//------------------------------// // Hearth's Warming Getaway // Story: Blackhoof Mountain // by DeskManiac //------------------------------// Twilight stepped out into the train station. The crisp cold mountain air blew upon her, sending chills down her spine. With her was her loyal assistant, Spike the dragon, and her faithful student in friendship, Starlight Glimmer. It has been a busy week for them, and she was glad that they were finally going to join the rest of her friends on top of this mountain. The thought of spending quality time with her friends, enjoying an entire weekend skiing and playing in the snow, as well as reading some of her favorite books by the fireplace drew a warm smile on her face. While her friends reached the ski lodge a day ahead, she had to stay behind in Ponyville to deal with a couple of things. Princess business. Luckily she had her two companions with her, and together they made it through the tough week. “So Twilight, where is this ski lodge again? And how do we get there?” said Spike, snapping Twilight out of her trance. “Well, from here, we are supposed to take the cable car to the top, where the ski lodge is. Here, Pinkie gave us a map to get to the top.” Twilight waved the map in front of Spike, allowing him to study the pieces of drawing Pinkie put together to call a map. Not understanding any of it, Spike cheerfully said, “Alrighty then, let’s go!” The trio walked along the path towards the cable car station. As they were walking, little drifts of snow fell, making the already beautiful atmosphere more serene. As snow crunched under their every footstep, Starlight began to make small talk. “So who came up with this idea anyway? And how did they find this location?” “Well, Applejack suggested we celebrate Hearth’s Warming Eve together this year, as a group of friends. I guess she just really wanted us to spend more time together. You know, ever since I became princess and Rarity expanded her boutique to Manehattan, we’ve all been as busy as ever. Not to mention, Rainbow Dash has been enrolled into the Wonderbolts, so she won’t be around very much either,” replied Twilight. Starlight sighed at the thought of that. It’s true that she didn’t mind all that much. But she was thinking of how Twilight felt. These were the people whom helped her discover the magic of friendship. And now, seeing as everyone is getting busy with their own lives, their relationship is being pulled further and further apart. However, Starlight decided she wasn’t going to let that worry her. Twilight is the princess of friendship after all. She should be able to handle her relationships. Moving on, Starlight asked her second question, “So who found the location? I’ve never even heard of this place in Equestria.” “That would be Pinkie,” Twilight replied, “She was thrilled about Applejack’s idea and set off straight to search for the perfect location. She asked many sources, and in the end, she picked this one. She wanted a place where we could be together without being bothered by other ponies. I say this is quite a pleasant place to be. It’s far away from cities and noisy tourists.” Starlight nodded in agreement and they continued to pace uphill. Spike went on ahead and spotted the station. “Guys, we’re here!” He ran up ahead to get a better look at the cable car station while Twilight and Starlight took their time to get up there. “Woah. Looking good for a place ponies rarely visit. Oh, and what’s this? A handsome looking dragon?” Spike smiled, complimenting the dragon in the glass reflection. “Oh come on Spike, cut it off.” Twilight ushered him. Spike frowned in disagreement, but then noticed a poster next to the window. “Dandelion and Rose Shine. If found the bodies of these two missing girls, please contact authorities immediately.” “Woah, Twilight, check this out!” Twilight came over to Spike, but with utter frustration. “Spike! We’re late. Everyone is waiting for us at the lodge.” “But Twilight, you need to see this! Apparently there have been ponies who’ve went missing on this mountain,” said Spike. Twilight, glancing quickly at the poster, replied, “Well, we should stay safe then. We don’t want anypony going missing or getting hurt. Now come on.” Looking at the poster one last time, Spike followed Twilight into the cable car. Spike sat down beside Starlight, and the cable car began to move. Twilight and Starlight began to chat, but somehow somewhat, Spike’s focus remained on the poster of the two missing ponies. The snow fall on top the mountain was much heavier compared to at the foot of it. After walking for what seemed like an eternity now, Spike was growing sick of the cold. Trudging heavily towards the ski lodge, he was hoping to see the light of a party and ponies having a good time, but the ski lodge was dark inside, almost as if there were nopony in at all. Spike wiped the frost from the window and peered inside. The only thing he could see were the furniture and the staircase leading to the upper floors. There was nopony inside. “Hello? Is anybody in here?” Spike banged on the door. Approaching behind him was Twilight, who was also beginning to see the anomaly of the situation. “Isn’t anypony here?” Twilight paused for a moment. “This is the right ski lodge isn’t it? This map Pinkie gave me, it has to be correct.” Twilight started to turn the map over and over, making sure she hadn’t made a wrong turn. But everything seemed to point them to the empty lodge as their destination. Starlight, who had now arrived, began asking the same questions. “I thought they made it here a day early, so where are they?” Looking at Twilight, who was still fussing over the map, she began to speak up, “Twilight, I thought Pinkie gave you the keys to the lodge. Why don’t we use that to get inside?” Broken from her concentration, Twilight suddenly realized the solution was all that simple. Reaching for her key and moving Spike aside, Twilight pushed the key into the keyhole and gave it a turn. *Click* The door opened. Peering into the dark hallway gave Twilight an unsettling feeling. “But this doesn’t make any sense! If this is the right lodge, where are our friends?” Starlight placed a hoof on her shoulder, “We should get inside first. We don’t want to get our flanks frozen out here.” “I second that!” Spike said, dashing into the ski lodge, glad to finally be free of the freezing weather. Twilight continued to contemplate at the door, and Spike got busy looking for a light switch. Starlight went in to help Spike, but stopped for a moment to look at Twilight, who was still staring intensely at the floor, worry written all over her. “Twilight, come in. You’ll get a cold standing there,” she begged. Twilight continued to fixate her stare on the wooden floorboards. She looked up at Starlight. “I’m worried about my friends. Where could they be? Could something horrible had happened to them? They're not in the lodge so where are they?” She became more distressed each time she spoke. Starlight took a step towards Twilight with a reassuring smile. She was about to say something when they heard a loud scream coming from deep within the lodge. “Spike!” they both shouted as they ran into the heart of the ski lodge. Their friend had wandered deep into the dark mysterious structure, and something, or someone has gotten him.