The Journey From West Artax

Breeze felt herself coasting adrift in an ocean of dreams. The isolation of which was broken up briefly with the momentary memory that pestered the brain, accompanied by a never-ending scent of icing that refused to abandon her psyche.

Slowly Breeze felt herself draw upon her mortal body, like that of a raft slowly washing unto a shoreline. She felt her eyelids heavily pressing onto her eyes, but more curious she felt a weight presenting itself strongly on her chest. In a fluttering motion Breeze slowly opened her eyes, noting as she did that she was now staring at the ceiling, instead of the floral wallpaper she grew accustomed to prior to her sleeping.

As Breeze stared up to the ceiling, she remembered the weight that was previously pressing down upon her chest. She casted her dreary eyes to its direction: to her horror she found Butter Crème laying directly on top of her, still tightly wrapped in Breeze's wing. In view of this Breeze found herself frozen in terror as she vainly reached out into her mind for an excuse that could save her. She tried to move out from under Butter Crème but saw it futile, each move stirring Butter Crème more and more. Instead of continuing on, Breeze decided to try and move her wing in an attempt to make it look like an accident: as Breeze began lifting her wing Butter Crème began to move slightly, causing Breeze to once more freeze in terror.

Butter Crème began to stretch slightly, letting out a small grumble in the process before opening her eyes halfway, then fully for a moment with an expression that slightly resembled embarrassment: her face quickly went back to a half asleep look before she looked up at Breeze and began speaking "Breeze? How long were we sleeping, Dear"?

Breeze looked down towards Butter Crème, now slightly confused that she didn't care about their positioning, however the confusion was violently overtaken with a harsh embarrassment: she quickly looked away as she felt the red begin to slowly creep up her face. She quietly responded "I don't know... uh... if we get up... I can tell you". Breeze tried to get up, but was surprised by a sudden feeling of weight wrapping around her. She fell back down onto the couch, quickly looking back to Butter Crème, now neglecting to even try to hide her blushing face. She wanted to question Butter Crème, but found herself once more frozen in place as she looked into her purple eyes.

Butter Crème looked up at Breeze with a smile, pretending not to notice her blushing. Suddenly Butter Crème rested her head against Breeze: her ear placed firmly onto her chest. Butter Crème giggled a bit to herself before stating "Hey Dear, did you know your heart is racing"?

Breeze began stammering trying to find any excuse for her heart, but eventually resolved to once more looking away as she quietly whispered "C- can we please get up..."?

Butter Crème giggled again, speaking with a smile "sure we can, Dear. There is just one problem though".

Breeze quietly responded, as she felt herself tensing up "Y-yeah"?

Butter Crème giggled out slightly once more "You keep holding me tighter with your wing".

Breeze felt her face completely fill with an incarnadine hue, as she quickly released her wing's grasp of Butter Crème with a flurry of frantic apologies.

Butter Crème continued on as if she couldn't hear them, instead she silently stood up, before offering Breeze a helping-hoof. Still smiling Butter Crème cut off Breeze's apologies with a questioning "well then, how about a nice cup of tea, Dear"?

Breeze began to nod her head before her head flung her once more: she remembered the kettle's worth of tea she had brewed. She spoke suddenly "Oh shoot, I completely forgot! Butter Crème, I used your kettle earlier to brew some tea, but I completely forgot about it because... uh..." Breeze's face flushed once more with embarrassment as she remembered wrapping her wing around Butter Crème. she quickly moved once more to hide her face from Butter Crème.

Butter Crème cantered around the coffee table towards the kitchen as she begun speaking in response to Breeze "Ah, worry not, Dear: It is quite alright, I will fix us a new batch. Nothing worse than cold tea I am afraid".

Breeze slowly made her way, following after, Butter Crème, into the kitchen. She stopped at the front of the island as she watched Butter Crème begin working on the kettle.

Butter Crème spoke warmly out towards her "Breeze? Do you have a favorite tea, Dear"?

Breeze quickly responded "uh... I don't know honestly. I'm more of a coffee kind of pony".

Butter Crème stopped for a moment, slowly turning back to look at Breeze with a face of disgust, before quietly getting back to work.

Breeze in response carefully continued on "But if I had to choose... I guess.... sweet tea"?

Butter Crème laughed slightly before responding "nothing wrong with keeping things simple I suppose".

Breeze continued watching Butter Crème wander around the kitchen, as she preformed each step in cleaning and filling the kettle. Butter Crème gently placed the kettle onto a stove eye before quickly turning back to face Breeze. Her face now showed a smile that's warmness presented itself like that of a blanket on a winter night.

