The Walking Snow

"Are you alright Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash looked up at the alicorn, who was looking down at her with concern. "T-Twilight?! What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? This is where I live." Twilight replied with a chuckle.

"H-Huh? Aren't we below Cloudsdale right now?" Rainbow asked.

"Hm?" Twilight looked up, and behind some clouds she could slightly see none other than Cloudsdale. "What the..."

Rainbow and Pinkie Pie also looked up, and saw the floating city. "Woah! You said we're at Ponyville right?" Dash said.

Twilight still shocked, nodded.

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin. "Hmmm... If Cloudsdale's up there and Ponyville's down here, then that means Cloudsdale moved above Ponyville, or maybe Ponyville moved closer to Cloudsdale, and now it's under the city. Or maybe they both moved equal distance towards each other and they're in the middle? My head hurts..." Pinkie rubbed her head.

"The first assumption made sense, but I doubt the others." Twilight said. "But how DID Cloudsdale get above Ponyville?"

"I don't know, maybe-"

Rainbow was cut off by the sounds of screeching.

The three ponies looked at their surroundings, and saw around twenty snow ponies.

"Snowbies! A lot of them too!" Rainbow said as the three back up into one another.

"Snowbies? Is that what you call them?" Twilight asked, still back to back with Pinkie and Rainbow.

"It's the name me and Scoota-" Rainbow's eyes widened as she thought of Scootaloo.

Rainbow looked around frantically. "Scootaloo! Scootaloo, please answer me! Tell me you're okay!"

"Rainbow?" Twilight asked, worried for her friend.

"Scootaloo! Scootaloo!" Rainbow yelled to the point where her voice was starting to give in.

The Snowbies were still approaching slowly, as another ten of them appeared from behind.

"Maybe they just want to play?" Pinkie inquired, trying to brighten up the situation.

Twilight took a glance at Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash, we have to go!"

"I can't, what if Scootaloo's out there?"

"We have to save ourselves before even thinking of trying to search for her."

"But what if-"

"You already called out so loud that the dragons could hear you, and Scootaloo didn't reply." She mentioned.

Rainbow thought for a second, then grunted. "Fine... Let's go..."

Twilight shot a magical beam at the Snowbies who were blocking the path to her castle. After the beam hit and those Snowbies were snow again, they ran and headed to the castle.

"Try not to fly too much Rainbow! ...And you too Pinkie."

"Okey dokey lokey!" She replied.

They ran around the corner, and they could see Twilight's castle.

"Not too far now! We'll be safer there!"

They ran for a couple more seconds when more Snowbies crept out the shadows and blocked their path, causing them to skid a couple meters before stopping completely.

Twilight looked left and right and saw no way around. What she did see was Rainbow walking up to the hoard. "Rainbow? What are you doing?" She asked in shock.

"These Snowbies are no problem, just a hoof hard to the face and they'll fall!" She replied confidently.

"I'm in!" Pinkie excitedly said.

"Alright, we'll do it your way Rainbow."

"That's what I like to hear!" Rainbow said, not removing her frown.

Rainbow pumped her hoofs together, and made the first strike.

So they began. Twilight firing with magic, and physically hitting them at times. Pinkie with her randomness, and party cannons. And finally Rainbow Dash, swooping from above and getting personal with the monsters.

It didn't take long, a minute or two, but they succeeded in defeating all the Snowbies.

"Alright! Let's get out of here befor-"

They all heard screeching and turned to see another hoard of Snowbies.

"Yeah, let's go." Rainbow suggested.

They turned to start sprinting towards the castle again, but was blocked by more Snowbies.

"More of them?!" Twilight was shocked.

They stepped back a bit, but stopped when realizing that there was more behind them.

"We're trapped!" Rainbow said.

"Can we play again?" Pinkie asked.

"There's too much!" Twilight explained.

They heard a sound behind them, and looked to see that some of the Snowbies were disassembled.

"Huh?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

Soon after, some of the Snowbies were encased in a blue aura. They were soon turned into packs of snow.

They looked down to see the snow which was the snowbie, but snapped back up when they heard a single screech.

The screech was cut off however, when a pair of hooves hit the sound maker roughly making it turn into a patch of snow.

