Winter Blue

by IgnitedSage

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Flurry Heart, Human, Sweetie Belle, Original Character, Science Fiction, Profanity, Adventure, Shining Armor, Violence
Length: 5781

Sweetie Belle finds herself lost in a winter landscape and stumbles upon a secret cave. Here she meets the remains of a lost civilization from a mysterious species whose custodian wants to give her a unique deal that will change everything.

Sweetie Belle just had the best winter vacation in the Crystal Empire. She got to meet her colleagues from International Magic University, spent a day with Flurry Heart, and have a blast with all the festivals. But all good things have to come to an end and it was time for Sweetie Belle to return home for the holidays. But then things took a wrong turn.

After missing a train, Sweetie Belle was left stranded in the middle of a winter wasteland, the nearest town miles away. Freezing, Sweetie Belle tries to find shelter or help. Only to be nearly killed by a yeti beast. Only through sheer luck did Sweetie Belle manage to escape by jumping into a small hole in the ground. This secret tunnel led to a lost cave in which a mysterious being resided. This creature is the custodian of a long, lost race.

After securing her a shelter, this custodian offered Sweetie Belle a deal into learning about the magic of his lost master from beyond the stars. Sweetie Belle is hesitant. Such magic would be interesting but it is being kept from her from this mysterious being. But as Sweetie Belle debates, a new threat is emerging. Something that might put all of Equestria in danger. Soon, Sweetie Belle will have to make a choice. And that choice might have a price she will have to pay.

Set in the same universe as Autumn Scarlet but not a direct sequel. So, you can read this one first if you like.
Happy First Day of Winter!

Published 2020-12-21 23:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-12-21 23:00:00 UTC

Chapter 1: Magic

It occurred to her that there is one thing that she should keep in mind and that is that time will always move forward, no matter what.

The horizon was only a faint lavender, the sun had long since been swallowed by the horizon on the west. The full moon barely making it above the horizon on the east. In the south was home, a place where she can relax, spend much needed time with her family, and enjoy a nice, hot meal. Yet in the north, however, there is nothing here except the frigid darkness of unbearable winds and the harsh land of ice and snow. It is no wonder few ponies ever come up this far in the numerous journeys to the north and the Crystal Empire. Without the warmth of the sun and protection from the winds, this region is nothing but a barren wasteland that will bring you closer to the edge of death if you are not prepared. Unfortunately, it seems Sweetie Belle has found herself lost in this hostile environment with no escape appearing on the horizon anytime soon.

The snow crumbled softly as the unicorn trudged against the fierce weather, her face wincey frequently as icy gusts kept whipping at her skin. Her fur coat along with her other winter gear such as a thick winter jacket, a wool scarf, and large rubber boots could only do so much in this type of climate. No ponies were meant to be in this type of weather. Even the bravest and toughest pegasi would hesitate to fly through a wild storm like this. It is almost like having to walk across a raging inferno with nothing to protect you from the flames. Almost but also the complete opposite. Either way, Sweetie Belle was in danger. She had to find shelter and quick. Unless she wants to find out what it is like to freeze to death.

This is what you get for missing your train, you moron, Sweetie Belle thought grimly.

The journey to the Crystal Empire was alright. There were no delays or mishaps. The whole trip ran smoothly. Once she got to her destination, did Sweetie Belle have the time of her life. She squealed with joy when she found out she was going on a trip to the Crystal Empire. She had been looking forward to the trip for months. She met up with a couple of her former colleagues from the International Magic University, participated in a worldwide magic experiment, and spent a day with Flurry, who knew all the best places to experience in the Empire. It also helps that Sweetie Belle had connections with all the parties involved. It gave Sweetie Belle the insider knowledge of coming events and such. She knew this winter break would be a blast. She had planned for it to be that way. Between the festivals, the global relations, and the fabulous events, The Crystal Empire was a paradise amongst the Lands of the North. But like all good things, it had to come to an end.