Breeze met her gaze, reciprocating with an intentional smile that she hoped looked genuine enough.

Butter Crème began to speak out to Breeze "so... Dear, what brings you to West Artax in the first place? It is definitely not my definition of a tourist attraction. Though... I have not traveled... so I guess it could be..." Her eyes lit up with childlike wonder before she continued excitedly "Is it a tourist attraction"‽

Breeze rolled her eyes with a smile before responding "no, Daisy, it's not a tourist attraction. In fact, I don't think any map I've ever seen actually mentions West Artax" she laughed slightly before continuing "But I guess it's only fair I tell you more about myself, since I had you telling your life story earlier".

Butter Crème's eyes grew wide as she eagerly stared at Breeze: her gaze more like that of an innocent child listening to their mother's bedtime story.

Breeze began speaking "My name is Moonlight Breeze, I'm a Pegasus from Cloudsdale. I live with my mother and my younger sister, the reason I was out here was because I was out flying during the night... and uh..." Breeze looked away out of embarrassment, her middle part falling to cover her face as she continued on "I... got scared by the storm".

Butter Crème looked at Breeze in confusion for a moment before speaking back "do they know"?

Breeze looked back at Butter Crème with an obvious confusion before responding "Who know what"?

Butter Crème repeated herself, continuing further in her explanation "do they know where you went"?

Breeze's face turned to horror as she began to realize just how worried her sister must be. She began pacing the kitchen, frantically speaking out "Oh shoot, my sister must be so worried"!

Butter Crème's face presented a warming smile as she spoke once more "Do not worry, Dear. Would you like to write a letter? to let them know you are okay"?

Breeze looked at Butter Crème for a moment before rolling her eyes and walking back to the island, now speaking "that would make more sense than panicking wouldn't it"?

Butter Crème floated a piece of paper over before stating "As long as you know the address, it will be as easy as...." Butter Crème giggled slightly before boasting out in laughter "Easy as pie!"

Breeze rolled her eyes once more as she watched Butter Crème begin laughing uncontrollably. She carefully began writing the letter to her family, finally signing it and sliding it back to Butter Crème with an inquisitive "Now what"?

Butter Crème smiled back at her before stating "Now, I will send it". Suddenly Butter Crème's horn began glowing brilliantly: the color of which was a beautiful purple, not unlike that of her eyes, however closer to the tip of her horn it shifted to a white glow instead of the bases easy purple.

Breeze looked up at her horn, now watching the colors in awe: something like that of a kid watching a celebratory firework show. Breeze had never seen a Unicorn use their magic this close before, but she did note the strangeness of Butter Crème's magic color. She had heard of Unicorns having exotic magic colors before, but never heard of a Unicorn having two-tone magic. Now that Breeze actually began looking over Butter Crème more carefully: she found herself with more questions building. She casted her gaze over her legs, now truly looking and spotting a number of gray spots that spotted over Butter Crème's coat sporadically on each leg. She followed her eyes over Butter Crème, investigating each detail as she did: she locked her gaze onto Butter Crème's horn under the magic, upon looking closer she noticed the white tipped magic went deeper than the surface. Butter Crème's horn was tipped in a white splotch that's resemblance could only be compared to that of a snowcapped mountain. Passed that Butter Crème seemed just as regular as anypony else, atleast to the average eye.

Butter Crème let out an accomplished "whew" as the paper vanished in front of her. She looked back at Breeze before stopping, noticing Breeze staring Intently at her horn. She began speaking "Sorry, was that rude of me? I have not read too much on Pegasus culture".

Breeze quickly came back to her senses, moving her eyes back down to meet Butter Crème's before responding "Oh! Uh... no of course not! Sorry, I was just thinking about something".

Butter Crème tilted her head slightly before questioning "oh? Like what, Dear"?

Breeze thought for a second before clearing her throat and speaking "I was... uh... wondering. Your horn and your coat... I haven't seen any Unicorn like that before. I was just umm... really curious about uhh..."

Butter Crème smiled slightly before she warmly interrupted "My parents, Dear"?

Breeze gulped slightly before continuing "Yeah... I hope that doesn't bother you, It's just really bugging me". She couldn't help but look away: the feeling of confrontation hounding onto her.

Butter Crème looked at Breeze empathetically as she spoke "I really am sorry, Dear. I... I did not get to know them. I can introduce you to my mother's friend though, his name is 'Mr. Eremie' he owns the library".

Breeze looked back at Butter Crème before softly responding "Y-yeah, that would be nice".

