Author's Note
Audio enhancement provided by NorrisThePony:
A Climb From Station 5
Fluttershy had talked Rainbow Dash into going to Japan. There were several other factors that contributed to Rainbow’s decision, but none were as ultimately convincing as her friend’s word.
Chiefly after the completion of the Canadian and Equestrian government’s cooperative research into the immunity of ponies, Equestrians—and a few select natives of Equus—were given the green-light to pass through the gateway and onto Earth. Twilight Sparkle was the first pony to pass through and successfully complete the vaccination process established by Canadian immigration. The publicization of her confidence in their collective research gave the creatures of Equus the push they needed to follow the princess’ student willingly into the ‘new’ world. It was a world touched by trillions of human lives, and billions of years of history.
As it stood, the Earth was ripe for exploration.
And so, the pony diaspora descended upon the Earth. Through large-scale campaigns, Earth governments vied for ponies to come visit their countries, eager to welcome their new friends, and to express their interest in their newest market. The ponies went willingly, and flooded the planet in waves of pastel tourism. From their starting point in Canada, ponies flung themselves to places as far as Oceania, and as isolated as Antarctica. Everyday man-made objects and transportation were modified for equine usage, and while ponies weren’t familiar with many modern human amenities, they adapted quickly.
For everyone both human and equine, life became much more interesting, but some things remained very much the same.
Keeping true to their own roots, the Elements of Harmony were eager to see themselves off to the Earth on their greatest adventures yet. As official envoys for Equestria's diarchs, the Elements had been directly invited by a plethora of nations seeking to host them. Most of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s friends were interested in the human aspects of life on Earth; their friends found themselves in some of human civilization’s largest urban environments (save for Applejack, who flung herself to the rural countrysides of the world, utterly bedazzled by the amount of acreage humans dedicated to agriculture). Rainbow and Fluttershy were the last to make a decision; they wanted a place a little more ‘in-touch’ with nature, and their choice demanded that they analyze what each host country had to offer.
For Rainbow, she obsessed over one factor of their destination in particular: the ‘cool’ factor. In a bid to her friends, she had boasted that she would be the first pony to accomplish an extreme human feat on Earth. Rainbow had her eyes set on the Himalayas: climbing Mount Everest, a veritable mountain that far surpassed the Canterhorn and the Frozen North’s peaks.
Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was far more modest with her goals: she wanted to see as many new environments as possible, and of course, the animals that went with them. As Everest was a frigid, isolated, and dangerous place with scant few critters, she was nonplussed by Rainbow’s attempts at ‘reason.’ Fluttershy had her eyes on Nara Park, Tashirojima Island, and the 99 Islands, and she wouldn’t take ‘But my record!’ as an answer.
Rainbow grumbled all the way on the bus ride to YQB International, but her obstinance outside their terminal was brief.
“Rainbow,” Fluttershy began, “did you know that Japan’s culture shares similarities with Neighponese culture?”
“So?” Rainbow groaned as she lifted her luggage out from the bottom of the bus.
“They have mangas, just like the ones—”
Rainbow tripped over her carry-on, scattering her composure across the concrete. “What’d you say? Mangoes?” She shook herself and shot an uneasy grin at Fluttershy. “Whatever! Come on, we’re going to miss our flight…” She began to right her luggage.
Fluttershy smiled back as she bent down to help her. “Is there something you need to tell me, Rainbow?”
“No!”
If there was one topic that Rainbow was ready to open up about, it was her displeasure with being stuffed aboard a cramped flying machine on the fifteen-hour flight to Narita International.
To Rainbow Dash, buses were cooler than carriages. In contrast to Fluttershy, she found explosions to be a thrilling addition to traveling.
Alas, combustion engines were not the save-all grace that Rainbow had hoped for: her second bus ride convinced her that there would be no reprieve from boredom.
Standing outside the Fifth Station at the base of Mount Fuji wasn’t much better; the skies around the mountain were shrouded in a thick layer of cloud, limiting her sightseeing while she and Fluttershy idled around. The endless sea cast a gray haze upon them, shrouding the green forest at the base of the mountain in a dour glow. It certainly wasn’t shaping up to be a good morning, but Rainbow knew nature would work its system out; the weather report they’d seen at Shinjuku Station back in Tokyo predicted that the skies would clear up, and by Fluttershy’s estimate, would do so by the time they reached the Seventh Station. Rainbow trusted her experience in the weather-business enough to tell her that they could rely on that report. And while visibility conditions weren’t ideal then, the summer climate seemed stable enough; Rainbow was sure they could fly a fair bit of the trail without much worry.
