The Mount Everhoof, located outside the Crystal Empire, stood as the highest point of Pony World. Snow and ice covered practically every single part of it and heavy winds blew near the top, preventing any flyer from flying there.
On a frozen lake at the mountain, a pony figure wearing winter clothing was walking over it. He then placed a hoof on the ice, making then a strange octopus-like symbol appear on it. After doing that, he started to laugh maniacally.
After using a teleportation spell in a ball given to her by Purple Smoke in case of an emergency to the base of the mountain, Sweetie Belle and Hook, equipped with winter clothing they got from a store nearby the base, they started to climb Mount Everhoof. As they got higher, the wind started to blow with more force, with it being accompanied by snow. Noticing that Sweetie Belle hasn’t said a word during all that walk, Hook commented:
“I see you still don’t trust me. It’s clear because you haven’t even talked to me or even introduced yourself formally.”
Sweetie Belle, in order to avoid conversation, accelerated her pace, but then Hook grabbed her hoof, preventing her from giving another pace.
“What are you doing?!” she asked. “Let go of me!”
Hook then pointed to something in the ground and Sweetie Belle looked there. Right in front of her were some holes in the ground.
“Don’t panic… and watch” Hook told Sweetie Belle, taking a rock from the ground.
He threw the rock at the holes and that caused ground further to crumble.
“The rock here is brittle” he said. “We have to change paths.”
However, as soon he ended saying that, he noticed that Sweetie Belle was already leaping down by landing on safer, studier rocks and cliffs with ease. Not wanting to stay behind, Hook followed her.
They landed on the end and started to advanced, reaching the frozen the lake.
“The Watchmaker’s hideout is just at the other side of this lake” Hook said. “But it’s almost impossible to see through all this snow.”
As they continued to walk, Hook noticed Sweetie Belle’s step and told her:
“Slowly… Walk slowly.”
Turning to him, Sweetie Belle told:
“Can you stop ordering me around?!”
“Okay, okay, there’s no need to be angry” Hook said, trying to calm her down.
The two of them continued to walk in silence until they eventually split off in two directions. It was then that Sweetie Belle stopped as she noticed she was stepping on a large and strange octopus symbol in the ice.
“But… what’s this?” she asked.
The symbol started to glow and the icy lake begins to violently crack apart around her and Hook.
“Run!” Hook told Sweetie Belle, while running.
The two tried to outrun the trap, but one of the blasts knocks them both to the ground. As ice chards falling because of the blast threatened to hit them, they managed to get up quickly and continue to run until they made it to the other side of the lake, safe and sound for now, despite they barely made it through. Lying on the snowy ground, the two of them looked back at the lake that was now filled with shards of ice floating on the cold water.
Turning to Sweetie Belle, he asked:
“Everything all right…? Sorry, I didn’t get your name…”
Deciding that perhaps Hook wasn’t that bad, the Crusader introduced herself:
“The name is Sweetie Belle.”
They continued their journey to find the Watchmaker and it was then that they found a cable car that would take a good part of their journey. While they were riding the cable car, Sweetie Belle made an observation:
“You’ve seen it before, haven’t you?”
“The symbol?” Hook asked. “Aye…”
“It was a trap, right?”
“Someone doesn’t want us here.”
“Maybe the Watchmaker…” Sweetie Belle suggested.
But they got some turbulence that seemed a little strange.
“What was that?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I don’t know, but…” Hook started.
Suddenly, the cable car made a sudden stop in the middle of a pit between the picks of the mountain.
“We stopped” Hook said. while opening the trap door on the top of the cable car. “Sweetie Belle, wait here. I want to go check on something.”
He climbed to the top of the cable car. While waiting, Sweetie Belle tried to endure the cold of the snow that was getting inside.
“Hook…?” she called, but without getting any answer. “Hook!”
Not wanting to wait any longer and fearing that Hook could have left her, Sweetie Belle made a big leap and also climbed to the top of the cable car. There, she saw Hook watching something on the cable car. It was then that the same octopus-like symbol appear.
“Here’s another one!” he said to Sweetie Belle.
The symbol detonated, releasing a large teal-colored explosion that knocked Sweetie Belle back inside the cable car and Hook. Luckily, he managed to snag onto one of the cables, using his only front hoof, together with his back hooves. Sweetie Belle was recovering from the blast, but then the cable car began to shake violently again until it snaps in two, with an half falling down. The half with Sweetie Belle was still connected to a stable cable, but it began to tilt, sending her to the pit below.
“Jump!” Hook shouted, while extending his hook.
