Jason's eyes shot open in the darkness of the tent. He glanced about the confines of the waterproof fabric in a panic while his senses quickly came back to him. Immediately, he felt a warmth pressed against his back, and something wrapped around his torso. Despite his initial reaction being one of surprise and fear, the soft warmth had a strangely soothing effect on his erratic mind, and the panic that resided in his brain quickly dissipated, leaving him calm, and his heart beating steady once more.

He looked at his wrist to see his watch reading '2:00 AM' and sighed. He was laying on his side, and whatever was pressed against his back, spooning against him was still there. He almost jumped up out of the blanket from the surprise before his eyes flicked down and he looked down to see what appeared to be a dark foreleg wrapped around his waist.

Is that... He thought to himself as he slowly rolled onto his back.

As he rolled off of his side, more and more features of the pony holding him became apparent. It wasn't Sky, his forelegs were a bit too thick to be the pony in the tent with him. That only left Midnight and Tempest. As his eyes trailed along the extended limb, he eventually saw the jet black fabric that could only belong to Tempest's bodysuit. Another quarter turn finished his migration to his back, and he saw Tempest's face as she softly snoozed the night away.

Jason immediately felt a warmth in his chest as he saw her features. He gently stoked his hand against her foreleg in an effort to wake her up peacefully, but the sheer softness of her fur caught him off guard. It felt like silk and velvet mixed into one and strewn all over a vaguely equine shaped body.

Eventually, his ministrations had the desired effect, and Tempest's eyes slowly fluttered open. It took her only a microsecond to realize just where she was, and her eyes widened to the size of dinner platters. A dark blush crept up her chest and onto her muzzle faster than she could look away, and before she could even speak, Jason held a finger in front of her face, making her pause.

"Don't freak out, but I think you kinda snuggled me in your sleep." Jason explained, looking at her with a mix of friendliness and disbelief.

"Uh... I-I am so sorry, I don't... this... this has never happened before." Tempest replied, her cheeks burning from embarrassment.

"It's okay. I'm not upset or anything." Jason responded, giving her a compassionate smile.

"Oh my gosh... I can't believe I did this... You... I don't know what happened... I went to sleep over there." Tempest explained, pointing to the other blanket several feet away.

"Tempest, it's fine. Really, don't worry about it." Jason said, stifling a small chuckle at her nerves.

"I just... Ugh... You probably think I'm some freak who sleep cuddles creatures she has a crush on..." Tempest muttered, looking away in shame.

"Hey, come on. Yeah it was a little surprising and weird to wake up like that, but no harm, no foul. Maybe you were just cold and kinda... I don't know, saw me and thought 'warmth' at two in the morning. Heh, maybe tomorrow we'll break out the sleeping bags. Besides, things like this happen. Most people's brains don't really work until they've been up for a bit." Jason encouraged.

"Thank you... I'm just sorry I did that... Here, I'll go back to my spot." Tempest replied.

She quickly released her hold on his waist and rose to her hooves. From there, it was only a few steps over to her blanket and small pillow. Jason watched her as she stepped away, a steady frown forming on his face all the while.

Come on you idiot. She's a nice girl. So what if she's a pony, you can't deny that being the little spoon was awesome for a change... Yeah, but do we really have time for a relationship during this mission? Especially a different species? Dumbass, this could be your last chance for a relationship, PERIOD. You don't know if the crystal is even going to work, so you might as well give the ONE creature that's shown any interest in you in the last fifteen years a chance. Jason warred with himself in his head.

Just as Tempest reached her blanket and pulled it back to slip under, Jason spoke.

"Hey, uh... Tempest?" He said.

"Yes?" Tempest immediately replied, turning her head to acknowledge him.

"Uh... Not to be... weird or anything... but, you know... if you wanted to... you could... stay over here..." Jason trailed off, feeling a blush much like hers slowly blooming onto his face.

Tempest dropped the blanket and stood to her full height.

"Y-you mean..." She trailed off.

