The first sensation Autumn felt upon returning to the waking world was pain, overwhelming amounts of pain as lightning shot up and down her body. Any movement only seemed to bring more agony to her weakened body, so she stayed as still as possible while using her ears and nose to try and figure out where she was. It certainly wasn’t anywhere like back on the farm, that was for sure. The smells were unlike anything she had encountered before, and the bed she was lying on seemed to have been woven out of soft grass instead of being a pile of loose hay. There was a soft bubbling noise coming from the left, along with the crackle of a fire.

Curious as to where in Faust’s name she had ended up, Autumn opened her eyes and very slowly turned her head. The weak light served to help prevent any extra pain from her already tired mind but was enough to illuminate her surroundings as her gaze wondered around her temporary resting place.

There was no other way to describe her location than alien, because there was absolutely nothing in her field of view that was even remotely familiar, save for maybe the giant metal cauldron that was bubbling away in the center of the room over a bed of hot coals. Everything else was new, unusual, or both as her brain finally began operating at full capacity once again. There were vials and jars of various unidentifiable substances on the shelving around the room, along with what looked like a mixing station and several more shelves of what seemed to be potions of differing sorts. Intermixed between the vials and bottles were large masks made of wood, carved with fine detail and obviously well-kept. Yet the strangest thing about the place Autumn found herself in, was the room itself. The walls were marked with swirls and lines that reminded her of the inside of a tree once it had been cut down, and yet she couldn’t find any seams where boards had been pressed together. It was as if the entire building had been formed from a solid hunk of wood and then fitted with the windows and doorway as an afterthought.

Her inspection would have continued, had her attention not been grabbed by the sound of said door opening, her head spinning fast enough to cause a blinding headache but not fast enough to prevent her from seeing the flashes of gold in the dim light.

As Autumn’s eyes shut automatically in response to the blitz of pain that was pounding at the inside of her head, the only thing she could focus on was the fact that her captor wore gold, which meant they were a noble of some sort and that meant she wasn’t free. She was in some gryphon’s house and she was going to be sent back to the capital as soon as they figured out who she was. Her desperate bid for freedom had been for nothing, Morning Light’s death had been for nothing.

She hadn’t even realized she had been crying until a gentle hoof wiped the tears away, a warm, motherly voice shushing her softly as tender forelegs wrapped around her, “Shh, be still my child, you are safe here. I know you fear those who had chained you, but you are free, and far out of their reach.”

Autumn forced her eyes open, hoping against hope that the mare wasn’t just trying to make her feel better, although her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes widened in shock once she actually got a good look at her savior. Her mane and tail hung down close to the ground, the long strands held together by a duo of large gold beads, leaving only the left half of her face uncovered as her bright green eye watched Autumn carefully. There was more gold around the mare’s neck and right foreleg as well, the hoops hanging somewhat loosely but showing obvious care. And yet, the strangest thing about the mare, was that her coat wasn’t all one color. In fact, her whole body was covered in black and light grey stripes, including her mane and tail. Autumn had never seen anything like this mare before, and for some reason she got the feeling that she wasn’t a pony, at least not a regular earth pony like herself.

The mysterious creature smiled softly, her eye lighting up with amusement at Autumn’s obvious confusion, “My kind are rare in these lands, so I’m not surprised you don’t know what I am. My kind are referred to as zebras, and the land that we call home is very far away, beyond the horizon many times over and across the sea. I came to Equestria to learn more about the plants and creatures of the world, and to continue my training as a shaman, although it has not been an easy journey at times.” Her smile faltered for a second before her cheer returned, “But that is not a tale for today, right now we must focus on your recovery and what you plan to do after.”

Autumn followed the zebra’s gaze down and saw that a good portion of her body was covered in bandages. Her left hind leg was splinted and heavily wrapped in what seemed to be potion-soaked cloth, while her barrel was similarly damp from the slightly glowing blue liquid that dripped from the long strips of cotton. If felt strange, and yet she could practically feel the liquid helping to ease her aches and pains even as she lay there.

A single striped hoof was placed on the bed beside her, catching her attention and drawing it back to her host, “Rest now, we can talk more later once you have regained more of your strength. You have been through much, and it is only a fool who pushes the patience of Thanatos when treading near his domain.”

The last thing Autumn thought of as her eyes fluttered closed again, was who in the buck was Thanatos?

Autumn spent the next couple days learning from her new friend. The zebra shared many things with her in that time, from which plants were safe to eat to what parts of the forest to avoid. She learned that the place she had been carried into by the river was known as the Everfree and was home to many monsters that would make a quick meal out of her if she wasn’t careful. Any yet, Autumn flourished under Sihle’s tutelage, growing stronger from the healthy foods that had been denied to her for most of her life. That combined with her natural earth pony strength meant that there was little she couldn’t face in the forest without needing Sihle’s help. All and all, there was much to be learned from the zebra, although the mare’s belief in multiple guardian spirits grated on the back of Autumn’s mind from time to time.

Unfortunately, Autumn’s luck couldn’t hold out forever, and it was on one of her many solo journeys into the deeper parts of the forest that she ran into trouble. The first warning she received was the sudden silence that fell over the land around her, the second was the foul stench that filled the air as if she had stepped into a pile of rotting plants. The third and final warning was the ominous howl that pierced the sky as the rustling of bushes began to sound off from multiple directions.

Knowing what her pursuers were, and understanding fully that if they caught her it would mean her death, Autumn abandoned the pack that had been filled with mushrooms and other useful herbs, breaking into a sprint as she tried to find a place to hide. A single vial of volatile green liquid flew from her hoof and shattered onto the ground behind her, releasing a cloud of potent irritant that would hopefully slow the Timberwolves down long enough for her to escape. By the sounds of loud yips and cries, at least some of the pack had been caught in her trap, but the baying and snapping jaws at her tail told her she hadn’t gotten them all.