Sweetie Belle continued to slip down to the edge of the cable car and struggled to hold herself up. However, she refused to use her dreaming cloak, as she didn’t know if she would be able to endure that storm. Using her own will only, Sweetie Belle was able to get back onto the cable car and she run across it before it snapped off the cable. At that moment, she was able to leap off of it and grab hold of Hook's hook just before the cable snapped. While the other half of the cable car went into the pit, the two of them were able to get to the other side.
The two of them lose their grip on the mountainside and plummet downwards until they grab hold of larger ridges and begin to climb the mountainside. While doing that, Sweetie Belle said:
“Hey, Hook…”
“Yes?” he asked.
“Thank you” Sweetie Belle thanked, with a smile.
He smiled back and then they continued climbing. Eventually, they reached a path that they started to use. After some time, it begins shaking and a small snow avalanche occurred.
“Watch out!” Sweetie Belle shouted.
The avalanche stopped and they saw that it caused their path to be blocked.
“No, that was the only way!” Hook exclaimed.
“Stay back” Sweetie Belle told him.
Focusing on her Thirteenth Note, Sweetie Belle placed her hoof on the snow and applied little vibrations that caused the snow to fall, starting to clear their path. Hook observed that with fascination. When the path was finally free of snow, Sweetie Belle said:
“Path cleared.”
“Very impressive” Hook said. “You really are a very resourceful young mare.”
They continued their journey until they reached a staircase. They climbed the stairs, but, the further they climbed, the colder it got what made Sweetie Belle wishing that they had already reached the Watchmaker’s hideout just to get out of the snow. It was then that they got there.
The hideout was a stone tower with a big gate at the front. Observing it, Sweetie Belle commented:
“It looks abandoned.”
“It’s a hermit’s tower” Hook replied. “What did you expect?”
“Something more… well, more” Sweetie Belle replied.
“I’m sorry, but you’re not welcome” a voice said.
They looked and saw that there was a hole on the gate, where the upper-half of a face was looking from the inside.
“But we have come such a long way” Sweetie Belle said to the stallion that seemed to be the Watchmaker.
“Save your breath” he replied. “You’ll need it to make your way back.”
“One second, please” Sweetie Belle inquired, while taking the watch. “It’s really important. It’s this watch…”
“If you don’t want to cooperate, tell us at least where’s your apprentice, you old clock wizard” Hook told with aggressiveness.
That really seemed to have made some effect on the Watchmaker and Sweetie Belle asked:
“Apprentice?”
“I’ll explain later” Hook whispered to Sweetie Belle. “Trust me.”
It was then that a voice from behind them started to laugh. They turned around and saw Smee who said:
“How naïve you are.”
And, from the ground, the zombie pirates appeared, surrounding Sweetie Belle and Hook.
“You…” Hook said to Smee. “I should have known.”
“Nice to see you again, Hook” Smee replied, while approaching. “Tell me, do you feel like to play with us for a little… like old times?”
One of the zombie pirates threw his ropes at Hook, but he jumped, dodging them. Because of that, the zombie pirates closed the circle a bit more.
“Since when do you guys take orders from him?!” Hook asked to the zombie pirates, while pointing to Smee.
That clearly upset Smee who then replied:
“Since you betrayed us!”
The circle became even closer.
“I’ve always been faithful to our cause” Hook said to Smee and the zombie pirates.
The circle was so closed that now Sweetie Belle and Hokk were back to back against each other. Smee laughed and asked:
“You really think I believe in you?!”
He then touched on ground with firmness and made the octopus-like symbol appear. The same symbol appeared under Hook and Sweetie Belle, causing the ground to shake.
“Let’s get out of here!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed to Hook.
They both gave a big jump out of the circle, while a teal-colored explosion blows out from the symbol and onto the zombie pirates. The villains looked around after the explosion, looking for their enemies, and Hook, who was on a stone structure nearby, asked Smee:
“What did the Queen promised you? What kind of reward?”
Ignoring those questions, Smee turned to the zombie pirates and ordered:
“Get him!”
One threw one of his ropes to Hook, being able to wrap it around one of Hook’s forelegs. Seeing that, Sweetie Belle casted a supersonic scream that disoriented the zombie pirate and made him drop Hook.
“Thanks, Sweetie Belle” he thanked.
She nodded and smiled to him in retribuition. The Crusader then turned to Smee and the zombie pirates and wondered for how long she would be able to hold against them. Until that moment, she had been able to do it without using her dreaming cloak, but she knew it would come the eventuality where she would have to use it.
“Don’t you get it?” Hook asked to Smee. “Together, we can defeat her and free Neverland, both from her reign and the seal.”
But the zombie pirates, however, kept attacking Hook with their ropes, but he was always dodging. Smee turned to the zombie pirates and told:
“Catch them both! The Queen wants them alive!”
And so one of the zombie pirates threw his ropes against Sweetie Belle. Fortunately, she made a jump and managed to dodge. Other zombies attacked Hook and force him to go to Sweetie Belle’s edge. But another attack caused them to go on different ways.