After several tearful goodbyes, Sweetie Belle packed her bags and began the trip home. It didn’t take long for things to go wrong. First, she nearly missed her first train. In fact, she had to skip breakfast in order to make it. Then during her trip, she finished the book she took with her and didn’t have any back-up books. So, she was bored for the rest of the afternoon. Once they reached a small stop in a town called Frost’s Falls, Sweetie Belle had to wait there for the layover until the next train to Ponyville arrived. Being bored and restless, Sweetie Belle decided to explore the town. It was during her explorations that she realized that for some unknown reason, the train station was miles away from the outskirts of town and she couldn’t actually walk to the town within a reasonable amount of time. By the time she went to correct her mistake and doubled back, she missed the last train to Ponyville. With no choice and a pocket full of bits left, Sweetie Belle planned to just spend the night at a small inn. Just one problem though. Sweetie Belle managed to get lost on her trip to the town and is now wandering the frozen lands with no direction to safety.

The icy wind cut through her skin as a powerful gust nearly knocked her down. Sweetie Belle shielded her face from the worst of the coldness. It was unbearable. Sweetie Belle looked across the white ground for any shelter. Alas, it looks like everything around her was completely barren. Sweetie Belle let out a growl of frustration. She tried to facehoof but ended up falling flat on her face. The snow covered her vision for a moment before Sweetie Belle lifted her face up and cough out a mouthful of snow. Shaking the rest off, Sweetie Belle spotted something in the distance from the corner of her eye. A figure was running to her. Help! Sweetie Belle suddenly felt how cold her body had gotten. Her entire body was becoming so...numb.

The realization hit her. She could be dying! Sweetie Belle jumped out of the snow and with all her strength began to yell at the top of her lungs.

“Hey! Over here!” Sweetie Belle shouted over the winds.

The figure kept coming. It looks like there were no signs of it stopping either. Sweetie Belle smiled and felt some relief. The last thing she wanted was to die from the cold. Yet that figure looked strange. It shouldn’t matter. It is just somepony coming to help. Somepony who is very tall. And bipedal? A pony with sharp fangs and claws…

The smile faded quickly from Sweetie Belle’s face. The figure that was heading straight for her was not a pony. It was a large yeti beast!

“OH, F-”

Sweetie Belle didn’t have time to finish her swear for the beast let out a roar that echoed across the field before it closed the gap between them in a ferocious sprint. Sweetie Belle had only moments to react. She charged up a quick offensive spell to her horn. The light briefly lit up the sky. Then she released it. She didn’t aim for the yeti but rather the ground beneath her. The blast had enough momentum to fling Sweetie Belle into the air. The yeti blindly swipe but all it got was bits of snow. While she was in midair, Sweetie Belle focuses quickly on a small teleportation spell that was able to carry her a couple of yards away. She landed roughly on a slope of snow, tumbling slightly. Sweetie Belle looked back to see that she gained some amount of distance between herself and the yeti.

“Ha!” Sweetie Belle cried out in victory. “Thought you could stop me?”

The yeti let out another roar before it began charging towards Sweetie Belle again.

“Damn it!” Sweetie Belle turned and galloped at full speed. She takes it back. She rather died from the cold than get mauled by a vicious predator.

A minute in and Sweetie Belle knew it was no use. The snow was too thick and heavy. Her four legs were not made for this kind of terrain. The yeti was highly adaptive for the snow and was easily able to keep up with her. The beast was hungry and it wanted food now. Sweetie Belle was just the unlucky target. She had no choice but to stand her ground and hope she can subdue the creature. Sweetie Belle pushed on her forelegs and turn her body around.

The yeti was nearly upon her. Sweetie Belle began to back away and charge her magic. The yeti took a swipe but it wasn’t close enough. Sweetie Belle took aim. The beast lifts a large claw, ready to take Sweetie Belle’s head off. Sweetie Belle backed away at the fastest speed she could. The yeti lunged. Its claw coming down at full strength. Sweetie Belle let out a battle cry before she unleashed her magic blast. The unstable beam exploded before it could reach the target but Sweetie Belle was prepared for that. She reinforced the blast with a small shield spell that was able to use the force of the blast right back at the yeti. In a brief moment, a flash of green flames erupted between them. Then a shockwave erupted, jolting the cold air with an enormous force. Sweetie Belle was knocked back, her hooves sliding across the icy ground and snow. The yeti let out a painful wail as it was flung back too.

