Nighttide Star [Rewrite Draft]

Pinkie’s balloons were one thing. They were small, cute, a little on the fragile end, but otherwise simple. But the balloon that now sat in Ponyville’s plaza? Yeah. Now this was a sight to behold.

“What a crazy looking contraption,” I mused aloud, walking around the mighty purple balloon of Ponyville. The balloon itself was nearly twice the size of Fluttershy’s cottage, and just a hair bigger than some of the buildings that lined the streets.

Twilight was going over her check-list nearby when she noticed me pacing around, staring up inside at the burner. “I thought you said you had balloons from your land?”

“We do, but… they don't look anything like this. They're enclosed setups and are way bigger than—”

“You mean blimps, right?” Twilight interrupted. “You were describing something like them on the train back from Canterlot. We have those as well.”

I blinked at her. “So I guess you guys do have more than I thought.”

Twilight gave me a smirk. “I'm just gonna have to fill you in on all sorts of things, won't I?”

“Guess so.” Stepping around the cheeky purple pony, I watched Applejack and Rarity climb into the balloon’s basket. Pinkie Pie stood off to the side talking with Mr. and Mrs. Cake from Sugarcube Corner. They had been gracious enough to close shop early to help with releasing the balloon for flight. Rainbow Dash stood another few feet away, making dramatic gestures with her hooves and wings to a clearly nervous Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash had managed to call off of work early as well, cashing in one of her many earned sick days. Everyone wore saddlebags filled with first-aid kits and warm clothing, and Pinkie Pie made sure to pack a snack for everypony as well.

“I don't believe we've packed this much stuff since we asked that dragon to leave,” Twilight mused aloud. “And you said your ponies would do this every time they set off on a mission?”

“Oh ho,” I scoffed, glaring back at Twilight. “You have no idea the stuff they expect us to take along. During basic training, they have most ponies carry these weighted saddle-packs filled with sand so ponies build the strength to carry equipment for a real operation.”

Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. “I know they put the Royal Guard through some rigorous training, too. Shining Armor's told me stories kind of similar to that.” Her ears drooped. “But I guess your ponies have to prepare for more, where you come from.”

“It is what it is.” I wrapped a foreleg gently around Twilight's withers. “Thankfully, your ponies don't. Not now at least. And if we have anything to say about it, we'll make sure ol' Riptide doesn't change that fact.”

Twilight returned a soft smile, though I could see she was still uneasy.

“Twilight, seriously. It does you no good to keep worrying about it.” I gave the alicorn a knowing look, hoping she’d see fit to reason.

But instead, Twilight tilted her head away. “I'm sorry. It's just… hearing about Equestria's history? I've been through a lot these past years, and I've always considered Princess Celestia to be someone I could trust, no matter what.” Twilight paused for a moment as she looked in the direction of Canterlot. “And I still feel that way. For all I know, Riptide really could have just been making it up.”

“Maybe.” Not that I bought the idea myself, but I wasn't going to push the point any further. “We'll figure it all out in the end. Just keep your head up until then, alright Princess?”

“Please,” Twilight said, stiffening her shoulders. “Don't call me that. Not right now at least.”

I nodded gingerly and stepped aside, allowing Twilight to gather the others together.

__________

“So, umm… where exactly are we headed?” Rainbow Dash flew in closer to the balloon, with Fluttershy gliding quietly beside her. I stepped up to the side of the balloon to get a better look. Beneath us stretched Sweet Apple Acres in all its spring glory, stretching for miles across rolling hills before blending into a forest that lined more jagged terrain – beyond which lied a grey horizon.

“To the Appaloosan mountains.” Twilight pointed in the direction of the snow-capped mountains in the distance. “That's the direction Riptide was last headed.”

“Gotcha.” Rainbow glanced over at the pegasus beside her. “Ready, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy returned a quick nod and a feeble smile, about as ready as she would ever be.

