Author's Note
Just thought I write something sad, and this popped up into my head.
Cold in your arms. . .
It was bitter cold, and Starlight’s teeth were chattering as she strained with every step; the straps of the sled she was pulling with her magic weighed heavy on her shoulders. In just another hour her Magic will give out. Each step she made was an aching, trembling step.
Anon breathed heavily as his body was wrapped up in layer after layer of blankets to shield him from the cold weather and to keep him warm. Slowly his head turned to his left, looking up at his dear lavender. “Starlight. . . stop…we’re not getting anywhere, I’m only slowing you down.”
Starlight trotted forward, her lover’s pleas unheard from her ears. He sat himself grunting in pain from his wound calling her again.
“Star—”
“I’m fine Anon!” She told him bluntly without taking her eyes off the snow filled path. Anon wasn’t convinced by this.
“You’re not fine Starlight. You’re exhausted, your magic is almost burning out, and it isn’t safe to be wandering around at night. Plus It’s getting dark so we should find a warm place to camp. And if it gets bad… it may be best if you should… ”
Starlight whipped her head back to glare daggers at Anon causing him to recoil and shift nervously. While glaring at him she continued to push forward.
“No. Don’t even finish that sentence! We're not stopping. If we stop for the night right now, your wound is going to get infected, or worse you’ll freeze to death if we stay any longer then we already have. I,” Starlight paused, panting as she reached up to wipe the sweat from her brow, “I can not and will not allow that to happen. I’m going to get us both out of here… somehow.”
Before Anon could insist further, Starlight cut him off with a raised hoof, her horn beginning to glow. “I just had a thought. Look, it’s dark enough right?”
Anon quirked up an eyebrow. “Enough for what?”
She lets go of the strap from her magic and steps back away from the sled. Pulling on the last reserves of her magical energy, Starlight projected a light into the air, firing it high up into the sky where it exploded into a bright red firework.
A determined smile widened on Starlight’s face. “It’s dark enough, you see? Hopefully if Twilight and the others are not too far, they’ll find us.” She rolled around and was about to throw the strap around her shoulders when she caught something from the corner of her eye.
Turning to her right, she sees the mouth of a cave. “This way! We can wait until morning to rest here okay? Just hold on tight.” Without waiting for Anon to respond, Starlight strained with every step; the straps of the makeshift sled she was pulling bit deep into her shoulders. But she endured and pulled as fast as she could towards the opening.
As she got closer to the mouth of the cave... the ground suddenly dropped below her and the sled flipped over sending her tumbling head over heels down, down, down into the pitch black depths.
Her scream echoed throughout the cavernous room. “Anon?!” She screamed down. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes and she held her breath waiting to hear some kind of response. Nothing but deafening silence greeted her.
She began to panic. What if he got hurt? What if he couldn’t make it down? What if something happened to him? The fear started to seep its way through her mind clouding all rational thinking, making her frantic thoughts come together. She had no way to tell how far she had fallen, and if her magicka would still be there when she reached the bottom. All she knew was that it was darker than hell and if she didn’t hurry she might not survive this journey at all.
She called out for Anon again, her voice barely above a whisper. “Anon If you can hear me, don’t worry, I’ll be right there!” She assured him with a shaky voice and with one final pull she landed at the base of the cavern’s wall falling flat onto her belly and scraping her hooves across the stone floor. Her skin burned as if it had been set alight.
Stars swam across her vision and the sound of blood rushing loudly in her ears caused a ringing sound to echo all around her. She tried to force herself up, but the weight of the sled on her legs slowed her down. With an exhausted sigh, she pushed the sled off her and climbed to her feet using the walls for leverage to stand.
She looked up trying to spot a weak light from up above; a crack in the ceiling maybe? As the wind swept past her she shivered violently. She rubbed the side of her face and took a deep breath. The air felt cool against her coat and gave her a slight rush of adrenaline.
“Okay…okay you can do this, you don’t know what’s ahead…but you will!” She forced herself forward, using the stones surrounding her to lift her feet.
Every time she moved she stumbled a little and her head spun slightly. She tried to ignore it, and focused only on getting out of this cave. Once she found the exit, she would have to figure out how she was going to find Anon. He wasn’t anywhere near her, and it didn’t help that she couldn’t sense any trace of his magic either.
The next thing Starlight knew was that her legs were no longer touching solid rock. A soft breeze blew past her, and she looked down. She gasped seeing how far she had fallen. The wind carried the scent of fresh pine trees and snow in the crisp air. There wasn’t a trace of dirt or stone beneath her feet.
She looked up and saw the faintest glimmer of light. She followed it upwards and saw a small hole in the roof of the cave. She ran towards it, hoping that it led outside.
When she finally reached the hole she stopped short. She was standing on a ledge overlooking a vast expanse of snow covered land. The cliff she stood on was tall and sheer and had several cracks running along it. The ground was steep, and rocky under her hooves as she slowly walked down the hill. She kept a firm grip on the edge as she went, and carefully made her way to the very end.
Looking out over the landscape, Starlight couldn’t see anything beyond the forest.
“Come on.” She muttered to herself. “Just a bit farther!”