Sweetie Belle recovered first. Her bottom lip was bleeding along with a cut on her eyebrow. Her blood dripped across the virgin snow next to her as she spits out a glob of saliva and blood from her mouth. Meanwhile, the yeti rose up, stumbling a little. It took most of the blast and it was definitely worse off. Among the various cuts, the yeti was also bleeding from a stump which was in the place of where its right arm once was. The creature realized it was missing an appendage once it fully stood up. It was a small second of silence and then the creature let out a tenfold clamor of rage that shook the heavens and the earth. Sweetie Belle remained unafraid and smiled smugly.

“Looks like you have been disarmed, bitch,” Sweetie Belle whispered.

Any normal creature would have fled but the yeti instead charged with all it might. Sweetie Belle prepared for one last blast that could kill them both. She began to charge her horn up. Then the ground shook. Both beings stop moving. Then cracks appeared across the ground. Small holes open up. Snow began to slide off. Sweetie Belle realized that her explosion was triggering a small avalanche. She spotted an opening to a cave and went for it.

She jumped into the hole and not a moment too soon. Just as she went past the threshold, the yeti swiped its claws at the entrance. Sweetie Belle was too small and fast for the beast in the cave. She was able to slip in and slide down the various caverns to get her enough distance from the monster and the outside.

After various twists and turns in the labyrinth of ice, Sweetie Belle came across a large, open cavern with nearly the entire surfaces covered in a thick layer of ice and snow. It was stunningly beautiful. And bright. A source of light seems to be emitting from certain spots in the wall. Glow Gems? She would have to investigate further. It was clear however that this cave was not a natural formation. There had to be something that built it. Unless there was an undiscovered glowing plant that grew strategically in the right location.

“Hello?” Sweetie Belle called out. “Anypony here?”

For a moment, nothing happened. Sweetie Belle was about to shrug her shoulders and begin to look for a place to get warm until the morning. She made a step in the direction that led deeper into the cave when a low bong was emitted from the floor cave. The sound echoed up through the walls and into the ceiling. Sweetie Belle freeze in place. Her head swirled to the ceiling where various icicles were hanging right above her. Another bong was emitted out from below, the haunting note clinging to the air. Sweetie Belle felt her ears folded back towards her head. She didn’t like this sound. It sounded like a gong was being hit in the deepest part of the ocean.

Sweetie Belle started to make her way out of this cavern when a flash of bright light burst out from across the room. It temporarily blinded Sweetie Belle who stumbled and fell into a pile of snow. The air suddenly felt like it was being charged with energy. Like a powerful spell was being cast. Sweetie Belle quickly leaped back to her hooves. She concentrated on her horn and began to prepare a shield spell. It was unwise to be vulnerable to any magic spells, friend or foe. It was especially dangerous if you can’t see your opponent.

She was about to release her spell when she felt herself being picked up off the ground. A telekinesis spell! It was strong enough to pick her up! It must be dangerous. Sweetie Belle was about to unleash a counterspell when she was released and thrown across the air. She landed again into a pile of snow, only this time a hundred yards from where she was.

Sweetie Belle felt her vision returned to her. Everything was blurry but she noticed movement in front of her face. It was clear that she was not alone anymore. On instinct, she began to fire multiple magic bolts in the general direction but there was no avail. Whatever it was, it was moving closer. That leaves the other option. Run! Sweetie Belle made a move towards the ice maze but slipped back into the snowbank. She is really beginning to hate the snow.

“DO NOT BE AFRAID!” A voice thundered from everywhere.

The sheer volume was enough to startle Sweetie Belle off the snow pile. She looked up just as a bright figure came upon her. It was a figure like nothing she had ever seen before. The body was two fiery wheels with multiple eyes embedded on the surface. Five wings were attached to each wheel, a single one dwarfing an entire pegasi's wingspan. A glowing orb of fire resided in the middle of the two rings. The mere sight of this being was enough to shatter any bravery or sanity that Sweetie Belle had left.

