//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Search part 2 // Story: A Whole New World // by Nick the Brony //------------------------------// I was now at the foot of the mountain, which was one of many. I took out my binoculars to see what was up there. "Some shelter would be nice." I said to myself. Sadly there was nothing. "I should climb up the mountain, and get a better prespective of the mountain range." I took off my large backpack, and searched it's contents. "Aha. There it is." I pulled out my climbing rope. It was basically a special hook attached to a long piece of rope. I then took out a pair of spike clip ons. Which give extra grip on my feet. I took out some warm cloths and closed the bag. I then grabbed my climbing picks from the side of my backpack, and attached them to my saftey harness. I put my bag back on and looked up at the mountain. Unsure thoughts popping up in my head. "Well here goes nothing." I grabbed my courage and started the long climb up. It started out pretty easy. It wasn't too steep, there wasn't much ice, and there was a lot of areas to get a foothold. However, I knew it was going to get hard soon. I was right. As I continued up, it was getting more and more harder to get a foothold. I also started to shiver from the cold. GRRRRRRRR "What was that?" There was a low grumbling sound, could it be a wild animal? "There better not be a yeti around here. Though that would be pretty cool." During my time in Nepal, the locals would tell stories of a tall, hairy creature that lived in the mountains. I think they called it Himamanav, which means mountain man. They would tell stories about sightings, encounters, and maybe some supernatural stories. The one I remeber the most was the story in which a yeti tried to kidnap a child during a snow storm. Some believed it wanted to eat the child, others thought it was going to sacrifice the kid to the gods. While others thought it was lonely, and wanted a child of its own. I was eleven when I heard it, and it freaked me out. I didn't care what was its reason, the yeti scared me. My fear went away though when Dad told me it was just a story to scare kids. That was one of the only moments where Dad actually helped me feel better. Or he just wanted me to stop being affraid so I could get to work. I shrugged the thought off and continued to climb. GRRRRRRRR There it was again, but this time it was accompanied by a pain in my stomach. That's when it hit me. "Stupid me. It's not a yeti making that noise, it's my stomach. I'm hungry." I chuckled at my stupidity. Looking around, I noticed a large outstretched rock formation to the right of me. "Why not. I need a brake anyway." <><><><><><><><><> A Little Ways Away "Ok soldiers, listen up. There has been some strange activity happening on these mountains lately. And as I told you before, there is a creature on the run. So this is a good place to start search. We don't know if he is dangerous, but what we do know is that he isn't a fan of ponies. So be prepared for anything. Understood?" Shining yelled. Him, Cadence, and a group of guards were at the foot of a different mountain. "Yes sir!" They all called in unison, saluting. Shining was about to give the order to move, but Cadence gave him a quick look. Then Shining remembered something. "Another thing. Cadence has ordered to only use weapons if absolutely necessary. We don't want to provoke him. We are here to make friends, not enemies. Is that understood?" "Yes sir." They said again, saluting. Shining grew a small smile on his face. "Then lets move out." The guards saluted, and started to walk up the mountain, with Cadence and Shining Armour following behind. As they continued, Shining started to realise just how tall the mountain really was. He hated to admit it, but he was kinda nervous. But it was not the height that was unsettling, it was what was beyond them. He had heard stories of ponies disappearing on these mountains without a trace. "So, you have any idea what's up there?" He asked, continuing looking up, thoughts racing through his mind. "Well besides alot of snow and ice, no. The Frozen North is the least explored area in Equestria. I think there is still no official map of the place. Why you ask?" Cadence suddenly grew a sly smirk. "Are you scared?" She said in a baby tone. This caught Shining off guard. "Me, scared. Never. I'm the captain of the royal guard. I can't be scared." He had a embarrassing smile on. This only made Cadence continue. "Is little Shiny Whinny scared? Don't worry your pretty face. I'll protect you." She teased. She then picked up her pace and went up front. Shining Armour was not amused. "Hey! Get back here!" He quickly followed behind. <><><><><><><><><><> Back With Joel Joel was happily munching on some granola bars he packed. "I had a feeling I would need a bunch of these. Not for this reason though." Once he finished, he grabbed the wrappers and put them in his pocket. He then put his gear back on, and was getting ready to climb. Before he started though, he just stared at the landscape. He saw hills and valleys dotting the landscape. Paths, rivers, and railroads leading to who knows where. Some houses here and there. And that crystal city he saw earlier. Combined with the almost setting sun, it was a beautiful sight. This did not make Joel happy though. It actually made him kinda regret his choice. "Am I really going to leave this just to be away from some ponies?" He said to himself. As he continued to stare, he slowly began to go into deep thought. Tons of questions he did not know answers to flooded his mind. This all ended however when Joel thought of what would happen if he turned himself in. Sadly, only terrible thoughts came into his mind. This prompted him to keep climbing. He would rather live alone then get tested on. So he grabbed his rope and continued his climb up. After about an hour of climbing later, Joel finally made it to the top of the mountain. "Hehe. That wasn't so bad." He looked at how high he was, only to realise that the mountain was pretty