> Blackhoof Mountain
>  by DeskManiac
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Hearth's Warming Getaway
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
> Chapter 1: Darkness (11 hours Until Dawn) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

8:00 p.m.
~ 11 Hours Until Dawn

"Surprise!” Pinkie Pie screamed as soon as Spike walked into the kitchen. Spike got such a shock he almost screamed his lungs out. Coming out from their hiding places were Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and their draconequus friend, Discord. With big smiles on their faces they welcomed their dragon friend to the snowy mountaintop getaway. Spike, who was still trying to put himself together, leaned on a nearby chair and gasped for breath. Just then, Twilight and Starlight ran into the room, panicked, to find that their friend was in no danger at all.

“Welcome to the Blackhoof Mountain Getaway Party!” Pinkie screamed, and the rest of the ponies cheered. Twilight and Starlight took a moment to take in what was going on, and a wide smile grew on their faces. 

“You threw a special welcoming party, just for us?” 

“Of course silly! We didn’t want you to feel left out because we were here a night before you were, so we decided to throw you a special awesome welcoming party!” said Pinkie.

“Wow,” Twilight began to tear up, “You guys are the best.” And the mane six proceeded to hug one another.

Spike finally got himself together and was breathing alright now, and was also glad to know that their friends threw them a special welcoming party for their arrival.

Discord was hovering above them, watching the six share a very special moment. With an evil grin on his face, he leaned closer to Twilight, “Twilight, I’m your friend too right? Aren’t YOU glad to see me here?” Looking up, Twilight’s smile immediately turned into a scowl. 

“Wait, I thought we were inviting close friends only?” she said, her joy replaced by annoyance. 

Applejack tipped her hat and started to explain, “Well Fluttershy thought it’d be good to bring Discord along and ah,” Applejack shrugged, “Ah couldn’t really turn her down.”

Fluttershy stood up to explain her view on things. “Discord is our friend. Of course he gets to join us in our little getaway! I couldn’t imagine leaving him behind while the rest of us have the time of our lives here without him.” Saying that, her eyes widened, begging Twilight to let Discord stay.

No one could withstand the adorable force Fluttershy wield, and the same went for Twilight. She felt a bit of remorse for the way she reacted and apologized. “I’m sorry. I just, didn’t expect him to be here.”

Discord, seizing the opportunity to tease Twilight some more, went ahead to comment, “My Twilight, I thought we were close friends? Now I know how you truly feel about me,” Saying this, he crossed his hands in a fit, glancing a little just to see the priceless look on Twilight’s face. Twilight just rolled her eyes at him.

Finally Pinkie broke the awkward moment. “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s party!” 

And so our heroes danced and laughed and ate lots of cake. And they partied all the way into the night. At the end of it, they dragged their tired bodies to bed and had a good night's rest. And tomorrow they would enjoy a wonderful day of interesting bonding activities and this would have been the best vacation ever.

If only that had happened.

But instead, all the lights suddenly went off at 8:37pm. This was greeted by a couple of screams first, then a panicked attempt to get the lights turned on again.

“Everyone!” Twilight shouted, trying to control the situation, “Please calm down!” 

She used her horn as a glow and Starlight and Rarity followed suit. Being able to see again, Twilight began to assess the situation. “There must have been a disruption in power,” She looked at Pinkie, whom she assumed would know something about this place, and asked, “Pinkie, do you know where the fuse box is?” 

Pinkie thought for a moment before a giant light bulb flashed on top of her head, “Oh I do know! It’s in the basement. Here, I’ll take you!”

“Alright,” Twilight looked at the rest of the gang, “Pinkie and I are going down to the basement to see what’s wrong, you guys stay put.”

Everyone agreed, but Discord had other ideas. With a snap, he made a giant hamster wheel appear. “We don’t need that, we can make our own electricity! Now if one of you won’t mind-”

“Discord,” Twilight broke him off mid-sentence. "You’re not helping."

“Well not with your attitude, Twilight," he replied sarcastically, "Now if one of us is just willing to run-”

“Discord-” Twilight hung her face in her hooves, “-just stop.”  

She didn’t get what is wrong with Discord sometimes. He could have easily turned the electricity back on again but he simply chose the way that will humiliate and make fun of other ponies. Twilight didn’t even bother asking Discord to use his magic properly. He was the God of Chaos and making him do things the conventional way would be like asking him to change his name to ‘Order’.

Twilight sighed and followed Pinkie into the basement. Discord just stood there, watching her go.

Down in the basement, Twilight examined the circuit breakers in the fuse box. After some tinkering, Twilight still couldn't figure out what was wrong.

“Pinkie, where does the electricity here come from?”

“Hmmm... There’s a generator not far from here. It powers up all the electrical circuits on this mountain. Except the radio tower and cable car station, those run on a different electrical supply.” 

“Okay, so we got to find this generator and see what’s wrong with it.” Twilight said strategically. They returned upstairs to explain the situation. 

Someone had to go outside to check the generator.

“I’ll do it,” Starlight immediately responded.

“Yeah, and I’ll follow her,” followed Spike.

Twilight looked worried. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to send her two best friends out into the snow when they had only gotten out of it a while ago.

“You guys sure about that? I mean, I can send someone else to go…”

“Don’t worry about us, Twi. We don't mind going out into the snow again if it means our friends will be safe and warm. Plus, me and Starlight make a great team! So all of you here just sit back and relax while we go see the generator,” Spike said confidently.

Twilight hesitated, but ended up complying to their request. 

“Just be safe ok?”

“Don’t worry about us, Twilight. We got this!” Spike said as he happily skipped to the front door.

“I’ll make sure he stays out of trouble,” Starlight reassured Twilight. And with a hug they were on their way. Out into the wilderness where danger awaits them.





Skipping happily in the snow, Spike started talking to Starlight. “So what do you think caused the power cut? A raccoon? A bear? The Abominable Snowpony???”

Starlight chuckled. “I’m sure it’s just out of gas. Maybe they forgot to refuel it or something,” Starlight said, “We won’t know until we get there.”

The duo continued walking until they saw something, something peculiar.

“Is that, police tape?” Starlight approached what seemed to have been an investigation site.

“Woah,” said Spike, taking his time to relate the police tape to the missing poster. “Wait a second... I remember! I saw a poster of these two missing girls at the cable car station. Maybe they never found them?”

Starlight was startled at the comment and the two of them stood there for a while, imagining the worst possible fate of those two girls, until they realised they still had a mission to complete.

“Come on Spike, the sooner we get out of here the sooner we can get the electricity back on again,” Starlight ushered, and the both of them braved into the growing storm.
> Chapter 1: Darkness (11 hours Until Dawn) Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

8:47 p.m.

“Alright everyone, let’s see if we can find as many candles as we can to light up this place!” Twilight declared. The rest of the gang followed her orders, but Discord was lying idly in his floating hammock, sipping on a mug of hot cocoa.

“Discord, that means you too.” Twilight was giving him such a stare that she could burn a hole in his head.

“Oh, but Twilight,” Discord said, “You can’t possibly make me work in such cold weather,” Discord struck a dramatic pose “Why it simply can’t be good for my physique!”

Twilight’s stare was much angrier now. She had to summon all her strength to resist the urge to kill the idiot floating in front of her right now. But instead she remained calm and took a deep breath. “Discord, all our friends are looking for candles, don’t you think you should help too?” Twilight was hoping she would get positive feedback from the draconequus this time, but she was wrong, again.

“Oh so I’m your friend now? I recall a certain SOMEPONY didn't want to see me here,” Discord made sure he sounded as sulky as he could, and it worked. Twilight was so fed up that she just left. And for that victory, Discord smiled, and then frowned.

Down in the basement, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were looking for candles. The dark and dusty basement made Rarity think that something must’ve died in there a long time ago, but Pinkie didn’t seem to mind. She was still her happy bouncy self as she went around scavenging the old cupboards and drawers. But Rarity felt uncomfortable with every step she took. She really needed to get a bath after this. As Pinkie continued to bounce around and sing, she accidentally tipped an old coat rack over, which in turn dropped a dusty old curtain over Rarity. Rarity coughed as she tried to get the sheet off, glaring angrily at Pinkie who should be focusing on the task. 

“Oops, sorry,” Pinkie said sheepishly.

Rarity regained her poise, and cleared her throat. “Pinkie, I’m not mad at you, but if we can get out of here soon, I would really appreciate that.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” said Pinkie, as she continued to bounce around the room looking for candles. 

Rarity sighed and continued the search too so she could hopefully get a bath soon. 

*pang*

She heard something coming from the stairs to the lower floors. 

“Pinkie shhh!” 

“Hmm? What’s up bud?” Pinkie asked, not yet realizing the peril that was at hand.

“Shhh! I think I heard something,” Rarity said, crouching close to the floor and walking towards the corner that led to the lower stairs. 

“What?” 

“Shhh!” Rarity repeated. Pinkie was a great friend, but she just couldn't take a hint sometimes.

Pinkie finally understood and followed behind Rarity. Something or someone was hiding around the corner, and Rarity braved herself to face it.

“HA!” Rarity pounced. But there was no one there.

“Rarity, who are you shouting at?”

Rarity stared at the empty corridor. “Uhmm... It’s nothing really, I just swore I heard some-” 

“BOO!”

“AHHHHHHH!”

Rainbow Dash laughed hysterically. Rarity glared.

“Rainbow Dash!” she shouted angrily, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Scaring a couple of crybabies, that’s what I’m doing,” the pegasus said smugly as she floated mid air.

“That was a good one Dash!” Pinkie didn’t seem mad at all, in fact she even hi-fived Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow, we are supposed to be looking for candles, not playing 'hide and scare your friends'!” Rarity grumbled, still annoyed at Rainbow's childish act.

“Yeah, Applejack found a whole box of them just now so we can stop. I heard you guys were in the basement so I came down to get you. Also, I came to check out the cool stuff here,” she said, poking an old broom. It fell over, lifting dust off the floor and making Rarity cough again.

“So you guys ready to go or what? This is a pretty dusty place.”

“Readier than ever.” Rarity was so done with the basement, she couldn’t stand being in there for another moment.

“Oh and by the way, check this out.” Rainbow held out a piece of board with many letters written on it, as well as the words ‘YES’ and ‘NO’ written on the corners.

“No no no…” Rarity backed up. “I will not participate in any of your childish games tonight. I am going to have a nice bath and go to sleep.”

“But don’t you need hot water for that?” asked Rainbow, lifting an eyebrow.

“Oh, the boiler should do the trick! It doesn’t run on electricity. Just coal,” beamed Pinkie Pie.

Rarity was glad that for the first time tonight, things were working out her way. “Thanks Pinkie. Now would you be a dear and help me fire it up?”

“Sure thing!” Pinkie said with excitement, heading towards the boiler.

“And Rainbow,”

“Yes Rarity?”

“Don’t cause a ruckus down there. I know how you are when you’re playing games.”

“Yeah sure. I’ll keep my cool. Promise.”

And the both of them headed for the stairs.





8:52 p.m.

Applejack sank into the couch as she drank her apple cider. The only thing illuminating the guest lounge was a single candle which she found. She was lucky to have found that many candles in such a short time. She handed most of them to Twilight for safe keeping. As for now, everyone was doing well with just one candle each.

She stared lazily into the candle flame, watching it flicker as she took another sip. Who needs fancy schmancy electricity to have a good time? All ya need are your friends and a good jar of cider. She thought.

Sadly no one agreed with her. Rarity insisted on turning in early and Twilight just wanted to spend the rest of her time reading books. This left the rest to do whatever they wanted to do. So Fluttershy and Discord went upstairs to spend time alone together. What a bunch of party poopers. 

Applejack was beginning to get a little drunk from her cider when she heard commotion coming from the kitchen. She hated to get up, but she was curious to see what Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were up to.

With a push, she got off the couch and headed for the kitchen. As she approached the kitchen, she could see Rainbow and Pinkie exchanging words at the table. They seemed to be holding a wooden board of some sort, but she couldn’t really tell from the cider.

“What ‘chu got there?” Applejack said, trying not to fall over.

“Oh hi there Applejack! Rainbow Dash found this in the basement. We think it’s some sort of board game.” Pinkie waved, holding the board in front of Applejack's nose. 

Applejack wasn’t sure at first, but after looking closer she realized what it was. 

“An OUIJA board?”

“A what?” Pinkie and Rainbow seemed more interested now, they were leaning closer to hear what Applejack had to say. 

“An OUIJA board. Granny always told us to stay away from those things. Said it’s used to communicate with ghosts or something.” 

“What? Really? That’s so cool! We totally have to try this out!” Rainbow was filled with excitement, and so was Pinkie. Sadly, Applejack knew better than to play with spirits.

“No can do, Dash. Ah promised Granny ah’d never play with these kinds of stuff. And ah never break a promise...”

“Aww come on Applejack! You probably made that promise like, 20 years ago or something. Granny probably made you promise 'cause she was scared you’d have nightmares or whatever. We’re all grown up now, we don’t have to be afraid of ghosts! Unless...” Rainbow Dash leaned into her with an evil smile, “You’re chicken that is.”

“What ‘chu say?” Applejack shot a look back at Rainbow. She hated going back against her word, especially ones made with close family, but she hated being called a chicken more.

“You know what? We’ll play this little ‘game’. And then, we’ll see who the real chicken is…” Applejack took the last sip of her cider and slammed it on the table next to Rainbow, who returned it with an evil grin.
> Chapter 2: Strangers (10 hours Until Dawn) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

9:01 p.m.
~ 10 Hours Until Dawn

Snow drifted gently onto the window sill. Winter was one of Fluttershy’s favorite seasons. It was the time of the year when she would snuggle up in bed all day long, enjoying warm drinks and Christmas stories with Angel bunny. If not, she would be out having a wonderful snow day with her friends. Building snow animals, having playful snowball fights, sledding... The list went on forever.

But something about the snowy mountaintop just didn’t feel right to her. She stared at the dark forest that lay beyond the ski lodge, wondering about the mysterious woods that was right beyond her sight. Oh how she hoped that Spike and Starlight were safe.

“Fluttershy?”

Her concentration was brought back to her room where she and Discord were having a tea party. 

“Care for another cucumber sandwich?” he asked, in a polite manner.

“It’s ok. I think I’ve had enough,” she replied, giving Discord a smile.

Discord pulled away, munching on another sandwich happily. “Suit yourself.”

Discord helped himself to another sandwich, as Fluttershy stared dreamily at him. Discord is such a gentleman. She thought. So kind and polite. If only other ponies could see that in him. They would see what a true sweetheart he is.

Fluttershy remembered the day Discord was brought to her. She wasn’t sure at first, but she believed that if she treat him with enough kindness, he would repay her someday. Sure it was tough at first, with Discord teasing and making fun of her, and she remembered wanting to cry at some point. Discord had turned her house upside down, literally. And he kept calling her weak and using her to do mean things to her friends. But she knew deep within the draconequus was a misunderstood soul, wanting to be set free. And she was right. The draconequus turned from his evil ways, and has now been her best friend ever since.

Discord noticed that Fluttershy was not responsive for a while.  

“Fluttershy, is something wrong?”

“Oh no,” Fluttershy blushed, “I’m just… enjoying the atmosphere here. It’s so nice and quiet.” She gave Discord a cute little smile that could melt his heart.

Discord smiled back and the two locked gazes for a moment.

And at that moment, a large ringing was heard.

“Oh, this stupid little thing,” Discord muttered as he pulled out his personal clock. It was bent in different ways but it was very useful for a God of Choas as himself.

“Well would you look at the time. It’s time for our hooficures!” he said excitedly, snapping the tea party away.

“Now, where did I put that nail polish?” He fumbled through his bag before looking at Fluttershy sheepishly. “I don’t suppose you have any with you?”

Fluttershy looked disappointed. “I’m afraid not Discord. I was in such a hurry packing up yesterday I must’ve forgot…” She looked down at her hooves.

“It’s not your fault Fluttershy. We all make mistakes sometimes.” He leaned closer to her ears. “And if you’re me, you make mistakes ALL the time.” 

This made Fluttershy giggled. She pushed Discord away from her as her face went red with blushing. Discord smiled contently at his best friend. He may not have gotten that kiss, but he was glad he was able to cheer her up anyways. She meant the world to him.

Discord went on with his usual ruse. “Well we have to find something!” Stopping for a moment, he tapped his talon on his chin, as if he was thinking for an answer he already knew.

“I know! Rarity always come packed with this sorts of stuff! I’ll ask her!”

“Are you sure she will lend it to you?” Fluttershy asked innocently.

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave all the talking to Discord here.” He pulled a clone of himself out of thin air, and they both waved Fluttershy goodbye as the left to the halls.

Fluttershy giggled. Discord had weird sense of humor. And she found that quite charming. Fluttershy laid quietly on her bed as she awaited Discord’s return.

She was about to close her eyes and rest when she heard chirping by the window. Being an animal enthusiast, she leaped off her bed to greet her bird friend.

“Hello there, little one. What brings you here?” 

Fluttershy had a natural talent of talking to animals. She's had it since she was a little filly. One day she fell from her home in the clouds unto earth, where she met the most wonderful woodland creatures and they became her friends. Since then, she’s been spending more time with animals than with other ponies. Now, she can understand any animal and even communicate back to them. Because of this, she was always requested to solve animal conflicts in town. 

Fluttershy listened to the bird, but her smile slowly turned into a frown.

“Danger? What kind of danger?”

Before the bird could tell her, a large thump came from the other side of the room. 

It was Discord. In his hand were nail bottles of nail polish. He seemed pretty smug about himself, as he closed the door behind him.

Fluttershy looked back at the window sill, but the bird was gone.

“You know I have the greatest story to tell you about how I got these. So I was dropping by Rarity’s room and I saw that she wasn’t there. I was tempted to just take one for us but I was a GREAT FRIEND so I didn’t. But then I heard water coming from upstairs so I thought, ‘Maybe that’s where she is!’ So I popped myself upstairs and I peeked in and SCANDOLOUS! Rarity was not wearing any clothes! But none of you wear clothes anyways so it doesn’t matter. Anyways I gave her a polite knock before asking anything and she said it was okay if I took some so here I am! I know it took a long time but it was because of all this things I had to do and I swear it wasn’t because I was peeking at Rarity or anything.” Discord rolled his eyes as he mumbled smugly, “Not that it took that long anyways.”

He looked down at Fluttershy, who was still staring at the window.

“Fluttershy, are you... ok?” Discord leaned closer, his eyes looking more worried than Fluttershy’s. 

Fluttershy broke from her trance and met gazes with him. “It’s just… There was a bird that was telling me about some danger on this mountain. But now... it’s gone…” Fluttershy’s gaze trailed off to the trees in the forest, she hoped her bird friend would come back soon.

“Is that all? Huh, I thought there was a real problem!” Discord laughed.

“Discord!” Fluttershy shouted at him, “I’m serious! What if there really is a danger on this mountain? We need to warn our friends, quick!”

Once again, Discord dismissed her. “Fluttershy, there are many birds in this world and they all tell you different things. Some may say ‘Good Morning!’ and some may say ‘You gotta get off this mountain or you die!’" He chuckled, "You really shouldn’t listen to any of them.”

“What are you saying?” Fluttershy took a heavy step towards Discord, never breaking her gaze away from him. She was feeling very, very peeved, at the moment.

“All I’m saying is that it’s in your head, that’s all.” He waved his paw at her.

Without any warning at all, Fluttershy leaped onto Discord, pinning him down. “But I did hear it! That’s what the little birdie told me! That there, is some danger on this mountain, and we need to get off NOW!”

Discord laid helplessly. He rarely seen Fluttershy so worked up. Except that one time he made fun of her friends. But that was a different time. He knew he had to choose his next few words carefully. He couldn’t just tell everyone to leave now, can he? Because what? Of some bird? And people called him crazy. But he couldn’t just out right call her crazy, he would die. He weighed his choices carefully.

“Fluttershy,” he started, looking deep into her blue green eyes, “I’m sorry about the things I said to you. You’re right, there might be a threat on this mountain that we don’t know of yet. But we can’t all just go out like this. It’s getting late and we don't know if that danger is hiding in the woods, waiting to attack us.” 

Fluttershy blinked and after a very long time, noded. Her rage quickly subsided and she was now filled with regret of her rash actions.

So far so good. Discord thought.

“Fluttershy, I understand how you feel but we must wait until the morning if we want to get of this mountain. It’s getting darker outside so it’s not safe. We just need to stay indoors for now…”

Fluttershy seemed to have finally understood the dilemma she was putting him in. She didn’t want her friend to make hard decisions, she was scared, that’s all. 

She looked down at his chest, “But how about Starlight and Spike? They’re out in the cold. What if something gets them?” Her eyes were watery, she was scared sick for her friends.

Discord held her closer to his chest. “Starlight’s a powerful unicorn. I'm sure she can protect the both of them. We should worry about ourselves, Fluttershy. We might not make it through this night.” Discord looked at Fluttershy once again and wiped the tear from her eyes.

"Shouldn't we at least tell Twilight?"

Discord didn't say anything. He continued to stare into her beady eyes, pondering what to say next. He was sure Twilight had been stressed out the entire night having him around, and he didn't want to stress her out some more. Fluttershy was just paranoid over nothing, so he didn't want to drag Twilight into this. She deserved a nice quiet night with her books. Discord smiled.

“We should just let Twilight rest. She's been through enough this week. Knowing there's a danger on this mountain probably isn't going to help. Don't worry, as long as everyone stays indoors, and Spike and Starlight return, everything will be fine."

Fluttershy still had many doubts, but she trusted Discord.

"I’ll tell Twilight all about it tomorrow. I promise.”

He lied.
> Chapter 2: Strangers (10 hours Until Dawn) Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

9:15 p.m.

The kitchen was dark. Giggling and whispers filled the darkness as three little ponies set up the table. They each had a candle, and in front of them was a large wooden board with letters on it. On top the wooden board was a small triangular piece of wood with a circular hole in it. The giggles continued as they settled for a place to sit and passed each other’s drinks around. 

Then it stopped. Three eyes stared at the center of the board, the words and letters illuminated by the little light their own candles could give. No one said anything. They just exchanged stares for a while, prompting each other to begin.

And finally someone spoke. “Rainbow Dash, would ya like to have the honors of starting our delightful evening?” Applejack said, nudging her on the elbow.

“What? You’re the expert here Applejack, you start.” Rainbow already had sweat beads forming on her head, much to Applejack’s amusement.

“Alright, alright. Ah’ll guide you through this alright? Just do as ah say.” She put one hoof on the tiny triangle. “Now all hooves in.”

The rest followed suit. Rainbow was beginning to tremble a little, and Applejack could feel it. Pinkie was, well, as Pinkie as ever, if that was the word to describe her. She was smiling widely as she anticipated the ‘game’. “So what do we do next?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“We ask questions,” Applejack said calmly. Looking at Rainbow, she continued, “Rainbow, why don’t cha' ask our ‘special guest’ the first question?”

“Liike what?” Rainbow asked nervously.

“Ah dunno, whatever ya feel like,” said Applejack. It was her turn to give Rainbow the evil grin. 

Rainbow shook nervously in her seat. She used all the strength she had to keep herself together. With a dry swallow, she began.

“Hello? Is- Is anyone here?”

Silence.

The group looked nervously at the triangle. Any moment now it would start moving, if there was a ghost that is.

And it did, much to everyone’s surprise. It moved slowly until it reached one corner of the board, where it said ‘YES’. 

“Woah, freaky!” exclaimed Pinkie.

Looking nervously at the triangle again, Rainbow asked, “What next?”

“Well, ask ’em another question.” This night was beginning to get a lot creepier to Applejack, but she knew they had to keep it going.

“Err okaay…” Rainbow paused for a moment, thinking of the right things to ask. But she ended up with a simpler question instead. “So err, you have a name right? What’s your name?”

The Triangle started moving.

R-O-S-E

Rainbow shook to get her words out. “Okay Rose… What happened to you?” 

K-I-L-L-E-D

Everyone stared eyes wide as they watched the word spell out. Applejack could see that Rainbow was under too much pressure now so she had to volunteer to take over.

“Who was this killer?” asked Applejack, hoping it would lead them anywhere.

S-C-A-R-E-C-R-O-W

“Scarecrow? A scarecrow’s a killer?” she said in disbelief. 

“Ooh!” Pinkie leaned forward. “Maybe it was a pony dressed as a scarecrow!”

Applejack and Rainbow both looked at the board, sweat dripping from their heads. Things were quickly getting out of hand, and Applejack had to stop it.

“Alright Rose, we thank you for being here, but we had our fair share of scares tonight,” Applejack said calmly to the ghost, “now if you’d just kindly-”

All at once they felt the wooden triangle move again. It spelt out its last two words.

K-I-L-L-E-R

L-I-B-R-A-R-Y

Suddenly, the table shook violently and the board flew into the air. All three took a step back, shocked at what had just happened.

