Chapter 62: Lost Then Found
A small, insignificant rock teetered on the edge of a precipice at the top of the mountain.
Against the wind, the rock sat anchored only by its own weight. And in the next instant, its only defense failed it.
Under the continued assault of the wind, the single rock fell from its perch and went tumbling down the side of the mountain. Every time it touched a solid surface didn’t offer it a chance to settle. Instead, it only sent the rock bouncing higher and faster down the mountain, until it was so far from the top that it disappeared into the haze of the storm.
On its journey to the bottom, it bounded over the head of a creature that had never been seen on the mountainside before. A young, lavender-colored alicorn, who was climbing for her life against the winds of the storm and the broken ground beneath herself.
Twilight scrambled her hooves frantically up the slope, scraping more frost and rocks away in her mad hurry to reach the top.
She didn’t know why, but she needed to get to the summit. That was where Souris intended for her to go, and nothing would stop Twilight from going there.
Her eyes were focused completely ahead, almost able to cut through the fog with her vision alone. Every other sense Twilight possessed was focused behind herself.
Though she never heard it coming, Twilight veered to the side at the very moment a long strand of webbing struck the mountain just where she was.
The webbing went taut and pulled a cluster of loose rocks from the mountainside, pelting Twilight with a shower of pebbles.
Twilight shrugged off the pebbles and hurried her way up the slope.
She jumped forth when a strand of webbing shot suddenly beneath herself.
Reaching out, Twilight grabbed onto and scrambled up to the topside of a large, jagged boulder. At least, what she thought was a boulder.
Its surface was solid, but less dense than rock. And before Twilight could register what the markings on it were, the webbing that had stuck to it was pulled backwards.
Whatever it had been was pulled free of the ruined remains of the mountain.
Twilight kept her balance atop the object she stood upon, then jumped free when one of the boulders that had once buried it nearly bowled her over.
Without stopping, she ducked beneath another boulder, which bounced over her head.
In the moment she glanced up, Twilight just barely saw another strand of webbing attach itself to the boulder above herself.
Diving to the side, the young alicorn avoided being smashed by the boulder, which left a deep indent on the ground next to her.
The very moment the webbing on the boulder started to retract, Twilight continued her way up the mountain.
There was no end in sight. The blizzard hid everything more than twenty hooves in front of herself. And the moment she was able to see anything else, it was only more of the broken mountainside.
Twilight yelped when a sudden, loud crash landed next to her.
With only a cursory glance, there was the boulder that had nearly crushed Twilight.
Another crash, and Twilight stopped short just before another boulder landed on the trail in front of her.
The webbing that was attached to the boulder cracked like a whip, and the boulder jumped into the air.
Twilight dashed under where the boulder had just been, and only heard it smash behind her mere milliseconds after she passed.
Another boulder swung at her from the side. There would be no dodging this one. The only thing that saved Twilight was that the webbing attached to it was stretched too far, making it strike the mountainside next to her.
Other boulders were knocked loose, revealing the last thing that Twilight expected to see buried in the rubble of the mountain. The top part of a wooden door frame was peering out between the jagged boulders.
Where it led, Twilight thought it was better than where she was.
Multiple boulders were whipped into the air by the webs that held them.
All at once, the boulders crashed down. And in the same instant, Twilight wriggled into the relative safety of her chosen nook.
The doorway was crushed behind her, caving in what seemed to be the only entrance or exit to that place.
The place beyond the door was too dark for Twilight to make out much of the details. Only that the snow from outside seemed to have crept in through any nook and cranny that it could find between the rubble that buried the building. That and everything in there was much larger than it looked like it should have been. And that was all she had time to register, when the entire structure started to rumble.
Crash after crash of slamming boulders sounded overhead.
With no time to waste, Twilight ran deeper into the buried building. She scrambled around an overlarge chair, and collapsed when one of the ceiling fixtures fell loose and landed on top of her.
Saved from much of the impact by the large furniture next to her, Twilight heard another crash and hurried away. She didn’t see where the boulder landed. Only that it was all too near herself. And that there was no webbing attached to this one.
Another crash of breaking floorboards sounded behind Twilight, and was immediately followed by another one like a second great weight landing on top of the first one.
The sound of splitting wood sounded overhead.
Twilight glanced up and saw slivers of light rapidly reveal themselves. In a moment, she realized the light was shining through the rubble that had all but buried the building she was in, and started desperately looking for cover.
She didn’t even have to crouch as she rushed beneath an enormous table. And nearly no time passed when another crash was heard above.
The whole room shook again, and more of the ceiling fixtures broke apart as a downpour of boulders fell from above.
All around herself Twilight saw the giant rocks rain from above, watching them indent the floor under their weight. In that moment, she felt foolish for taking cover beneath a wooden table. As large as it was, it would surely not hold up long against an avalanche crashing down on it.
As if to drive the point home, Twilight yelped when the table above her head reverberated with a dry, cracking sound. At one end, one of the legs bowed out at the top where it connected with the tabletop.
More boulders fell around her, and the other legs of the table cracked and bent under the weight that fell upon them.
Twilight lowered her body, fearing that she was never going to reach the top of the mountain alive.
The table suddenly crashed down.
Twilight winced, awaiting a swift end.
The weight of the table pressed down on the young alicorn, pinning her in place for her final curtain. Then stopped.
Cautiously, Twilight opened her eyes and saw that the legs of the table had stopped bowing out just as the top of the table was about to crush her.
The onslaught of boulders had stopped too, leaving an eerie calm about the room. A calm that Twilight knew wouldn’t last.
Quickly and carefully as she could, Twilight wriggled out from beneath the broken table, and clambered over the boulders that were in her way.
The last boulder that Twilight climbed over gave way beneath her hooves. And with a sickening crunch from the floor, it rolled backwards slightly.
The sudden blunt force of landing on the floor struck Twilight all over. And when she reached her hoof to stand up, she felt the sharp, prickling sensation of cracked wood. Like a long rift that ran from one end of the room to the next.
Another rumble shook the room, and Twilight felt the crack in the floor grow wider. At the other end of the room, she heard the same cracking sound as before come from the floorboards.
One more thunderous slam of the creature swinging her boulders, and the floor beneath Twilight angled backwards.
She gasped sharply and quickly started running through the room.
Somewhere behind herself, another boulder crashed down from the ceiling and struck the floor, shaking anything that was loose out of place.
A terrible happenstance, as the furniture in the room started sliding down the angled floor.
With two avalanches of heavy objects rolling toward her, Twilight braved the danger before herself and rushed forth.
Minding her hooves more now than she ever did, Twilight wove her way through the spinning legs of an oversized chair that slid toward her. When the chair passed, a loud bang and the crunch of wood signalled a boulder dropping upon it.
She jumped and climbed over the arm of a very large couch, and ran along the cushions as the whole thing slid beneath her hooves.
With every passed segment, the couch was crushed by a dropping boulder.
Twilight pumped her legs harder, and the fatigue that had ailed her for so long threatened to overtake her.
Hearing the boulders grow closer, the young alicorn leapt from the couch to the floor, just as the cushion she was running on was smashed.
The ceiling overhead crashed again, and the room tilted more violently.
Decorative masks that hung on the wall wobbled and shook off of their hooks, sending them all dropping to the floor. Most of them clattered flat on their backs, while others among them landed on their edges and rolled along the floor.
In the dim light that illuminated the room, Twilight could see the masks rolling toward her. She dodged to the side of one, then between two more, feeling as if she were suddenly surrounded by the grotesquely distorted faces of some unknown creatures.
For a brief moment, Twilight noticed that one of the masks was made with an optical illusion. If it rolled onto one end, it was the smiling face of some creature. If it rolled to the other end, it was the same creature, only it was suddenly frowning.
