Twilight looked up at their goal. It was certainly a track, not to mention a climb. She had done it before, they all had, and this time, no dragon slept up there. The large mountain above, still... large.
She lowered her eyebrows, fully determined to get to the destination. No pressure this time, or Fluttershy either. The shy pegasus had a nasty habit of preventing their progress last time, but now, it was just a casual climb, while there was also a goal.
The journey was much better for another reason too; Pinkie Pie was with her. A slow trek up the mountain with her marefriend. What could be better? All the time in the world was at their hooves, and they had privacy. No signs of bad weather either, which just made the travelling better.
That springing jumpy noise just relaxed Twilight. Pinkie’s active bubbly personality, as well as the pink figure itself jumping that cute way she did just made the journey even better for her.
The pair reached a small area they could use for a temporary rest, Twilight taking a moment to stretch her slightly aching joints. She sighed as she relaxed her muscles, releasing the built-up tension, ready for a break.
“Aren’t we continuing?” Pinkie asked, still bouncing.
Twilight took off her saddlebags, before taking a seat on her haunches. “In a bit. I need a short rest.”
“Aww, come on!” Pinkie Pie whined, halting her spring, “Let’s go slowpoke!”
Twilight chuckled before activating her horn, using her magic to envelope Pinkie Pie in a mystical aura, a slight scream coming from the pink mare after getting hoisted into the air. Slowly but gracefully, she was levitated over towards Twilight, where she was simply released from the magical grasp, landing right in front of her.
Twilight took the opportunity while Pinkie was on the ground to stroke her mane in a comforting manner. “In a bit ok?” she calmly asked, leaning forward and giving Pinkie a small kiss on the forehead.
Pinkie Pie got the message to have a break, though she wouldn’t mind continuing. She snuggled up next to Twilight, the two of them shortly brought together in a sharing embrace, a hug. “If you want,” Pinkie happily replied, not minding to wait, especially when she was in the hooves of Twilight.
The two mares looked over the mountain they had been climbing. They were only halfway there, but they were pretty high up. Looking out over Ponyville, and even portions of Equestria, was admittedly beautiful. “What do you think?” Twilight asked, still mesmerised by the gorgeous sight.
Pinkie Pie snuggled in closer, leaning her head onto Twilight’s shoulder. She didn’t say anything, rather take in the sight, which Twilight thought, was beautiful. She exhaled a glorious sigh, happy to be there. All of Ponyville below, all without their party pony for a while. She’d make up for it later.
Twilight continued to stroke her hoof through Pinkie’s curly mane, also taking in the sights. It really was a bit of a spectacle, but compared to what they were doing, it was only a temporary thing. She took a gander back up, seeing just how higher up they had to go. She would be brave, not scared at all, considering she had trailed up it before.
“Shall we go?” she gently asked, prepared to carry along.
Pinkie Pie’s ears fluttered, before she moved an inch too. “Sure.”
Both of the mares got up onto their hooves, ready to head off again. Twilight used her magic to put the saddlebags back on her, while Pinkie Pie gazed up at their destination. She awed a bit, allowing her mind to fill in the gaps and mental calculations, including advanced arithmetics.
She brought her head back down, seeing Twilight ready to carry along. “I know what we can do,” she suggested, catching Twilight’s attention.
“Yeah?” Twilight raised her eyebrow.
“Why don’t we...” Pinkie quietly said, getting closer, “Fly up there?”
“Fly?” Twilight blankly repeated.
“Yeah, it’ll get us up there in no time!”
“First of all,” Twilight protested, taking a sigh. “You can’t fly Pinkie.” She was only met with a beaming smile. “So to do that, we’d have to-“
She saw it. The smile. The very notion, idea that was planted and currently occupied inside of Pinkie Pie’s head. She frantically shook her head, initially terrified of the negatives. “No Pinkie, we can’t do that.”
“Oh come on,” Pinkie whined, trying to encourage Twilight, “We’ve done it before.”
“Yeah, but not up a mountain,” Twilight added, emphasising her point. She took a gulp when she faced the vertical shaft, as well as the ground below. It was quite the distance.
“I know you can do it,” Pinkie Pie reassured her, taking the saddlebags off of Twilight and putting them on her instead.
