The rough and icy winds relentlessly pelt me as I trot through this snowy, dangerous mountain path. This high up the white mountains, a simple misstep can easily be the end of me, and my cold and shivering hooves isn't making things any easier. Even this thick, brown and fashionably not-so-fashionable winter coat isn't enough to repel the bitter cold knifing through my skin. But no matter how cold the temperature may be, no matter how frazzled my mane is thanks to the unforgiving frigid winds, and no matter how hopeless things may have become, I must press on.
Because hope is all that I have left.
“Give it a rest, Rarity.”
Well...hope and her spirit, for as they say, the ones dear to you will always be with you, wherever you are, and wherever they are...and I want to believe in that, so very much...
Despite everything, I feel a small smile on my muzzle after hearing those lovely words spoken by a lovely voice deep inside my still-warm, still-hopeful and still-beating heart, and I am sure it'll help me enough to deal with the coldness to continue pressing on. And for some odd reason, my heart knew exactly what she would say if she were actually here with me today.
“Rarityyy...”
I chuckle despite myself. It was always so fun to tease the poor dear; to hear the annoyance in her voice.
Not that I always want to see and hear her annoyed, mind you.
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”
I can almost hear her eyes rolling at that.
...A happy, sad and longing sigh escape my muzzle.
“Heads up.”
Snapping back to reality, I stop and stare at the path ahead...or the lack thereof. Judging by this huge pile of snow right in front of me, it would appear that a small avalanche occurred not too long ago, and unfortunately I see no other way around it.
A misty sigh escapes my muzzle.
Well, no matter. A simple roadblock wouldn't stop me now. I don't have anything to return to, anyway.
“If your sister hears you say that...”
Ahh, Sweetie Belle... May you not be causing trouble with your fellow crusaders wherever you are right now.
“You make it sound as if they're dead! They're back home—you know what? I give up.”
I poke the snow hill in front of me, testing if it's solid enough for me to climb, and it is. Taking a cold breath, I slowly and carefully climb up this white hill—
“You can't be serious!”
—and I can assure you that I am quite serious, for as long as I draw breath still, I will not let anyone and anything stop me from reaching my destination.
Our destination.
After reaching the top of the ‘hill,’ I waste no time as I carefully put a hoof forward to start climbing down—
“Uh... What was that?”
The snow shook just now, if only slightly. Was there an earthquake?
Oh, good heavens, there it is again! And it's a little stronger this time.
“What the hay are we standing here for then? Let's mov—!!!”
The snow shifts underneath me. I hurry down, but the snow suddenly sinks along with my rear hooves!
The frigid air's direction changes from in front of me, to under me, as gravity pulls me down, leaving behind the echoes of my scream as I—
“Rarityyy!”
“Rarityyy!” “Rarityyy...!” “Rarityyy......!”
“Mmmrrrf...”
Screams and cries faintly register in my ringing ears.
Cold... C-cold...
So...s-so c-c-cold...
I faintly hear a young filly's voice... S-so tender... S-so afraid...
S-so cold... So n-numb... Mmrrfff...
Dark... It's getting...r-really dark...
I have...f-failed. I am...so sorry...
T-Twilight...
Flutters-shy...
Pinkie P-Pie...
A-Applejack...
R-Rainb—
A soft, orange light fill the snowy cavern. The howling winter winds echo around the walls, almost making the thick, crystalline stalactite to vibrate.
A thick rag lay on the bitter cold floor. On it, a meditating unicorn mare sits, her horn glowing a gentle orange light. On her hooves is a blue gemstone. So blue and pure, even the orange light from her horn cannot touch its surface.
Minutes pass...
Slowly, her horn dims, until the orange light is no more.
Darkness takes over. Almost.
Her orange eyes open, reflecting the gentle glow of the blue gemstone on her hooves.
“...Rarity,” she whispers. A small, hopeful smile appears on her muzzle. “Up north,” she says. “There's something up north... Something that Rarity believed will—”
Her stomach growls quietly but painfully.
The mare winces, the smile gone in an instant.
How long has she been wandering around the cold world? She has forgotten. She and her little group of ponies had been moving from cave to cave, taking shelter from the merciless snow...
...and hiding from their freezing touch.
They took them, one by one, until one day, the mare woke up all alone.
Crying didn't do her any good. So with a heavy heart, she pressed on and—
She slipped and fell from a great height. Ironic that the killer snow saved her by cushioning her fall. And then she saw it: a blue, glittering light. It was a gemstone. It was...
“...Rarity,” the mare whispers before taking her third bite from her cold, tiny piece of bread. Gulping, she bites her lip as she carefully wraps her small bread with a thick layer of cloth before putting it inside her worn-out saddlebag. She's still hungry. She always has. But she'll deal with it later.
Scooping the blue gemstone up, she smiles a small smile before putting it inside her saddlebag.
“There's something up north...” she says to herself as she wraps the rag around herself. “Something... S-something that'll stop this. All of this. T-there must be.” With a small smile, she starts walking out the cavern, braving the snowstorm. “Rarity pressed on... She believed that something's up north. I just...need to keep moving forward.”
The cold snow pelts her white figure, but she presses on...
...with a hopeless smile.