"I mean... you know, if you want to... come back over here with me... It... wasn't bad waking up to that..." Jason explained, twiddling his thumbs.

Tempest felt butterflies flutter about in her stomach, and a bright smile forced its way onto her face.

"I... I would be okay with that... as long as you are." She replied, taking a hesitant step forward.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine with it... Just, uh... just for tonight... and maybe... who knows, it's uh... it's only gonna get colder." Jason awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as the mulberry unicorn stepped closer.

"O-Okay..." She said. Her voice was just barely a whisper as she walked back over to Jason's blanket.

He deftly lifted the edge of the blanket for her, and with practiced ease, Tempest slipped under the fabric and found her place just at Jason's side. He nervously gulped before lifting his arm and allowing her to snuggle in under his armpit, with her head coming to a rest on his chest.

Jason felt the immediate warmth of her body and fur against his torso, and almost without thinking, he rolled over slightly and wrapped his free arm around her barrel, pulling her into a hug. Tempest gasped at the sudden movement, and soon found her face just a few precious centimeters from his. Now it was her turn to nervously gulp, and she wrapped her hoof around his midsection just like before. For a moment, they laid there together, still as statues, and both afraid to breath or even make an indication of movement.

Eventually Tempest caved, and pressed her muzzle against Jason's chest while shutting her eyes and hoping for the best. She nuzzled her cheek against his firm pectorals, and soon enough, she felt him rest his chin on her head, once more squishing her mane down in the process. Once he was set and comfortable, Jason's hand instinctively slid down her back in soft, smooth strokes. Tempest's eyes shot open and she audibly gasped from the feeling.

Jason froze mid-stroke and looked down at her with concern.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Y-yeah... Sorry about that. I just didn't expect you to do that." She bashfully replied.

"Sorry, I won't do it if it bugs you." Jason apologized.

"No!" Tempest exclaimed, before immediately quieting down, "I-I mean... It... It felt really good.. Please, don't stop."

Jason was taken aback slightly by her outburst, but felt a soft chuckle well up in his chest at her much meeker tone.

"Of course." He replied.

Without hesitation, Jason resumed stroking her back from the end of her mane, all the way down to where her hips met her barrel. Within a few seconds, Tempest let out a soft sigh, and nuzzled her cheek into his chest just a little more firmly. In turn, Jason squeezed her closer and nuzzled his cheek against her forehead. The mulberry mare melted into his embrace, and soon enough she gave off gentle coos of encouragement and squeezed him tighter to her barrel in thanks.

Jason felt his heart skip a beat as Tempest made a sound almost akin to a purring cat while nuzzling her muzzle against his chest. Before he could stop it, a smile found its way onto his face, and he took to scratching her ear with his free hand while continuing to stroke her back with his other hand. The soft, fuzzy appendage flicked back at the first touch, but as he gently scratched away, it held firm, and once more, Tempest let out a soft coo of encouragement.

You know... she is pretty damn cute... maybe Cadence had a point... Jason thought to himself.

It didn't take long for Tempest to fall asleep in his arms, and eventually her soft murmurs and nuzzles turned to gently snores and light breathing. For his part, Jason managed to stay awake just long enough to watch her sleep against his chest, and his heart felt a warmth it simply hadn't felt in a very long time.

Jesus... what is the world coming to? I'm falling for a pony. He chuckled to himself before finally falling back asleep.

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Jason pulled the last knot out of the rope holding the tent up, and it quickly fell down to the ground in a heap of fabric. Mike, Rebecca, Midnight, Eddie, and Tempest all did much the same, each taking apart the three tents and depositing the materials into their respective saddlebags or packs. The sunlight peered down at them, indicating that the morning was already well underway, and it was quickly nearing time to get moving once more.

Once everyone was packed up, and all of their loose items were secured in their packs and saddlebags, Jason extinguished the fire. He tossed the log over to Eddie and turned to address the group.

