Crack!
Flash!
Snap!
The very earth trembled as the wintery night was disturbed by a sudden shock wave, sending magical energy in all directions. The forest trees shook and the snow itself rumbled. From the silence grew a thundering boom that rolled across the landscape. From the darkness of the night, a sudden flash of light. From the snow, life.
First a breath and then a blink as a snow pony, left undisturbed since its construction, breathed its first breaths and made its first movements. A quick turn of the head. A few hesitant steps. What was this feeling, this new sensation of life and vitality? The snow pony did not know this feeling. It... He, had never known anything, for in the past he had been nothing, nothing significant that is. He had been only a snow pony, the construct of a child's creativity given form. Now though? Now he was alive. Now he had significance.
And so the snow pony found himself alone and in the forest. How he had come to be, he did not know. Who had built him? What had brought him to life? What was his purpose? He knew none of the answers to these questions, but a raging curiosity from within compelled him to move forward into the night.
He observed his surroundings. A forest, no doubt. In the night, he could just make out the outlines of endless rows of trees, none of which bore any leaves. Instead, their branches were burdened by the buildup of snow, a pure white substance that also covered the ground.
The snow pony continued onward, not at all minding the cold of the howling wind. In the silent and lonely forest, the songs of nature were a welcome comfort. But the snow pony was not alone. In the dark, something new emerged. A light, just over the hill.
In a feeling that the snow pony could not explain, he was drawn toward it, to see what this light was. In his entire life, he had known only darkness. As he came over the hill, he was met by the sight of an absolute mess. In the forest, what remained of a small cabin rested snuggly between a few splintery tree trunks, overlooking a frozen over lake. The cabin bad been blown to bits, being little more than a husk of its former glory. All around, bits and pieces of the cabin's materials laid on the ground, having been thrown apart by what had surely been an awesome blast. Entire fallen trees littered the ground, the ones that were on fire melting the snow around them and casting the whole scene in an eerie light.
As the snow pony continued he found that the heat of the flames brought only pain and avoided them at all costs, exploring only the areas that were not engulfed. That is when he found the first pony, or at least most of one. The unknown pony laid perfectly still in the snow, a great deal of red liquid flowing from his body.
"Hello," the snow pony greeted, sitting down next to the corpse.
The corpse did not reply, instead favoring the silence.
The snow pony gave the corpse a confused look, not yet understanding why it would not talk. Had the snow pony done something wrong? Had his greeting offended the pony in some way? He found a second and a third. They too were silent, the same red fluid present on their bodies. Surely, this meant something. He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as the sound of somepony in the night met his ears.
From the wreckage of the cabin, a single pony dragged himself through the snow, leaving a long red streak as he went. He grunted in pain as he struggled to move. Rolling over, looking down to see a multitude of large splinters sticking out from his body at every angle. Further down, he was missing a leg.
"Hello," a voice came from behind.
"What in the...?" the pony answered, staring blankly.
The pony of snow simply tilted his head, staring down at the injured pony.
The robed pony looked to the snow pony and back to the cabin that was now a smoldering wreck. Then he looked back to the snow pony. He could see it, the dark magics setting into the sentient snow, a slight blue glow coming from the snow pony's chest as his frozen heart pumped magic through his body. He could see all of it.
He laughed. "I cant believe it. All that time. All that preparation and this is what we get? What a waste of souls."
The snow pony looked confused, not understanding the strange pony's words. Souls? What were those? How had they been wasted? He suddenly had many questions, but before he could ask them, the robed pony did something he did not expect.
With the last of his strength, he grabbed at a long piece of splintered wood that protruded from his abdomen. "I'll see you all in the dark realm." He pulled on the splinter, a rush of red spilling out of him as the object left his body. He laid his head back on the ground. "Hail..." He didnt finish, taking his last breath as the words left his mouth.
"What is pony doing?"
There was no answer.
"Hello?"
The snow pony simply sat and stared, frowning at the pony who would no longer answer him. Nopony would it seemed. At that time, he would find another three ponies, each in their own bloodied and mangled condition. The snow pony took note of this. "Red fluids bad if on outside," he thought. "Make ponies quiet. Red should be kept inside."
With nothing left for the snow pony here, he moved on. Taking his leave, he left the scene behind and ventured back out into the forest, away from the fires that burned when he got near and away from the silent ponies who had no interest in him. If the silent ponies would not talk, then perhaps someone else would.
The snow pony found it hard to believe that no one in the entire forest would talk to him. Surely there were some who had a voice. The snow pony made this his mission. Find somepony to talk to, somepony that he could call friend. It would be a lonely existence otherwise.
Suddenly, the Snow Pony came to the edge of the forest where a seemingly endless expanse of white planes laid before him. Here, he was faced with a dilemma. Should he stay in the forest or leave? Ponies in the forest had already proven to be less than conversational, not to mention the fires. Surely there were ponies outside the forest, ones who could talk.
And so, the snow pony left behind everything he had ever known. He bid farewell to the trees and ventured forth on a new road into the unknown.
Author's Note
I might do more with this character eventually. At this point in the story, Snow Pony does not yet have his scarf, hat, or carrot that you see in the cover art. I might do a sequel where he gets those. I'll have to come up with some sort of plot though. It would be boring otherwise.
For now though, this is just a little something I felt like writing for fun.
