//------------------------------//
// Unattainable Heights 
// Story: Price 
// by Havoc 
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The palace was quiet, peaceful even. Birds sung sweet songs of spring's return, even though the Princesses listening to them knew they were at the beginning of summer. The birds flitted and flirted amongst the trees and flowers of the garden they sat in. Luna and Celestia sat on cushions they'd conjured and enjoyed each other's company.

"Their bags are packed. I took every precaution necessary."

Celestia turned to look into her sister's face. Everything about it bore the characteristics of a royal matron in charge of a great responsibility. In other words, she did not see her sister.

"Thank you. Luna, what do you remember about Lucien?"

Luna looked over at her sister and her expression changed ever so faintly.

"I remember the lessons he taught us. About magic and responsibility. I remember... when things were different and we didn't have to care for a nation."

Luna's voice came close to cracking but she held it in check. Her sister noticed and moved towards her. Luna tensed for the briefest of moments and Celestia stopped.

Twilight Sparkle and company walked through the gardens interrupting the interaction.

"The guard who woke us told us you'd be here."

Celestia purposely looked in Twilight's direction and smiled.

"Yes. Yes are you prepared?"

"We had a bite ta eat, thank you. We'er ready as we'll every be."

Applejack's head was still conspicuously missing her hat and she squinted in the morning light. Despite her mild discomfort she actually felt better then she had the day before. She had gone to bed still frustrated that once again she had been called upon to save the world without her having a choice in the matter. The more she had thought about it, the more it made her feel like she wasn't being told what to expect. She had felt the same way when the Princess had told them to deal with Discord, that feeling of not being trusted with information that might be helpful. But she'd realized something once she'd beaten her pillow into shape for the fifth time that night. They had been told what they were up against. An evil from ages past. She knew why they had to go: to save the world yet again. She didn't know how to get there or what to do when they arrived but neither did the Princess. She was the Element of Honesty after all and she could tell when a pony was lying or simply not telling the truth and Celestia wasn't doing either. It seemed she knew now as much as Celestia did and that comforted her.

"Glad to hear it, Applejack. Luna, their bags?"

Luna's horn glowed and six bags appeared. A smile flashed across her face but was quickly hidden. The group inspected their respective bag as indicated by the cutie mark sown into the side of each saddlebag.

"Oh wow! Thank you Princess Luna!"

"Yes I must say this is very kind of you, these are so beautiful!"

Twilight and Rarity both spoke up to express their gratitude. Rarity noted the expert stitch work and Twilight knew that Luna was trying to win over hearts and minds in spite of her still awkward and introverted personality. She wanted to be as supportive as she could.

"Well um, thank you, Twilight Sparkle and... Rarity! I want you to have the best possible start to your journey and I just want to say how much you doing this means to us. To me." 

Celestia looked at the group standing before her. Rainbow Dash positively glowed with energy and wore a confident smirk, her wings moving to adjust the bags resting on her hips. 

Applejack was genuinely smiling at her. Celestia furrowed her brow. Something was still amiss with the Element of Honesty. Her eyes were still narrowed at Celestia and the Princess of the Day frowned. Her horn glowed and Applejack had to blink. When she opened her eyes her view was blocked by a brown shape on her head. She adjusted her hat to see. 

Applejack then realized what had happened and she trotted over and hugged Celestia tightly.

"Thanks! I mean wow, just... thank you, Celestia!"

"I figured something was amiss," Celestia winked at her.

Applejack hung her head low for a moment before looking up and smiling. She walked back to the group and Celestia's eyes fell on Pinkie Pie who looked as happy and playful as ever. 

Pinkie turned her head and popped the joints causing Fluttershy to look up from her bag in shock.

"Oh my goodness. Didn't that hurt?"

"Naw, just felt funny!"

Angel hopped down from Fluttershy's back and pointed to his wrist and then at Celestia.

"Don't worry, I'll find some hapless guardspony to care for him. It'll be good training."

They all shared a good natured chuckle and gathered themselves into a line.

"I'm going to teleport you as close to where Lucien is as Luna and I are able. Good luck, my little ponies."