small. Still, a fall would really hurt. The view up there was spectacular though. He was able to see even more further then before. He could see another set of mountains far away, with a forest nearby. "The only thing needed now to make this a postcard worthy shot is a sunset. Oh, wait. There is one." Joel laughed. The scene was so beautiful, he decided to take a photo with his i pad. After getting a couple shots, Joel turned around to see what was ahead. What he saw made his mouth drop. http://jinqiaojs.com/hd/snowy-mountain-night-hd-wallpaper-picture-q7y.jpg "Nope nope. So much nope. There's no way I'm staying here." Definitely the total opposite from the other side. Green hills and rivers were replaced with ice, snow, and rock. To make things worse, large dark clouds started to take form, which meant a snow storm was on the way. And looking at those clouds, it looked like it was going to be a big one. "Wow. That looks like a long drop." Joel looked down the sloop. Jagged rocks covered the bottom. As Joel stared at the landscape, he failed to notice a creature right behind him. It had white fur, long front legs, red eyes that showed hunger, a tuff of hair on it's forehead looked like fire, and very long teeth. It was hungry, and was in the mood to expand his diet. I slowly walked towards Joel, not making a sound on the thick snow. "Yeah I'd think I'd be better off in a forest then a snowy mountain range. I better get going." He noticed that the dark clouds were now even more bigger. A chilly breeze could be felt now, hitting Joels face with tiny ice crystals. Just as he was about to turn around, he froze. Something was behind him, like right behind. He could fell a warm breath hit his neck, which gave him the chills. He slowly turned around, only to see a large hand try to grab him. "What the!" He dodged the attack, but he was now on the egde of the drop off. He almost fell, but got his footing back. Then he was able to see what attacked him. He was amazed, yet to be honest, terrified. "What is that? This worlds version of the yeti!" All he could do is stare at the beast. He dared not to move a muscle. "Maybe this guy sees movement. Like a T-rex. If I stay still, maybe I will be invisible to it." Joel thought. Luckily, yet sadly, this was no T-rex. The thing saw him perfectly fine. With Joel unarmed, the creature saw its chance and lunged at Joel. This caught Joel completely by surprise, and he had no time to react. The creature hit him, and held on to him. Punching a bitting at his body. Joel tried to fight back, but ended up slipping backwards. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH Him and the creature fell down the mountain screaming. All Joel could see was the ground coming towards him. He knew this would be the end. <><><><><><><><><><><><> A Short Ways Away "Did you hear that?" Cadence just heard screaming coming from a nearby cliff. It sounded like somepony was falling. Shining nodded. "Yeah, I heard that too. It came from over there." He pointed to their right. A snow storm was now starting, and it became more harder to see. "Come on. We need to find who was screaming before this storm gets worst. Lets move!" He commanded. The guards soluted, and ran to their right. Cadence and Shining followed behind. After about thirty minutes, they came across some hope. "Look." Said Shining. "Theirs blood." Right in front of them was some blood stained snow. And what seemed to be a crater. Shining walked up to the blood and touched it. "It's still warm. Whoever it belongs to is not far away." He desperately looked around, trying to find any signs of life. A unicorn guard came up to Shining with some news. "Caption. There's a trail of blood leading to that mountain. Their seems to be a cave in it." Shining put on a proud smile. "Good work soilder. Now, follow that trail." He ordered. The guards quickly followed the trail. This time, Shining felt some hope. However, Cadence was worried. "Oh dear. I hope whoever fell is okay." She looked down, sadness filling her heart. She never really liked looking at blood. It was always a sign that somepony was hurt, and she hated it when somepony was hurt. Shining gave her a quick hug and a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Well'l find him, or her. I promise." Cadence could only hope that they will. But now that they found some signs of life, she had a glimmer of hope. <><><><><><><><><><><> Back With Joel Pain. That was the only thing Joel felt. Heck, it was the only thing he knew. He was slowly limping towards a cave ahead of him. Each step felt more worse then the last. His face and cloths were covered with blood. His right leg had twisted out of place, and his left arm had a big gash in it. He tried to cover the wound with his right arm, too stop the bleeding. All it did though was slow it down. Every second he lost more blood, and ever second felt like he was going to collapse. At this point, he couldn't even cry because of the pain. After about what seemed like forever. He finally made it to the entrence of the cave. He had barely any energy left in him. Their was the sound of crunching snow behind him. "What now." He said in pain. Joel slowly turned around, and saw a bunch of dark figures come towards him. He recognized their shape. "Damit." Joel tired to run into the cave, but ended up falling on his broken leg. AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH Their was a low rumbling sound coming from the mountain. But Joel never heard it, and continued screaming. The ponies now could see him. They all had looks of surprise, and just looked at it. Cadence however ran towards Joel. She was more concerned then surprised. "It needs medical, quickly!" She yelled. She tried to hold back the tears as she saw his broken body. She tried her best to comfort Joel, to little prevail. Suddenly, their was a low rumbling sound. Everyone froze and didn't make a sound, not even Joel. The rumbling became louder and louder. They all looked up, all their faces looked in horror. Shining was the first to speak. "Avalanche!"