Blackhoof Mountain

by DeskManiac

Chapter 7: No Time Left (5 hours Until Dawn) Part 1

2:02 a.m.
~ 5 Hours Until Dawn

Rarity breathed calmly as she slept. Her dreams brought her to sweet and wonderful places. Places where her dresses were bright and stunning, and were adored by thousands of ponies. Rarity smiled in content.

She looks so peaceful, it’d be a shame to wake her.

It sat quietly in the corner, observing the white unicorn mare in bed.

Deciding that it has waited enough, it got up. With each rising breath Rarity took, it inched closer until it was standing right by her bed. Rarity continued to let out slow consistent breaths, not knowing the threat that was standing beside her. In her bliss of sleep, she turned and faced the being.

Oh Rarity. You poor, poor little thing.

The stranger leaned closer to her, placing a hoof on her cheek. Rarity continued to breathe in and out at a steady pace. The stranger caressed her in her sleep, Rarity giggled, feeling the nice soft hooves rubbing her body.

Rarity blinked. Her eyes shot opened as she saw the disfigured pony beside her bed.

“EEEEKKKKKK!!!!!”

“Wakey wakey…” it said, greeting her.

“Who? What?” Rarity backed away from the strange being and fell onto the floor.

“WHO ARE YOU?!!!” she screamed.

The pony smirked under its mask. Rarity could see that it had raggy clothes on its body, and its skin was dark brown. The head however was covered by a sack cloth and it wore a straw hat on top, like a scarecrow.

Rarity shook in the corner, trying to muster courage to speak to it. “Answer me!”

It still didn’t say anything. It looked down on Rarity’s bed and dug through its pockets. From out of its pockets it threw a few strands of rainbow colored hair onto her bed. Rarity stared in shock.

“Wh- Where did you get this?” Rarity looked straight up at the pony. “That’s Rainbow Dash’s hair!”

Seeing that its victim was slowly understanding the situation, it pulled out a knife.

Rarity screamed. She threw her bedside lamp with her magic, hitting the disfigured pony right on the head. The scarecrow groaned in pain, giving her time to escape.

Rarity ran down the stairs into the lounge. She turned to every direction she could think of, trying to find a place to hide. However, every spot that came to mind was a bad hiding spot. She needed a place to hide quick, but indoors just wouldn’t do.

Suddenly, an idea came to her. The Cable Car Station! If she could get into one of the cable cars, she could get off the mountain and call the cops. And the killer wouldn’t get her there! She just needed to be fast.

She heard the sound of a weight falling down the stairs. She turned around. A billiard ball rolled to her feet. She looked up. On top the stairs, the scarecrow eyed her menacingly. Time to run.

Rarity threw open the door and dashed into the snow, leaving everything behind. Luckily for her, the snow was much milder and the only thing that bothered her was the cold. She couldn’t think of grabbing a scarf now.

Rarity ran and ran, leaping over logs and ducking under every branch that came her way. Things were going well so far. She looked back. The scarecrow was right on her tail.

Rarity frowned. She needed something that could stop the scarecrow. Her eyes darted about, eyeing everything that fell into her field of vision. Ahead, she saw a pile of rocks situated on top of high ground. Using her magic, she pulled one of the smaller rocks loose, letting down a rock slide.

She continued to run as the sound of crumbling stones rumbled behind her. She turned around momentarily to see if it worked. She was delighted to see that the scarecrow was no longer chasing her. Seems like the rock slide was enough to block the killer’s path.

Rarity smiled at herself. She may be pretty, but she wasn’t about to be the victim in this horror tale.

After some running, Rarity skidded to a stop. She saw the station in a distance, and her heart uplifted. She hurriedly ran down the slope to the station. She grabbed furiously on the door handle.

“Oh for the love of Celestia!”

It was locked.

Rarity desperately tried to find an alternative. Beside her she saw an open hatch. It was small, but if she was slim enough she could climb right in. Rarity quickly got onto a bench and lifted herself through the window. She fell onto a bunch of supplies, but quickly got on her feet again. There was no saying when the killer would find her here.

Rarity stood in front of the control panel. She looked down at the dozens of colorful buttons in front of her, trying to recall what Pinkie had taught her about the operation.

“Okay,” she scanned the panel, “First I need to turn the key…”

She gasped, the key wasn’t there.

“I believe you need this…”

Rarity turned around and immediately her head was covered by a sackcloth. The mouth of the bag closed up around her neck, choking her. Rarity punched wildly at the attacker and the string around her neck tightened.

The bag was soaked with a chemical, and it was drowning her senses. Rarity continued to flail, and the attacker decided to take it up a notch. It lifted her, and pressed her back onto the control panel. Rarity screamed in pain as her back was assaulted by dozens of sharp pointy knobs. She tried to get the bag away but the attacker pressed onto her harder. Sharp pains tore into Rarity’s back as the tiny knobs stabbed her harder. Rarity tried to fight back, but no matter how much she fought the string only tightened as the attacker grew more forceful.

After several minutes of struggling, the chemical finally did its job. Rarity’s hooves stopped flailing, and she lay unconscious on the control panel. Happy with its catch, the scarecrow lifted her and put her on its back. It whistled as it trotted out of the cable car station, all the way back to its lair.

---

Twilight still had many questions.

“Where did they come from? Why are they harming our friends? How do we get rid of them?”

