Awake.

I wake up with aching muscles, my breathing quick, and my heart beating in my chest. It is freezing cold in my room. My room looks relatively normal. The walls are wooden, and there is a small stove in the corner with the faintest yellow-red glow coming through its display glass, blackened with soot. There is a single window allowing bright white light to spew into the room.

I quickly get up and use my magic to open the door of the stove and stoke the fire with some of the wood stored underneath to dry. Hopefully the flame is able to get going again so I won't have to freeze to death. 'Though,' I ponder, 'am I even capable of dying? Or do I just wake up again?' Age seems to have no lasting effect on me, so it wouldn't be too crazy to assume I am, in some way...functionally immortal.

"I have read more than enough books to know that that would be an outcome I do not desire," I think aloud.

The howling of wind outside my little cabin breaks me from my musing. As I refocus back on the world, and as the fire is starting to pick up again, I begin to consider what my purpose today shall be. Staying here doesn't seem like the most fun of options, but going outside-which seems to be teeming with horrid weather-does not sound appealing either.

"Welp," I say, as I stare into the fire-the only source of light in the dark room, "Let's see if I at least have some good winter gear!"

A nearby storage chest seems like the best option to start searching, so I use my magic to open its lid and rummage through its contents. Inside there are some snow shoes, rope, a small mess-kit, even a one-pony tent. Really, all things a pony would need to go out and survive in the wilderness. Though, I fear I don't have too much knowledge in survival. The royal guard did some wilderness training with us, but nopony paid particular attention to those lectures.

Since staying here isn't going to do me any real good, I decide to take out some of the equipment and prepare myself a day pack. Some light exploration would likely help me gain my bearings on where I am, since there seemed to be no maps available. Before leaving, I close the drawer and add a bit more wood to the fire, closing the vents to the stove to hopefully keep it smoldering until I return...if I return.

The cold air to my face briefly shocks my systems, so much so that I have to briefly gasp for air. As I take my first steps into the snow, I realize that I am surrounded by nothing but white tundra. I can't even tell if it's actively snowing or if the heavy winds are just picking up old snow. None of the equipment I saw included any snow-goggles or sunglasses, so I may go blind by the end of the day.

You know what, it's probably best to just check ag-

As I turn around, the cabin that had just stepped out of was gone. Incredulous, I take a few more steps in the direction, before galloping as fast as I could towards where the cabin was just a few moments ago...but there was nothing but snow.

"FFFF- NOOOOOOOO!!!" I yell.

This-

THIS CAN'T BE-

Why? There is no way I am trapped in this snowy tundra without any shelter or heat!

Is- is this some sort of punishment?

"I should have just left the discord statue alone, what was I thinking," I cry to myself.

There is too much wind to properly fly, so I am just stuck here. I'll just slowly have to freeze to death and hope that I wake up somewhere warm and cozy this time. I'll just sit here and wait for hypothermia to take me and get me out of this mess. Haha, universe! Didn't think I'd be that crazy, did ya?

I got no response...

Figures...

I shake my head to try and regain some level of composure. This wouldn't be the first time I may or may not have lost it a tad bit. But to be honest, freezing to death doesn't sound that great either. Even if it would likely not be permanent. So there is only really one thing for me to do but start walking. Which way? I don't have a compass. so just straight forward it is!

I keep walking.

There is nothing but snow.

It is so cold.

Horribly cold.

Terrifyingly cold.

I try to tuck my leathery wings closer to my body to try and conserve some heat, but there doesn't seem to be any heat to conserve. The sun has just about set by now, taking away any last external source of heat I may have had. All I can hear is the evil winds taking away the last vestiges of warmth inside of my body.

Then, I stumble a little.

"G- great. T-the first ro-ck I h- ha- have seen in a- ages, a- and I-" 'nearly crack my hoof on it,' I wanted to finish but couldn't. I barely had energy to keep thinking straight. I barely had enough feeling in my limbs to feel the awful pain the rock shot up my half-frozen leg.

