Circling around the multiple jagged peaks of the mountain, the ice monster looked down for Rainbow Dash. Trying to see any trace of her vibrant form. It hadn’t heard anything since the unusual roar from earlier but it was certain it was on the right trail. The gargoyle settled down on a summit between two of the peaks that overlooked the southern face of the mountain and watched like a hawk for anything. Its talons were clenched and ready for movement, its tail shifted about impatiently, and its wings twitched with barely restrained aggression. Soon it would find its prey again.
Normally Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have a problem with getting away from an Ursa Minor but when she was trying to keep a low profile and not just fly out in the open it was rather difficult. The stupid monster—er, animal, Fluttershy would get mad if she called it a monster, kept chasing her through the trees and bushes on this side of the mountain. The heavy swats from its paws were enough to shake if not outright uproot entire trees or leave deep slash marks from its claws. At least it wasn’t yelling or roaring for her anymore, she really didn’t want that ice monster finding her too. Why was this thing being so persistent anyways? She left its dumb cave and hadn’t done anything else to it, did it see the entire mountain as its territory? Ugh!
“Dude, can you just lay off!” Rainbow Dash yelled back at the Ursa Minor as she ran through the forest.
A growl was her only response as it muscled past two thick trees, breaking huge chunks of bark off when its strong shoulders scraped by. The ground wasn’t as snowy as it probably was yesterday so Rainbow Dash could easily still run through it but that still didn’t change the fact she wasn’t making any progress. That thing was too big for her to just kick and, again, Fluttershy would probably get mad at her if she did that. She glanced up at the sky quickly but to her relief she actually couldn’t see too much thanks to the thick tree coverage. And if things were that obfuscated for her it would be the same for anything flying above this mountain forest.
Rainbow Dash needed to find somewhere she could lose the bear creature or somewhere she could hide real quick. All she needed was for it to finally give up chasing her just for a little bit and then she could relax, get some more food, and plan her next fight against the ice monster.
Easier said than done. She thought.
The pony decided she could use a little more speed and opened her wings, picking up her hooves and flying parallel to and practically just an inch above the ground. She needed to be careful not to hit any tress but she figured this was better than just running. While she was zooming around she saw a bunch of squirrels and birds fleeing in terror from the Ursa, at least they were lucky enough to not be what the dumb thing wanted.
“You only care because I walked into your cave, huh?” Rainbow Dash said as she looked over her shoulder at the Ursa Minor still charging at her. She clicked her tongue. “Whatever!”
The Ursa angrily smashed one of its huge arms into a tree, splitting the trunk clean in two and sending the whole thing crashing down onto the forest floor. The sound of the wood ripping apart was loud and the heavy trunk hitting the ground shook everything around it. If there was a certain something watching or listening from above it likely would’ve noticed that…
Rainbow Dash gulped and sped her wings up.
The ice monster shifted atop its temporary perch as it heard the sound of the tree crashing to the ground. It looked down at that little forest on the mountainside with intense focus. There was no sign of that rainbow-colored pony but the trees kept shifting and moving around; there was something going on down there. It didn’t bother spreading its wings, it merely jumped and divebombed straight down to the forest so as to get there as quickly as possible. Whatever else was going on on this mountain was irrelevant, it was going to catch its prey.
“KRAAAAOOOWWWW!” The monster screeched as it dove to the forest.
Rainbow Dash was currently hiding behind a felled tree, hoping the Ursa Minor wouldn’t find her. She had managed to temporarily lose the bear and was now doing her best to make sure it didn’t find her again. That meant being still and quiet. Something that was not her forte. She could peak above the trunk and see the Ursa searching for her, looking behind trees, smacking bushes to shake out anything hiding inside, its nose flaring as it tried to smell her and drool dripping from its mouth.
Just give up already! Rainbow Dash frowned.
She didn’t need to wait much longer for that to happen… although it was for all the wrong reasons.
The ear-splitting screech from the ice gargoyle penetrated the entire forest. Rainbow Dash winced and pressed her hooves over her ears, hunkering down to stay out of sight as much as possible. The Ursa Minor had an even more frightened reaction. As the leaves shook and fell to the snow dusted ground all around it the huge bear creature whimpered and tucked its tail between its legs, running off back up to where its cave was. That blue and constellation-laden fur ball retreated and ran away like an Ursa Major was in town.
A second later something crashed into the forest floor through the trees, throwing up clouds of dirt and snow and cratering the ground where it landed. Only one thing that could be.
Crud. Rainbow Dash didn’t bother to look and make sure, knowing it would just give away her position.
The monster was on the ground above her so she would need to get past it somehow to keep going up and around the mountain. That would be difficult though. This thing obviously had sharp eyes and they were clearly only interested in her. Attempting to go down the mountain and maybe hiding among the boulders and crags was too difficult, it would be too easy for her to get spotted and she wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on the monster with it having the high ground. She needed to sneak past it here in this forest and get somewhere higher on the mountain.
