//------------------------------// // Book 2 - Chapter XXV // Story: The Sunset Trilogy // by ocalhoun //------------------------------// Book 2: Equestria Lost Chapter 17 The sun was only visible as a dim glow below the horizon as Apollo Dawn came back to the camp, glad to finally be finished with his bear-distracting mission. He was surprised to see a bright fire glowing in the middle of it, with several ponies around it. As he came closer, he could see Albatross propped up, sitting next to the fire. His front left leg was bound up in a sling, like it had been broken, but he didn't seem to be overly worried about it. With both Splints and Shimmer fussing about him and seeing to his every need, he looked pretty satisfied, actually... though that might also have something to do with the several empty bottles laying in the snow next to him. Albatross greeted his team leader with a slurred smile as Apollo came in for a landing. Looking around, Apollo could see two of the tents were still in shambles... and with a wince, he noticed that his own tent had a big pony shaped hole in it... he wouldn't be warm in there anymore, that was for sure. He looked back at his assistant, asking the three ponies there in general, but really Splints specifically, “How is he?” Albatross took it upon himself to answer, and it was immediately obvious that his pain tolerance was in large part due to a rather large portion of liquid courage. “Awww I'm GREAT!” the white pegasus answered, “da best der ever was! Wooo!” Apparently noticing Apollo's skeptical look, he continued, “and dontcha worry 'bout this little boo boo... I don need legs anywho... I'll jus fly the whole way! It's my secial talent, afer all!” Splints knelt down next to him, cooing, “Aw, I'm sure you will. There's my brave pony. Don't you worry, this'll heal right up and you'll be good as new.” It was always strange to see Splints go into her caring mode... she would only show this mood if she was caring for someone injured, and it clashed so much with her normal personality that Apollo could hardly believe she was the same pony. Apollo finally received his answer from Shimmer Spell, “He'll be fine... eventually. Just a broken leg where it got a little stepped on.” Apollo winced at the thought of being stepped on by that humongous bear. “Everypony else is okay. Trigger was a little shaken up when his tent got tossed all around, but once we dug him out he calmed down. He's staying in Pebbles' tent now. He sighed with relief. That encounter could have gone very badly... to get out of it with only a few busted tents and one broken leg – on a pegasus, luckily enough – they were very fortunate. As he thought about it, he realized that even in a drunken stupor, Albie was right. If anypony could finish out the whole journey by wing, that tireless pegasus could. With a sigh mourning the loss of his own tent, he gathered up a few blankets from inside it and made his own nest next to the fire. Morning wouldn't be here for another couple sun cycles yet, and he was definitely due for some sleep by now – it had been a long day! * * * Apollo Dawn trotted along happily. The sun was brightly shining, the snow on the ground was tapering out – only a few inches deep now – and Albie was making good on his word. That pegasus had spent two whole days now in the air, only landing to eat and sleep, and he was now a good way through his third day of solid flying. Apollo shook his head... How did that pony have such stamina? As usual, he was out front with Needle Point, guiding the way, though of course, it still wasn't difficult to see where to go now. With the snow cover dwindling, it was even possible to see the actual railroad tracks occasionally now. The sled had been converted back into a wagon yesterday, causing some delay, but Apollo didn't begrudge that time... having the snow be shallow enough to use actual wheels was such a great milestone it filled him with joy despite the lost time. Up ahead, he could begin to see in the distance that the railroad was approaching another bridge... another reason to be glad of converting the wagon back to a wheeled version... crossing the last bridge with it as a sled had been hard work! As he congratulated himself on how easy it would be this time, he noticed that Trigger had stopped moving for once, instead standing and sniffing the air. “The 'bombable snow pony!” The little pegasus suddenly shouted, darting with a burst of wingpower to the back of the convoy, “It's back to eat me!” Apollo glanced back over his shoulder questioningly. What was the little colt excited about this time? As he looked, he saw Quartermaster behind him. “Aw, that silly liddle colt,” The old pony said, “after that critter tore up the camp, I told 'em a few stories about my great grandpappy and the abominable snowpony, and now look, the liddle feller's seein' 'em everywhere!” Suspicion grew in Apollo's mind though... If there was one thing he had learned, it was to never doubt the little pegasus colt's senses. He stared long and hard at the road ahead... and finally, he saw it. In the snow just beyond the distant railroad trestle, he could see a familiar pattern of black dots in the white background. Horseapples! That