//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11: Harrowing Heights 
// Story: The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse: The Equestrian Adventure 
// by wingdingaling 
//------------------------------//






Chapter 11

Harrowing Heights


In a faraway countryside, further than anypony from Ponyville had traveled before, there sat a town on the mountain frontier. A town that hadn't seen many visitors for its secluded situation and small populace. Still, it had everything a small town needed: a grocer, a doctor, a general store, a bank, a tailor, and everything else essential and wholesome. That is, until the strangers moved in.
Ever since those strange creatures from a faraway land came to town, there had been nothing but trouble. Crime skyrocketed, fights broke out, the townsfolk became miserable with their situation. Why, they even built a jail right in the middle of the town, despite that they never needed such a thing before.
That night, a loud clanging noise was coming from inside that little jailhouse.
Donald Duck was whaling on the bars of his jail cell with the butt of a popgun. After so long, he huffed loudly and slumped against the bars.
"This is exasperating!" Donald grumbled to himself.
"Aw, hayseeds! Ya said that four times already!" Applejack said from her cell to the left. "Ain't ya got any plans?"
"I told you: I've got nothing!"
"What about that popgun o' yers? Ain't ya got any use fer that? Besides usin' it like a gorilla uses a tree branch?"
"This stupid thing was given to me as a joke! It's as useless as an apple bucker who can't even buck straight!" Donald fumed.
Applejack glared furiously.
"Why don't I come over there an' use it to cork yer big bill, ya squawkin' feather pillow?" she threatened.
"Come and pry it from my cold, dead hands, butterhooves!!" Donald said, pointing the popgun at Applejack.
"Wait! Stop!" Fluttershy called from the cell on Donald's right. "We shouldn't be fighting like this. We should be trying to find out how to help everypony when they let us out tomorrow." She abruptly covered her face with her mane. "Sorry I had to yell."
The words of the yellow pegasus had culled the flaring tempers of her two friends. Slowly, the two hotheads faced one another.
"She's right. Sorry fer flyin' off the handle like that, pardner,'' Applejack apologized.
"Me too. I don't normally snap at my pals like that, but this is becoming too much for one duck to handle," Donald answered.
"Let's just try not to spit in each other's applesauce like that again, y'hear."
"I don't know if you two will be able to do that," Fluttershy said, knowing the tempers of her friends. "But, if you do, could you please not direct it at each other?"
"Will do, sugarcube," Applejack answered.
"Sure. After all, my uncle used to tell me that your temper is the most valuable thing you have, so try not to lose it," Donald said.
"Did ya ever take that seriously," Applejack chuckled.
"Nah. And neither did he. He flew off the handle just as much as I did when I was living with him."
"You lived with your uncle? Applejack did too when she was a filly," Fluttershy said, trying to get their minds off their predicament.
"That's right. It was a fun couple o' weeks I got to spend with 'em, 'til I realized that my place is at my apple orchard. I been a better mare ever since. What about you, Don? Same?" Applejack asked.
Donald slumped slightly on the bench in his cell.
"Actually: I didn't get to go home," the duck answered.
"But, your parents. Weren't they waiting for you to come back?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's not like that, toots. My parents passed away when I was a duckling. Then I got sent to live with my uncle in his mansion."
"Oh..." Fluttershy said. "That must have been hard for you."
"And it wasn't much better since my uncle was a heartless, business-minded tightwad. We hardly saw each other when we lived together," Donald explained.
"What kinda cud-sucker ignores his own nephew? It's downright inhumane! It's un-family-like!" Applejack said. "I'd o' had a thing or two to say to this guy if it was me livin' with him. That's fer darn sure!"
"Aw, he wasn't all bad," Donald said. "He taught me a lot of lessons that I still use to this day: work honestly, help others who can't help themselves, your partners are like your friends and vice versa. And it wasn't until I grew up and became an uncle myself that we started getting closer. Eventually, it was like we became a real family."
Fluttershy and Applejack remained silent for a moment, the words of their quacking friend resonating to them. Both of them grew up quite close to their families, so they had no way of relating to the duck who grew up with an estranged uncle.
After she felt an appropriate amount of time passed, Applejack put her hoof through the bars on her cell and placed it on Donald's shoulder.
"Fer what it's worth, I'm glad ya patched things up with yer uncle," she said.
"Aw, thanks Applejack," Donald answered.
"Um, excuse me," Fluttershy said, "I don't mean to interrupt: but, what was your uncle's name?"
"Scrooge. He was my uncle Scrooge McDuck," Donald answered.
"That Scrooge McDuck?" Fluttershy asked.
Donald looked to where Fluttershy pointed, and saw a bulletin board with documents, reports and wanted posters posted on it. Among the wanted posters were pictures of himself, Mickey and Goofy. But a fourth one showed a much older duck with thick glasses resting on his bill, feathery mutton chops, a grand top hat and an intense stare.