Before Twilight could think even an iota on the matter, she stepped on one of the masks that had fallen flat on its front and slipped forward violently.
There was no floor where she landed. Instead, it was a deep pit that had been cut into the floor, which smelled strongly of old ash. After lifting her head, Twilight coughed and spat out a glob of blackened snow, just as the room shook again.
The entire room creaked and groaned like the bellow of a wounded animal.
Even though she wasn’t moving, the room around Twilight was. Somehow, the edge of the pit was sliding closer to her by the moment.
The teetering boulder in the opening at the ceiling fell loose, and plummeted toward the pit.
Spotting an opening in the broken wood at the base of the pit, Twilight crawled through it as her only means of escape.
She scrambled through the hole, kicking up a flurry of blackened snow. The tip of her tail just passed through as the boulder landed, sealing her into the underbelly of the building.
It was darker now than Twilight had ever known it before. The only thing that she was aware of was the motion of the floor over her head, the constant rumbling of falling boulders and the breaking of the floor with each impact.
The floor shattered right next to her, and Twilight screamed when the very edge of the broken floor scraped roughly against her leg.
Pain shot through her, and spurred her through the treacherous foundation.
Twilight clenched her eyes shut, anticipating the moment she would feel the incredible weight crashing down upon herself as she groped around for a way out.
There was a sudden blunt force that struck her face, and Twilight realized that she had crawled face first into a foundational column.
Her eyes opened just in time to see a boulder smash down in front of herself, and destroy a chunk of the floor around it.
Taking the chance to escape, she crawled out of the building’s foundation and back up to the ground floor, where the avalanche had stopped again.
Twilight knew that it would be only a matter of seconds before the creature outside swung more of her boulders at the rubble that buried the building. She would need to escape if she was ever going to finish what she had set out to do.
The nearby stairs proved her only option, as they were the first thing she stumbled over when the building shook again.
Beneath her, the floor at the base of the stairs started to crack.
The moment Twilight set her hoof on the bottom step, the entire staircase lurched and creaked slightly from the wall.
Twilight wobbled with the stairs and nearly fell over the side, before she regained her hoofing and clambered her way up.
Climbing the enormous stairs brought back to mind when she was ascending the stack of tree roots back in the forest. With that, Twilight reached over and started yanking one of the supports on the bannister by the stairs. But for her waning strength, she could only make it jiggle back and forth.
Another slam of boulders from above, and the whole building shook once again.
The stairs rocked harshly from the wall, sending Twilight fumbling forward. She pushed the support free and caught it just before it fell to the floor below. After regaining her balance, she used the broken support to start ascending the stairs more quickly.
The boulders dropped like the snow in the blizzard outside. As a result, the floor started to completely give way. With the floor, the walls too started coming apart.
Twilight stumbled on the steps again, and cut her shoulder on the broken part of her support. Trying not to think about how severe the wound may have been, she powered her way upward.
The broken walls began to lean, and the fixtures that attached the stairs to the wall started to pull loose.
A sudden sense of momentum overtook Twilight, and she saw herself moving laterally across from the second floor destination.
Quickly, she started climbing the stairs with a clutch of fear spurring her onward.
The second floor was growing closer, but at once was getting further.
Twilight planted the support on the step after the next from herself and jumped for all she was worth.
Closing her eyes mid-air, the young alicorn was overcome with the sense that she was pole vaulting like a professional athlete. Like some of the ponies she had seen Applejack compete against.
After a fraction of a second that felt like it had lasted minutes, Twilight opened her eyes and saw that she was landing only a few steps from the top of the stairs.
The shaking from the avalanching boulders made the support slip from where it was planted, and escaped from Twilight’s grip. There would be no more quick climbing. Now, as the stairs were on the verge of falling to the floor below, Twilight began madly scrambling her way up the remaining steps.
She climbed the first one.
The stairs leaned further off of the wall.
She climbed the next. She was almost there.
The stairs creaked loudly and the fixtures that held them started snapping apart.
She climbed the next step. One more and Twilight would be at the second floor.
The stairs began falling away from the wall.
Twilight threw herself forward and grabbed onto the second floor. Despite her best efforts to maintain a grip, she could feel her hooves slipping as the falling stairs dragged her along.
Kicking her back hooves madly, Twilight tried to pull her waist up to the next floor, but was continually dragged downward.
Twilight bucked her rear hooves up and wormed herself forward. Her rear hoof was struck by the bannister on the stairs as it was falling past her and splintered apart when it was crushed by the falling rocks.
She was on higher ground, but was in no less danger.
The boulders above continued to annihilate the floor, and spread their damage to the walls around them.
The walls started to split as a gigantic crack ran up the length of the one nearest to Twilight. It continued its way up to the ceiling, revealing more boulders that were just seen through the hairline fracture.
Instead of running away, Twilight dashed toward the crack in the wall and started pushing against it with all her might.
The combined forces of Twilight’s meager push and the weight of the boulders overhead made the crack start to widen. And it continued to grow, until Twilight could hear the sickening crunching sound coming from above.
She backed further away when the ceiling gave out and the rocks and snow came cascading in.
The force of the weight was too much for the broken half of the building to take. The loudest crunch yet sounded off and the building broke in two. From her perch on the second floor, Twilight watched as the broken part of the building slid down the mountainside with a payload of boulders.
Taking no more chances inside of there, the young alicorn crawled out through a window, which had been cleared of its obstructions by the avalanche she had created and landed in the snow that had all but buried the first floor up to there.
Down the mountain, the creature became aware of an incredible rumble and grew suddenly wary when the ground beneath herself started to shake. In the next moment, her multiple eyes popped wide when she saw what was causing it to happen.
Releasing the webbing she was using to swing her boulders, the creature jumped onto the top of the first approaching boulder and practically vaulted off the top of it, planting her next hand onto the next boulder and vaulting again.
A steady, precarious rhythm was attained. Each step was placed at an equal or inverse position in step with the rolling rocks. With every unsteady step, the creature could feel her limbs spreading slightly further apart.
With a desperate leap, she found herself nearly at the end of the avalanche. Her many eyes caught sight of one last boulder bounding toward herself.
The creature shot a string of webbing to the ground before her and cracked it upward just as the boulder reached her.
The boulder caught the momentum of the webbing and rode along the silken length as if it were riding a rail. In a moment, it arched harmlessly behind the creature and followed after all of its companions that tumbled down the mountain before it.
There was no time for a sigh of relief. Through the haze of the blizzard, the creature saw the most terrifying sight of all. Somehow her alicorn prey had managed to push a building down the slope of the mountain to crush her.
Just as the front of the building loomed overhead, the creature shot a strand of webbing up near the top of it and pulled hard.
The building started to tilt forward, and the creature jumped upward through the window at the top of the building’s front at the very moment that it was crashing down on her head.
The creature slipped through the window without even touching the frame, and gripped hard to the wall that was slamming to the ground.
There was an earth-shattering tremor when the building landed, and the creature narrowly dodged a table that was falling down from the rapidly tilting floor.
She reached up and began climbing the floor as it was suddenly a sheer vertical surface.
At the top of the surface, the creature tried to jump out of the building, but instead fell to the floor when the moving room shook after hitting another bump on its descent.
Righting herself in the air, the creature started rushing along the wall beneath herself, dodging the broken stairs and the rolling boulders that had piled up along the floor.
At the far end of the room, the boulders fell one by one, revealing the broken floor.
Jumping over a boulder, the creature spat a line of webbing at the broken floor and yanked hard.
With a spectacular shower of flying splinters, rolling rocks and flurrying snow, the wooden floor burst apart in a gaping hole large enough for the creature to pass through, just as the moving room slid past herself.