“What the-” Applejack stood back. She was just as shocked as everyone.

Everyone was silent for a while, their eyes glued to the mess the ghost made.

Then Rainbow spoke up.

“Alright Applejack, it was totally you wasn’t it?” she faked a laugh. “Haha. Well you got me. Haha...” She glared at Applejack.

Applejack looked at the mess. She knew what the situation looked like.

"Look Rainbow, I know what it looks like, but it wasn't me," she said shakily. 

"Yeah, and Santa Claus exists. Nice try Applesmack." Rainbow replied and trotted away.

Applejack frowned at her lost for words. Her throat was dry and she couldn’t convince Rainbow that it wasn’t her pulling a prank. Rainbow was trotting away, and there was nothing she could do to stop her. She turned her gaze to Pinkie, who was looking back at her. Her eyes rather confused. Applejack was hoping she could get some empathy from Pinkie, but that just wasn’t the case.

“You know, if you really were just messing with Rainbow, you can tell me. I promise I won’t tell her.”

“But it wasn’t me!” Applejack cried. After such a horrifying experience, she was not only left with no one for comfort, but also accused by her friends of lying. She wiped her tears off and ran off to her bedroom, leaving Pinkie alone in the darkness.

As she ran off, Pinkie shouted, “I didn’t mean it!”





9:40 p.m.

The eerie woods was beginning to make Starlight and Spike feel very uncomfortable. A crow was cawing at a distance not far from there, and Starlight shuddered at the sound of it. Maybe it was just her, but she felt like someone was watching them in the woods, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. 

Starlight didn’t know what she would do if that happened. She contemplated telling Spike about it, worrying that it would only make matters worse. She watched as Spike treaded through the snow, waiting for an opportunity to tell him about her fears. However, it was Spike who brought it up first.

“Hey, um Starlight?” Spike shivered. “Do you feel like we’re being watched?” He looked at her, but she could only give him an uncertain look.

“I- I dunno Spike. But I really hope we get out of here soon,” Starlight said. She had to battle to get her tongue out of a twist. She usually wasn’t tripping on words to say. Maybe it was the fear. She just wasn’t used to being in such situations.

They were almost at their destination, and they only had to cross another bridge to get there. Their backs began to ache as they continue to plow through the snow, each hoping that they could get back to the lodge as soon as possible and snuggle close to the fireplace. 

Alas, they saw it. The generator. They each took greater steps as they approached the small cabin. Just as Pinkie described it, it wasn’t locked. They let out a sigh of relief as they shut the unrelenting cold outside.

Rubbing his hands together, Spike muttered, “Well at least we’re out of that cold.” His words unclear under his shivering breath.

Starlight shone her torch around. She could see the generator, but she also got a strong smell of gasoline in the air. She approached the generator cautiously, before realizing she was stepping in something.

“What the-” Gasoline was spilt all over the floor. A messy trail led to broken canisters in one corner of the room.

“Who could have done this?” Starlight began to felt things were getting very wrong. Her stomach did flips as she whiffed in another breath of gasoline. 

“Spike, open the door!” 

Spike was confused at the sudden instruction, after all, they wanted to keep the cold out, not in.

Seeing that Spike was still standing there, Starlight shouted at him again. "Spike!" This time, he complied.

The door swung open, and fresh bits of cold air came rushing in. Starlight stumbled to reach the doorway. She had inhaled enough gasoline to give her nausea. 

“Woah,” said Spike, fanning the smell away, “What the heck happened here?”

“That’s what we need to find out,” she replied, getting up on her feet again. 

The room smelt less of generator fuel now, and Starlight wasted no time beginning her investigation.

She started by looking through the damaged canisters. They were all damaged by some sort of sharp tool. She also noticed by the pattern of the damage, that it was done in a hurry. There was anything but a clean cut on the cans. They all had a couple of slashes on them, as if someone couldn’t make a good enough cut the first time. 

Starlight proceeded to check on the generator. Empty. But that wasn’t all. The bottom of the fuel tank was a hole, where the bottom cap should be. Looking more closely she could see bits of rubber stuck to the hole. 

Using her magic, she fished out the bits and showed them to Spike. Spike cringed at the smell of dissolved rubber.

“Ugh, what the heck is that?” Spike said, trying not to face the disgusting smell.

“Cheap rubber. Those that dissolve quickly when exposed to gasoline. It was used as the bottom cap in the fuel tank.”

“Why would they use that if it doesn’t keep the fuel in?” Spike gagged, only because Starlight was still holding the bits in front of him.

“They don’t Spike. They’d use something that would resist corrosion to gasoline like tough plastics.” Starlight placed the dissolved bits down. “I suspect someone must’ve switched it sometime before and was waiting for the rubber to dissolve completely.” She looked at Spike again. “Once the rubber was gone, the fuel tank emptied-”

“And we’d have no electricity,” Spike finished her sentence. “But who would do such a thing?”

Starlight stared at the evidence at hand, she didn’t know how to put it, but she had to say it.

“I suspect it was one of us,” Starlight said in a serious tone. Her statement made Spike feel nervous about the entire situation.

“But it can’t be! Why would they do that?”

Starlight stared hopelessly at the floor, she didn’t like the accusation either, but she knew this was the closest they can get.

“I dunno Spike. Someone who likes sick jokes apparently.” She moved towards the door. She was ready to get out of here, tell Twilight, and find the perpetrator. 

As they started up the trail back to the lodge, Spike noticed something.

“Star! Come take a look at this!”

As Starlight got closer she saw what Spike was pointing at.

Footprints. Ones that went further into the woods away from the generator. And they were freshly made. 

Starlight stared at the tracks, then at the forest ahead. There was no reason anyone would venture so deep into the woods. 

Starlight hesitated telling Twilight about it. The snow was quickly covering up the tracks and they would disappear by the time they returned. There was only one thing to do.

“Starlight!” Spike cried. But Starlight had already ran deep into the woods. She was determined to find the truth, and fast. Spike was left behind at the generator, his wailing could not stop his friend from going deeper into danger.
> Chapter 3: Abduction (9 hours Until Dawn) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

10:27 p.m.
~ 9 Hours Until Dawn

Pinkie sat alone in the kitchen, staring at the accursed board. What she imagined would be a fun night of jokes and laughter now ended with the separation of her two friends. The kitchen, which was previously filled with excitement and anticipation, was now filled with the loneliness of the pink party pony. 

She sat there, accompanied by three candles, two of which belonged to her friends. Both have gone to their rooms after the ‘ghost’ scared the wits out of them. Pinkie sighed. Did she go too far with that joke? She didn’t want to scare anypony, she just wanted her friends to have fun talking to a ‘ghost’. After Rainbow and Applejack went off she had been sitting idly at the kitchen table, rethinking the things she did.

She understood why Applejack would be upset, but Rainbow Dash? The Ouija board was her idea to begin with. She was the one who wanted to spook some ponies with it. Pinkie couldn’t have imagined that the prankster Rainbow Dash would end up being terrified by her own joke.

Pinkie glanced once again at her friends’ unfinished drinks. To the left was apple cider belonging to Applejack and to the right Dash’s Pony Cola. Pinkie felt really tempted to take a sip from both their drinks, but resisted in case they came back for it. 

Pinkie slumped onto the table, sulking at the turn of events tonight has brought. She and her friends were supposed to be having fun at their winter getaway. But so far, no one seemed to be enjoying themselves. 

Pinkie decided some time later to return the Ouija board to its rightful place. She’s had enough of scaring ponies for one night. After going down to the basement and keeping the board, she wandered aimlessly around the halls. She tried asking to join in on whatever Discord and Fluttershy were doing, but Discord said it was a ‘private party’ and she couldn’t join. Rarity was already in bed, and Pinkie wasn’t quite in the mood for reading that night, despite encouragements from Twilight. 

After walking through the same halls a dozen time, Pinkie at last decided to check in on Rainbow Dash and Applejack. 

She knocked gently at the door, hoping her friend would talk to her again. 

“Applejack? Sorry about just now. The entire ‘ghost thing’ was me. I thought it’d be fun to pull a prank but you don’t seem to have enjoyed it very much. Just please don’t blame Dash for it. Ok?” 

No response. She must have went to sleep already.

Next she approached Rainbow’s door, which was just across the hall, and knocked gently also. 

“Dash? Hey, can we talk? About just now?”

No response also. She assumed that Rainbow just wanted to cancel plans for tonight, which was a bummer. She and Rainbow were gonna have the most fun night tonight too. Whatever. Pinkie thought, hanging her head low.

As she returned to the kitchen, still feeling sad about her failed party, she walked passed the library. Why there even was a library in this place was a mystery. It wasn’t like anyone would want to read those dusty old books anyway. Except Twilight. That pony collects old books for a living.

As she walked pass the library, she noticed something out of place. A book, lying on the middle of the study table. She looked around to see if anypony has left it there, but she remembered checking just moments before, and everyone was in their rooms.

Pinkie went over to the table and sat down. The book was somewhat familiar to her. The Hoofington Case read the title on the cover. There was a particular section of the book that seemed to bulge out, and Pinkie flipped to that page.

Immediately, several photographs fell out of the book onto the table. They were many shots taken from different places, but all had the same familiar face in them. Rainbow Dash. 

In each photograph, Rainbow was unaware of her photo being taken. Most of the photos were also taken from afar. Arranged in order of date, the photographs were:

November 22
A picture of Rainbow waiting at the train station. She seems excited to be going somewhere. She has her best scarf and boots on.

November 31
A photograph of Rainbow taking a shower. Her wet mane formed streams of color flowing down her face. Taken from her window, the photo captured Rainbow from the side. 

December 4
A few pictures of Rainbow sleeping. One was taken from her closet. Another was a close-up of her sleeping, and the last one was taken from the edge of her bed, capturing her naughty bits.

December 15
Rainbow in squad formation in the Wonderbolts. She is seen saluting her captain with a serious face.

The last photograph had no date on it. It was just a photo of Rainbow looking straight at the camera. Perhaps an ID photo? Pinkie turned the photo over and on its back was a big red 1 written in… ink?

There was also a paragraph highlighted on the page in the book. It read:

The blue pony squirmed and struggled to release herself. The man in the mask approached her, a scalpel in one hand. He sat down quietly next to his struggling victim. Blindfolded and tied to the bed, the blue mare could only struggle in her position. The stallion leaned closer and licked her face. The mare desperately cried for help, but her mouth was gagged by cloth.

“Who’s a good girl?” The stallion asked. To which he received more cries and screams.

The stallion wasted no time to continue with the main event. Slowly, he stuck the scalpel up the blue pony’s marehood. The mare screamed, but it only encouraged him to go deeper.

“sshhhh” he whispered, “We are gonna have some fun tonight.”

The rest of the page was torn of. So were the next few pages.

Pinkie did the first thing she instinctively could. Find Rainbow. She ran down the halls until she got to Rainbow’s room, and started banging loudly on her door.

“Rainbow? It’s your friend Pinkie Pie! We need to talk about something!” 

No answer.

“Rainbow?? Rainbow!”

Just then a door opened, but it wasn’t Rainbow’s.

“What in tarnation are ya screaming for Pinkie Pie? Can’t chu' see some ponies are tryin’a sleep?” Applejack scolded.

“It... It's...I just… I really need to talk to Rainbow.” Pinkie’s voice grew softer as Applejack approached.

Applejack moved Pinkie out of the way. She tried opening the door to Rainbow’s room but it was locked. She understood if Rainbow didn’t want to be disturbed at this hour, but locking herself in seemed ridiculous. 

“Rainbow.” Applejack gave two polite knocks. “Rainbow?” 

Applejack sighed. “I know y’all mad because of that Ouija board thing but locking yerself in ain’t the solution.” Applejack softened her tone. “Now why don’t you come out here so we can talk this out like a bunch of grown-ups?”

Still no response.

Applejack has tried being patient, and it didn’t work. “Alright Rainbow! Ah’m sick and tired of you actin’ like this. You come out here this instance!” 

She felt Pinkie's hoof rest on her shoulder. “Applejack? Maybe it’s best we leave her alone…”

Applejack pulled away from Pinkie. There ain’t no way Rainbow was gonna act like a little filly and get away with it.

With one kick she knocked the door down, making Pinkie jump. Applejack stepped into the dark room and pulled the covers right off the bed.

“Alright Rainbow, you get up this-”

But there was no one there. All she found was an empty bed.

“How… what…” She panicked and found herself at a loss for words.

“Applejack look!” Pinkie pointed to the window. It was broken, and there were strands of hair caught to the glass.

“Rainbow’s hair…”

She turned to Pinkie. “We need to tell Twilight. NOW.” 

Pinkie seemed less than sure of what to do. Looking at Applejack again, she realized she had no choice but to follow her orders. After giving a quick nod, she disappeared into the halls, leaving Applejack alone in the room.

Applejack examined the crime scene. The room looked too tidy for there to have been a struggle. And knowing Rainbow Dash, she would always put up a fight. The only way she could have been taken was if she was out cold, which only raised concerns to where Rainbow Dash was now. 

Applejack studied the broken window again, but this time, she noticed drag marks in the snow outside. Staring out into the direction of the drag marks, Applejack held onto what remained of her friend.
> Chapter 3: Abduction (9 hours Until Dawn) Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

10:44 p.m. 

"What's going on?” 

Twilight galloped down the stairs. 

Moments ago, Pinkie burst into her room telling her that Rainbow Dash went missing. Her first impulse was to rush downstairs, but upon reaching the ground, she was stunned to find Applejack standing in the lounge, holding tufts of what she assumed was Rainbow’s hair. 

Applejack didn’t speak for some time. She just stood there, not bothering to even look at Twilight. Seeing how Applejack was reacting, Twilight wasn’t sure what she had to be concerned of first.

“Applejack,” Twilight started slowly, “What happened?”

Applejack finally looked at her, but she was looking less like the happy-go-lucky cowpony she was, and more like a vengeful killer. Pinkie was also surprised to see Applejack behaving like this. She bit her hoof, not knowing what to say.

“Applejack please,” Twilight said again, “I need to know everything that happened.”

Applejack looked down at the hair again, and staring at Twilight, slowly moved towards her, keeping the same emotion on her face. Twilight took a step back, unsure of what Applejack was going to do. Suddenly, Applejack raised her hooves up to Twilight’s face.

And wrapped them around her neck.

Twilight blinked. Applejack was holding onto her tightly, sobbing. Muttering words she couldn’t understand. Applejack’s tears was wetting her shoulder, but Twilight remained there to comfort her friend.

“Applejack…” Twilight said in soft tone. She didn’t know what happened, but she was certain that her friend was scared out of her wits. 

“Applejack,” she said once more, “I need to know what happened.”

Applejack finally calmed down. Wiping away her tears, she began, “It all started when we were playing around with this Ouija board. A ghost told us there was this killer and Rainbow was mad because she thought ah' was pretending to be the ghost. She went to her room, and ah' went to my room, hoping ah' could just shut away all the things that happened tonight." Applejack sniffled, "But ah' should have taken the warning.” 

Applejack stopped and retraced the messages. “It said something about the library…”

“The library?” Twilight asked, “Then that’s where we need to look.”

Hearing this, Pinkie’s ears stood up. The book in the library. She wasn’t sure if she wanted her friends to see it. She wasn’t sure if she wanted the madness to go on. She’s seen the way Applejack react to Rainbow’s disappearance, how much more would she react if she read that book?

“Wait! No!” Pinkie stammered. Her friends stared at her as she tried to find the right words to say. “What I’m trying to say is-” Realizing that lies wouldn’t get her very far, she continued with a saddened tone. “It’s a book. The book has pictures of Rainbow Dash in them.”

Applejack was confused, “How in the hay are those pictures related to the killer?”

Pinkie let out a long sigh, “It’s THOSE kind of pictures.”

Twilight understood immediately, as her face quickly turned a shade of red. “Oh my. This would mean that whoever took Rainbow has been stalking her for weeks.” Twilight read many mystery novels, and it was common for ponynappers to watch their prey for weeks. Twilight knew they now had limited time to get their friend back alive, and that they had to proceed with caution.

“We need to alert the authorities,” Twilight said in a stern tone, “They are the only ones who can find Rainbow.” 

As much as Twilight wanted to conduct the search herself, it was far too dangerous for her friends. She didn’t know what they were dealing with. It could be some psychopathic murderer for all she knew. Hopefully the police can find their friend as soon as possible.

“Pinkie, you said that there was a radio tower that runs on its own electricity?” Twilight made sure it was clarified.

“Yes, but…” Pinkie’s voice trailed off, so did her eyes.

“Pinkie,” Twilight snapped at her. She wasn’t sure why Pinkie was acting so weird tonight, but ever since she busted into her room she has been acting a little…… uncomfortable. As if something was crawling under her skin.

“Yes, the radio tower works but you need to be careful out there.” Pinkie’s eyes turned beady. “I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

Twilight nodded and headed for the door. Just then, a voice, a paticularly annoying one, came from behind her.

“Well, well, well. What is with this gathering of ponies?” All three turned their attention to the chaos creature standing at the stairs.

“Rainbow Dash is missing,” Twilight quickly filled him in, “and we need to alert the authorities fast.”

“And you’re going out into the snow alone?” Discord raised an eyebrow, making Twilight doubt her own judgement for a second.

“Yes,” Twilight took another moment to evaluate her actions. “It would be safer if all of you stayed here.” She looked at Discord, who seemed to disagree with her.

“Now, Twilight,” Discord started to lecture, “You know it’s not safe to go alone. Let your buddy Discord accompany you.”

Twilight didn’t much like the thought of that. She knew all Discord would do was distract and annoy her to Tartarus and back. Besides, someone needed to stay here and watch over everyone.

“Discord, I need you to stay to look after everyone. Make sure they don’t go anywhere while I'm gone. Can you do that?” Discord looked displeased at Twilight’s suggestion. Then, Applejack spoke up.

“Twi, I think it’d be safer to let him follow you, he is the God of Chaos after all.”

“But-” Twilight tried to retaliate, but Applejack spoke again.

“Me and Pinkie can take care of this place, don’t you worry about us. You should worry about yourself Twi, you’re going out into the wilderness alone…”

Applejack stopped and looked at Twilight for a second. And for that second Twilight saw how badly her friend worried for her. No matter how much she wanted to push herself for her friends, they always reminded her that they want her to be safe too.

“Fine, Discord can come,” Twilight sighed.

Discord squeeled with joy as he got his attire ready. He wore a long scarf with polka-dots and a pair of thick boots for his delicate feet.

“Alright! Let’s go!” beamed Discord.

Just then, a shy face poked down from upstairs to see what was going on.

“Oh. Hi everypony,” Fluttershy slowly crawled down the stairs. "What is going on?"

Discord, feeling horrible that he had to leave his best friend behind, bent down to her and said, “Fluttershy dear, Twilight and I have to go down to the radio tower to make a report. Our friend Rainbow is missing you see.”

Discord expected Fluttershy to look gloomy because he had to leave, but her face lit up in shock. “Rainbow is missing?”

"Oh I knew we should have left! The little birdie told me something bad was going to happen!"

“What bird?” Twilight asked from the back. Discord cringed. Maybe he should have told Twilight sooner.

“Yes, a bird told me there was danger on top of this mountain. But we were going to wait until morning to tell you…”

“Why would you do that?” Twilight asked. Any crucial information would have made a difference. She didn’t understand why anypony would withhold such important information.

“Discord said I shouldn’t bother you…”

Twilight glared at Discord. He knew he couldn’t do much to save the situation, so he just looked away. He really didn't mean to make things bad this time.

With all eyes on him and the pressure caving in, Discord did the next best thing: move on.

“Well I know we’d all love to play the blame game but we must get going.” Discord glared back at the judgemental purple mare. “Rainbow Dash isn’t going to save herself you know…” 

Twilight was taken aback by Discord's words. What was that supposed to mean? Was he trying to say it's her fault now? 

Discord left the door behind him as Twilight tried to catch up, wondering what his words meant.
> Chapter 4: Wrath (8 hours Until Dawn) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

11:06 p.m.
~ 8 Hours Until Dawn

Starlight ran as fast as she could, coughing and stopping at intervals to catch her breath. The trail she has been chasing has went on for about an hour now, and the footprints seemed to never end. Starlight was beginning to wonder if this has all been a ruse. A fake trail left behind to lure her farther into the woods. But Starlight wasn’t afraid. The only one who needs to be afraid was the one messing with her and her friends. She was going to give whoever it is such a beat down they won’t be playing any more jokes after this. 

Starlight finally stopped when she saw where the trail ends: a mine. Starlight stood facing the dark mine, huffing and puffing from all the running she’s done. But she regretted nothing. She was finally one step closer to finding the culprit. 

Starlight peeked into the mine. It was a 5 feet drop from up there, but some simple levitation should do the trick. As Starlight prepared a levitation spell, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Starlight…” Spike was out of breath when he found Starlight.

“Oh my gosh! Spike!” She ran to him, catching him in her hooves. “I thought you went back to the lodge!”

Spike continued to breathe in heavily.

“Spike, you shouldn’t have followed me. You should have just went back to the lodge to Twilight. I can handle things on my own.”

Spike raised a finger in protest, but needed one more breath before being able to speak proper sentences. “Which was why I followed you…” Spike inhaled once more. “What am I supposed to tell Twi if I left you behind? She’d go crazy looking for you.”

Starlight frowned at Spike. She wanted him to be safe, which was why she ran off alone in the first place. She thought Spike would've went back to the lodge to tell the others, since it was a way shorter path. But here he is now.

“Spike, you have to go back. I know Twilight will lose it but I can take care of myself, but you?”

Upon hearing that sentence, Spike scowled and pushed her away from him. “I can take care of myself just fine. I’m not just some baby dragon you all treat me to be.”

Starlight couldn’t help but show helplessness and guilt on her face. Spike continued, “I’m just worried about you, ok?”

Looking momentarily away from Spike, Starlight fought for words to say. 

“Fine. But be careful.” 

Starlight hadn’t hoped that this would happen, but she had no choice but to let Spike follow her. After levitating Spike and herself down into the shaft, they began to look around. 20 minutes went by and there weren’t much to see but pickaxes and mine carts left behind by ponies who used to work there. 

After taking a wrong turn at a junction, they stumbled upon the ‘nest’, or as Starlight called it. It was at the end of a sealed tunnel. A deer’s skull, a large jacket, a bottle of whisky, books and a cigarette tray furnished the humble home in the mines.
“Well someone’s been living here,” Spike commented.

Starlight agreed and quickly set to work. She studied the jacket first. The pockets had some shotgun bullets and scrunched up paper, but nothing useful that could point out the perpetrators identity. After shaking of the odor from the jacket, she proceeded to read the books. One was a little guidebook on mythical creatures and the other was a badly scribbled notebook. The dates were inconsistent and the entries didn’t make sense at all. There were also a repeatedly scribbled ‘W’ word on all the pages but Starlight couldn’t read it because of all the other words written on it. There were also many drawings of long-legged ponies that she just couldn’t understand. Maybe all this just reflected the sanity of the pony living in the mines. 

The whisky bottle and ash in the cigarette tray suggest the occupant was a drinker and a smoker, but other than that, still no ground breaking discoveries. 

Starlight let out a long sigh and slumped to the ground. She was hoping they would find more but that’s all it seems. She put her head in her hooves and started to moan.

Just then, Spike popped up from behind her, really happy.

“Starlight! Look what I found!” 

Hoping Spike would have found some interesting clues again, Starlight was most certainly disappointed at what he had to show her.

“Look! Dynamites!” Spike held them in his hands. Starlight looked at him with indescribable disdain. 

“Think we could blow stuff up with these cool babies?” Spike snickered.

“SPIKE!” Starlight shouted, “We are supposed to be looking for clues! Not play with explosives!” 

She couldn’t believe all Spike did was find a few sticks of gunpowder. She was simply frustrated at his lack of focus and concentration. They were already so far behind the culprit, how can Spike waste precious time like this? 

But deep down, she was mad at herself for not finding anything either.

“Yeesh fine, I’ll put them back.” Spike said as he walked away.

“No.” Starlight placed her head in her hooves again. “I’m sorry. I’m just mad we didn’t find anything.”

Spike walked over and knelt next to her. “Hey, it’s ok. We still have the rest of this tunnel to explore. What’s the rush?”

Starlight smiled and then frowned at his statement. She was glad she had a friend like him to cheer her up, but she was also in a hurry to find some clues. After flashing a another brief smile at Spike, she felt that she was able to go on again.

“Alright Spike, let’s keep going. We’ll find something eventually.”

“That’s the spirit!” Spike cheered in response.

And so Starlight continued to lead the way, going deeper and deeper into the dark mines. Spike followed closely behind, still clutching a piece of dynamite in his hands.





11:27 p.m.

“Discord! DISCORD!” 