Quick as a wink, Donald ran to the front of his cell and read the poster aloud.
"'Scrooge McDuck: Wanted dead or alive. Preferably dead!!!?' Wa-a-a-ak!!"
The duck felt every one of his nerves snap at the sight of the poster. Somewhere in Equestria, his uncle was lost. And knowing him, he was most likely in danger. All the more incentive to get out of jail as quick as possible.
"Uncle Scrooge, what have you got yourself into this time?" Donald said.





Before the night in the jail, Donald, Fluttershy and Applejack had been trudging through the desert after their magical light. For a day and a night they had been following after it, across the varying terrain, until they ended up at the foot of a mountain range. The magical light that guided them drifted up the rocky foothills and stopped to await the others.
"Alright! I been hankerin' to get some exercise," Applejack said, after walking for miles.
"We're not really goin' up there, are we?" Donald said.
"'Course we are. That little twinklin' pal o' yers says so," the farmpony answered, as she hiked intrepidly up the hills.
"But, where's the path?" Fluttershy said.
"I'm walkin' on it,” Applejack replied.
Both Donald and Fluttershy watched as their friend fearlessly jumped from rock to rock, each of which seemed precariously perched on the side of the mountain.
"Welp, we won't get anything done sittin' around here. Come on, Fluttershy. Let's gung-ho," the duck said, lifting his gut, dropping it, and striding confidently forward.
"Um...about that..." Fluttershy stammered.
"Now, ya can't tell me you're afraid to climb the mountain."
"No...Um...Yes...But...I'm just...I'm afraid of heights..."
"Say what?" Donald deadpanned.
"I know it's silly for a pegasus...but I just don't think I can climb that on my own..."
"So, what do you want me to do? Carry you the whole way?"
Fluttershy didn't answer, but the way she looked at him in such a pitiful way that Donald didn’t need an answer.
"Aw, nerts..." The duck sighed. He was all ready to decline her, but reneged his decision when he saw her pitiful puppy-dog face. "Climb aboard, already--Wak!!"
Donald was completely unprepared for when Fluttershy zipped forward and clutched tightly to his back. Even though they were the same height, the duck hadn't anticipated the extra mass from his pony friend's quadrupedal form. With a staggering step forward, he was ready to take on the rocky mountain trail.
It was a long and treacherous journey. Applejack led the group, finding the safest path up the mountain, while the others tailed behind.
"Be careful, Donald," Fluttershy quietly panicked. "Look out for that falling pebble! Did that grass move on its own!! Eep! Was that plant you touched poisonous!!?"
"This is exasperating..." Donald huffed.
"Don't you two worry none. We're almost to the trail up there," Applejack called to the others.
"The...trail..." Fluttershy shuddered. She looked up to see how much further they had to go, and looked down and saw just how incredibly high up they were.
With another frightened "Eep!" Fluttershy clung tighter to Donald than before.
"Wak! Fluttershy...!! Your hooves...!!" Donald strained.
Fluttershy only shivered in response.
"The duck can't breathe...!! Let go...!!!"
Fluttershy did nothing of the sort.
"Focus on something...!! Look at the pretty flowers and all the cute animals...!!!"
Fluttershy opened her eyes and saw what Donald was talking about. All around her, peering through the rocks were flowers of all colors, shapes and sizes. Some that particularly caught her eye were clusters of red flowers that grew in concentric rings, and hanging vines that blossomed with enormous white flowers.
As for the animals, there were all manner of species she had never seen before. Frogs, larger than any she had seen before, hopped into a stream of water, where small crabs and insects scurried about. The largest birds she had ever seen flew over her head. So large, she wasn't sure how they were able to stay aloft. Adorable chinchillas hopped through the flowers, picking up seeds in their tiny paws and stuffing them in their cheeks for later.
The sight of it all succeeded in taking Fluttershy's mind off the harrowing heights and allowed her to let out a relaxed sigh, as she loosened her grip on her friend's neck.
"*Pheeewwww*" Donald exhaled, deflating slightly from the pent up air he released. "That's better. Now, while I'm climbing, you just look at all the scenery and enjoy the music."
"Music?" Applejack wondered.
"Music?" Donald realized.
"Music?" Fluttershy repeated.
Indeed, there was music coming from somewhere. Nearby, somepony was playing some sort of flute, or something similar.
Grabbing hold of one of the hanging vine plants, Donald quickly ascended the rocky wall to where Applejack was waiting for them.
"What in tarnation is somepony doin' out here playin' music?" Applejack wondered aloud.
"Must be a traveling musician that went way out of their way to find an audience," Donald guessed.