Rainbow Dash saluted and Luna saluted back correctly. An aura of yellow and blue surrounded the group and they braced themselves against the winds that had picked up from the amount of magic being poured into the spell. Sparks of lightning shot out in all directions and a high pitched whine could be heard over the noise. Suddenly a white flash of light engulfed their vision and-

-grey sk-

-solid rock wal-

"OH SHI-"

Reality came crashing back and all they could feel was cold and the hard pounding of something beating them with a sledge hammer. They were falling down the side of a mountain. A long hill that ended in a cliff. Tears formed from the high winds battering them and instantly froze to their cheeks.

Rainbow Dash was in top form and her body made decisions faster than thought. She pulled a rope out of her saddle bag and flew down the slope to a large boulder. Working as fast as her numb mouth would allow she tied the rope and grabbed the other end.

I hope this works.

She flew out just in time to catch her friends, clothes lining them but stopping their descent. Some of them fell over the edge but held onto the rope and now bounced precariously in the blizzard.  She was yanked out of the air but managed to find footing on the edge of the sheer drop. She relaxed.

Mission accomplis-

She never finished the thought. She watched as Pinkie Pie who was closest to the knot fall over the edge pulling Rarity with her. Applejack tried to find solid ground to brace herself but her hooves drove right through the snow and as she fell she pulled Fluttershy down with her who had become tangled in the rope when she'd first grabbed onto it. 

Rainbow looked into Twilight eyes and an eternity passed between them. Twilight's look of horror and surprise filled Rainbow Dash's vision as time seemed to slow down. She watched as her friend was yanked in slow motion over the edge of the cliff. 

In that instant Rainbow Dash became invincible.

Pinkie Pie was nearly thrown off as the rope went taut. She was swung into the cliff face by the howling winds that reminded her strongly of what had happened only yesterday.

Rainbow Dash glanced over at the boulder which had let go of her knot and made a mental note to buck it off the cliff when she pulled her friends up. She quickly found that while she could hold on to the five bodies below her being tossed about by the winds, she could not lift them. She was stuck. Tears formed and froze to her cheeks as she could feel her feet move almost imperceptibly towards the edge. This would not last long.

Rarity struggled to right herself and untangle her pack from the rope's grip. She was hanging upside down by her saddlebags and she looked 'up' into Pinkie Pie's eyes.

"Are you alright dear?!"

She had to shout over the winds as they screamed into their ears and once again buffeted them into the cliff face.

Applejack listened to the winds and nodded.

Just like the last storm, this ain't natural.

Rainbow's grip on the cliff edge shifted and she quickly adjusted her hooves. She was now peering over the edge at her friends and she looked down at Twilight who was straining to do something. Her horn glowed but she was thrown into the cliff face and it shorted out.

"I can't teleport us out of here! Something's messing with my magic!"

Rarity heard Twilight's voice over the wind but only caught one word, "magic!" She felt her own horn glow, she didn't know how but she could feel her own power coursing through her. She once again looked 'up' at Pinkie Pie whose eyes implored her for help.

Twilight was surrounded in a blue light and she was teleported behind Rainbow Dash who started and slid another inch over the edge.

"What just?... Rarity?"

Rainbow Dash looked down to see Rarity's horn shine through the snow like a beacon and Applejack appeared next to her on the cliff. Rainbow's eyes lit up and she cheered Rarity on in her head. 

She felt the rope twitch, not like it was slipping out of her grip but something else. She looked down to see it fraying on the sharp cliff edge. Another strand snapped and Rainbow Dash screamed through her teeth.

Rarity felt the rope twitch and she lifted her head to see Fluttershy still trying to free herself from the ropes entanglement. She gasped in an icy lungful of air and teleported her out on to the cliff's edge where Applejack caught her and pulled her over. She exhaled and painfully drew another cold breath.

"See, Pinkie, nothing to be afraid of, I'm just to take a moment and catch my breath."

Pinkie shouted something but Rarity couldn't make out what she'd said as she was hit hard by the cliff face. She shook her head and looked 'down' at her friends who were all trying to pull the rope up.