Butter Crème began to try and speak once more, but was cut off by a whistling noise coming from behind her. In response to the noise Butter Crème's ears perked up before she herself shouted "Oop, Tea is almost ready!" She smiled at Breeze before speaking further "If you would like, Dear. You can wait on the couch and I will bring the tea to you when I am done".

Breeze nodded her head before carefully cantering her way back to the couch.

Moments passed of nothing but the occasional noise of Butter Crème moving in the kitchen, before the sounds of hoofsteps making their way to the living room filled the cottage's quiet air. Turning towards them, Breeze welcomed Butter Crème with a warm smile, to which Butter Crème reciprocated with a "more than warm" cup of tea. Breeze carefully took it into her wing as Butter Crème slowly moved to sit next to her on the couch. Butter Crème took a gentle sip from her cup before once more resting her head against Breeze's shoulder.

Breeze looked down at Butter Crème with a smile, her embarrassment seemingly subsiding in the presence of the warming tea. Breeze took a sip of the tea instinctually letting out a "Mmmm" before speaking forth "Wow! This tea tastes amazing!"

Butter Crème let out a guilty giggle before responding without looking up "Yeah... sorry but I took some 'creative liberties'. Sweet tea is fine, but just a little bit of jasmine and cinnamon makes all the difference".

Breeze laughed slightly whilst saying "Of course you did. Well I'll take your word for it, you are the tea expert".

Butter Crème spoke once more in a comfortable tone "I figured we would spend a bit like this, Dear. Then if you would like, you can spend the night here and I will introduce you to Mr. Eremie tomorrow"?

Breeze smiled down at Butter Crème once more before responding "Sure! I'd love to get a chance to meet him".

After a while of sitting in the silent cottage Butter Crème carefully lifted her head off Breeze, rising up from the couch in the process.

Breeze watched as Butter Crème rose up before asking "where you going, Daisy"?

Butter Crème smiled back down at Breeze, responding "Well I wanted to show you your room, Dear. since it was starting to get dark".

Breeze looked at Butter Crème confused for a moment before questioning "Starting to get dark?" Breeze's eyes made their way over to a nearby window and to her surprise she was greeted with the soothing colors of a sunset. She thought for a moment before saying out loud "Oh shoot, it got dark fast..."

Butter Crème giggled at Breeze before speaking "Hardly, we were asleep most the day it seems. Though I cannot exactly call it a waste, would you"?

Breeze looked back at Butter Crème with a happy smile before warmly stating "I don't believe I would"

Butter Crème smiled before continuing on "well then, let me show you to the room you will be staying in, Dear".

Breeze nodded once more in affirmation.

Butter Crème turned away, cantering towards the staircase that rested itself perpendicular to the wall: she began stepping up its steps with Breeze in tow.

Breeze's eyes followed the walls into the second floor of the cottage. The walls in the second floor lacked an obvious wallpaper, but were instead just wood planks: The floor under her hooves being an old feeling red carpet. She looked passed Butter Crème into what seemed to be a hallway, the only thing filling it being two sets of doors placed an even distance on each wall and a window at the far end. She followed Butter Crème deeper into the hallway until at last she stopped at the back right door. Breeze noted the amount of dust coated onto the door's golden doorknob.

Butter Crème turned back to face Breeze before stating with a smile "here we are, the guest bedroom".

Breeze laughed slightly before pointing her hoof at the dusty doorknob and speaking out "I'll take it, there aren't alot of guests that use the 'guest' bedroom".

Butter Crème giggled a bit before responding "No, I suppose not." She once more looked Breeze in the eye before speaking again "Now, I am not too sure how everything will look in there 'bedroom wise' so I am gonna get some spare sheets and pillows for you, Dear".

Breeze stood there for a moment, watching Butter Crème walk down the hallway before questioning "what do you mean by that"?

Butter Crème stopped her voyage of the hallway before turning back to face Breeze, responding with a guilty grin "well you may call me a broken record, but well... it's left how my mother had it" she let out an awkward laugh.

Breeze rolled her eyes with a smile before sarcastically laughing out "Of course it is".

Breeze watched as Butter Crème turned back to making her way down the rest of the hallway and then stairs, before she turned back to face the door. She almost felt guilty for disturbing the dust on the doorknob: the amount of which seemed impossible. Alas she eventually pushed the door inward, stepping inside as she did. She began observing her surroundings carefully, noting a bright blue colored bed in the far corner of the room, however next to it sat a wall of desks and bookcases. She looked over the room in confusion: noting further that each wall was covered in either desks or bookshelves, the look of which making the room seem more like a study than a bedroom.