As they stood in line outside of the Fifth Station’s cramped souvenir shop, that aspect of Rainbow’s plan was thwarted; Fluttershy was adamant that they hike the mountain ‘the human way,’ pointing out that traveling off the beaten path on a wind-swept mountain was dangerous. Any swelling argument Rainbow had died with the realization that she wouldn’t complete her ‘extreme’ feat if she did it the pony way. The fact that Earth’s weather was more wild than the Everfree also helped. Rainbow conceded her claim, and entered the shop with her friend.
There were several interesting and fairly-priced souvenirs in the shop, but the two ponies were there for one kind of item in particular: Fuji walking sticks. Fluttershy purchased a Fuji stick with bells, and Rainbow purchased a Fuji stick with a flag. As they’d been designed for humans, the largest sticks were egregiously tall, but Fluttershy had promised Rainbow that they would make the hike much easier, and that you could even purchase stamps for different elevations as you ascended the mountain. After their visit to the shop, they made for the Fifth Station’s nearby mountain hut to get their stamps.
With the first of many stamps burnt into their sticks, the two Equestrians began the Kawaguchiko-Yoshidaguchi Trail.
While the ‘Yoshida’ Trail was one of the four trails that led to the summit of Mount Fuji, it was easily the most populated, and for good reason: it provided some of the most beautiful views on the Tokyo-side of Fuji.
The trail began with a gently-sloped path that followed west along the curve of the mountain. Along the way, the ponies were treated to the sights of scattered rocks, thick patches of grass and shrubbery, and the low-lying trees that had managed to take root in the rocky soil of the mountain. Red-shingle, tarnished-metal, and gray-rock walls—erected to protect the trails against falling rocks and the like—lined the slopes.
Not all was easy in the rather straight-forward section of the trail. Unaccustomed to the weight of their supply-laden saddlebags, as well as the awkward grip that the Fuji sticks demanded, Rainbow and Fluttershy were slowed down.
But they took their time, enjoying the light breeze that grazed their wings, and the sounds of conversation spoken in the alien, yet oddly rhythmic language of their fellow travelers.
There had been massive crowds of people at the base of the mountain when they’d begun their climb, but the density of locals and tourists had thinned out during their approach to the Sixth Station.
The Sixth Station was home to the Mount Fuji Safety Guidance Center, and the fairly industrial building was a vivid example of the ‘built for the job’ architecture the ponies had seen while riding through the Japanese countryside: weathered air-conditioning units, antennas, and metallic jar-shaped drums lined a white-plaster building that was more storage shed than welcome center.
At the station, Rainbow and Fluttershy stopped to purchase stamps for their newest elevation at 2,390 meters. There were helpful signs and infographics placed around the area, so they also took the time to assess their situation.
On the way up the path between the Fifth and Sixth Station, they’d been able to see the yellow signs marking the path of the Yoshida Trail. One of the elevation maps on a wall of the guidance center was labelled in both Japanese and English (or Ponish; the debate was still ongoing between Equestrian and Canadian linguists), and it confirmed that the next section leading up to the Seventh Station would be a much more challenging climb. The Yoshida Trail traced a path directly up the side of Mount Fuji, but the route was very jagged; they would be going back and forth quite a bit.
The climb had been expected to take about six hours on the ascent, but Rainbow was very positive that they could cut down on that time. Including the Seventh Station, they’d received three more stamps for their sticks within the first hour of climbing.
“We’ll be at the summit in no time!” Rainbow whooped, lifting slightly into the air.
The old man who was working on Fluttershy’s Fuji stick called out to Rainbow in Japanese; her wings were wafting the fumes directly into his face. Rainbow came down slowly, her awkward laugh filling the mountain hut.
Along the trail leading up to the Seventh Station, the ponies ran into a troubling conundrum.
Americans.
A lot of them.
Rainbow could identify the collected humans’ allegiance by the imagery plastered all across their paraphernalia; from patches on their clothes and backpacks, to the little US flags tied around their own Fuji sticks, the large pack of well over three dozen Americans stood apart from the other climbers.
Rainbow had heard a lot about the United States of America; it was, after all, the only country Canada shared land boundaries with. The USA, along with China and Russia, had been high up on her list of places to visit; she’d learned that they were the potential ‘superpowers’ of the world. With titles like that, Rainbow had no doubt that those nations were full of awesome people and places.
There were some things about the US that worried her, however.
Upon Canada’s announcement to the world of Equestria’s presence, several large gatherings took place in cities all over the US, and the phenomenon had made its way into Canadian headlines. Surprisingly, the gatherings were quite positive, and the overall consensus preached by the Americans was that ponies were more than welcome to visit. But from the stories that Rainbow had heard from other ponies and creatures who had taken up that offer, she wasn’t so sure; a vast majority of the things she’d heard were true horror stories: tales of a lack of personal space, and a lack of a respect in viewing the interplanetary visitors as fellow beings.
It was suffice to say that Americans’ obsession with ponies was a little more than jarring, and it had led many Equestrians to reevaluate their itineraries.