"Alright. We've got about five miles to cover today. That means we have to reach the peak of this mountain, and then head all the way back down to the base of... another mountain... yay." He sighed.

"Oh boy... another mountain." Rebecca grumbled, feeling her stomach growl.

"I know. The good news is, we're only going about half way up this one. According to Twilight's books and maps, there should be a massive cave tunneling through this next mountain that leads all the way to the other side." Jason replied.

"Well that's a relief." Midnight said.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up too much if I was you." Eddie warned.

"Why's that?"

"Because once we get to the other side, we have twenty four miles to the nearest town, and that whole side of the mountain is supposedly below freezing year round." Jason explained.

"Ah, so it's going to suck is what you're saying." Mike chuckled.

"Only as much as a frozen wasteland can suck." Eddie chimed in.

"Either way, we're about to find out." Mike shrugged.

"That we are. Let's go guys." Jason declared.

The group grabbed whatever they weren't wearing or still needed to pick up and quickly headed out of the small cave. Once they reached the entrance, they made way for the peak, and quickly found themselves hiking into even colder air. Jason shivered slightly as a particularly cold gust of wind blasted him, and sent chills racing down his spine.

As they climbed further up the peak, more and more of the landscape became visible, exposing other mountains and valleys surrounding the imposing peak before them. Jagged rock ledges and the early traces of snow greeted the group as they traversed the peak and came to the other side of the mountain.

"Woohoo... Now we just... gotta go all the way back down... Yaaaay..." Rebecca groaned.

"Well, on the bright side, it's literally only downhill from here... for a while." Sky offered, giving an apologetic shrug.

"Once we reach the bottom of this ravine in front of us, we can take a break before climbing the next mountain," Jason chimed in, "In fact, I think I can see the cave over there." He said, pointing to what appeared to be a massive hole in the mountain in front of them.

"Yeah, just... seven thousand feet down... and ten thousand more feet back up... Fuck everything about this." Mike muttered.

"Let's just get to the bottom of this mountain first. Then we'll focus on the next one, alright?" Jason authoritatively spoke up.

With that, the group continued downwards from the peak of the first mountain, and began the long descent to the base of the next one. Jason led the way down the treacherous terrain, finding the slippery rocks on the north face of the mountain to be particularly perilous after slipping and nearly falling multiple times. Eventually, he found something of a rhythm with the rocks, and continued down at a somewhat decent pace, with the rest of the group, particularly Tempest, following close behind.

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"Alright, let's take a break here, and in... twenty minutes or so, we'll start making our way up the next mountain." Jason announced as he stepped onto a plateau at the base of the incline.

As the rest of the group unloaded their packs from their backs and sat down in a vaguely circular shape, Jason sat his pack down against a rock and laid down against it, finding a comfortable position to rest his head and back. Albeit with some nervous hesitation, Tempest off-loaded her saddlebags and took up her seat right beside him. She glanced back and forth between Jason and the rest of the group a few times before deciding to lay down on her stomach alongside the tall man. For a moment, it seemed that nothing else was going to happen between them, but much to her surprise, Tempest felt Jason's hand come to a rest on the back of her neck, parting her mohawk slightly as his five digits found their marks . She glanced back at him to find a tiny smirk on his face, before he started stroking her neck all the way down to the collar of her armor.

Tempest quickly looked over to the rest of the group to find that none of them seemed to be paying her and Jason any mind at all. She turned back to the dark haired man and gave him a slightly questioning look, to which he only shrugged.

Well... why not enjoy a good thing? She thought with a half smile, and returning the shrug. She leaned her head down until she was resting peacefully on his thigh and closed her eyes to simply enjoy the feeling of his gentle fingers against her fur.

Meanwhile Mike, Sky, Midnight, Rebecca, and Eddie appeared to be in a heated discussion on the other side of the plateau.

"-And I'm telling you, breaking the sound barrier is physically impossible for an organic creature!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Yes, I know that, but I swear, I think I'm getting close! Besides, Rainbow Dash has done it a few times, and, you know, magic and stuff!?" Sky shot back.