They all gazed at the owner of the orange hooves.

"A-Applejack?" Twilight smiled.

"The one and only!" Applejack said as she tipped her hat for a hello.

"I can't believe you notice her but not me; the one who took out most of those ruffians."

They looked to their left and saw Rarity.

"Rarity! You're all fine!" Twilight said.

"Yes! We-"

"Okay! Let's talk later! Right now, we need to get out of here!" Rainbow said.

They all nodded and made their way to the castle, reaching moments later.

"Go to the throne room!" Twilight ordered.

When they entered, Twilight immediately shut the door with her magic, and put six wooden barricades to keep it from opening again.

She threw a sigh of relief as the intensity left for the time being, and she made her way to the throne room where her friends were waiting.

When she entered the throne room, her friends were sitting in their respective thrones, and Twilight did the same.

"We should be safe here, I've put a protective spell around the area. Those snowbies won't be coming in anytime soon." Twilight said as she sat on her throne.

"Snowbies?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, that's what Rainbow Dash called them, so I figured that I should call them that too. You know, for no confusion." She explained.

"Well I think that's a pretty easy name to remember." Rarity said.

"Ah'm fine with it, but uh... do any of y'all know what in Equestria's happening?" Applejack asked.

They all stayed quiet, thinking about possible explanations.

Before long, Twilight spoke, "I don't know what's exactly happening, but right before this madness started, Princess Celestia sent me an emergency letter, telling me to get to the castle as soon as possible."

"And you think the princess knows what's going on?" Rarity queried.

"I'm not sure if she knows what's happening one-hundred percent, but this may be happening in Canterlot as well."

"Alright then, let's go to Canterlot and meet up with the princess." Applejack proposed.

"Yes, and we might need the Rainbow Power as well." Rarity added.

"Yeah, all we need is Fluttershy." Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash, lost in her own thought, gasped at the mention of her lost friend.

"Have any of you seen her today?" Twilight asked the group.

They all shared their "no"s and the shaking of the heads.

Rainbow finally spoke up. "You guys... aren't gonna see her..." She said sadly.

The others burrowed their brows and looked at one another.

"Why not? Did she eat too much cake and got a stomach ache?" Pinkie asked.

"Did she go on a trip or something?" Rarity seriously asked.

"N-no..."

"What happened Rainbow?" Twilight asked softly.

"...Earlier, me, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo were up in Cloudsdale. You know, just hanging out."

Rainbow then shut her eyes closed. "That was when the snowbies jumped on us. Before I knew it, both Scootaloo and Fluttershy were surrounded by those things, and I had to choose who to save."

Rainbow was about to tear up. "I-I chose to save Scoots. I don't know why, I just went. By the time Scoots was safe, those monsters got to Fluttershy."

They all gasped, save for Rainbow.

Applejack was shocked. "Those things... they make others turn like them."

Twilight looked to Applejack. "What do you mean?"

"This one pony who was with me and Rarity some time before, was bitten by one of those things hours earlier. We thought nothing of it, but then... he suddenly turned into a snow pony."

"That can't be!" Twilight said, shocked. "Then that means that..."

"Fluttershy's one of them!" Rarity finished.

Rainbow continued her tale. "After all that, me and Scootaloo hid for a while. And after that, it got crazy. I tried to fly away, but it made things worse. Scootaloo got knocked off my back, and I don't know if she's alright, or if she's even safe."

Rainbow slammed her hoof on the table, making the others jump. "I-I failed..."

"Rainbow..." Twilight looked at her friend with worry.

Rainbow was now letting the tears free, they were falling down her cheeks and dripping from her chin. "I not only let down Fluttershy, but Scootaloo too."

Twilight had to reassure her friend somehow. "Rainbow, Scootaloo's a strong filly, And we'll fix this, I promise."

Rainbow stayed quiet.

Twilight put back on her serious face. "Alright, we'll stay here and wait out the night. Once we rest, we'll make out for Canterlot." She instructed.

They all nodded in response.

"I'll get Spike to send a letter to Celest-" Twilight's eyes widened in shock.

"...Twilight? What's the matter?" Rarity asked.

"Spike may not be with us either..." She said as if part of her disappeared.