Mortem Obire

by The Ancestor

Mountaineering Pressure

Freezing winds billowed across the shimmering mountain peaks, their howling reverberating through the crystallized scale-like protrusions, echoing down the nearby ravines. The appropriatly called Prismatic Mountains were in fact a vast mountain range, with its tips considered to be supporting the heavens themselves. Despite their grandious size, the slopes were mercifully angled, allowing for a relatively safe, but tiring ascent.

Four figures wrapped from head to hooves in warm clothing trudged through the snowy, uneven terrain, the crunching of snow accompanying their every step. After three hours of perpetual mountaineering, the group finally came to a standstill, though not entirely out of their own volition. Before them laid open a deep, cold crevice, one that, after a rather quick observation from Sunny, seemed to stretch down infinitely. A narrow, rickety wooden bridge was the only thing that connected the two sides, the entire contraption suffering from the snowdrift.

"Any way around?" Hitch shouted over the harsh, frozen winds, approaching the mare. His features hardened under the winter scarf he was wearing, skiing goggles obscuring his furrowed brows as Sunny shook her head.

"This crevice stretches for miles on end, its better to cross it here." She replied confidently, stepping away from the edge and approaching the rest of the group. "Zipp, Pipp, can you two try to carry us to the other side? Or at least fly over the gap yourselves?"

"No can do, Sunny." Zipp replied, moving her scarf out of the way to speak properly. "Not in this cold." Sunny nodded, turning to Izzy.

"Izzy, can you clear the snow with your magic?"

"Yes ma'am!" Izzy saluted, her horn radiating a lavender aura as the mare began to move the snow out of the way.

Sunny nodded at the unicorn, turning to face the crevice once again, approaching the stallion standing on its edge. Her eyes were glued to the bottomless abyss below, while Hitch was closely observing the mare herself.

"Are you sure it's worth it?" He questioned, the mare remaning dead still as he spoke. "It's a long way down from here..." His gaze traveled towards the half-cleared bridge, the absense of snow revealing a dubiously stable overpass, some of the planks missing from the contraption. "...and the bridge doesn't look too good." He finished, his gaze once again returning to the mare, who was now looking directly at him.

"It's going to be alright." She reassured, her orange-tinted goggles burning a hole through the stallions forehead. "We're getting closer, I can feel it." She finished, turning to face the bridge. Hitch was about to ask what she meant, when a voice broke through the howling winds of the mountain.

"Sunny, it's done!" Izzy hollered, waving a hoof at the mare. "The snow's clear, we're ready to cross!"

"Alright, here's how we're going to do this." Sunny said, approaching the rest of the group, Hitch trailing behind her. "We're going to go one pony at a time, and we go through this carefully." She took a single step towards the rickety bridge. "I'll go first."

Before anypony could protest, she took a bold step forward, her hoof touching the cold wood of the bridge as she shifted her weight on top of it, testing the structure's stability. Finding the bridge reasonably firm, she took another step, stopping once again to look for any movement of the passageway. Step after step, stop after stop, Sunny carefully made her way over to the other side of the ravine, unharmed.

"Alright, the bridge's sturdy enough, but be careful." She shouted over the gap, billowing winds threatening to silence her. "I might've heard some creaking."

Everypony shared a look at Sunny's words, not wanting to be the one who goes next. Before anypony could begin freezing to death, Hitch stepped up, beginning his crossing.

His hooves touched the frozen woodplanks, a thin layer of ice making the surface slippery. Concentrating on not losing his balance, Hitch carefully looked over the path, noticing a pattern of imprints breaking through the ice. Following said patter, his hoof landed inside the imprint, finding hard wood underneath. Minutes passed as he carefully and dilibirately followed this path, his feet finally connecting with solid ground as he crossed the crevice.

He turned sharply to face the bridge, hollering on top of his lungs. "Be careful, the bridge's slippery! Follow the hoofprints, the ice is broken there!" He finished, turning to Sunny and giving her an appraising look, hidden behind his goggles. The mare held under his gaze, his own form reflecting in her orange tinted goggles.

"Something the matter?" Sunny asked tilting her head, her concealed gaze piercing him through the layers of protective equipment.

"Why didn't you say the surface was icy? Somepony could've gotten hurt." He stated, looking back to see the last member of the group, Izzy crossing the bridge safely, coming to rest near Zipp and Pipp.

"Must've slipped my mind." She replied with what Hitch could've sworn was a hint of a smile in her voice. "It doesn't matter, everypony made it." She gestured at the three mares cathing their breath as they waited for the groupэs leader to give them a go-to.

"Because I warned them." Hitch retorted as the two began making their way to the rest of the group. "Things could've gone much differently had I not." He sighed when no reply came from the mare, rubbing his covered face. "Just be careful next time, alright? Or else our little trip might end sooner than expected."

"I'll keep that in mind."

---

Hours of trudging through the knee-deep snow, hasted by the ice cold winds blowing at their backs, chilling them to the core had finally paid off. Towering above them, a maw-like cave entrance laid wide-open, a number of massive crystal stalactites hanging from the roof. Heavy snow drift impaired entry to the cave, sharpm iridescent stalagmites jutting out from the white blanket of the cave.

"Alright everypony, we've found our entrance." Sunny hollered through the billowing winds, a toothy smile under her scarf.

Comments

[The Ancestor]

11347072
Do I know you?

[Hoofprintz]

That Sunny part seemed strange, about notifying the others of the slipperiness of the bridge.

Though I suppose it could just be par for the course I don't know the g5 ponies too well lol.

Liked this one too.

[The Ancestor]

11553324

That Sunny part seemed strange, about notifying the others of the slipperiness of the bridge.

She said it intentionally to make the rest of the group more worried/fearful of the road ahead.