Out of all the days that it could of happened, it happened when I awoke the next day. One look out my window and I could already sense the misery Pip was going through. It was raining. That meant staying indoors for the entire day, or going outside and catching a cold. It wasn't just a drizzle either, a flash of light entered the room every now and again, leaving a boom of thunder in its wake. Most of the ponies in the outskirts of the city are never told when the pegasi schedule a storm, so whenever it happens its a surprise. The only benefit of a storm was that neither of my parents could get to work, and that meant that they would be home all day. If there had been no lightning, they would have to go like always, but since it was a thunderstorm they got to stay home all day.

Neither of them were awake yet, so I could only sit quietly on the couch. The thunder had woken me up, and the soft noise of the rain kept me up. I could only think of how disappointed Pip would be, looking out the window and realizing he wouldn't be able to see a tree today. I just hoped he wouldn't take it too hard, there was always tomorrow.

The raindrops and the wind was soothing in the quiet of the morning. The rain was a constant noise that filled the silence that would be there otherwise. Low tones of the wind mourned through the rain. Thunder rolled around every few minutes, perking up my ears, and then waited until they were back to normal before booming again.

I wasn't hungry for breakfast, it was too early. My parents probably wouldn't be up for a little while longer, and when they did wake up and saw the storm, they'd probably go back to sleep. They didn't get much sleep during the week, with work being early in the morning. Usually by the time I had woken up they would already be gone. Waking up before them was a rare occasion. I'd be able to say goodbye to my father and mother before they galloped off to work, and then I'd have to wait almost the entire day to see them again. Some days I wouldn't even see them, because by the time they got home I would already be asleep.

I heard a small tapping noise. That's odd, storms don't make that noise. I heard it again. I looked behind me, and sure enough the small tapping noise was coming from the door. I sighed, I didn't want to get off the soft couch to go and open the door. Then I remembered something. I looked towards my parents' bedroom to make sure nothing was moving, and with a small grin I used magic to turn the nob and open the door.

Standing in the hallway was Pip. He was sopping wet, his mane matted down along his neck and his tail drooping to the ground. He trotted into the room, leaving a small trail of water behind him. He looked up at me, his eyes glimmering with excitement. I didn't want to wake up my parents, so I whispered.

"Pip, what are you doing here?"

He frowned, as if it were obvious. "We're going to go see the tree, remember?"

"Pip, we can't go into the forest in the rain."

"Why not?"

"Because we might get sick. And if we get lost it wouldn't end well."

"But you said..." His eyes started to tear up. "You said we could go today."

I sighed. He just wasn't going to see logic through on this one. It surprised me how much he wanted to see a tree, but curiosity gets the better of everypony at some point.

"It's going to be cold and wet, are you sure you want to go?"

"Yes." There wasn't much more I could do. I did promise him I'd show him a tree when we began my practice, and I guessed now was the time. I hopped off the couch and looked for a quill. On the table, there was a quill and some ink. Using the back side of a piece of parchment, I wrote a short note to my parents:

Dear mom and dad,

Do not worry about me if I am not home when you read this, I went to the library to read some books while it is raining. I will be back as soon as I can.

Trixie

The library was one of the few places that was open no matter what the weather was like. Even though I hated lying to my parents, it was for the best. I didn't want them to come looking for me past the fence in the rain. I rolled up the parchment and left it on the table before turning to Pip. With a nod, we trotted out the door.

Outside was just as I had imagined it would be, cold and wet. The second I exited the apartment, my mane was soaking wet and my tail weighed much more than it should have. Cold raindrops hit my body, causing me to shiver slightly. Within a few seconds, both of us were completely drenched and cold. The wind didn't help either.

"Let's go." Pip's teeth were chattering, but he managed to get the words out. We trotted to the fence behind the apartments, and the hole was still there. A little muddy, but it was still deep enough to crawl under. When I pulled myself through the small hole and to the other side, my entire stomach was covered in mud.

I had only been on the other side of the fence once as a part of a practical joke. The pegasi thought it would be hilarious to pick me up and put me on the other side of the fence until I pleaded to be let back in. Other than that, everything I had heard about the other side of the fence was from my mother and father. They told me all sorts of stories about what lay beyond it, especially about the forest. They told me a forest was just a large collection of trees. I had only seen one tree, so I assumed that a forest just looked like a bunch of trees lined up side by side.

We trotted for what seemed like eternity. I lost track of time and the movement of my legs just became mechanical. At first it was just a flat field, but it soon became a collection of hills. Through the rain and the wind, there didn't seem to be any trees nearby. It was cold and the rain was pouring down my face. We were trekking up the side of a hill when I realized exactly how far we were away from my apartment.

"Pip, maybe we should turn back."

"No! We've come too far to give up now." I thought about it for a moment, but I couldn't let go of my opinion. It wasn't safe out here, and seeing the trees would be much more enjoyable in the sun.