Numerous times, I had tried to fall asleep over the past hours of darkness, but the harsh, cold winds had simply kept me awake all this time. No amount of survival training could prepare you for enduring these conditions longer than a few minutes. Digging a snow cave may work, if you had any equipment to do so. Which I didn't.

'Wait, didn't I...'

I couldn't quite remember.

Oh Celestia, if only I was somewhere warm!

My head hurt, my body hurt, my horn hurt...

Any attempt at magic just made it feel like it would crack at any moment. The agony was unbearable!

I could not tell you if I was simply weak today, or if the cold's single purpose in existence was to hurt me.

'There,' I thought.

'Those look like lights on the horizon!'

My prayers have been answered! I would shout with joy, if I could, but all that escapes my lips at that point are faint gasping noises.

I begin to stumble towards the lights on the horizon. Hope and anticipation filling me with unnatural strength. The lights seem to slowly grow brighter as I continue to will my nearly frozen limbs towards them. Oh, it hurts! It hurts so much to take every step, stumble, and shimmy. But it's all worth it to hopefully finally bring an end to this nightmare. To finally be able to feel warmth again? After days of wandering in this frozen wasteland, I am ecstatic!

Fall.

I trip over another rock. The second one I have seen in months of being here. What a coincidence?! Since I had been shuffling down a slope, I begin to roll. Faster, and faster, until my sense of direction is fully lost. After what feels like a few minutes of rolling I finally unfold and grind to a halt. My head buried under a mound of material.

I am scared.

Now...you may not know the universe like I do, so let my explain why my fear is more than reasonable.

The universe hates me for some reason. It has never liked me and, unless I am reading too far into the events over the past couple of hours, it now has a serious vendetta against me. Whenever something goes right, the universe likes to take it away from me.

So I can tell you-with almost complete certainty-that as soon as I raise my head out of the sand, the lights will be gone. And I will be stuck right where I beg-

Wait, sand?

My head pops up.

All I can see is sand, sand for ages.

The lights on the horizon are gone, obviously, but they have been replaced with the lights of thousands upon thousands of stars above me. They are beautiful... I am not sure I have ever seen them this clearly. Except maybe for that one time I woke up on the moon, but that was so long ago. Luna has done a beautiful job...

Something felt off...

Cold.

It was still cold.

"WHY IS IT STILL COLD!?" I scream with renewed vigor.

It's a bloody desert!

"THIS IS JUST UNFAIR!" I continue to yell, "BRING ME ALL THE WAY HERE, FOR WHAT? TO JUST FURTHER MESS WITH ME?!"

(Meesley does not notice the sand around him begin to vibrate and...phase?)

"HOW MUCH LONGER?"

"WHAT MORE DO I HAVE TO SUFFER THROUGH?"

Who am I? Why me? What did I do to deserve this punishment?

"ALL BECAUSE OF SOME STUPID STATUE?"

Even before that, what am I?

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? TO DO THIS TO ME, TO ACT LIKE SOME MALEVOLENT GOD?"

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"WHO AM I?"

"WHO ARE WE?"

(The sand beneath him begins to glow, empowered by some ener-)

STOP.

I fall to the ground.

Didn't even notice I wasn't standing anymore. My head hurts even more now, throbbing in pain rather than feeling partially frozen. As my heart starts to calm down a little bit, I begin to feel tears running down my cheeks.

"Please," I say as I start to cry.

"We can keep playing this game...my life, but please end today," I plead.

"This isn't fun, and it can't be fun to watch (or read) about this sort of punishment. So let's just end this."

...

...

...

"Please."

...

My eyes start to get heavy. And my legs collapse. My tears change from tears of exasperation and sadness to relief...maybe even joy.

Sleep.

Thank you.

Author's Note

That's right! Not even the point-of-view will stay consistent! I am sorry about the large delays in writing, they may only get worse from here on out. But the next chapter will likely be posted within 48hrs.

Read my typographical emphasis carefully, they reveal what/who is talking.

Important note:
As you must have read, question his innocence. When he lays in bed, we pay his penance.