17: Bottomless Vales And Boundless Floods
The sound of shuffling hoofsteps brought Spike out of his sleep. It took him a while to make his eyes obey the commands coming from his brain, but eventually they opened, and he blinked rapidly to bring the world into focus.
Compass and Pith were both still asleep. The pony walking, to his surprise, was Tailspin. She was limping her way across the rocky ground, shivering uncontrollably, and making her way towards Spike.
The dragon lifted himself up and gave her a concerned look. "Are you all right?" he whispered.
She shook her head, took another shaky step, and let herself collapse against his side. "Bad dreams," she murmured. "Needed to move around a bit. Didn't mean to wake you."
She curled in on herself, quivering, and Spike frowned. He opened one wing and draped it over her as a makeshift blanket. "Are you that cold?"
"Yes." Again, the dragon was struck by how small she seemed. The weight of her body against his scales was so light that he could barely feel it. "I have been ever since I woke up."
"Then why did you leave him?" Spike glanced back over to the sleeping form of Pith. "And the blankets?"
There was silence for a few seconds. For a moment, Spike wondered if the pegasus had already passed out again. Just as he started to lift his wing to check, though, he heard her say, "Because there's something wrong with me."
He blinked. "Something wrong?"
"He knows," she whispered quietly. When he moved his wing aside to peer in at her, she had her own wing draped over her face. "Pith. I told him about it when it started to get really bad. He still wants to stay with me, because he's an idiot. But you can't tell Compass. She'd blame herself."
"Tell Compass what?"
Tailspin shivered again. "The cocoon," she said, her voice growing quieter. "It... took something. Something I need." Again, she stopped, and again it lasted long enough that Spike was worried that she had passed out. Then she said, "I'm like the changelings now."
He drew his head back sharply. It wasn't a conscious act on his part, and he regretted it almost immediately, even though she hadn't seen it. He forced his voice to remain level and said, "You've been feeding on him."
"No." The answer was sharp, and surprisingly loud. Tailspin's voice was still weak, so even that outburst only raised it to the level of normal conversation for anypony else, but even that was enough to make Spike blink in surprise. She lowered her wing away from her face and glared at him. "Never," she said. She spat the word. "He told me I could if I needed to. He begged me to. But I haven't, and I won't."
Slowly, the glare faded, and she brought her wing back up over her face. "I won't," she mumbled. "I couldn't hurt him like that."
Realization dawned. "That's why you're still so weak," Spike whispered. "You're starving to death."
The only answer was another quiver against his scales.
"Tailspin," he hissed. "You have to eat. You can't just let yourself starve." The initial shock was passing. In its wake, he felt a rising sense of urgency, tinged with panic. "Pith's strong, and he's willing to let you. You could even use me, if you're afraid he can't take it. You can't just..."
"I can." The pegasus' voice was very small now, and very tired. "I don't know how to control it. All I know is that, if I wanted to, I could reach out and start taking. I don't know if I could stop, even assuming I'd still have enough willpower to make that choice. And even if you and Pith were both willing, all that means is that I'd eat you up a bit at a time, and then I'd end up starving anyway once... once you were gone." She let out a soft sigh. "I can't do that to you. I starve now, or I starve later, but the latter comes with me having to live with hurting my friends. I'd rather go out with a clear conscience."
There didn't seem to be any answer that could be made to that. Spike just watched her for a while. She still looked unnaturally gaunt, and her coat was still graying, but she did look better than she had before Compass had come up with the healing spell. Perhaps she still had some time.
As if to confirm that she was thinking the same thing, Tailspin said, "Compass bought me a few days with all of you that I wouldn't have had otherwise. I'm grateful to her for that. I just don't want her to have to live with knowing I felt like this even after her healing spell. She'd blame herself for it, and it's not her fault. Even if it was, I'd still be grateful." She sighed. "And I might even be able to do something useful before I go, if we can find these Elements. I can't really ask for anything else."
Spike blinked. "The Elements," he said, more to himself than anything.
"What?"
"The Elements," he repeated, looking back down to her. A broad grin spread across his features. "If anything can heal you, they can. If we can find them, then-"
He stopped. Tailspin was laughing quietly.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"Nothing," she muttered. "Just... these things sound like the most hilariously versatile weapons in the history of ever. Not only can they beat Queen Chrysalis and the Mare in the Moon, they can heal ponies who are dying of spiritual starvation."
Spike huffed. "Okay, yes, maybe it sounds a bit far-fetched," he admitted. "But it's true. The Elements of Harmony could do almost anything when they were brought together. If anything can help you, it's them."
"Right." Tailspin just curled in a little tighter on herself, then sighed. "I hate to ask this," she said, "but could you help me back over to him? I think I'm ready to try and sleep again."
Spike nodded. A few moments later, he was pulling the blankets up over Pith and Tailspin. The pegasus made a series of quiet noises that might have been her attempting to thank him, but she was obviously falling back into unconsciousness. Pith hadn't even turned over as she rejoined him, but once she was lying against him again, one of his legs came up to pull her closer.