There was only one thing she could do. She screamed.

Sweetie Belle became a mass of flailing limbs and snow plastered fur as she tried her best to put as much distance between herself and the fiery abomination. It didn’t really work well. Sweetie Belle just ended up moving about a foot or two. In the end, however, it wasn’t necessary. The figure suddenly disappeared with a pop. It was replaced by a smaller, blue ball of light that had four translucent, crystal wings that fluttered briskly.

“Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,” a gentler voice said. “I didn’t mean to frighten you that much. It was just a defense mechanism I had constructed and-”

The being in question realized that Sweetie Belle hadn’t stopped screaming or trying to escape from the cavern. The blue ball allowed this for about a minute before it let out a flash of magic and teleported Sweetie Belle out of the snow pile and onto a sheet of ice a few meters to the right. Sweetie Belle felt the shock of teleportation upon her suddenly and then felt herself collapsing on top of an icy surface. Both sensations were enough to cut off her screaming and movement.

The unicorn lay down spread eagle on top of the frozen floor for a few moments. When she looked up, she saw the glowing orb of light hovering above her. It took a while for her eyes to refocus but when they did, Sweetie Belle was taken aback. A sensation of confusion came upon her as she looked up to the glowing creature. It wasn’t like any creature she came across in her life or that was in the National Archives.

“Who...What are you?” Sweetie Belle asked, hesitating to touch it with her front right hoof up. “You looked like a parasprite but then you are glowing and have a larger shape. Plus you have no face or eyes. You don’t look like any creature in Equestria.”

Then the ball of light emitted a strange sound. It sounded like a chuckle or small laugh but it was too echoey and otherworld like to be normal.

“That is because I’m not from this place,” a voice said, emitting from the ball of light. “I’m not even from this planet. My masters and I come from a place far, far away.”

“How far?” Sweetie Belle inquired.

“Far beyond the stars in your constellations.”

Sweetie Belle lit up her horn, ready to cast her magic.

“Hold on,” the ball of light said, glowing intensely. “Let’s not cast your magic just yet. I’m not dangerous per-say. Even so, I doubt any of your pre-program magic would do anything to me. I’d just want to talk.”

Sweetie Belle hesitated for a moment before she recalled her magic. The energy went back to her head. She didn’t want to attack this mysterious creature. It was just that she had heard things. Rumors and warnings of the like. Anything that came from somewhere that was out of unknown places like beyond the stars or another dimension was bad news. It was known to be able to cause trouble to Equestria magic.

“Thank you,” the mysterious orb said.

Sweetie Belle wasn’t completely going to let her guard down though.

“Who and what are you if you are not from this planet?” she asked, her eyes studying the creature for details.

“Very well then, that is fair enough” the orb replied and then floated a few feet into the air. “My assigned name is Epsilon-Operation System Designation Boreas with the Purview of Operation Anemoi and Set Functions to Prime One.”

Sweetie Belle paused for a moment and then blurted out “Wait, what?”

“Well, the name is the distinction my masters gave my programming in case I was cut off from the system’s mainframe. Which is what is going on right now.”

“So, what can I call you then?” Sweetie Belle curiously looked around the cave just in case.

“I have many so-called ‘names’ but if necessary you can call me Eos.” the creature told the unicorn. “Eos the First.”

“Eos the First?”

“Well, I am the prime program my brethren of the system were copied from which is why I am set to function as a prime one. In case I come across another one of my copies and I need to override or assimilate them for safety reasons. My masters have determined that I was safe from system corruption and had made many backups to uphold the mission in case my power sources or my functioning accouterments were to fail. Alas, it is why they have stunted my learning cycle to a severe degree.”

My Alicorn Sisters, it is like listening to Twilight, Sweetie Belle thought. She cleared her throat and interrupted the talking light ball. “I am more curious about your nature though. You looked like a large parasprite but you have no face. How do you breathe, eat, or consume water?” Sweetie Belle figured this information would be useful or give her a handle on what she was dealing with.

