A Crusader Steep Slope Snow Sledding Adventure
By: The Grey Pegasus
"Ahh, we're finally here! "Celestia and Luna's Very Intense Nerves" Peak! Legend has it that they were the first ponies to ever sled down this mountain when they were just fillies, and so it got named after them! Everypony else was too scared to go down it, and only the most steel-nerved ponies go down the side!"
"Ah don't know... It looks more like "Hope One Bails Before Eating Snow" Peak from up here."
Well, it was one heck of a trip. They had really gotten up more than 600 feet from the base of the mountain. Now the three Cutie Mark Crusaders stood upon the flat peak of the mountain, surveying the land below them. It was a mountain not too far off from Ponyville; just on the outskirts, part of the Canterlot Mountain Range. Today, just a few days before Hearth's Warming break was over and they'd have to go back to school, they decided to go out and find some other things to do in the snow than the usual snowball fights, building snowponies, or sledding down the small hills in and around Ponyville.
So they ended up here.
"Scootaloo, why'd you pick a mountain this high?" Apple Bloom asked, taking in some deep breaths. It was a workout dragging the wooden sled up the side, even with all three of them pulling it. Sweetie Belle didn't seem to mind though. The white unicorn, upon reaching the top, proceeded to walk around and enjoy the view.
The view itself was naturally impressive. It wasn't the highest mountain of the Canterlot Mountain Range; in fact it was the lowest one on that side of the range. Yet from the peak, Sweetie Belle looked around and was met by a majestic view of the mountain range with a number of snow-capped peaks, backed by an endless ceiling of grey clouds. Canterlot itself was easily visible from the view. The normally gold tops of buildings were spotted with the white of snow, blending them with the natural white walls of the spires and other buildings.
"Because then it'll be really fun!" Scootaloo responded with a grin. She herself went straight to the edge where they would start from and looked down. It was clear riding for a good distance, then it dissolved into a thin evergreen forest, before finally ending on the outskirts of their hometown.
"Where'd you get the idea to go here anyway?"
"I bet Rainbow Dash told you," Sweetie Belle said as she walked back to rejoin her two friends.
"Nah, tons of ponies know about this. I just heard it around," Scootaloo said while maintaining a smile as she prepared the sled for launch. The sled had gotten snow and ice over it from their long climb. Common sense said it would be better to have something as close as dry to possible to sit on.
"So," started Apple Bloom, "Where does this even end?"
"Rainbow Dash–"
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom rolled their eyes but didn't say anything.
"–said that it ends somewhere outside the hills of Ponyville, so it's not too much trouble to get home after this. I saw it myself. We only have time for one run anyway."
It wasn't easy to discern the actual time of day, as the sky was a flat gray. It was the calm and quiet of winter, when the air echoed with gusts of wind, making the world sound hollow. Up at the peak, there was only a small wind blowing across.
Scootaloo sat up on the front of their sled. "Alright girls! Hop on!" Apple Bloom got on behind her and Sweetie Belle got on at the back.
The unicorn peered over the shoulders of her friends and saw the drop ahead of them. "Uh, any last words?"
"And so," Scootaloo started, "The Cutie Mark Crusaders sit upon the edge of the top of the mountain of intense nerves. Only the most daring of ponies even consider to accept this challenge! And so, for cutie marks and pure awesomeness, are prepared to go over the edge and prove that we have nerves of steel!"
"Well it was mostly your idea, but..." Apple Bloom trailed off.
"Sure would be nice if we lived to tell everypony at school..." Sweetie Belle commented from behind the two.
"Well I told you two where we were going and you agreed."
"It was so much different down there though!" pointed out Sweetie Belle. "Well, okay, not really, but still!"
The three held looks of contemplation, as if what Sweetie Belle said triggered something in their heads. And so, the sled sat upon the precipice, very still. They were but a dot on the mountain side. Eventually, Scootaloo snapped out of the trance.
"Ready to go?!"
"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Apple Bloom answered from behind Scootaloo.
"Yup! I'd love to go!" Sweetie Belle said from the back, squirming slightly in her seat.
Scootaloo paused. "... Go down, not go back the way we came from, you know."
"... Riiiight..."
"It's faster this way anyways. What, don't trust my steering?"