As Breeze attempted to step further into the room, she noticed a short flash of light, casting itself briefly from the desk. She looked carefully at the desk, on which were a variety or papers placed neatly in three stacks, she casted her gaze futher to the right of the desk, now finding the culprit of the reflective light: she saw what seemed to be a smaller sized picture frame. She stepped up to the desk before carefully taking the picture frame into her hoof to look at it closer. Inside of the picture frame rested a brown colored photo of the brown Pegasus from before, standing with a smile next to a small green filly. Breeze stared at it for a moment, carefully examining the photo, it had a strange familiarity to it: the place they were standing stood out to Breeze in particular, it felt like she'd seen it somewhere before. She looked passed the background and back onto the brown Pegasus, this photo showing more of her body than any other: the Pegasus had dark brown hair, green eyes, and a scarf that looked to be purple and white. Breeze looked at the scarf for a moment before thinking out loud to herself "that... looks just like Butter Crème's scarf..." She followed her eyes futher across the rest of the Pegasus' body, stopping as she went futher, this time taking note of the mare's cutiemark: A single chocolate colored heart broken in half, with something bridging across both sides, the color of which made it look like caramel. Breeze continued futher eventually reaching the mares legs, where she stopped a final time. Each of the mare's legs were sporadically spotted in spotty gray dots. Breeze found herself confused as she thought to herself "Wait... is this actually Butter Crème's mother? Did she lie to me? Or... does she just not know? If it actually is her mom... how does anypony forget their mother, when there are pictures of them all over their house?" Breeze looked futher into the picture, before letting out a sigh of frustration: any idea of the mare not being Butter Crème's mother leaving her mind. The filly standing next to the mare was none other than a young Butter Crème, which breeze easily identified using the spots on her legs and tip of her horn. She let out another deep breath before speaking whispering to herself "Why would Butter Crème even lie about that? I thought... we were growing to be better friends... maybe... I should just leave..."

Breeze made a sad turn to the door, but stopped suddenly after hearing a slight "thump" noise land beside her hoof. She quickly looked down at the perpetrator of the noise, but was shocked to see the mysterious book from the library now lying open on the floor. She stared at it for a moment, thinking to herself "There's... no way I could have just dropped that, I've been holding that thing as tight as I could this whole time with no issues..." She continued watching it, but her shock grew to fear as she watched the blank pages all at once slowly grow letters in front of her eyes: the motion of which moved like that of a wave rippling in an ocean of ink. Her fear was silently overtaken with a yearning curiosity.

Breeze carefully picked the book up beginning to read it as she did so, she was so enthralled by it, she failed to realize she was speaking its words out loud "In the whisper of the grim void a voice echoed like that of a banshee. A young filly chased itself through the dark like a cat to a mouse, and through it all she held a scream more so than a breath. Also casted into the dark a shrill cry of a mother echoed, but more so of pleading than of mercy. As the dark faded so did the hope of innocence: the scene prevaded upon the filly. Thoughts of childish nightmares are that of fairytales, but only in the eyes of non-believers whose hearts were pure of stygian. The darkness upon her eyes made her fears come to life, and in that sight she saw a mother's heart ripped from routine, and casted aside along with life. A shadow resided over her and over the mother and alas over all that is existent, but in some degree did this shadow give life as it did take it. It released the mother, laying her carrion upon the ground in haste: before summoning itself upon the young filly. Surely she tried to scream in terror, but stopped in understanding. This was her house of death, and was truly everything she had feared from any malicious shadow that ever casted upon her. She closed her eyes in wait of a swift demise, alas moments passed with no such events passing. The fillies eyes opened; to which the shadow returned in grueling noises like that of an unknown language 'Upon cresent moon, and lightning bolt; bubble, and apple written like that of scroll and quill. I will know your name and future, fore it was delivered upon me, remember my faces as they are shown to you today, as I will remember your's for moons to come.' The shadow rose itself into a amalgamation of wings before flying into the dark of night, and with its disappearance the light of day returned. The filly casted itself upon the heartless mother: she reached out in blood and cold offering comfort to the filly. Her voice showed anguish, but with every measure under control she offered nothing but love. In dying moments wrapped in the embrace of the young filly: she carefully wrapped the one gift that shall never depart from them. The young filly watched as the mother's eyes turned grey and body stiffen: the filly stepped back upon the scene touching to their neck: feeling the gift that was given to them, before screaming their anguish into life. In that moment the day turned to night, from the fire that roared from her body, and the pain that ached her heart".

Breeze felt her head begin to hurt as she finished reading the shown pages, but as she reached to turn the page she heard a loud "thump": this time from just outside the room, seemingly in the hallway. She made a quick movement towards the door: rushing to check the noise, dropping the book in the process.