She landed in the snow outside, just as one last boulder rolled past her right side. Looking back, the creature saw the remnants of the broken building tumbling down the mountain, just before they disappeared down the slope. Looking ahead, she saw the rest of the building set into the broken mountain.
Not wanting to chance a trap that had been set for her, the creature instead chose to circumnavigate around the rest of the building and continue her pursuit of Twilight. There was only one direction Twilight could be going after all. It was only a matter of time until she caught up.
A fact that Twilight was well aware of.
Fiercely pounding her hooves on the mountainside, she hoped that at least one bould large enough to deter the creature would fall. No such luck came. But, the solid ground beneath her made the climb all that much easier.
As hard as she tried to squint through the storm, Twilight could see no end to the mountain. For the time, she would have to press on and never let her guard down for even a second.
The ground practically trembled as Pete drove his shovel into the snow. Balancing atop his peg-leg, he kicked the broadside of his weapon as hard as he could.
A swell of snow rose up like a wave at high tide, curling at its crest and crashing down on all beneath it.
Rarity quickly pulled Mickey onto her back and skated toward the frozen swell. Just as before, she tried to slip over the top of Pete’s wave of snow. Only this time, the wave started to crash on the end she was riding.
Swerving quickly, she steered into the barrel, keeping pace just ahead of the crushing snow.
She was skating closer to the wall at the edge of the grove. Before Rarity could change direction, she was struck by Pete bursting through the wave of snow, knocking both herself and Mickey away.
Mickey rolled back and hit the rocky wall hard, where a buildup of snow dropped on top of him. Dazed but determined, the little mouse poked his head out from under the snow pile and chucked a snowball at Pete with his one free arm.
Pete was already advancing on Mickey, blocked with his snow shovel and charged to smash the mouse.
His charge was halted by Nagruk-pak, who caught the heavy in his enormous antlers and pushed him back.
Pete blocked most of the hit with his shovel, freed himself from the grapple and blocked a subsequent headbutt.
The two giant fighters traded blows, striking, blocking, parrying and dodging hit after hit.
Pete held his snow shovel vertically and blocked a swing of his opponent’s antlers. Pivoting his weapon like a lever, he blocked a swing of the other antler.
Levering the handle backward, Pete raised the scoop of his shovel and struck the moose in the chin. Before his opponent was even done recoiling, Pete struck Nagruk-pak on the head with a downward blow.
Before he could continue his assault, Pete was intercepted by a wake of snow that pushed him and Nagruk-pak away from one another.
After passing between the two, Rarity swerved with a graceful spin and shot back toward Pete.
The heavy struck his shovel to the ground to intercept Rarity, who skated up the handle and recovered with a flawless somersault. Upon landing, she began her offensive, flanking to the side and sweeping low with her usual perfect skater’s form.
Pete found himself hard pressed to keep up with Rarity, who was circling him like a matador circled a bull. Every strike from the fashionista was barely noticed before it was blocked or parried.
For Rarity, she could feel the power behind every move Pete made. From the moment she had the misfortune of meeting him, she knew the strength he possessed, but only now realized the force of it now that she was facing him head on.
There was no string of pearls for her to use to fight at a distance. Some way of outmaneuvering Pete was needed.
A swing from Pete’s shovel forced her to duck and slide out of the way. Before her momentum ever started to wane, she found her opportunity.
Pete’s whole body spun from the force of his attack.
Without stopping, Rarity flattened her body nearly to the ground and twisted herself in a way that allowed her to slip between Pete’s mismatched legs.
By the time Pete spun himself back, Rarity was nowhere in sight. He never knew what hit him when the fashionista jumped up and kicked him twice in the back of the head.
Upon landing, Rarity couldn’t help but wave as though she were performing for a crowd. A mistake on her part, when the broadside of Pete’s shovel struck her entire front and sent her sprawling away.
Nagruk-pak resumed his assault with a bull rush, which was stopped by Pete raising his shovel.
The moose pushed Pete back the way a football player pushed a tackle dummy. Before they even stopped, Pete lifted his one good leg and struck his heel backward to deter an attack from Rarity.
As the three fought, Mickey was being helped to dig his way out of his snowy encasement by the glimmering squirrel.
“Come on, fella! The others need us!” Mickey said, pushing away as much snow as he could.
The squirrel chattered indignantly and started more vigorously digging the snow from around Mickey’s buried shoulder.
With a strong pull the mouse strained to free his trapped arm. After a moment where it felt as if his arm might pull off, the squirrel was knocked away by Mickey's arm popping out of the snow.
“Don’t just sit around! I gotta help my pals!” Mickey said, digging himself free with both hands.
The squirrel growled and shook the snow off of its body, before jumping back to assist Mickey.
The snow was heavy and the going was slow. Feeling as if the snow were solidifying around himself, Mickey tried to pull his waist free.
Instead of the desired result, the mouse went toppling forward and rolled down the little mound that buried him.
Seeing an opportunity, the squirrel pushed Mickey forward, encasing the tumbling mouse in a rapidly growing sphere of snow. With the increased size came increased weight and velocity, which sent Mickey rolling toward the battle that was taking place.
Pete had just locked his shovel with Nagruk-pak’s antlers, then heaved the moose around to block an attack by Rarity from his side.
Keeping a shaking hold on his shovel with one hand, Pete reached his other hand into his pocket.
Rarity was already back upon him, but quickly changed her attack to a dodge when the heavy quickly drew his hand out, revealing a fist clad in brass knuckles.
With Rarity out of his way, Pete socked Nagruk-pak a mean uppercut, knocking the moose back.
Both opponents were now at bay. Pete lifted his shovel to charge for another attack, but didn’t expect what he saw next.
“What de Sam Hill!!!?” he shouted just before a snowball the size of a refrigerator bowled him over.
All sense of direction was lost as the heavy went rolling across the grotto. The world suddenly shook when the snowball impacted the side of the tree, freeing both Pete and Mickey from its frigid confines.
Mickey sat bolt upright, snowballs armed in each hand. Before he had a chance to throw, Pete’s shovel came crashing down on his head.
When Pete lifted his shovel, there was no sight of the mouse. Just a deep hole in the snow that was left from the giant snowball.
The mystery of Mickey’s whereabouts was solved when Pete was struck twice from behind in the shoulder.
Mickey popped out of the snow like a daisy and continued his attack, partially freezing Pete’s shoulder with his attack.
Pete broke his shoulder free of the ice and swung backwards.
And like a game of whack-a-mouse, Mickey disappeared back beneath the snow before he was struck.
Pete batted away a snowball assault that came from his side, and missed when he swung at Mickey again.
Mickey popped up behind Pete and had to immediately retreat into the snow again, for Pete’s shovel was already bearing down upon him.
The game had already grown tiresome. Pete realized that if he couldn’t hit Mickey below the snow, he would have to smoke him out.
The end of Pete’s cigar glowed brightly and burned to nearly half its length as the heavy breathed deeply. Putting his face to the hole that Mickey had retreated into, he blew with all his force, sending a gust of choking blackness into the snowy ground.
Geysers of smoke shot up all around. With them, Mickey was blown up into the air by the sudden burst.
Pete caught Mickey on the scoop of his shovel and started flipping the mouse around like he was an egg in a hot frying pan.
The abuse ended when Mickey was flipped up high enough that he could grab a handful of snow off of the branches of the tree and throw a snowball at Pete.
The snowball was easily blocked.
As Pete wound up to hit Mickey with a home-run swing, he was suddenly thrown off balance by Rarity skating past him, kicking up a blinding cover of snow.