"Okay, you can't just keep using magic as an excuse for literally everything in this world that doesn't make sense." Eddie crossed his arms.

"It's not an excuse! It's literally the way the world works!" Sky waved his forelegs in the air in an exaggerative manner.

"There has to be some kind of law of physics in the world for everything to work, it can't literally just be 'magic' and everything just works!" Eddie replied.

As the two of them continued to bicker back and forth, Midnight, Mike, and Rebecca sat together and watched the exchange with a range of amused expressions on their faces.

"So... are you gonna help your husband out at all? I mean... You kinda are the magic part of the argument that Eddie keeps saying is bullshit." Mike whispered, leaning toward Midnight.

"Well... I can't help Sky win all of his battles, now can I?" Midnight replied, giggling to herself.

"I guess not. Still, Eddie likes to think he knows everything about physics. Said he was gonna be a pilot but his colorblindness kept him from ever getting into the program," Mike shrugged, "Point is, he's not going to give up on an argument about this for... a long time."

"Ugh... Can one of you please just make them stop... I'm getting a headache from hearing this argument." Rebecca chimed in, a frown on her face.

"Alright," Midnight replied before turning to Sky and Eddie, "Hey now, you two are giving Rebecca a headache. Let's finish this argument some other time." She said.

"Only when he admits that it's impossible." Eddie pouted.

"Ed, bro, you're acting like a child... and that's coming from me." Mike added, raising an eyebrow.

"Ugh, fine! Fine. Once we climb that mountain, we're finishing this conversation." Eddie replied, pointing a finger at Sky.

"Fine." Sky shrugged.

Eddie begrudgingly sat down and leaned back against his pack. He crossed his arms and gazed up at the clouds for a few seconds before closing his eyes and grumbling to himself.

"Ed... are you alright man? You're not genuinely pissed off about that little argument, are you?" Mike pressed, eyeing him curiously.

"No Mike... I'm not... It's just this headache hasn't gone away for the last half hour, and I'm hungry." Eddie muttered, keeping his eyes closed.

"Headache? How bad is it?" Midnight asked with some measure of concern.

"It's nothing like the one in that shitty town, it's just a normal one. It just won't go away is the problem."

"Okay. Just let us know if it gets worse." Midnight replied.

"Will do. In the meantime... I'll just dream of food..." Eddie responded with a sigh.

"Well... I mean, you can probably eat some of your MRE now... you just might be a little hungry tonight though." Rebecca chimed in.

"Yes I'm aware, thank you. That's exactly why I'm not going to touch the damn thing until we make camp for the night... Speaking of which, what time is it? We must have been walking for half the day already." Eddie replied.

"Well... it's about four in the afternoon right now." Mike replied, glancing down at his watch.

"Alright, so basically, we've got... what, two more hours or so of this?" Eddie questioned.

"Yeah, something like that. Unless of course, Sarge wants us to just camp out here for the night..." Mike trailed off as he turned to look at Jason.

Sensing something was wrong, Eddie opened his eyes and looked over at Mike. Once he saw where he was looking, he looked over in Jason's direction as well, and immediately sat up in his makeshift seat. Soon enough, everyone in the group was looking at the Sergeant and pony accompanying him at the far side of the plateau.

Rebecca was the last of the group to notice the apparent shift of attention, and she slowly gazed over at Jason to find him sleeping against his pack, with Tempest resting comfortably on his torso. Her head was laid out on his chest, while both of his hands were either resting on her back or on one of her forelegs. It was enough to make Rebecca gasp.

"Oh... my... god... They're so cute!" She exclaimed.

"Jesus, Sarge..." Mike shook his head and chuckled to himself.

"Aww." Midnight gushed, leaning against Sky in the process. The crimson pegasus smiled down at her and pulled her closer with a foreleg, ending with a small nuzzle against the top of her head.

"Jeez... No shame at all." Eddie laughed.

"You know, I'm pretty sure that's what they were doing in their tent all last night." Rebecca spoke up.