Oh bless them-

She felt all the blood rush from her head to her tail and her stomach hit her hooves. She was in freefall.

She whirled around and saw Pinkie Pie crying and frantically trying to grab onto anything. The look of fear on her friend's face only gave her one choice.


They stared over the edge shouting at the top of their lungs. Rainbow Dash was hysterically trying to undo her pack so she could fly and Twilight was running on the spot trying to work up the energy to help them.

Oh but I can't see them! How am I going to-

A burst of air blew the thought from her mind and she turned to see a pink form lying in the snow. She and the others rushed over to find Pinkie Pie. And just Pinkie Pie. 

She looked up and around, looking for something. She checked beside her and under her and then she started looking everywhere, bowling through her friends all the while saying, "Where is she, where is she, where is she?!"

Rainbow Dash finally ditched her pack and took off. A gust of wind threw her right back into the ground and she tried to take a breath and wheezed, she was clearly winded.

Applejack stopped her struggling with a hoof on her shoulder, then a hug.

"What are you doing? *gasp* I gotta go after her! I gotta..."

She started heaving and sobbing and was joined by her friends as they all sat down next to her and started crying.

"Ahem."

They looked into each other's eyes and red faces and the words would not come. There was nothing to say.

"Ahem."

Rainbow Dash shot Rarity a furious look.

"PLEASE! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT..."

She threw all four ponies off of her and tackled Rarity to the ground with a hug. Still crying but now tears of joy. On that high precipice they all sat with each other and ignored the storm which, sensing it could no longer cause harm, departed. 

Applejack was the first to break the silence.

"Thank you both, Rainbow and Rarity. Now I don't always agree with you two but you both sure saved my hind. Thank you."

"Rarity?"

Pinkie Pie walked up to her with her head hung low. She looked into her friends eyes and then hugged her as tight as she could.

"That was the most super special act of unparalleled selflessness I've ever seen. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"So how'd you do it?"

Twilight inquired the white unicorn with a curious eye. Rarity disentangled herself from the vibrating pink mare who proceeded to cartwheel around them despite still wearing her pack.

"I am a unicorn like yourself Twilight, I used my magic and saved us all."

"I know Rarity and believe me I'm very grateful, I just want to know."

"How you weren't able to do the same? That I can't tell you, but I can tell you I felt like my magic wasn't being affected, like it was overcoming whatever was affecting yours. As for getting myself up here? A gust of wind tried to knock me into the cliff face and I was thrown into a natural cave. There I took a second to catch my breath and then I teleported myself back up to you girls."

"Huh. Food for thought I suppose. Shall we?"

Fluttershy walked up beside Rarity as they turned to leave and stared at her a moment before kissing her on the cheek and mumbling a thank you. She ran away to join the others and left Rarity who was standing still with a blushing smile on her face.

They walked through the cloud bank and into the sun's embrace. A cold breeze still played about them.

"There!"

Rainbow Dash pointed to a hair thin line snaking down the mountain.

"A path down! Booyah!"

Applejack squinted.

"Ah don't know what you're talking about, Rainbow. Ah can't see anything but white snow down there."

She shivered and pulled her hat down over her ears and the others took out scarves and boots from their bags.

"Don't worry, Applejack, pegasus naturally have better eyesight then you earth ponies. We fly for a living, gotta see a long way ya know?"

Applejack put on a wry grin.

"Is that so? Well, I spy with my little earth pony eye a tree with sixteen branches facing east down in that forest over there."

Pinkie Pie leapt from behind them with a giddy look in her eye.

"Are we playing eye spy? Oh oh! I spy with my little eye a path! Down there! Come on I'll race ya!"

Rainbow Dash's ears pricked up at the sound of her favourite word and took off after her.

"Hey, wait up! I'm looking for a tree!"

Twilight shook her head and laughed along with Rarity as they took off after them. Fluttershy landed next to Applejack, looking shocked.

"Can you really see a tree like that down there?"

"Nope, but Ah bet it'll keep Rainbow occupied looking for it."