The journey

by Dashed_Brony

CH7: The end...?

The climb only got rougher with each step, and even as they hadn't gotten close to 'Snow Valley', the storm was already takings its toll. The snow was relentlessly lashing at them, and it was not going to let up any time soon, if at all.

Toby had already given up. He was too small and weak to walk forth, and so, he was being carried, along with the food, and tools.

Was it really such a good idea...?

They might've used weeks to walk around, but as it was right now, at least they would've made it to the other side.

Progress was getting slower by the second, and every time he took a step, it only felt like the snow grew more thick, and soon, he was as blind as a bat. Not just because he couldn't keep his eyes open due to the snow constantly lashing at his eyes, but also because it was so thick.

He no longer had any clue how far they had gotten, but if it kept getting worse from here, there was no way he'd make it through the valley.

Even he was shivering. They hadn't any clothes, neither thick nor thin. He knew they should've prepared more, but he had completely ignored that fact during his recovery, thinking it was best to leave it for when he was actually recovered. But unlike his plan, he was so eager to set off, that the idea was forgotten completely.

For that, he now suffered, as did Toby, worse than himself. He could at least endure the cold, and his head didn't block much to any snow. The unicorn was shivering his limbs off. It was hopeless.

They had to turn around. The storm was at its peak. They had reached the valley. However, there was no way he'd have any chance making it through. Even if he did, Toby definitely wouldn't.

He had turned around, and tried making progress downwards, but to no avail. He wasn't taking a single hoovestep downwards. He was walking across a plain, snowy field.

He was frozen.

Not because the snow got a hold of him. The fear struck him that he wouldn't make it off this mountain. Or, he could make it off that very second by flying off, it was the colt he had dragged along that made him worry.

It was his faulth if Toby ended up turning into a statue of ice up here.

He kept walking, but to no avail. If he had walked in circles, he wouldn't be able to tell. All hooveprints were covered up as soon as he had made them. The storm was unforgiving.

But he kept walking forth. He ignored all thoughts. He couldn't simply up and quit here. They had encountered timber wolves, fought them and lived to tell the tale. That was a rare occasion. They had beaten the odds, only to lose to them right afterwards?

"No! I refuse to quit now!"

Toby, having already partly slipped into the 'slumber of death', didn't respond to the shout Laxed had let out.

*Rumble, rumble!*

He had released an avalaunche. He didn't hear it. His ears were too clogged in snow, and sooner than he could even think to respond, he was covered. Him and Toby were dug deep into the ground, covered by more snow than they could hope to dig out.

Whether it was luck or not was irrelevant. They had gotten shelter from the storm, in a small cove that had been formed along the avalaunche.

At least they could rest. But falling asleep in the cold, with nopony to save them, and no way out, in the middle of nowhere meant an obvious end. For that reason, Laxed relentlessly lashed at the roof, hoping to dig his way out.

The snow was compact enough to not simply crash down on them, so he wasn't worried it would come ramming down on them. He wasn't capable of thinking rationally either ways. They had to get out. He refused to stop now. Toby had fallen asleep.

The silent whispers he emitted was his snore disappearing to the cold embrace surrounding both of them.

But as the pegasi kept hacking and slashing at the roof, he exhausted himself, and he had to take a break. He had hardly made progress either. And as soon as he stopped, so did his body. He had heated himself up fully, and the cold took an even greater grasp of him this time than earlier.

Fear kicked in again. As soon as he felt his body freezing up, he attacked the roof. Not just to try and save the two, but also to stay alive.

It was no use.

The thick layer of their white prison barely budged at the strikes of one hoove after another, and it hurt him to realise this was their grand finale. They had made it far, but unless miracles randomly happened, this was their resting place.

The snow never melted here, and they would probably never be discovered, not in many, many years.

He calmed down.

His body was freezing over, and he didn't have the energy to care anymore. He was exhausted, and all he wanted to do was rest.

He saw nothing but the fading image of Toby, and the guilt was the last feeling he could think of as he felt the soft, cold, and encouraging sleep take hold of him.

- End -