A steady flow of metallic screeching filled the room. Behind it, a quiet hint of the sound of ruffling cloth could be heard, but only to the ones that actually listened closely. Or the ones that had no choice not to. It wasn’t all that loud, more like a gentle whisper, like the cool breeze on a spring morning, as the sunrays hit the grass and leaves of the forest, creating a beautiful silver coat out of the morning dew. A sound you might call invisible.

Yet it echoed loudly across the small room, and it echoed inside the head of the unicorn in bed, threatening to burst her eardrums from the inside. She tossed and turned back and forth in an attempt to drown out the sounds from the neighboring room by creating her own. Pressed the pillow over her own face in hopes of perhaps smothering herself into sleep. Nothing helped. Instead, the sound seemed to grow in strength.

“Oh, for the love of..!”

Lilly spun around in bed and sat up straight. Filled with both anger and embarrassment, she banged her hoof hard against the wall. It made a new metallic sound, rustling as the force of the impacts ebbed out across the thin metal walls around her.

“Will you guys keep it down? Some of us are trying to sleep!”

She stared at the wall with eyes that would have killed the couple on the other side if they could see them. Of course, if somepony did see them in doing what they did, they would probably die anyway out of shame, or at the very least try to disappear down through the floor. She wouldn’t be surprised if they just continued their routine on the floor instead.

After waiting for a few seconds, she relaxed a bit as the sound didn’t come back. She sighed contently and laid her head back down on the pillow. Now the only sound she heard was the usual whine of the strong winds outside of the small building. Even though the wind was the main thing to fear, it still began to lull her into sleep, and eventually her snoozing filled the room instead.

A forest grew up around her, birch trees sprouted up towards the sky with leaves green as emeralds. The grass around her hooves swayed lightly in the breeze, creating the image of waves across a vast green ocean. The breeze gently stroked her chin, and Lilly closed her eyes and smiled. As she opened them again, the sun was high in the sky, spreading its rays through the leaves above her.

But then, the illusion gave way. The trees bent down upon themselves and the grass around her caught fire as several screeches filled the air. She was pulled forcefully out of her dream as the sound from her neighbors woke her up once again. This time the pace was faster and the sound louder. Lilly could have sworn she heard panting behind the wall.

In frustration she shouted blindly into the air. “Ah, fuck it!” She instantly regretted it though, as her words seemed to only cause the sound to grow even stronger. Disgust rose inside her as she realized the couple probably enjoyed that she could hear them. A kink that turned them on even more. She couldn’t stand the thought.

“Seriously, this is just... Agh!” Once again she slammed her hoof against the wall. “The world is bad enough as it is without you two humping your way through the fucking floor!” After no more than a few seconds, an answer came from the other side of the wall. A long, loud moan reached her ears, and as they did she exhaled in anger and threw the blankets off of her. Instantly, the cold hit her.

Smoke rose from her mouth as she exhaled, and she was already shaking. In bed, she was covered up and warm thanks to several layers of blankets and thick furs, but now nothing except the thin walls shielded her against the cold, and she began coughing. It was so cold, the air that she inhaled made her throat not only itch but also clamp up, refusing to take in any more.

Her magic coursed through her body, and for a moment it warmed her slightly, before she directed it towards her closet and swung the door open. As the magic slowly faded out of her horn, so did the sensation of warmth. As Lilly draped an old cloak over her shoulder, she wished her magic was stronger, maybe then it could warm her up even more.

At least the cloaked warmed her a bit, old and tattered as it were. Once, it’d belonged to her mother, and at the time had been a bright red color, looking somewhat regal. Now, the color had faded into a more brown shade, and several holes and tears dotted the fabric. Around the hemline and around the hood, thick fur had been sewn on to probably enhance the image of nobility. Now it only served as extra protection against the elements.

Lilly didn’t bother about pulling the hood over her head, and instead just wrapped her scarf around her neck and mouth. Although it was more a rag than a scarf; multiple uneven pieces of black cloth had been sown together to create it, but at least it served its purpose.

The mare turned to the door, and now the sounds from next door had become even louder. She tried to ignore the moans, but to no use. They were really going at it tonight, and she had no desire to stay here, had no desire to hear them all the way through until the end.

With her jaws clamped tightly together due to both the cold and anger, she grabbed her old Stetson of a hook close to the door and placed it on her head, adjusting it a bit so her horn would be free. Then, she opened the door and stepped out into the freezing night. She heard a loud scream from her neighbors as she closed the door behind her.

Instantly, the wind grabbed her and almost pushed her off her hooves. She put a hoof up to her head to prevent the hat from flying off. A small breeze snuck in through the narrow hole on its side, nestling its way through her mane and chilling her to the bone.