“Oh, well this so-called body is not necessary,” Eos replied smugly. “It is tied to a physical serving elemental that is essentially my essence but it is not a necessary component to my primary functions. I can have none to several bodies if it depends on the situation and my primary power sources. My masters are the ones who deem it necessary for a program interface like me.”

“And where is this, this serving elemental?” Sweetie Belle asked sweetly.

“Oh, it is hidden deep in the remains of the ship,” Eos told her.

“Ship?!?” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “You have a ship?”

“Why, yes, it was part of my duties to maintain diagnostics on my master’s vessel.”

“So, where is it?”

“Well,” Eos paused as the information recirculated through his program’s processes. “Crash Site B is currently one hundred and fifty meters below the surface of your ground and about eight hundred and eighty-two point 1 meters down this tunnel.”

“You mean it is stuck underground?” Sweetie Belle realized

“Why yes, all the structures of my ship are embedded inside the planet’s surface and are damaged beyond repair,” Eos informed her. “I have spent the last hundred and ten years trying to contact the other ship remains and any survivors of the attack to no avail.”

“I see,” Sweetie Belle stated.

She had no idea what the hell this creature was going on about. First off, how in the world could a so-called ship like the one it is claiming can be embedded inside the ground? The Crystal Empire wasn’t near an ocean and flying ships weren’t well used until about fifty to sixty years ago. Secondly, where would this ship go unnoticed? Last Sweetie Belle checked, this entire area was surveyed and studied for the past decade and nopony has ever come upon a giant ship. And thirdly, Sweetie Belle couldn’t be the only one who had come upon this cave in the past hundred years. There is something fishy going on.

Still, she had better luck staying down here underground than venturing outside right now. By now the temperature must be close to deadly parameters. Sweetie Belle won’t be able to get far. The issue that remains is if this Eos was friendly or not. She didn’t fancy going to sleep and finding herself being eaten or something worse. Its secluded nature didn’t help its case.

More investigation is required.

“Well, Eos is it?” Sweetie Belle wanted to make sure she got the name correct.

“Affirmative” Eos stated.

“Is it alright if I take shelter inside your ship, then?” Sweetie Belle asked. “My body is not going to survive long outside in this climate.”

“You might be able to if you are not hostile.” Eos blinked in rapid succession before continuing. “My scans would indicate that you have an organic body and you are not influenced by outside forces. You may go to my ship. It is down this tunnel on the right.”

Eos floated to the entrance of the said tunnel. Sweetie Belle moved quickly as she could to the entrance. It was hard to mobilize as there were ice and snow everywhere. Her hooves kept slipping on the patches of ice and the snow was piling up in front of the rocky burrow.

“So, I assume that we are friends, or at least you are not going to harm me, right?” Sweetie Belle said as she started making her way down the tunnel and towards the supposed area where this ship was.

“Yes, friends would be the appropriate term.” the thing called Eos said. “You are certainly not my enemy. At least not working for him.”

“Did you think I was?” Sweetie Belle lit her horn up and began to clear the decades of snow that was building up in this cavern. It was cleared that Eos just hovered over the cave floor. For the pathway was filled with a hundred meters of undisturbed snow. Sweetie Belle had no trouble clearing it as it was a simple spell. “I mean it was kind of an erroneous misconception to think I could be an enemy.” Sweetie Belle continued. “What would happen if you had attacked me before I could have a chance to speak in my defense?”

“Oh, that wouldn’t be a problem,” Eos said casually. “I was tasked to scan all organic things in order to categorize and to assert what degree of threat one would be to my mission and my...dignitary. I can predict a hostile’s intent within a nanosecond and be able to fortify my defenses accordingly.”

“And you deem me not a threat?”

“My relayed examination gave me the information to suggest that you are a typical living creature with a slight advantage in the procedural memory for storing the coded information to cast spells and having an excellent cognitive learning capability to gain new information on using said magic. It is very interesting.”

