Blackhoof Mountain

by DeskManiac

Chapter 10: Sacrifice (2 Hours Until Dawn) Part 2

5:22 a.m.

The pony-draconequus gang plodded through the thick heavy snow, constantly eyeing their surroundings for any sudden movements. No one said a word at all, their eyes fixed to the trail ahead. The woods were unnaturally quiet, but Applejack supposed it was for the better. 10 minutes of walking and there were still no wendigos in sight. Must be good right? She thought.

Discord's ears twitched.

"Stop."

Everyone halted in their tracks as Discord stood eerily still.

"They’re here..."

Applejack took a peek from the corner of her eye. She didn't see anything other than trees and bushes. And neither did Fluttershy or Rarity.

"Wh-"

"SHHH!!!" Discord hushed. He couldn't see them either, but he sure as hell could sense their magic. They were near. Very near.

Everyone stood still, listening to the forest around them. The draconequus shut his eyes. Taking deep breaths, he mentally visualized the creature approaching them.

Suddenly, a hiss came from behind them, diving straight for Applejack. She turned around and pulled out her gun, but she wasn't fast enough. Before she could even pull the trigger, Discord had already engulfed the bony creature in flames.

"WE NEED TO GO NOW." He grabbed Fluttershy, flying into the woods at full speed. Applejack ran alongside Rarity, trying to tail closely behind the draconequus who only seem to be losing them by the second.

Applejack double-checked her gun. It was loaded and ready to go. But she still wasn’t sure if she’d be fast enough to pull it out if the situation needed her to. Her previous encounter was too close a call.

From her left, more hissing emerged. Applejack glanced, meeting eye-to-eye with the abominable beast. This time, she was quick enough to yank the trigger, sending the creature flying off elsewhere.

“C’mon Rar we gotta hurry!”

Rarity coughed and wheezed, there wasn’t any way she could run any faster. Applejack looked back, she could see the wendigos leaping from tree to tree again. With how far left they had to go, they weren't sure if they'll even make it.

"AUUGHH!!"

Rarity plummeted into the snow, twisting her ankle. She screamed.

“Rarity!” Applejack ran back to help her, but the wendigos were already approaching them, preying with their dead fish eyes. Applejack pulled out the gun and fired.

The wendigo flew back, lying motionlessly.

"Applejack!!" Rarity screamed. Another wendigo emerged from the bushes, but this time she didn't get a chance to load her gun. The duo screamed as death neared them, only to hear a burning sound.

A lion's paw appeared before them, shooting fire from its palm. The wendigo disintegrated into ashes, as the two sat in shock.

"There you guys are!" said a familiar pegasus voice.

Discord followed closely behind, the lion's paw floating back to him. Before they even got a chance to thank him, he was already carrying them on his back.

"Fluttershy wanted to come back and get you. Seriously, can you ponies run any slower?"

He beat his wings, sending them flying at the great speeds. He alone was a lot faster than all of their hooves combined, and it was only a matter of time before they arrived at their final destination.

Applejack kicked the door down and the four gathered in the control room. With the door locked, they set to get the generator working.

Discord punched the key in, and gave it a firm twist. The generators activated, and the entire cable car system begun to move. They all sensed a small victory.

But it didn't last long. A large wendigo plastered itself against the thin glass window, trying to break in. Rarity screamed. Discord raised his paw and reduced it to flames, falling to the floor after that.

"Discord!" Fluttershy lifted his head, "Are you okay?"

Discord wiped his face, trying to stay awake. "Trying to burn that thing on the other side of the glass is tough work. Not to mention, my last trick did take a lot of magic…"

Fluttershy held him closer. "You were just trying to protect our friends! Because of you, they're still alive right now!"

Discord let out a weak chuckle. Dismembering his body was a tough one, but he knew sending a single paw over to AJ and Rarity's aid was much faster than flying his entire self there. But he was starting to suffer the consequences.

"Damn Rainbow. Damn sleeping gas,” He groaned, “It's fine. I can still go on," he uttered, trying to get on all fours. Fluttershy frowned. He was in a lot of pain, she could see it, but she knew he wouldn't stop until they were all safe. She just wished there was something she could do.

*BANG*

A loud gunshot was heard followed by shattered glass.

"Gosh darn wendigos. They just never stop coming!" Applejack held the ammo in her teeth as she reloaded.