thing must be smarter than it looked! “Stop!” He shouted out, quickly bringing the whole group to a halt. They looked at him quizzically, confused about the sudden stop, no doubt. “The bear is up there, just on the other side of the bridge up ahead,” He explained, “We've got to find a way around.” “But the nearest bridge must be hundreds of miles away,” Albatross said, hovering just above the group, “If there even is one!” “Right,” Apollo said, “Hm... and only the two of us could fly over...” He sat for a moment, thinking... all he had to do was think of a brilliant plan to get them past the bear... after that, no problem, right? His thoughts were interrupted by Shimmer Spell stepping forward, a determined look on her face. “Let me at 'em,” she said, “This is a rematch Shimmer Spell has been waiting for.” Apollo was taken aback by the firmness of her voice, and the absurdity of what she was suggesting. “But it's huge! What are you going to do against that thing!?!” Albatross joined in on the nay-saying. “No way am I letting you go up against that thing all alone! I'm not going to lose you!” She stared both of the pegasi down, “Shimmer can do this, and she will.” The force of her will was impressive... neither pegasus was willing to take a stand against it. With a final stare, she grabbed a rope out of the wagon and trotted off briskly toward the bridge. The rest of the group followed at a distance, save for Albatross, who flew protectively just above, apparently unnoticed by his marefriend. * * * Apollo's crew waited, faces peeking over a shallow hill at the confrontation at the bridge. Shimmer spell stood at one end, looking far more confident than any pony in her right mind should, while the gigantic bear stood at the other end, almost as wide as the bridge itself. The unicorn's horn began to glow, and the rope she had brought snaked its way off from around her neck to float in midair along the length of the bridge. The bear snarled and roared from its side of the bridge, sending the rest of Apollo's team a little lower into their hiding places. Shimmer's horn began to glow even more brightly, and a clump of snow formed itself into a vaguely pony-like shape near the bear. Seeing this, the bear lunged at it, but the snow sculpture jumped away just in time, moving surprisingly quickly, and in a surprisingly life-like way. Again, the bear made a lunging swipe at the snowpony, and again it avoided the attack. As this pattern repeated, the two moved slowly and jerkily toward the lip of the canyon the bridge had been built over. The bear's face transmitted a look of pure glee as it finally had the snowpony pinned against the canyon wall. With nowhere to run now, it would finally be caught! But, just as the bear moved in for the kill, the snowpony simply fell apart, slumping back down into a lumpy pile of old snow. The bear stared at the lump, sniffing it incredulously, when a glowing length of rope appeared in front of it, beginning to wave hypnotically. The bear watched the end of the rope waver back and forth impossibly, not noticing as the other end began to coil around its own legs. With a sudden pull, the rope coiled itself tightly around the bear's legs, breaking its hypnotic stare and making it both enraged and off balance. For no discernible reason, Shimmer Spell reared up, flailing her hooves as she brought her plan to fruition. A blue glow enveloped the bear, shoving it sideways, straight toward the canyon. With a surprisingly high-pitched yelp, it toppled in, rolling down the wall and landing in the stream at the bottom with a huge splash. As the bear washed away downstream, and as Apollo and his crew ran forward, Shimmer Spell brought the rope flying back up to coil itself at her feet and turned toward her friends. Albatross, having been hovering above rather than hiding, was the first to arrive, smothering his marefriend in effusive praise and a huge hug. As Apollo ran up to her, the one thing he could see was pride. This unicorn had just done something amazing, in front of everypony, and she was clearly enjoying it! He suspected that if any more pride was stuffed into the single pony, she might burst. Still, it was wholly justified, and with his beaming smile matching hers, he joined in with the rapidly growing group hug. * * * Finally! As he crested yet another hill, the city of Stalliongrad unfolded below him. Apollo had never been more glad to see smoke! Smoke was rising from a few chimneys down below! No ghost town this time! In fact, as he looked down the railroad – now with only a slight dusting of snow on it – he saw a couple ponies approaching along the line. How long had it been since he had seen a (living) pony who wasn't a member of his crew? It seemed like eons now, and though he loved his crew, he found himself strangely eager to meet somepony – anypony – new. He strained his eyes to see the newcomers... he thought about asking Trigger, with that little colt's eyesight, he could probably get a full description... but no, he would meet them soon enough, he decided... for now, all he could tell was that a little yellow pony was walking side-by-side with a larger purple pony. He couldn't wait to meet them. * * *