“Alright then,” Rainbow said, pushing her lithe body just ahead of our balloon. “I'm gonna fly on ahead. Fluttershy, when you get to the mountains, just… swoop around or something, look for clues. I'll find you when you get there and see how you're doing.” It seemed like Rainbow was in a particularly good mood. I guess it would figure she’d be the adventuring type – something which I highly doubted was the case for her wingmare.

But, to my surprise, Fluttershy seemed to be relatively collected. “Alright, you go ahead then. I'll see you soon.”

“'Kay.” Rainbow Dash sped off for the mountain range, contorting a few clouds as she passed alongside them before splitting the sound barrier.

As Fluttershy puttered slowly ahead, Pinkie Pie leaned over the side of the basket. “Good luck, girls!” She waved the two pegasi off while Applejack and Rarity stepped up to take in the view. Over in another corner, Twilight sat talking with Spike, most likely over something to do with the Princess.

“Ah, crap…” That reminded of something important. “Twilight, you may want to tell your Princess that tracking signal I mentioned may not come in handy after all.”

Twilight looked over. “What do you mean?”

“Well, when that ship has its cloak engaged, it seems to conceal the signal. My sensors literally bounced right off of it, so it acts as a kind of containment field as well.”

Twilight rubbed a hoof across her chin. “You know, you never really did explain to me what you found on the ship. And I still need to look at that image of Riptide's magic device.”

“Right.” I did my best to fill Twilight in on what I learned during the slow flight forward. Keeping things concise was the hard part, but I eventually got to the part where we escaped. “When we flew off the deck, did you notice how the ship vanished shortly after we were airborne?”

“Sorry, no. I was too busy carrying somepony.” Twilight smirked.

“Yeah… fair enough,” I said with a sheepish grin. “Well, it did disappear, and more than likely because we passed through the cloak. We were traveling so fast though, I couldn't tell when or if we passed through it, but my report says the tracking signal was detected whenever we were on or near the ship, and that it was lost when we weren't.”

Twilight sighed as she stood up to look toward the mountain range. “Well, that's okay. Hopefully the Royal Guard or Rainbow Dash can find something.”

“Or Fluttershy!” I chirped.

Twilight laughed. “Yes, or Fluttershy… I sure hope she'll be alright out there.” We took a seat together at the end of the basket and watched as we slowly inched closer to the mountain range in the horizon.

__________

About an hour had passed before we reached the leading edge of a snowstorm that surrounded the mountains. Sensors showed we still had another few kilometers before we could get a good look at the terrain, and further still before my sensors could sweep the region for any sign of the tracking signal.

For the last few minutes, I had been listening to Pinkie Pie tell the story of how she got her cutie mark, when suddenly, a blip appeared on my sensors.

I stood up and walked over to the edge, giving my sensors a better view. “Hey Twilight, I think I found it.”

“You mean Riptide?”

“Yep. I'm trying to fine-tune the signal now… give me a second.”

I closed her eyes to get a better view of my retinal display, which showed a fairly defined blip tucked inside a crevice between two mountain peaks. Zooming in on the grid topography, I noticed a flat section of land just big enough to land something the size of Riptide's ship.

Smirking, I looked over at Spike. “Contact the Princess. The tracking signal is between those two mountains in a small clearing,” I said, pointing over the side to a large peak directly in front of us and a smaller one beside it.

“Um…” Spike looked up at Twilight. “What do you want me to say?”

Twilight waltzed up to his side and placed a hoof on his scales. “I'll trust you with it, Spike. I need to fly ahead and let the others know.”

“Oh, uh, sure! I can do that!” From what I understood, Spike had only ever been able to write personal letters to the Princess in the past when he and the others had been assigned to report on lessons in friendship. This kid looked pretty stoked to be tasked with writing an important letter like this on his own; he pulled out a scroll and quill as Twilight jumped over the side of the basket, spreading her wings to glide forward.

