Them.

Ill be frank with you. I probably shouldnt have written this. Im not much of a storyteller anyway. Heck I dont care about stories at all since they have a tendency to not be true.

This one is however.

I know, because it happened to me.

I stopped thinking about it a long time ago. Thought I got over it too… Untill that royal wedding fiasco happened…

…when that… thing… showed up again… and brought everything back…

Just like that I could remember every damn second of it... As if it all happened yesterday.

So I had to let it all out. Write a book about it maybe. I know I made a promise not to, but I had to let it all out… might help me sleep at night. Who knows.

Nobody will probably read it anyway.

And if somepony actually does, he just might realise how lucky we all were…

As things could have gone worse…

much, much worse…

Might as well cut to the chase then. I wont bore you with facts about myself, since its not relevant. I can tell you I used to work for the canterlot post office. They needed pegasi to deliver the mail. And the faster you were, the bigger the amount of bits that were in your saddlebag at the end of the day. It was a nice job. Especially if you love flying.

I remember we were understaffed that monday. Most of the crew were on sick leave due to the recent outbreak of flu and the postmaster needed someone to take supplies up to the northern outpost. Of all the delivery routes we had to take, the northern route was the hardest. So to save everypony the trouble, I volunteered.
I checked the weather forecast, wrote down my departure time and took care of other red tape. Finally I put on my saddlebags and set off at about noon.

It took me around three hours of nonstop flight to reach the mountains. The forcast mentioned a slight chance of a storm coming in towards the evening, so I wanted to make a quick run. I flew over the first ridge and then followed the valley north. The weather was perfect. It was a proper winter wonderland. The rock was freshly coated with snow that shined in the sunlight. I`m not a big fan of snow to be honest, but I felt impressed non the less.

The outpost was at the end of a maze of valleys. You had to fly low since the wind was too strong above the mountains even in good weather. Its a pretty straightforward run, but in bad weather, you can get lost pretty easily. And this place has quite the reputation since plenty of pegasi vanished on similar runs like this. But that didnt bother me since I thought stuff like that only happens to other ponies. Heh. Feels funny thinking about it now.
I made it. The guards let me through without any fuss since they knew me, as I made this trip at least two dozen times... The commander himself greeted me.

»Allways on time I see. Not a mistery how you`ve earned that cutiemark of yours...«

I chuckled. He then showed me to the storeroom so that I unloaded my delivery - dried hay rations, a few pastries, dried milk, chockolate and about two gallons of cider – enough for them to last a few days. Such supply runs were usually done every other day and a big run was done every two weeks.

After that he invited me for a drink. Since i was in a good mood, I gladly accepted the offer. He poured me a glass of hay liquor and we sat down and chatted a bit. Pointless small talk mostly.
»So how are things back in Canterlot?«

»Oh same old, same old. They say they will up the amount of local shipments due to the upcoming hollidays, which means more work for us. How about here? Anything out of the ordinary?«

»Yeah the patrol that set off last Friday went missing. Most of the garisson is searching for it. Which is what I wanted to ask you. Have seen anything out of the ordinary on your way here?«

So that`s why the place looked empty.
That made me slightly worried. I hoped nothing bad happened to them, though he reassured me that stuff like this is pretty commonplace during the winter. And they always managed to find their way back, since they are trained in this sort of thing.

»Well then. Id love to stay a bit longer, but I really want to be back before sundown.Thanks for the drink!«

»No problem. And dont worry about the patrol. My men have it covered. I would be happy if youd keep an eye out for them though.«

I set off when it was already getting dark. I kept forgetting how short winter days were. But since the skies were still clear, I took my time and kept my eyes and ears open to see if I could spot that lost patrol. The area where they got lost wasn`t too far off course…

I stopped and looked around a bit. I focused on the slopes below the mountain pass. Nothing out of the ordinary. Not even hoofprints. I listened a bit. Maybe they were shouting for help somewhere. Then I noticed something.
Everything was quiet. And i dont mean as in peacefully quiet. I mean as in »I could hear a pin drop a mile away« quiet. I didnt even hear the wind blowing. It was just pure silence.

It was then I realised the storm was almost on top of me. I didnt notice the dark clouds since I was too busy watching the ground. I tried outrunning it, but it was no use. Before you know it, found myself in the midst of a snowstorm. A dense one at that. Visibility dropped to the point where you couldnt see your hoof in front of your face, not to mention it got seriously cold, so I had no choice but to try and fly above it through the clouds. Of course that plan works if you know which way is up, so I ended up flying celestia knows where untill I was finally forced to find shelter on the ground - a ledge on the side of a mountain wall, a cave, anything, before I froze to death.

By miracle I managed to fight through the wind and snow and got to a mountain wall. And not just any mountain wall, but a mountain wall which had a small but noticable cave entrance on it. I managed to get inside. I sat myself down near the entrance and made myself confortable, sighing in relief, since it was a pretty close call. Another five minutes in that storm and I could be in serious trouble… It was a surprisingly warm cave, considering how violently cold the weather outside was. Didn`t think about it that much and, instead, started picking the clumped snow out of my wings to pass the time.

And then everything went black…