Twilight was galloping at full speed, but she was still far behind the draconequus. Discord hasn’t stopped since he left the lodge and he wasn’t planning to stop now.

“Dis- Urgh” Twilight teleported in front of him. “Why are you avoiding me? What the hay were you saying back there?”

Discord didn’t respond, he just moved her to the side and continued walking.

“Hey!” Twilight teleported in front of him again, but this time he looked down at her with a rather unamused look.

“Stop playing games with me Discord! I want an explanation now!” Twilight shouted. Discord simply maintained the expression he had on his face.

Finally, he spoke up. “I don’t feel like talking to a pony that judges me all the time.” Crossing his arms, he held his head away from Twilight, showing that he was disgusted by her presence.

“WHAT?” 

Twilight’s face burned. She has heard many ridiculous things from that idiot before, but this was by far the stupidest thing he has ever said.

“I said I don’t feel like talking to a pony that judges me ALL THE TIME.” Discord continued walking, arms crossed and head slouched.

Twilight teleported in front of him once again. “Is this what this is all about? Some petty feelings of what I think of you?”

Immediately, Discord turned around and snapped back at her.

“First of all, YES. This is because of my petty feelings. And second of all, I am sick of being judged for doing nothing wrong.” Discord’s breathing quickened with every word he had to force through his gritted teeth. He felt he was about to lose it at any moment now.

Twilight thought it was ridiculous. Rainbow Dash went missing because he kept important information to himself. Knowing that information, they could’ve done something to prevent Rainbow’s disappearance. If Discord wasn’t to blame, who else? Fluttershy?

Twilight cleared her throat. She was about to start lecturing him, “Well-”

“What did you expect me to do?!” Discord burst into a fit of rage shouting, “Tell everyone to pack their bags because Fluttershy’s little bird friend told her to?” 

Twilight blinked heavily. She was stunned.

“I didn’t want to disturb anyone! I was trying to let everyone have a quiet night to themselves! No interruptions! No shenanigans!”

She has never seen him upset, much less this agitated before.

Discord took a deep breath, “I just wanted to stay out of YOUR mane for once!” 

Twilight continued to fixate her stare on Discord, not knowing what to say. She never really thought of things that way before, she had always assumed that Discord was trying to pull a fast one on everybody. 

Discord bit his tongue, tears trickling from his eyes.

“I DIDN’T WANT RAINBOW DASH TO GO MISSING!!”

Silence followed as Twilight stared into Discord’s tear filled eyes for the longest time. She felt defeated. Wrong. Judgemental. She couldn’t, and didn’t feel that she deserved to say anything to him.

Discord wiped his own tears with his paw, he couldn’t believe how big of a baby he was being in front of Twilight. He looked at her again, and all over her face was the sympathy and remorse she felt for him. 

Discord looked away. He never really knew how to deal with his emotions, or how to talk about it. He always hid it under his care-free troublemaker facade. And now...

Discord didn’t say another word. He flew away. 

“Discord!” Twilight called out, “DISCORD!”

He flew further and further away from her, eventually disappearing into the mist. Tears welled in her eyes. 

“I’m sorry.”
> Chapter 4: Wrath (8 hours Until Dawn) Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

11:39 p.m.

Applejack stared blankly at the ceiling. The thought of Rainbow’s whereabouts lingered in her mind. Where could she be? Where has the kidnapper taken her? If only there was something she could do. 

Applejack buried her face in her pillow. What could she do? Twilight ordered everyone to stay in the lodge until she returned so her hooves were tied. 

In the meantime, Pinkie has the entire place on surveillance. She would visit everyone’s room every 15 minutes to check if everyone was still there. Fluttershy was alright with it and she didn’t disturb Rarity’s sleep, so it must be a good thing right? Yet, Applejack felt bothered by Pinkie’s behavior. She’s been acting a little weird the entire night. 

A bit too cautious. Applejack thought. Unlike her usual carefree self. She turned onto her other side when the door to her room opened.

“Applejack? Oh there you are.” Pinkie smiled.

“Just as ah was 12 minutes ago,” Applejack smiled back.

“Okie dokie. Just stay right here and DO NOT go anywhere. Ok? Ok!” And she bounced off.

Applejack turned to face the ceiling again. She couldn’t stand not doing anything while her friend was out there having Celestia knows what things done to her. And she was starting to get annoyed by Pinkie’s odd behavior. She needed to get out of here. Applejack continued to toss from side to side, her train of thought becoming cloudier and cloudier. Nothing made sense tonight.

Applejack decided to close her eyes and take deep breaths. Maybe it would help her to calm down and think better. 

One breath, two breaths, three breaths…



I HAVE TO FIND RAINBOW.

Pinkie popped her head through the door one more time, happy to see that her friend was still there. “There you are Applejack! Hope to see you again in 15 minutes!”

Yeah, 15 minutes. Applejack thought to herself. Just the right amount of time for her to sneak out of there. Out into the snow where she could find Rainbow.

Applejack checked the halls for any sign of Pinkie. She couldn’t hear singing anymore so the coast was clear. She tiptoed down the stairs and poked her head out to see if Pinkie was on the ground floor. Apparently not. She saw the final stretch she had to make, and walked as fast as she could to the front door.

The cold breeze blew onto her invitingly. Applejack stepped carefully out into the snow and closed the door behind her, making sure that Pinkie was not behind her. As soon as the door was shut, she ran as fast as she could to where she had found the drag marks. When she got there, the trail has already faded a little, but was still visible enough to see where she needed to go.

“Alright, just up this way and I’ll find Rainbow,” she said to herself.

“Applejack?”

She turned around. It was Pinkie Pie. She didn’t expect her to patrol the outside too.

“What are you doing out here? You should be in you room!” Pinkie said taking a step closer, looking dead worried. 

“Listen ‘ere Pinkie,” Applejack started to explain, her throat quickly going dry, “Ah think ah know where Rainbow went.”

Pinkie looked down at the snow, it was obvious there were drag marks there, but she wasn’t letting Applejack go that easily. It was suicidal, and she knew it.

“Applejack, we agreed to stay inside. It’s not safe out here.” 

“But-”

“Applejack please. Go back inside.” Pinkie was practically begging at this point. “I know! I’ll make you some warm and toasty hot chocolate. Pinkie Pie’s special!” She put on her winning smile, but she had a feeling Applejack wouldn’t buy it.

Applejack glanced at the traces in the snow. They were quickly disappearing. She shut her eyes, mentally preparing what she was about to do. It was rash, she knew, but it was the only way she’d find Rainbow.

“Ah’m sorry Pinkie Pie.” She apologized, knowing that this might be the last time she might see her again. And she bolted into the woods.

“APPLEJACK!!!” Pinkie screamed. In a panic, she lifted her hooves and ran after Applejack, into the woods, where the killer was waiting.





Applejack huffed and puffed as she tried to run as fast as she could away from Pinkie. She could hear her cries not far  behind her.

“APPLEJACK!!! APPLEJACK!!!!” Pinkie scream, her face quickly turning into a scowl.

Pinkie was catching up to her quickly, and Applejack knew if she caught her, she would drag her back to the lodge, ruining her attempts to save Rainbow Dash.

Applejack ignored her desperate screams and focused on the path. The drag marks seemed to go on and on forever. 

Just how far was Rainbow dragged through the snow?

Pinkie’s scream was gaining on her. She picked up her pace, stressing every leg muscle she had. The pain was becoming unbearable.

She looked up and finally saw where the trail ended: a small shed. 

Just a little further. Applejack told herself. Almost-

*Wham*

Applejack and Pinkie fell in the snow, rolling a couple of times before coming to a halt. The resulting impact caused Applejack to feel dizzy for a while and before she could even regain her composure, Pinkie was already on top of her, pinning her on all fours. Applejack looked at Pinkie, whose eyes were burning in anger.

“I ASKED YOU TO STAY IN THE LODGE! WHAT PART OF THAT DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?” Pinkie screamed.

“Pinkie-” Applejack was actually intimidated. She really was. Pinkie was hardly serious, and now that she was... Oh boy.

But Pinkie couldn’t hold her anger for long, because the very next moment, she was already tearing up. “Why won’t you listen to me?” she said, tears running down her cheeks. “Is it because you think I’m dumb? Is it because I’m so silly?” Snot was dripping from her nose onto Applejack. “I don’t want anypony to get hurt,” Pinkie sobbed.

“Pinkie,” Applejack started, she knew the risks she was taking, and one of them was being captured by the kidnapper. Yes, it would break her friends’ hearts, but it was a risk she was willing to take. She lifted Pinkie off of her, she didn’t want to hurt her, in fact she needed Pinkie to be on her side. Two ponies against one would better their chances at taking down the kidnapper.

Applejack wrapped a hoof around Pinkie. “Nopony is gonna get hurt sugarcube. Ya see that shed? Rainbow’s probably in there somewhere and we need to help her.” At this point Pinkie had to be convinced to let her go, but Pinkie shook her head.

“Don’t go in there Applejack…”

“Why not? Is there something in there?" Applejack grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Is there something you know? You can tell me! You can tell your good friend Applejack!”

Pinkie continued sobbing and shaking her head.

“What is it?”

“I-” Pinkie weeped, “I can’t tell you...” her voice cracking.

She knew it. Pinkie knew something the entire time. That's why she was acting so strange the entire evening. But right now her lips are sealed. The only pony on the entire mountain who knew what was going on was too scared to tell.

Applejack was desperate. She glanced once more at the shed. It was her only chance to find anything. She knew something was in there, waiting for them, but Pinkie was so against it. Clearly it wasn't going to be pretty.

Applejack hugged Pinkie tightly, knowing that it could be her last. "Pinkie Pie, ah- ah believe you." Pinkie's face lightened up before she could finish, "And ah'm sorry for what ah'm about to do."

Loosening her grip, she darted for the door.

“APPLEJACK!!!!” Pinkie screamed, but there was no turning back.

*SLAM*

The door behind her shut immediately, enveloping her in darkness. Pinkie started banging at the door furiously.

"APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK! GET OUT!! GET OUT!!!"

Applejack tried the door, but it was locked shut. 

"Pinkie Pie? Pinkie Pie! It's locked!"

Pinkie continued to cry, her sobs drowning her words.

"Don't worry about it sugarcube. I'll find a way out."

Applejack retracted her legs, and holding a powerful shot, released it.

*Bonk*

Her attempt crippled her legs instead. 

What kind of crazy pony builds a wooden shed with a reinforced metal door? She grumbled to herself.

Knowing there was nowhere out for now, she reached for her flashlight. Some part of her regretted not listening to Pinkie, but the other part was dying to know what was in there. Pinkie was still crying, but she decided she would deal with that later. 

She shone her light around the insides of the shed. Nothing interesting in particular. Just workbenches and tools, and none of them seemed to be for murderous use. She inspected the rest of the room, being aware that she could be attacked at any moment. After clearing the first room, she went to the next. 

There was a large metal grill that separated the room into two and a curtain that shielded her view of the other half of the room.

“Hello? Rainbow Dash? Are you back there?” 

She feared that there will be no response and that Rainbow may have been taken to another location. But just when things seemed bleak, she heard her friend from the other side.

“Applejack? Is that you? Ugh! Why can’t I see anything?”

It was Rainbow Dash. Applejack felt such relief when she heard her voice. All she needed to do now was get them out of there.

“Oh thank Celestia it's you! Listen Rainbow, you stay right ‘ere. Ah’m gonna get help. We’re gonna get you outta ‘ere.”

“Wait-” Rainbow was about to speak, but Applejack had already left.

Applejack had to act fast. If she was going to get them out of there she would first need to find some sturdy tools. In the meantime, Pinkie was still wailing outside the shed.

“Pinkie Pie?” Applejack knocked on the door. “It’s me. It’s alright. Ah found Rainbow! Ah just need help gettin' outta here.”

But Pinkie kept wailing. She didn’t hear a word she said. All she did was repeat the same words over and over. 

“-’ll get you. -’ll get you…”

“-‘ll?” Applejack asked. And she was about to find out.

Behind Applejack a shadow grew. A shadow that has been waiting for her since she arrived. With a pipe in hoof, it swung.

*THUMP*

Applejack fell to the floor, unconscious.

“Applejack?! APPLEJACK!!” Pinkie screamed and banged harder on the door.

But it was no use. The shadow was already dragging Applejack away into the darkness.
> Chapter 5: Adrenaline (7 hours Until Dawn) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

12:00 a.m. 
~ 7 Hours Until Dawn

Drops of water fell from the ceiling, forming little pools on the base of the cave. Spike and Starlight trudged on, occasionally stepping in said pools of water. Spike looked around quickly to check that they weren’t being followed. Luckily, all that was behind them were the markers made by Starlight using her magic.

Reacting to the nervous chill down his spine, Spike piped up, “Hey, are we gonna find some clues soon? I really want to get out of here.”

Starlight stopped and turned around. She knew that feeling had to have gotten to him sooner or later. But it’s too late to turn back now. They either find some clues or spend the entire night in the mines. Hopefully the former came first. 

“Spike, we can’t just go back empty handed. We’ve already gotten so far. I feel like the next clue could be right under our hooves.”

Spike frowned and replied with a grunt. 

Starlight watched as Spike continued to drag his feet through the caves, kicking every stone that came his way, unable to stay focus anymore. Starlight felt sympathetic for his poor little feet. They had been walking for an hour now. Plus he had to chase her down to the mine before this. He didn’t say it, but his feet must be killing him. She entertained the thought of going back but decided better to stay with the current plan. There was only one thing to do.

Spike felt himself being lifted up. He was put onto Starlight’s back, who gave him a tired smile.

“You rest up here and keep a look out for clues, ok?” Starlight said to him, her smile weakening as she kept moving.

“But- wait! I can still walk! Just let me!” Spike felt uncomfortable receiving such a friendly gesture, especially from his friend.

“Nah Spike,” Starlight said, “You deserve a rest. Just promise me you won’t fall asleep.” 

Spike frowned. He didn’t want to be a burden, but his feet were getting really sore, what with all that running and what not. He decided to take up Starlight’s offer and continue to do the best he can. He tried to pay close attention to every corner in the tunnel whilst riding Starlight, even though he could barely see anything with the little light they had. 

The group eventually came to a cross-section. They could continue forward, or take a left turn. Spike notice something glimmering in the tunnel to the left, so he got off to investigate.

“Gems!” Spike exclaimed, approaching the precious minerals embedded in the soil. Starlight followed, illuminating the rest of the tunnel which was also covered with sparkling gems. 

Guess they used to mine gems here too. She made a mental note.

Further down, Starlight noticed a wooden wall with a doorway in the middle.

“Spike!” Starlight hurried her companion. 

“Coming!” Spike shouted back, digging out the last gem and scrambling to his feet.

Starlight stood at the doorway. She breathed the calm and stale air. She couldn’t see anything past the doorframe but she could tell there was something on the other side. After such a tiring night, it was about time they found some real clues. After making sure that Spike was with her, they went inside together.

It was vacant space mostly, and the duo had to grope in darkness for some time. For a while, Starlight’s eyes hurt from her own light and she contemplated abandoning this would be empty cave. Between her body telling her it’s time to move on and her dying motivation to continue this fruitless search, Starlight was on the brink of giving up this place. But she couldn’t just leave without a proper search. A clue could be lying right under their hooves.

Shining her light closer to the edges of the cave, she finally saw an outline of something. A desk. Filled with hope again, Starlight began frantically searching through the desk for items and clues, but it was of no avail. Starlight felt the rest of her enthusiasm left her completely. What did she expect? Tonight’s disappointments seem to never end.

Meanwhile, Spike had eaten the last of his gems and was starting to miss the sweet taste on his tongue. 

“Hey Starlight? Think I can go gem hunting again? It’ll be quick, I promise.” 

Perhaps it was the wrong time to ask because Starlight stared him down with utter frustration.

Spike gulped and asked again, “Pretty please?”

Starlight rolled her eyes and told him, “You need a light source if you want to go out there on your own. And I’m the only light you have for now.” 

Starlight hoped that this would put an end to his unimportant request. But this only gave Spike the intuition to find a loophole in her short statement. He quickly picked up a wooden stick from the floor and grinned at Starlight. “Well if you light this piece of wood for me, I’ll have a light of my own!”

Starlight only gave him a disgruntled look. She realized at this stage she had to grant Spike’s wish, no matter how stupid it was. She hadn’t understand why she would make such a decision, maybe it was out of frustration and lethargy, or maybe she just didn’t want to be bothered by him anymore, all she knew was that she really didn’t want to look at him right now. 

With a glow of her horn, Spike’s stick caught fire, earning a bigger grin from the dragon. “Thanks Starlight! I’ll be back as soon as possible.” And he ran off to find his precious gems.

Once he left, Starlight slammed the drawer and face-hooved the desk. Tonight has been a disaster. Not only did they not fix the generator, they’ve also missed the one who had tampered with it. At this rate the only thing they’ll find tonight will be Spike’s gems. Starlight laid her face on the side as she thought of her dragon friend. He was always hungry for gems, and seemed to have no self-control of his appetite. His cravings were usually cute, but right now he was just being a burden. He should have just went back. Starlight groaned.

As Starlight was about to lose all hope on finding leads, she noticed an outline of another desk in the direction she was facing. Starlight lifted her head and approached it.

Probably another empty one. She smirked. But upon reaching the table, she saw something more. A bullet board, hung on the wall of the cave. And on the board, was what she assumed was the map of the mountaintop. But it wasn’t the map that fascinated her, it was what was on top of the map.

Scattered across the board were pictures of her friends, all who were present in the lodge tonight. The pictures were pinned in different locations on the map, and each had a number written on top of it in red. It took her some time to analyze each location properly. But after some time she was able to piece it together:

1)	Rainbow Dash – The Woods
2)	Spike – The Mines
3)	Starlight – The Generator
4)	Pinkie Pie – The Shed
5)	Applejack – The Shed
6)	Discord – The Cliff
7)	Fluttershy – The Lodge
8)	Twilight – Radio Tower
9)	Rarity – Cable Car Station

A drop of cold sweat flowed down her side. She was both glad and shocked to have made that discovery, and she wasn’t sure how to react. Until now she thought that this entire thing was just a case of severe vandalism by some unruly pony, but now she was starting to realize how dire the situation really is. A killer was on this mountain. It would make sense why someone would want to tamper with the generator in the first place. Without electricity, everyone was vulnerable to attacks.

She had no time to lose. Whoever lives down here plans to kill off each of her friends tonight in a specific order according to the map. 

And the first one on the list was Rainbow Dash. 

“Spike? Spike, we need to get out of here. Our friends are in danger!” She turned around but beyond the doorframe, all she saw was darkness. 

“Spike?!”

“STARLIGHT!!!!!!”

Starlight ran through the doorway into a dark empty tunnel. Spike cried out again and Starlight bolted towards the direction of sound. Many things raced through her mind, and one of them was how she could have left Spike alone in the first place. Cursing her own stupidity, Starlight ran faster, hoping it wasn’t too late to save Spike.

As she ran, she began to have a sinking feeling. Spike was second on the list. Does that mean Rainbow’s been taken?

She shook the thoughts out of her head. She had to focus on saving Spike now, even if they were behind the killer’s tracks.

Another sharp turn and Starlight found herself facing a junction.

“SPIKE?” Starlight called out again.

“Starlight!!!” 

The sound came from the left, and she headed there.

She continued to shout at Spike and his response continued to echo through the tunnels. But his voice was growing faint by the second. She was losing him, and she knew it.

One more turn and she called out, but she couldn’t hear him anymore. In desperation, she took whichever direction seemed fitting and rushed blindly into the darkness, frantically calling out Spike’s name, hoping he would answer. But tunnel after tunnel, turn after turn, she could no longer hear Spike.

Starlight slowed until she came to a stop. Her knees grew weak. Her body felt limp. She fell to the floor and wept. 

She let her best friend get taken away by a serial killer. 

After moments of crying she lifted her chin. Silence and darkness surrounded her. Trying her best to hold it in, she couldn’t help but break into tears again. She was lost in the mines. In her plight, she had forgotten to lay down any markers. Because of her, not only did she lose her best friend, she was about to lose everyone else as well.
> Chapter 5: Adrenaline (7 hours Until Dawn) Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was quiet. 




Too quiet.


Fluttershy woke up from her nap. She stared widely at the space above her as she came to the realization that something was wrong. She quickly glanced at her bedroom clock. 

12:37 a.m.

Pinkie hasn’t checked with her for the past hour. Where is she? Tossing her bedsheets aside and crawling to her door, Fluttershy took a peek into the hallway. No one was there. And she couldn’t hear anything.

“Pinkie?” Fluttershy called, stepping out into the empty hallway. She examined Pinkie’s room, which was next to hers, but she couldn’t find anyone there. She tip toed quietly downstairs, doing her best to avoid unwanted attention. She expected to find something in the living room, but thank Celestia there was no one there. 

You’re letting your imagination get to you, Shy.

"Pinkie? Pinkie?" She continued to whisper. The entire lodge seemed to be empty. No one was around. 

"Hello?"

No one answered.

Approaching a dark hall, Fluttershy let out a soft ‘eep’. Turning around to see that no one heard her, she then focused on the pitch-blackness that lie ahead. She held her candle as close as possible and prepared for the worst. Letting out a soft breath, she then took a step forward.

Every step she took she dreaded being on top of this mountain. The unknown danger, her missing friend, the eerie silence.

"Applejack?" she pushed on the bedroom door. She wasn't there.

Fluttershy’s breathing quickened. 3 of her friends are missing. She began to panic as her worst fears danced in her head, tormenting her to no end.

No Fluttershy, you’re better than this. You don’t have to be scared. Maybe they all just went outside?

Despite comforting herself from all that’s going on, she could only think of hiding in her room. Hopefully, they would all return to the lodge and everything will be alright. Right? Oh how she wished Discord was around right now.

Suddenly, she heard a window crack. Turning to her right, she saw a figure, a figure dressed in raggy clothes with a head of a scarecrow, staring at her from outside. 

She screamed. Fluttershy rushed to the stairs and into her room. Slamming the door behind her, she locked it shut and pushed a bookcase in front of it for good measure. She hyperventilated. What the hell was that? 

Fluttershy stayed as quiet as she could, her back pressed against the wall as she tried to listen for any footsteps. 

There was banging on the door. Fluttershy dug under her covers, hoping that her plan would succeed. Suddenly things went quiet. For a while, she could hear absolutely nothing. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. Maybe it won’t bother her anymore.

*Crash* 

Fluttershy screamed as she covered herself. Pieces of glass flew everywhere. And perched on top of her window was the scarecrow. It closed its wings and leaped into her room, slowly moving towards her.

She shrieked, desperately reaching for the bookcase and pulling it away. She tried desperately to move it, but it only moved an inch every time she pulled. The scarecrow took its time to approach its victim.

Finally, the bookcase moved enough for her to open the door and escape. But she was too late. With one yank on her tail she fell to the floor, putting her directly under the scarecrow’s disfigured face. She screamed, shoving a hoof straight into the scarecrow’s face and knocking it down. She ran. 

Once downstairs, she contemplated between hiding and running. Beads of sweat was forming on her head. She probably couldn’t go far, could she? In a panic, she hid herself in a nearby closet and hoped for the best. 

Again, she had to wait agonizingly for the scarecrow to go away. Closing her eyes and praying for the best, Fluttershy remained as still as a statue in the uncomfortably tight space.

Minutes passed as Fluttershy sat in the stuffy closet. She couldn’t hear anything. Could it be gone? How long more did she have to wait? 

Suddenly, a knock came on the closet door. Fluttershy couldn’t help but utter an undesirable ‘eep’. Loud enough for the pony outside to hear.

Before she knew it, an axe came crashing through the closet door, landing merely an inch from her face. Fluttershy screamed, kicking away the closet door and pushing the scarecrow to the ground. 

Fluttershy opened her wings and flew for the exit. Hiding in the closet was a bad idea, a really bad one, and now she regretted it. At least now that the scarecrow was knocked down, she had some time to esc-

She heard furious fluttering coming from behind her. Turning her neck around, she saw that the scarecrow was flying at immense speed towards her. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise as she strained herself to fly faster. 

But it was no use. She felt the momentum hit her, forcing her downwards and crashing into the floor. Fluttershy tried to get up, but she was paralyzed. She desperately wanted to make a run for it, but she couldn’t move. Her body was taking in too much pain for her to get up. She watched helplessly as the scarecrow sauntered over to her, looking pleased with its catch. 

Tears formed in her eyes. She was only inches from the door. 

The scarecrow positioned itself above her, its gaze met Fluttershy’s. 

“Why are you doing this?” Fluttershy whimpered.

The scarecrow didn’t answer. It reached for its pocket and held a cloth towards Fluttershy’s face.

Fluttershy jerked her face, trying her best to retaliate. But it was no use. The scarecrow eventually got hold of her muzzle and pressed the stained cloth firmly on her face.

