The Journey From West Artax

The scent of flora and icing adorned the cottage's warming air, accompanied with the sound of Breeze's delicate humming: the mares found themselves once more in the dining room's grasp.

Breeze, who was now sitting in one of the dining room table's wooden chairs made a few frequent glances towards Butter Crème who was standing just off to the side of the table.

Butter Crème stood, watching Intently into a mirror, seemingly inspecting her eyes while her mouth continued to speak out into the cottage's early morning air. Without much thought, Butter Crème spoke out to Breeze "And then I saw this town in the middle of a desert, perhaps it is a message that I should head there".

Breeze questioned nervously "so is this just a common occurrence for you?"

Butter Crème looked to her responding "what do you mean, love?"

Breeze rolled her eyes in a slight frustration before continuing "being haunted by otherworldly beings? Books that write themselves? Any of that?"

Butter Crème giggled before responding "Oh no, not really. We may get a few magic books at the library from time to time, but those are just regular spell books."

Breeze hopelessly looked over Butter Crème before questioning with a nuance of nervousness and a sigh "So... you said 'In the middle of a desert' right? I think I know where that is... When do you wanna go? I'm ready whenever."

Butter Crème who had just returned her gaze to the mirror's surface, froze for a moment, she slowly turned back towards Breeze before letting out a confused "W-what"?

Breeze quickly adopted a look of embarrassment, quickly moving her hair to cover her eyes. She took a deep breath before reasserting her previous question "When do you wanna go? I'm ready whenever."

Breeze could feel her stomach start to churn, wondering if she was in fact being too assertive towards poor Butter Crème. Breeze knew Butter Crème had been through alot during that night, but she had to make due on her promise of staying by her side, therefore she cleared her throat, attempting to add onto her previous statement with a bit more softness "unless... you don't want me to... which is fine! Totally fine. But I uh... wouldn't mind accompanying you".

Butter Crème chuckled a bit, discarding her prior look of shock before excitedly responding "I would simply love if you would travel with me, dear!" She quickly realized her brashness and readjusted her demeanor towards Breeze before continuing in a more proper tone "I mean ahem... That would be perfectly fine, dear. I would greatly appreciate the company".

Breeze moved her mane out of her face; looking at Butter Crème with a inquisitivly raised eyebrow before speaking out with a smile "You know, I saw you having a major panic attack- like freaking out and screaming? You don't have to act so formal around me anymore."

Breeze rolled her eyes before laughing quietly to herself "Not like you ever did..."

Butter Crème turned back to her reflection now holding a bit of embarrassment on her cheek. She spoke hesitantly "I know, love... But I feel just so awful for making you go through all that, it must of been really stressful..."

Breeze giggled audibly before speaking once more "Stressful? For me? Come on, all I had to deal with is a talkative book! you saw some kind of creepy PTSD monster made of eyes towering over you. I think you had the stressful bit".

Butter Crème let out a nervous laugh before anxiously responding "Yeah... I guess so".

Breeze looked to Butter Crème in curiosity before questioning "Um... Daisy?"

Butter Crème slowly turned to face Breeze once more with an inquisitive expression rightfully shown.

Breeze continued hesitantly "Why- uh... why do you keep looking at your reflection? If you don't mind me asking..."

Butter Crème's expression shifted to somberness, her hoof slowly moving to touch just below one of her radiant purple eyes. She slowly began to speak in response, her gaze drifting from Breeze's line of sight "I- In my dream... my mother, she told me I had my father's eyes... It refuses to depart from my mind..."

Breeze looked at Butter Crème with a pained expression, though after a moment she slowly adorned a smile before speaking- casting her gaze deeper into Butter Crème's eyes "well... I think they look beautiful- like a lovely allum".

Butter Crème's eyes widened as her cheeks turned a lively shade of red: she tried for a second to find somekind of response before settling on a shaken "Oh my, well thank you, dear".

Breeze smiled at Butter Crème with a warming grin, however in her mind she was screaming with anxiety "what the hell was that, oh my Celestia that was just too obvious".

Butter Crème cleared her throat before speaking in a still slightly shaking voice "Well... I was thinking perhaps we could leave within the next hour. I would like to make a quick stop at the library before departing West Artax".