"They don't try to...*gulp*...make ponies perform with them, do they," Fluttershy asked, hiding behind Donald's shoulder.
"Naw. Probably just some guy trying to make a buck where he can," Donald answered. "Let's find the busker and see if he knows where any towns are."
The three of them followed along the rocky trail to a part where the mountain curved, and heard the music growing steadily louder. Soon, the rhythm of it was heard, and it almost made the ones who were walking start to dance as they navigated forward. Eventually, Donald gave in, and skipped his webbed feet along the trail, quacking intermittently with the tune of the music.
A proper trail was found next, and they quickly found the source of the music.
There on the trail was a musician, huddled under his poncho from the chill mountain air and his face hidden by his large hat. In his hooves, he held a large pan flute, which produced the music they had been hearing. They waited for him to finish his song before speaking to him.
"Excuse me, but do you know the way to any nearby towns?" Donald asked.
"Thattaway, señor ," the musician answered, pointing to the direction of the continued trail.
"Thanks, pardner," Applejack said. She reached into her mane and produced a single coin that she tossed to the musician. "Fer the performance."
"Ah. Many thanks, amiga," the musician said.
They all went on their way, hoping that soon their trek would be at an end.
Fluttershy looked back, and saw the musician's eyes glint underneath his hat. She didn't know what it was about it, but something about the look in his eyes made her uneasy. And not in the way that most other things made her uneasy. This was something terrifyingly familiar that made her quickly look ahead.
Once the others were far enough along, the musician's hooves dropped to the ground, revealing a false hoof at the end of a stick. Standing up, the musician revealed clawed paws beneath his poncho. Throwing off his disguise, the musician revealed his true identity, the glutton himself: Zeke "Big Bad" Wolf.
"Folks is dumb as ever, fallin' for a disguise like that," he said to himself, before kicking away his musician clothes. All but his pan flute, which he picked up in his hands. "Time fer a change o' tune."
He held up his instrument, and he huffed and he puffed and he blew as hard as he could to belt out a single, shrill, incredibly loud note that rumbled the entire mountain range.
Further ahead, Big Bad could see the rocks and snow higher up the mountain start to loosen and shake. Then they all came down, right toward his three targets.
"Gah-hahahaha! That'll take care o' them do-gooders!" the glutton laughed. He laughed and he laughed until he became aware that the same rumbling noise in the distance was sounding much closer to himself. "Huh?"
An entire wall of snow was sliding down the mountainside toward him, and with a shout, he started running along the mountain trail to keep ahead of the avalanche.
"What the hay was that noise?" Applejack wondered.
"Who knows? Maybe the musician sat on a scorpion," Donald said.
Fluttershy wasn't feeling so flippant. As she looked up, she was the first to see the danger coming toward them, and responded with another, "Eep!".
"'Eep' what, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked, before noticing the wall of snow and stone that was rapidly sliding down the mountain. "Land sakes! Not again!"
Donald wasted no time running ahead with a frightened, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!!!!!!"
Chunks of falling ice were hopped over without missing a beat, despite the extra weight on his back.
The duck jumped on top of one of the fallen ice chunks, then across the tops of the others as they got increasingly taller. Finally, he jumped off and went sailing over the path.
Reaching either hand to his back, Donald took Fluttershy's wings and spread them wide, before flapping as hard as he could.
Applejack was below them, keeping a steady pace ahead of the avalanche, and Donald was keeping pace with her as he glided on his friend's wings.
Whether it was by steady aim, or just dumb luck, Fluttershy and Donald landed smack dab on Applejack's back, and made her recoil under the extra wait.
"What the--" Applejack shouted, when her friends landed.
"Keep running!!" Donald and Fluttershy yelled together.
The farmpony ran her hooves for all they were worth, keeping just barely ahead of the falling snow.
A bend was coming up in the path.
Applejack tried to adjust her hoofing to compensate for the extra weight on her back.
Donald could feel what she was doing beneath him, and saw that the path ahead was too narrow for her to maneuver. But, that didn't mean they weren't going to make it.
A tree on the edge of the path was just what they were going to need to get past the obstacle.
Reaching his hands out, Donald grabbed the tree, swinging all of them around as he held Applejack with his heels. Once they completed the turn they needed, Donald let go, but accidentally broke off two branches with tree bark stuck to them.
The snow was behind them now, and was quickly catching up. Fluttershy looked back and saw the wall of white licking at Applejack's tail. It was only a matter of time until they were all consumed by it.
Donald too noticed the danger, and did the first thing that came to his mind: he took the tree branches in his hands and planted the tree bark into the snow just as it overtook them.
The plan had worked. Like a pair of ridiculous ski-stilts, the simple bark and branches had lifted them all over the snow and allowed them to slide along as though they hadn't a care in the world. Until the avalanche stopped and flung them all forward.
