Limestone was used to cold. She had worked on her family's rock farm through blazing hot summers and freezing cold winters. After so many years of that, she thought that she was able to handle any cold that came her way. But as she sat locked in a steel cage that was bolted to the back of large cart, she felt the cold for the first time in a long time. She wrapped her forehooves around herself and shivered, trying not to think too hard about the current predicament she was in.
She glanced behind her to see Marble, who was trapped in the same cage as her. Marble wasn't fairing that well and from the way her body violently shivered, Limestone figured that she wasn't going to last much longer in the conditions. Limestone then glanced through the bars ahead to see the ghosts that were pulling the cart, the two of the a deep blue and larger than the other ones. Ahead of the cart she was on was another one with a similar cage on the back, one that held her parents and her sister Maud.
Maud had been restrained with metal strips, preventing her from tapping into her insane strength. Her father was doing everything in his power to keep his wife and daughter warm, while often glancing back at Limestone's cage with looks of worry on his face. Limestone would smile back in reply to try and keep his spirits up, but the cold was unforgiving and the wind bit through her tough skin.
'How long has it been since they caught us?' Limestone thought to herself as she walked over to her sister and pulled her close, trying to keep Marble as warm as she could. After being trapped by the ghosts, they had been carted all over Equestria. Some places she recognized, others she didn't. But after a while she had given up trying to learn where they were. All she could do was keep an eye on her family. She didn't know what had happened to the other families that had been captured.
"Where are we being taken to?" she asked the ghosts when the winds had died down, doing her best to keep from succumbing to her fear. The ghost responded by snapping at her hoof with its teeth, getting her to leap back with fear as the being began to chuckle. She made a face that it didn't see before walking back over to Marble, nudging her with her nose to try and wake her. "Marble, you okay?"
"No. I'm scared. I want to go home," Marble whispered in reply, making Limestone realize that she wasn't shaking because she was cold. She was shaking because she was sobbing. Limestone had the sudden urge to bash some things heads in, but her rage was quickly chilled by her reason. She knew that she couldn't touch the ghosts. She had watched her sister try to crush one of them before they put her in the restraints. So all Limestone could do was watch, not just the ghosts, but also the lock on their cage.
'These ghosts aren't that bright, that much is certain,' she thought before she sat down in the center of the cage, glancing occasionally at the lock that kept them trapped within the bars. But with her knowledge of rocks and metals, she could tell that there lock wasn't enjoying the cold climates any more than she was. It was weakening. Not by much, but a little bit every day. Limestone then glanced down at her hoof, wondering if she was strong enough to break through the metal when she needed to.
'But even if I can get through out lock, can I get my family out of the other one before the ghosts get us?' she questioned herself, glancing over at where the rest of her family was before closing her eyes in regret. 'Can I even get myself to safety, let alone the rest of my family?'
Limestone turned her head and looked off into the distance, spying a massive mountain that towered over them. She didn't know why, but the sight of the mountain made her shake even harder despite the fact that she was already freezing. Something about it made her uneasy, almost like a pair of eyes were watching them, eyes that could strike them down at any time.
Then she cast a glance at the ghosts pulling the carts and to her amazement she realized they had the same looks on their faces that she had. They were afraid of the mountain as well. The wheels in her head began to spin like mad as she started to formulate a plan to get her entire family to the mountain, but before she could think of anything concrete the two carts came to a stop.
"Alright, we're at the place," one of the ghosts said to the other, getting Limestone to perk up an ear to listen in. "Supposedly the rest of the crew will be here in about a half hour. So all we have to do is keep an eye on this bunch until they show up. Then we can all get the heck out of this place."
"Why are you so keen on getting out of here? Scared of a little rumor?" the other ghost pulling the cart laughed at the other, but unbeknownst to either of them Limestone was listening intently now.
"You know darn well why I'm scared of that little rumor. That "rumor" has killed more ghosts than any other threat in history. And do I have to remind you that we're already dead!" the other spat back. Limestone's heart was beating heavily in her chest as the realization sunk in. Whatever was on that mountain was able to defeat the ghosts and even put them down for good. But as she cast a glance to the side, she saw that between them and the mountain was a large forest, one that was covered in snow and seemed to go on forever.
"Oh ho, good news for you then," the ghosts resumed, snapping Limestone's attention back to them. "Just got a message from the boss. Seems that our relief is going to be here a lot earlier than we thought. Five minutes at most."
Limestone's heart plummeted into her stomach. Five minutes to bust her family out and get them to the mountain before the other ghosts arrived. The odds were practically impossible. But with a glance at her freezing sister and trapped family, she knew that it was then or never.