Breeze nodded silently, however in her mind she couldn't help but feel a sense of rising dread wash over her: the idea of walking through the ghost town again weakened her to her core, like an apple plagued with various worms. She didn't mind being in Butter Crème's cottage, but the process or getting there was nothing short of a haunting memory.

Butter Crème's ears quickly perked up as she let out a sudden "Oh! I almost forgot!" She began to move from where she stood, but took a hesitant glance back into the mirror once more, before letting out a pained sigh and quickly sprinting out of the dining room. She made her way back into the kitchen, then towards the lifeless living room, and then loudly up the stairs.

Breeze watched with a confused expression for a moment as a zealous Butter Crème loudly sprinted back down and into the kitchen- immediately slipping and falling cartoonishly on its tiled floor with a "slam", in the process causing a few pans to fall off the kitchen's island and onto her.

Butter Crème let out a pained groan, before slowly standing back up to her hooves; revealing a brown satchel held proudly in her mouth, and her face showing an eager smile.

Breeze thought to question if Butter Crème was okay, but after seeing her excited expression, she simply rolled her eyes with a smile, Instead quietly questioning "So... what's this"?

Butter Crème gave a quick little hop before attempting to speak through the satchel's pleather strap, though her words came out little more than a jumbled mess of "Mmm's".

Breeze looked at Butter Crème in confusion before simply questioning "what?"

Butter Crème quickly floated the bag out of her mouth with her magic before giggling out "I always forget I can do that". She quickly cleared her throat before presumably repeating her prior statement: her voice permeating happiness as she spoke "I found this bag in my mother's old room! I want to give it to you, dear! so you no longer have to hold that weird book under your wing!" Butter Crème began excitedly hopping once more while shouting "Oh! Oh! And you can fly as well now!"

Breeze quickly shook her head before guiltily saying "Butter Crème, I can't possibly accept that, it belonged to your mother..."

Butter Crème's face shifted to sadness before continuing "pleeease? I want to give it to you- to atleast make up for everything that happened... and besides I know you! I know you will take good care of it".

Breeze rolled her eyes before laughing out "Butter Crème we literally just met".

Butter Crème shifted her sadness to something like the look of a pouting puppy.

Upon seeing this, Breeze hesitantly took the satchel. She stood up from her chair, and carefully affixed it below her wing. Slowly turning back to look at Butter Crème again, Breeze shyly questioned "well... uh- how do I look...?"

Butter Crème's face shifted to a look of embarrassment before responding "well, you look... you look simply beautiful, love"

Breeze's previously violet face flushed pure with red. Her voice stumbled for a second before reverting to a shy whispering "Oh um, thank you..."

Butter Crème, now picking up on Breeze's embarrassment- took on a nervous smile as she began making quick anxious glances between the floor and Breeze: trying desperately to see her reaction.

Breeze stood silently in her emotions desperately avoiding Butter Crème's gaze from behind her tyrian purple mane.

Butter Crème felt embarrassment set in deeply as she watched Breeze begin to shyly pull away. She quickly searched for an excusable escape, until remembering the book from the library. She quietly cleared her throat before speaking "I um... am gonna head down to the library and fill out that you are borrowing that book... if you want- umm... feel free to meet up there in about thirty minutes, I should be ready by then".

Breeze gave a quiet "alright..." with a small head nod. As Butter Crème slowly turned to make her way out of the cottage's cozy interior, limping slightly, seemingly as a result to her prior clumsiness.

The silence of the cottage echoed in Breeze's mind as she wrapped her head around her situation. She couldn't help but question what she had truly gotten herself into. She began thinking "I mean- maybe I'm just being weird, but magical monsters... memories just coming back to me, the feeling of being watched all through West Artax, and that weird trusting feeling around Butter Crème..." she stared off into space, trying to understand everything she's seen or felt in the past day she's been there. "That book as well... and the magic from it, all of this is just too much for me... magic is common in Equestria... but this is different." as she finished that thought, Breeze carefully placed her hoof to her chest- feeling her heart rate to the best of her ability "My heart may just give out from all this excitement, I'm not like my sister..."

Breeze stomped her hoof onto the ground exclaiming loudly "wait! That's it! My sister! She always knows what to do in these situations, so all I have to do is 'do what she would do!'" Breeze giggled to herself "She'd probably try to play the whole situation 'cool' Yeah! That's it! I'm totally gonna play it cool, just like how Sparks would!"

