//------------------------------// // Crossing // Story: Unicorn Attack! // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// After a light breakfast, the group of five ponies packed up their gear, split the weight amongst everypony equally, and continued northwest away from the mountains and canyons and towards Bridlewood. By late morning, the mountains were well behind them, and they were on a sea of rolling hills and prairie. "How much farther do you think Bridlewood is, Izzy?" Sunny asked, as they passed an enormous, blooming tree on the next hill. "Hm, it can't be more than another day. It didn't take me more than a day to get from there to Maretime Bay, but to be fair, that wasn't as far away as Zephyr Heights was," Izzy replied. Sunny figured they were managing their time fairly well so far. The first concern to come up would be how long their packed food would last; she and Izzy had packed enough for a week, and Hitch had packed a similar amount. They had supplemented that with what they could safely pick from bushes and trees, but they hadn't replenished anything while they had been in Zephyr Heights, as well as taken on two more traveling companions, who also hadn't had time to pack anything in their hectic exit from their city. To their credit, the two pegasi were eating light, as well as had done their share of foraging, so for now they were good, with a few days of rations remaining. There would likely be no shortage of mushrooms and berries in a heavily wooded area such as Bridlewood, and with Maretime Bay around a day away, they would most likely be fine. She smiled when she imagined making all of her new friends the best smoothies in Maretime Bay. According to her dad's old map, they should be coming up to a river crossing pretty soon here. Not too long after the large tree, they found what looked like an ancient stone pathway, and continued following it northwest. "We should almost be at the river, everypony," Sunny announced, looking down at the laminated map once more before returning it to her saddlebag. "That... Doesn't look like a river, Sunny," Zipp commented, peering ahead. Sunny looked ahead to see what Zipp was talking about, and sure enough, as they came closer, the earth pony's heart dropped. What had been a river back when the map had been made, had now become a much more deep ravine. Worse still, the stone bridge that had stood there at one point had collapsed in the center, with only a dead tree protruding up from the ground on their side. "So how did you get over here?" Hitch asked Izzy. "I didn't come this way, I went southwest right to Maretime Bay," Izzy replied, as she slowly stepped up to the collapsed bridge, and indeed confirmed there would be no way to cross it. She looked across the ravine, and knew that at least half a day or more would be spent going around. "What now?" Pipp asked. "Going around to where Izzy came from would probably take at least a day, maybe more," Hitch said, mirroring the unicorns observations. "What choice do we have? Even gliding, I'm not sure I could clear that," Zipp interjected, judging the distance of the gap between their side and the other. They heard Izzy clear her throat. Looking over, they saw the unicorn point her right hoof at the dead tree. "We could make that a bridge," she suggested. Hitch looked the tree up and down, and quickly figured that it was tall enough to bridge the gap if it was tipped over. "You sure we can make it tip over right where we need it to? If we don't, we will have to go around," Hitch warned. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It looks pretty rotted, so hopefully the roots don't have much of a hold anymore," Sunny observed. "We sure about this?" Hitch asked cautiously. "Well, you don't expect Izzy to chisel it down with her horn, do you?" Sunny asked incredulously. "I could try if you want!" Izzy added eagerly. "No no, that's alright. Let's not get anypony hurt here," Sunny said. "Let's get the five of us on one side, and put all of our strength into it. Hitch, you and me will try and loosen the ground around it, then all of us push." Hitch and Sunny went around the circumference of the tree, and dug at the grass and soil around it, taking care around the far side near the cliff edge. Once they saw that there were hardly any roots left, they came back around to the back. "Alright everypony, push!" Sunny said. Hitch was first, coming right up and shoving as hard as he could. Sunny came up right next to him and gave it her all. When Zipp and Pipp joined in, it finally started to lean with a sickening creak. Then, when Izzy leaned forward and nudged the trunk with her horn, the tipping point finally came, and the last of the roots gave up, and the tree fell across the ravine, and the top crashed onto the other side. Luckily, that was all, and the entire tree didn't crack or splinter further, and they were fairly certain that it was safe to cross. Sunny tried it first, hopping up, and slightly shifted her weight to make sure the tree wasn't going to go anywhere when she was in the middle of the ravine. Deciding that they should do it one at a time, Hitch and the others stood there and watched the earth mare slowly and carefully cross over to the other side. When she hopped off into the grass on the other end, Zipp was next, and had absolutely no trouble crossing, followed by her younger sister, Izzy, and Hitch. "Alright, just promise me one thing," Izzy said, as they continued through the grassy hills. "What?" Sunny asked. "If we come across any more ravines, let me chisel down the next tree with my horn. Because that sounds really, really awesome!"