"Pip, come on. Let's go back." I stopped trotting, giving him a signal that I was serious. He stopped trotting for a moment, too.

"No." He continued to trot forward.

"Fine, but I'm not going to continue on with you."

"That's okay." I couldn't believe it, that was the first time he hadn't listened to me. He was completely intent on seeing the tree. I stood in place for a little longer, wondering whether to turn back or not. The wind and the rain were making my mind turn towards turning back. However, I knew I had to follow Pip. I couldn't let him go to the forest alone, especially in a thunderstorm. It surprised me how badly he didn't want to feel left out.

I reached the top of the hill, and below me Pip was galloping up the next hill. I followed him, hoping that I wouldn't lose sight of him for too long when he went over the top of the hill. Going down the hills wasn't very hard, but going up the hills meant being pounded by the rain and getting the wind blowing through your face. I trotted as fast as I could, but by the time I was halfway down the hill, Pip was out of sight.

When I finally made it to the next hill, I galloped up it, trying to catch up with Pip. The wind blew past me, trying to push me back while the rain hit my face. I was forced to close my eyes. My legs felt like they were going to give out from under me, I hadn't realized just how long I had been trotting for. I used every bit of energy I could find to continue galloping against the wind, rain, and gravity. Galloping up hills was no easy task.

When I finally reached the peak of the hill, I sat down and took a deep breath. Below me, I saw it. A gigantic expanse of green. This was it. This was the forest that Pip wanted to see so badly. It spread for miles and miles until I couldn't see beyond it, all i could see was the tops of these trees. The green tops. In the darkness of the storm and through the rain, it was difficult to see the trees, but I recognized them. They looked just like the first tree that I had seen. But this was different. One tree was a sight to behold, but an entire collection of them was amazing.

I snapped back to reality and scanned the area for Pip. I couldn't see him anywhere, and the rain and the darkness didn't make it any easier. Suddenly I heard his voice.

"Trixie! Help me get out of this mud!" He could see me but I couldn't see him. I tried to follow the sound of the voice but the wind had distorted its direction. All I could see was a wide expanse of trees. I took a step forward and attempted to descend the large hill. At the bottom I was sure to find Pip. I needed to help him, I couldn't let anything happen to him.

There was a flash of lightning, and the flash was all too bright. I watched as within a split second a bolt of electricity fell from the sky and hit a tree. With a huge clap of thunder, the flash of light was gone just as fast as it came. After the deafening thunder, the rain and the wind seemed silent. There was a small cracking noise from the forest.

"Trixie! Help!" It was Pip's voice again. He shouted at the top of his lungs the word "help", and I was about to run down the hill. But then I heard a loud crack, and in front of my I saw the tree that the lightning had struck. It was a large, old tree, and the lightning, with the help of the wind, had given it the final push. The tree was teetering for a moment before it started to fall backwards. Pip's screams became more frantic, and finally it dawned on me what was happening.

The tree was going to crush Pip, but I couldn't even see Pip. My mind rushed for a solution, working faster than I thought possible. I thought about running down to save him, but I was too far away and the tree would be down by then. My mind rushed through each and every possible scenario. Then I remembered my horn.

There was no time to waste, I focused on the falling tree and channeled my energy to my horn. I didn't even think about the how big the tree was compared to the objects I was used to levitating. I felt the magic slowly transferring from my horn to the tree. Everything I had learned from the books was going through my head. I dug my hooves into the muddy ground and pointed my horn directly towards the tree. My eyes were squeezed shut. I could feel the energy slowly leaving my body. For the first time in years, my legs began to shake as I used the spell.

I wasn't sure if it was working or not, but I used every ounce of energy I could muster up to use the spell. The fact that a tree is a living thing didn't come to me until I was casting the spell. I remembered what the books had said about life naturally resisting the levitation spell. This only doubled my efforts. I couldn't feel the rain anymore, all I felt was the pain of using energy I didn't have to keep the tree from falling. All I could feel was the pain from having to stand on legs that couldn't support me. I couldn't hear the wind or Pip's screams, it was completely silent to me.

Only a couple seconds had passed and the spell had already completely emptied me off all my energy. I was trying to pull the tree in the opposite direction, away from Pip. I wasn't sure if there was sweat or rain rolling off my face, or how far my hooves were pushed into the muddy ground. My legs wanted to give in, but my mind knew what I had to do. Even when I thought I didn't have any energy left, or that the extent of my magic had been reached, I pushed harder. I wasn't going to let anything happen to Pip.

Then I heard a snap.

I fell to the ground, my legs giving out from under me.

My eyes remained closed, and I lay still atop the hill. In only a couple seconds, so much had happened.

The rain fell and the wind continued to blow as I lay there. Silent.