Pete spun around on his peg-leg, and was knocked back by Nagruk-pak charging him.
The whole grotto seemed to shake, as Pete was pinned against the trunk of the tree, which dropped nearly all of the snow in its branches to the ground.
Pete fought the moose off with another swing of his shovel, and struck Rarity away next.
Mickey threw an armful of snow into the air and caught the perfectly formed snowballs it had formed into mid-air, throwing them rapidly at Pete.
Raising his shovel, Pete batted away the oncoming snowballs with the skill of a major league hitter.
Each of the errant snowballs flew wildly after they were hit. One hit Nagruk-pak’s right antler, encasing it in ice. Rarity had to duck under one, and spin out of the way of another, nearly freezing her rear legs when another snowball whizzed past mere centimeters where she stopped.
Mickey threw his last two snowballs, and took the full brunt as one struck him in the chest and froze him in a block of ice that left only his hands, feet and head free. The second snowball hit him in the same spot and sent him flying back into a wall, where the block of ice encasing him shattered.
The moment that Mickey was free, he watched how Pete stopped Rarity with his shovel, slapped her around like a hockey puck and struck her with a slapshot that sent her flying into Nagruk-pak’s face.
Moose and unicorn tumbled over one another. And as he lay on his back, Nagruk-pak saw a horrible sight. More of the kingdom’s souls were drifting away from the tree, doomed to become more monstrosities of the wild.
“Heh! So, how many o’ dose to ya think were from yer village?” Pete gloated. “Ya still got time ta finish yer business here. Den, ya can let me finish mine, an’ everyt’ing’s settled, eh?”
Nagruk-pak picked himself up from the ground, lowered his antlers and violently scuffed his hoof through the snow beneath him.
“I won’t let you have Taataviak!!” he shouted, before charging forward.
Pete smiled maliciously at the moose’s anger, stepped to the side and swung at Nagruk-pak’s front legs.
Nagruk-pak easily jumped over the attack and bucked his rear legs behind himself.
Pete was pushed back from the force of the blow and dodged out of the way of Rarity lunging at him.
Mickey saw how the fight was going, and tried to think of a way to help fight back. Pelting Pete directly was no good. He’d simply knock the snowballs away. And even when they hit home, Pete was strong enough to break his way out of any ice that trapped him.
A chattering noise above himself brought Mickey’s attention upward. There was the glimmering squirrel again, sitting upon the end of one of the far-reaching branches of the tree.
Before Mickey could have a chance to wonder what it was trying to tell him, the squirrel broke off a tiny icicle from the branch it was on and dropped it between the mouse’s splayed legs.
“Hey!” Mickey shouted.
Any reprehension he had left him at that moment as he suddenly recalled an incident from earlier in the forest.
“Thanks for the idea, pal!” Mickey hurriedly thanked the squirrel, as he ran back into the fray.
Little progress was being made in the battle against Pete, who had seemed to fall into a rhythm of fending off his two attackers. He would fend off one of them, and without missing a beat he was able to turn about and attack the other, no matter how they tried to surprise him.
As if moving to the beat of a metronome Pete struck Rarity, blocked Nagruk-pak, shoved the moose aside, blocked Rarity, scooped her up with a load of snow and flipped her like a flapjack.
Rarity landed face first on the ground, and a mound of snow landed on her flank in the shape of a poorly made snowmare.
Pulling herself up, she saw Nagruk-pak continue his assault on the heavy, swinging his hooves and his antlers almost as furiously as the blizzard beyond the grotto. The next thing she saw as she skated back to the battle was Mickey hurling snowballs as hard as he could at the branches above them all. And with every impact, large, heavy icicles appeared on the bottomside of each branch.
The memory of the near-fatal accident flashed into Rarity’s mind, inspiring a new idea. All she needed now was a way to reach the branches.
Mickey, it seemed, already had the same idea. He threw a snowball at the ground ten hooves from where Rarity already was, making a small but steep ramp appear in the snowy ground.
Everything was set. Rarity skated forth with a burst of speed and jumped off of the ramp, which collapsed into a heap the moment after the fashionista was airborne.
Tucking her hooves to her body, Rarity landed on one of the lowest branches and skated along its frosty length.
Glancing down, she saw the battle was going on further to her side, and jumped to another branch to better position herself.
Pete swung his shovel with enough force to have cut down a row of small trees.
Nagruk-pak retreated just beyond the reach of the shovel, keeping back as much as he could.
Pete drove the scoop of the shovel into the ground and kicked the back of it, sending up a mound of snow that almost covered Nagruk-pak, blinding the moose.
With his opponent blinded, Pete raised his weapon to attack once more and finish him off.
An icicle suddenly dropped in front of Pete, making the heavy stumble back from the finishing blow he was about to deal.
“What de--!!??” Pete shouted, as more icicles continued to fall before his retreating steps.
He felt a cold chill down his back. Not from fear, but from the icicle that had lodged itself down the back of his shirt and underneath the beltline of his pants.
Pete howled with pain and fury, falling to the ground and rolling like a dog with a bad itch to get the icicle out of his shirt. All the while, icicles continued to fall around him, narrowly missing their fat target as he rolled around.
Mickey threw another snowball, leading the path that Pete was rolling and making a cluster of icicles hang there. Promptly after, Rarity skated across to the branch it was on, shifting her weight to shake them loose.
The icicles dropped in front of Pete, who rolled in another direction to dodge them, only to stop and change direction again when more icicles nearly impaled him.
The process was repeated, until the heavy was surrounded by icicles, lying on his back in a frozen enclosure.
This was it. Mickey threw as many snowballs as fast as he could at the branches directly above Pete. After each impact, the snow accumulated into the largest icicle any of them had ever seen.
The glimmering squirrel climbed up Nagruk-pak’s leg and marveled with the moose at the sight of the icicle. In all their years of living in the frozen kingdom of the northern lands, never had they seen such a mighty icicle before.
From his prone position, Pete saw Rarity skate into view and stop on the branch above him. For just one moment, they looked at each other. Rarity shot a suggestive glance to the giant icicle, then to Pete, whose eyes went wide at the sudden realization that he was going to become an extra large kebab.
Rarity bounced up and down on the branch, loosening the icicle from its hold on the tree.
All around, the glitters of light in the tree started to twinkle more brightly, cheering on Rarity’s steady progress.
Pete’s mind raced furiously for an escape.
The icicle was nearly loose.
Pete’s eyes crossed and focused upon his half-burnt cigar.
Rarity stopped bouncing and gave the icicle one dainty tap with her hoof.
That had done it.
With a sickening crack, the icicle began to drop toward Pete, ready to put an end to his and Mickey’s rivalry once and for all.
But for what happened, Mickey felt he should have known that such a rivalry could never end so easily.
Pete puffed rapidly on his cigar, heating up the end of it to nearly blistering temperatures.
When the icicle reached nearly inches of Pete’s face, it started to melt, and the resulting flow of water fountained out to either side of the heavy, harmlessly splashing the snow beside him.
Many things happened at once in that instant. Pete arched his back and broke the icicle that harried him so.
Mickey tried to throw more snowballs to entrap Pete.
Nagruk-pak charged, was grabbed by his antlers and thrown headfirst into the tree.
The glimmering squirrel was thrown free of his larger friend’s antlers and flew past Rarity, who was shaken loose from her perch above.
Pete moved to attack, but was stopped by a snowball encasing his peg-leg in a small block of ice.
Not that it helped much to stop him, since he only broke free after kicking Nagruk-pak squarely in the jaw with it.
Two more snowballs from Mickey were blocked, and Rarity’s advance was redirected to crash into the tree trunk.
Before Rarity could recover, Pete pinned her to the ground with the broad side of his shovel.