He left them like that and went back to his place a few yards away. Off in the distance, he could see the storm chasing itself between the peaks of the mountain range. He lay still for a while, staring up into the clouds, trying to quash the thoughts echoing around his head long enough to go back to sleep.
Rainbow Dash had looked like that, in the end; sunken, graying, skeletal. How many times had he seen her lying next to Soarin, unable to even summon the strength to stand? It hadn't seemed right that her life would end that way, after all the years she had spent as one of the most celebrated athletes and trainers in Equestrian history. Now, no matter what memories he tried to summon of her in her younger days, he could only see the gray-coated old mare who hadn't even been able to fully return his last embrace.
Somewhere up in the mountains was Canterlot. Somewhere up there was a chance to keep it from happening again.
He shut his eyes, snorted, and tried to force himself into sleep.
Even though Pith was carrying the vast majority of the equipment, Compass still found herself growing tired far more quickly than she had hoped.
Ever since they had entered the mountains and the storm had begun, it seemed that her world had steadily shrunk until it consisted only of the uneven, rocky ground beneath her hooves and the icy rain that poured over her. They had been supplied with thick cloaks that kept off the worst of the weather, but it was still damp and miserable, her hooves still ached, and she kept coming dangerously close to losing her footing on the slick rocks.
Pith had insisted that each of them was tied to the rest using some of the rope that they had been supplied with, which made sense - in the darkness and rain, it would be easy to go over the edge of one of the twisting paths. It was still uncomfortable, though, and it provided her with a constant reminder that she was going too slowly. The rope ahead of her, the part that was connected to Pith, was always taut and tugging her along, while the segment leading back towards Spike was always slack.
They were about four hours into the mountains now, and it had been raining continuously for that entire time. She had been able to locate the beginning of what might have been the path that she had seen on the maps, and now all she could do was follow Pith until he asked for more information.
They were making their way along a rocky path between two high cliffs. Behind them, if she looked over her shoulder and squinted through the rain past Spike's bulk, Compass could just make out the Tangle. Up ahead, there was nothing but more mountains and more rain.
Her hooves ached, she could barely see through the mist of rain rebounding off of the stone, she had a stitch in her side that felt as if she was being stabbed, her helmet kept bumping against her shattered horn and sending bolts of pain through her skull, and she felt as though she wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep for a week.
It came as something of a surprise when she realized that she couldn't think of anywhere else that she would rather be.
Just over a week ago, she had been one cartographer among many. She had been responsible for collating and cross-referencing the dozens of scouting reports that came in from their reconnaissance parties every day. She had been good at it, and she had been reasonably happy. It was a job, and a serious one, but it wasn't particularly difficult, and she had always found maps interesting. If she had been able to live in one of the settlements, rather than traveling from fort to fort as her services were needed, it would have been the perfect life.
She hadn't gone along on the journey into the Tangle out of any sort of desire for adventure. She simply recognized that it was an important mission and that the information gathered would have to be as accurate as possible, in case the castle contained anything valuable. As a result, she had been through the most physically and emotionally grueling experiences of her life. She had been poisoned by changelings, imprisoned, and crippled.
And now she was heading off into another place that could be just as dangerous. She was cold, tired, wet, hungry, sore, frightened, and entirely out of her depth.
No, she wasn't happy. She wasn't happy at all. But there was something about the situation, nonetheless, that made the thought of turning back impossible. It took her a long time to come up with a word for it.
Purpose.
Compass Rose had always had a job. Now, she had something more. She had ponies that needed her, even crippled as she was, and the chance to do something that truly mattered. It wasn't a happy feeling, exactly. In fact, she was utterly, absolutely miserable in every way that she usually thought about being happy. But, as she fought her way up the next rise, stumbling slightly and nearly falling full-length onto the rocks, she found herself smiling a grim little smile regardless.
No, it wasn't exactly a happy feeling. But, as she straightened up and motioned for Pith to continue, she realized that she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Something crunched under one of Pith's hooves. He stopped and squinted at it through the mist on the rocks. It glittered in the light from his helmet lamp like broken glass.
Ice. Melting ice, ice that shouldn't have been there in such warm weather, but ice all the same. That made three times now.
He stopped and looked over his shoulder. Compass Rose had drawn to a halt about a foot away, and blinked as his light fell across her face. Behind her was the looming bulk of Spike. The dragon had both wings partially outstretched for balance.
"Let's get out of the rain for a minute," Pith called, over the dull rumbling of thunder. He lifted a hoof and pointed towards a slight overhang in a nearby cliff, then turned to lead the way into it. It wasn't much of a shelter, but it kept the worst of the rain off. He sat down and removed his helmet with a deep sigh, then turned to the others.