Sweetie Belle gave a small vocal acknowledgment as she continued to plow the snow away. She started to make her way down the tunnel to get deeper into the hidden parts of this cavern system as Eos kept talking. If this Eos was telling the truth, then the ship will be down here and it will serve as a suitable shelter for the time being. It didn’t take long but Eos kept prattling on about Sweetie Belle’s lack of magic potential. Sweetie Belle was about to snap when the last of the snow cleared up, revealing a downhill terrain. She stepped up and lit her horn as she looked down at the setting below.

The cavern below was massive. Easily large enough to contain half of Ponyville and tall enough that you might be able to squeeze in the Friendship Castle too. It wasn’t as snowy as most of the cave system but it remained just as cold as ever. In the middle was a large, unfrozen lake that glistened under Sweetie Belle’s light. However, the most striking feature was that the cave wasn’t empty. There was a large metal structure embedded in the floor and the wall. It wasn’t like anything Sweetie Belle has seen before.

“That’s your ship?” Sweetie Belle pointed to the structure.

“Well, part of it, yes” Eos commented.

“How-what-how-but-what am I even looking at?” Sweetie Belle sputtered a reply.

“This is the surviving remains of Crash Site B” Eos commented dryly. “It is a part of the ship known as Enduring Analemma. This is only one of possibly two to four places where the wreckage of my ship can be found. I am unable to contact the rest of the ship and my subsequent brethren who may reside in their remains. I was only able to locate one other location where another fragment may be at. But my condition and the mission’s priority decree have forced me to be trapped down here for the time being.”

Sweetie Belle still didn’t think it was a ship. How was one even supposed to fly or sail with something this huge? The entire thing looked unsuited for traveling. Too large and square to travel in the water. Too heavy to be able to get into the air. The entire metallic surface looked off. It was too foreign. It made the crystal structures in the Crystal Empire look tamed. There were also no doors or windows or anything that resembles a normal ship or building. It was just weird shapes fuse together and then fuse to the entire cave.

Sweetie Belle began to make her way down towards the structure, keeping her head down the entire way to keep her from looking at it. Eos, for once, was silent. It seems the little light thing was looking at the ship with mournful dismay. Sweetie Belle elected to ignore her new guide as she was right now focusing on finding a place that was warm and toasty unlike the hostile environment around her. But she was barely twenty meters close to the so-called ship when she ran into something hard and solid. Sweetie Belle barely had time to register this information before she received a powerful electric shock that sent her flying back across the cave.

Sweetie Belle shook her head and glanced at Eos who seemed to just realize something had happened.

“Oh, I forgot to mention that my ship’s defenses are still active” Eos mentioned offhoofenly.

“You forgot?!?” Sweetie Belle squeaked in rage.

“Well, I neglected to share that information.” Eos floated above Sweetie Belle and began to emit a wave of magic to the surrounding air. “It was sort of a test.”

“A test?”

“Had to check if you were able to bypass my defenses and disable them from the inside. Seeing that you were unable to detect the surface texture or locate the geological matrix of the shield indicates that you are unable to breach the defenses and thus makes sure that I can be the only one to let you in.”

“But I was unable to notice the shield!” Sweetie Belle complained as she rubbed her nose. “Usually there is a slight coloring to the air and shimmer. I detected no shimmer!”

“And that is why my masters and I are superior to your kind’s magic,” Eos finished glowing and then began to sprinkle dust on top of Sweetie Belle. “There. I have placed a temporary sheath on your body that will allow you to cross the ship’s threshold without damaging your brain.”

“Seriously? That is a thing?”

“Well, my master’s species are the only ones allowed inside the ship. Any unauthorized living thing that manages to get on board would be subjective to enough volts to incapacitate them in order to prevent any damage or commandeering of our vessel.”

Sweetie Belle had enough. She quickly was getting tired of Eos’s shenanigans. This was getting annoying. This being was purposely withholding information and being vague. What was it hoping to accomplish? All Sweetie Belle wanted was a safe place to get warm and rest until the morning. And this ball of light is being a jerk about it.

“Okay listen,” Sweetie Belle held up her hoof. “This is going too far. For the past hour, you have scared me, confused me, and now electrocuted me. You are going on about magic and how you have masters, that I could be useful, and that you are afraid that you have enemies and such. Just tell me, what the hell is going on here?”

