It was late afternoon and the moon was already beginning to rise. The air was stuffy and hot and Winter Rush was getting restless. "Minuette!" He called from upstairs. There was a noise of a pony galloping up the stairs. Louder and louder, then silence. A head suddenly appeared around the door.
"Yes?" The blue mare questioned.
"I think we should leave for Ponyville. Not that I don't like it here at your grandma's, I love it, but I keep getting the same dreams lately about Dash." Answered Winter Rush.
"What kind of dreams?"
"Dreams of her calling me. Over and over."
"Ok. I'll go and tell my grandma then."
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After they had packed, Minuette and Winter Rush kissed each other, shut the door behind themselves and set off on their long journey to Ponyville.
Winter Rush had been living with his 'sister' Rainbow Dash for 6 years and had met his soon-to-be marefriend, Minuette. She loved him and he loved her.
The two had bought a house together and had been living with each other for around a year.
One day, they had decided to pay Minuette's grandma a visit and had been staying there for a long while.
The moon was high in the sky and the air was still. An owl hooted. Minuette shivered and Winter Rush turned to face her, reaching into his satchel to remove a blanket. He draped it over her and gave her a tight squeeze with his hoof. "Th-th-thank y-y-you" Stuttered Minuette.
The night was getting colder. The branches of trees hung over them as menacing, bony claws.
"Rush, do you think that we should make camp here and continue in the morning?" Minuette questioned, "This place is pretty nightmarish and I'm starting to get tired."
"Sure." Said Winter Rush reassuringly, "You could have said earlier if you wanted to. I was starting to tire myself, though didn't want to ask to stop in case you were inclined to carry on."
"I wouldn't ever leave you Rush! You must know that!" Minuette exclaimed.
"I know, I know. I didn't want you to think that I was lazy and couldn't be bothered when we arrived in Ponyville."
"I wouldn't think that at all! Now come on, let's set up that tent..."
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"There we are, finished." Said Minuette.
They crawled into the tent, with some difficulty, lay down in each other's arms and fell asleep.
It was the middle of the night. Everything was still. Suddenly, there was a strange rustling outside the tent. Neither Minuette nor Winter Rush stirred. The rustling came again, this time louder. Still, neither stirred. The rustling was replaced with a growling and a shake of the tent. This time, both woke up with a start.
"R-Rush...?" Minuette questioned, "What was that?"
"I-I-I don't know." He replied.
Both looked out of the tent at the same time. What was standing there made them both gasp and dart out of the tent. A large lion-like creature was staring at them. Bearing its white fang like teeth, it slowly plodded towards them. Minuette let out a high pitched scream. The creature roared. Both Minuette and Winter Rush held on to each other for their lives.
"How will we deal with this?" Minuette screamed.
"I don't know... Wait, I have something back in the tent that may just scare it off!" Winter Rush said breathlessly.
"Yes, but we can't get there because that... thing will see us! I'd use my magic if I could see the bags, but I can't do anything as he'll see me."
"I know a way." Winter Rush reassured her, gesturing with his wings.
He quickly darted into the undergrowth without the creature noticing him and appeared a few seconds later, silently gliding across the moonlit sky towards the tent. The creature still hadn't seen him and continued to growl at Minuette every time she moved. He returned with a long, black object concealed under his wing.
"What's that?" Questioned Minuette.
"You'll see..."
*BANG*
The noise made every creature in the Everfree forest start up. The lion stared wide-eyed at them and ran off as fast as it could into the depths of the forest.
Minuette sat there in shock, staring at Winter Rush as he holstered the MK3A1 Jackhammer shotgun on the strap down the front of his body.
"What was that!?" Cried a stunned Minuette.
"I came prepared. I thought that we'd end up in a bit of trouble out here, so I brought my shotgun. Only working one in the whole of Equestria. Shall we carry on for Ponyville then?" Grinned Winter Rush, putting an arm around his marefriend's soft fur.
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It took them two hours to reach the outskirts of Ponyville, though it was only around 1:30 in the morning. "Ponyville looks...so different at night." Sighed Winter Rush. "Where is...Ah! There it is - Rainbow Dash's house!" He said, pointing up to a large cloud hanging above the outskirts of the town.
"There's one problem however. You're a pegasus. Only pegasi can walk on clouds. I can't." Said Minuette disappointingly.
"Can't you do that spell you learnt from Twilight on yourself which enables you to walk on clouds?"
"Oh! Of course, yes!"
No sooner as she had said this, there was a blinding flash and Minuette started levitating above the ground from the power of the spell. Then the light disappeared as quickly as it had come and Minuette was back on the ground, though not looking any different from before.
"That should have worked. Let's go!" Said Minuette, forgetting that the spell only lasted for a short length of time.
Winter Rush helped Minuette onto his back and soared up into the sky to Rainbow Dash's cloud house.
They landed with perfect precision in front of Rainbow Dash's door.
"Okay, there's only one way to see if that worked. Try hopping off my back, and don't worry, I'll hold you." Winter Rush reassured.
Minuette stepped cautiously off Winter Rush and onto the cloud.
"I think...I think it worked!" Exclaimed Minuette, testing the soft, puffy ground. "So this is Rainbow Dash's house then?"
"Yep! Lets knock."
They knocked and promptly heard a moving of bed sheets followed by a long yawn.
The door opened as far as the chain allowed it and a tired, blue face appeared in the gap.
"Who is it?" Came Rainbow Dash's sleepy voice.
"Hey sis! It's me, Rush. Oh and Minuette's here as well."
The door closed and the rattle of the chain came from inside. The door opened again and Rainbow Dash appeared and hugged them both.
"Rush! I haven't seen you in such a long time! So how are you my awesome bro?"
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After a long time chatting about what had happened while they had been away, they decided that it would be best to go back to Minuette's house nearer the centre of Ponyville.
"It was so good to see you again sis!"
"I'm glad too bro!" Said Rainbow Dash.
"See you again Rainb...Um, guys! I'm sinking! Guys HELP!" Screamed Minuette.
"Wha... Oh shit..." Cursed Winter Rush.
He quickly grabbed Minuette as she was about to fall through the cloud.
"I've got you Minuette!"
"I think my spell has run out, Rush!"
"You think?" Exclaimed Winter Rush.
He lifted her carefully up onto his back, they said their goodbyes to a shocked Rainbow Dash and flew off the edge of the cloud to Ponyville below.