now, shut the fuck up and let the grown ponies handle their business. Capicé?" The slate unicorn watched with satisfaction as both ponies shut up and went to opposite sides of the group.

At that moment, a green unicorn, who had been looking around, noticed something. Addressing the grey unicorn, she stated her observation. "Uh, Sir? Where's Gaz?"

The five looked around for their sixth. Suddenly, the darkness of the Everfree seemed much more sinister.

The grey unicorn swore. "Activate night vision," he spoke into his helmet. A moment later, a light green glow enveloped his eyes. The night vision illuminated the forest, showing vibrant colors, as if the sun actually shone in the Everfree. "Squad, activate night vision. We don't know what we're dealing with. I don't plan on losing another team to this damned forest."

“What do you mean, ‘another team?’” The green unicorn spoke up, curious. “I thought you were new?”

“New to this squad,” the slate unicorn said flatly.

“Do you mean that you’ve led other Everfree Squads?” the green unicorn asked. Upon receiving no response from the captain, she tried again. “Captain, have—”

“Jade, don’t pursue that line of inquiry.,” the captain said harshly. “You’re our engineer. You don’t need to know this.”

“Yes, sir.” Jade muttered, reluctantly abandoning her query.

“Capn, where’d that brick-lookin’ hick go off to?” Butters asked, a tremble in his voice.

“Watch your language.” A white earth pony spoke up.

“Squad, halt.” The grey unicorn called. “I need to take roll.”

The three remaining ponies stopped and waited for their captain to take stock.

“We’re missing Brick, too.” The captain swore under his breath. “Everybody, watch out for each other. “Code ‘Angel.’”

“Son, what’s happenin? Ponies be dissapearin!” Butters began to freak. “I mean, first it was—”

“Shut. Up.” The white earth pony glared at Butters. “Your accent hurts my ears.”

“Both of you, shut up and listen.” The grey unicorn was squinting, trying to make something out in the distance. There was something new, something different. At the moment, the squad was passing through a small town which had been overtaken by the Everfree. But what was new wasn’t the town itself. The town had been there. It was old, in ruin and decay. What was new was the atmosphere. It had changed. For the colder.

“Jade, scan for magical anomalies.”

“Sir?” The white pony spoke up hesitantly.

“What?”

“ Jade isn’t here.” The white pony’s gaze was magnetized to the ground, hoping to avoid being the target of his captain’s wrath.

The grey unicorn let loose a string of swears. “This isn’t working. Use three-pony strategy five. Keep your eyes open, ears up and stay close.”

Two ponies lined up in two-thirds of a three-pony formation; there was no pegasus. The grey unicorn and white earth pony shared a glance when they realised that the pegasus was missing.

At this point, they were near the outskirts of town. They spotted a tree which might once have been a homely cottage. From the surrounding ruin of birdfeeders,what seemed to have been a chicken coop and the way vines and plants grew with the former home, it seemed as if the resident had been intimately connected with nature.

The pair walked in silence through wide avenues bordered with dilapidated and collapsed houses being taken over by plants and vines of all sorts.

The grey unicorn looked at the white earth pony. “We’re going to die here. You know that?”

“Seeing the way things are going now, probably.” The white earth pony didn’t look at the captain.

“We’re here.” The two stopped in front a building that seemed like it had been a town hall or something of the sort. It was a tangled mess of rotting wood, decayed than most other buildings in town. Although… There was a strange quality about it. The ruins possessed an almost crystalline appearance. The two ponies shivered. The grey unicorn’s ears swiveled, receiving a faint sucking noise. His eyes widened. The unicorn’s horn lit up and a grey aura blinked into existence around each pony’s hooves, securing them to the ground. A moment later, the space above the rubble imploded, condensing into a single point of white. Pausing for just a moment, the singularity pulsed outward in freezing waves, pervading the air with a subzero chill.

The two ponies got up and faced the tornado of freezing energies that now swirled above the town center’s ruins.

“This is it! Time to get the job done,” shouted the captain. He levitated a small black box, with caution stripes lining the edges, out of his pack. “Set the trap!”

The white earth pony fired his gun, an orange stream blasting from the nozzle. The stream wrapped around the energy, chaining it down. The unicorn sild the black box under the vortex of energies. The lid slid open, revealing a radiant rose-tinted light. The light affected the white vortex, causing it to be sucked into the box.

The containment stream cut off suddenly, causing the captain to glance towards the white earth pony. The white pony was gasping for air, blood running off of an icicle protruding from his neck.

No longer contained, the swirling white energies hovered over the trap. Rendered inactive, the trap itself became encrusted with the ice encroaching the area.

A clinking sound echoed throughout the area. With a start, the grey unicorn realized that the energy was… laughing. The energy field was laughing at him. The damned energy field was laughing at him! The grey unicorn shivered. The temperature had dropped to subarctic levels.

“Stupid ponies. You cannot contain the cold. Nor can you defeat it. It will always be there.” The voice was cold and logical.

They grey unicorn began to take steps back, intending to flee.

“You cannot run from a chill. And yet you try.” The blizzard expanded, consuming the heart of the town. Blind, enveloped in the vast expanses of snow, he fled. But no matter how far he ran, the blizzard surrounded him, obscuring his vision. Running until he could run no more, the idea of sleep became more and more appealing. Why run from something inescapable when sleep was an option? All of his instincts warred against this urge... this tiredness. But why? What was there to fear? Maybe he could just take a nap. Yes, he would have a short nap. That was all. Just a few minutes. Just a few...

The world faded into nothing.

Author's Note

Second edit. A large thanks to MikhailWilson for helping me with it.