Compass Rose had already dropped onto her haunches and was massaging one hoof gingerly. She was obviously exhausted, but her expression was set, and he knew that she was determined to keep going regardless. Spike, on the other hoof, looked soaked but otherwise fine, despite his wounds. He was stretched out full-length on the floor, with Tailspin resting on his back. The pegasus had been lashed there, swaddled in as many cloaks and blankets as they could pile on without restricting Spike's ability to walk.
To his surprise, she was actually awake, and offered him a faint smile as he looked over to her. "Hey," she said quietly. "What'd we stop for?"
"A couple of things," Pith said. He removed his helmet and shook out his mane, frowning. "One, rope check. We're getting higher up now, and I want to make sure we aren't going to lose anypony if they slip. Two, map check. I want to make sure we're going the right way, or at least that we're as confident about it as we can be." He looked back to Tailspin. He didn't have to say it aloud for her to know that the third item on his list was checking on her.
"Y'know," she said lightly, as if speaking to the air in general rather than to assuage his worries, "this is actually a surprisingly comfortable way to travel. I'm going to get cramps from the ropes, but at least these things are pretty much waterproof. And scaly here might not be particularly comfortable, but he's at least warm."
Spike snorted in answer, grinning crookedly. "I'll have you know that my dragon-back rides were considered incredibly comfortable by the foals in Ponyville. They used to fall asleep on me."
"They didn't know any better."
"I also used to carry Rarity around."
"Yes, well, she had other reasons for wanting you to be in a good mood," answered the pegasus, a note of teasing entering her voice. "Face it, Spike. You just aren't a very good mattress."
Pith sighed heavily. Normally, he would have smiled to see Tailspin in what seemed like such a good mood, but he knew that it was a show for his sake. She was trying to keep him from dwelling on what she had told him. It wasn't working.
"There's something else," he said.
Compass looked up from the map that she was spreading out on the driest patch of rock she could find, frowning. "What else?"
"Ice." Pith stamped a hoof on the damp ground. "I've seen it three times since we started hiking. I thought it was just a bit that'd come down from the top of the mountain, you know. Maybe a bit of snow came off. The rain is chilly, but it's too warm here for ice to have just formed on its own. But the last patch I stepped on was very clearly frozen rainwater. It was formed into a crack in the stone."
"So?" Spike had his head tilted slightly to one side, looking confused. "What's it mean?"
Pith frowned. "All the scouting reports we have of here talk about spells that sort of bounce around the mountains," he said. "Old ones that got cast a long time ago and just haven't gone away. I'm guessing that the ice means we're coming up on the areas where they start showing up, and one of them's a cold spell."
"Good thing I've got my own personal heater," mumbled Tailspin.
"Right." He nodded. "But that's not what I'm worried about, really. Cold is survivable. What I want to be sure everypony knows is that, the second you notice anything weird, no matter how small, you say so. It might save all of our lives."
"Well, I've got some good news, anyway," said Compass Rose, looking up from her map again. "So far as I can tell, we are actually on some sort of path right now. Or something that used to be a path, anyway. And the current heading we're on does lead us towards the most likely location for Canterlot. So long as we keep heading in the same direction, and keep going upwards, we should find it soon enough."
"Good." Pith flipped his helmet back onto his head and drew his cloak more closely around him. "Everypony up, then. We'll try and get a few more hours in before we make camp. Hold still so I can check your ropes."
A few minutes later, they were moving again, heads bowed against the rain.
Overhead, too high to be seen through the rain, a herd of spectral horses with malevolent, shining eyes watched them go.
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Yeesh, this world has it rough. Every villan gets free rein to do whatever. What's next, the smooze?
3842212 SURPRISE this is actually a 40k crossover
last chapter is Angron tearing Equestria a new one while screaming BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
3842682
Eh, just throw the Elements at him.
3845418 For some reason, the mental image of somebody actually throwing the Elements of Harmony at this dude just reduced me to helpless sniggering for about five minutes. No clue why.
Next chapter soon plz?
3854210 Ha. Yes. I'm actually working on it right now. I would have had it up yesterday, but I got sick, as the blog post I made explains.
I'm still sort of sick, but painkillers are wonderful things.
3854270
at least ur getting better.
THE STORY IS SO ADDICTING!
I hope that Spike finds Twilight soon
Geez Windigoes to? Equestria has fallen to pretty much all its villains ever.
Though there is still a distinct lack of Discord. Hmmmmm.
I'm actually kinda surprised by the windigoes. So far it seems that the mountains are dead, so what could they have been feeding on? I mean, sure, there's strife and hate down in Equestria, but what keeps them up in the mountains and away from that buffet?
Windigoes? Craaaaaap.
As a veteran of any number of interminable Boy Scout treks, I can attest to this.
Sure, why not windigoes too?
Whew, I'm glad that Tailspin revealed her... condition. Keeping things like that secret is a sure-fire way to ensure disaster in the future. But now, the group can at least try to take care of her.
Suuure. Why not. Just throw some windigoes in.