My Little Pony Friendship is Magic The Movie: What If?

by SuperPinkBrony12

Part 11: Mount Aris At Last

The ponies and Spike all screamed at the top of their lungs as they were hurled through the air! Everything seemed to be happening at once.

Well, it wasn't long before Pinkie Pie found herself unable to keep from laughing hysterically, all the while a big smile spread across her face. She knew she should be terrified, horrified at the prospect of falling. But all she could think to do in this situation was laugh, laugh long and loud. It didn't seem to matter to her that none of her friends were joining her. She just kept on laughing.

Rarity, meanwhile, after briefly admiring herself in a mirror as it tumbled past, screamed at the top of her lungs! "FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA! SOMEPONY DO SOMETHING!"

Twilight appeared to need no further encouragement. She reacted quickly, using her magic to grab a large basket, some ropes, and a huge canvas! She then hastily snatched up all her friends, tossing them into the basket as she tied it to the canvas with the ropes. From there, she shook Spike furiously, then pointed him upward as he shot out flames from his mouth. The young alicorn princess had thus managed to rig a make-shift hot air balloon. And that was enough to save her friends from what would've been a grizzly, gruesome fate.

Once the shock of their near death experience wore off, the ponies breathed heavily while getting their bearings. Rainbow Dash in particular was quite furious with Twilight for her rash decision! "Why did you do that, Twilight?! Now Tempest definitely knows we were on board!"

"The pirates were about to give us up, I could tell," Twilight frowned in reply. "Just because you inspired them to go back to their roots doesn't mean they could be trusted. They're pirates, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow wasn't convinced. "They weren't like Capper. We should've trusted them to protect us. Now, thanks to you, we're back to square one with no allys at all!"

The alicorn princess remarked. "I'm just trying to keep us out of the Storm King's clutches. Don't forget, our goal all along has been Mount Aris and the hippogriffs. We've got plenty of allies in other kingdoms as it is, we don't need to be adding allies who can't be trusted."

"Well you'd better hope for your sake that Tempest showed mercy on the pirates." The brash speedster snorted, then said nothing more on the subject.

Applejack could only remark. "Let's not be fightin' amongst ourselves," She turned to Twilight. "Next time, how about a little warnin' before you do somethin' that drastic, sugarcube?"

"Hopefully, we won't end up in another situation like that." Twilight declared.

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, let out a gasp as she only now realized something! "Oh no! I left the map behind on the ship! I didn't have time to grab it with all that happened!"

Twilight groaned anew. "Just great," She sarcastically remarked. "Let's just hope nothing else goes wrong for us. Queen Novo and the hippogriffs better be in a mood for visitors."

---

The hot air balloon drifted across the sky for a while. As it did so, an unease silence fell over the balloon's occupants. Recent events were giving them a lot to think about and to reflect on, and most of it was not very good. No one needed to say it outloud, but it was clear to even those who might try to be optimistic that this journey beyond Equestria was threatening to fray bonds that had once seemed unbreakable.

At last, Mount Aris came into view. From afar, it wasn't possible to make out any signs of civilization, but there did seem to be settlements at the very peak of the mountain. Unfortunately for the friends, their make-shift hot air balloon wasn't able to land on the peak, they had to settle down at the surface. And the only way to reach the top was via a winding set of stairs.

The seven friends walked (or in the case of Rainbow Dash flew) up the steps in silence, even though they weren't really in the mood for such a hike. But of course, since they were not well rested and had gone quite a while without eating, they didn't have much strength left in them.

Eventually, Rarity reached her breaking point. She collapsed on the steps with a groan. "Oh, I give up! My hooves can't take any more of this! I'm sorry, you'll all have to go on without me."

Rainbow Dash replied. "But Rarity, we're literally almost there." And she was right. All could see that there were only a few more steps needed to reach the peak of Mount Aris.

Upon reaching the top, however, the ponies and Spike were shocked to see that instead of a vibrant civilization, everything around them seemed to be in ruin. It looked as if no one had lived on Mount Aris for a long time.