As their procession on the Yoshida Trail continued, the terrain became much more rocky and steeped. At this particular point in the path, they stood in waiting; due to the harsh nature of the trail, all of the climbers had been forced to funnel themselves through a rocky corridor one at a time. It was the only practical way for the Japanese, Equestrian, and American climbers to get through.
Steeling themselves, Rainbow and Fluttershy took their place behind the men.
Running into the Americans turned out to be a stroke of good luck.
The Americans happened to be a group of officers in the US Navy, and some of them were actually naturalized Americans. They’d come to Mount Fuji for some form of celebration: it turned out that almost every sailor had recently become a ‘Chief’ petty officer. The Chiefs had hired a few Japanese guides to accompany them on their trip, but they almost seemed unnecessary: some of the sailors were fluent in Japanese and had clearly spent many years in Japan. Despite being foreigners as well, they were far more familiar with the culture than Rainbow and Fluttershy.
The crew was full of loose lips and amiable, yet chaotic personalities; the sailors were more than happy to answer the ponies’ questions. Both Rainbow and Fluttershy had expected them to be more resilient, but they appeared genuine in their intention and interest to shoot the breeze with the ponies. A few of the officers did ask to pet them and their “pretty manes.” Ultimately, they respected Rainbow and Fluttershy’s wishes to keep their hands off.
After a few minutes of waiting for the line of climbers to move, the pair of ponies finally emerged on the other side with Americans on all sides. From that point forward, the two groups and their conversations were climbing in formation.
Rainbow had been positively enthralled by the militaries of Earth, even before she’d stepped through the portal. She had spoken to some patrols of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada (Earth horses were truly out of her world), but that was as close as she had come to any kind of military. Now, Rainbow had the chance to speak with real, corn-fed, military humans.
Rainbow eagerly absorbed tales of military practices from the variety of primary sources at her disposal, all while Fluttershy and a Senior Chief discussed the intricacies of Filipino cuisine.
The Seventh Station was an amazing place to be on Mount Fuji.
Standing at 2,900 meters above sea-level, a red arch greeted them as they climbed the last steps to the station’s mountain hut. Rainbow and Fluttershy had seen several of the gates during their ascent, but they had been off the path. The sailor Rainbow had been speaking to explained the arch upon her request: the Japanese practiced a religion called Shinto, all across the country, and these ‘Torii-gates’ were a hallmark of Shinto. To Shintoists, Mount Fuji was regarded as the holiest and most-sacred grounds of the goddess who represented the embodiment of nature’s spirit. Passing through the gate implied an ‘ascendance’ to a new level of being.
For Rainbow, the new level provided her with an unfettered view of the world behind them.
The clouds had parted briefly around the mountain, as if they had done so just for the ponies; all the sightlines from the mountain had laid themselves bare. Around Fuji, the vast swaths of forests and the Japanese countryside beamed up at them in vibrant green hues. Several of the lakes near Fuji were visible from where they stood, and they seemed so tiny in comparison to photographs taken of Fuji from those very waters. The nearby city of Fujinomiya also seemed so small; after having stepped hoof in the city for a brief look around, the size of a ‘small’ human city left a lasting impression.
Above the foggy lower-cloud layer, the gray underbelly of the clouds gave way to white-topped cumuli. Like a sea of cotton, the fluffy tops of the clouds scattered off into the horizon, marred by only a few holes in the clouds that allowed the sun to break through. Up above Fuji, thin wisps of trailing clouds cluttered the sky. There were no airships or pegasi to compete with for room; it was an empty, yet rich sky. Fuji was blessed with the view of a landscape that seemed untouched by civilization. Rainbow suppressed her urge to take off and fly through the beautiful skyline, but her wings still twitched with the giddiness of it all.
Fluttershy helped to calm her nerves somewhat, and they moved on from the observation guard-rail and to the line for the mountain hut’s storefront.
The ponies had planned on taking a break at the Seventh Station, but at the urging of their new companions, they collected their stamps and moved forward.
Following the path to the Eighth Station, the ponies were faced with a 400-meter ascent. The view from the mountain was still very much the same but the climb was entirely different. The path truly took on its harshest stance. Temperature conditions also escalated; halfway through the section, the ponies adopted scarves as a fog descended upon them. The Japanese guides assured both the Americans and ponies that they would be fine, but they would need to slow it down. As annoyed as Rainbow was by this development—having been on the climb for several hours without a chance to stretch her wings—Fluttershy seemed to have been energized by her conversations with the sailors, and was more than happy to reduce her pace.
It appeared that much of the plant-life had given up on their own climb; the bushes and shrubs gave way to scattered patches of moss and green. What little grass remained could be seen struggling with the increasingly rugged-rock surface of Mount Fuji. Any trees and foliage that lingered on the mountain were now several hundred meters below them.