Fluttershy resisted, but she passed out eventually. The scarecrow smirked, tonight’s plans was going well.





Applejack woke up. She was in complete darkness. Immediately she felt a sharp pain in her arm sockets. She could feel that she was being hung from a wall and her feet were suspended from the ground. The back of her head throbbed from the assault earlier. Applejack cursed herself. How could she have been so careless?

She needed to get out of here as soon as possible. 

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

Instantly, a bright flash of light broke out, blinding her momentarily and revealing the room she was in. 

The first thing she noticed were two buzz saws on a track. One aimed at her and the other one at…

“Pinkie Pie!” she shouted. Her friend was still unconsciously hanging from the wall. 

“Pinkie Pie!” Applejack tried to kick her, but she was too far away. Luckily, her friend was coming back to her senses too.

“Wh- Where are we?” Pinkie looked up, her eyes trying to adjust itself in the light. When she had opened them completely, her eyes widened in response to the situation they were in.

A voice came through a speaker.

“Hello my ponies. It seems you have waked.” 

The voice was extremely low and distorted, like a machine’s.

Applejack was about to say something, but Pinkie broke out in words first.

“You liar! You said you would stop!” 

Applejack froze in shock. Pinkie knows this person? What the hay was going on?

Again the voice spoke, “Did I say that? No, I think I said I would stop when I’m done having fun,” The voice chuckled. Pinkie growled in response. 

“Pinkie, who in the hay are you talking to? And what the hay is going on?”

Pinkie looked wide eyed at Applejack. Then she fell silent, gazing away from Applejack.

“Pinkamena and I have been waiting long enough for this night. The night when all you little ponies come to this mountain and enjoyed our fun. A lot of work was put into this. And I don’t want any of it to go to waste…” 

“Pinkie what is going on?!” Applejack yelled. Pinkie quivered, not knowing how to answer.

“Pinkamena can’t tell you because she made a promise to me,” came the voice through the speakers, “A PINKIE PROMISE…”

“What? That’s dumb!” Applejack shouted at the voice.

“It’s not dumb!” Pinkie shouted, earning a delightful response from the voice.

“Oh really Pinkamena? Why don’t you tell Applejack who I am…”

Pinkie was silenced again. She wanted to. But she couldn’t. She made a Pinkie promise and that was final. Even if it was to keep the identity a secret. 

“C'mon Pinkie. You can tell me! We don’t have to care about that Pinkie promise!” 

Pinkie cringed. Her emotions circled her head, each telling her different things. She could break her promise and tell Applejack, or she could keep it and watch Applejack suffer. Pinkie struggled for some time but finally, she could only hang her head in shame, “I can’t Applejack. I just… I can’t......”

The voice roared in laughter. “How pathetic! Can’t even save your friend some insider information before you die!”

Applejack retaliated, trying her best to defend her friend, “You leave Pinkie alone! Yer… yer no good varmit!”

The voice continued to laugh, and the buzz saws whirled to life, much to Applejack’s horror. 

“I have a game for you two. It’s simple. Break yourselves free from your bondages or prepare to be sawed in half!” The voice announced, laughing.

“But this game isn’t fair!” Pinkie shouted.

“Oh?” replied the voice, as if he was actually concerned about that, “But you were the one who designed this Pinkamena.”

“WHAT?!” Applejack looked in shock at Pinkie, unable to believe what she had just heard. Pinkie glanced back with a sorry look, her face full of regret.

“Yes I did. But I wanted to scare ponies then. I don’t want to scare them now!”

“It’s too late to go back now, Pinkamena!” the voice shouted, and the buzz saws started to move towards them.

“NO!” Pinkie shook her head, flailing helplessly.

Applejack focused on getting the bondages off herself, but they were tied pretty tightly. Summoning all her strength, she pulled one of the ropes out of the wooden wall, freeing one limb. Her body now hung from just one hoof. The buzz saws were already halfway there, and Applejack had to be quick in removing her other tie. Pinkie shook her body but was doing no progress. 

“Don’t worry Pinkie! I’ll help you!”

Realizing that she had to submit to the killer’s plan, and that Applejack can’t actually help her, Pinkie only had one thing to say.

“Applejack I’ll be fine.”

“What?” 

"JUST GO! LEAVE ME!"

Applejack finally chewed off her rope and fell to the ground. “That’s nonsense! Let me help you!” Applejack ran over to Pinkie, avoiding the buzzsaw that came her way.

But it was too late. The buzz saws were already coming too close to her. In her last second, Pinkie managed to say one more thing, “Just remember the training sessions you had with Das--  AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!” 

“PINKIE!!!” Applejack screamed, watching her friend get sliced in half. Her guts sprayed everywhere. Pinkie screamed in pain, her neck jerking wildly. In mere moments, Pinkie was reduced to just an unconscious upper body.

Applejack took a step forward, then back, unable to approach the guts and blood spilt on the floor. Pinkie was dead. And it was all her fault. If only she had listened to her.

Behind her a door opened. Applejack knew there was nothing more she could do. She took one last glimpse of Pinkie. 

“Ah’m so sorry Pinkie…” Applejack said, tears trickling down her cheeks. Turning her heels, she ran out of the shed and into the woods.
> Chapter 6: Claustrophobia (6 hours Until Dawn) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

1:04 a.m. 
~ 6 Hours Until Dawn

The snow storm grew heavier and heavier. Everything away from arm’s length were barely visible now. Only ponies who’ve come prepared for this blizzard would be able to navigate it. Sadly, most of its inhabitants that night were oblivious to its unforgiving rage.

One orange pony found herself caught in the storm. She squinted and clenched her teeth, making her way up the winding paths. Snow shot like pallets onto the orange mare’s skin, sending painful signals down to her bones. She ran and she ran, desperately trying to get to safety. 

Alas, she saw the ski lodge, the place she was spending the night in. Panting and wheezing, she grasped the door handle and stumbled into the lodge. She crawled a few feet forward before shutting the door behind her. She still could not believe what had happened. Her friend had died, sliced in half, right before her eyes, and she can never unsee that tragedy.

Shivering intensely on the floor, she tried to get back on her feet again. After what had happened, there was no reason to spend another minute on the mountain. She had to get Rarity and Fluttershy. They needed to get out of here.

“Hello Applejack.” 

She halted. A scarecrow sat calmly in the living lounge, inviting her return. She recognized the voice. It was the same voice from the shed. It had a knife in its hooves, and it was carving a totem of some sort.

“I thought you’d be in a rush to get back here,” the scarecrow spoke, eyes never lifting off its work, “But I guess you just want to see another friend die…” 

“You killed Pinkie!” Applejack shouted.

The scarecrow nodded. “Pinkie was a bad filly. That’s why she had to go…” 

Applejack scowled. She knew she had to do something. But she couldn’t just jump right at it. That was what got her caught the first time. Also, her body needed more time to warm up.

“I’m sure you’re worried sick about your friends, Rarity and Fluttershy. Don’t worry, Rarity’s sleeping soundly as of now. And Fluttershy… Let’s just say she won’t be alive for long…” its voice drifted as it continued to shave away.

“You keep your dirty hooves off my friends!” Applejack shouted in defense. She had already lost a friend, she couldn’t afford to lose another.

The scarecrow snickered, “Always so aggressive, aren’t you Applejack? You think you can protect all of your friends?” It let go of the knife and totem, sending both to the floor. 

“Fight me.”

Applejack blinked in disbelief, but she immediately got into a defensive pose. In that instant, she felt her blood rush through her body, chasing away the cold in her bones. The stranger had just challenge her to a fight, something she couldn't turn down. And if she won, she might just have a chance to get Fluttershy back.

Her right hoof was still stiff, and she gave it an involuntary shook, preparing her dominant hoof for some brawling. She had to be careful though. If she’s right, the bastard would have some trick hidden up its sleeves.

“What’s going on Applejack? You scared?” The scarecrow mocked.

It’s all just a mind game, don’t give in.

The two circled each other a couple times, waiting for the other to make the first strike.

Alas, the scarecrow charged, jabbing a hoof in Applejack’s direction. Applejack expertly dodged it and returned the attacker with a side kick. The scarecrow skidded back a few feet, holding its stance.

Applejack, seizing the moment, went for a roundhouse kick. But the attacker blocked it, as if it expected that coming. The attacker grabbed her hind legs and swung her, knocking her head at the back of the couch and throwing her to the wall.

Applejack got up quickly though, her body filled with adrenaline. She charged at the attacker and swung her fore leg, just to be stopped again. But this time she wasn’t going to be countered. She spun around the scarecrow, twisting its foreleg to the back. It yelped, and Applejack kicked its back, sending it to the floor. The scarecrow struggled to get back on its feet.

“It’s over,” Applejack said, making her way for the final blow.

The scarecrow, unwilling to lose the fight, reached for a vase with its wings and threw it with all its force.

Applejack flinched as she dodged the flying vase. When she looked back up again, the scarecrow was gone. Applejack looked around the empty lounge before hearing a voice from above.

“Up here.”

Before she could react, she was lifted into the air at high speeds, and in an instant, she was driven into the floorboards, rendering her motionless. Applejack couldn’t believe it. She was outwitted by the killer. In her last remaining moments of consciousness, thoughts of tonight’s events swarmed in her head. So many things didn’t made sense that night. The Ouija board, Pinkie, the killer. And then it hit her.

Applejack lay unconscious. The scarecrow finished her with one last blow. With Applejack out of the way, it can have all the fun it wants with Rarity.





1:17 a.m.

Starlight squeezed through the rubble, making her way onto the other side. She shone her light around. She was in an underground basement or something. Ahead was a flight of stairs. She took the broad stairway up to the top. On top, she could see that she was in a really ancient structure. The air was stale and everything was dusty. This place hasn’t been kept for years.

She shone her light around the room. Other than being crammed with old wooden furniture, the building was infested with rats, scurrying around the corners of her light wherever she shone it. She made note be careful of the rats. She took a step forward, and then another. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue. Something about the place rubbed her the wrong way. Yes, she was glad that she was finally out of the mines, but this place didn’t feel any safer than when she was underground.

She knew she had to brave it anyway. Her friends were in danger and she's already wasted enough time in the mines. The more she contemplated, the more of her friends would die. And she's already lost Spike at this point. Now that she was on the surface, it would be easier for her to navigate back to the lodge. She didn't want to let go of this opportunity.

She walked around the upper sanctuary, trying to find a way out while noticing that pieces of plaster were falling off the roof. She knew she had to be careful in this place. After years of harsh winds, the roof could collapse at any moment.

After working round the maze of furniture and opening a couple of closets, she concluded that the remaining door in front of her had to lead outside. Starlight tried pushing it and shoving it but it wouldn’t budge. She didn’t have time to look for keys so she teleported onto the other side.

Once outside, a flight of stairs met her feet. She almost tripped over and fell because of how dark the stairwell was. She began to descend the building, wondering where it would take her. The stairs stopped at the floor below her. Beyond that was blocked by debris. Starlight couldn’t see where the blockage ended, so it was dangerous to try and teleport across it. Teleport too close and she could be pierced by any of the metal supports sticking from the wall, teleport too far and she might get stuck in a wall. She didn’t have much magic to spare anyway, lighting the tunnels for a few hours has really been draining her.

Seeing that she only had one option, she pushed the door to the second floor. The door creaked eerily, and the echos only amplified the effect. A dark narrow corridor stretched beyond her sight. Starlight walked forward. Dusty furniture and cobwebs kept getting in her way. She brushed and pushed them aside one by one. She kept walking until she reached a corridor where there were old records strewn all over the place. Curious about the place she was in, Starlight picked one up. 


_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: Swift River							
Age: 42			
Date: 21 January 1894			
Species: Earth Pony				
Sex: Male									
Occupation: Miner
Room: 110

Background: Patient was rescued from the mines along with 2 others after being trapped for 21 days. Of the 11 miners caught in the rubble, only 3 survive. When questioned about what had happened, the patient reported witnessing all of his friends being eaten by a ‘long-legged pony creature’ inside the mines. His friend, Garbackle, reported that Swift was already losing his mind in the mines and that he saw nothing of the like while his other friend, Iron Pick, died from pneumonia 3 days after being rescued from the mines.

Syptoms: Patient has grown increasingly anxious of ‘long-legged creature’ after 2 weeks of being hospitalized. He would not stop talking about it and has repeatedly scribbled the letter ‘W’ over and over in his room. Doctors suspect paranoia has developed within the patient after the traumatizing tragedy and has sent him to Blackhoof Mountain Asylum. 

Report: Patient began showing aggression towards attending physicians. At one particular point, the patient attempted to chew of a nurse’s face. Extra care need to be taken when approaching subject. Due to his violent behavior, patient has been fed less and less these days for the staff fear of getting hurt when approaching him. 

Medication: Patient is injected with 5 ml olanzapine every day. Nursing staff has to tie him down in order to provide medication.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



It wasn’t anything important. But at least she now knew she was in an asylum, and said asylum used to be a home for really crazy ponies. She continued to walk until she saw light from a room on the left side of the corridor. At first she wasn’t sure, but she slowly moved towards the light. 

The first thing she noticed was shattered glass on the floor. The glass was broken from the inside by whoever wanted to escape. Inside the room, a lone incandescent bulb swayed back and forth. There was also lone chair in the room with shackles on it, though they were long broken by then. Starlight cringed.  She was witnessing what used to be room for a poor tortured soul. Starlight looked at the door. Room 110.

Suddenly, she heard a hissing sound coming from down the dark corridor.

“Hello?”

Starlight stayed as still as she can, licking her lips. 

There shouldn’t be any pony left in this place. Starlight thought. This asylum was abandoned a century ago, even if the patients were left here, they would all be dead by now.

Starlight flickered her light. Out from the edges of her light, a creature crawled towards her.

“What the hell…”

The creature leapt. In the brink of survival, Starlight let out a powerful blast, sending the creature a couple feet back into the darkness. For a brief moment, Starlight let out a breath of relief. 

Then she saw movement.

Shit.

Starlight began running for her life. Her initial blast was not enough to kill whatever the hell that creature was. She turned back to see the creature in hot pursuit.

The creature pounced again, but Starlight manage to levitate a huge wooden cupboard to block its path. It didn’t stop it for long though. The creature quickly climbed over it and chased after her.

Starlight was at a disadvantage of not being able to use her magic properly. The creature was fast, and at the speed she was running, she would most likely miss her shot. Starlight turned a corner and the creature crashed into an old pile of cabinets. This slowed the creature, but not for long.

Finally, for what seemed like eternity in those dark narrow hallways, Starlight reached the door to the stairs. She glimpsed at the creature one last time as she slammed the door shut. 

It’s not going to hold long.

Starlight raced up the stairs. From beneath her, she could already hear the door crack. Soon, the creature broke through, just in time for her to reach the top. Starlight pushed the door, but it didn’t budge.

“Dammit, I forgot!”

The creature leaped onto the ceiling, and was glaring right down at her. It pounced, Starlight froze up, her eyes widened. 

And she was gone.


The creature looked around. It could see that Starlight was on the other side of the door. 

Starlight hyperventilated. If it was not for her teleportation spell, she would have been a goner. She was cornered now. She can’t out run the creature. And she definitely did not have enough magic to kill it. So what could she do? 

Pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling as the creature shook on the door. In a sudden moment of intuition, Starlight looked up. Unless…

The long-legged creature tore down the door. It crawled onto the walls and eyed its victim. Starlight stood her ground, facing the heartless beast. The two locked in stares. Starlight wasn’t sure if it would work, but even if it didn’t she hoped it could buy her time.

The creature attacked.

Starlight shot the ceiling, letting down piles of massive rubble onto the creature. The rest of the ceiling collapsed as well, and Starlight put on a protective shield just in time. Before her, the creature lay buried under heaps of rubble.

Feeling victorious, Starlight began to walk away. That’s when she heard movement in the rubble.

It wasn’t dead. The creature broke through, and eyed Starlight with an angry look. 

There was no other choice but to run. Starlight saw the stairs from which she entered from, the one that lead back into the mines. She dreaded going back there, but that was her only hope. She teleported and ran down the stairs, back to the rubble she crawled in from. 

She crouched onto the ground, and quickly crawled under the think rubble. The jagged rocks underneath tore on her skin, but she had to keep going if she wanted to live. She could hear the creature growling behind her, getting closer. Finally her head emerged from the other side, and she pulled her entire body away from the rubble. 

Starlight stared at the hole for a while, all she could hear was hissing from the other side. As she suspected, the creature was too large to crawl through. The creature continued to hiss as Starlight got back up on her feet. She stared at the dark mines before her.


Back in the mines again.
> Chapter 6: Claustrophobia (6 hours Until Dawn) Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

1:26 a.m.

Fluttershy woke up in darkness. Her throat was dry and her head was heavy. 

“Wh- Where am I?” She tried to get up but her head hit a wooden surface.

“Ouch!” she squeaked, rubbing her forehead. She felt the wooden surface above her, then her sides. She was stuck in a box. A long and rectangular box. 

Fluttershy called out. 

“Is anypony out there?” 

There was no reply.

She shifted around uncomfortably in the box, trying to find a weak side that she could kick off. But after trying for a couple of minutes, she realize that the box was very very solid. That wasn’t the only thing about the box. Its interior was smooth to the touch, and seemed to be of fine work. And on the base of the box was a cushion. 

Who puts cushions in a box?

Fluttershy felt around some more and found a cork, lodged on the side of the rectangular box. She pushed on it with all her might and the cork fell out. She was able to see the outside from her hole.

She was in a bright room, with white walls. She could see a rusty table, and a hose on top of it. There were other tools hanging from the wall, but she couldn’t make what they were for.

“Hello?” Fluttershy whispered through the tiny hole, “Is anypony out there?” 

Still, no response. 

“Help! I’m trapped in here!” Fluttershy gave her box a shake. She felt she was on top a shaky table. 

Fluttershy stopped to think for a moment. Maybe if she shook hard enough, she’d fall, and the box will break.

Fluttershy pushed the side of the box with all her might and it shifted.

Still not good enough.

Another push. Another one. One more. Suddenly she felt the surface beneath her give way, and she fell to the floor. She had broke the table.

Fluttershy rubbed her forehead. The box fell hard, but it didn’t break. So much for that…

With a loud bang, a door opened. Fluttershy couldn’t see who it was because the hole was above her now. All she could hear were footsteps. 
Then it fell silent.

“Hello?”

Then she saw the scarecrow peering in from above.

“Ahhh!!!” she screamed, “It’s… It’s you!”

The scarecrow stood up, then went away, but Fluttershy could still sense its presence in the room. She heard rustling coming from a table, then it spoke.

“Yes, I see you are excited with my plans for you tonight.” 

It had a low distorted voice. But it wasn’t its voice, but its words that sent chills down her spine. “Plans? What plans?” Fluttershy shivered.

“You’ll find out now…” 

Fluttershy heard rustling coming from the table again. The scarecrow had just grabbed something. 

“No! It’s ok! I don’t wanna find out! Please just let me go!” Fluttershy whimpered.

The scarecrow didn’t change its mind. Fluttershy felt herself being picked up and carried towards someplace else.

“Wait! Where are we going?!” 

The scarecrow cackled.

“Somewhere fun.”

Fluttershy pushed on all sides of the box with all her strength, but it was too sturdy to break.

“Please! Just let me go! I promise I’ll be good! I won’t tell anyone about you! I’ll… I’ll leave this mountain and never come back! If… If that’s what you want…”

Fluttershy felt her words fail. There was nothing she could do to convince the monster to let her go. 

Then she was set down. She heard the sound of gushing water.

“Wh- What's going on?” Fluttershy shouted, unable to see much of the outside from her hole.

Suddenly, the hole closed up and she heard water running above her.

“EEEEK!!!!” Fluttershy screamed. Water shot from the hole into the box. 

“What are you doing?! Please let me go!” Fluttershy shouted. The scarecrow just laughed. 

“Oh but this is only the beginning…” It turned the tap further, and more water went in.

“Wait! Stop! Why are you doing this?! I never did anything to you!”

No reply. Just more water.

“STOOOOOPPP!” Fluttershy screamed at the top of her lungs, but it didn't stop. The box only had enough space for her to kneel and the water was quickly reaching her chest. 

“Please! No!” she prodded the walls. “Don’t do this to me!” she cried. “Please…” At this point, Futtershy was pressing her head onto the roof to keep talking. Water continued to rise. Tears fell from her cheeks. Her entire life flashed before her. 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!”


It was silent. The scarecrow turned off the tap. It laughed maniacally in its seat.


Time for its next victim.





1:45 a.m.

Icy winds howled as they covered the venturing mare with layers and layers of spine-numbing chill. She had finally reached her destination, and she let out a sigh of relief.

If only he was here too.

She shook the memory of their argument out of her mind. She had already wasted an hour crying over spilt words. There’s no more time to waste.

I hope he’s fine.

She climbed the rickety stairs and reached the top. Closing the hatch, she scanned the room she was in. Pinkie said there was electricity here, so where was it? She spotted some wires that led outside and followed them until she reached the fuse box.

“Bingo. Good sleuthing Twilight,” she said, patting her own back.

With a stroke of the lever, the tower whirred to life. Light shone in all directions around the radio tower. 

Before going inside, she grabbed a flare gun from the emergency box. Never know when you’ll need it. She smirked.

Twilight started working the radio. She’s had some experience tweaking with radios before, and a book to back her experience. But for a while, it didn’t produce anything.

“Come on, work…”

It may have been that this radio was old and not functioning, but Twilight feared it may have also been her inexperience, and the radio didn’t match any model she’s experimented with before. There were a couple more settings she had to work with, and some of the labels were a little worn. She sweated as she adjusted the different settings on the radio. Not before long she heard a smooth frequency.

“Hello?” she paused, waiting for a response.

Then a deep, raspy voice came through, “Yes hello. This is Blackhoof Town radio station. How may I help you?”

“Yes, my friend has gone missing on Blackhoof Mountain, can you please contact the authorities?” She let out a cold breath with each syllable she uttered.

“You said your friend is missing. Where was she last spotted?”

“She was in the lodge. My friend was checking on her but found she was missing. There was also a broken window in her room. We think she might have been kidnapped.”

“…”

“…”

“Alright miss, we will alert the police immediately. Just hang in there. We’ll send help by tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow morning?” Twilight stuttered, trying her best to remain calm.

“Yes, sorry but the storm is too big to travel in. We think it’ll only clear by dawn. We could get professionals to come get you but that will take longer. It’s best to stay indoors in the meantime.”

Twilight held her breath. Rainbow could be dead by then. But it couldn’t be help. She knew more than anyone that snowstorms are no weather to fly in. And the only professional pegasi team she knew of was the Wonderbolts. Travelling by train took them one day; flying non-stop would take them 8 hours at least, and it would be morning by then. 

She lifted the microphone closer, and tried her best to convey her utmost gratitude to the stallion over the radio, “Thank you anyways. We’ll stay indoor- Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!”

Twilight let out a deafening shriek. Plastered against the window was an abominable creature, with limbs as long as hockey sticks and teeth as sharp as icicles.

“Hello miss? Miss?” 

The creature started breaking through the glass, reaching its hooves in to grab her. Twilight backed away and aimed her magic. The floor shifted beneath her, causing her focus to lose and she shot the roof instead, letting in the harsh winds. The tower tilted dangerously, forcing Twilight onto the glass window. It didn’t break but the one above her did, dropping the creature onto her. Twilight blasted it before it even came halfway through, sending it off into the skies, but the force from her blast worsened the tower’s condition. She felt it drop all of a sudden and stopped. Twilight stared wide eye in horror at her feet. Beneath her was a deep gorge. Anything that fell in would surely die. 

*Snap*

Twilight turned around to find the radio falling straight to her face. Her pupils contracted quickly as she failed to react to the falling debris. She flinched moments before the weight hit her. 

But it never did.

Twilight opened her eyes. Everything was surrounded by blue aura and was still. In her mix of confusion and distress, she saw a familiar face outside. 

With a snap of his fingers, Twilight was safely in his arms. With another snap, the radio fell through the glass and into the gorge, harming no one.

“Dis-”

“Fluttershy was right. We need to get out of here.” Without further explanation, Discord flew away from the gorge, carrying Twilight in his hands. The tower crumbled with every inch it tilted closer into the gorge, finally falling into the endless abyss.

“What's going on?” 

Discord remained silent. He continued to focus on the obstacles ahead, trying to ignore the question she just asked. Twilight knew something was wrong. In his embrace, Twilight could feel his heart racing and his claws growing sweaty. It had something to do with that creature back there. She knew it. 

Finally, he spoke.

“Wendigos.”
> 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.
> Chapter 7: No Time Left (5 hours Until Dawn) Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

2:30 a.m.

The duo descended down the dark narrow stairwell. Discord held a fireball in his claw and Twilight emitted a soft glow from her horn. At the foot of the stairs lie the dark and desolate basement. 