Twilight was the first to be concerned about such a shocking display. "Oh no! Something must've happened here! Where are all the hippogriffs?"

Applejack shuddered. "I don't know, but it's givin' me the creeps. This looks more like a ghost town."

Fluttershy hopefully spoke up. "Well... maybe the hippogriffs are just in hiding somewhere?"

"Great idea, Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie energetically replied! "I'll check!" She started running and bouncing about, going from place to place while shouting! "You who! Hippogriffs! Come out, come out wherever you are!" But there was no reply, her words echoed across the empty sky.

Rarity saw fit to question Twilight. "You think something bad happened to the hippogriffs? That would explain why Princess Celestia never mentioned them."

The alicorn princess could only reply. "I don't know. Maybe we shouldn't have come here."

"Wait a minute!" Pinkie shouted back! "I haven't looked everywhere just yet!" She hastily rushed over to a rock and inspected it, lifting it up only to see that there was nothing underneath it. "Nope!" She declared in a voice far too cheerful for the circumstances. "Sorry, Twilight, but this place is emptyyy."

Rainbow Dash frowned. "So, what? We came all the way out here for nothing?! Sounds to me like we were better off with those pirates, despite what a certain somepony thought!"

Twilight pretended not to notice the daggers her rainbow maned friend was casting at her.

---

Just then, however, the sound of distant singing split the silence. Everyone's ears perked up as they heard it.

"Is that a siren?" Rainbow Dash asked in a noticeably nervous tone of voice.

Twilight shook her head from side to side. "I doubt it. There doesn't seem to be any signs of life anywhere. There'd be nothing out here for a siren to prey upon. The singing has to be coming from something else," She then gasped as a thought struck her! "Maybe it's one of the hippogriffs! Maybe our luck is turning!"

"Well what are we waiting for, then?!" Pinkie Pie giggled as she bounced away! "Let's go and meet it!"

"Pinkie, wait!" Twilight frantically called as she rushed after her party planning friend. "We don't scare any hippogriffs away."

The pink party pony waved a hoof. "Relax, Twilight. I know what I'm doing, and I'm just being friendly." She then resumed her prancing pace, following the sound of the singing as it led right into a cave.

The others followed after Pinkie, all worried about what they might encounter or what might be waiting for them.

Suddenly, there was a clearing in the cave. Within the clearing was a small pool of water. And at the other end of the clearing from where the ponies had entered, there seemed to be some strange plant life. Yet it was possible to make out the faint outline of something hidden within it. It was that figure that was singing, apparently singing to itself.

Without hesitation, Pinkie jumped into the pool of water. "Hello, new friend!" She greeted with a cheerful smile. "Don't be afraid. It's just me, Pinkie Pie."

But the figure seemed to be frightened! It let out a gasp, and quickly disappeared from sight!

Twilight groaned. "Pinkie, this is exactly what I didn't want. You just scared away our only lead."

Worse was to come, however, as the friends all regroupped with Pinkie Pie inside of the pool. Suddenly, there was a loud roar, and then the waters began to spin ominously! A powerful suction seemed to take hold of them, pulling them down and preventing them from escaping!

"Oh, I hate when these things happen!" Rarity complained to herself. And it was the last thing anyone had time to say before they were sucked down beneath the waters! Everything went dark!

Author's Note:

Again, there wasn't much here that needed to be changed, aside from a few of Rarity's lines where she just seems to give up.

Comments

[Comickook]

Very little I can say other than good points on the author's notes. And, of course, thanks for sharing the dialogue, characterizations and future chapter set-up.

[MLPFollower]

11901326
And if the latter still happens, here’s what I think it will go down:
Instead of Twilight saying something she regrets out of emotional frustration, she retains enough self-control to still call out the Mane 6 for bringing unwanted attention to them or overall not contributing as much as they were supposed to on the journey before revealing that she feels like none of them take any situation seriously aside from her, and that Equestria needs them to be able to stop the threats that others cannot.

Based on this story on fanfiction.net