Her breath rushing in her lungs, her eyes wide with panic, Autumn raced for her life through the brush, only ducking into a nearby crevasse at the last second as she rounded a corner against a tall rocky cliff. She pushed herself deeper into the cramped space, hearing the wolves digging at the rock behind her with their claws in an attempt to get to her. Yet the stone held against their wooden appendages, rubbing against her flanks and biting into her fur as she pushed herself deeper into the gap.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Autumn managed to squeeze her way out of the narrow passage and into a larger cavern, illuminated from above by the sun as it forced its way through the trees and onto the rocky ground before her. The walls of the space were steep and smooth, worn away by years of rain until they were like the glass of her former master’s windows. Within the center of the space, its branches withered and dry from years of neglect, was a single bush that was seemingly barely holding on to the last feeble leaf that hung from its topmost stem.

Autumn looked for another way out of the grotto, but with the smooth sides and only the narrow crevasse behind her, there was no other way to escape her newfound haven. Autumn breathed a sigh of relief, only to freeze in terror as the sound of claws on stone reached her ears from above. Turning her attention back to the forest above the grotto, she spotted more of the Timberwolves slowly working their way over the edges of the walls, their claws digging into the rock as she heard more working at the exit behind her.

Trapped, she knew that in her heart as several of the wolves jumped from the cliffs and shattered upon the ground before her, slowly forming again as the magic that gave them life pulled the rotting bits of wood back into place. Her eyes closed on their own as she curled up into a ball, knowing that at any moment her life would be over. The howls of the wolves echoed around her as it bounced off of the stone walls that would become her grave, and so Autumn did the only thing left for her as she felt the hot breath of one of the monsters wash over her face.

“Please, take me unto thy embrace with honor and peace,” she prayed with all of her might as the wolf pressed her into the ground with one massive paw, its teeth scraping against her neck as it prepared to bite down and end her young life, “for I have nothing left to give to this world. Faust preserve my family and to protect my new friend Sihle as she carries on without me.”

Her mind at peace, her soul ready to join her friends in the Golden Fields, Autumn waited for the wolf to finish her off, but it was not to be. From out of nowhere, a wave of light erupted from in front of her, a wash of heat and hope running through her very soul as the wolves cried out in fear and pain. She could almost hear the wood around her crackling as she kept her eyes tightly closed, praying that whatever new monster this was made her death a quick and painless one. Yet after all was said and done, there was nothing, no sound, no foul scent of rot, nothing.

Autumn opened her eyes very slowly and beheld something that was beyond her imagination. For the bush that had rested in the center of the grotto, was no longer just a dried and withered husk. Flickering in soft dances of light, its colors almost too beautiful to describe, was a fire, somehow clinging to the branches of the old bush but not doing it any harm. Autumn slowly stood up, her hooves shaking from the fear that had been racing through her veins, and slowly turned around, preparing to leave this place and to never return. Yet something drew her gaze back to the flames, the impossible flames that burned without harming the bush, giving off light but no noticeable heat.

Overcome by curiosity, Autumn slowly stepped forward, her mind filled with awe as she carefully lifted a hoof to touch the mystic fire. It was comforting, almost tingling against her fur but causing absolutely no pain as it bent and wavered around her hoof. She pulled her leg back just to be sure she wasn’t imagining it, but her limb was unharmed. Autumn was tempted to try and take some of the flame back with her to show Sihle, but her thoughts were overridden as her ears picked up a soft sound on the edge of her hearing.

“Autumn.”

Her head spun as she tried to pinpoint the location of the voice, but it seemed to come from everywhere at once, a soft breeze washing over her mane and head every time it said her name.

“Autumn.”

Cautious, but sensing no danger from this new voice, Autumn carefully called out, turning to face the rock behind her as her ears swiveled back and forth, “Here I am.”

For a moment there was silence, but then the voice returned, clear and warm as it spoke in an almost ethereal quality, “Do not fear, my child, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. No monster can harm you here, so long as you have faith.”

Autumn slowly turned back to face the bush, the flames growing taller as she quietly asked, “Who are you?”

The flames flickered and danced as the mare’s voice echoed through the air, “I am, that I am.”

“I don’t understand.” Autumn took a hesitant step forward as she tried to figure out what was happening, “Please, tell me who you are.”

“I am the goddess that created this world.” The voice replied, “The one who the ponies have prayed to for untold centuries. The name I have given unto mortal kind by which to call me, is Faust.”

Author's Note

Well, here we go again, I finally got to updating this book and it was a pain to get right in my brain. Don't worry, we'll see much more of Sihle next time and further on into the story, I just really wanted to introduce the character that you all though had been added in last time. Say hello to Faust in all her glory, or at least how she chooses to be in this time and place. I was truly inspired by the scene of the burning bush from Dreamwork's Prince of Egypt, so if you've seen the movie you probably recognized some of the dialogue from the last bit of the chapter. Don't worry, I'm not going to make this book a copy of that movie, but it has been inspired by a lot of the meaning and power behind the tale of the Exodus. Although this book will not go down the same road, I just wanted to add in my two bits to one of history's oldest and most legendary stories. Also, Sihle's name means mercy or compassion in Zulu, so I thought it would be a nice little tidbit for those of us that are into those finer details.

Alright, now that we have that out of the way, I want to say thanks to my two amazing Patrons, WuBzY and Earthpatriot117 for supporting my works for the last several months. You can give Patriot a cookie for his efforts in getting me out of my writing slump, and I look forward to seeing your thoughts in the towel section below.

As always, I hope you all are enjoying the books that I work to bring to life, and I'll see you next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.