"Marble, get ready to run," Limestone whispered to her sister, who glanced up from behind her mane to give her sister a confused look. "Don't argue, just do. When I open the cage, you sprint to the forest and head for the mountain. Don't wait up for the rest of us."
With a yell that caused even the ghosts to shake with fear, Limestone took perfect aim at the lock and bucked at it with her hind hooves for all she was worth. The lock gave out from the strike and snapped off with a metallic clang, before it went sailing off into the snow. The ghosts whipped their heads around in time to take a pair of snowballs to their faces, blinding them momentarily and allowing Limestone and Marble their chance to escape.
"Go Marble! Run!" Limestone yelled at her sister before she sprinted over to the cage that was holding the rest of her family. Limestone took aim at the lock and bucked it for all she was worth, but aside from a searing pain in her rear hooves nothing happened. "Darn it all! Stay back dad, I'll try to-"
"Limestone. Run!" Igneous yelled at Limestone. Limestone turned around in time to see ten more ghosts teleport in next to the ghosts that had been snowballed, all of them glaring at Limestone with rage flashing in their eye sockets. Limestone looked from them to her family, unable to decide what to do. "Run, please!"
"But I just can't-"
"GO!" Maud yelled. The sound of Maud yelling snapped Limestone out of her indecision and, with one last tearful look at her family, sprinted towards the forest as fast as her hooves could carry her. The ghosts behind her let out a cackle that chilled the mare even further before they gave chase, following up their cackle with laughter that was devoid of any joy.
Limestone reached the edge of the forest right before the ghosts managed to reach her, the ghosts weaving in and out of the trees before they would come flying at Limestone. Limestone was quicker than her bulky frame would let on and she was able to leap out of the way of the lunging ghosts. The pair of ghosts collided in the air behind her, stunning them while also telling Limestone that the ghosts could hurt each other.
She ran over a snow pile and used her hind hooves to kick up a smokescreen of snow to blind the ghosts for a moment, allowing her to leap down onto a frozen river and skid across it to the other side. She had hoped that in the confusion of the snow, and the fact that she had leapt onto the river where they couldn't see her hooves, that they would lose her. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder to see that five of the ghosts hadn't been tricked by her efforts and were closing in with a speed that made her eyes widen.
"You cannot run, little pony. We will catch you and your soul will belong to the king!" the ghosts cackled as Limestone reached the other side, leaping up onto the bank and sprinting back into the forest.
Limestone quickly realized that she had no idea where she was running to. She had hoped to somehow get to the mountain that the ghosts were so afraid of, but once she was in the forest she had lost all sense of direction almost instantly. All she could do was keep running and hope that she could lose the ghosts. That was the plan before her body started to give out.
"No no no! Not now!" Limestone wheezed as she felt pain in her side. But despite her best efforts, her body couldn't keep up with the constant running. She was cold, in pain and hadn't eaten anything of substance in days. She couldn't keep running much longer.
She gritted her teeth and tried to push through the pain, but her momentary lack of concentrating prevented her from seeing a drop off in front of her. So she barreled over the drop off at full speeds, barely having enough time to cry out before she plummeted down below.
'Please land in snow!' she prayed before she landed side first on a thick sheet of ice. The impact knocked the wind out of her lungs and left her gasping for air on the surface of the ice, leaving her completely defenseless as the ghosts began to circle around her. She used what little strength she had left to push herself back up to her hooves, but as the eternal smiling faces of the ghosts began to close in on her, she knew she was done.
That was before she was tackled by her sister and whisked off of her hooves.
"Marble?" Limestone asked in disbelief as her little sister pulled Limestone through the trees, barely able to hear the yell of the ghosts behind them. Limestone looked down to see that Marble was running faster than she had ever seen her sister run and that was without a passenger. "How are you going so fast?"
"Don't know. Fear? Adrenaline? Just got to keep going!" Marble cried out, weaving in and out of the trees.
For a brief moment Limestone allowed herself to have hope that the two of them might actually be able to make it out alive. Then a large ghost that was black and purple phased through one of the trees and struck Marble in the leg. Marble let out a cry of pain as she and Limestone crashed into the snow, kicking up powder as the two of them crashed.
Limestone was the first back to her hooves, allowing her a moment to shake the snow out of her mane and race over to her sister. She pulled Marble up and draped on of her forehooves over her shoulders, leaning Marble against her before pushing herself forward.
