After completing her victory pose, Rainbow Dash lowered to the ground and let out a big breath of relief. Which was followed by a sudden twitch and ache from her left wing. The pegasus looked at her appendage to see the ice feather still stuck in it. A painful reminder of how close things had been. She twisted her neck and brought the wing up so she could clamp down on the makeshift dagger with her teeth and yank it out. There was a jolt of pain but nothing she couldn’t handle and Rainbow Dash spit the sharp feather out onto the ground where it shattered like the rest of the monster.
She slowly tucked it back in to her side. Nothing hurt too bad and it didn’t refuse to move or fold up so it looks like the ice feather had only caused some superficial damage. She should probably not strain it too hard and keep to flying slowly or just walking if possible but it didn’t look like she would need to bandage it up or anything. Compared to the slash across her leg last time this didn’t even count as a cut.
Rainbow Dash looked over at the crushed ice monster and all the pieces of it lying around the boulder. “You picked the wrong pony to fight. Hah!”
The pegasus grinned and flew up again slowly, turning away from her defeated adversary and facing the tall mountain that was just a short distance away from this one. It had gotten late in the day and the stormy clouds had completely covered the rest of the range but thankfully they hadn’t started unleashing any lightning or dropping any snow. With luck there wouldn’t be anything like that tonight and she could just rest for a bit. Whatever the case, the tall mountain was her next goal for now. She’d fly to the top of it and get a good view of what else was around and what was just north of the mountain range. It might take a bit for the clouds to clear up but it’s not like she was in a huge hurry anymore.
“See ya dude,” Rainbow Dash gave a mocking salute to the remains of the ice monster and began her flight to the other mountain. “Time to see what else is out here.”
Her flight quickly turned into a glide as she kept from overexerting her wing. Even with the relative shortness of this mountain she had enough height where she could glide on the wind and easily make it to the slopes of the other. That tall mountain was so thin it was almost like a sheer spire of stone more than anything, with snow and ice around the top and its peak touching a group of midnight black clouds. Rainbow Dash doubted there was anywhere to rest or take shelter up there so she’d just make herself a little cloud house and wait for the weather to clear up. There were too many clouds for just one pegasus to clear it all, especially with her wing hurt, so it was better to just rest and let the storm pass naturally.
She looked down at the ground between the two mountains, just a small valley covered with a thin layer of snow. Unlike the small mountain Rainbow Dash had just left the tall one before her didn’t look to have the slightest amount of vegetation on it or around it. She let herself lazily float on the wind towards it, yawning and wishing she could’ve brought a third apple with her. Dash wasn’t exactly hungry but she wanted something sweet and something that could replenish her energy after the fight.
Thankfully the numbing sensation on her one hoof had already disappeared too. She had only struck the monster directly once and had already spent some time away from it. Compared to how she left the first fight she pretty much felt like a million bits. In another day or two she doubted the scars on her leg would be visible and this whole conflict would just be a pleasant—yes, pleasant—memory. This was the first thing she felt like she could really brag about to her friends when she got back. Everything else she had done so far, like climbing Mt. Everhoof and beating Archibald, were still pretty normal and the kinds of things you could of course find in Equestria. But as far as Rainbow Dash knew there was nothing like this monster anywhere south of the border.
And she knew this was hardly the end of her fun. If something like this was right up here at practically the beginning there had to be crazier and cooler and far grander stuff even further north. Stuff that she would uncover and go through and conquer all on her own because that’s the kind of awesome adventure she was looking for!
Rainbow Dash allowed herself to fall to the ground right before the mountain began to slope up. She definitely couldn’t climb it just with her hooves and with no equipment, not all the way, but she could get up some of it and might as well since she should be resting her wing. Her hooves sunk an inch into the snow before stopping, the light covering not hampering her movement one bit. This cold was kind of refreshing since her body was hot after all that movement and the adrenaline forced into her veins. It helped to cool herself down without being unbearably cold. That fight had kind of made her a little thirsty too, Rainbow Dash scooped some of the fresh snow off the ground and drank it, sating her thirst for just a moment.
As she reached the point where the mountain began to sharply rise she looked up. It was difficult to see the high peak from this angle but the storm clouds were still several shades darker around it than in the rest of the sky. With a shrug, she started her climb.
At the summit of the squat mountain the millions of pieces of ice that were shattered by the boulder all converged together. Vibrating and pulling close to freeze back together and reform the ice bones that made up the persistent monster. The boulder tumbled over onto its side to free up the shattered ice below and the spine, spikes, and wings all took shape once more. Bones interlocked and limbs cracked into place, the monster’s skull refroze at the top of the spine as if regenerating from thin air with its spike mohawk returning for the finishing touch.
Its eye-sockets emitted a glow again from deep within and the monster tentatively flexed its wings, talons, and tail. Everything seemed to be in order. Twitching a bit, it flapped its wings to get airborne while its tail swished about underneath and tried to look for Rainbow Dash. It had lost track of her when the boulder fell, where was its prey now? The scraping sounds from its ice bones settling into place intensified with each movement. The monster hovered above the multiple broken peaks atop the mountain and started flying around and looking every direction for the pony that had escaped it.
Finally, as it looked to the tall mountain, its eyes latched onto a bit of rainbow that stuck out like a sore thumb around the dull colors of the snow and rock. There she was.
The gargoyle shivered and twitched, staring hard at that rainbow pony and clenching its talons. No way would it let her escape from its clutches again.
“KRAAAAAAOOOOOWWWW!” The monster screamed and flew to Rainbow Dash at full speed.