Suddenly the ground started to shake violently underneath her, and she fell forward onto her knees. “Woah! Steady there!” she cried, gripping onto the ledge as hard as possible.
The shaking subsided and she took a look around, trying to see why it suddenly stopped. Suddenly a massive shadow passed her by. She jumped back, holding her chest as she did. A giant dragon swooped by, and flew straight overhead, leaving a trail of dust and debris as it passed, making her cough. It disappeared over the horizon.
“What just happened?” She mumbled to herself. Looking down at her hands she noticed that they were trembling. After calming down, she decided to try to find another way down.
After what seemed like ages searching and climbing up the mountain of a slope that lead to the ledge, Starlight managed to reach the top, and found herself back at the mouth of the cave.
“Here goes nothing.” She whispered to herself before stepping out onto the snowy ledge and heading towards the direction of the sun.
The wind picked up and the temperature plummeted significantly. Starlight tried to keep her body wrapped tightly in her thick winter cloak.
But despite her attempts to protect her delicate skin, she could feel frost forming under the leathers she wore and she shuddered. Noticing the cold had gotten much colder, she drew her scarf tighter around her chin and neck.
“Starlight!”
Starlight hauled in her tracks recognizing the voice that called her. She turned just in time to see a giant purple dragon landing quickly causing a tremendous thud shook the ground. Laying one wing down a group of ponies climbed down and galloped towards her. Starlight felt a smile spread across her face as she recognized them. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity gathered up to hug their lavender friend.
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Twilight said, squeezing Starlight tighter while Rarity hugged her close in greeting.
“And we’re so sorry.” Fluttershy added with a sniffle. “We tried to look for you but the weather kept getting worse.”
“Yeah! It wouldn’t stay still. We were sure we could never find you…” Rainbow admitted.
“No worries guys. I’m fine now...thanks to you guys.” Starlight reassured them.
Spike stomped up to the group. “Where’s Anon?”
Starlight shook her head. “I don’t know, we got separated. But he can’t be too far.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’ve learned that tracking spell.” Twilight smiled determinedly, as she remembered the spell from the book, her horn glowing with light as she concentrated on it.
“Let’s go.” Twilight lifted her horn in front of her and took a deep breath. Everyone watched as she slowly closed her eyes and raised her head towards the sky. A ball of bright light formed at the tip of her horn. As it floated higher up the beam grew brighter and brighter until it became nearly blinding. In a flash all of them teleported away.
Reappearing, Starlight saw the familiar sight of the cave entrance. As well as seeing the giant hole she fell into earlier. Her eyes darted around anxiously. Where was Anon? She started to walk towards the entrance, desperate to find him. She glances to her left and stops in her tracks. Her eyes widened. Her heart swelled as she stared transfixed by the sight before her. Anon laid motionless in a heap on the floor, blood covering his right hip and hand. Her breath caught in her throat and her mouth opened and closed. She ran over to his side immediately, dropping beside him.
“Anon?” She asked quietly, reaching out her hoof to touch him. No response. She shook him gently, but he didn’t respond. She placed her free hoof underneath his head lifting his body up so she could get a better view. He had a nasty cut running diagonally across his forehead, bleeding profusely. Blood dripped from it and pooled on the ground.
She pressed her lips together in anguish as she began applying pressure to the wound with her hoof and wincing when she pulled at his arm.
“H-Hey. Anon it’s me, I’m here. Just like I said I would be.” she stammered trying to reassure him, but even to her own ears her voice sounded unsure. “Anon..?” Her voice trembled as she lightly shook him again. Fighting tears threatening to fall from her eyes she reached up and stroked his cheek with her hoof. When Anonymous didn’t respond, she repeated herself a bit louder. When a response still wasn’t forthcoming, she nudged him and whispered. “Anon please.”
Nothing, except for the sound of her own shallow breathing filled the quiet room. She felt the overwhelming grief and hopelessness come over her. Almost without thinking she pressed her hoof to the side of Anon’s neck. Nothing. Starlight shook Anon, crying for him to wake up. Tears poured from her eyes as she begged him to speak, or even move. Nothing. The silence was deafening, and it crushed her heart.
She didn’t want to believe it but reality hovered over her like a dark cloud, blocking out everything else. Hope, reassurance, both of which she needed so desperately at that moment, were evaporated by two words that reality whispered to her ear. They echoed through her mind relentlessly like an endless mantra: ‘He’s gone…’
As the minutes passed she lost count. How many had passed she couldn’t tell. Eventually she realized that her arms were wrapped around Anon’s chest, almost as if she had been hugging him and holding him in place. She even felt the warmth of her friends gathered around hugging her. Tears ran freely from her eyes, soaking her lover’s coat and dripping down onto his pale body. A sob escaped from her lips, and she began to shake uncontrollably. She buried her face against his collarbone not caring about the blood smeared on his clothes.
Starlight stayed that way, refusing to leave, as if waiting for Anon to awaken, willing for him to say something, anything. But her will did nothing, and no sound came from his lips. He remained motionless laying prone, unmoving, lifeless, immobile, and cold in her arms.