"I mean... Can't really blame him. You ponies are fuzzy as hell. She must be warm," Mike shrugged, glancing down at Midnight as she snuggled up with Sky.

"Should... should we wake them?" Eddie asked.

"Eh, give them a few minutes." Sky shrugged.

"Isn't he the one that said we're moving in twenty minutes?" Rebecca asked accusingly.

"Yeah, but that wasn't twenty minutes ago now was it?" Eddie smugly replied.

"Okay, fine, but in twenty minutes, I am waking them both up. Bastard tells me not to cuddle the ponies and then there he goes... Fucking hypocrite." Rebecca grumbled.

"The difference, is that he's not squeezing her." Sky spoke up, giving Rebecca an accusatory glance.

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Jason and Tempest walked side by side with noticeable blushes on their faces, and as they headed up the mountainside, they both made a point to avoid making eye contact with the rest of the group. However, their obvious embarrassment only fueled Mike's teasing as he waltzed over to Jason's side and nudged him with his elbow.

"So... you two hit first base yet?" He asked, giving a smug grin.

"Mike... shut up." Jason replied with a frown on his face.

"Ah, lighten up, Jay. We're not judging or anything, just thought you two looked adorable." Eddie teased.

Jason sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while Tempest's coat adorned an even darker shade of purple. Just when she looked like she was about to turn violet, Midnight walked up beside her and gave her a friendly smile.

"Don't worry about it. They're just teasing. Besides, I'm pretty sure Mike and Eddie are just jealous." Midnight winked, causing Tempest's blush to disappear slightly.

"I just..." Tempest sighed, "I just got a little too comfortable too quickly." She admitted.

"Oh, don't worry about it. You're overreacting." Midnight shook her head.

"I hope you're right..." Tempest's eyes fell to the rocks beneath her hooves.

"You're fine, Tempest," Jason said, making her snap her eyes back up to the tall man beside her, "Don't worry about it." He gave a small smile that brought with it a wave of relief that washed over the mulberry unicorn and made her withers relax involuntarily.

"We've got to be getting close to the cave now..." Rebecca muttered after scampering onto a particularly large rock.

"I'll go fly ahead and check." Sky replied, unfurling his wings and taking off up the mountain.

"So anyways..." Mike spoke up again, "Were you two cuddling last night? Or was it just a spur of the moment kind of thing?" He joked once more, causing a another sigh to escape Jason's throat.

"Mike... Shut up. That's an order." He replied.

"Aww... It's just a joke." Mike pouted.

"A joke that you've been repeating for the last hour. I get it. You all saw me and Tempest together. We get it. Look, I get that it's funny and everything, but at this point you're kinda rubbing my patience thin. My relationship with Tempest is honestly none of your damn business" Jason shot back.

"Alright, jeez." Mike rolled his eyes and moved away from Jason.

"To be fair, you haven't let up since they woke up." Eddie shrugged as Mike reached his side.

"It's just a joke! I didn't mean anything by it..." Mike pouted.

Tempest's eyes flicked back and forth between Jason and Mike for a good few seconds after they were done speaking. The butterflies returned to her stomach and flittered about for a few seconds while her heart beat all the quicker as she realized the significance behind Jason's standing up for the both of them.

Our... relationship? Does... does that mean... Oh my... Cadence, I know you can't hear me right now, but if this all works out, I owe you big time. She thought to herself.

Eventually, the sound of flapping wings brought everyone's attention to the Sky as he flew down to their location, and only a few moments later, he landed with a small *thud* against the rocks.

"Well, find the cave?" Jason asked.

"Yep. You're not gonna like how much further up it is though." Sky admitted.

"How much further?" Midnight inquired.

"Probably about another six thousand feet or so. Man, I wish you all had wings. We could have covered this entire mountain range by now." Sky explained.

"Well... maybe you could carry us up there one by one?" Rebecca suggested.