“Twilight!” I shouted down. “Radar's picking up one fast and one slow moving contact just around that smaller peak in front of us. Betcha it's Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.”

“Got it!” Twilight awkwardly flapped her wings, trying to gain some speed and stability as she worked her way toward the mountain. Spike finished writing the letter to the Princess, and with a puff, the letter was on its way.

“Hey Pinkie.” I walked over to the corner where she was now standing with Applejack and Rarity. “Is there any way for us to steer this thing?”

“You bet!” Pinkie reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small white tube, which she shook with her mouth until it opened up into a huge, brightly colored paper fan. The others looked at her, but only one of us seemed shocked at the sight.

“Seriously?” I blinked as Pinkie proceeded to start flapping the fan over the side of the basket. Indeed, it was changing our course, but not quite as fast as I wanted.

“Here, I've got a better idea.” I stepped over to one corner of the basket and asked the others to gather around. “I'm gonna try using my working engine to push us, but I'm gonna need you all to hang onto me so I don't end up flying over the side.”

“Not a problem,” Applejack said as she, Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike braced themselves in front of me. I released my right turbine, and with a little sputter, the engine slowly came to life.

It was a good thing there were the four of them to hold me in place, for even at its lowest throttle, the little engine pushed our basket so far forward that it started to tilt. Everyone shuffled a little in place as they tried to hold their grip while I kept my focus on the tracking signal, making sure we were on the right path.

Once we had enough momentum, I disengaged my engine, and Pinkie Pie walked over to adjust the balloon's burner. A few minutes later, we could see a colorful blur heading our way, with a faint yellow dot trailing slowly behind.

“Hey guys!” Rainbow Dash clambered into the basket. “So, you found the bad guy?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I said. “But where's Twilight?”

Rainbow tilted her head. “What d’ya mean?”

I suggested to the horizon where Fluttershy was laboring to make her way back to the balloon. But there was no sign of Twilight.

“Oh yeah… heheh.” Rainbow rubbed her neck and grinned. “Well, she was a little slow, y'know? What with those new wings and everything? So I just decided—“

“To leave her behind?” Applejack interjected with a frown.

“Hey, I didn't leave her behind! She flew past me to grab Fluttershy.”

On that note, Fluttershy climbed back into the basket – but she was definitely not sporting a grin. “Girls, something strange just happened,” she said with a frantic expression that matched her tone.

“What's wrong?” Rarity asked. “Where's Twilight?”

“That's just it. Right after Twilight found me, we saw this flash between those two mountains.” She pointed in the general direction of the tracking signal. “It was down in a clearing, just past the storm. We only saw it for a second – after that, all we could see was snow.”

“Alright, fine,” Rainbow said, “but where's Twilight?”

“She told me to fly back here while she checked it out. But when I looked back a few minutes later, I saw her flying toward the clouds below!”

We all scrambled over the side of the basket, tipping the basket slightly. After a few seconds of scanning around, I picked up a slow-moving blip on the radar. Just barely noticeable in the distance flew an alicorn, circling around the mountain toward the snowstorm.

“What's she doing down there?!” I shouted, pointing down at the purple dot in the distance. “Doesn't she know that's a storm?”

“I dunno,” Applejack said as she spotted Twilight herself, “but if she keeps goin' like that, she could be in big trouble!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Rainbow barked just before diving off the side of the basket.

Several seconds passed as we watched Rainbow Dash speed toward the wayward mare, but before she could reach her, Twilight flew into the clouds. Rainbow Dash skimmed above where she disappeared, trying to find a good approach angle. But then she slowed to a hover.

“Something's wrong,” Rarity said. “Pinkie, is there any way we can get down there?”

“Leave it to me!” Pinkie Pie jumped up and turned the balloon's burner off completely, allowing us to descend a little faster.

I couldn’t think of any good reason why Twilight would want to check something out without us, let alone dive into a snowstorm on her own. But then another peculiar thought crossed my mind. “Hey Spike, you got anything back from the Princess?”