Discord wasted no time searching the basement. He flipped over everything he could find but they were all junk.

After wasting a considerable amount of time searching, the duo reached the door to the lower floors. Discord jiggled the door handle to find that it was locked.

“It’s funny how we've never been down there before,” Discord mused.

“Well,” replied Twilight, “Pinkie told me that it was just unfinished construction back there.”

“And you believed her?” Discord shot a skeptical look towards her.

“Well,” Twilight stopped mid-sentence, trying to resist her doubt, “Why would she lie to me?”

Discord kept his serious expression, reached for the door handle, and burnt the door down. Twilight jumped back from the scorching flames. In mere moments they stood before a brightly lit stairwell. 

“Seems like uncomplete construction to me,” Discord said sarcastically. Twilight gaped mouth wide. Discord continued, “And don’t you find it odd there’s electricity here?”

Twilight froze in shock. Why would Pinkie lie about this place?

“No.” Twilight said icily. “I know where you’re going with this, and I’m telling you it’s not Pinkie,” she gritted her teeth.

“No?” Discord raised a brow. “Then how do you explain this? How do you explain any of this?!” He raised both paws in the air. 

Twilight racked her brain for possible explanations, but could come up with none. “I… I don’t know… Maybe she just wanted us to stay away, that's all...” Twilight winced.

"From what? The buried bodies of her victims?!" shouted Discord.

Twilight didn't reply.

“She was the one who invited us all to this God-forsaken mountain in the middle of nowhere! We leave her with our friends for a few hours and now they’re all gone! If I hadn’t known better I’d say she’s got all our friends held up downstairs ready to be fed to wendigos!”

“Stop it!” Twilight shouted, “I don’t know why this is here but we shouldn’t accuse our friends like that! There could be many other possibilities! We don’t know yet!” 

Discord rubbed his forehead. 

Twilight sniffed, “I know it’s not her…”

Discord calmed. There was no point starting a fight again. If he had to, he’d just have to show her the cold hard evidence.

“Come on, let’s go,” Discord ushered, “We’re not going to find any answers standing around.”

Discord took the first step down, and Twilight followed. At the end of the stairs was a dimly lit corridor. The two proceeded cautiously, reaching another door at the end of the hall.

This time the door wasn't locked, so Discord turned the knob. There wasn’t any light inside, so he had to relight his fire. The the room resembled a workshop. There was a large table at the center and many drawers on the sides. He drew his fire close to the surfaces he walked by, carefully observing each and every item in the room. There were the usual tools, like hammers and pliers, then there were chains and hooks. Personally, he wasn’t fazed by any of it but Twilight kept gasping at everything she saw. 

Discord stopped for a moment. Across the room he saw five strands of colours on the wall. Curious, Discord neared it slowly. As he approached the wall his eyes began to widen. His heart raced as he realised what the five strands of colours were. In front of him were six names, with five tails pinned beneath them: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. Only one bundle was missing: Twilight’s.

Behind him he heard a loud gasp. Discord turned around to see Twilight looking up in horror. 

“No, this- This can’t be happening.” Twilight shook. “My friends, they- They can’t be dead!” 

"Twi..."

“This is all just a just a big joke to mess with us. Yeah that’s it!” More tears formed in her eyes. “That’s it! It’s all a ruse to make us think they’re dead so that this-” 

Twilight didn’t even know what she was saying anymore. “This kidnapper would get away with taking our friends! It’d make the police think they’re dead so they’d stop looking for them. And they’d go missing forever!”

“Twilight stop.”

“Tell me! Tell me it’s true!” Twilight grabbed onto Discord.

Discord looked into her eyes. Behind the tears he could see that hope was quickly seeping away from her. 

Discord frowned. “Twi you listen to me. You told me that there could be many possibilities out there, and we don’t know if any is certain.” Discord swallowed, “And it’s under these circumstances we need to keep a cool head as much as possible.” As Twilight listened, her grip began to loosen, “I can’t say if any of your friends are alive at this point, but we could still stop the killer,” Discord paused. “Together.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she eyed his belly. “I’m sorry,” she said in a hoarse voice, “I overreacted.”

Discord smiled and pulled her into an embrace. 

“We’ll find our friends.” Inwardly he really prayed he would find Fluttershy first.

Twilight pulled from the hug. “We should keep going,” she said.

Discord nodded and relit his fire. At least he now knew that Pinkie wasn’t behind all this. But things only made less sense now. Who or what owns this place? And did Pinkie know?

They found an exit on the other side of the room. It opened to another corridor. They walked until they reached another door. To the left of the door the corridor continued, and there was a glass pane at the end of it. The room inside was pitch black, so nothing behind the panel could be seen.

Twilight decided to investigate the room in front of them first. The door was heavy and she used all her strength to pull it open. She leaned against the open door to try and keep it open. 

“Alright Discord, come in,” she waited, but there wasn't a reply.

"Discord?”

Discord wasn’t listening. His gaze was on the glass pane. Where there was pitch blackness in the room now was light, and Discord could see very clearly who was at the other side of the glass. A yellow pony, pink-haired, was sitting unconsciously in a chair. Discord's legs began taking him down the corridor. Walks turned into running as his heart burst with joy at seeing his yellow pegasus friend again.

“DISCORD!” Twilight shouted, moments before the door shut. But Discord couldn't care. His prized possession was waiting right in front of him, yearning to be rescued.

Discord threw open the door. “Fluttershy!”

He bent down and grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. “Oh I’m so glad I found you! I thought-”

Something didn’t feel right. Was Fluttershy always this soft? Discord held the pony away from him. 

It was nothing but a doll. 

Caught in his surprise, gas suddenly filled the room. Quickly realizing that it was a trap, Discord turned to escape. But then he heard a voice coming through the door behind him.

“Help! I’m trapped in here!”

It was Fluttershy’s voice. He knew it. Discord ran but stopped. 

What if it’s another trap? 

“Please! No! Don’t do this to me!” Fluttershy shouted.

Discord couldn’t take it. He burst the door open.

“Fluttershy?!”

There was nothing but a tape recorder sitting on the floor.  

Before he could react, another shot of gas shot in his face. Discord took a step back, and fell. Before he could look up again a club striked his face, leaving him with only moments of consciousness. Unable to get up, he rested his heavy head on its side. Discord cursed his only weakness. Before he drifted into the darkness, he saw one last thing. 

A pair of brown feet. 





Twilight grumbled. What the heck does Discord think he's doing? She tried pushing on the door again, but it was stuck. She was trapped for now.

But she wasn’t just trapped in any room. In front of her were dozens of monitors. The monitors lined the wall from the very top of the ceiling down to a control panel in front of her. She reached out and pressed one of the buttons. Immediately a screen replayed their conversation at the lodge, just before she and Discord left. 

Out of curiosity, she pressed another button and saw Applejack and Pinkie running through the woods. Another screen showed her going up the radio tower. 

As Twilight played with more buttons, more of tonight’s events were played out. Every second, every minute of tonight was recorded on the screens. That's when the realisation dawned upon her.

They were being watched the whole time. 

Twilight rewind the footage more in hopes to find some clues. She watched as the screens showed her friends being abducted by a scarecrow-looking pony. She couldn't bear to watch it, but she needed to know what happened. She watched as the scarecrow pony drag a body sack through the snow, as it chased and captured Fluttershy, as it assaulted Applejack in the lodge, and strangled Rarity at the station. Twilight watched in horror as her friends disappeared from the screens one by one. 

But there was one clip missing. At 11:05pm the footage around the shed stopped playing, after showing Pinkie laying at the door. The footage resumed at 11:10pm, which by then Pinkie had disappeared from all the surveillance cameras completely. Twilight could only assume that that was the time frame when Pinkie was abducted. But why was the footage removed? 

Twilight pondered.

The killer has been abducting her friends without fear of being captured on tape. But the one where it captures Pinkie was removed. Why?

Capturing Pinkie wouldn't have been any different from capturing the rest. Unless...

The killer had its mask removed during that time. It made sense. The killer had its mask on in all the footages. It could have fallen off during the confrontation with Pinkie.

But why bother? If the killer has stayed hidden for years, no one would recognize it. Unless... 

The killer was easily recognizable.

That meant the killer would be exposed without its mask. Beneath that mask wasn't a disfigured pony, but a pony that could be identified by them or the police. But who?

Twilight sat back in the chair. The more she thought the less it made sense. Finally she decided she's had enough. She needed to get out of here soon and regroup with Discord, wherever that idiot draconequus was. With a push of a button she shut off the monitors. 

Suddenly gas begun to fill the room. Twilight immediately recognized it as sleeping gas.

"Dammit!"

She was caught. She should have known better not to linger for too long. She tried the door she came in from but it was still stuck. There was another exit, a wooden door, but it was locked.

Twilight paced around the room, trying her best not to inhale any of the fumes. Glancing around, she noticed a bunch of keys with a small balloon keychain sitting on a table. Instinctively, she grabbed it with her magic and held it to her face. A wide smile stretched between her ears. For the first time tonight, she found relief. 

Gas released from the keychain onto her face. Twilight coughed as she stumbled disorientatedly around the room. 

Chloroform in a keychain?

But she had no time to think about who or how that trick was devised. She stumbled desperately towards the wooden door and struggled to find the right key. Finally, with a turn of the handle she fell onto the floor.

Twilight scanned the room she was now in. Two wooden chairs and a table sat idly in the darkness. Above them was what she could make out as buzz saws. Twilight used her remaining strength to crawl forward. The chloroform was quickly taking effect.

She blacked out.
> Chapter 8: Madness (4 hours Until Dawn) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

3:11 a.m.
~ 4 Hours Until Dawn

Twilight drifted back into consciousness. A blistering headache reminded her that she was in the hands of the enemy. Dizzy and confused, she quickly realized that her limbs were restraint to a chair. 

Trying to break free, Twilight tugged on the ropes. She was tied down. Without any magic to help her, she had to find some other way out.

“Stop moving Twilight.” 

Twilight tried lifting her head. Groggy, and still trying to recover from the effects of chloroform, she could only make out a figure of Discord sitting across her, pointing something at her…

Discord spoke again, but this time she noticed the icyness of his tone. 

"I want this over more than you do…”

What in the world was he talking about?

She tried to focus on the blurry image. She could tell that Discord was displeased, no doubt, but he was also holding……

A gun?

Twilight shook her head and concentrated again. 

It was a gun.

“Wh- What’s going on?” Twilight asked.

Discord didn’t reply. He just remained. 

Silent.

As Twilight began to see better she saw that Discord’s claw was actually shaking. And that’s not all. He was tied to a chair opposite of her, and his only free claw was holding the gun. 

Another glance at him and she saw that his eyes were red from crying. He was clearly struggling. Someone had put him up to this.

Discord continued to tear, as the gun in his claw continued to tremble and he bit his tongue. 

“I- I h- have to- to- to k- kill you,” he stammered, trying to swallow his own words.

Twilight closed her eyes. This wasn't a time to panic. Clearly something was wrong. Something, someone… no. The Killer must have done something to Discord, pushing him to the brink of insanity. She wasn’t in the best state of mind either, but she had to talk him out of it.

Twilight licked her lips, and spoke. 

“Discord,” she said in her calmest voice possible, like a mother talking to her child, “Can you please tell me what’s going on?”

Discord hyperventilated. His eyes darted to every corner of the table as tears begin to fill his eyes to the brim.

“They…" he muttered, "They have her Twilight…” He cringed, letting out a helpless yelp.

“Have who?” Twilight asked, as it was logically the question that came next, but she should have known who Discord was talking about, because the next moment he snapped.

“HER!! FLUTTERSHY!!” he shouted.

“THEY HAVE FLUTTERSHY!! AND THEY WON’T LET HER GO UNLESS I KILL YOU!!" 

Streams of tears flowed down his cheek as he waved the gun at Twi.

Twilight felt her heart stop. She knew the killer manipulated Discord, but she hadn't anticipated him using Fluttershy as bait. Now she was in big trouble. Fluttershy meant the world to Discord, and he'd do anything to save her.

“Discord," Twilight took a deep breath.

"Please calm down," she said, "We need to get out of this. Together.” Twilight exhaled each word.

Discord’s eyes were still tearing. But he was beginning to lower the gun.

"B- But... They have Fluttershy..."

Twilight continued to calm herself. The next few words were crucial.

"We'll save Fluttershy. Together." she said, trying to keep Discord's hopes up, "You and me. Once we get out of this, we'll save her."

Discord put the gun down, and reached his free claw to cover his face.

“I can’t. I can’t do it,” he sobbed.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. 

“I just can’t get us both out of here,” Discord reached for the gun again.

“Wait Discord! We can do this! We can beat the killer! We just need to put our heads together to figure something out!”

Discord shook his head and raised the gun, “No, we can’t Twilight. I’ve tried. He’s taken away our magic and there’s nothing I can do but shoot you…” he said wearily, taking aim at Twilight.

Twilight struggled to break free from her bondages, “No! You’ve just been drugged Discord! You just need time to recover! Once either of us gets our magic back, we’ll be able to take him down for sure!”

Discord fell silent. He didn’t mutter a word or two for a minute. He just stared at Twilight. 

Slowly he lowered the gun, and placed it on the table. He broke into tears again.

He almost shot his remaining friend.

Twilight watched as her friend break down, claw covering his shame . 

"What was I thinking? Stupid! Stupid!" he sobbed.

Twilight was speechless. She tried to open her mouth to say something.

*whirrrrrrrrr*

A noise sounded from above. Twilight gasped as she saw a large buzz saw coming towards her face. She pulled at the ropes, but they were too strong. Twilight looked at Discord, a giant saw was approaching his head as well.

“Discord!”

As if things hadn’t gotten worse, a voice came from the darkness within the room.

“Last chance Discord. Don’t you want to see your precious Fluttershy again?”

Discord looked up, and stared at the darkness. 

He was right there.

He quickly grabbed the gun and shot in that direction, only to hear a chuckle.

“Missed me.”

Discord fired a few more rounds only to hear the laughter grew louder. 

“Nice try Discord. But we should stick to our agreement if you want your precious somepony to live…”

Twilight stared in horror as she heard the killer’s taunt. He had Discord right where he wants, and there was nothing she could do.

Discord turned to Twilight, knowing that it was his last.

“Discord don’t do it! He’s just trying to turn us against ourselves!” Twilight cried.

Discord looked up at the buzz saws, then back at Twilight. Either he shot Twilight or everyone dies.

He held up the gun.

“Well," he said, smiling one last smile at Twilight, "It’s working.” 

“DISCORD NO-”

*bang*





A bright lamp shone on Applejack, lying on the cold concrete floor.

“Wake up Applejack…”

Applejack shifted her neck. Her entire body ache. 

“What’s going on?” Applejack whimpered, trying to get up.

The voice cackled, “Have you forgotten Applejack? Have you forgotten where you are?”

Applejack froze. She remembered. She was still on Blackhoof Mountain. Her friends were still on Blackhoof Mountain.

“So you do remember?” The voice teased. “Guess you’re not as dumb as I thought.”

Applejack tried to stand up but her forehooves were chained to the ground. Applejack growled.

“Why are you doing this?” she shouted at the voice. 

It continued to cackle. Applejack’s blood boiled as she listened to the maniacal laughter.

Another light turned on, several feet away from her, revealing another character.

“Rarity!” 

Applejack ran towards her, but was quickly reminded that she was chained to the ground.

Rarity, out of reach her reach, was tied up and sitting above an empty dunk pool, with a noose tied around her neck. Her head was covered with a sack, and Applejack could hear her muffled cries coming from inside of it.

The voice spoke.

“You've already lost a friend Applejack, it's time to lose another...” 

Applejack turned around to face the voice. Gallons of blood was rushing to her head, she was unable to respond.

“I'm sure you've heard of this game before, even the school fillies play it...” 

The voice paused. Applejack’s heart pounded rapidly.

“Let's play Hang Pony.”

Applejack’s heart burst. That moment could only be described as choking on adrenaline.

She needed more time to process this.

“Wait! Hold on!” Applejack cried, only to be interrupted by the voice.

“I’m thinking of a six letter word." The voice announced, "Something that describes your past sins…”

“What? No! Please don’t do this!” Applejack’s voiced cracked.

“Six letter word,” it repeated, completely ignoring her pleas, “Your past sins…”

“Please! If this is just between me and you, let Rarity go! She has nothing to do with this!” Applejack cried.

The speakers went silent. Then out came a maniacal roar of laughter. Each moment of laughter grew more and more hysterical, making Applejack extremely uncomfortable.

The voice grew darker and scarier.

“DON’T YOU REMEMBER APPLEJACK? DON’T YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU DID TO ME?” it said.

“RARITY, FLUTTERSHY, TWILIGHT," it listed.

"SPIKE, PINKIE PIE, RAINBOW DASH AND YOU.”

Applejack felt her sins crawling upon her, but was unsure of what it was.

"YOU WERE ALL THERE..." It said.

In an act to defend herself, Applejack shouted back, “What the hay are you talking about?! We never did anything to you!” 

Applejack did her best to look unintimidated. But she was actually trembling. Out of confusion, anger and fear.

The voice laughed some more.

"IT WAS THE JOKE OF THE CENTURY! DON’T YOU REMEMBER?”

Applejack retaliated.

“No! Ah'd never played pranks on anypony! Never! Ah just don’t do that sorta thing!” 

“C’MON APPLEJACK. YOU CAN'T HAVE POSSIBLE FORGOTTEN. AUGUST 13TH…”

"Ah... Ah don't know what yer talking about!" she shouted.

The voice remained unfazed. “Time's ticking Applejack…”

Rarity’s seat dropped a little, sending muffled screams to Applejack’s ears.

“What did we ever do to you?!”

The voice scoffed, “Second letter O, last letter E.”

What?

Applejack strained her mind to come up with something.

"Tick Tock Applejack..." the voice continued to taunt.

She couldn't think of anything. The more she thought the less it made sense. And at long last, anger overcame her.

"WE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO YOU, YOU OVER EGOISTIC PEGASUS!"

The echos silenced the room. No one said a thing. Even the voice fell silent. Everything went quiet.

Applejack breathed deeply, trying to regain composure. Her face was red with anger. She waited expectantly for the voice to respond.

Finally it spoke.

“Wrong answer.” 

The board beneath Rarity gave way, dropping Rarity, and tightening the noose around her neck. Rarity screamed.

“Rarity!” Applejack screamed.

Everything went black.
> Chapter 8: Madness (4 hours Until Dawn) Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

3:50 a.m.

Slow clapping sounded in the room. 

The bright light shone again. The dunk pool was empty and there was no lifeless body hanging over it.  

Rarity was gone. 

The clapping continued as it spectated, Applejack, devastated. 

“Bravo, bravo…” it said.  

“You surely have outdone yourself today Applejack.” 

Applejack didn’t turn around. She remained silent, facedown. 

“You thought you could save them, but now they’re all gone. Not so tough now are you?” 

She still kept quiet.

“Applejack…” the killer taunted, taking a step closer. 

She turned, shooting her hind leg out. It stepped back, completely avoiding the attack. 

“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?” Applejack cried, tears streaming down her face. “WE WERE YOUR FRIENDS!” 

Applejack’s face was mess. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks flared from all her anger and sorrow. It was the face of a pony who was betrayed. 

The killer coughed. 

“Friends? What friends?”  

Applejack gritted her teeth.  

“Stop playing games Dash…” she said, her icy cold stare fixed on the pony behind the mask, “I know it’s you…” 

There was silence. A wide grin stretched behind the mask. 

And it laughed. 

It reached for its mask and pulled it off, revealing a blue mare underneath. Applejack growled. 

“Of all the ponies in the world,” Dash snickered, “I never would have guessed that you’d find me out.” 

Applejack wanted to stay mad at the pony in front of her, but she was no longer the pony she knew. Her rainbow mane has been shaved off, leaving only a few studs of rainbow hair on top of her head. 

“What on earth did you do to yourself Dash?” 

“Oh this?” Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Just a little something I had to do to stop you from recognizing me,” she continued, “All that hair would never fit under that mask, and it would be very hot too. Heck, I even had to cut my own tail off so I wouldn’t give myself away!” 

Rainbow spoke with such light-heartedness, as if tonight’s events had never happened. 

“Oh and by the way,” she continued, “I hope you don’t mind if I… cut off your tail too. Kinda needed it for something…” 

Applejack turned around, her tail was missing. How come she hadn’t noticed that before? 

“You’re sick Dash…” she muttered. 

Ignoring her last comment, Rainbow continued to speak casually, “How on earth did you even know it was me?”  

Applejack narrowed her eyes. Looking away, she tried to repiece tonight's events together. “The Ouija board, the disappearance…” she said as she racked through her memory. “You and Pinkie’s behavior… It just rubbed me the wrong way… As if… As if you two had something to hide…”  

She continued, “And that pile dive you gave me, back at the lodge. I’d know it anywhere…” 

“You did that to me once when we were sparring. You threw some sand in my face, then got up behind me to finish me off.” 

“You’re a cheater Dash, and I’d know that stinkin’ trick anywhere,” she finished, glaring up at her kidnapper. 

Rainbow sneered, “Heh, I never thought I would give myself away like that, but you got me. I gotta admit. You’re much smarter than I thought you were. Heh,” Rainbow continued speaking normally, as if she hadn't done anything wrong. 

“YOU KILLED OUR FRIENDS!” Applejack's shout drew Rainbow's attention back to her.

“You killed Pinkie Pie! And you killed Rarity!” Applejack continued, face turning red. “HOW COULD YOU?!” 

Rainbow looked away, a sly grin on her face. 

“Oh yeah. I ‘killed’ them alright. And I ‘killed’ Fluttershy and Twilight and Discord too. Everyone is ‘dead’. Haha.” 

Applejack’s face grew redder. Rainbow wanted to laugh at her so bad. Guess Applejack wasn’t as smart as she thought. 

“You… you killed all our friends?!” 

“Yeah Applesmack. I ‘killed’ everyone. Whatcha gonna do about it?” she said, continuing to lead her on. 

Applejack tugged at the chains, “I’LL KILL YOU! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO OUR FRIENDS!” 

Rainbow stopped in front of her, and held her chin, “Well good luck with that.” 

She turned to head to the door, just to stop in her tracks. 

“Oh yeah, I never did tell you why I was doing this…” she said, pacing towards Applejack again.

“Since I’m gonna let you rot here, I might as well let you know…” 

Applejack glared up at her as she stepped closer. 

“Second letter O, last letter E. What does that sound like to you?”

Applejack was still confused. 

“Zombie,” Dash said, “And here’s another hint if you don’t remember: Cookies.” 

Applejack’s eyes widened in surprise.  

“That’s what this is all about?!” she shouted, “You killed all our friends because of some silly prank?!” 

Dash’s smile was so wide it was almost touching the edge of her face. 

“Yes.” 

“Except that it wasn’t just some silly prank, Applejack. You got the whole town into it too and it scared me shitless.”  

“And so I thought, why not return the favor? Since you gave me a scare of a lifetime, why not I do the same for you too?” 

“BY KILLING ALL OUR FRIENDS?!” Applejack had shouted so much that her face was growing hoarse.

Rainbow shrugged, walking away. 

“You’re a sick pony Rainbow Dash.” 

Rainbow smiled as she trotted away. “Enjoy your stay Applesmack. The maggots will really enjoy you…” 

And she shut the metal door.





Rainbow sipped her Pony Cola. Tonight was a successful night. Other than Starlight and Spike going missing (they're probably fine), everything went as planned. More or less. Without Pinkie’s help she had to run around the mountain twice the number of times, and flying in the storm was no easy task for her, even with her special weather proof Wonderbolts suit on.  

Rainbow twiddled her pencil as she monitored the screens. Applejack hasn’t made any more attempts to escape. Good.

Fluttershy was still locked in her dungeon. Bringing her back wasn’t too hard, she knew how to do mouth-to-mouth from her Wonderbolts training, though the trick she pulled was risky, and might have actually killed Fluttershy. Well at least she didn’t. 2 points for Rainbow Dash.

Rarity was safely trapped in her secret underground room. The rope around her neck came loose from the pole when she fell, dropping her down the trapdoor and landing safely on some pillows. She checked on Rarity a few minutes ago and she was fine. The bag over her head was removed but she was still blindfolded, and the tape over her mouth was still firmly stuck. Don't want her screaming now don't we?

Twilight and Discord were also fine. They were both given an extra dose of sleeping gas to put them back to sleep. The gun shot blanks, but watching them tear each other over it was fun.

Pinkie was still at the shed. She was tied to a pole to ease her. She couldn’t carry Pinkie all the way back and she couldn’t just let Pinkie’s head hung out from the hole. It would choke her to death. Anyways, since Pinkie didn’t want to help her complete her masterpiece, the only thing she could do was just leave her there.

