Part 1. Reflection of sadness.
Noisome Mist has been traveling for two days now since that tragic morning on the hill with Simon, wandering ever northward through the hilly and forested land. She enjoyed seeing all the new plants and animals. The scent of the forest still has some charm for her but it isn't the same. Her broken heart is still a hollow ache, drawing a lot of the wonder out of the things around her.
At random intervals her thoughts drift will back to Simon, and tears start to flow, accompanied by sobs and sniffles. "Why? Why am I like this?" she quietly muses aloud. "I don't want to harm anything, yet I did. I just want to have friends. I just want to be happy and not alone."
Mist stops at a small pool in a lovely little glade. The tree top canopy is thick, and the pool is deeply shaded and still. She looks down at her reflection. A misty white reflection looks back at her with a depth of sorrow matched only by the ache in her heart. Lines run from the corners of her eyes down her nose, ghostly trails left by the passage of ethereal tears of sorrow. The mask she once thought set off her eyes now just makes her look haunted. "How do I get better from this?" her quiet musings continues. "What happened - happened. I can't undo it and I wont forget it. I'm Noisome Mist, a kind and lonely life draining monster. I'm sure that wont be a problem to anypony, right?" She is starting to tear her self down, to fall even deeper into the reflection of sadness gazing up at her. Then, a small sound catches her attention.
The sound starts small, but steadily grows to a low and throaty growl. The ethereal hairs along her back stand up, and a shiver runs swiftly up her spine. She slowly raises her head and turns toward the source of the sound.
A frightening monstrosity of a beast stands leering at her, bathed in the shadows at the edge of the glade, it's eyes glowing dimly red. It is shaped like a wolf but seems to be made of sticks and tree branches. Sharp spikes of wood fill its gaping jaws, viscous green saliva dripping slowly off the points.
Mist in an instant is snapped out of her melancholy, the attack she is waging on herself broken. She knows this is no friendly thing. She can almost feel the anger, malevolence and hate radiating off it. This is a creature of darkness, it will surely come for her.
With a slightly shaky voice she speaks to it. "I do not know what you are and I wish you no harm, but if attacking me is your intent I will not resist." She said warningly. "The outcome of your actions may not be to your liking." Noisome Mist is not worried. It is day, and she is immaterial. The creature will simply pass right through her, and in doing so its life will be drawn away from it.
The timber wolf and Noisome Mist both stand their ground, facing off. The glade is silent, time seeming to hold its breath. The timber wolf's fury building, Mist resigning herself to what is about to happen. Moments creep by, tension built in the air.
Unseen and unheard, secluded in shadow at a distance from the glade, a midnight blue Alicorn watches the scene unfold, fascinated.
With a howling roar the timber wolf launches itself across the glade right at Noisome Mist. She watches it come, sad for it. Sad that it has no idea what is about to happen to it.
It reaches her, jaws gaping wide, going for her throat and a tearing kill. Its jaws snap shut on nothing, its forward momentum unbroken, it passes right through her. Passing through, it feels something cold and heavy ripped from itself.
At the same instant, power and energy explode into Noisome Mist. This is no slow pleasant tingle. It is like a wall of power and energy all at once, an incredibly fast and euphoric feeling. She can feel life and warmth surging within herself, infusing every muscle and bone. It is almost too much. Flush with life and energy she shivers, sways, and became solid.
"What was that?!" she gasps. "How am I solid during the day?" she says, stammering out loud. Thinking, she reasons it out and let out a sigh. "I did not just draw life from that creature, I ripped it away. All of it. Enough to make me solid in the day light..." She feels sad for it even though it attacked her. She dreads turning to look at it. Dreads to see it lying on the forest floor in a crumpled heap. She has to though, to reinforce the truth of what a danger she is, so she turns to look.
There it stands, looking bemused and a lot less menacing. She does not understand. She does not sense any of the darkness, hate and anger it had possessed. It was looking around like it has just woken up from a pleasant nap, it's eyes no longer glowing red and it's whole attitude has changed.
Now it was calm and nonthreatening like most other forest creatures she has encountered.
Mist stands transfixed, so many things running through her mind that she does not even see it slowly approaching her. It cautiously approaches Mist's now solid form. Creeping closer, it reaches up with a forepaw and nudges her. Jared from her thoughts, she is now face to face with the timber wolf.
Staring intently in to each others eyes, they stand motionless, the timber wolf seeing a sadness in her eyes it cannot understand, and a look of appreciation in the timberwolf's eyes that Mist cannot not begin to comprehend.
Unseen in the shadows of the forest, a midnight blue alicorn understands completely what has just transpired. She just has a hard time believing it. Smiling to herself, she fades further back in to the darkness of the forest.
Breaking their gaze with one another the timber wolf trots off into the forest. Mist opens her mouth to speak and just freezes that way, her body still tingling with new energy, her ears out to the sides and down in a befuddled expression. One side of the corner of her mouth turns up in to a crooked grin. She starts to chuckle. "Now that's just what I need. I get it, I'm Noisome Mist, a great danger and harm to good creatures but a great help to violent end evil monsters. That's just perfect," she goes on, chuckling and just a little too much to remain on this side of sane.
Hearing this, the retreating dark alicorn shakes her head and lowers it. She lets out a sigh and looks back at the glade. Noisome Mist is now prancing about in a figure eight and muttering strange and incomprehensible things. "Why cant you see the truth, why do you always take the wrong path?" she says to herself. "Well I guess I will be seeing you tonight then." Still smiling to herself she leaves for now.
Mist, forcing herself to think of Simon, regains her melancholy composure. Still solid and still feeling the new energy of that last encounter, she resumes her journey north.
Coming out of the forest to a steep and grassy slope she begins her climb up. Now in the direct sun she feels the new energy quickly fading away. By the time she reaches the top of the slope she has faded away to immaterial again. Ever looking north she fails to see the entire grassy slope she just climbed is now much greener and the grass much taller. By the time the sun is setting she is on another ridgeline. Lying in a little clearing overlooking the next valley she will be crossing, she decides to sleep here tonight and mull over the events of the past day.
As the sun sets and she firms up, becoming solid, she imagines Simon lowering his wing over her to keep her warm. She closes her tear filled eyes and drifts off to sleep.