“Not yet.” Spike allowed his gaze to drift for a moment. Even he seemed to find it odd the Princess hadn’t responded yet. “Maybe she's busy with something else.”

All I could do was shrug. As our balloon continued to descend faster, I kept a lock on Twilight's pattern with my radar. She was now buried deep within the storm, her path remaining fairly straight and steady for the tracking signal. It would have been one thing if Twilight just happened to be flying in its general direction, but for several minutes now, she had maintained her course – a nearly perfect line for the signal just a couple' kilometers ahead of us.

Soon, Rainbow Dash flew back to the balloon with a panicked look. “Guys, I lost her! What the hay is she doing anyway?!”

“I don't know,” I said, “but something's odd about the direction she's headed.” I informed everyone what I noticed about her and the tracking signal.

Rainbow Dash took a moment to preen her feathers in the basket. Off to the side, Spike ran a claw across his chin, deep in thought. “Hey guys.” He turned to both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “Did you run into any of the Royal Guard while you were out there?”

“No,” Rainbow Dash said. “It was just us until Twilight showed up. How about you, Fluttershy?”

“Sorry, no. When I got to the mountains, I didn't see anypony until you found me.”

Applejack sighed. “We never should’ve let Twilight go out there on her own…”

“Well, how else could we let Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy know to meet back here?” Pinkie suggested. The other ponies nodded in agreement, but it didn't change the desperate nature of the situation.

With a flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash flew off the side of the basket again and turned to the others. “I don't know about you ponies, but I'm not one to sit around and wait for something to happen. I'm going in after her!”

“Hang on a sec!” I shouted, throwing open my projector. On the display was a map of Twilight's trajectory, as well as the location of the tracking signal. “With where we're positioned right now, if you fly toward this blip here,” I said, pointing to the highest dot, “you'll be flying the same path as Twilight. Right now, I can't get a bearing on her elevation, but she's down there in the storm somewhere. Just fly in that direction.” I pointed off the side of the basket.

Fluttershy strode up and looked at where I was pointing as well, then turned to Rainbow Dash. Without so much as a quiver to her voice, she said, “I'm coming with you.”

Rainbow Dash blinked at her friend. “Fluttershy, I don't think—“

“Listen, Rainbow Dash,” she firmly said. “Twilight’s in trouble. This isn't like when I was trying to help gather rainwater for Cloudsdale.” She met Rainbow Dash’s gaze squarely and said, “I'm coming with you.”

Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback by Fluttershy’s sudden seriousness. She took a few seconds to examine the hologram, then looked back at her. “Are you sure?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I'm positive.”

Rainbow Dash returned her own nod, then went into a nose-dive, with Fluttershy following close behind. I was impressed at the sight, but the feeling passed silently as I continued to monitor Twilight's trajectory.

The balloon continued its descent for several minutes, slowly closing in on the clouds below them. Pinkie Pie reignited the burner to slow their fall as Nighttide worked to figure out a good landing spot, but then—

“Hey, does anypony see that?” Applejack pointed down at a distant clearing where a bright blue flash was beginning to grow. Nighttide picked it up as a solid object, much like the cloak from earlier. But something was different. It almost looked like a shockwave.

Everypony watched on, figuring in time, the flash would dissipate. But it continued to grow, heading straight for them. Their eyes widened.

“Brace for impact!”

Nighttide and the others dove to the floor of the basket as the shockwave slammed into the balloon, knocking everypony into each other and sending Spike off the side. He grabbed on to one of the leading ropes as the basket whipped wildly in the wind. “Help! Somebody help me!”

Rarity spotted Spike struggling to hang onto the rope and used her magic to pull him back inside, tucking him in between herself and the corner of the basket. Applejack and Pinkie Pie had been tossed to the other side and were now holding onto each other, while Nighttide struggled to stand to her hooves.