This was no problem for the ponies. Fluttershy flapped her wings as best she could, while Applejack oriented her hooves to the ground and landed a masterful somersault.
"Is it over yet...?" Fluttershy whimpered, her eyes clenched shut.
"Don't worry, toots. We're back on good ol' terra firma," Donald said, trying to sound calm and cool and collected, but the sweat pouring down his forehead betrayed him.
"That was some mighty quick thinkin' with them branches, pardner. Where'd ya get an idea like that?" Applejack said to the duck.
"It just came to me was all," Donald answered. "And just look where that avalanche took us!"
There before them was the town, just as the musician from before said. And they were probably less than a hundred steps from the first building. The glittering light from before drifted forward and glowed brightly before the town, before dispersing into nothing.
"Yee-haw! Finally, some good luck fer us!" Applejack cheered.
"It's about time," Donald grumbled, remembering how his friends always joked about who got stuck with all the bad luck.
They all approached the town on Applejack's back, unknowing of what was to await them.
Back at the avalanche a mound of snow rose up, until the Big Bad Wolf popped out like a daisy.
"Aw, dangit! I just blowed 'em right into town!" Big Bag growled, before crawling out of the snow and shaking it all from his fur. He lifted up his top hat, dumping out everything that had collected in it. "Don't matter no how. They won't last a day in there."





The three strangers rode into town. Rather, two rode in on their friend's back. One look, and it was clear that they were far from Ponyville.
It was not ponies who roamed the streets of the town, but llamas. Llamas, whose woolly coats were in all colors of the visible spectrum, with varying patterns, from spots to mottled to solid to striped. Some even wore clothes. Usually a knitted cap, or a manta, or a poncho.
"Land sakes! Look at this place," Applejack awed.
"I don't see any ponies at all. Do you think they like ponies here?" Fluttershy said.
"Aw, don't sweat stuff like that. I bet a small, isolated town like this is glad to have any visitors," Donald said.
One llama from the crowd approached them.
"Ah! El circo! Mi hijo estará encantado de saber que estás en la ciudad!" the llama said as soon as he saw them.
"See? Friendly folks around here. And with a bit of a sense of humor," Donald assured Fluttershy.
Fluttershy, however, wasn't so sure, having not understood a word the llama said.
"Well, guess we might as well take in the local color," the ever gregarious Applejack said. "Howdy!" she greeted the llama.
"Que?" the llama responded.
"We're lookin' fer any weird stuff what's been goin' on. Seen any weird animals like my duck pal runnin' 'round these parts?"
"I'm not weird! Everyone looks like me back home!" Donald rebutted.
"Que?" the llama repeated.
"Come on, pardner. Don't ya know any other words?"
"Puedo preguntarte dónde compraste tu sombrero? Ciertamente protegería mis ojos del sol mejor que el mío."
The farmpony stared blankly at the llama, not processing a single word he had said. She was about to give up until Donald stepped in.
"Hola," the duck began. "Mis amigos y yo nos preguntamos si había algún problema por aquí."
"Problemas?" the llama answered. "Si! Muchas cosas terribles han sucedido desde que el nuevo alguacil llegó a la ciudad!"
"Puedes llevarnos al alguacil?”
The llama gasped sharply at what Donald had just said, making Applejack and Fluttershy share a confused glance.
"¡No!" The llama answered. "El alguacil sólo sale cuando hay problemas! Y créeme, no quieres ser el que causa problemas en esta ciudad!"
The llama quickly trotted on his way to join with the others, leaving Donald, Applejack and Fluttershy behind.
"Now that's somethin'," Applejack said, "Where'd ya learn to talk like that?"
"My friend Panchito speaks spanish. I guess some of it just rubbed off onto me," Donald answered.
"Really? So, what'd ya say?"
"I asked him if there was any trouble around here. He said 'yes,' and it's the new sheriff causing all of it. So, I asked him if he could take us to him, and he said 'no.'"
"Um, excuse me," Fluttershy began, "But, when he said 'no,' did it mean the same thing as in our language?"
"You bet it did, toots. Whoever this sheriff is, he's got these llamas scared."
"Then, I guess it's up to us to put a stop to him," Applejack asserted.
"Darn tootin' we are. We'll be the biggest law-busters this side of the Mississippi! Yah, steed!" Donald said, spurring Applejack's sides.
In response, Applejack bucked Donald off her back, while Fluttershy jumped off and landed safely before the duck landed.
"Ain't gonna be no more o' that. Yer walkin' from now on, ya stuffed duck!" Applejack said.
"Who's a stuffed duck!?" Donald fumed.
"You are. I don't see how waterfowl can be so dang heavy!
"Waa-a-a-a-ak!!!"
For the three of them, discovering the trouble within the small llama town would be difficult. But, more so it would seem to be getting along.