MLP: Friendship is Adventure

“Seize him!” the mayor shouted to the royal guards. “Only he knows where the princess is!”

The Royal Guards all charged at Frostfright, who sneered, “Stand back, you foals!”

The Frozen Horse’s eyes flared with power and a freezing shockwave blew out, freezing the guards stiff.

“You won’t get away with this!” Twilight shouted as she began a spell, Midnight yelling, “Twilight, no!”

“Silly filly…” Frostfright sneered as he fired a beam of ice right at Twilight.

“No!!!” shouted Twilight’s friends as they ran to protect her. Alas, their endeavor only insured they shared her frozen fate, as the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony joined the Royal Guards in Frozen Petrification.

“I got you!” Starfyre brayed as he zoomed straight at Frostfright who merely smirked. Starfyre smashed against Frostfright only for the Frozen Horse to shatter into pieces of ice.

“What the?!”

Starfyre saw a shimmering blizzard fly off in a way the weather pony knew was unnatural, and he pursued, shouting, “Come back here!”

But even Starfyre couldn’t catch up, and the blizzard was gone. Then Starfyre finally noticed the freeze that had befallen his home and felt his heart sink.

“Winter forever…?”

Then he heard the crunching of hooves and noticed Midnight galloping off.

“Now where’s he going?!”

Somehow, Midnight made it to the library and was tearing through book after book, muttering, “Spirits, spirits, spirits… Ugh! How can I stop Frostfright without the Spirits of Adventure?!”

“And just what are the Spirits of Adventure?!” barked a voice behind him, and Midnight turned to see it was…

“Starfyre?!”

“And how did you know about Frostfright?!” Starfyre demanded, sounded accusatory. “Are you a spy?!”

“Whoa there, partner!” said the voice of Big Mac as he appeared behind Starfyre, alongside Bravissimo, Thunderlane, and Forester.

“He ain’t no spy, but he does seem to know what’s goin’ on, don’cha Midnight?”

All eyes were on the unicorn, so he fessed up.

“I read all about the foretelling of Frostfright… He can only be stopped by the power of some mysterious objects called the Spirits of Adventure. But I don’t know what they are, how to find them – I don’t even know how they work!”

“‘The Spirits of Adventure: A Reference Guide’,” said the voice of Thunderlane, who was looking at a book under his hoof.

Instantly, Midnight yanked it out underneath him, making Thunderlane trip, Midnight asking, “How’d you find that?”

“I was standing on it, duh!” Thunderlane quipped with a chuckle.

“Oh.” Midnight deadpanned with a look before looking into the book and read aloud, “‘Of the Six Spirits of Adventure, only five are known: Empathy, Wonder, Confidence, Bravery, and Honor – The sixth is a complete mystery. When Florinda defeated Frostfright and imprisoned him, she thought it best to hide the Spirits in… the very citadel atop the most desolate peak where Frostfright’s prison resided’?! Why would Florinda hide the Spirits in the same place she imprisoned Frostfright?!”

“My guess is, she hid them there because Frostfright would never think to look for them in the place he wanted to escape,” Bravissimo stated.

“Ice Crystal Mountain is a long ways away,” Midnight mused then smiled. “I got it!”

Midnight pulled another book from the shelves and looked into it.

“Aha! The Portal Spell! Alright, I need absolute quiet…”

Everypony hushed as Midnight appeared to be concentrating, his horn shined with power as magical energy appeared and swirled faster and faster until a shining doorway and through it they saw Ice Crystal Mountain.

“Let’s go!” Thunderlane cheered.

“Hold on, I appreciate the offer,” Midnight said, blocking the portal, “But I’d really rather do this on my own.”

“Nnope. Ain’t no chance we’ letting a friend a’ ours go to that dangerous place, alone, “Big McIntosh insisted as he put a hoof on midnight’s shoulder. “Haystack, we’re stickin’ to you like caramel on a candy apple.”

“Didja bring any?” Thunderlane asked, prompting Midnight to facehoof.

One by one, they jumped through the portal, and found themselves at the foot of Ice Crystal Mountain. Its forbidden height and freezing air made it look especially foreboding. As they all began the long way up, Midnight asked, “So, besides the fact Frostfright was imprisoned here somewhere, no one’s ever climbed Ice Crystal Mountain?”

“N-nnope,” Big Mac answered with a shake in his voice.

“They say this place is cursed,” Bravissimo added.

“Whattya mean?” Midnight asked.