Discord was growing tired of her questions. Twilight was the sort of person who’d like to be in the know on everything, but he really wasn’t in the mood to entertain her right now. Mainly because all their friends, especially Fluttershy, were in grave danger as they speak.

“Listen, for the third time, Wendigos are not the magical spirits you hear from the Hearth’s Warming Tale. They are real, dangerous beings that possess the souls of ponies who have gone hungry and cold for too long. It turns them into cannibalistic beings that eat anything and everything meat, including their friends.”

“But that means…”

“Yes, your friends might just be Wendigo food right now. So let’s cut the chit chat so I can focus on flying.”

Twilight looked down and frowned. If that were true, Rainbow Dash might have been taken by a Wendigo, and her flesh might be feasted on right now.

No. Twilight shook her head. She has to still be alive.

Another question bothered Twilight, “Then how do we get rid of it?”

“Well you certainly won’t be doing much with the ‘power of friendship’,” Discord sneered, “You need to kill it.”

Twilight fell silent. Never in her life has she ever had to kill a living being before. She once vowed that as the Princess of Friendship she’d never resort to violence. But things were very bleak now.

“Twilight.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know any fire spells?”

“Yeah sure, that’s the first spell we learn in school.”

“Good. ‘Cos that’s the only thing that can kill a Wendigo.”

“A fire spell?”

“Technically, just fire would do. You see, normal magic doesn’t work on them because their skin are like a magic proofed armor. But once you burn away that armor, they’re vulnerable.”

“Wait. So that creature I shot…”

“Is still alive somewhere on this mountain. And it’s not the only one. That’s why we need to go.”

Twilight kept silent, thinking about the things she's said to Discord.

“Listen Discord, I’m sorry I blamed you. You didn’t know about all this then. I’m sure if you did, you would’ve gotten us off this mountain hours ago.” Twilight added, “And thanks for coming back for me.” She felt her cheeks blush.

Discord didn’t turn to look at her. He kept his gaze on the forest below.

“No,” he replied, “I’m sorry. I should have listened to Fluttershy. I should have told you. I thought my judgements were right. And now I put everyone in danger.” His mind flashed an image of Fluttershy in the hooves of wendigos. He shook his head.

Twilight blinked. Then she looked down. It was both their faults. None of this would have happened if they communicated better. Twilight sunk deeper into his embrace, feeling the warm fur that pressed against her. At times when things are wrong, she was just glad she had him by her side.

From up in the sky, Discord spotted the lodge. He flew down and stopped in front of it, putting Twilight down.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy!” he burst open the door. He flew up the stairs and opened her door, “Fluttershy, we need to go!” But she was missing.

Twilight heard Discord jump down the stairs. He looked distraught.

“Fluttershy’s missing,” he said.

“What? I thought Pinkie Pie was watching over everypony!”

That’s when she realized Pinkie wasn’t around either. In fact, no one seemed to be around. Not even Starlight and Spike, who should have returned a long time ago.

“Discord, you check the upstairs and I’ll check the ground.”

Discord nodded and flew upstairs.

“Applejack? Pinkie Pie?” Twilight walked room to room. “Starlight? Spike? Are you there?”

“Fluttershy! Rarity!” Discord shouted worriedly.

After one fruitless run around the lodge, Discord sat at the foot of the stairs. Twilight approached him, “Any luck?”

“No.” Discord hung his head. He worried for Fluttershy. He prayed that it wasn’t the Wendigos that had taken her. Anything but the Wendigos.

Twilight watched him deflate. She knew there was only one thing on his mind. “Discord, listen…”

“She’s gone Twilight! She’s gone!” Discord yelled. “And it’s my fault…”

Twilight sighed. She understood the emotions he was going through. Likewise, she was going through the same feelings too. Losing your friends is nothing to celebrate over, but she knew better to tear down into fits.

She placed a hoof on him. “Discord, we’ll find her ok? We’ll keep trying.”

Discord rubbed his paw on his eyes. This was the second time she’s seen him cry. It’s no pretty sight, but at least she saw him growing emotionally.

Discord looked at Twilight. His tears really did make him look like a baby. Twilight gave him a reassuring smile. And he hugged her.

Twilight was speechless. But she immediately accepted the gesture. She hugged him back, rubbing her hooves on his back.

Suddenly they heard a sound, the sound of metal striking a pole. They both let go of each other and looked down the stairs.

“The basement!” Twilight shouted. That was the only place she didn’t check. She got up, and Discord followed closely behind her.

They walked to the basement door and found Applejack’s hat sitting in front of it.

“That wasn’t there before!” Twilight exclaimed. Discord picked up the note left on the hat.

“COME GET ME.” It read in red letters.

They both looked at each other in confusion. Some part of them thought that all this could have just been an elaborate prank set up by everyone, but then again it didn’t feel like it. Something real was going on. Discord looked up. The door before them led to the basement. If the signs hadn’t lead them to this place, they wouldn’t know where else to look.

Discord raised a claw and turned the handle.

Author's Note:

I know Discord has the power to teleport, but if he did, then I wouldn't have this nice conversation between him and Twi. Btw will be busy next week, so expect the next chapter the week after.

Comments

[the book keeper]

Thanks for the update I am on the edge on my seat can't wait for the next chapter

[Sharp77]

When he finds flutters dead, he's gonna be pissed. And if he gets mad, you'll probably not survive more then a second.

[DeskManiac]

8037355 Yup