"Well you do steer your scooter pretty good..."
"Exactly! We'll be fine!" With all three fillies sitting tensely on the sled, holding on for dear life, Scootaloo flapped her wings, launching them off the level ground and down onto the slope.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" the three screamed. The slope was steeper than they expected, and they let each other know it.
"Yeeaahh-ha-ha!" Scootaloo yelled, half in fear, half in excitement. It was still clean riding on, with just pure snow going down for a good distance.
"Dear Celestia this is crazy!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.
"I know!" the pegasus in front of her said back. "Isn't it awesome!"
"Maybe?! I think?! Uh, yeah, sure, why not?! Whoo!" Apple Bloom was tempted to raise her forelegs in excitement, were it not for the fact that if she did, she'd fall back into Sweetie Belle and they'd come tumbling down the mountain. Which didn't sound all that fun.
"How much farther is this?!" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I don't know!" Scootaloo answered. "It still looks like a while down!"
They kept on riding it down in a brief silence, with only the noise of the sled rushing over the snow in the background. Sure they still had that sensation of falling or even crashing, but apparently they got used to it after a bit. The white snow kept rushing by beside them. Some of it blew on them from the front and sides of the sled, which didn't help their already cold bodies. Yet they seem to have gotten numb to their sense of cold after letting go of most of their sense of fear. And to them, letting go of fear with a whim just felt out of place and odd.
During the period of cluelessness, Sweetie Belle looked up and ahead and was able to see the entirety of Ponyville. It looked nice and cozy, with snow blanketing all the roofs. Wisps of smoke trailed from chimneys. The thought of coming home to warm blankets and hot chocolate sure did feel inviting at that moment.
"So," Apple Bloom started, "Are we bored of screaming or something?"
"I guess," Sweetie Belle responded. "I mean, we've been going down for a bit now."
"Well it's not like I planned to get our cutie marks in sledding anyways," Scootaloo stated.
"Didn't we already try sledding anyways?" Apple Bloom said from the middle of the sled.
"I'm sure we did," said Sweetie Belle.
"But not off of a mountain like this," Scootaloo added.
"So you're saying that we could get cutie marks for this? Since it's the most extreme sledding we've done?" questioned Apple Bloom.
"WHHOOOAAA!" they all screamed as the sled took air from a small mound of snow. The three fillies grunted as the sled landed back on the ground, continuing to speed down the mountain.
"Point taken."
"I... guess?" answered Scootaloo. "I mean, the last time that we sledded and went into the air, we kinda just crashed into the snow when we landed. Oh look, there's the tree line."
The slope lessened, slowing down the Crusader's sled to a more manageable, possibly even comfortable, speed. However, as Scootaloo pointed out, the tree line also started, and the grade was still fairly sloped. They were met by evergreens with snow piled on various branches, and they were fortunately spaced out so much that just about anyway was a valid path.
"Scootaloo, are you sure this was a good idea?" Sweetie Belle asked once more.
"Come on Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom remarked, "The trees are so far apart. It's not that bad."
"Of course this is a great idea!" Scootaloo answered. "I'm not even flapping my wings!"
"Please don't..." Sweetie Belle said softly.
"Nah, I mean, all we're wearing is scarves and hats. Maybe if we had helmets. Oh, we better duck." The other two followed, and a pine branch passed overhead. "Besides, my wings feel kinda frozen anyway."
"You know," said Apple Bloom, "Who would want a sledding cutie mark anyway?"
"Why not?" Scootaloo asked. "It's really fun! And maybe it's not just about sledding?"
"Like what?" said Sweetie Belle, "Building a sled? Ooh, you better dodge that rock." The sled swerved to the left slightly, passing by a small rock jutting out of the snow.
"Who'd want to build sleds their entire life?" questioned Apple Bloom.
"Maybe ponies that live in snowy places," answered Sweetie Belle.
"But it doesn't always snow in Ponyville."
"I guess I could see a problem with getting a cutie mark for sledding..." said Scootaloo. "Whoa, hang on, there's a small jump up ahead." The Crusaders braced themselves as the sled took off from the snow bank, but this time only for a short moment, quickly returning to the snowy ground and speeding along. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't want to get stuck with a sledding cutie mark. It might be kinda lame."