Breeze began to walk, confidently cantering her way into the kitchen- she found herself standing over a mess of pans that had fallen during Butter Crème's "tumble". She slowly gathered each pan into her wings, placing them neatly onto the island, and quietly whispering "Such a mess... she didn't even try to clean it".

Slowly she trotted her way through the living room finally getting back to the staircase. Voyaging up the stairs- she found herself drowned in an ominous aura: the silence accompanied with each hoofstep was unnatural in every definition, it seemed as though even the nature outside had silenced for some inexplicable reason. She attempted to push through the eeriness for a moment but found herself thrilled with a marvelous horror. Finally she made it to the top of the stairs, taking a deep breath while staring down the hall towards the bedroom's door. With a hesitant "gulp" she journeyed the hall before carefully planting her hooves infront of the bedroom: she felt her hooves quake in response to the gutting silence. Silently she pressed the room's door open- revealing a painfully lifeless room, save for the dust bunnies that danced soulfully in response to the door's swinging movement.

Breeze took in the view of the early morning sun with a relieving sigh. She watched the sun bearing brightly through the bedroom's wooden framed window. She couldn't help but flench as its light persuaded her eyes of its glory. She began a journey into the blinding room, in search of the book she had retired onto the bed's flesh. Eventually she stumbled her way up to it, but took a hesitant grasp of it. Upon further inspection, the book seemingly moved on its own once more; though it did slightly frighten Breeze, she couldn't help but roll her eyes in response. Laughing to herself "The supernatural is the natural- ironic".

Slowly she took the book into her wings running her hoof along one of its open pages, she nervously laughed "Well anything you wanna show me"?

The book made no effort to reveal itself to Breeze.

Breeze looked over it with mixed emotions: on one hoof being happy nothing happened, but on the other half worried of what the book was displaying... or perhaps who it was displaying the message to. She took a discontent look at Book before gently placing it into her bag, and locking it shut. Taking a deep breath and with eager steps, Breeze bounded her way from the guest bedroom with a breakneck pace- seeking salvation from the horrendous feeling it radiated.

Swiftly making her way to the cottage's door, Breeze eagerly pressed it open, and quickly stepped her way outside- simultaneously locking the door behind her in the process. She looked over the locked door for a second worried that she'd be locking Butter Crème out but reasoned to herself "I could just fly to an upstairs window for Butter Crème or she could probably 'magic' in".

Breeze took a deep breath as she turned around, carefully taking in the forest resident to the cottage's front yard. She expected the horrors of yesterday to once more visit her, but evidently in the early morning's light even the most frightening of shadows was illuminated with a delicate fragrance of life's grace.

The trees seemingly danced a happiness akin to a thousand ballroom dancers, the grass and flowers praised the sky with wide arms of joy, and the animal pressed their way through each with movements like that of spirits headed towards the light of their makers. It was as though each of the forest's existences granted another piece of a puzzle, held together by the glue of life "The sun".

In the center of it all stood Breeze, dawned in the cottage's carrion shadow- amongst the morning's dew. She couldn't help but feel out of place in the beauty that befell her. She stood for a moment gently breathing as her eyes flowed their way around each tree, flower, or blade of grass until finally they rested their gaze upon a single fluttering butterfly. Breeze watched as the butterfly fluttered its way up to her: instinctually Breeze reached her wing out to it, admiring its gentle beauty. Slowly the butterfly came to rest upon her similarly gentle- violet feathers, she couldn't help but let out a loving "aww" in admiration of the lifeform. After a moment the butterfly embraced its own wings once more, departing from Breeze, and heading back into the sky from whence it came.

Breeze watched its departure for only a moment before bringing her own wings up above her side in a readied position. She carefully looked up to the blue sky, before confidently blowing some of her hair out of her face with a smile. Breeze braced herself slowly before suddenly leaping into the air, her wings sprawled out at her side. In fact It only took seconds before she was atleast a couple hundred feet in the air, looking eagerly upon her warm surroundings: It had been an extremely long time since she last flew in the glory of the morning sun. Normally she only dwelled in the moon's cold embrace, however she found a foreign delight while divulging in the sun's loving light.