"The cable car's arrived! We need to go now!" Rarity screamed, bolting for the door, but a sharp pain ran through her ankle and she instantly fell down again. Applejack blocked the door.

"Are ya crazy? That wendigo is not dead yet! If you go out there like that who knows what it'll do to you!"

"But it's so close! We have to make a run for it!" Rarity screamed, trying her best to null the pain. If she could just get up, she could try to run. She wouldn’t be fast, but the cable car was so close it be madness not to make a run for it now.

Discord couldn’t make sense of what was going on right now. Everything was a mess. He tried to stand up on twos, but he couldn't. He winced. Every minute they lose another wendigo was going to appear, and he would be running out of magic sooner or later. There had to be a better way.

They heard hissing again. With the glass blasted to pieces, the group now had one less defense.

*BANG*

Applejack shot again. She knew she couldn't do it forever, but there was nothing else they could do. She grabbed a table from the sides and used it to block the window. They needed a plan fast.

"Applejack we need to get out of here!" Rarity shouted again.

"I KNOW!" she shouted back, "But we ain't just gonna run out there willy nilly! I can't protect all four of us!" Just then, a loud thud came from behind her. She pressed her back against the table, trying to keep the wendigo out.

Discord coughed, soon able to get up. He tried to focus, but he couldn't see straight, and he felt like he was going to pass out soon. He had to bet everything now.

"Applejack, how far do you think we are from the cable car?"

"What?" Applejack screamed. The banging continued. Applejack continued to press her back onto the wooden defense.

"I'm asking you how far do you think we are from the nearest cable car!" Discord shouted. Applejack stared at him like he was a madman.

"I reckon about 5 meters. Why?” A look of desperation on her face, “What are you gonna do?" She knew she wouldn’t like the answer, but time was running out.

Discord let out a huge breath. "Teleportation."

"What?” Applejack screamed, as the banging only grew stronger. “You can't be serious!"

"It's my last gamble. Celestia knows these legs can't bring me far. But if I can focus, just focus, I can make that 5 metre leap. All of us can..."

Applejack stared at him in disbelief. She shook her head.

"What do we have to lose?!" he fell down again, hand clutching his chest.

"Discord!” Fluttershy cried, trying to lift him up. Rarity continued to cry in the corner as all hope seemed to run out.

Applejack has never felt so helpless in her life. She couldn’t save everyone and she knew she couldn’t hold on forever. One shotgun to protect all of them just wasn’t enough. She knew she was in a tough spot. She knew she had to make the decision. A tear fell from her cheek.

“Just do it, She said coldly, “If we die, we die together. If we live…” Another tear fell from her cheek, “Just do it now.”

Discord nodded weakly and reached for Fluttershy's and Rarity's hooves. He took deep breaths, picturing the inside of the cable car. With each successive breath he could hear the pounding getting louder. But he ignored it all. He strained all his concentration into picturing that one place, that one place only. Everyone was scared but remained silent with their eyes shut, praying that the spell will actually work. Discord inhaled deeply once more. Just once more...

He opened his eyes. Glass walls surrounded him with comfy seats on two sides. The familiar sight of the cable car drew a tired smile to his face. He did it. He actually did it.

He looked down at all his comrades to celebrate, but all he saw was Rarity, with a perplexed emotion on her face.

"DISCORD!"

He turned. His eyes widened. Never in his live had he ever felt his heart sunk so far. Tears were welling up in his eyes. “No… NO…”

Outside, the wendigos were still pounding on the wooden barricade. And Fluttershy and Applejack were not with them in the cable car. This meant only one thing. They were still trapped in the station. Only he and Rarity made it. And the cable car started to move.

"NO!" He shouted, bashing the glass. "This can't be happening! Fluttershy!" But he was moving further and further away from her.

"Dammit!" He looked around frantically, trying the door handle all his might, but alas it was stuck shut. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"

Rarity took an uneasy step backwards. "Discord… Discord please calm down-"

"CALM DOWN?? FLUTTERSHY IS STILL ON THAT MOUNTAIN!!"

"Okay okay just calm down... I'm sure they can catch the next cable car down... right?" Rarity laughed nervously, but Discord gave her a death glare even worse than the one he gave Rainbow Dash.