"Hehe, yeah that's not gonna happen. I may be pretty good at flying now, but you all weigh close to two hundred pounds, easy. I'd be able to carry one of you maybe a thousand feet before running out of gas and being pretty useless for a while." Sky shook his head.

"Ugh, just workout more." Rebecca joked.

"It doesn't work that way for ponies. Sure we're fast as hell, but humans are the marathon runners. Once I'm tired, I'm tired for the rest of the day." Sky explained.

"Ah, so what you're saying is that ponies don't have the energy to break the sound barrier, hmm?" Eddie chimed in from behind Jason.

"Oh, fuck off." Sky gave him a flat look.

Jason turned to look at the sun as it just barely hovered above the horizon. He chewed his cheek in thought for a few moments before turning back to Sky and giving him a serious look.

"Alright, no bullshit. Do you think we can make it to the cave before nightfall?" He asked.

Sky pursed his lips and looked out to the sun much like Jason. After a few seconds, he shook his head.

"No way. At the rate you guys are climbing, we'd take another few hours to get there. It's probably best if we bed down for the night and all get some sleep." He admitted.

"Alright, then that's what we're gonna do. Sky, you fly ahead again and find us a good ledge or something to set up camp in. It doesn't have to be pretty or anything, but it does need to have enough room for all of us to fit." Jason instructed.

"Thank god." Eddie said, feeling his stomach grumble in approval.

"Alright. I'll see what I can find." Sky gave a quick salute and took off into the air once more.

"So... are we gonna wait here for him?" Rebecca asked.

"No, we'll keep climbing. He should be able to find us easy enough. There's no cloud cover or anything like that so he shouldn't have any trouble. Besides, the more we climb now, the less we'll have to climb when he gets back down to us." Jason responded.

"Roger that." Mike replied.

As they continued upwards, the strain of climbing the mountain quickly took hold once more, and before long, everyone in the group was panting for breath. Jason glanced over to the side to see jagged rock formations and cliffs with thousand foot drops littering the entire West side of the mountain. Far off in the distance, he could make out what appeared to be a glacier covering several hundred miles of land. He glanced back up to look for Sky, but saw no trace of the pegasus, so he turned his attention to the East, once more finding nothing but more mountains and sheer drops that were nothing short of fatal.

As he looked around, the gentle breeze that effortlessly blew over the mountain picked up, and grew louder. With each passing second, the force of the wind screeched louder and louder against the side of the mountain, until it was howling so loud that no one in the group could even hear each other climbing.

Behind Jason, Tempest panted harshly as she pulled herself up a ledge with her hooves. Once she was able to get good footing, she turned around and offered a helping hoof to Midnight as she attempted to climb the same ledge. Midnight gratefully took the help, and quickly made her way up the ledge beside the mulberry unicorn. Just behind them, Mike tossed his machine gun onto the ledge and pulled himself up. Rebecca followed after him, and stepped up onto the ledge just a moment later. Lastly, Eddie climbed onto the small outcropping with a helping hand from Mike, and stood upright with the rest of the group.

"Alright, everyone good?!" Jason asked over the wind.

"Yeah! You see Sky yet?!" Eddie replied.

"Not yet! It must be pretty bad up there... We might have to keep climbing into the night!" Jason replied.

"That's suicide! The wind is only picking up more and more! At this rate, we're gonna get blown off the mountain!" Midnight shouted, fearfully glancing back and forth between Jason and the edge of the cliff.

"It's either that or climb back down!" Jason shouted back.

"Well we still haven't seen Sky! He could have found a spot just a little further away!" Tempest offered.

"That's a big if!" Mike replied.

Suddenly, a horrible sound filled the air. A definitively loud *CRACK* echoed over the mountainside, and all eyes on that ledge darted to the rock they stood on, only to find the spindly cracks spanning the entire inside of the ledge.

"No one move!" Jason shouted.

"Holy fuck, we need to get off this ledge!" Mike followed up.

"Everyone back down the side, one by one, now!" Jason ordered.