"You know, Scootaloo," began Sweetie Belle, "I'd feel a little better if I knew where we're going. Just so we don't have to get surprised by small bumps like that."
"Come on, Sweetie Belle," said Apple Bloom, "It's not like there's a set trail for us to sled down and follow. All we can rely on is what we can guess is ahead of us. I'm pretty sure we can make pretty good educated guesses."
"Besides," said Scootaloo, "I think it's more fun this way–duck!" The three fillies ducked as branches of a pine tree brushed against their heads, bits of snow falling onto them and their sled. "It didn't look that low from back there," she admitted. "But yeah, if we knew what was ahead of us, we wouldn't have the experience of being surprised with these things! I think it's a pretty cool experience."
"I think Scoots is right," agreed Apple Bloom. "I think these experiences are good. Challenges that we should expect and try to overcome and hope to get through. And when we do, we could say that we accomplished something! I mean, that's kinda why we came all the way up here, right? Just to say that we accomplished this?"
"Hope to get through? But what if we accidentally run into something dangerous, like a cliff?" suggested Sweetie Belle, taking a look around at the trees as they sped past them.
"I guess it's a risk we just agree to take. Nothin' ventured, nothin' gained is the saying, right?"
"Well I just hope that we didn't make a wrong turn somewhere back there. Who knows? Somewhere farther down might be something that we could've avoided if it weren't for one wrong turn around a rock or tree."
"I guess..." said Scootaloo. "But the sled's moving so fast, we gotta make choices kinda quick."
"Better hope we just make the right choice then," said Apple Bloom. "But I'd rather be able to have time to take a close look at the choice I'm making and see if there's anything down the path that might be bad."
"Hey girls, there's Ponyville, right up ahead!" Scootaloo exclaimed. Ahead of them was a clear shot to the outskirts of town. The tree line ended, revealing the quaint picture of the quiet town, gray chimney smoke mixing with the gray sky. The silent town was blanketed by a chilly covering of snow, yet nothing looked more cozier than their hometown.
"I can't wait to get to a fireplace," Sweetie Belle said. "Thaw my ears out."
"I'd like some hot chocolate," said Apple Bloom.
"Ooh, with marshmallows!"
"So who's house are we going to stop closest to, Scoots?"
"I think we're gonna be closest to Carousel Boutique," Scootaloo answered.
"I think Rarity has marshmallows," said Sweetie Belle. "But I kinda want to go to Sweet Apple Acres. I think it's warmer in the farmhouse."
"I think Applejack invited Rarity and the others over anyways. Maybe you could just bring stuff over?" said Apple Bloom.
"Maybe Rarity's already planning to." Just then, Sweetie Belle realized something. "Um, Scootaloo, isn't there a stream on this side of Ponyville?"
Scootaloo perked up, looking back towards Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "Uh..."
"What does 'uh' mean?!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed from all the way in the back.
"Don't worry! I planned for this all the way at the top! We'll be–"
"AAAAHHHH!" the screamed as the sled hit a rock, sending them over the side of a small cliff into the cold icy waters of the stream below.
"Uh huh..." said Apple Bloom, as she stood up, shaking water from her soaked mane and tail.
"Well... I guess if you make one wrong choice all the way back, you might end up screwing yourself in the end," Scootaloo said as she shook her head clear, sending cold droplets of water everywhere. "Or a series of wrong choices."
"Ugh," said Sweetie Belle as she took her scarf in a telekinetic grip, squeezing water out of it. "I regret making whatever choice led me here already. We really should have thought that through instead of just rushing to agree with that idea."
"Well, maybe we can learn something from this." Apple Bloom, annoyed, climbed to shore and took her hat off, squeezing out water. "I guess that we can recover from some choices, but others just domino into something worse. We should make choices carefully when we have the time so we don't end up making a mistake that we'll regret in the end."
Scootaloo got up, dragging the sled to shore. "Better make our choices smartly when we have the time to then, instead of rushing to a decision. And take a good look where it's going to lead down the road. Or else we might end up in somewhere we don't want to be."
"Didn't you feel like you were making some wrong turns before you got to the end, Scoots? Or that you were forgetting something?"
Sweetie Belle followed her up. "Too late to do anything about it now."