Discord turned around, but he wasn’t seeing the cable car station anymore, but a white blur speeding towards him.

*CRASH*

One of the wendigos broke through the glass, slashing his neck.

"AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" he screamed, tumbling to the floor. He was lucky he had not been standing too close to the glass, or his entire head would have come right off. However, his wound was serious enough to paralyze him from doing much more.

Rarity shrieked, taking a step back. The wendigo was clutching onto the cable car, trying to get in.

"STAND BACK!! STAND BACK I SAY!!!" she continued to cry out, curling into one of the seats. "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"

But the wendigo wasn’t listening. It was chipping off the glass bit by bit, making the hole bigger and bigger.

"Rarity...” Discord wheezed, trying to shift his gaze on Rarity, “Back… Pocket..."

Rarity looked at Discord in confusion, but one look at the wendigo told her she was running out of time. Quickly, she got onto her knees and started shuffling through Discord's pockets. After feeling for what seemed like forever, she found something.

A flare gun.

She looked at Discord uneasily, clutching onto what seemed like her last bet on survival, swallowing her saliva. Discord’s eyelids slowly fell shut, as he finally fell into unconsciousness.

“Discord no… Please… I- I can’t… do this…” Rarity sobbed, begging her draconequus friend to get up once more, but it was useless.

Trembling in fear, she finally wiped her tears away and held onto her last resort with her magic, aiming shakily at the monstrocity.

"STAND BACK!!! I- I'M WARNING YOU!" she shouted at the wendigo. It fell on death ears, as the wendigo continued to work its way in. Finally, it made a hole big enough to fit through.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She pulled the trigger.

*BANG*

A trail of red smoke came through the cable car. Everything went silent. Only the quiet hum of the cable car was heard.

---

"APPLEJACK!!"

Discord and Rarity had successfully teleported to the cable car, but Fluttershy and Applejack weren't so lucky. The wendigo was quickly breaking in, and Applejack couldn't hold it for long.

"Fluttershy, hide in the locker!"

"But Applejack-"

"JUST DO IT!"

Fluttershy obeyed, and she hid herself in the metal locker. Applejack took deep breaths, it was now or never.

She let go of the table, flinging herself onto the floor. The wendigo had finally broken in, and it scanned the interior of the cable car station with bloodlust in its eyes.

Applejack stayed low, her gun ready for fire.

The wendigo crawled about the room, eyeing every corner of it, its tongue drooling as it did. Applejack stayed as still as she can, knowing that even a small flinch could trigger the fiend. The wendigo hissed menacingly, displeased with its find, but not leaving quite yet. It crawled about the room turning its head around every chance it got. Applejack’s eyes followed it about the room, but never once did she ever turn her head. Beads of sweat was dripping from her side, and she was tempted to make the first move.

Fluttershy’s eyes darted around the tiny locker. She could hear the wendigo, but she didn’t know where it was. All she knew was that Applejack was out there with the fiend, and that they had to stay still until it went away. She kept her eyes closed and prayed.

Suddenly, something shook her locker.

"Eeep!" she uttered.

It felt like the end of her, until...

"Come 'ere ya varmit!" Applejack shouted. Fluttershy heard a loud gunshot, followed by the door slamming and the wendigo's cry. A few more gunshots later everything went quiet.

Fluttershy covered her mouth. She felt tears welling up in her eyes but she couldn’t cry. She knew she couldn’t. But the tears finally made its way out and was overflowing from her eyes. But never once did she even make a sound. She couldn’t make a sound at all.

Author's Note:

Hey guys it's Halloween, which I kinda just realized...Oops. So that means another chapter of Blackhoof Mountain! I thought it'd be a perfect time to post, since I know how everyone here loves to be spooked. The story is finally reaching its final chapter, (excluding the epilogue chapter that is), so I'm really glad. Writing all these chapters have been fun, but it's really time to bring this to a close. I'll try to post the final chapter by tomorrow, and then work on the epilogue. Please do be patient though, I'm really trying!

Comments

[ButtonMash]

Oh. Wrong 'Until Dawn' I was thinking of. RIP. When I thought Until Dawn, I was thinking of the Halo movie.

[DeskManiac]

8522123
Oops haha. Sorry bout that. Didn't know there was a movie by the same name.

[ButtonMash]

8522964
It's ok- I doubt many have seen it let alone heard of it.