//------------------------------//
// The Frozen North Part 2 
// Story: A Rose's Journey 
// by VioletRose13 
//------------------------------//

Icy winds howled, snow and hale blew, and the group continued through the frozen terrain, still determined to find help of any kind.

“How long have we been walking?” Smolder asked.

“I don’t know. A few hours maybe?” Princess Skystar replied.

“This is crazy, Tempest. We shouldn’t even be out here.” Sunset said to Tempest.

“This was the only option we had left. There needs to be something or someone powerful enough to stop that siren back in Ponyville.” Tempest replied.

As they trudged, Violet suddenly thought of something that made her stomach drop and the fur on the back of her neck stand up on end.

“I remember reading something about this part of the North being haunted.” She said through the wind.

“Haunted?!” Ocellus cried.

“Something about rogue Windigos or a vengeful spirit haunting the snow-covered plains, I don’t know.” The orchid unicorn answered. “All I heard was that not a lot of ponies have made it up this far without encountering some kind of danger. And even if they had, nopony has lived to tell the tale.”

“I read that, too. We need to keep our eyes open.” Sandbar said.

“How?! The wind out here feels like broken glass mixed with razor blades! I can’t take it anymore!” Discord whined.

“Would you quit being such a big baby?!” Starlight yelled.

“He’s not wrong. Walking through a few feet of snow with a peg leg is NO picnic.” Captain Celaeno commented.

“But what kinda dangers do ya’ll think are out here?” Capper nervously asked.

“Who knows? There could be anything.” Tempest replied before she and the others started to feel the ground shake beneath them.

“What’s happening?!” Silverstream cried.

“We need to run! NOW!” Tempest commanded.

No pony or creature hesitated; they ran as fast as they could just as the ground behind them was crumbling away, forming a giant almost bottomless ravine. No one had time to look back, they just kept on running further and further until they accidentally slid out onto a huge lake that was frozen solid. They couldn’t keep their footing and they all slid down the slippery cliffs until finally, they flew into the air and landed into a huge snowdrift.

“Is everyone okay?” Sunset asked as her head popped out of the snow.

“No! We are NOT!” Discord yelled. “We nearly fell off of a cliff, we slid down a mountain, we’re wet and cold, and we could’ve died back there!”

“But we didn’t; we survived!” Tempest retorted.

“Here we go again…” Skystar muttered.

“But we’re not going to survive out here for much longer!” Celaeno argued.

“This is ridiculous! We’re all gonna end up as popsicles!” Capper yelled.

“Oooh, Yona loves popsicles! Strawberry, please!” Yona cheered.

“Not now!” Gallus cried. “We need to do something before Spade finds us!”

“If Captain Spade really was all the way up here, he probably already would’ve found us by now!” Starlight commented.

As the party continued to argue with one another about what to do, Violet made her way out of the snow and looked at the bickering figures; she hated listening to others fight. But all of a sudden, she was blinded by a green light and she fell into the snow with her eyes shut; everyone else followed suit soon afterwards.

A figure in a dark cloak walked towards the band of creatures lying in the snow. A pair of mismatched eyes stared down at Violet; one eye was green and the other eye was purple.