The Adventures of Two Best Friends.

The morning sun, roused from it’s dark slumber, rose over the great forests of the Everfree. The light setting the dew-soaked leaves shining like the stars of the near-passed night sky as the early-rising life of the trees began to stir, signalled by multitudes of rustles as bodies moved against the undergrowth and the constant chattering of the many different forest-dwelling birds as they awoke to face the new day.

In the Everfree limits bordering the great forest, a time-scarred tree-house clung to a tree, intricately knotted vines securing it’s position.

The vine-bound wooden planks taking the place of a door slammed open, nearly ripping off their rusted hinges. A small, midnight-blue pegasus filly trotted out, wincing against the early morning sun. She trotted towards the small safety fence circling the platform the building was situated on, stomping her hooves loudly on the planks, making them groan in protest.

After a short while of staring out across the great, leafy, expanse that was the Everfree forest, she turned towards the dark murk that shrouded the inside of the tree-house and called into it,

“Aw, come on Myst! It doesn’t take that long to get ready!”

A tired moan came in response, the pegasus sighed, then, stretching out her front legs, she entered, a slight grin on her face,

Hearing the hoofsteps of the other pony, the tired pony curled up into a small ball, burrowing deeper into the pile of hay she was using as a bed. She called out at the advancing pegasus,

“Be there in a sec-”, then, a pair of hooves gripped her body and hoisted her up, into the air,

“Waah! Hey! Stop that Stormy!”, the helpless filly flailed her legs, trying to writhe free as she was carried out into the sunlight. The pegasus dropped the wriggling filly on the floor, laughing as she surveyed the scruffy, sleep-worn fur, tail and mane of the earthen pony.

“Uh, Myst, you may look a bit untidy now...Just a tiny bit.”

Myst sighed deeply, picking herself up and half-heartedly trying to sort out her mane, before giving up at a lost cause and turning to the other filly,

“Better watch out Stormy, I’ll get you back for this...” At this Stormy Skies fluttered her wings in mock fear,

“Oooh, I’m terrified. Let me feel the wrath, oh Myst, queen of darkness.”

Myst began to creep up to the pegasus, slowly moving closer. She readied up her back legs, crouching back, before throwing herself at her friend in a full-body dive, knocking them both backwards towards the edge of the platform,

“Hey, Waah! Watch out Myst! We’re gonna slip off the- “

The two fillies tumbled off the edge of the tree-house’s wooden gantries, falling down a short way,  landing with a large splash in a massive, muddy, water-filled ditch.

The two dripping fillies emerged from the ditch a short while later, manes drooping and tails dragging, fur dyed a slightly murky brown. A small growl rose up from the earthen pony,

“Stormy, You. Will. Pay.”

They reached the edge of the pool, scrabbling out onto the relatively dry and clean forest floor,

“Hey, Myst?” Stormy Skies called out, crouching down.

“Yes?” Myst turned to look at the pegasus, realizing her friend’s intent just too late as Storm shook off, letting the murky water shower down on her surroundings...And a very annoyed looking Myst.

A flock of birds flew up from the nearby trees as their peace was interrupted by an earth-shattering squeal of annoyance and a loud splash.

A sodden Stormy Skies lay in a pile in a large lake-like puddle. She spat out a small amount of water and sighed,

“Seriously Myst?”

“You messed up my mane twice and soaked me with disgusting ditch-water, you expected anything less?” Myst stood on the banks, wringing her tail out between her hooves, a large smile on her face as she surveyed her soaked friend. “And now you’ve learnt why you don’t do that, haven’t you Stormy?”

Several hours later.The two fillies had dried off as best they could in the constant deep shade of the Everfree. Myst and Stormy Skies were pushing through a densely overgrown pathway, splitting off from the main path, delving deeper into the great green depths of the forest. The long grass tickled at Myst’s muzzle as she pushed through, creating a path. She carried on looking around, as if trying to see something special. Stormy sighed,

“Myst where are you trying to get to exactly? We’ve been walking down this sorry excuse for a path for ages!”

“Stop moaning Stormy, we’ll be there in a second.”

“Be where?”

“There.”

“Where’s there?”

“Here.” Announced Myst, pushing through a final layer of enclosing vegetation to step out onto a small rocky plateau.

“What is it?” Stormy stepped around her friend who seemed intent on staring out from the stoney platform,

“Stormy, look down there.”

“Down where?.....Oh.....Woah.....” The pegasus took a glance off of the edge of the plateau, noticing a great drop and a valley floor far, far below. Her eyes followed a small stream, little more than a blue mark from their height, up the valley, and off into the distance.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Myst asked, seeming to be in somewhat of a trance.

“Yeah, uh, lovely...” Stormy slowly backed away from the edge, moving back to her friend.

“Something wrong Stormy?” Myst noticed the pegasus shivering slightly.

“N-no, nothing w-wrong at all....” The pegasus was trembling quite a lot now, her eyes screwed shut and her wings raised defensively.  A single tear marked it’s way down her face, leaving a damp trail and hitting the floor with a light splash.

“Stormy, what is it?” Myst asked again, worried for her friend.

Stormy Skies mumbled something inaudible, her bottom lip trembling as she did so, her body slowly lowering itself to the ground, making herself smaller, fear apparent in her glistening eyes.

“I-I....”

“Shush Stormy.” Myst reached down and grabbed hold of the shivering pony, pulling her into a standing-hug. The trembling pegasus leaned in, moving her muzzle closer to Myst’s ear, then, whispering, she said,

“Myst....I’m s-scared of h-heights....”

“Is that it?”

“I’m a p-pegasus Myst! H-how c-can a pegasus be scared of heights?” At this several tears fell from her glimmering eyes, streaking down her muzzle, dripping onto Myst’s back, leaving a small damp patch in her fur.

“We’re all scared of something Stormy.”

The two fillies, delicately locked in embrace, remained upon the plateau for a long time. Stormy Skies slowly calmed, her eyes no longer tearful, she turned to Myst,

“Thanks Myst...”

“Anytime Stormy, anytime”

The sun began to set, the sky turning a slight orange as the fiery ball sank down beneath the edges of the valley. A stray ray of golden light shone through the valley, illuminating a tiny ramshackle building, far below. There was a flash as a metallic object caught the ray, causing the two fillies to screw their eyes shut.

Soon, the sun had set, yet the two ponies had yet to move, even as the inky darkness of the night consumed the air, bringing with it the cool night-breeze and the great gem that was the moon.

“Myst, uh, what are we going to do? It’s kinda nighttime, and the treehouse is ages away, through the Everfree...At night....” Stormy Skies asked, her voice shaking slightly as she mentioned the nightmarish forest. Myst put hoof to her muzzle in thought,

“Well, It’s not that cold out here, is it?”

“Not really, no.”

“Shall we camp out here then?” Stormy nodded in response, trotting back from the edge of the overhang, back to the grassy, slightly forested part. Myst shortly followed, realising her friend’s intention.

The two fillies lay together, huddled up against the night, Stormy’s wings draped over them both.

“Night Stormy.”

“Night Myst.”