Their trajectory had been skewed. The balloon was now dropping at a violent rate toward the clouds below. Nighttide carefully looked up, trying not to lose her balance, and noticed the burner had been knocked onto its side. The flame still shooting out the end was now scorching the frame that held it in place.

Nighttide met eyes with the other ponies when they all realized their predicament. As the balloon increased velocity, everypony's heart sank into their stomachs.

Pinkie Pie clutched desperately to Applejack. “What are we going to do?!”

Nighttide carefully worked her way over to the edge of the basket, the ever decreasing gravity trying to knock her off balance. Off to the side, Rarity grabbed hold of Spike and held him close to her chest.

Once Nighttide crawled to the edge, she looked down and said, “No… at this rate…”

Without so much as a word, Rarity closed her eyes as her horn began to glow an intensely bright white, the familiar whistle of magic penetrating the rushing wind around them. Slowly, the balloon was wrapped in a soft white aura.

“Rarity,” Applejack called from the far corner, a stunned look on her and Pinkie Pie's faces as they held onto each other. “Can you…?”

Just as the balloon was about to dive into the clouds, everyone was wrapped in the same white glow. But Nighttide noticed something strange about the magic.

“Celestia, please let this work—” Rarity spoke through gritted teeth as she held on as tight as she could to Spike.

Then, a large flash encompassed everypony. The balloon, and all its passengers, vanished.

__________

“Damn… what the hell did that pony do?”

Nighttide crouched in a thick plot of fresh snow as she peered into the grey horizon. Not a pony could be seen, and her sensors were completely garbled. But as concerning as that was, there was something else that worried her more. Just before the crash, she had seen Rarity's horn glowing white. She figured she was about to use a teleportation spell of some sort, but then something happened right before they were separated. Her magic had turned blue.

Nighttide stood up to her full height, the weight of her suit keeping her planted fairly securely in the loose ground. It appeared she was on an embankment. The slope above was too steep to climb, but she could work her way downhill. Hopefully in time, she would run into somepony else.

As she walked toward the grey horizon, Nighttide let her systems run a diagnostic sweep. It appeared the shockwave had elements of an electromagnetic pulse. While not strong enough to disable or erase her systems, it had been enough to fry some of the internal components of her sensors.

“Weapons… check… Reactor… check… Vitals are stable…” Nighttide mumbled to herself as she pushed forward against the wind, reviewing the diagnostic report. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted an orange and pink lump half-buried in snow. “Applejack! Pinkie Pie! Is that you?”

“Yeah, we're over here!” Applejack shouted as she waved her over. Pinkie Pie was huddled together with her underneath a brightly colored blanket, trying to stay warm as the snow piled around them. They had both wrapped scarves around their necks, and it appeared Applejack's hat was missing.

“Thank goodness you two are alright… You are alright, right?” Nighttide shouted against the wind.

“Yeah, we're fine. We were gonna look for the others, but then this storm…”

“I know what you mean.” Nighttide turned her muzzle toward the wind, peering off in the distance in hope that she could spot some other colors. Nothing. “Are you two able to stand?”

“Only if we stick together,” Applejack replied. “The wind's too strong!”

Pinkie Pie shifted onto her knees, her blanket almost flying away. She reached back and pulled it off the two, then tucked it inside her saddlebag. “C'mon, Applejack. We've got some friends to go save!”

“G-g-glad to see you're s-still in high spirits, P-Pinkie,” Applejack commented as she gave a visible shiver to the sudden loss of warmth. Nighttide noticed the wind was picking up, so she worked her way between the two mares and switched her systems to purge heat, allowing her suit to radiate warmth to share with the others.

The three marched forward into the grey of the storm. After a few seconds of silence, Nighttide spoke up. “Hey, do either of you know what exactly happened?”