She had to give it to Pinkie though, if it wasn't because of her, she wouldn't have been able to fool Applejack so hard tonight. That fake body she made, out of sewn together cloth and pounds of red icing, was very realistic, even to the point that Rainbow jumped every time she entered the shed. Sadly, Pinkie did not want in anymore and she couldn't let months of planning go to waste. So she had to knock her out, perhaps apologize about it next time?

Rainbow sunk back and spun around in her spinny chair. She thought about what to do for the rest of the night. She was already done with her fun. And she was tired too. Maybe she should just put everyone back in their beds? Tell them it was all just a bad dream the next day? Or reveal to everyone now that this had just been one elaborate prank? Either way, she'll have to tell everyone at some point, whether tonight or tomorrow.

Rainbow shrugged. She didn't have the energy to go through all that right now. And neither did everyone. She should just return everyone to bed and call it a night. Trying to explain everything right now just wasn't a good idea. She might even get punched in the face. Not that they wouldn't punch her tomorrow, but she'd rather have some energy before she gets punched. 

As Rainbow got up she noticed a shadow moving across one of her monitors. She looked again but there was nothing. 

"Hmmm......" She was so sure that something had been moving in the shed, but it couldn’t have been Pinkie since she was still tied to the pole. Rainbow moved nearer to the screen. 

Maybe it was just a squirrel? 

Suddenly a face appeared on screen. 

“GAAHHHHHH!” 

Rainbow fell back over her chair. She got back up quickly, but the screen had already turned blank. 

Panicked, Rainbow tried pressing the refresh button a couple of times. 

Input not found. 

“Fuck,” Rainbow said, staring at the blank screen. 

She remembered the face. It was imprinted into her skull like those ghosts she'd see in horror films. It was white eyed, with sharp teeth, and it looked like rotting carcass. She tried to process what she saw, but nothing had prepared her for something like that. She took deep breaths to calm down. 

“Fuck.” 

She was gonna regret everything.
> Chapter 9: Breathless (3 hours Until Dawn) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4:20 a.m.

Her mind continued to race. Many things had happened tonight. And none of them made sense. The blackout, the generator, the abduction, the monster. What was going on?

Each step was heavier than the last as she plodded into obscurity. 

What if there wasn't just one of them?

The thought of it made her sweat. Starlight stopped in her tracks.

She saw light. 

Not the kind that radiated from the sun, but a dim soft glow that were emitted from lamps. 

Starlight approached cautiously. 

The cave was lit with lamps. Electric lamps. She scanned for signs of movement, but there wasn't any.

She trotted under the rotting archway, astounded at what beheld her. Before her was an old mining facility, the platforms and levers still around, untouched by the snowy storms of the mountain. 

There was no mistake. Someone had to be living in these mines. The electric lamps were a clear indication that electricity still ran through this part of the mountain. It was impossible for these lamps to be running alone for so long, so someone had to be fuelling them constantly, right?

A bead of sweat trickled down her neck. Is this where the killer lives? His hideout? What kind of crazy person lives in the mines anyways?

She had a feeling she was about to find out.

Looking up, she saw an elevator shaft. Having nowhere else to go, she approached the ancient structure.

Carefully, she reached out and pulled the lever, causing a loud rumble to sound through the shafts. Before her was an old rusty elevator. Starlight coughed at the dust. She looked around, hoping she had not attracted anything.

Having some doubts, yet still determined to find some answers, she stepped into the elevator and pushed the button, causing a huge jolt to shake through the system. The floor raised suddenly, and she struggled to get a grip. She was able to balance herself as the elevator moved much smoother, standing still, awaiting to reach her destination.

The elevator halted, causing her to lose balance again. She planted her hooves on the shaky floor, as the elevator swung from side to side. Starlight stood as still as possible, hoping that the rope wouldn't snap.

Everything was quiet again.

Starlight looked out. She was very much still in the caves, but she was relieved that she was now closer to the surface.

She stepped out of the elevator. 

And immediately stepped back in again.

She saw someone, she was sure of it, turning from around the corner.

Starlight peeked through the cracks in the wooden shaft. 

It was him.

She couldn't see the face, or much of its body for that matter. It was wearing a gas mask and most of its body was covered by heavy clothing. But that's not all. It was also holding a weapon. A flamethrower.

The stranger stopped. And it turned to the elevator shaft.

Starlight felt her heart sink. Has it spotted her? 

The stranger continued to stare icily in her direction, never once turning its gaze away.

Starlight stood as still as a statue, staring at the stranger who was now staring back at her, or at least, the elevator shaft (she hoped).

After a few more moments of pain gripping silence, the stranger turned and walked away, disappearing from her sight.

Starlight proceeded with caution. She was certain he had turned around another corner. She carefully plotted each hoof before her, hoping to uncover the identity of the mysterious being. 

She peeked around the corner, but he was no longer there.

"Huh." Guess he's gone then.

Suddenly, a talon grabbed her.

“Shhhh!!” 

Starlight tried to scream, but the stranger held her down and covered her mouth. She struggled in his grip, before teleporting herself a safe distance away.

Starlight powered up her horn, ready to fire, but the stranger took his mask off.

“What in Celestia's mane do ya think yer doin' here?!” the stranger shouted. He was a male griffin around the age of 50 or so. He sounded scruffy and had a scar over his left eye.

“What?" Starlight stood confused for a second, "What have YOU done to my friends??” She shouted in response at the strange fellow.

The stranger grumbled and muttered something under his breath, “We don’t have time for this! Get out of here!”

Starlight was confused, but she stood her ground.

Until she heard a hissing from behind her.

“Duck!” The stranger yelled. Starlight turned around, and was met face to face with the monstrocity she had encountered in the asylum. Starlight tried to defend herself, but the creature was quickly engulfed in flames by the stranger. It fell to the ground, burning until it became ash. And out from the ashes, a spooky soul evaporated.

Starlight blinked and turned back to the stranger, surprised that he had saved her life, but was immediately taken aback when a knapsack was shoved into her hooves. 

“GO!” He shouted angrily.

She was stunned, unable to comprehend what was going on.

The stranger shouted again, “What are yer waiting for? Get outta here!” He turned before he was confronted by another creature. He used his flamethrower and set it to flames.

Starlight blinked, and ran. She had no idea what was going on, but being far away seemed good right now. 

She heard hissing again, and she turned around. Another creature was chasing after her, hot on her heels. She galloped as fast as she could, trying to make as much distance as she can between it. 

Starlight turned a corner, just as the creature attacked. It missed her by a hair's width, and continued to chase her down the tunnels. Starlight cursed her luck and continued to press on, her hooves ready to give in at any moment. 

Starlight turned around to take a shot at it, but missed. The creature eventually caught onto her, pinning her down. 

She was now at hooves length with the creature, its saliva dripping all over her. She mustered all her magic to keep the creature's claws and teeth away from her, but it was very strong. It tried biting her, and clawing her, but she fended it off with all her strength. She charged up her horn as the creature's fangs continued to get closer and closer to her. Finally, with a loud cry, she shot, blasting it away from her.

The creature lay motionless, but knowing from experience that it wouldn't stay that way for long, she made a run for it.

Eventually she reached a dead end, with only a coal delivery chute as her way out. She heard the hissing getting closer again, and without a second thought, she jumped, sliding down the coal chute. She picked up speed as she heard the angry hiss grow further from her.

She tumbled through the other end, picking herself up quickly and running.

Suddenly she halted. Ahead of her was another one. It clutched to the ceiling, blocking her path. Starlight hid next to a wooden wall. Although it hadn’t noticed her yet, she knew she had to make a run for it very soon.

Suddenly, pale white claws burst through the wooden wall beside her and grabbed her. She shrieked, drawing the attention of the other creature. Starlight tried to get the claws off her, but the other creature was already getting close. She shrieked again before teleporting herself out of harm’s way. The creature crashed through the wooden wall into one another, and now, she had two of them on her tail. She bolted down the tunnel. 

She soon reached a flight of wooden stairs, where a stack of wooden boxes sat on top to the side. She grabbed some using her magic and built a wall behind her as she ran up the stairs. Turning around, she saw that the creatures easily broke through her barrier, making her attempts futile. She pushed herself harder and picked up her pace.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she saw light, shining through the gaps she could only make out as wooden planks. She prayed hard.

She crashed through the wooden planks, finding herself now standing outside the cave. However, she was also only inches from the edge of a cliff.

She looked down. She saw a familiar path beneath her and smiled. All she had to do now was get safely down. 

She heard hissing coming from the tunnels, and she saw that the creatures were soon approaching the exit. She charged up her beam, and being sure that she wouldn't miss this time, fired. The blast was huge, reaching from the top of the cave to the bottom. The blast hit both creatures and sent her flying off the edge of the cliff. Starlight flailed as she tried to regain control over her fall. She was quickly plunging towards the ground, and she knew she had to work a quick levitation spell before she plummeted to her death.

She closed her eyes.

Starlight opened her eyes, she was levitating only mere inches from the ground. She set herself down and patted herself, glad to still be alive, before glancing back at the cave entrance.

The creatures were still alive as well, and were hissing at her.

She ran.
> Chapter 9: Breathless (3 hours Until Dawn) Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4:38 a.m.

“A what?” the cyan Pegasus yelped, clearly in disbelief.

“I said it was a wendigo, Dash.” The draconequus sat across of her with arms crossed, along with 4 other unhappy ponies.

“Ok, I get it! I messed up ok!” she shot up, hooves on her head. “If I knew there were pony-eating monsters on this mountain I would have never thought of doing this in the first place!”

She continued to receive angry glares from her friends.

“Seriously Dash, what made you think this was acceptable in the first place?” a white unicorn mare spoke up. "Scaring us, kidnapping us, and look what you did to your hair!"

“It was just a prank! I thought everyone would get a good laugh in the morning!”

“By almost drowning Fluttershy?” she turned back to the angry draconequus. If she wasn't careful with her next few lines, she might be the one getting drowned next.

“Hey! She’s still alive isn’t she?” she said defensively, earning a hiss from the draconequus.

“Listen! Bottom line is, Pinkie Pie has been taken by one of these ‘wendigos’, and we need to save her!” she shouted, arms in the air.

Everyone exchanged glances. They all had the urge to strangle her. But that wasn't going to help their situation. 

Twilight spoke up.

“It’s not just Pinkie Pie, Dash. Starlight and Spike are out there too. And we have no idea what happened to them.”

“Relax, I’m sure Starlight can protect the both of them. Right?” she said, trying to brush her worst fears aside.

Twilight shook her head disapprovingly. The cyan Pegasus remained silent.

Suddenly they heard knocking. Everyone turned to one another.

“Open up! Open up!” the banging continue.

They knew that voice. Everyone raced to the door. 

“Umpff!” Starlight landed on the floor. The cold wind started blowing in. “Close the door!”

Discord cocked a brow. “I’m guessing you’ve met the wendigo?” 

“What?” the purple unicorn, still dazed, scrambled to her feet.

“White eyed, pale skinned, spider like creature.”

“Yes! H- How did you know?”

“Take a seat Star.” The draconequus motioned. Everyone resumed giving angry glares at Rainbow.

“Wait.” Twilight stopped her mid-track. “Where’s Spike?”

Starlight looked away, biting her lip.

“No, please tell me he’s alive!” The purple alicorn grabbed her. “He can’t be dead!”

“Twilight,” Discord placed a paw on her shoulder, then pulled her into a hug. She sobbed. 

"It's ok. Just... let it go."

Discord glared at Rainbow again, who tried her best to evade her gaze.

Then came another knock. Everyone turned. There stood a silhouette they didn’t recognize, but Starlight did. She hurriedly pulled open the door.

“Alright ponies, let’s get down to business.” The griffin stepped in. He had a rough voice, and an even rougher exterior, one that showed the effects of living in wasteland for 40 years.

“And who the hay are you?” Applejack piped up.

“I was the one who saved her life,” he replied, pointing at Starlight. “And now I’m gonna tell everyone what’s going down tonight…”

“Wendigos,” Discord blurted, not even giving the stranger a chance to start.

“Wait. You know? Well did you know…”

“Spirits that possess the hungry and cold. Can only be killed by fire. ” He deadpaned.

“Huh.” The griffin looked displeased. It wasn't everyday he'd have his thunder stolen by somebody else. “Then there’s not much left for me to say.”

“What’s your name?” Starlight stepped forward, haven't been given the proper introduction she deserved.

The stranger exhaled. “Garbackle.”

Starlights's eyes widened in surprise. “Wait! You were one of the miners who got trapped in the mines! I've read about you!”

“Yes, I’m sure you have.” the griffin said, paying no attention to her, brushing snow off his feathers.

“But the report said you didn’t see any wendigos, and here you are now!”

Garbackle didn't say anything for a while. He stared at the floorboards, trying to find the right way to say things.

“Well, what happened in the mines, stay in the mines.”

"What does that mean?" 

Garbackle continued to avoid eye contact. He softly replied, "I lied."

“But- But why?!”

The griffin took a deep breath. “Because I saw what they did. To Swift. They tortured him, fed him all sorts of pills, strapped him to his bed. It wasn't long until the wendigo took over him,” he said shaking his head. “I didn’t want to have the same fate.”

Everyone looked depressed. But Rainbow butted in.

“Ok we get that your life was interesting and all, but can we get to the problem here? My friend Pinkie Pie has been abducted by these wendigos and we need to save her!” 

Garbackle proceeded calmly, “When was the last time you saw her?”

“She was tied to the shed,” Rainbow replied, looking rather sheepish.

“And why the hell was she tied to the shed?” the griffin asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what the hell happened to your hair?"

“Erm...” Rainbow blushed. "It's a long story."

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, “What’s important now is that we need to get her back alive. Now who’s up for this mission?”

Everyone pointed to Rainbow Dash.

“Well I guess yer a lucky fellor then,” he beamed, passing her a shotgun. “Follow my lead and you might not die…”

“Uh… Yeah sure…” a hint of uncertainty in her tone. She turned around, hoping her friends wouldn’t just let her go like that, but she saw Discord drawing a claw across his neck. She gulped.

“Garbackle sir,” Twilight stopped them at the door, “We have another friend that’s missing. He’s a baby dragon…”

“I'll keep my eyes peeled. But I'll be honest with you, if I were you, I’d assume he’s dead already.”

Twilight winced at the comment, and he and Dash went out into the snow.

Snow drifted calmly. A tiny snowflake drifted past Dash's nose.

“So umm… Garbackle right? How many wendigos have you killed?” Rainbow asked nervously.

“Too many to count."

“Oh, uhm... so have you always been living on this mountain? Like no offense, but you look really old..."

"I wasn't always a miner in these parts. I used to be a farmer, just like everybody else. Then the mine rush happened and practically everyone became miners because of the profit. And I joined in. Like the idiot that I was..."

They were both silent.

"If only I just stayed in Baltimare. Everything would be fine. I would never have seen the things I've seen..."

Rainbow tried to find the right words to say.

"Uhmm..."

“Shhh…” he covered her mouth. “We’re here.”

“Oh,” she looked up, realizing that they were indeed already there.

Garbackle motioned her to follow closely, as he pushed the door to the shed open, revealing an empty pole.

“Oh no…” Rainbow studied the scratch marks where Pinkie was.

“Well, that’s a shame. We best get going…” he turned for the door.

“You gotta be kidding me right?” Rainbow shouted, only to be met with another mouth full of talon.

“Shhhh!!! Do you wanna get us killed?” he whispered angrily, they both turned their attention to the outside.

There were rustling in the trees outside. Garbackle looked through the window. They were wendigos.

“What’s going on?” Rainbow asked anxiously, only to get her head held down.

“Shh." he said, "Wendigos outside.”

“Really?” Rainbow excitedly poked her head up, and was held down again.

“Stop moving! You’ll get us killed!”  

Rainbow stopped moving.

The aged griffin breathed slowly, watching the wendigos as they watched them back.

They weren't going anywhere.

"Listen kid," he spoke, still holding her head in his talons. "Only one of us is gettin' outta this." He swallowed hard.

"Wha-?" Rainbow asked, only to have her mouth covered again.

"I'm gonna run outside to distract them. You take the shotgun and run."

"But-" 

"Just do it." He glared her coldly, not wanting to waste any more time.

Rainbow nodded uncertainly as she watched him get up from their hiding spot. He peered through the crack in the door, and before she knew it, he was already gone.

Alright Dash, game time. 

Rainbow dashed out the other end, making sure that no wendigo was following her. She beat her wings as fast as they could go, hoping to make a safe flight all the way to the lodge. But fate had other ideas.

From the corner of her eye she could see a white figure following her, and it was catching pretty fast. Rainbow zipped between the trees hoping to lose it, but it was way faster than her.

It jumped. She turned. She shot. 

The wendigo flew a couple feet back, and Dash pummeled into the snow.

She got up quickly. According to Discord, a gunshot wasn't really going to slow it down for long. Rainbow picked herself up, and started zipping through the forest again. 

No doubt, the wendigo got back up again, and was chasing Dash once more. This time, she had made sure it didn't come to close.

*BANG*

The gunshot rang through the woods.

"Yeah! Take that you skinny freak!" Dash mocked as she flew on up the trail. 

Finally she saw the lodge.

She flew as fast as her wings could bring her, banging loudly on the door.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she called.

Out from the corner came Fluttershy, still looking distressed as she were before.

"FLUTTERSHY! FLUTTERSHY OPEN UP!"

Fluttershy turned around, only to stare wide eyed at the pony who had put her through unspeakable things.

"C'MON OPEN UP!"

Fluttershy just stood there, in shock as she recalled the hellish night she went through.

"FLUTTERSHY PLEASE!"

Fluttershy couldn't move. She didn't know how to react to Rainbow Dash anymore. Her best friend since fillyhood who wouldn't think twice about drowning her.

"FLUTTERSHY!!!!!!"

And that's when she saw it. 

The beast. 5 feet tall crawling behind Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy just stared, unable to move.

Rainbow noticed. She turned around.

*SCREEEEEEEEEECH* 

The wendigo's voice was deafening. It held out a claw, ready to strike.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Rainbow screamed, closing her eyes.

Then she heard a loud shot. And the sound of glass breaking. 

She turned around. It was Twilight. 

Twilight opened the door and pulled her in. 

Before she could thank Twilight for her rescue, she was already being carried by her aura. "We need to get downstairs. Now." Twilight said sternly.

She and Fluttershy were being dragged by Twilight down the hall. Fluttershy was still frozen from the shock, and Rainbow, looking back at the door where the glass was shattered, was stunned from her near death experience.
> Chapter 10: Sacrifice (2 hours Until Dawn) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

5:00 a.m.
~ 2 Hours Until Dawn

"RAINBOW WHAT?!" 

"It was unpleasant and crude, but that's what she did," Rarity sniffed, still peeved. "She even cut off our tails!"

Starlight cringed at the sight of a tailless Rarity. Surely Rainbow had gone too far.

"I can't believe it! How could she do that?"

"Apparently because she thought it was funny," Discord scowled. He was still in angry, and it showed.

Starlight tried to digest everything. She couldn't believe it. An entire night of running in the mines and the real culprit was hiding in the lodge the entire time.

She planted her face in her hooves. She should have just came back to the lodge. She shouldn't had ran away into the mines alone. Spike's gone because of some wild goose chase, and she really regretted not coming back to Twilight. Twilight wouldn't have just ran into the woods blindly. She would have thought things through carefully, and did the right thing.

She wasn't the only one feeling down. The entire room was filled with tension and dread.

Suddenly the door flung opened. Twilight was dragging Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash behind her.

"Everypony's here now," she announced, letting out a sigh of relief, but there was no time to relax still. The wendigos were still out there, but at least she's able to regroup everyone for now.

"Fluttershy!" Discord got up. With a worried look, he put his paws around her, holding her tightly. “Where were you?”

Fluttershy shook her head. She was out of harm's way now, and Rainbow Dash was still alive. She was finally recovering from her shock.

“I… I was just… getting some water…” Before she could finish, Discord pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. 

"Don't ever leave my side again," he whispered.

Fluttershy blushed, and nodded. She continued to feel the heat from Discord's fur as something within her began to stir as well.

Rainbow Dash was lying flat on her back on the floor, still trying to catch her breath. She had no energy to get up, nor any to interact with anyone in the room. She kept recalling the moment she was so close to death. If Twilight hadn't saved her with her super magic beam, she would be dead meat.

"Wait, where's Garbackle?" Starlight asked.

Rainbow coughed and splurted, trying to get up. Her throat was dry and she'd do anything to get a glass of water right now, but right now really wasn't the time. 

"Rainbow?" 

"I- I don't know," she wheezed. She finally sat upright, but sweat was still dripping from her forehead. 

"What do you mean? What happened to him??" 

"He ran off into the woods." She paused. "The wendigos... They... He lured them away from me."

There was a soft gasp followed by silence in the room. No doubt everyone had the same idea about what happened to Garbackle.

“So what now?” piped Rarity, who had her knees curled up to her chest on top an old desk. The room was filled with silence once more.

“We'll have to stay here until morning, unless any of us can teleport all of us down.” Twilight turned around. “Discord?”

Discord shook his head. “Only able to manage simple spells for now. Thanks to someone…” His gaze fell onto Dash, who sensing guilt, tried to look away from him.

Twilight turned to the other corner of the room, “Starlight? How about you?”

“Well, I’ll need to know where this mountain is facing, and how far we are from the foot of the mountain. But I don’t think that's possible to do so?”

“No Starlight." Twilight sighed deeply, "It's impossible to determine how high up we are right now.”

"Yeah, and even if I knew it'd be rather hard to teleport all of you down at once, or to teleport you down one by one. The risk of failure is too high. I can't risk dropping anyone of you halfway..."

"So we're just stuck here then?" Rarity asked, worried.

Finally, Rainbow perked up, “How 'bout we just make a run for the cable car station? I know it’s a risk, but what do we have to lose?” The entire room glared at her.

“Our heads Dash,” Discord replied, “Did I tell you that a wendigos favourite way of killing is decapitation?”

Rainbow gulped. “No?”

“Well the more you know." He smiled. "And while I do think your idea is stupid," he sighed, "It is worth a shot.” 

Everyone looked at him in shock.

“You can’t be serious?” Twilight gasped.

“I'm afraid I am,” he replied, a tone too serious even for himself.

He sighed, “Look, those wendigos are going to find us sooner or later. Their senses are much stronger than that.”

“But I thought they can only see us if we move?” Twilight interrupted. 

“Yes, but I don’t suppose all of you are going to be as still as a statue for 2 more hours are you?” 

The room fell silent once more. Everyone exchanged worried glances. 

“They can see us. Even if we are underground. They’re watching our every move, waiting to strike… It's only a matter of time before they find us.” 

“So while I don’t really like Rainbow's idea, I say it's the best we got,” he continued, “Or we could just sit here and be wendigo dinner.”

The room was silent.

“So…” Rarity quivered in her seat, “We have to go... outside…”

“That's the idea.” It was not a good plan, but as he said, it was the better than doing nothing.

Rainbow dug through her pockets. “Well I got the key to the station right here. So are we really doing this?”

“Yes, but some of us are going to have to stay behind...” Discord plucked the key from her grip. 

“What?”

“The cable car can only hold onto 4 people only. And if I recall correctly, it can barely hold onto me, and three other ponies: Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack. So I’m afraid the rest of you will have to stay.” He poked Rainbow on the muzzle. “Plus, you were the one who got us into this. So you leave last. Along with Twilight and Star. Hope none of you mind.”

“We don't,” replied Starlight.

"Wait!" Twilight interjected, “Are you sure you can take care of all of them on your own?” she asked, “It’s just-”

Discord put a finger over her lips. He smiled softly at her. “Don’t worry about it. Your friends matter as much to you as they do to me. I'll keep them safe.”

Twilight held his paw, a bit uncertain. "I believe you will."

Discord smiled at her. A warm smile. The most sincere she's seen from him. Discord let her go, turning away.

"Hold on." Twilight handed him the flare gun. "Take this with you."

"Once you get down to the station, fire this. It'll let us know that everyone is safe. Then we'll know we can proceed to the station as well."

Discord nodded and turned back to his team. "Everypony ready?" 

Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack was waiting eagerly behind him. 

"As long as I can get off this horrid mountain," Rarity sniffed.

"As ready as ever," piped Applejack.

"I'm ready..." Fluttershy replied softly.

Discord nodded one last time, and turned the handle.

"Wait!" cried Rainbow Dash. "Take this," she said, shoving the shotgun into Applejack's hooves. "You're gonna need it."

Applejack looked at the gun, and smiled. "Ah'll see ya at the bottom of the mountain ah guess. Ya rotten cheater." And she punched her square in the shoulder.

Rainbow winced, but asked weakly. "So uh... You forgive me?"

Applejack looked at the gun. "Well that depends if we survive or not. But thanks for the gun."