Watching all that fight, the Watchmaker got tired of all of it and said:
“Enough!”
But that caused Smee to look at him.
“Oh no…” the Watchmaker said.
“I haven’t forgot about you, old pony” Smee told.
“Get out of here!” the Watchmaker demanded. “All of you! Go away!”
Smee just smirked and then approached the gates and placed his hoof over them and he started to conjure the same symbol. Noticing that, the Watchmaker retreated. The symbol caused an explosion, but when the smoke cleared, Smee got caught of surprise when he saw that the gates haven’t suffered any damage.
“That’s impossible!” he exclaimed.
Inside the Watchmaker was pulling levels that were causing gears to move. He was locking the tower even more. The Watchmaker was an old unicorn stallion with a pale blue coat with three gears as a Cutie Mark, a balding dark brown mane and dark green eyes, with one having a monocle. He was wearing as well a scarf tied in a Windsor knot.
“Centuries of work…” he said, while pulling the levels. “Reinforced by clock work… Let’s see if you can get in.”
As the tower got old oak bars to lock the door shut from the inside, Smee kept saying:
“Open up, old man.”
After the Watchmaker was finished, he said:
“I may be old, but I’m not crazy.”
And he went to another room of the tower.
Outside, the pirates continued to capture both Sweetie Belle and Hook, with the two of them dodging their attacks. With all that, they ended up getting to the top of the hideout. Frustrated with that situation, Smee shouted to the zombie pirates:
“Don’t you dare let me down!”
And three zombie pirates started to climb the tower. Seeing that, Hook said:
“They’re faster and stronger than we originally thought.”
Sweetie Belle had to agree with Hook. The situation was such that she couldn’t possibly handle on her own. She needed her friends. Perhaps using the telepathic link they shared thanks to Mirror Coat she would be able to do it and, since Star could already be at the academy, they would come to help. But she feared the long distance between them would cause a lot of interferences, but she had to try. Focusing, she accessed to the telepathic link.
At the greenhouse of the academy, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Midnight were still recovering from the fact they lost Sunny to Tinkerbell’s minions.
“What do we do now?” Midnight asked.
The two Crusaders were asking themselves the same question. It was then that they felt Sweetie Belle trying to reach them through their telepathic link.
“Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom said.
“Girls…” Sweetie Belle called through a lot of static. “I really… need…”
“We can’t hear you” Scootaloo said.
“The Watchmaker’s tower… is under attack!” Sweetie Belle told. “I need back up!”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom then heard her screaming, before the connection was cut.
“Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom called. “Sweetie Belle, are ya there!”
But there was not answer.
“This is bad” Apple Bloom said to Scootaloo.
“You bet” she replied.
“What?” Midnight asked, a little confused. “What happened?”
Before they could ask, they saw Star approaching. Once he landed, Midnight went to him and said:
“Star, something horrible happened!”
“What happened, Midnight?” Star asked, as her sister hugged him tightly.
“It’s Sunny” Apple Bloom said. “The neverlanders divid’d us, an’ they took advantage of me being alone tah…”
“They took her…” Star realized.
“Ah’m sorry, Star” Apple Bloom apologized. “Ah should have protect’d her.”
“And I could have prevented that too” Midnight told, ending her hug. “But… I froze.”
“You two don’t have to blame yourselves” Star said, recovering from the shock of learning about the abduction of her sister. “It’s not your fault, but the neverlanders’. Now, we need to focus on getting to Neverland.”
“And that leads us to the watch” Scootaloo said. “But what’s going on? Why aren’t you with Sweetie Belle?”
Star proceeded to tell them about Hook and how the watch was damaged, prompting them to go see the Watchmaker.
“That explains why she talked about the Watchmaker’s tower” Scootaloo said.
“An’ why out telepathic link was so weak” Apple Bloom added. “She’s on the highest mountain ov all Pony World an’ distance is always deterioratin’ on this kind ov spells.”
“So why are we still here?” Scootaloo asked. “We need to get there now!”
“I can only teleport us to the base of the mountain, because of the snow storms” Star said. “But don’t worry, I can quickly get us there using Kurama’s energy.”
“Can I go too?” Midnight asked.
“Of course not” Star replied. “I’m sorry, Midnight, but this is a fight where you would only get in the way.”
“I see…” she said, disappointed.
Seeing her like that, Star placed a hoof over her shoulder and said:
“But I want you to stay close. Who knows, we may need your help for another thing.”
Despite knowing he only said that to cheer her up, Midnight nodded with her head. Star then turned to the other two Crusaders who summoned their dreaming cloaks and said:
“Let’s go, then.”
They nodded with their heads and so Star teleported them and himself.