Looking around her she could see what seemed like miles of forest broken up sparsely with various snow capped mountains, however in the far distance she could almost make out what looked to be a sandy plain, though in that moment the sand's presence was overlooked. Breeze couldn't help but try and take in each tree, mountain, river, or even plateau. She found herself mesmerized by all of their brilliant colors, though she'd seen them all before, dawned in the blanket of night. The colors before her far outshined the purple hues the moon offered. She thought the night was impossibly beautiful, but even the most dull green or blue put the night to shame. Breeze couldn't help but smile feeling the warm air of the sun overtake her as she began to give admiration to the sky itself. She made her way to a nearby cloud, carefully standing on it to admire its miraculous comfort- though it wasn't any different from the clouds she was used to during the night, she was practically jumping with joy on the small white cloud. In accordance the cloud began to pour rain down below her, catching Breeze's curious attention as she slowly moved to fly beside the cloud once more. With a happy smile, she watched water fall from beneath the cloud: slowly Breeze reached out her hoof taking in the coldness of the water that precipitated under the cloud.

She once more looked below her, this time casting her gaze upon West Artax: She found herself in awe, now seeing it in daylight she could see what seemed to be the remains of a battlefield covering the outreach of the town and some parts within it. At each part of West Artax resided a multitude of craters and mounds of dirt, even worse was the copious number of buildings that were crumbled presumably by the same battle, with pieces of wood, brick, and glass thrown about everywhere.

Breeze wondered to herself if this was really caused by just an army of angry Earthponies, she watched downwards, imagining a hustling crowd of ponies pillaging through the town: she couldn't help but flench once more imagining the screams of terror that originated that day- In fact from above she could clearly make out West Artax's graveyard filled to the brim with countless headstones. She looked over it in dread, half noting that not every grave there had necessarily belonged to adults alone, the idea of the countless young foals that lost their lives that day made her feel sick, all because the races didn't get along, so many lives were lost. She could only remain there for a moment, sadly whispering to herself "The PAU huh?" Slowly she moved her wings to fly down towards West Artax's border.

Landing carefully on the grassy path just outside of town, she hesitantly looked into it- feeling the bitter pain of the town's past berating her once more. She slowly made her way into town. She let out an audible shivering as a chilling wind made haste to meet her. She walked with her head held down to the ground, feeling as though she could hear the many souls bustling around her. Breeze slowly made her way though West Artax, so on edge she found herself jumping to the smallest of noises. It felt like an eternity of walking before she once more found herself at the fountain's reach.

She looked over it carefully, truly taking in each detail in an attempt to distract her mind from the horrors around her. She took note of the center of the fountain, observing a faded statue of a Stallion: colored a dull green with an almost black mane. He had both wings and a horn, however his wings were colored a brilliant gold and his horn was tipped a greyish-white. Upon further inspection it looked as though some strange type of golden crown rested atop his head, and though it was hard to make out due to the fading, his eyes were a dull purple.

Breeze questioned to herself "Some kind of royalty? He does appear to be an Alicorn..." she couldn't help but notice an obvious familiarity to it- remembering Butter Crème's previous statement from earlier that day "In my dream my mother told me I had my father's eyes." Breeze reasoned that it may be a coincidence, but she'd ask her about it next time she had a chance, but as for now she still couldn't shake the dreadful feeling in her chest.

She once more painfully looked out into the town, deeply feeling the chilling aura of the many lost souls, their gutting crying screams pleading for help. She regrettably noted how everything from her last visit remained the same- realizing the possibility that each soul was frozen in time and tormented: their town serving as their very own eternal prison, the very idea made Breeze shudder.

She could see her Breath faintly in front of her: it was like the sun's warmth couldn't seem to reach West Artax... she took a moment in the silence before whispering out her thoughts "a city cold to the bone- held together only by the agonizing suffering of its forgotten inhabitants... I never imagined a place this horrible... so devoid of life- joy- so devoid of..." she took a moment before looking towards the sky once more, only whispering out one saddened word "hope"

Breeze could feel them, she could almost hear them, she could almost see them. It hurt her, it hurt her to a degree she felt tears begin to fester. She felt the dreadful fear overwhelm her as she- like many others in the past, fell down into the grass that succumbed the fountain's base behind her. She only barely held herself up by her front hooves. She began to cry, but froze upon hearing a small voice speaking out to her.

"Miss?" It spoke out, as gentle as raindrops. "Miss, are you okay?"