Looking up, Rarity saw Pete standing over her. The heavy reached into his jacket and produced a keg of dynamite. And he began applying the fuse to his cigar.
Whatever was to happen next, Rarity knew that it could only end with herself being blown to pieces.
Before the fuse even started to spark, the glimmering squirrel jumped onto Pete’s face, gnawing and scratching at anything it could get a hold of.
Pete screamed loudly and dropped both his cigar and the keg of dynamite he was holding. He thrashed around trying to claw the squirrel from his face.
Everywhere Pete’s hands went, the squirrel was always one step ahead of him, finding new places to attack.
Enough was enough. As the squirrel scratched the top of his head and chewed on his ears, Pete lifted his shovel and brought it down hard on his cranium. The blow was enough to make him dizzy and slightly disoriented, but it forced the squirrel to jump clear of him.
The lights in the tree all shone brightly. Some even jumped up and down at the display. And they twinkled brighter still as Mickey, Rarity, Nagruk-pak and the squirrel all started coming down hard on Pete.
Though still loopy, Pete was able to clumsily deflect his opponent’s attacks two at a time. Fists, feet and shovel danced tirelessly between the oncoming assault, holding them back.
From the corner of his eye, Pete saw his own cluster of light resting against the tree trunk. The sight of it reinforced his vigor. If he could hold out just a bit longer, he would wear the will of the moose down. And once he caved, the power of the tree would belong to Yen Sid.
Bellowing like a foghorn, Pete scooped up a shovelful of snow and struck Nagruk-pak with his entire payload.
Blinded by the snow, Nagruk-pak was helpless to defend himself as Pete rolled him around, encasing him in more snow.
Any snowball thrown by Mickey was blocked by the rolling moose, who was only layered with more snow with each hit.
Mickey packed a snowball into each hand and charged to meet Pete head on.
Pete placed the scoop of his shovel beneath Mickey’s next step and lifted the mouse quickly into the air. Easily dodging the two thrown snowballs by tilting his head, the heavy slammed Mickey down on top of Nagruk-pak’s snowball.
The squirrel dove to attack next, and smashed face first into Pete’s waiting shovel, when it was slapped on top of the snow that encased Mickey.
Looking very much like a haphazard snowman, the three fighters were effectively incapacitated, and had no way of blocking, dodging, countering, or anything to defend themselves as Pete drew his tommy gun from his jacket.
Pete raised the barrel, and squeezed the trigger. And at the very moment enough pressure was applied to fire, Rarity skated in and kicked Pete’s wrists so that he fired straight into the air.
The branches parted like a school of fish avoiding a predator, allowing the bullets to harmlessly pass between them all. Among the branches, the specks of light began shining less so.
Rarity pushed her trapped friends out of the way of another burst of gunfire, and spun beneath a volley of bullets intended for herself.
She dug her hoof into the snow and kicked a flurry of slush at Pete, who blocked with his arm and fired into the ground inches beside Rarity.
Keeping her distance, Rarity danced around the onslaught of lead, knowing that the first missed step was going to be her last.
She twirled around, kicking up a cloud of snow that washed over Pete.
Pete quickly burst out of the snow that threatened to freeze himself and shot wildly around, hoping to hit Rarity.
Sensing danger behind himself, the heavy whipped around and aimed his tommy gun directly against Rarity’s forehead.
There was no time to move. And Rarity knew that this was where she was going to join Nopony.
*click*
“Eh?!” Pete practically shouted.
The empty click of Pete’s firearm had never sounded so welcome. Renewed with only the kind of fervor that comes from narrowly escaping death, Rarity jumped and did a full backflip, kicking Pete once with each of her legs.
Pete staggered backward and almost stumbled over one of the tree’s roots. Enough for Rarity to jump again, and strike with a pose that would have won medals in a proper skating competition.
Before the next hit struck, Pete blocked with his shovel and countered with a wide swing.
Rarity spun beneath, jumped over the next swing and landed on the scoop.
Pete raised his shovel to throw Rarity.
Rarity slid down the shovel’s handle and dropped to the ground behind her opponent.
Pete swatted his shovel behind himself.
Rarity skated beyond his reach and advanced.
Her strike was blocked and was forced into a spin.
Pete lunged to drive Rarity into the ground like a railroad spike.
Taking advantage of her situation, Rarity spun into Pete’s attack, used his momentum to lift him over her head, and with a crack that she hoped wasn’t her back deposited him on the ground behind herself.
Flashbacks of attempting to get Souris’s jewel back from Nopony entered Pete’s mind. How the nimble performer eluded him by bouncing about like a fish out of water. Rarity was proving to be as much of a pain, the way she was skating toward him again and jumped over another swing.
The two were locked in a back and forth struggle. One where neither seemed to get the upper hand. But, if Pete knew anything about fighting dirty (and he did) it was that physical harm was only the shallowest way to overpower an opponent. To truly conquer them, one had to get under their skin with the deepest possible mental cut.
“Ya dainty, little tea cozy! Ya ain’t got no place bein’ here! Why don’t ya go back to yer little fabric shop? Oh, dat’s right. Ya ain’t got a shop no more!!” the heavy growled, swatting his shovel violently.
“You impudent thug!” Rarity shouted, dodging each blow, “Who are you to tell me my place!?” She attempted to counter, and was blocked. “After what you did to me, my shop and my customers, I have more right than most to see that you’re dealt with!”
Pete shoved Rarity back, who lost her footing and fell onto her side. He drove the edge of his shovel down, but missed when the fashionista recovered.
Instead of grumbling or cursing when he missed, Pete instead started laughing maliciously.
“And just what--is so--funny!?” Rarity said, speaking between each kick.
“Dis is just how yer boyfriend bought de farm! He got way in over his head an’ bit it! Just like all dose other folks ya didn’t save!” Pete guffawed, dodging each attack.
Rarity’s blood boiled at such a flippant recount of the end of Avalon. All the worse was how she remembered holding Nopony’s limp body in her hooves, before he ended the nightmare that threatened to consume the city at the cost of his own life.
She charged as fast as she could and jumped into the air to attack.
Pete easily dodged and swatted Rarity back to the ground.
In an instant, Rarity was back on her hooves and charging again.
“Don’t--you--EVER--speak of Nopony again!!” she shouted.
Pete’s smile widened when he saw the enraged tears welling up in Rarity’s eyes.
“So, de bum had a name, did he?” he asked, blocking Rarity’s onslaught of attacks. He caught one of Rarity’s hooves on the handle of his shovel and looked her squarely in the eye. “I never thought even I’d say somethin’ dis mean, but I’m glad dat loser’s pushin’ up daisies. He’d be twice as annoyin’ if he was gushin’ over ya while we was dukin’ it out!”
Between the heavy’s cruel words and foul breath, Rarity was at her breaking point.
She burst her hooves free from Pete’s block and attacked with a fury that welled up from the darkest parts of her being. Every horrible manestyle, annoying customer and clashing color was nothing compared to what she felt at that moment.
All the while, Pete laughed maliciously. Though he was barely able to keep up with Rarity’s assault, she was exactly where he wanted her.
“Stop laughing!!” Rarity shrieked, mid-attack. “STOP!!”
Pete did no such thing, relishing every moment of Rarity’s blind rage.
When he saw his opening, he thrusted his shovel into Rarity’s stomach and slammed her to the ground. But, he wasn’t finished with her.
He started spinning around, pushing Rarity through the snow.
Rarity tumbled around, feeling very much as if she were put through some horrid spin cycle, bumping herself all over against the ground and the occasional tree root that was hidden by the snow.
