Night had already set, the typical howls emanating from the Everfree forest picked up, and swift shadows dashed the nippy air. The pristine snow beneath Celestia’s hooves crunched with each step, echoed by the eerie stillness only found in this backwards forest. Even Celestia herself rarely ventured into the forest, and when she did it was only for a mile or two in. She had not much business to tend to in there, and knew that there were mysteries safely kept deep within that could keep anypony searching their whole lives for and never catch wind.
Celestia contemplated on her matters as she walked along. With a vague sense of her bearings and a wide journey ahead, she had not much else to do. Her thoughts started out on the matter of the storm. In all her years of reign, never had a storm become so uncontrollable; the pegasi were swift enough and skilled enough to handle it. Even with her own effort she could not subdue this storm. What could possibly be different? She trudged on in silence. Seamlessly her mind shifted to a memory of her childhood - a very particular memory that she was quite fond of. It was the day she and Luna first learned to raise the sun and moon. It had been a spectacular moment only enhanced when the sight of the sun and moon sharing the sky passed overhead. That was the day the two sisters received their cutie marks and first royal duties. How fond of a memory it was.
Our princess carried on in silence for many hours, only stopping at the occasional clearing to gaze up at the ongoing storm. Funny, the storm didn’t seem so furious at this moment. It was almost serene – the clouds whisking above in uniformity and the moon managing to peek through here and there – and once again her mind drifted, this time to her sister. She recalled the many times that Luna had been there for her and been there with her through troubles and playful mischief. But then another thought escaped from her subconscious. How arrogant she believed Luna to be in the past weeks. She almost let herself stoop to believing how much easier it would be without having a sister at all!
Just then, the winds roared, bending trees and bringing with them a barrage of biting cold snow. Celestia, taken by surprise, hurried to seek shelter from the blistering winds. She perchance happened upon a shallow ditch between brambles. Perhaps she should consider holing up here for the night or at least until the winds died down – if they would at all.
Despite the blustery weather, Celestia managed to find herself wandering off into drowsiness. A twig snapped. It sounded quite near to Celestia and was enough to jerk her from her state of rest. She knew there were beasts and creatures in the forest, but wouldn’t believe that any would dare venture out into this cold, much less in the dead of night. The bushes rustled to her right – or so her fears told her for it would be hard to tell otherwise in that wind – and she stood and waited for any more movement.
“Who treads upon this path?!” she shouted.
A shadow, tall and slender, emerged from beside the bush.
“Wh-who are you?”