Breeze slowly looked up, horrified to see what had called to her, however infront of her stood a small filly, colored a delicate blue, with a pastel pink mane. Breeze wiped her eyes, before carefully responding "Y-yes I'm okay... um.... who- who are you?"

The small foal giggled with a contagious laugh, and a catchy smile "Well howdy! The name's Cotton Joy! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Moonlight"!

Breeze laughed slightly before responding "can- can I help you with anything Cotton Joy...?" Upon further inspection she also realized the young filly before her was a Unicorn as well, with a horn tipped in white to match.

Cotton Joy smiled at her whilst blissfully speaking "Not really... we just really wanted to make sure you were okay Breeze! I hate seeing anypony cry, also I just wanted you to have this" Cotton Joy proudly held out a small toy in a giving motion. The toy held the appearance of a small orange earth pony wearing a hat.

Breeze carefully took it from her hoof whilst asking "What is it?"

Cotton Joy giggled one final time responding "It's not 'what is it?' it's 'who is it?'" She let out a bubbly laugh before continuing "She always made us feel better when we were scared, we were hoping this would make you feel just as happy! We always called her Apples cause of her mark!" Cotton Joy looked back over her shoulder with a face of disappointed like she had just heard somepony call her name, before turning back with a delicate smile "I gotta go, Breeze, please come visit us sometime, and I wanted to tell you 'not to worry, it gets scary sometimes... but we're alright here!"

Breeze looked at Cotton Joy with confusion for a moment before questioning "Wait- what do you mean 'we'? and I... I never told you my name?"

Cotton Joy began to run off whilst happily shouting back "Please visit us soon!"

Breeze shot up to her hooves, in pursuit of the filly, desperately shouting ahead for her to wait, but as Cotton Joy made her way around the corner of a nearby ruined building the sound of her hoofsteps seemingly vanished. Upon Breeze making it around the corner herself, she saw no sign of the young filly- the only thing in clear sight from behind the building was an obvious view of the churches rusted gates swinging in the wind.

Breeze looked down at the figure- still clasped in her wing, before whispering to herself in horror "This town is way too much for me..." she stared at the toy scared for a moment before taking a deep breath repeating "Cool like Sparks" over and over. Finally containing her fear, she sparked up a smile and confidently spoke out into the town's chilling silence "Apples, huh? Okay, Cotton Joy... I promise." She carefully turned around, and began her way to the library, but stopped
quickly- jumping in fright in response to the sound of metal slamming behind her. Quickly turning back towards the church, Breeze saw the gate that was just open, now slammed to a firm closing, and just in the distance she saw the churches door fling open and then close by itself. Breeze froze- before carefully and silently placing the figure of the orange mare in her bag beside Book. She let out a shaken "I guess... this is just my life now..."

Breeze made an uneasy turn away from the church before quickly and hastefully running away from its sight. Heading her way swiftly to the library's domain- surely having enough of the town's inhabitants. Though she definitely wasn't concerned for them anymore, even so the same can't be said for the inhabitants themselves. From just inside the churches window stood a small blue mare dawning a smile, only broken up by their sad eyes.

From behind the pony came another small voice "Are you sure she's okay, I didn't scare her too bad did I Cotton?"

Cotton Joy turned back towards the voice, casting their sight over a young colt, colored yellow with a pale orange mane. She spoke carefully and gently towards him "Of course not Citrus... she'll be alright, and besides it was important to make sure we gave her Apples."

Citrus looked over Cotton Joy with an astonished look, returning the conversation once more "You're so mature now..."

Cotton Joy looked away in embarrassment giggling nervously "it's nothing honestly, I'm just doing as Driello asked all those moon's ago"

Citrus walked up beside Cotton Joy, casting his gaze out the window with a sorrowful look- quietly speaking out "I miss him..."

Cotton Joy wrapped a hoof around Citrus- sadness showing in their town as well "I do too... but we still have most our friends here, and besides- Driello trusted us to take care of her until she was ready to leave home"

Citrus looked at Cotton Joy with a smile coated in a stream of tears "you're right, I know he'd be so proud of us"

Cotton Joy smiled proudly over Citrus simply responding a satisfied "Yeah". She took a moment before adding "come on, Citrus, let's head down stairs... I bet the others would love to hear I finally got to meet the 'Moonlight Breeze'."

Slowly the duo gathered themselves, and headed their way into the darkness of the church- dissappearing once more.