Still with her hoof pressed firmly on the hat, Lilly hurried away from the house and against the only other place where she might find somepony to talk to. On her way through the small settlement, she saw no signs of life from the other residents. Doors and windows where shut, lights where out. The hoof prints that had covered the veil of snow earlier had long since disappeared, and all that was left was a perfect white sheet on the ground.

In it, several jagged lines ran across it, a result of the strong winds. Jagged waves or squiggly lines, like the drawings of a filly. Not that fillies drew anything anymore, though.

She passed the biggest building in the area, a strange construction made from big containers chained together into a big square. On top of it, several carriages and wagons had been placed, serving as both decoration and makeshift rooms. It really wasn’t that elegant, but it was all they had.

Beyond this building that served as the settlements inn, beyond several more houses and a fence made out of rusted barbwire, she saw her destination: The wall. It had been built from tree trunks they’ve managed to salvage before the snow buried the forests up north. Several layers of debris helped to keep the wall even sturdier; everything from cloth to stones, sandbags, furniture and barbwire, most of it covered in either a thin layer of snow or ice.

The wall itself had been built between two cliffs, where a path entered the valley they’ve made into their home. The mountain ridges on all sides except the one with the wall offered them both natural protection and disguised them from the outside world, and the wall could fend off any hostile visitors.

As she came closer to the wall, Lilly could see the silhouette of a pony on top of it, probably keeping watch for any threats. She kicked up her pace and trotted on through the snow towards the stairs leading up to where the other pony was standing. When she reached the top, a familiar voice greeted her.

“Fancy seeing you at this hour, missy Lilith Eclipse.”

The voice had a thick accent that she had no idea where it originated from, despite the fact that she knew this stallion very well.

“Evening, William Duskshine.” Lilly responded as she trotted up to the stallion.

“Evening?” Duskshine said. “I think you’ll find it’s closer to morning.

When he spoke, he pronounced the letter I in a very distinct tone, a little high pitch than others. Not only that, he also had a thick rolling pronouncement of R, and a sharp D. Lilly had always liked to listen to him speak, simply because his accents seems so strange to her.

“Great.. That’s just brilliant.” Lilly said with a yawn as she placed herself next to Duskshine and looked out on the open expanse on the other side of the wall. “Anything interesting happening here?”

“Nah, just the usual. Bleakers and Wraiths trying to tear each other’s balls off.”

“I’m guessing the Wraiths won?”

Duskshine nodded. “To tell you the truth, Lilly… I really don’t like to watch the Wraiths and their… methods.”

“I think they sound pretty awesome.” Lilly answered with a shy smile. For a moment, she sounded like the young teenager she actually was, and her grown-up façade pulled away for just a split second. “I hope I’ll get to see them kick some Bleaker flank someday.”

Duskshine looked at her with a frown, and spoke with a tone of disappointment. “Believe me, missy; there’s nothing awesome about what they do. It’s... revolting, really.” He went silent for a few seconds, before he continued. “The neighbors again?”

“Yeah. They’ve been at it for hours... what time is it anyway, like two or three in the morning?”

“Actually...” Duskshine said slowly and turned his face away from her. “It’s closer to six.”

Lilly sighed dramatically and slouched her shoulders. “That would mean they’ve been fucking all night...”

“Seems that way, missy. Maybe you should go back to them and pour a bucket of cold water over them.” A chuckle escaped the stallion’s lips.

“Well… seeing how much they seemed to enjoy the fact that I could hear them, something like that might just drive them both completely crazy, and then I’ll never get any sleep.”

They both laughed at her words, but went silent shortly thereafter. Together they kept watch over the only entrance to the settlement for quite some time, and nothing out of the ordinary happened. After a while, Lilly began to move about a bit as the cold numbed her legs.

“You know, Lilly...” Duskshine spoke up after the long silence. “You might look at their noise differently if you tried it yourself…”

“You’re never gonna stop trying, are you, Will?” Lilly said with a smile. "You Neighrish bastard."

“Nope, missy.” The stallion answered. “Can’t help it. Between you and me, you’re probably the most attractive mare around here.”

“I’m not sleeping with you.” Lilly interrupted him mid-sentence. “Or anypony else.”

“You’re missing out.” Duskshine responded with a smile.

“I doubt it.”

“Now, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Lilly didn’t say anything in response, just smiled at him. Suddenly, a strong current of wind blew across their heads, and before she had time to react it yanked the Stetson off of her head and sent it flying off beyond the wall. Without hesitation and to Duskshine’s surprise, the young unicorn launched herself off from the wall and into the snow on the outside. The stallion yelled at her to come back, but she didn’t listen to him.

The hat was still moving in the wind, and she tried to stop it with her magic, but it was too weak. She had no choice than to chase after it and try to grab ahold of it somehow. Behind her, she could hear the worried voice of Duskshine coming closer. The hat flew off into the ravine and she gave chase to it, getting further and further away from the wall.