She could try hiding behind trees and circling around it but it might see her each time she darted out to another one. A few thumps from where she heard it land told her that the monster had started moving around and looking for her. She heard the sounds of shifting and grinding ice as it moved its body and flexed its wings. The sharp talons of the monster dug through the snow and dirt while it looked for any trace of Rainbow Dash, tail whipping around like an angry cat behind it. What other animals were still in the forest that hadn’t fled at the rampage of the Ursa Minor were now regretting their decision even more with the ice monster here. Rainbow Dash could see a shaking white rabbit not far from where she was. At least it had the benefit of blending in with the snow though.
The steady steps of the ice monster were getting closer to her position, she couldn’t think that it wouldn’t find her if she didn’t move.
What can I do? She could feel her heart beating in her chest.
Looking around for anything that could help she saw a rock sticking halfway out of the snow beside her. Rainbow Dash grabbed it and lifted it up in her hooves, scrunching up her nose at the rock. This was a pretty big risk too but it was the best idea she had. Without exhaling she heaved the rock towards some bushes down and away from her hiding position. If she was unlucky the ice monster may have seen where the rock was thrown from but if she was lucky it wouldn’t have been looking over at her spot right that second.
The rock fell into the bushes, creating a rustling sound and a couple of clunks as it bounced around the branches and hit the ground. Instantly the ice monster jumped over to that bush, right over the tree Rainbow Dash was hiding behind. It thundered down to the ground and shoved its icy claws into the bush, rending it apart and sending a family of squirrels fleeing in terror. The razor sharp claws absolutely tore the bush and ground around it to pieces while Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to scramble over her fallen tree and jet to another one still standing up, pressing herself right against it and making sure nothing was poking out.
Rainbow Dash could still hear the frustrated monster destroying that bush and everything around it so she dared to look around the trunk of the tree to see what it would do next.
It was pounding its talons into the ground in frustration as it finally realized Rainbow Dash wasn’t there. She watched it as it looked further down through the forest, trying to find a sign or trace of her instead of fruitlessly wasting time. Rainbow Dash watched to make sure it didn’t turn around and come back up her way. It looked like it didn’t know what to do now, if it should go back to flying or keep looking through the forest…
Suddenly the sound of fluttering wings reached both the pony and the ice gargoyle and they looked up to see a blue bird flying from one of the trees. The spiked skull of the monster followed it for a while until it grew tired, the icy bones of it shivering and groaning as it banged its talons down one more time and started walking away from Rainbow Dash.
Lucky… Rainbow Dash wiped away the sweat she would never admit to having shed and stealthily went to the next tree, still being careful to not accidentally step on any twigs or be out in the open for too long.
Every time she glanced back the ice monster was getting further and further away from her. If she could just get a little higher up on this mountain or maybe to the peaks she could hide among the rocks, find a nice ravine or something, and actually plan out her next move instead of having to constantly worry or do something else. She knew time wasn’t exactly on her side right now though, it was clear that thing was not giving up on her no matter what and eventually it would start flying around again and try to look for her from the sky when it eventually realized she wasn’t anywhere lower on the mountain.
Rainbow Dash eventually got out of the forest and hit another rocky part of the mountain she had originally just ran past when she was being chased by the Ursa Minor. It looked like the ice monster hadn’t left the forest yet but she still didn’t want to chance flying around. She’d walk along the mountain trails and ridges that she could until she reached the other side, then fly to the peak. Luckily for her yet again there was a huge split in the mountainside where she was that she could easily walk through and be totally invisible to anything outside of it.
She sighed anyways, being tired of walking, and headed towards it. It angled up a bit as she walked over the broken apart rocks and narrow steps on her way to the western face of the mountain. Looking up briefly she saw the clouds overhead expanding further and further around the mountain range, they had started rumbling too. The dark clouds that had just been around that taller peak only a little earlier today were going to be bringing a full on storm very soon. Not something she wanted to be caught inside of on an already cold mountain with that monster chasing her.
Rainbow Dash reached the top of the broken crevice she was crawling through and hopped out of it onto a narrow ledge that overlooked a sheer vertical drop that went the rest of the way down this side of the mountain. She resisted the urge to kick a pebble down the cliff and turned to see something sticking out of the rockface just in front of her. Something she never expected to see here.
Her jaw dropped at the apple tree growing haphazardly out of what looked like nothing more than stones. It was a spindly and twisted tree but the red apples hanging from it looked fresh and healthy. They dangled over the cliff, creating a tantalizing but dangerous treasure to anyone who didn’t have wings or magic. Fortunately Rainbow Dash did have wings. Although even if she didn’t she was more than enough of a daredevil to attempt to get one of them anyways.
She floated right up to one of the apples and yanked it off the branch, immediately sinking her teeth into it before even setting back down.
It was just what she needed.
“Thanks, Applejack.” The pegasus said as she chewed on the delicious fruit. It was so filling and rewarding compared to just some small berries. She could feel the vim and vigor returning to her body just after a few swallows of wonderful apple. Eating it all down to the core she put her hooves back down on the ledge and smirked. “Alright. I’m gonna be ready next time.”