The cycle ended when Pete stopped and charged forward with Rarity in his shovel. Rapidly, the fashionista was rolled up into a giant snowball and was hurled at her other entrapped friends. The moment she landed, the snow around them all dispersed, burying them all under a mound of cold.
Up above, the twinkling lights all started dwindling one after the other.
Nagruk-pak raised his head from the mound of snow, his squirrel friend sitting in his antlers, and gasped in horror at the sight of dozens of hopeless souls drifting away, doomed to become chenoo, wetiko, or worse.
Mickey’s head emerged from the snow. Next to him, he saw Rarity’s tail protruding from the snow, tugged on it and pulled her free.
Looking up, they saw the same horrible sight. So many souls set adrift, never to return to their true form. Looking to Nagruk-pak, Mickey could see the moose filled with fear and desperation, teetering on the brink of joining those who had removed themselves from the balance of the kingdom.
“There’s only one way we’re gonna stop this,” Mickey said.
Nagruk-pak twitched his ears in Mickey’s direction.
“We’re gonna have to do what Pete wants.”
“You mean--” Nagruk-pak stammered. “No. I can’t do that to them! If that bulging cat ever collected them as he did our magic--.”
“Don’t worry about it. I been gettin’ one over him longer than you know. An’ I’m sure as heck gonna do it again! Do what ya gotta with that tree. Me an’ Rarity’ll handle Pete!”
Though she said nothing, Rarity fully agreed. After what Pete had said to her, she was ready to make him pay ten fold for every moment of grief he had caused every creature whose path he had crossed.
Nagruk-pak watched as his smaller friends rushed back into the fight, and began their assault again. He looked back up to the tree, and saw more of the kingdom’s souls drifting away. They knew the fight wouldn’t end. And if it did, it wouldn’t be their protectors who won. They were never going to reach the safety of Taataviak, and would be doomed to weather the horrors that had befallen their kingdom. That is, before they became the horrors themselves.
The glimmering squirrel hopped from the moose’s antlers and scampered toward the tree’s roots. It did not even stop to turn and look back at him, as it disappeared beneath from view beneath the tree.
The squirrel, Nagruk-pak’s friend who was set to guide him since he came of age, was now goading him toward the one thing he wanted to do less than anything in the world. But, he knew that there was no fighting it. He already knew what would happen if he did nothing. Weighed against what may happen next, the moose followed after his friend.
Before he followed beneath the tree, he stopped when he saw Pete’s cluster of magic hovering above the entrance. It glittered maliciously, daring Nagruk-pak to fulfill his duty, so that it might steal away everything and everyone in the kingdom.
Putting the light out of his mind, Nagruk-pak dashed down the sloping entrance at the roots of the tree.
He slowed to a cautious trot beneath the roots, then to a curious saunter. There, at the heart of the tree lived the souls who called out more clearly to him than any of the others. Though silent, every one of them was like a voice in his head, calling desperately to be sent to the safety beyond their material world. Among them, to his greatest relief, he could feel the presence of family and of his closest friends, Isigak-pak and Sauinik-pak, calling to him, begging him to fulfill his responsibility.
Nagruk-pak didn’t need the chattering of his squirrel friend to guide him where he needed to go. Upon the root at the very heart of the tree, the squirrel sat shining more brightly than it had before. And soon, it closed its eyes and lowered its head.
Apprehension clutched Nagruk-pak. Things were proceeding more quickly than he was ready for. And before he even had a chance to try and prepare himself for what was to come, the squirrel raised its head and opened its eyes.
Something had changed from the moments before. No longer were they the mischievous, beady eyes of a squirrel, but the admonishing, piercing gaze of an eagle. And in those eyes, Nagruk-pak saw nothing but disappointment and dismay.
“T...Taataviak…?” the moose began.
The squirrel was silent.
Nagruk-pak swallowed his apprehension and continued on.
“Taataviak...I implore you: take the subjects of your kingdom into your care.”
The squirrel was silent, and its disappointed gaze deepened.
“I realize now that I’ve waited too long to send them to you. But, there’s nothing I can do for the souls lost! Take the rest now, while there is still time!”
Nagruk-pak’s plea didn’t move Taataviak, who still gazed at the moose with his disappointed stare.
“Please! You must! I can’t bear the thought of losing any more!” Nagruk-pak pleaded. “I know full well this is all my fault! I volunteered as the one to stay behind, but I couldn’t follow through! You’ve seen what has been happening! What would you have done!?”
The gaze of the squirrel intensified, no longer disappointed, but admonishing and furious. And all around, the sanctuary of roots glowed with the same fury as the being who inhabited it.
No words were spoken, but Nagruk-pak knew what was being said. The fault was his alone to bear. No blame could be placed or shared upon another. And if he was going to be true to the path his totem guided him by, he knew he would have to accept it.
“Taataviak...If nothing else, don’t let any more suffer for my irresponsibility,” the moose said. “For as long as they are under your care, I’ll dedicate myself wholly and completely to the balance of this kingdom. Especially if there ever is a chance I may restore the lost to your ways! Please, Taataviak!”
The squirrel’s face didn’t change. It only continued to stare at Nagruk-pak, who stared right back, awaiting some kind of reply.
A blinding light emanated from the squirrel’s body, momentarily making Nagruk-pak avert his eyes. When the light grew so bright that it blinded him, the moose began his retreat from within the roots of the tree and reemerged into the open grotto.
Mickey and Rarity’s battle against Pete was still going on. And just as it was before, not one of them was showing any signs of giving up. But, as if to sense something, their fight gradually slowed to a halt.
Dim light began glowing from within the roots of the tree, and seeped out like a mist from across a lake. Rapidly, it grew brighter and brighter, until it nearly blinded all of them. As if to burst, the light from the tree suddenly erupted upward into the sky, illuminating the kingdom for miles around.
The onlookers stared in awe at the sight, stopped cold by the sheer gravity of the situation. Until a malicious smile crawled across Pete’s face. This was what he was waiting for. Magic with body and form had revealed itself. And among that, the form of the ruling deity of the land.
Through the veil of light, Pete’s cluster of starlit magic revealed itself. Though it was swallowed up by the light of the tree, Mickey and Rarity knew what it was doing.
Mickey’s mind returned to the moment he, Donald and Goofy arrived in Equestria. In the hidden place where Equestria’s Tree of Harmony met its end, how he and his friends felt as if something as alive and aware as they were had passed away.
Fury filled the mouse, who quickly packed up a snowball and hurled it at the evil magic light.
Before his snowball even reached it, the light that had guided him to Ponyville, the last remnant of the Equestrian Tree of Harmony, darted forth and crashed into Pete’s devilish magic.
The two lights fought back and forth, trying to overpower one another.
Pete growled and scooped up a shovel full of snow and wound back to throw it with the force of a siege catapult.
Rarity immediately saw the danger and struck Pete’s shovel mid-swing, taking the blow for herself.
Another setback. Pete raised his shovel to thrust into Rarity’s middle, before he was countered by Mickey.
Mouse, fashionista and heavy battled on. But, Pete knew that it was he who was already the victor.
He batted away his two opponents and hurled his shovel at the two magical lights.
The shovel caught the light from Equestria and carried it across the grotto, where it smashed into a wall and dispersed into stardust.
With nothing left to inhibit it, the light of Yen Sid’s magic began to grow brighter. And like a cyclone drawing water from a pond, it started absorbing the magic that came from the tree.
This was it. The battle was over. And Pete had won.
From the side of the mountain, a burst of light cut through the blizzard like a knife.
Twilight could see it now. She was closer to the mountaintop than she ever knew, and hurried upward. She didn’t even care to listen for the approaching steps of the creature. When she was so close to achieving her goal, she couldn’t let anything stop her.