Eddie hastily stepped to the edge and dropped down to the side. He found a foothold quickly enough, and shimmied over to the side to allow for Rebecca to follow him down. Once she was down beside him, Mike hastily clambered down and shimmied over until the three of them moved over to an adjacent ledge. Once the three of them were safe, Mike hastily dropped his pack and dug into its confines to pull out the rope AppleJack had gifted him. He untied it as quickly as he could and fastened the rope around his torso, before tying the other end into a lasso-shape, and stepping back to the ledge.

Another terrible cracking sound filled the air, and half of the ledge Jason, Midnight, and Tempest were standing on gave way. Jason quickly sidestepped the falling rocks before finding himself huddling with Midnight and Tempest for just a few feet of space.

"Uh... Climbing up is all well and good for me... but I don't think I can climb back down..." Midnight admitted, the fear in her voice betraying the calm facade she was desperately trying to keep up.

"Here! Take the rope!" Mike shouted as he tossed the rope over to the graphite mare.

Midnight caught the rope with her magic, and brought it over to herself, Tempest, and Jason.

"Who's first?" She asked, her eyes wide and nerves fraying.

"You!" Jason shouted as he grabbed the rope and secured it around her barrel, just behind her forelegs, "Mike! You better have tied a damn good knot!" He shouted before shoving Midnight off the edge.

Midnight shrieked as she plummeted off the edge like a stone. For just one terrible second, it felt as if the rope wasn't going to hold, but then, it snapped taught, and Midnight was harshly jerked back upwards towards the other ledge.

"Ugh!" She managed as she came to a stop.

"Sorry!" Jason shouted.

"Ow..." Midnight mumbled as she was quickly pulled back up to safety.

Once they had the graphite mare within reach, Rebecca and Eddie quickly grabbed her and pulled up onto the ledge. They hastily unfastened the rope from her barrel, finding a thin rope burn trailing all around where the rope had been situated.

"Gosh, that burns..." She managed once the rope was completely removed.

"I know. I'm sorry but we're kind out of options." Mike apologized.

"Throw the rope back, quick!" Jason shouted.

Eddie immediately did as told, and tossed the rope back over the ledge and into Jason's waiting arms. Upon catching the rope, he turned to Tempest to find her giving him a disbelieving look.

"You first." He said.

"What about you? This thing isn't going to hold much longer!" She countered.

"Tempest, don't argue with me right now! You're getting off this ledge first!" He shouted back.

As if to signal the imminent danger, more of the ledge crumbled away behind them, leaving only a precious few feet for them to stand on. Jason glanced back at the impending doom for just a second before looking back at Tempest.

"I'm right behind you, okay? Promise." He said, his eyes softening some.

Tempest hesitated for a moment before biting her lip and looking at the rope.

"You'd better be..." She said, her voice nearly a whisper.

With that, she fastened the rope around her barrel and jumped off the edge. She fell for a terrible second, before being brought to an immediate stop by the rope.

"Oof!" She grunted.

Mike, Rebecca, Eddie, and Midnight all hastily worked to pull the mulberry unicorn up to the ledge, and within a few seconds, she was standing on her hooves and removing the rope from her barrel. Once she was clear of the rope, Mike stood up and threw it over to Jason. However, just as the rope came within reach, more of the ledge crumbled away, and Jason stumbled slightly, almost losing his balance in the process.

He missed the rope by only a few inches, and it sailed past him before falling some and quickly being pulled back up by Mike. Once the rope was in his hands again, he prepared to throw it, only for a final, terrible crack to fill the air. All eyes on the ledge, particularly Tempest, stared in abject shock, as the rest of the ledge gave way, and Jason fell with it.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YSmsyrkz0A

Hey guys. So I hope that the little intro there didn't rub anyone the wrong way. Let's be real, who's been in the freezing mountains and didn't want to snuggle with a soft little pony? Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed. I know the cliffhanger might leave some of you wanting, but fear not. Only one more week before you get to see what happens ;)