“We were wonderin' that ourselves.” Applejack held her head closer to Nighttide's, trying to angle against the wind. “In case ya didn't know, Twilight's the only pony we've ever known who's been able to teleport. But I think that's what Rarity was tryin' to do back on the balloon. All's I remember is bein' surrounded in this bright light, but then it got real dark all the sudden. Next thing I knew, I was lyin' in the snow, and Pinkie Pie here was at my hooves.”

Nighttide could feel Pinkie shivering against her side. It appeared she was now the cold one. “Y-y-yep, that's wh-what I remember t-too. I also heard wh-what sounded like a sc-scream in the distance when I w-woke up.”

“You know which way it came?” Nighttide asked.

Pinkie shook her head. They continued forward in silence for several minutes, hoping that they would eventually run into their friends. Occasionally, the snow on the ground would level out for a bit, and they would look in either direction to figure out which way to go. It didn't really matter if they turned or continued straight – there was no starting point from which to remember. So they picked and chose random directions as they slowly inched their way through the storm.

Finally, they heard something. A faint whimper not too far from them.

“… Ya hear that?” Applejack shouted.

“Sure it's not just the wind?” Nighttide asked.

“Pretty sure it's somepony. Come on.”

The trio turned toward the sound and bolstered their sides against the wind. As they trudged through the snow, they spotted what looked like a yellow wing sticking out of a very tall mound of snow.

“Fluttershy?!” Applejack shouted into the freezing air, but no response. She turned to Nighttide and Pinkie. “It looks awful steep.”

“I know,” Nighttide agreed. “Let me see if I can make it up. My suit should help keep me planted to the ground. You two stay here and hunker down.”

Nighttide broke free from the group as Applejack grabbed hold of Pinkie Pie, bracing themselves as close to the ground as they comfortably could.

“Fluttershy!” Nighttide called out as she slowly made her way up the loose mound of snow. With every other step, she could feel a portion of the mound giving way underneath. She looked back to the other two and saw they were backing up slowly, the snow beginning to fall in small layers in front of them. But in time, Nighttide broke even with the top of the mound and found Fluttershy lying perfectly still on her side, her left wing sticking rigidly out of her side.

Nighttide trotted carefully forward and sat next to her. She tried to run an external vitals scan on her, but even those sensors appeared to be damaged. She carefully picked up Fluttershy's muzzle and stroked her pink mane, which was now a tangled mess.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy, can you hear me?”

No response. Fluttershy appeared to be unconscious. Nighttide carefully checked her body, being careful to not move it too much in case she had suffered any internal injuries. There didn't appear to be any major scrapes, but her wing stuck out at an odd angle. She didn't like how it jutted out without so much as giving into the force of the wind.

After a moment, Fluttershy began to mumble something. Nighttide leaned down and nuzzled against her, trying to stroke her back to waking.

“… Tw… Twili…”

Fluttershy tilted her head up ever so slightly. As she opened her eyes, she met with Nighttide's.

“Fluttershy… it's Nighttide. Are you okay?”

Fluttershy tried to sit up a little, but recoiled in pain.

“OW-AAH—Wha…” She looked over to her side and noticed her wing.

“Fluttershy, we've crash-landed somewhere in the mountains. Applejack and Pinkie Pie are just down this hill, but we haven't found the others yet.”

Fluttershy struggled to sit up as Nighttide wedged herself underneath her to act as a brace. Fluttershy's saddlebag had been ripped off at some point; only part of the strap remained looped around her.

“I… I think my wing's broken,” Fluttershy whimpered with a barely audible voice.

“Looks like it. The others still have their saddlebags, so they should have some first-aid kits on-hand.”

Fluttershy swayed a little in place as she braced herself against Nighttide. Even though she wasn't an ace flyer, she knew enough about wings that a first-aid kit would not be enough to fix the damage done. But then she thought of something. “H-have you guys found Twilight?”

“No. We haven't ran into Rarity or Spike yet, either. And last we knew, you were following Rainbow Dash into the storm." Nighttime paused as a gust of wind pushed against them. "Can you remember what happened?”