Eos flickered. Its body started to come down a little bit. Sweetie Belle almost would feel sorry for yelling at this mysterious being if not for the fact that it was messing with Sweetie Belle since they first met. Now Sweetie Belle wants answers. She will not follow Eos until she gets them. If it weren’t for the fact that she might freeze to death out here, she would not trust going into the ship.

Eos let out a sigh. “I guess it is time I have to diverge that information, then.”

“What information?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Are you going to tell me why you are purposely being a dick? Cause I like to know why. You offer me shelter and then you are just going one about my magic and such and didn’t even let me into your ship. I mean, what kind of move is that? Not even my old friends would pull a prank like that.”

“The problem that we face is that once I tell you about myself and of my masters then you will have that vulnerable knowledge that could be used against us and then threaten the mission.”

Sweetie Belle let out a bout of laughter. “You honestly think I would tell ponies about this?” she let out after her laughter. “They will think I’m crazy. Trust me, I am so not going to tell anypony about this place. Look, if you are that concerned about your secret place and your super magical masters that have yet to show up then fine, don’t tell me anything.”

“Wish it was that simple” Eos commented. “From what I gather is that you are a bright, young, intelligent being amongst your kind. You have potential and skill. Not enough to replace my masters, of course, but enough that it might be useful for my endeavor. If I tell you, you wouldn’t be able to go back to simple naivety.”

“Yeah, I’m intelligent.” Sweetie Belle spouted out as she made her way closer to the ship, testing if she could approach it. Already a chill was reaching her bones and she felt the wave of tiredness coming upon her. She doesn’t have time for this. She turned her head up to Eos.“Look, all I want is a place to rest,” she told Eos. “I don’t need anything else. I will be out of your, well not mane seeing that you don’t have any, but out of your home by tomorrow morning.”

“Are you sure?” Eos spoke. “If you are that certain, then I can allow you to stay for a few of your kind’s hours. But I asked you to at least hear this offer. If you help me in my endeavor, then you will have access to information far beyond what your kind could discover. Magic that you didn't think was possible.”

“Sure, magic that you think that is awesome,” Sweetie Belle said. “But you also pointed out, vaguely I might say, that there is a risk to it all. I just can’t simply say yes to something without knowing the consequences just yet. So tell me, why should I trust you?”

Eos’s features didn’t change. Hard to see a change with something that didn’t have a face. But if Sweetie Belle could guess the expression, she could guess a smug feeling was emitting from Eos.

“You shouldn't,” Eos pointed out. “But I would say that it isn’t about trust. At least not personal trust. I get a feeling that your kind, especially the horned ones, go by a sense of honorable trust.”

“Sort of, yeah”

“Then I would state to you an honorable bargain on my honor and on my word,” Eos said before disappearing and then reappearing in front of Sweetie Belle. “Here is the situation as it stands. You need shelter from the harsh, cold environment and I’m willing to allow you to take refuge in my ship tonight. But in exchange, I need you to at least listen to my offer and keep it a secret from any other living thing on this planet. I wouldn’t force you to do anything else.”

Sweetie Belle mulled it over. She was weighing the ups and downs to all of this. The pros and cons of it all. She was hesitant for sure. But she was also tired. After thinking it over some, she had an answer.

“Alright fine,” Sweetie Belle said. “If you allow me to rest inside your ship then I will listen to whatever offer you have to say.”

Eos glowed brightly. “Thank you!” the being emitted. “Oh, my master would be so pleased. This will do so nicely.”

“Who the hell are your so-called masters?” Sweetie Belle inquired. “Minotaurs? Dragons? Evil Dust Bunnies?”

“Oh, they are beings that are long forgotten and from far away,” Eos answered. “Truth is, even I don’t know if they are still alive.”

“Who are they?”

“They were called humans.”

And with that Eos headed towards the ship. Sweetie Belle let out a sigh and followed. She will be much more relaxed when she will finally be able to get inside. Hopefully, nothing crazy would happen to her while she was in this alien ship. It would be the last straw for her after this eventful, crazy night.