Clumsy steps hindered by the loose ground beneath her hooves didn’t slow her for a second. The end goal was in sight. And there would be her answers to discovering the magic that had eluded her.
The closer she came to the mountaintop, the more wary she felt. It was all too reminiscent of when Souris revealed her true self and began sacrificing the creatures of Avalon to Yen Sid’s goal. As she looked on, she half expected to see the monstrous, multi-winged form flap into view, ready to thank her for unwittingly playing a part in another of the lady-bat’s schemes.
Her fears of being manipulated again clashed with the seemingly genuine declaration of friendship Souris had shared. With her fears came one of the lessons that Souris had taught her. How her own doubts were holding her back, and that she had to push past them to ever progress.
Putting her trust in Souris’s guidance, Twilight climbed over the last ridge to the mountaintop.
It was like being at the edge of a viciously erupting volcano, and there she was standing at the caldera. Gazing over the side of the caldera, Twilight was blinded by the eruption of light that flowed from below. Whatever it was, whatever it meant, there was no time for Twilight to ever meditate on the matter. With nowhere left to go, she stopped completely. And she waited.
The leaves of the Tree of Harmony withered away to brown, and the souls within its branches clung desperately to their sanctuary. Yet no matter how they tried, they were still dragged slowly toward the light that threatened to steal them away.
Pete charged and was hit by a snowball. Any ice that encased him was broken when he shoved into Mickey, who fell under the heavy’s blow.
Rarity advanced to attack and was struck in the face, then knocked aside.
Nagruk-pak looked on, knowing there was nothing he could do to turn the tide of the lost battle. But, if nothing else, he would not stand by to later tell any creature he met that he did nothing.
The moose lowered his head and aimed his antlers at Pete, before charging forward.
Pete had just collected his shovel from the ground, blocked both his opponents, lifted them with his weapon, spun them like a propeller and threw them both away, before he was struck from behind and slammed into a rocky wall.
Before Nagruk-pak could continue, Pete elbowed the moose away and spat out a mouthful of rocks. He then placed his shovel to the ground and charged forward, making another wave of snow that was meant to swallow his opponents.
Nagruk-pak burst through the wave and tackled Pete to the ground. Pinning the heavy under his own hefty weight, he started punching Pete repeatedly in the face.
Pete kicked the moose in the back with his one foot and sent him rolling over his head. He was the first on his feet, before he was attacked by Mickey, then by Rarity.
Even as he fought, Pete was keeping an eye on the tree. His magical light was drawing in the magic of the kingdom. Just a little longer.
At the top of the mountain, Twilight waited.
The sounds of footsteps approached her from behind, then slowed to a complete stop.
There was nowhere to run. Since she had begun facing her opponent, Twilight Sparkle was finally without an escape.
Nothing happened. As if the creature had come to a halt behind her, only silence permeated the world around them both.
“Turn around,” said the voice of the creature.
Twilight slowly shifted her eyes to her side, but saw nothing. Not even the tattered sleeve of the creature’s jacket next to her.
“I don’t want to kill you when you’re completely helpless. Turn around. And face your end head on,” the creature’s voice continued.
Twilight knew that even if she didn’t, the creature would pounce upon her and end her life anyway.
“Please. I want you to at least go down fighting. Make your end one that will be remembered by your friends,” the creature pleaded.
Her friends. If they ever knew what Twilight had been through, and how she was to meet her end, they would never think of her the same again. Not as a mare who would turn on a creature who had considered her a friend. If she was to meet her demise, she was going to meet it as the Princess of Friendship. And she would uphold it on her own terms.
“No,” Twilight said. “I won’t do it.”
“What do you mean?” the creature asked.
Twilight slowly turned to face her opponent. What she saw was not a malicious, angry beast who wished her dead. It was a sorrowful, remorseful gaze that the creature returned to her.
“I’m not going to fight you,” Twilight answered.
“I don’t think you realize the gravity of your situation. I’m going to kill you now. And you won’t do anything to stop it?” the creature said.
“I--” Twilight’s throat clenched, stifling her voice. Swallowing her fears, she continued, “I know what situation I’m in...But, as somepony who could have been your friend, I won’t fight you.”
The creature stared silently, as if to assess what Twilight had said.
“That’s an admirable sentiment,” the creature slowly said, “But, I’m afraid that I have my obligations to fulfill to my other friends.”
In the instant that the creature crouched to pounce, Twilight’s mind snapped to the one thing she could think to delay her own demise.
“Do you think that this is what Souris would have wanted?” Twilight blurted out.
The creature stopped instantly, and her eyes shot wide.
“You knew Souris?” she asked.
This was it. Twilight had the creature’s rapt attention, and was ready to defend herself in the only way she had left.
“We met in Avalon,” Twilight explained. “She wanted to teach me how to use magic like you and she did. But, she did so much more for me. She taught me that good or bad, anypony can value their friends. That’s why I wanted her to be my friend. That’s why I tried to save her. Before she--”
Twilight stopped her words when she realized who the creature may well blame for her friend’s death.
“Is that why you tried to save me before?” the creature asked.
Twilight thought back to what may have been her easiest chance to survive her fight. When the creature would surely have fallen to her death, and left Twilight to her life of solitude.
“I did it because…” Twilight paused a moment, unsure if what she was saying was entirely true. “Yes. Because I needed you. The same way that I needed Souris.”
In the blazing light around them, Twilight could see a gleam of remorse in the creature’s many eyes. And for a brief moment, she thought she may have reached her enemy.
Then, the creature stepped closer.
The battle in the grotto was not faring well.
Rarity was hit hard and sent sprawling away against the tree trunk.
Lifting her head, her vision had gone slightly blurred, and her eye ached fiercely. For once, she was glad that she didn’t have a mirror, for no amount of shadow or mascara would hide the hideous black eye she surely had.
A strong, acrid smell like a bushfire mixed with halitosis reached her nose, nearly making the fashionista gag. Looking to the source, she saw the still-lit stub of Pete’s cigar, next to his dropped keg of dynamite.
The image of Mickey throwing his snowballs at Pete stood out in her mind, and she suddenly knew what to do.
She tucked the explosive into one of her pockets and (trying not to vomit) carried the cigar by its broad side in her teeth.
Quickly as she could, she skated back toward the battle. But, not to Pete. Instead, she skated toward Mickey, who was trying to find an opening to attack Pete while Nagruk-pak clashed with the heavy.
“Throw as many snowballs as you can at him!” Rarity said, skating quickly around Mickey.
“What do ya think I’m doin’!?” Mickey indignantly asked.
“I mean really do it! I have a plan!”
Rarity skated away without explaining.
Pete once again locked his snow shovel with Nagruk-pak’s antlers and looked up to his magic light. The first soul was inching toward it, and was sure to be followed by more.
From the branches of the tree, yet another light appeared. One with a distinct shape and form of a squirrel, which jumped on Pete’s evil magic and held fast to it.
Slowly, the souls of the tree started drifting back to their sanctuary.
“HEY! Get offa dere, ya little sneak!!” Pete shouted, before he readied to throw his shovel like a javelin at the squirrel.
His attempt was stopped by his arm getting hit by a snowball and frozen.
Pete growled again and broke his arm free, only to be struck with another snowball.
“Ya ain’t stoppin’ me dat easy, runt!!”
Before Pete could break free again, Rarity skated by him, looking like nothing but a white and purple blur as she kicked up a wake of snow that covered the heavy.
Sputtering as he tried to clear away the blinding snow, Pete was hit by more and more snowballs, getting more and more frozen with each hit.
The more layers of ice put on him, the less Pete was able to move. Soon, he was covered up in a cylinder of white, which Rarity spiraled up to the top with her skates. Once she was on top, she jumped off with a quintuple axel that would have wowed any crowd.