Limestone barely noticed that the wind had picked up and that it was beginning to snow like crazy, practically blinding the both of them. Limestone pushed on ahead, fueled by both her own desire to survive and the fact that her sister was badly dazed by her fall. Marble wasn't going to make it out without her sisters help.
For a time Limestone moved through the sudden blizzard with an effort while silently thanking the blizzard for showing up when it did. 'Judging from the fact that none of the ghosts have caught up with us yet, I'd say that they're having trouble finding us in this blizzard as well,' she wagered.
That was when the ghosts showed up again. They appeared out of the blizzard behind Limestone, almost as if they had shifted through the terrible weather. Limestone spun around to see that all five ghosts were behind her, including the large purple one that was far more dangerous than the others.
"Sis?" Marble asked weakly, lifting her head so that she could see what was going on. Her bleary eyes widened when she saw what was approaching them and she moved closer to Limestone in fear. "Sis...what do we do?"
"Don't worry Marble, I'll think of something," Limestone lied, getting ready to fight the ghosts to the death to keep her sister safe. But then the ghosts did something that Limestone didn't expect them to do. They stopped. Limestone continued to back away from them, but she narrowed her eyes as she gazed at their heads. Without eyes it was hard for her to tell, but it was almost as if all of the ghosts were looking...behind her.
Then she bumped into something. Something that was standing behind her. Despite the threat of five undead monsters before her, Limestone spun around as fast as she could with her still sluggish sister in tow. But when she saw what she had bumped into, her eyes widened with both horror and shock.
The being stood on four legs, yet nearly its entire body was covered in a white coat. The parts of it that weren't were its tail, its claws and its horn, all of which were the same black color and shaped like blades. The being was barely taller than Limestone, but the look that it gave her with its red eyes made her feel like an ant standing next to a lion. The piece of hair that blew in front of its face occasionally blocked out the beasts eyes, allowing her to stare into its face without panicking too much.
For a brief moment the being considered her and her sister, before its eyes snapped towards the ghosts, all of who flinched like they had just been struck. The being walked past Limestone and her sister and walked right up to the ghosts, glaring at all of them despite the fact that they were all larger than it. Only the purple ghost regarded the being with the white fur with a sneer of contempt.
"What? You got something to say?" the ghosts asked the white being, whose face never changed from that of a cold glare. "Oh that's right, this is your territory, isn't it? Well sorry there, we don't care much for territory or boundaries. See, ghosts can go wherever we want," he said before floating a step forward. "And that includes-"
Faster than Limestone could have seen the being in white moved behind the ghosts, its horn glowing with a black energy as it now stared at the ghosts behind the purple one. The purple ghost looked behind itself in surprise to see the white being standing there and it turned around with a claw wound up...only for three slash marks to appear across its chest.
The ghost had just enough time to let out a scream before it exploded into a shower of darkness, darkness which fell onto the snow and turned it black. The other ghosts looked from the blackened spot to the face of the being, who was now glaring at them with intensity in its eyes. Its horn turned black one more time and the ghosts vanished into the blizzard. The being let out a smirk before its horn stopped glowing and it turned to walk away. It glanced at Limestone and Marble as it passed by, but then it walked past them and into the blizzard without another glance.
"What...just happened?" Marble asked before she looked up at her sister. "Limestone, was that...?"
"Yeah, that was the being Celestia told us about. The one that they know nothing about," Limestone replied in a whisper, terrified by what she had just seen. "Come on sis, we need to get out of here before that thing comes back for us."
"But...where will we go? Those ghosts are still out there," Marble reminded Limestone, who glanced behind herself into the blizzard. She squinted her eyes and could just barely make out the shapes of the ghosts still hiding in the snow. "We can't go out there. Not with them still here."
"Then what do you think we should do?" Limestone asked her sister, not used to being a loss for action.
"Well, let's look at it this way. We've run into two things in these woods that we know nothing about," Marble began, lifting herself off of her sister shoulder and standing on her own hooves. "We have the ghosts which are trying to capture us or kill us. I don't know which. We can't go back to them."
"Wait...are you suggesting..."
"But then there's the being in white that we know nothing about. Nothing except that it didn't try to kill us," Marble said as she looked up just as the blizzard began to clear. Limestone followed her gaze and found that they were at the base of the mountain that she had fought so hard to get to. "And that the ghosts are terrified of it. So between those two choices, what do you think is our best one?"
Limestone pondered it over for a long time, before she let out a sigh and began to walk towards the mountain. "I hate it when you're right, Marble. Because whenever you are, it means that either something bad has happened or something bad is about to happen. In this case, I pray that it's the former. Come on, lets go introduce ourselves to our new host."