The man-made implements made to improve the experience of climbers also appeared to degrade at this point. Guard-rails developed into hooks planted into the ground, with chains roped through them. The Yoshida Trail itself turned to pure stone, and while the hardy soil had hardly been a comfort, the earth began to hammer away at everyone’s gait. Rainbow made sure to express her thanks for Fluttershy’s idea to purchase their Fuji sticks; while they were still quite unwieldy, the meter-long sticks proved to be essential in pushing off of the rocky surface.
But they pushed forward; they were so very close.
So close, in fact, that the ponies ditched their plans of taking a break. The Eighth Station had the Fujisan Hotel where climbers could stay the night, but it had been completely booked before Rainbow and Fluttershy had stepped onto Earth; the summer was busy, and the Eighth Station proved as much. While they had had no plans in using the hotel to begin with, the mountain hut at the Eighth Station served as a rest area before the final stretch of the climb toward the Ninth Station, and—just a little ways beyond that—the summit.
Their plan of an hour-long break had been ruptured by the driving force of the Americans. Rainbow was particularly riled by one Chief’s shots at her pride: contrary to the man’s belief, she was not going to be “left in the dust.” Fluttershy—still riding off the excitement of the day—was now willing to go along with Rainbow’s urges, and for the first time since they’d begun the climb, Fluttershy became the one at Rainbow’s behest.
Once more, they collected their stamps, and began a rush to complete the last leg of the Yoshida Trail, all before the Americans could finish donning warmer clothes.
The soft sound of crunching stone grains simmered through the air. Each hoofstep was a fresh splash of erosion upon the unabashedly barren stone of Mount Fuji. A fresh pressure from above that was rarely felt. A natural formation that had been shaped and molded for ages throughout time, molded once more by the most alien thing the mountain could face. Rocks had been born on the mountain and never permitted to move, and now some were granted freedom by the touch of pastel hooves, even if for just a moment. By the grace of such minute contact with the extraterrestrial, they were the luckiest rocks on Mount Fuji.
“Do you feel that?” Rainbow broke.
Fluttershy tilted her head. “Feel what?”
“Exactly.”
Stopping on a stable outcropping of rock, Rainbow stood peered down at their journey in reflection. Hours of climbing had led to this. She took a deep breath, and let her senses roam.
“Oh.”
Rainbow smiled at Fluttershy knowingly.
The mountain air was windless.
“It’s so quiet up here.” Fluttershy started to say more, but couldn’t finish. She pulled up beside Rainbow and leaned against her.
In commiseration, the two pegasi contemplated the flightless cold.
But with the peak so close, both ponies couldn’t help themselves.
Red earth gave way to black, and the sparse population of climbers quickly strained themselves into tight lines on sharp ascents. All that stood between the ponies and the Americans at one point were a few local Japanese climbers. The nature of competition fell away, though, as the sight of white Shinto shrines and fresh wisps of cold and fog graced the air. The subtle crunch of soil and stone filled the air as all conversations on the mountain ground to a halt. Everyone and everypony were too breathless and breath-taken to speak, both from the fierce climb and the sights awaiting them. Black and brown soil gave way to charcoal-black stones as the paths of each traveler convened into a single row of climbing markers and yellow chains. Sweat dripped from each brow, sticks pounded the ground, ragged breaths were drawn. The thick layer of cumulus drew back, and the cold air revealed the final station just ahead. A large white Torii gate flanked by two lion-esque creatures greeted each weary traveler as they stepped through. The Americans stopped to take photos of their proud achievement, but the two ponies passed through without a word. They skipped the mountain hut of Station Nine and ascended past the black stones. The crag gave way to white and rich, loamy, earthly colors, and the ponies gave way to others as they bore witness to the peak of Mount Fuji.
Rocks littered the edges of the crater’s lip, slipping and sliding down into the valley of stone and earth. Sheer cliff-faces of naturally-chiseled and carved stone reflected the sunbeams beams in a glow as blinding as white snow. Rising black towers stood vanguard around the vast crater, built in layers of stone as old as time. The ground was as ridged as clay, and covered with a beach of pebbles. And the sky was clear, filled only with thin wafers of clouds far, far above.
For a time, the two pegasi stood there.
Rainbow spoke first. “Thermals. Upslope.”
“They’re very gentle,” Fluttershy replied.
Together, they walked to the edge of the peak.
Rainbow looked to Fluttershy. “It’s here.”
Rainbow cracked her wings open. For a brief moment, she felt nothing.
There was a stirring within her.
And she was gone.
Fluttershy’s words were soft and inviting to each climber that came to find their place beside her. The harsh glow of the crater’s environment took on a new light; it was reflected in the skies above, and on the faces of the growing crowd. Weariness and exertion slipped away as the lucky reward of a well-paced journey took precedence.
Opulent and shining, the eyes at the peak of a world reflected a rainbow over Station Nine.