“Because nopony who ever tried to climb it, “Starfyre spoke in a scary voice as he crept up behind the others, “has ever… come… back!!!”

Unfortunately, Starfyre’s shout caused an echo and an…

“Avalanche!” Forester shouted.

A flurry of snow and ice slid down towards them that Starfyre and Thunderlane flew up to avoid, Big McIntosh roped a nearby tree, grabbing Forester while Bravissimo managed to climb a large rock. Midnight was not so lucky, as he found himself dangling over the edge of an icy chasm.

“Help!”

Big Mac slid down the snow, stopping in front of Midight and grabbing hold of him.

“Big Mac, please don’t let me fall!”

Big McIntosh tried to pull Midnight up but then he felt a chilly whisper in his ears.

Let him go… he’s only brought you trouble… he got your sister frozen…

Nnope! Big Mac refused to listen to this voice, but it felt like it was starting to drain his strength, when he noticed something.

“Midnight, let go!”

“Are you insane?!”

“Nnope! Ah swear you’ll be alright!”

“No I won’t!”

“Listen, Ah give you mah word – Let go and you’ll be alright!”

Midnight looked at Big McIntosh, and saw no deception in the farmer’s big green eyes. Bracing himself, Midnight closed his eyes and let go, yelling until he found himself being held up by Starfyre and Thunderlane. They slowly lowered him down while Big Mac leapt down from ledge to ledge and Forester and Bravissimo climbed down on Big Mac’s rope.

“Thanks, everypony,” Midnight sighed.

“Look over there,” They followed Thunderlane’s pointing hoof and saw what looked to be an archway made of ice that led into the mountain.

“Something tells me that’s where we go next,” Midnight said and he led the way.

“…and just when it seemed over, me and Thunder whooshed in and caught you in the nick of time!” Starfyre boasted.

“Yes, Starfyre, I was there,” Midnight said, sounding irritated, “I was the one screaming?”

They walked through an icy tunnel that appeared to be torch-lit of blue flames.

“This place shor is creepy,” Big Mac muttered.

“Oh, please, it looks so tacky, in my opinion,” Bravissimo huffed. “Next thing you know, we’ll be hearing some supposedly frightful wail.”

And that’s exactly what they heard, as a ghostly wail sounded through the tunnel, the stallions huddling together in fear, trying to see where it was coming from.

“M-m-maybe we should t-turn back!” Starfyre whimpered.

“Hold on,” said Forester. He went along the tunnel and saw…

“An Abominable Snowman!” the other ponies gasped.

The Abominable Snowman had large sharp branches for arms, coals for eyes and buttons and teeth, a carrot for a nose, and a scarf around its neck. But instead of abominable, it looked like it was melting as it was the one moaning.

“Hey! It’s melting,” Starfyre got cocky and raised his wings. “We can beat it easy!”

“Shame on you!”

They looked to see Forester, giving them disapproving looks.

“How can you even think of hurting a defenseless creature? It’s like cutting down a tree just because it grew somewhere inconvenient.”

Forester approached the snowman, who looked up at the earth pony pleadingly.

“You poor thing, this torchlight must feel horrible! Everypony, blow out the torches, quickly!”

They all blew out the torches and Midnight shined his horn to provide some light as the Snowman appeared to gather himself a little. They watched as he reformed a bit, his snow becoming a little sturdier, and he seemed to fix his melting mouth and, to their surprise, he spoke!

“Oh! Thank you, thank you my friends! The heat coming from those torches was horrible!”

“You’re very welcome,” Forester replied with a smile.

“Sir, have those torches always been there?” asked Midnight, walking up next to Forester.

“Yes, but they’ve never been lit!” said the Snowman, sounding very bewildered. “I live in this ice cave, and was minding my own business when all of a sudden the torches were ignited, and the heat was making me melt! But thank you all so much for blowing them out, and if you’ll excuse me I must go outside and put on some extra pounds in snow.”

“Before you do, would you mind telling us where this cave leads?” Midnight asked.

“Keep following it and you would find yourself atop the mountain where awaits a citadel of sorts,” the Snowman answered as he shuffled past them.

“Uh, Forest?”

Everypony looked at Starfyre, who seemed to have developed an interest in his hooves.

“Sorry, I…”

“You shouldn’t act out of a first-impression, Starfyre,” Forester said, “because things aren’t always the way they seem. All you have to do, is be empathic.”

Everypony nodded and Starfyre gave an understanding smile as Forester held out his hoof.

“Then no worries?”

“No worries,” Forester replied, and the two friends hoof-bumped.