Fluttershy took a few seconds to process the question, then shook her head.

“Come on.” Nighttide helped Fluttershy to her hooves. “Let's meet up with the others down the hill. Can you walk?”

Fluttershy took a couple of short steps forward, but stumbled into Nighttide. The two almost toppled over, but Nighttide held her ground.

“Slow.” Nighttide said. “Let's go slow.”

“Alright,” Fluttershy murmured.

The two carefully made their way down the mound and back to their friends. Thankfully, the snow didn't slip too much on their way down. With the temperature around them, Nighttide figured the snow could easily be compacting into a frozen solid.

The four ponies gathered around each other as Applejack pulled a first-aid kit out of her saddlebag. Fluttershy instructed her to the best of her ability on how to wrap her wing in a makeshift cast using gauze and a splint. As Applejack wrapped the first layer of gauze around her wing, Fluttershy yelped in pain every so often. It felt as if a bone in her wing had been fractured, and what with the angle it shot out, probably in more places than one.

It took several minutes, but Applejack eventually finished the job, wrapping the wing in two thick layers. Fluttershy was now wide awake thanks to the pain, but her wooziness had not died down much. She brushed back her mane and felt a tender spot on her forehead.

“Fluttershy, let me see that.” Applejack shuffled closer toward her. “… Well, could've been worse.”

“What is it?” Fluttershy wearily asked.

Applejack gave her a small smile. “Just a bruise, sugarcube. You'll be fine.”

As Applejack brushed out some of the snow that had packed into Fluttershy's mane, Pinkie Pie looked up at the group. She was on the verge of tears. She hated to see her friend hurt so badly, but she also knew there were other friends still missing somewhere in the grey unknown. It was simply too cold, and the situation too desperate, to let her emotions get the better of her now. They still had to find the rest of their friends. But…

“Pinkie Pie? Hey, what's up?” Nighttide shifted toward the pony ever so slightly.

“N-nothing, it's alright!” She gave a weak smile and turned to Fluttershy. “Now that you're all fixed up, we should go look for the others. Don't want to keep them waiting forever, right?” She let out a nervous chuckle.

Nighttide could see the tears in her eyes, but she had a valid point. “Right. Come on, girls.”

The four braced against each other and took a path into a lighter part of the storm. The ground was solid and level, but they were still careful with each step they took.

__________

/////

“Guys! Hey guys, we're over here!” Spike shouted.

“Spike! Rarity! Oh, thank goodness.” Fluttershy trotted forward a little faster than the rest, awkwardly hurdling the cast of her wing forward with her. “Are you two alright?”

“A little worse for wear,” Rarity said as she rubbed her forehead, “but otherwise, we're just fine. I see you weren't so lucky yourself?”

“Oh, this?” Fluttershy looked back to her wing, doing her best to keep the pain from showing in her expression. “It'll be okay. I'm just glad you two are alright.”

“Hey, you guys!” Pinkie Pie bounded forward with Applejack. The group exchanged relieved greetings as Nighttide slowly made her way up to the group.

“Hey you two," Nighttide called out. "I'm guessing neither of you have seen Twilight or Rainbow Dash yet?”

“I'm afraid I haven't,” Rarity replied. “How about you, Spike?”

“I haven't seen a thing except for all this snow.”

Although the wind still fought against them, the clouds overhead began to thin, and soon, forward visibility increased. It appeared as if they were standing between two large mountains on a snowy slope. Several feet uphill from their position, the ground appeared to taper off into a clearing.

“I don't know exactly where we are,” Nighttide said, “but I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't where the tracking signal was coming from.”

The group looked uphill against the wind as a bright orange glow began to break through the horizon. Applejack glanced around at the others and sighed. “Well, I guess it's as good of a place to start as any.”

With a mutual nod, everyone slowly trekked their way up the hill toward the break in the storm.