Rainbow returned a weak smile. Discord didn't seem to forgive her yet, and neither did Rarity, but at least she knew Applejack has. Sorta.

Discord walked out the door, followed by Rarity, and then Fluttershy. Applejack was the last to leave, leaving only three ponies sitting in the stuffy basement. They sat quietly for some time before someone broke the silence.

"Rainbow..."

"I know I messed up Twi. Stop reminding me."

"It's not that Rainbow." She sighed. "I just wanted to say that, whatever you've done tonight, we won't hold it against you. Even if you have some sick twisted humor..."

Rainbow looked down, rubbing her hooves. 

"Well I know I don't deserve it, and I know the others think so too, so just stop sympathizing with me. The only thing I want right now is for Pinkie to be here." She gritted her teeth, "I messed up and now she's gone. And there's nothing we can do anymore..." 

The three sat in solemnity.

"Wait a minute," Starlight suddenly asked, "Do you think they took her into the caves?"

"What?" she definitely caught the attention of the other two mares.

"I mean, I've seen plenty of bodies in the caves. So maybe they took her there as well?"

"Wait," Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Are you saying that Pinkie may still be alive?"

Starlight looked uncertain, but she was sure it was still a possibility. 

"I'm just saying. Maybe they took her there to be eaten later? Maybe?"

"Wait, you're telling me that these creatures live in the caves??" Rainbow shouted, "Me and Pinkie have been there and we haven't seen anything!"

"What?"

"Yeah! Me and Pinkie visited the caves a dozen times and we even mapped out some of it. I think we even left some of our stuff there. How come we didn't see anything?"

"I think it was much deeper into the caves, Rainbow," Starlight replied, "How deep into the caves did you go?"

"Pretty deep." Rainbow huffed, "But I guess you went deeper huh?"

Starlight sighed, recollecting her memories. "I had to."

Silence was becoming a thing now for this tiny room. Everyone stared at the floor for a long time, before someone had something to say.

"So what do we do now?" Twilight asked, "Pinkie, the wendigos, is it even possible?"

"I'll tell you what we'll do," Rainbow said, "We fly in there, save Pinkie, and get the hell outta here!"

"But Rainbow! It's all hypothetical. We don't know if Pinkie really is still alive!"

"But what else do we have to lose Twilight?" Rainbow cried, her eyes begging, "If you're not going to save her, I will." 

Twilight bit her tongue. She couldn't let Rainbow go out on her own. She almost died the last time she went out. But without enough of her magic, she couldn't handle that many wendigos or teleport them out from harm's way if she had to.

"I'll follow you," Starlight finally replied, "I still have my magic, and I can't let you go in there alone. You'll kill yourself. Plus, you don't stand a chance against them."

Rainbow nodded in reassurance. "Twilight?"

The purple alicorn hesitated, but replied, "I'll come too. You're gonna need as much magic on your side for this search to be a success. Let's just hope it's not too late..."

"Thanks. I'm sure we'll find something." Rainbow's tone softened.

"So how do we find these caves?" Twilight asked strategically.

"I've been studying the map Garbackle left in his bag," Starlight levitated the parchment in front of Twilight. "There's a tunnel leading to the caves just below of us."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go already!" Rainbow shouted, a little too enthusiastically.

Starlight and Twilight glanced at one another, realizing that this might as well be a suicide mission, but they knew they couldn't just give up on their friend just yet.

And so they descended into the tunnels. Twilight felt her heart racing. She didn't know what to expect down there, but she was hoping to find the remains of Pinkie at least, or Spike, before leaving this mountain for good.
> 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.
> Chapter 11: Memories (1 HOUR UNTIL DAWN) Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is gonna be so awesome!" the rainbow maned pegasus exclaimed excitedly, holding two hooves in the air.

I smiled. Rainbow was at it again. She was always up to no good. But I enjoyed it. It was why we were pranking buddies in the first place. She was the brains and I was the executioner. There was no better combo than that.

"So what'cha thinking of Dashie?" I smiled at her, bouncing along to the rhythm of her wingbeats. It was a nice summer afternoon, and Dashie had just finished her afternoon nap and had come visited me at the Sugarcube Corner. Says she has the best prank that any pony will ever see.

She stopped mid-flight. "Remember that horror movie we watched about those ponies who went camping in the woods and got abducted by a crazy chainsaw guy?"

I rolled my eyes around to try and remember. Oh yeah. It was a good movie. Everyone died in the end which wasn't so happy. But I did get a good scare though! Oh boy!

"You mean Camp Lakeside? Yeah I remember! It was pretty spooky." I made wavy hooves at Dash. She laughed. It was cute.

"Yeah! That one! So I was thinking..." She paused for dramatic effect, but I couldn't wait to let her finish her sentence.

"We should dress up as chainsaw pony and scare everyone!" I screamed.

"Uh yeah... But not really," she replied, "You see Applejack's been planning a Hearth's Warming Getaway for all of us, so I was thinking..."

"We should take them camping and scare them as chainsaw pony!" I screamed again.

Rainbow laughed. She shook her head. "Except ponies don't go camping during the holiday season Pinks."

"Oh." My hair deflated a bit. "So?"

"It doesn't have to be a campsite! I was thinking we could go somewhere else, like a ski lodge! Imagine being trapped on a mountain with a crazy killer! How awesome is that!"

I smiled back. I could already see where this was going... and I loved it.

"It even fits in with the holiday season!" she added.

"Yeah I know!" I said excitedly, arms wide, "We should totally do it!" My mind was already racing through all sort of places, but first things first we needed the perfect location.

"Ooh! Ooh!" I bounced up and down excitedly, "I'll go look up some nice places now! See ya Dash!"

And I was gone in a flash. I knew a great travel agency down in Fillydelphia. I could probably get a great discount from the manager since we're great friends too. This was gonna be great.






 


"You want me to do what?"

It was a Friday afternoon. Rainbow was back from her Wonderbolts training and she was telling me all about her new plans. We were sharing a shake at Sugarcube Corner, my treat.

"I want you to take pictures of me. You know, like how those creepy stalkers would."

"Are you sure you want that? Don't you already have fans stalking you all the time?" I said, half jokingly.

"Haha very funny Pinks." She deadpanned. "But this is for our 'little game'. And I want to make sure that the pony taking these pictures is someone I can trust." She looked at me square in the eyes. "So can you do it or not?"

I shrugged and smiled. "Why not? One batch of Rainbow Dash pictures coming right up!" I laughed. “Oh! And do you want the super ‘steamy’ ones as well?” I winked at her playfully, her face quickly growing red.

“Err…Sure. Whatever you think fits…” she said, still blushing. I laughed.

“Don’t worry Dash! It’s not like I’m attracted to you or something! Besides, it’s just a game! I’m sure you can burn them when you’re done.”

Rainbow’s face was still glowing red, and she was staring at the ground. She wasn't sure what to say at first, but ended up giving in anyway. “Yeah sure, let’s do it then.”

“Okay then! See ya!” I waved, darting back into the kitchen where my work was. Rainbow left after that to do some other stuff. Like napping. She napped all the time.

I went back to stirring my next batch of cupcakes, humming happily. This was going to be sweet!






 


"Yo Dash, check this out!" I pulled a pink sack out of my closet. It was made to resemble my body, with hooves, tail and even my cutie mark.

"And that is?" She asked, half puzzled, half disturbed.

"It's me silly! Or at least my body." I played the limbs around a little bit. "I thought maybe we could pretend to saw me in half and then I'll come out and surprise everyone that I'm okay! That'll sure shock everyone!"

"Yeah..." Rainbow's voice trailed off. It always happened when she was thinking of something. So she must be thinking of something. "Instead of coming out immediately and surprising everyone, why don't we save your 'I'm still alive' surprise at the end of the night? I mean, your death would seem more realistic that way. "

"Oh." I said, "But I want everyone to know I'm okay! So that, they don't have to keep worrying about me!"

"It's okay Pinkie, that's the point of the whole serial killer stuff. The only way people will believe there's a serial killer is that if you stay dead, got it?"

"Yeah I think I get it." I didn't really like the idea, but hey, it was Rainbow's idea originally, I'm just helping her out.

"Hey! In the meantime, you can be the serial killer too!" she said excitedly.

"What like two serial killers?" Suddenly, she had my interest again.

"Yeah! Taking down ponies all over the mountain is hard work. I could use a sidekick. What do you say?"

"I don't know Dash. Do I have to be rough on anypony? I don't want to hurt anyone."

Rainbow tapped her chin. "We'll just use some sleeping gas to put them out. No violence needed," she slapped my back. “Everypony’s gonna be fine…”






 


I stared at the pictures. The pictures I took were all stuffed in this crummy old horror novel.

Was there something I missed? I thought Dash changed her mind? I thought she said explicitly that she never wanted to see these again? She even threw them in the bin! I guess I did went too far by sneaking up her bedsheets. But did she change her mind again?

I shook my head. It couldn’t be. I had to go talk to her. There was no way she would leave pictures like these lying around. Was there? Unless someone else did it…

I shook my head again. I had to go talk to her.

I ran to her room and started banging on her door. She didn't answer. Was she even in? I continued banging anyway. 

Without realizing, I woke up Applejack instead. She started yelling at me, asking me why I was shouting so much. I didn’t know what to say. If I did say anything the secret would be out. And I Pinkie Promised I would never do that! Only Rainbow was allowed to tell everyone when she was done, so I couldn’t say much at that time.

AJ pushed me aside and started knocking. After having no response from RD I thought it'd be best to leave. Perhaps RD did want to cancel plans tonight. Perhaps…

AJ kicked the door down, much to my surprise. She barged into the room angrily and pulled the covers off of Dashie, except that she wasn’t there. I too was surprised at first, but when I inspected the broken window and her bedroom, I knew it looked too neat to have been a fight.

Dash did this. I knew it. She did this on her own. But why? This wasn’t part of the plan! Did she plan something without telling me?

But I didn’t have time to ponder these things. Applejack yelled at me to get Twilight. And even though I was reluctant, I knew I had to, or else I'd be acting too suspiciously. Dash has something planned, and I can't let it be over until she said it was...





"Dash you need to stop!" I shouted. Things have gone too far, and I wasn't going to stand around one bit.

"C'mon! You can't be bailing on me now Pinks! The traps! The set-ups! All this for nothing??"

"DASH STOP," I said sternly, I couldn't tolerate this anymore, "Applejack is not having fun. No one is. You're just scaring the wits out of them."

"But that's what you agreed to in the first place!" She screamed at me, almost deafening My ears. "You said it was going to be funny. You were excited to pull this prank off. Now you want out?! NOW??"

"BECAUSE NOPONY'S ENJOYING THEMSELVES!" My face was red, I was huffing angrily. My face felt close to burning itself into ashes. "PRANKS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ENJOYED BY ALL!!! YOU'RE JUST HURTING PEOPLE!!!"

Rainbow finally shut up. She rubbed her temples in frustration, "Fine fine. I'll stop ok?" She sighed and kicked the snow. "I’ll go get Applejack, ok?"

My face was still fierce. But inwardly, I let out a sigh of relief. I followed her to the back of the shed, and she opened up the back door. She flickered the lights on and there she was, Applejack.

I was overjoyed. Applejack was sleeping peacefully, unharmed. I knelt next to her. Oh how I wish I could tell her everything was just a joke, to finally put her mind to rest. I smiled contently.

"MHMMMHMM!"

Out of nowhere, something grabbed me, and covered my muzzle. I knew that smell. It was...

"I've came too far to stop. Sorry Pinks." I looked up. Rainbow's face was just a blurry mess of colours. I collapsed.






 


6:05 a.m.
~ 1 HOUR UNTIL DAWN

"Ugh..." Pinkie stirred, finally waking up. "Dashie?" She shouted at the empty cave.

“Dash?” Her vision was still blurry, and she couldn’t make out anything in front of her. “Where am I?” she muttered to herself.

She was surrounded by darkness on all sides, and it didn't seem like some place she was familiar with.

"Hello?" she called out. There was still no response.

She turned to her left and right. There were only rocks everywhere. 

Was she in the cave? But where? Why did Dash take her to the cave anyways?

“Dashie? Where are you?” She cried out. Her senses were finally coming to her and she could get up. She looked around. This didn’t seem like any part of the caves they've explored.

Did Rainbow Dash take her somewhere else? 

No. Rainbow couldn’t have explored the mines all on her own. Not after she had told her about the legend of the cave dwellers. 

The cave dwellers were an old folk tale her parents told her as a child, to warn her and her sisters never to venture too deeply into caves. They were described as having thin bony limbs, and empty eyes, and were as tall as 2 minotaurs combined. They fed on lost, hungry young children who got lost in the mines, eating every piece of them until they were no more. 

Looking back, her parents probably only said that to scare the Pie sisters, to stop them from getting lost in the mines. Neither of them have ever seen these 'cave dwellers' so they can't be real right?

Nevertheless, Rainbow felt uneasy travelling in the caves alone after she had told her the story, so Pinkie knew it was impossible she'd drag her body here.

Her mind stirred. If Rainbow hadn't taken her here, who has?

Pinkie was not going to rule out the possibility that someone else had been on this mountain. Someone unfriendly. A couple times her Pinkie sense had went off, but she never caught anyone else on the mountain except Dash. Perhaps the stranger was really good at hiding. Perhaps. But what if he’s taken her? Then what about Dash?

Pinkie felt a sharp pinching pain in her knee. She looked around. That meant only one thing...

She stood quietly in the darkness, waiting. She knew something was out there, waiting as well. But she couldn't see it.

Then it attacked.

A pale white creature with legs as long as broomsticks and eyes as white as glass marbles leapt from the shadows towards her.

She screamed.
> Chapter 11: Memories (1 HOUR UNTIL DAWN) FINAL PART
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

6:27 a.m.

Water droplets dripped from the ceiling rhythmically, as the ponies trodded beneath them. Occasionally, they’d fall onto one of their unsuspecting muzzles, earning a disgruntled groan from them.

The group of three have been walking for almost an hour, and if the thought of sore hooves hadn’t sent them running back, the thought of bloodthirsty monsters should have. But Pinkie was yet to be found, and they couldn’t just go back without her. The three ponies walked in silence.

“Another dead end? Come on!” Rainbow whined, wondering if they have been walking in circles the entire time. Starlight sighed at the back.

“Guys, it’s hopeless,” she sighed, “We’re never gonna find Pinkie in all these tunnels. I’ve spent the entire night here, and even I can’t find Spike!”

Twilight closed her eyes, her head hanging low, “But we can’t just give up Starlight. We have to keep trying.”

Starlight bit her lip, she knew she shouldn’t have mentioned the caves earlier, now nobody wanted to go back until they found Pinkie. It was dangerous to stay in the caves, magical ponies or not, because she knew she only barely made it out alive of them.

“Twilight, what I’m saying is, what if Pinkie’s gone for good?” she argued, “The thing I said back in the lodge… It’s all hypothetical. We don’t know if Pinkie’s already been eaten by the wendigos by now!”

Rainbow burst out in anger. “No! You’re wrong! Pinkie can’t be dead! She’s waiting for us! I know it! We can’t just give up now!”

Twilight stood silently, her mouth parched, her knees aching. A single tear shed from her eye, as she tried to take in the reality of the loss of a friend. She opened her mouth, trying to speak though her throat was beginning to sore.

“Rainbow, she’s right. I don’t think Pinkie’s alive anymore and we’re just endangering ourselves by being here. Our friends are waiting for us at the bottom of the mountain. We need to make sure they’re okay too,” she said before ending it, “I’m sorry Rainbow.”

Rainbow’s heart broke into two. She stared at the two purple ponies, her mind in complete disbelief.

“Quit?! We can’t quit now! What if Pinkie is waiting for us? What if she’s still alive?! We can’t leave her behind!!” she cried.

“Dash!” Twilight scolded, “I know you’re upset, but we can’t attract any wendigos to us, remember?”

“Yeah, but…” Rainbow stopped. “Whatever! I don’t need your help anyways! I can find her all on my own!” she shouted, covering her face as she flew away.

“Rainbow Dash!”

The voices grew softer and softer. Rainbow was certain that if no one wanted to help her, then she’d just do it all alone. Yeah, she didn’t need them. Who needs lame ‘o quitters anyway?

Rainbow wiped away her tears. Deep down inside she knew she was a goner, but she didn’t want to believe it.

Pinkie couldn’t be dead, she just couldn’t be. After everything they’ve been through, she just couldn’t be. Could she?

Rainbow wiped her tears again. It was all her fault. It was all because she didn't stop herself. It was all because she didn’t listen to her. It was all because of stupid Rainbow Dash.

Her eyes welled up in tears again and she tried to wipe them away. Before she knew it, she slammed into a rock wall and fell onto the ground. She winced in pain as blood started trickling down her forehead. She felt like the stupidest pony in the world.

This whole thing started because of what? Me trying to get back at everyone for a prank? F*ck. How stupid was I? She cried, tears falling onto her sides.

The pain continued to grow as she laid helplessly on the ground. She wished she could turn back time. She wished she could have stopped everything from happening. She wished she could have stopped herself from doing this in the first place. She wished she could just get out of this stupid…

*HISS*

She froze. She remembered that hiss. She remembered that hiss way too clearly. Her eyes went wide opened as she spotted the same creature from the woods attached to the ceiling. She froze in horror. She couldn’t fight back right now even if she wanted to. She had no gun, and she was bleeding loads from her head. Her breathing quickened, fate had finally caught onto her.

“No… Please no…” she begged the creature. She was too young to die for all the dumb things she’s done, she knew she just was. “Please don’t…”

“RAINBOW DASH!!” Twilight shouted, charging at the beast. “STAY AWAY FROM HER!” She summoned a fire spell, firing it directly at the wendigo. It fell from the ceiling, almost crushing Rainbow underneath it, but it disappeared into a pile of ashes before even hitting the floor.

 “Are you okay?” Twilight knelt down next to her, instantly realizing she had a major wound on her head, “Oh my god you’re bleeding!”

Rainbow sobbed. She didn’t care about that, she didn’t care if she had a massive wound on her head right now. There was only one thing on her mind. “It’s all my fault Twilight…” she said through the tears, “It’s all my fault Pinkie’s gone…” she wept.

Twilight looked at her, compassion in her eyes. Even though Rainbow had put them through one of the most unpleasant nights of their lives, she knew deep down, Rainbow was just a kid trying to grow up. And even if she matures slower than everyone else, she didn’t have the right to make her feel worse than she already felt right now. She wrapped her scarf around her wound and started to comfort her.

“Whether it’s your fault or not can be settled later. Right now, we need to get out of here.”

Rainbow dried her tears, trying to pull herself together. But the two weren’t left alone for long as they heard screaming coming from the tunnels.

“Guys! We gotta go!”

It was Starlight, and behind her was a massive hoard of wendigos.

Both mares eyes widened as Twilight hurriedly picked Rainbow off the ground. All three mares began running down the tunnels, the wendigos hungry for a taste of them. Rainbow’s head continued to throb, but she couldn’t care less about it right now.

The three galloped at max speeds, Starlight keeping a look out on the creatures who were gaining on them. Twilight halted suddenly, the trio confronted by another hoard of wendigos approaching from the front. They were trapped.

“Oh no. We are not becoming wendigo dinner tonight!” Starlight shouted, a bright glow erupted from her horn.

They pony trio teleported past the wendigos, into the far end of the tunnel, giving them a much needed lead over them.

“What are we waiting for? C’mon!” Starlight shouted, leading the way. The two mares followed without hesitation.

The chase continued. The wendigos quickly spotted them again and were coming down the tunnels. Rainbow looked back. They now had a distance advantage over the wendigos, but she knew they would catch up soon, and then they would need another plan.

Rainbow’s train of thought was interrupted when Twilight stopped in her tracks again. Rainbow noticed that they were now stepping on planks, and that there was a giant hole right beneath them. The planks ended not too far from where Twilight was standing. It was a dead end.

She looked up. Fire crackled above their heads as they stood over the shaky platform. Twilight squinted at the fire, confused. But soon she recognized the fiery structure above them. It was the radio tower. Or what’s left of it. Because all that was remaining was a flaming pile of debris hanging over them.

“Great! Where do we go now?” Rainbow shouted.

“The fire is blocking our way out. We can’t fly through that!” Twilight said, “And there’s no way we can fight that many of them!”

“Then what do we do?!”

Twilight panicked. Time was ticking away and the wendigos were getting closer. Was this the end? Is this how they were going to die?

Starlight spoke.

“You guys can’t fight them, but I can.”

“WHAT?!” Both mares turned around in shock.

Before they could say another word, they were teleported out of the gorge, landing in a pile of snow. The shrieks and hissing were growing near, but Starlight was ready.

“Starlight no!” Twilight got out from the snow, running to the edge of the gorge. “Starlight!”

But Starlight ignored her. She smirked. The shapes and figures were growing closer, and she pointed her horn down.

“Time to send you all back to Tartarus where you belong.” She gritted her teeth.

“Starlight no-”

Immediately, the blast shook the entire mountain. Twilight fell back, as fire spewed from the mouth of the gorge. She shielded her eyes from the incoming flames, she could not advance any further.

She felt a tug on her right shoulder.

“C’mon! We have to go!” Rainbow shouted, pulling her away from the fire.

“But Starlight-”

“She’ll be fine! C’mon!” Rainbow urged, already running ahead.

Twilight looked back at the chasm. The flames went on and on, drowning her hopes that Starlight would survive. But Rainbow was right, they had to go. The snow around her was thawing really quickly, and if she didn’t go soon, she’d get washed down by the rushing waters.

She clenched her teeth and ran.

Oh Celestia please be alright.

Rainbow dashed into the woods, already having a head start over Twilight. She was defenseless, so all she could hope for was that she wouldn’t be jumped by a wendigo at any moment. She sprinted past the shed, and the generator, over the river and up the steps, until she finally reached the lodge.

“Dammit!”

The doors were shut tight. She had to think of a fast way in before…

“AAHHH!”

“Rainbow it’s just me!” Twilight shouted. Rainbow fell back, wiping her brow and breathed a sigh of relief. Twilight used her magic to open up the door from the other side, and the two went into the basement.

“Finally,” Rainbow smiled, “We’re safe.” She sank into the stiff musty old sofa, glad to be out of danger for now. Twilight paced around worriedly.

“Rainbow, did you see any flares on your way back?”

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow, surprised at the sudden question, “No?”

Twilight shook her head, a sign of distress. “Me neither, but Discord and the others should have reached the bottom by now, I hope nothing’s happened to them…”

“Maybe they just forgot or something?” Rainbow mused, knowing that that was not quite the answer Twilight was thinking off.

“What if they were attacked? What if they didn’t make it off the mountain alive?!” Twilight hyperventilated, putting a hoof to her head.

“Twilight!” Rainbow grabbed her. “Pull. Yourself. Together!” she shouted in her face, “I’m sure they’re alright!”

Twilight still looked stressed as Rainbow held onto her. But the two were cut short when they both heard a loud growling. They both looked at each other, fear gripping their hearts. Before either could say anything, a giant claw reached through the walls.

“Run!” Rainbow cried. Twilight was way ahead of her, darting back up the stairs in a flash. Rainbow followed suit, but the wendigo had already broken in.

“Dammit!”

Rainbow slammed the basement door and ran.

She finally made it to the top when...

"Don't. Move. A. Muscle."

Twilight stood frozen in front of her, and soon Rainbow caught on to what was going on. 3 more wendigos had broken into the lodge, and they were crawling about on the ceiling. Their beady eyes twitching for every signs of movement.

The wendigos didn't notice either pony, which was good, but not for long.

Soon enough, the wendigos started to notice each other's presence. They glared at one another, neither recognizing the odor the other one had gave. They eyed one another, as enemy would to enemy, before they pounced at one another.

The two engaged in an intense fight, but it ended quickly when one grabbed the other by the neck and ripped its head apart. Twilight closed her eyes. Rainbow felt her heart stop.

The victor flung the corpse across the room, smashing the fireplace and destroying it completely. Rainbow couldn’t stand being around like this, they had to get out now.

That's when they smelled it. Gas.

Twilight looked at Rainbow, and Rainbow looked back at her, both their gazes falling onto the light bulb nearby.

Twilight inched forward carefully, avoiding the gaze of the wendigos. She eventually made it to the light bulb seated over the fireplace, the smell of gas more pungent than ever. She held her breath, her purple aura enveloping the light bulb.

*CRACK*

The wendigos turned. All eyes were on her. One wendigo dropped from the ceiling and moved towards her, eyes never shifting.

Twilight tried to stay still, but it was no use.

"Hey!"

The wendigo turned to Rainbow Dash, who had now moved across the room. Rainbow stood still as it inched closer menacingly, placing its face inches from hers, breathing heavily. Rainbow held her breath, standing as still as she could, hoping that the griffin’s advice was true. Suddenly, a snap came from the other side of the lodge, making the wendigo turn away.