“I... I...” Twilight stammered, her hoof up to her cheek. She took another overly complicated detail about her predicament, as well as the estimated time to reach the top. Flying would reduce their time by a substantial amount, which she had no objections against.
Flowing any arguments against the idea out of her mind, Twilight broadly extended her wings, the feathers in sight. She turned around to Pinkie Pie, before saying, “Climb on.”
Pinkie Pie practically beamed, not taking a moment’s notice to launch and cling herself onto Twilight’s back. The alicorn stumbled a bit from the extra weight, particularly a puffy weight, but she held on tight. “Hold on, alright?”
“Duh, of course,” Pinkie shot back at her, rolling her eyes. She took her hind leg and playfully tapped Twilight’s with it. “Let’s fly!”
Twilight felt a slight tingle as Pinkie’s hoof made contact with hers, setting her off on a brisk run. Taking in what moments she had, she flapped her wings, lifting the pair off the ground and into the open air. Twilight bit her lip as she tried to readjust herself to the extra weight as well as the altitude, her body shaking slightly. She feared for herself, but more for Pinkie Pie.
It must have taken a full minute for Twilight to get used to the air, as well as Pinkie’s body on her back. She sighed in relief as she normalised herself, remaining steady. She could see the ground beneath her, a flash of horror coming to her if she ever fell.
Pinkie Pie got rid of Twilight’s scary thought by taking her head and rotating it. The pink hooves moved the purple head around to face towards their destination, which stood a hundred metres above them at best. “Better?” she calmly asked, aware of Twilight’s previous state of fear.
“Much,” she thankfully replied, the current image occupied in her head more safe. When Pinkie Pie moved her hooves back to where they were, gripped around her, she took it as the sign, violently flapping her wings to gain immediate height, as well as a boost.
It was a fast trip to the top. Twilight found it was over sooner than it begun, while Pinkie Pie enjoyed the small journey as much as she could, allowing the passing wind to blow through her hair. To her, it lasted longer than Twilight’s experience.
Twilight landed slowly, Pinkie Pie getting off her. She bounced a few spaces away, before both of them noticed the giant hole in the side. It was the entrance to the cave, their destination. “We’re here,” Pinkie broadly announced.
Twilight didn’t comment on Pinkie Pie’s obvious statement, more interested in the architecture of the cave itself. It didn’t look threatening, not when there wasn’t a dragon resting inside of it. “Let’s go,” she proclaimed, already having taken a few steps forward.
Pinkie Pie actively sprung up behind her, checking out every nook and cranny of the cave. It was murky and a bit damp, and there was enough light in it, but it remained ugly anyway. It wasn’t a huge cave either, as evidenced when Twilight and Pinkie Pie halted for their eyes to lie upon the treasure.
Their eyes sparkled from the reflection of the treasures, their mouths opening on their own. A lot of treasure. A lot. Twilight used the opportunity to activate her magic to take back the possession of her saddlebags, Pinkie Pie mesmerised from the sight in front of them.
“Whoa...” Pinkie inadvertently said. She took a few steps forward, only inches away from the many gold objects. Analysing the many bits in front of her, she had a bright idea. She wriggled her flank a bit, before taking a leap towards the gold, yelling, “Geronimo!”
Twilight watched as Pinkie Pie disappeared into the vast amount of gold, like an elegant swimmer. She didn’t see how that was possible, given that gold was a metal and that there was no way Pinkie Pie’s weight would be able to ‘swim’ through it.
Pinkie Pie shot up amidst a pile of gold, her head poking out, before spitting out a cannon fire of gold from her mouth. “This is amazing!” she yelled, before lying on top of the pile, making an angel layout.
“Yeah...” Twilight agreed with a mutter, checking out the quality objects. They had come, and they had succeeded in their task. It was time to harvest the gold and take in back down to Ponyville. “Looks like our job here is done Pinkie.”
“So it’s time to take it down?”
“Mhmm,” Twilight confirmed, nodding her head. But there was something she was seriously wondering.
How would she transport it all down the mountain? Her saddlebags could only carry so much.
She loudly groaned and smacked her head with her hoof as soon as the realisation hit her.