The cylinder of snow dropped away, and there was Pete, frozen in an ice sculpture of an overlarge ball gown.
His mouth was open wide, frozen in a shout of protest as his eyes darted about. The only thing he was able to move at the moment.
Huffing and puffing, Rarity stopped before Pete and was joined by Mickey and Nagruk-pak.
“That,” Rarity puffed, “Was for blowing up my shop.”
Pete grumbled something, but was unheard.
“And that--” Rarity said.
Mickey and Nagruk-pak looked to where she pointed. Even Pete swiveled his eyes downward and saw a keg of dynamite beneath his mismatched feet, its fuse melting the ice around it as it sizzled down.
“--That is for Nopony!!” Rarity finished.
In the light that erupted from the tree, something else appeared. Something large with wings that settled atop the branches, and gathered up all of the souls within. But it was unseen by anyone present.
Mickey, Rarity and Nagruk-pak all ran as far as they could and dove into the snow, before hastily constructing a shoddy igloo around themselves.
Pete rocked back and forth in his icy entrapment, but couldn’t break himself free. He could only watch in frozen horror as the fuse on the dynamite sizzled into nothingness.
A great pair of wings flapped once, and the presence in the tree shot skyward. Along with it, another bright light appeared, and sent another presence into the sky.
The dynamite beneath Pete exploded with a tremendous bang that shattered the ice around him, blew a small crater into the ground, shook the branches of the tree, and shot the heavy into the sky like a roman candle.
Only, he didn’t fly directly upward.
The higher Pete flew, the more he could see the edge of the mountain caldera growing closer to his face. And with a feeling like he was hit in the face by a truck, he broke through the rocky lip of the mountain.
The ground beneath Twilight and the creature exploded as something screaming shot up between them and sent them falling into the crater below.
At first, they saw only the blinding, silvery light. In the next moment, the ground hundreds of feet below was rapidly approaching.
This was it. Twilight knew that Souris would not save her again. And that she would never learn the answers she so desperately sought.
In a moment, she would hit the ground and it would all be over.
But suddenly, she felt the sharp jolt of deceleration, and found herself suspended a mere hoof from impact.
At first, Twilight thought for certain she had actually hit the ground, and was about to ascend to join the Royal Sisters. She then felt herself sway slightly to the side and looked up. There, stuck to her rear hoof was a long strand of webbing which anchored higher up the side of the grotto they were in.
Reaching up, Twilight undid the webbing and dropped to the snowy ground.
She raised her head and saw nothing. Nothing but snow, and a grand tree in the middle of the grotto. When she stood, Twilight found herself no worse for wear. Only exhausted from her battle against the creature.
The creature!
Twilight cautiously looked around, and saw no trace of her opponent. Until she saw a crumpled leg protruding from beneath the snow.
Throwing away all caution, Twilight limped over to the fallen creature and found her lying broken in the snow.
It was a sight too horrible for Twilight to comprehend. Never once had she seen anything so horrifying, so sad, yet be unable to look away from.
A leg of the creature twitched, and Twilight felt her heart pound a little harder.
Slowly, the creature turned her head to face Twilight, who stood motionless.
“Are you...hurt…?” the creature labored to say.
Twilight shook her head and thought she saw the creature smile.
“Why…” Twilight asked, unable to finish her own sentence.
The creature’s smile seemed to grow.
“Because...you would have done the same...Twilight Sparkle...Princess of Friendship…” she said.
Twilight recalled how when she saved the creature’s life before, she was repaid by nearly being killed. Now, as her enemy laid before herself, she couldn’t bring it about herself to hate her. Instead, she did the one thing she could think to do as the Princess of Friendship.
“What...What’s your name?” she asked.
The creature breathed deeply and sighed, “...My name...is...Aranea…”
Her eyes started to droop. Time was running out. But, Twilight had to know for certain. If she hadn’t saved the creature, Aranea, before, would she still have done the same?
But, it was too late. The creature laid still and silent before Twilight, and was quickly buried by the falling snow.
Behind her, at the other end of the grotto, Rarity was the first to emerge from cover. At first, she couldn’t believe her eyes. And without knowing it, she called her friend’s name.
“Twilight!!”
The young alicorn jumped the sound of the familiar voice and turned to see Rarity trotting painfully toward her.
Mickey emerged from the broken igloo next.
“Twilight?!” he said, before following after.
Nagruk-pak rose up and shook the snow from his back. He saw Mickey running toward the two mares, but slowed to a stop.
When Rarity reached Twilight, the two stared at one another for what seemed eternity. As Twilight looked, she could only think what trials the others had put up with without her help. In Rarity’s disheveled and bruised face, she could see a multitude of troubles, worry, sadness, grief and dilemma.
And at once, Twilight recalled what she had said to Aranea. How she hated Rarity so, and never wanted to see her again. It was enough to make her walk away again. And this time, never return. But something kept her standing, staring at Rarity without a word.
“Twilight...You--”
Twilight’s throat clenched.
“You’re...ears must be cold.”
It was true. After sacrificing her hat to make her escape, Twilight’s ears had become totally numb against the weather.
Rarity reached into her own coat and produced the clothes that she had made for Twilight back in Nagruk-pak’s house.
“Here. You may want this,” Rarity unsurely said, as she presented the hat that was set atop the bundle of clothes.
As she stared at the hat, something broke within Twilight. A single gesture of generosity that washed away everything she had felt before.
After holding it in for so long, her tears burst forth.
Rarity reached out and cradled Twilight in her hooves, who sobbed into her friend’s shoulder.
Mickey sat against the tree trunk, letting the mares have their moment together. Glancing up, the mouse saw that all of the twinkles of light that had once been in the tree branches were gone. And with that, he knew that his work in the frozen north was done.
Nagruk-pak slowly walked over to Mickey, his eyes set upon the branches above.
“It’s done,” the moose simply said.
“Yeah,” Mickey replied.
“They’ve all gone to the care of Taataviak.”
“Mm-hm,” Mickey said, not completely understanding.
“This means that it all falls to me and the others who have stayed behind to keep the kingdom running.”
“It’s a heavy thing, that kind of responsibility,” Mickey said.
“Yes. But, I suppose that so long as we persevere, we can see it through.”
Mickey sighed quietly at the moose’s words. Perseverance. The very thing that allowed him to see through the most difficult times with his friends. At any time during any of his adventures with Goofy and Donald, they could have called it quits. There were times that even one of them had given up their endeavors. But, through belief in themselves and (sometimes forcible) persuasion, they were able to see anything through to the end.
The magical light from Equestria tinkered above and settled on Mickey’s nose. Then, it drifted over to Twilight and Rarity.
“Guess that’s our cue to go,” Mickey said, partly to himself.
He stood up and walked over to the mares, who were locked in a silent embrace.
Twilight glanced over and saw the mouse looking sheepishly at her.
“Nice seein’ ya again, Twilight,” was all he could think to say.
In spite of herself, Twilight managed a smile. She was back where she belonged.
The magical light started glowing more brightly, until it engulfed the three.
“What is this?” Rarity wondered.
“I think we’re goin’ somewhere,” Mickey said, as he and the others were magically lifted off of the ground. Before going, he turned one last time to Nagruk-pak. “Bye, big guy. Take care while we’re gone.”
“Farewell, little friends. Stay safe for the rest of your journey,” the moose answered.
And with one last blink of light, Mickey, Rarity and Twilight disappeared, and the magical light drifted up and away.
Nagruk-pak stood staring up at them, until his squirrel friend scampered up his leg and settled into one of his antlers.
“Let’s go. You and I have a lot of work to do around here.”