“Lilith, wait!”

Duskshine appeared next to her, panting and wheezing as his old body tried to keep up with her younger muscles. She didn’t look at him; her attention was fixed on the hat. She was faster than the stallion, and soon he couldn’t keep up with her. She was so close now; she could practically reach out and grab the brim in her teeth.

“Stop, look out!”

Lilly stopped instantly and spun around as she heard Duskshine’s frightened voice behind her. He was getting closer to her, with a look of sheer terror on his face. “Get away from there!” He yelled out to her.

She didn’t have time to turn around or react.

She felt something wrap itself around her, something feeling so cold her entire body threatened to shut itself down. As it lifted her into the air a scream forced its way out of her mouth, and then she was flying face first through the air. A split second later she collided with a cliff wall, and she yelped in pain when she landed in the snow with a soft thud.

She could hear Duskshine crying out her name, but it was hard to make out anything else over the high pitch ringing sound that echoed in her head.

“Lilly, run!”

She opened her eyes. In front of her, as if through a miracle, the hat had landed safely in the snow. Quickly she bit down on the brim and tried to stand up. The stallion once again shouted for her to run, and she did. Faster than she’d ever moved before, her legs carried her back towards the wall. Behind her, she could hear strange wheezing sounds and screams coming from Duskshine.

Suddenly, the screaming stopped. But she was too afraid to turn back and look, and she kept on running. The wind hit her face hard and snow gathered over her mane. And then finally, the terrified young mare took a leap up on the wall. And missed. She slammed hard into the wall, her front legs and chest hitting it, and a sharp pain welled up in her. She tried to clamber her way up, but her hooves slipped and she tumbled down into the snow. The last bit of air remaining in her lungs got pushed out of her mouth, and she dropped the hat in the process. Adrenalin rushed through her tiny body as she got hold of the hat and launched herself unto the wall again. Tears welled up in her eyes as she kicked with her hind legs to get up but couldn’t get a grip on the wall.

Then, her heart stopped and her lungs seemed to collapse as something grabbed hold of her. She tried to scream, but nothing came out of her mouth. Whatever it was beneath her would pull her down any second, and then she would die.

The grip on her hooves tightened, and before she could realize what was going on, she was heaved up and over the wall. She flipped around the top clumsily, her head hitting the floor boards and her flank slammed into a small chair, shattering it instantly. For a moment, the world around her seemed to stop completely. Everything became silent, and time ceased to exist.

The boards beneath her trembled as another body landed heavily next to her, followed by erratic breathing and the creaking of the boards.

“Are... are you okay..?” Duskshine’s voice reached her ears.

“I... I think so...” She panted in response.

In an instant, Duskshine got back up on his hooves. Lilly was still on her back, trying to catch her breath. She looked up into the grey sky as the snow painted her vision and body in white specks. A few strands of orange hair entered her vision from the left, followed by Duskshine’s face. His orange mane blew sharply in the wind, giving even more effect to his angry and worried face.

“.. What the hell are you thinking, girl?!” He spouted down at her. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Over a fucking hat?!”

“It’s... it’s not just a... fucking hat...” Her voice was still unsteady and she had trouble breathing.

“What is it then, a pet? An invaluable family heirloom? A fucking sister!?”

“No, it’s.. It’s important to me, I..”

Duskshine didn’t answer, he just looked down at her with anger in his eyes. Slowly, the anger subsided and got replaced by worry.

“I’m sorry... I... I shouldn’t have yelled like that.” He said in a quiet voice. He extended a hoof to her. “Come on, let’s get you back on your hooves, missy.”

Lilly mumbled a thank you as he helped her up, and avoided eye contact with him. Instead, she focused on the floor as shame consumed her.

“Tell you what, Lilly..” Duskshine said to her. “Go back home and get some rest. We’ll talk about this in the morning… perhaps you can tell me why that hat is so important?” He nodded at the Stetson on her head.

Lilly nodded back at him and wiped the tears that had gathered in her eyes. “Are... are you going to tell the Elders about this..?” She whispered.

“We’ll talk about it in the morning.” The stallion repeated. “Don’t worry though missy, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

She lowered her head in shame again, and without answering she made her way down the stairs. Halfway down, she stopped. “.. Thank you, Will. I’m sorry..”

She didn’t wait for his answer, and kept on walking, slowly making her way home. As she passed by the inn once again, she felt the sudden urge to just slam open the doors and drown herself in alcohol. Maybe that would help her overcome the shame of almost getting both herself and Duskshine killed.

She was hoping that by now, her neighbors would be done with their noisy lovemaking, and perhaps she would be able to get some sleep. As she closed the door to her room behind her, she instantly sighed in disappointment.

They weren’t done.