It was another wendigo, and it was as hungry the first one. They growled, leaping at one another, locked in a fight.

Rainbow finally turned back to Twilight, who was moving closer and closer to the front door, successfully avoiding all attention.

Twilight gave her one last look before running out of the lodge. The wendigos continued to fight, not noticing, each matching the other in terms of strength and speed.

It was now or never.

Rainbow galloped as fast as she could towards the front door. The wendigos spotted her immediately, chasing her down the halls. Her head was still hurting from the wound but she knew she had to resist it. With every trot she stepped she was racing for her life, the wendigos proving that they had much more speed over her without even trying. But as she neared the front door, and felt that death was only a few mere inches away, she clenched her teeth and flipped the light switch.

The entire cabin exploded in a huge blast, sending Rainbow face first into the snow. Twilight was hiding behind a snow mound, watching the ski lodge spout flames from its windows and doors. The sight was truly gruelling.

Rainbow tried to pick herself up from the snow, her right ear charred from the explosion, and the wound in her head hurting more than ever. She tried to get up, but could only remain in a crouched position. Everything hurt like hell.

"Rainbow!" Twilight cried, running to her. "Oh sweet Celestia you're burnt!"

Rainbow winced. First she gets a head injury and now she gets burnt. Karma sure knew how to make her pay for her sins.

Twilight dragged her away from the flames, falling over once they reached past the picnic tables, safely away from the fire. The two laid in the snow, backs aching as the rest of their bodies.

Suddenly, they heard a loud whirring sound from above, as well as a voice over the radio. They looked up.

"We have visual. The main structure is completely destroyed, over."

"Hold on, I'm seeing something."

"I have confirmation on two survivors, over."

"Alright, let's pick 'em up."  c
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Please sit down.”

I took a seat on the hard wooden chair, his gaze met mine as we sat across one another, in this tiny concrete cell.

“Please, tell us what happened.”

I stared blankly at him, trying to think of the correct way to word things.

But there wasn’t any. There was no way that I could have properly described the things that happened last night.

I tried to buy some time, shifting my gaze around the table and around the room. But his glare was growing colder by the minute, demanding answers from me.

Finally, I couldn't stand wasting any more time and I took a deep breath.

“I- I mean we- We were having our Hearths Warming party on top of Blackhoof Mountain. Everything was going fine until… the lights went out, all of a sudden, and Starlight and Spike had to go out and check, and I…I…” Tears began to well up in my eyes.

“It’s okay miss. Please take your time,” he said sympathetically.

I tried desperately to rub the tears away, but it only grew stronger.

“I- I don’t know what happened,” I cried, “There was this crazed maniac, and he took Rainbow Dash, and… and…”

“Hold on,” he stopped me, “A crazed maniac?”

“Yes,” I replied in tears, “He kidnapped me, and drugged me, and oh god…” I continued to weep.

“Miss, can you please describe this crazed maniac? What did he looked like?”

I stopped.

I knew who it was. But she was my friend. And no matter how horrible she treated me, does it merit me selling her out?

“Miss? Can you please tell me how the killer looked like?”

“Well, you see… it was…” I mumbled, “You see actually… It was…”

The cop waited patiently for my answer.

“It was…… Rainbow Dash.” I answered, finally giving in.

“Pardon?”

“I said it was Rainbow Dash!” I screamed.

The cop was taken aback. He sank back into his chair, speechless.

“Oh no. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to break out like that…”

“It’s okay,” he sighed, “After a traumatic experience like that, we all have a few things to get off our chests…”

“…”

He leaned forward again.

“So was it this ‘maniac’ who hurt your friend?”

I shook my head. He probably wasn’t going to believe this, but it was…

“It was the wendigos…”

“What?”

“The wendigos!” I shouted, “These spider like thingies that are crawling all over this mountain!” I paused, my eyes growing wide.

“Oh no, oh no no no…”

“Miss are you ok-”

“My friends! You have to get my friends off of that mountain! Those things are going to kill them!!!”

“Miss, please remain calm.”

“HOW CAN I REMAIN CALM?? MY FRIENDS ARE STILL TRAPPED UP THERE!!”

“Miss, the Blackhoof Rangers have already sent a helicopter to the top of the mountain. They will pick up whatever survivors they can find. But in the meantime, all we can do is-”

“You don’t know what is up there…” I cut him off, “Those things, they’re… they’re inhumane…” I said, tears resurfacing.

“And if my friends don’t get off this instant they are going to be turned into wendigo food…”

The room was quiet. He took a deep breath.

“We understand. And we promise to do our best. But for now…” He dug into his pockets and handed over a key. “You should take a rest. You’ve had a rough night. This is your room key at the local inn, we rented it out for you until we’ve contacted Canterlot unit for further investigation.”

“But-”

“We’ll let you know if we find any of your friends,” he finished, holding open the door.

I stared at the key on the table, biting my lip.

“What about my friend?”

He paused for a second.

“No one knows for sure. But I’m certain they’re doing everything they can to make things work. No one knows what’s going to happen, but we’re all hoping for the best.”

“Any other questions?”

I looked up, and gave him one last friendly smile, "No. Thank you so much officer."

My mind was a haze. I dragged my feet through the corridor, wondering what might be of my friends.

Everything was over for me now, but for everyone else, this nightmare could get even worse. I didn't want to think about it.

*SLAM*

I fell backwards, wincing. I had been so focused on the floor that I hadn’t notice the front door opening suddenly.

I whined as I rolled on the floor. Cursed be whoever who did that!

But before I was able to get up, I heard a voice.

“Rarity?” it said, “Is that you?”

I looked up, and gasped.





He looked at me skeptically. He didn’t believe a word I said.

“And then what happened?” he asked, clearly annoyed.

I frowned. It’s been almost an hour since I’ve been here. My butt was sore, my throat was dry. All because I have to answer these stupid questions over and over again. It’d be so much easier if he’d just believe me.

“I. Blew. Them. Up.” I said, making sure he heard every syllable correctly this time.

He tapped his pencil impatiently, flipping through his notes again.

“It’s there,” I said, “I’m sure you can find it. The entire place…” I swung my arms in the air, “Boom. Collapsed. It’s all just rubble now.”

He continued to concentrate on his notes, frowning as he tried to believe what he just heard.

“Alright so let me get things straight,” he cupped both hooves together, in a very annoyed fashion, “You just… miraculously survived all that?”

“Yeah.”

“This is nuts.”

“But I’m telling you the truth!”

“Okay look,” he snapped at me furiously, “You expect me to believe that some spider like creature attacked you, and then you just what, killed it?”

“Yeah pretty much.”

He turned away and rubbed his temples before turning to face me again.

“Okay, let’s recap,” he said angrily, “You and your friend went to investigate the power cutout,” he scowled, flipping his papers aggressively, “-and both of you somehow ended up in the mines. You got separated, you blew up the spider thing, and then you miraculously survived?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“Without getting crushed by the rubble or anything? And then you just rode the train all the way back to Canterlot like nothing happened,” he ended, dropping his notebook. Clearly he still didn’t believe me.

I was very unamused. “Well I thought the first logical thing I should do was contact the authorities, but it seems like they’re not much help at all don’t you think?”

His frown grew worse. He was staring me straight in the eye.

“All I’m saying is that you guys need to go check out those mines, okay?" I continued, "There are some creatures living in there that could be a danger to other ponies who go up there.”

He groaned and covered his face with his hooves.

“Look kid, as much as I want to believe you, that story is absurd.”

I've had enough.

I climbed onto the table, and looked him dead in the eye. 

"Just. Believe. Me."

The entire office was staring in our direction now. I looked at him again and he was looking way annoyed than before.

“I’ll take your story to my boss, see what he thinks about it?”

And he got up, and he walked away.

I sat back in my seat, quietly as I continued to receive weird glances from ponies in the office.

You know what? Who cares if he doesn't believe me? I survived, and that means something to me at least.

I laid back into the chair. The fact that I was still alive right now was a miracle to me. 

I closed my eyes for a little, and immediately I was taken back into the mines.

I shouted for Starlight, again and again, but soon I was losing hope that she was ever going to make it. 

I clenched my teeth. This can't be the end for me, can it? After all these years, I never even got to confess to Rarity even!

That's when it hit me. The dynamite!

Instinctively, I pulled it out and lighted it with my fire. I only had one shot at this so I knew I couldn’t miss. When the fuse was about to burn out, I threw it.

The detonation was deafening. The caves collapsed, a loud shrieking was heard, and suddenly I felt the hands let me go.

After what seemed like forever, all the rumbling finally stopped. I got up.

The tunnels were silent now.

I looked at the rubble. The creature was crushed.

If I hadn’t threw it far enough, I would’ve been crushed too.

I didn't stick around for long, in case the beast was somehow still alive. I ran down the other direction.

The rest of the night was hard to describe. I was lost in the dark for a very long time, with only my own fire as a source of guidance. I would hear shrieking and hissing occasionally, and I'd stop moving until I was sure I was alone.

Eventually I was out of the mines. I felt a great success, getting through such a disastrous night. My heart was fluttering to tell everyone I was back until...

The entire lodge was already gone.

I stared at the flaming lodge. No, this couldn't be happening-

“Rarity?! Twilight! Anybody?!” I screamed. The flames continued to lick what was left of the lodge.

I fell on my knees. There was nothing left for me. After having survive such a horrific night, all my friends were gone.

"No..."

Suddenly, something grabbed my shoulder from behind.

“AAAHHHH!!!!” 

The stranger took off his mask, revealing an old griffin underneath.

“What are ya doing here?!” he shouted at me.

“Who wha?”

He sighed, “Look, your friends have gotten off this mountain, and you better go too.”

“But-”

“Just go!”

I stumbled backwards into the snow, confused. But I got going. Once I reached the cable car station it was a mess. Just what in Celestia's name happened here?

I only hoped that Rarity and Twilight were alright.

I snapped back to reality. The cop had returned, looking rather unpleased. He slammed a stack of files onto the desk.

“Looks like your story actually checks out. We’ve just received several reports from the Blackhoof County of several eye witnesses who saw a similar spider like creature on those mountains. They’re now on their way here for further investigation.”

“Wait, you mean, my friends are, still alive?”

“Well I don’t know who these people are so maybe you’d recognize them,” he insisted, pushing the files towards me. “Have a look.”

I gulped, and grabbed the first one.





The past hour has been hell. Being dragged into the police station was not the first thing I wanted to do today.

“And what were you doing with this weapon?” the cop pointed.

I looked up.

“Protecting myself from the wendigos.”

“The what?”

“The wendigos. Long legged creatures, big beady eyes, might look like they came out of your mother’s grave,” my answer was half snarky, and he wasn’t amused.

“Listen here, punk. I say you better spill the beans or things might have to get very rough from here.”

“Well, there’s nothing much to spill really. I’m innocent. I’ve done nothing wrong. I carry a weapon around for self-defense, so what?”

He continued to stare me down like a hawk.

“And why on earth would you need this to ‘defend’ yourself?”

I smiled, “The wendigo ain’t like nothing you’ve seen in Equestria. It’s got thick hard skin, like an armor, which can only be get rid of by fire,”

“Now I wouldn’t expect ya to believe me, but as far as I know I didn’t hurt anyone so that means you can’t charge me for anything.”

One look at him and I knew he still wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

“And what about those kids? They reported a suspicious looking person out kidnapping their friends.”

“I’ve never kidnapped anyone,” I replied blandly, “It was probably the wendigo.”

“And who are these wendigos?!” he slammed his hooves on the table, finally losing his patience.

I smirked, “Only the vilest creatures ever lived,”

“They feed on pony flesh, tearing them up bit by bit until they’re all just bones,” I said, “It’s not pretty.”

He bit his lip and clutched his pen tightly.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m not lying.”

Just then the door opened.

The guard almost immediately fell onto his face. 

“Princess Celestia!” he shouted. 

“At ease, Bowhoof. I’ve talked to the girls, this man is free to go.”

“But… but…”

“That is an order. This man saved their life.”

The cop continued to stutter while I strutted past him confidently to greet the Princess.

“Fancy meeting you here, princess.”

She greeted me with a warm smile, her ambience cool and welcoming.

“I’m sorry about what you had to put through," she apologized, "I owe you the world for saving the girls’ lives.”

I grinned a toothy grin, “Just doing my job ma’am.”

I was about to reach for my flamethrower and leave, but the Princess stopped me.

“I’m afraid that this still does not warrant you the liberty to carry your weapon around here. You’ll have to leave it.”

This has to be a joke.

“Then how am I supposed to fight wendigos from now on, your Highness?” I asked, half mockingly.

“You won’t be,” she replied sternly, never breaking eye contact with me, “My sister and I will take it from here.”

I couldn't believe it. “You sure you can handle them Princess?” I scoffed, "From my years of experience, wendigos are the darnest things you don't want to deal with."

She smiled gently at me.

“Trust me,” and she left.

I sighed. There was nothing much left I could do. I said my final goodbyes to ol’ Milliard, and left him behind.

As I turned the corridor, I saw the familiar Stetson doning gal. She saw me too, as she started walking towards me.

“Hiya lil’ lady,” I smiled. “How ya holdin' up?”

“I'm holdin' up just fine, thanks for asking,” she greeted bashfully, “Look sir, me an’ Fluttershy can’t thank ya enough for saving our behinds on top of that mountain. Celestia knows what would’ve happened if you weren't there. ”

I smiled, “It's what I do best.”

“I mean, we couldn’t believe you were still alive! After Rainbow returned without you, we all thought… We all thought you were gone…”

I chuckled, “Those wendigos couldn’t lay a damn finger on me even if they tried.”

“Yeah,” she nodded quietly.

“So uhh... Are you going back to Blackhoof Mountain? To finish of them wendigos?” she asked.

I sighed, “Nah, I can’t go back anymore. Princess’ orders.”

“Oh,” she faced down, “I guess the Princess just wants you to be safe, that’s all.”

“And I hope she’s safe as well. Wendigos ain’t easy to deal with y’know?”

“Yeah. I know," she said, "And I wouldn't want to see another one of those darn things ever again,” 

“Anyways what are you going to do from now on?” she asked me suddenly.

I hummed. I never gave it much thought. I've always assumed I would live and die on that mountain, slaying wendigos until I my I reached my deathbed. 

“I don't know. Maybe I’ll fly back to in Griffinstone, maybe I’ll stick around, see how the world’s changed,” I told her.

“Well good luck with that,” she smiled, about to leave. “Oh and if ya ever need a place to stay, we here at Sweet Apple Acres invite you with open arms. It’s the least we can do.”

“Thanks for the offer. I’ll think about it.”

We parted ways and bid farewell. When I exited the castle, the sun was already soaring high in the sky. It’s good to finally feel some warmth after all that time spent on Blackhoof Mountain.

I took my time to really drink in the surroundings. The city of Canterlot sure has changed a lot since the last time I was here.

I looked up at the clock tower. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to leave this wendigo business behind...





“Twilight, my sister and I will handle this matter, you should head home and get some rest.”

“But princess-”

“I understand your concerns Twilight, but there’s nothing left that you can do.”

I lowered my head, things could have gone a lot differently.

“Thank you Princess Celestia, for everything.” I withdrew respectfully. She was the Princess after all, and I trusted that she had the wisdom to know what she was doing.

The doors to the throne room shut behind me. I stood at the mighty steps of Canterlot castle, gazing at what's left of the day. It was already growing late, and Celestia had already painted the evening skies with dashes of red and orange, and all that awaited Canterlot was Luna's night sky. I trotted down the castle steps, and hurried down the streets.

It’s been two days since the incident, and although a handful of us has been found, there was still a few that remained missing, and it was starting to worry me. It was tough enough to survive one night alone, try imagining being up there for two.

I arrived at the train station. After paying for the ticket, I sat down and glanced at the clock. 

6:17 p.m.

The last train to Ponyville should be arriving soon.

Speaking of Ponyville, most of us had already returned home this afternoon. The only ones who were still in Canterlot were me, Rainbow and Discord. Rainbow's wanted for further investigation, and Discord is still in the hospital. Things are looking up for him though, I just hope he’s gonna be alright.

As for Rainbow, no one knows how many more days they’ll keep her there. At least she's alive. I couldn't imagine anyone surviving such a close blast. Still, her right ear was burnt from the explosion, but otherwise she was considered fully recovered.

The train finally arrived at the station and as soon as the doors opened I plopped myself down on the closest seat. I sank back into the cushions, but still I couldn't feel relaxed. 

Everything up till today just felt so surreal. Everything that happened that night just seemed like a fading nightmare now. But I know it wasn’t, no matter how much we all wanted it to be.

I dozed off on the train soon enough. But managed to wake up as the train arrived in Ponyville. I got off, and was greeted by the barren platform. 

Who am I kidding? Not many ponies get off this late at Ponyville anyways.

I made my way down town. Most of the street lights had begun to illuminate the streets, but there weren’t many ponies wondering about except me.

The entire town’s already heard about the incident by now, and despite their good-willed condolences, there wasn’t really anything much they could do to help anyone feel better. At least now that the case is closed, maybe we’ll have some closure ourselves.

I reached the doorstep to my own castle. Spike’s probably asleep by now. Can't blame him. These couple days have been taxing on everyone, especially me.

But I was finally home and I didn't want to waste another second thinking about it. I opened the large two doors, and went inside. I considered making myself something to eat before going to bed, but my body was already aching from all the work we had to do these couple days. I decided that one night without dinner probably wasn't going to kill me, so I headed towards bed.

While making my way to my room, I noticed a distant light shining from one of the rooms. I neared it slowly, to realise that the light was coming out from the throne room. That was odd. What was Spike doing in the throne room at this hour?

Intrigued, I slowly pushed open the door to the throne room.

“Spike, I thought you were in bed. What are you-”

I gasped.

Seated across the table was a smug grin, a bowl of cereal in one hoof and a spoon in the other.

Words could not describe how far my smile grew at that moment.

“C’mon Twilight, you didn’t think I was dead, did you?”





I sat quietly, facing the unforgiving glare.

“You have to understand why we’re doing this. We can’t let the actions of one pony bring the whole team down.”

I shut my eyes and nodded.

“You’re just lucky no one is pressing any charges. Everyone forgives you. Sort of. And they’re ready to move on. But we can’t just let this slide willy nilly. I mean look at what you did to yourself.” She pointed furiously, “This is not how we want the team to be represented.”

I continued to nod silently. 

“Look, you’re one of our best fliers, and we can never replace you,” she sighed, “But we can’t have you around if you’re meant to represent the best of the best of Equestria.”

I shut my eyes tight. I knew what she was gonna say, and no amount of mental preparation was enough for this.

“You’re fired. Now get out of here.”

This was a complete disaster. I knew it was gonna happen, but that didn't take away the blow it had on me.

I only had myself to blame. Seriously, what had I gotten myself into?

Getting detained for days was already bad enough. Having to serve community service for 3 whole months was even worse. And now, I’m fired from the job I love the most.

I obediently dragged my belongings off the table, and went out the door.

As I stepped into the hall, I can feel everyone stopping and glaring at me. I knew what I looked like, and I knew I was a walking disaster. I tried to cover myself with my wings, but that only drew more attention.

The entire walk from Spitfire’s office to the exit seemed to go on forever. It was as if the world wanted everyone to look at how bad I was right now.

Finally I saw the doors. I pushed them out and stepped onto the field.

Wonderbolts were still having their training at this hour. They graced the skies with their wonderful coloured trails. It's a shame that I’ll never get to join them again.

I took a good hard look at everyone on the field. Something about them made me feel worse about myself. They all have a bright future ahead of them. I could have still been one of them. But then I just had to go and screw everything up.

I pressed my tears back in. I didn’t know what to do, where to go. Everything just felt like a dead end.

I continued to stare miserably at them, as they soared the skies, as they welcomed the incoming dusk with their beautiful flying colours. I envied them.

I don’t know how long I was staring at them for. But day soon turned into night and before I knew it I was staring at nothing at all. That’s when the tears came back again. Just like the moon in the sky, I was alone.

I dried my tears. I flew down to Ponyville.

The entire town was peaceful and quiet. I didn't even know if I wanted to go home. I just wanted to roam the streets until I fell down dead.

I dragged my feet around town until I saw something. Under a street light, I saw a familiar face.

She saw me too, from far away. And she walked slowly closer. I froze.

“Dash?” She greeted quietly.

I couldn’t believe it.

“You’re alive!” she shouted.

She threw herself around me, holding me tightly.

"You're... you're alive..." my mouth trembled, my throat felt itself constrict.

“Of course silly. I couldn’t just leave you all behind…”

“But, we-” my cheeks burnt, “we-"

"I left you behind,” I choked. Everything felt so wrong, just seeing her again, after all this time, after what I did.

She rubbed my cut up stubby mane with a warm gentle smile, “That doesn’t matter right now, silly. What matters is my favorite partner in crime is still in town.”

Tears seemed to flow out of me uncontrollably. 

“I’m so sorry Pinkie… It was all my fault… I should have listened to you when you told me to stop… I put everyone... I put you in danger." I cried, "I’m a terrible friend…”

Pinkie sighed as she combed my mane, “Yeah, you are. But I forgive you.”

We hugged silently under the street light for what seemed like forever. Finally, she broke the hug.

“Hey, come to Sugarcube Corner!” her tone changed dramatically. “All our friends are there!”

“Wait, everyone? Even Spike and Starlight?”

“Yeah! It was going to be a 'Congratulations We're All Alive Party' but then you weren't there, but now you are!” 

I hesitated. But before I knew it, she was dragging me all the way across town to her place.

Everything was happening so quickly, I wasn’t even sure if I was ready to meet everyone just ye-

“Hey everyone! Rainbow Dash is back!” she burst open the door. Everyone immediately turned to us.

I stared at everyone nervously.

“Hi."

That’s the only thing I could squeeze out of me. Everyone was still mad at me, probably, and this was probably the last place I wanted to be tonight.

“Rainbow you’re back!” Twilight shouted of joy, finally breaking the silence. She pulled me in for a hug.

“So how’d it go with Spitfire?” she whispered.

“As well as you’d think. I’m not a Wonderbolt anymore.”

“Dash-”

“It’s fine, it’s what I deserve anyway.” And I moved her away.

“Ugh so how’s everyone?” I smiled. Although everyone looked neutral, I could feel that they were still mad at me. I can’t blame them, I’m pretty mad at myself too.

“Well I’ve spent almost a week in the hospital,” Discord was the next to speak to me, though through his tone, I knew he would rather not look at me right now. 

"So how was it?" I asked nervously.

“Oh just wonderful! Definitely had the time of my life being on the brink of death.” He deadpanned.

“Really?” I asked bashfully.

“NO.” He glared.

Well that was that.

Rarity spoke to me next. She walked up to me, hitting her hoof on my chest.

“Rainbow, understand this. I am still very mad at you. What you did to me was horrible and unforgivable. But since you are my friend, I will forgive you, on one condition.”

“You must be my fashion model for the next 4 weeks. And you must help me at my boutique whenever possible.”

I shouted, “Aw come on Rarity! Anything but that!”

“No. No. That’s the only fair punishment I can give. Unless you want to get something from Discord, I wouldn't mind…”

I glanced over her shoulder. Discord was giving me a crazed smile.

“On second thought, I’m good.”

“While you’re at it,” AJ added, “The farm could use some extra hooves too! I’m sure a couple weeks of hard labor will fix up everything that ya done.”

I grumbled, “Fine. Anyone else wants me as their slave?”

No one else responded. Good. Trying to juggle out serving in the community and working for Applejack and Rarity was gonna be a chore, especially Rarity. Her work takes forever, cause' she’s always looking for the perfect ribbon or the perfect gem. And don't get me started on being her model.

“Either way we’re just glad you came out okay,” Fluttershy interrupted, “How’s your ear by the way?”

“Uhhh,” I lightly touched it. Yep, it still stung. “It still hurts a little… Ow. It’s best not to touch it.”

“Well just be glad you’re still alive Rainbow Dash. I almost got crushed by a cave in!” Spike exclaimed.

“What? Really?”

“You should have seen me take on that wendigo. I was like boom, crash, pow! Bye-bye wendigo.” He smirked.

“It’s crazy how long all this seems like it happened ago. Like everything we went through was all just a crazy nightmare,” Starlight said, “I’m just glad we all made it.”

“Yeah! The important thing is, Dash is here, and everyone is here. We’re all here!” Pinkie screamed.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Hold on!” Pinkie reached for two cups of cocoa by the counter, passing me one of them.

“I would like to dedicate this toast to all of us!” she cheered, “To surviving the most horrific night of our lives!”

“To surviving!” everyone followed.

I felt a smile stretch across my face as well. The next couple weeks are probably going to be the worst of my life, not to mention Discord probably has intentions of murdering me in my sleep. But right here, right now, this was everything I wanted. Everyone together, alive, and happy.