Arrival and Ascension

We're almost there, at the bottom of the mountain that is, I'm still thinking to myself as I usually do, it's a habit I guess, I'm not used to having company. Thinking of thoughts, let's continue those, I've been thinking more about the whole cities and towns thing and I just realised I totally forgot the most obvious example of a city that still exists!

New Canterlot is an interesting story to say the least, I guess it's kinda easy to forget that it's technically a city considering it's not actually one large piece of land. According to Granny Smith, Princess Cadance had the idea to gather a bunch of floating islands and connect them together to form a larger community, I'm not sure exactly how successful the city is but I'm pretty sure it's still around.

Upon the construction of New Canterlot, Cadance claimed the title of princess and she was in charge of the city for a while, nopony knows what happened to her, apparently one day she just vanished and hasn't been seen since, it's never been confirmed or anything but the most likely explanation is that she's dead, as sad as that is to think about, from what I've heard about her she seemed nice enough.

There have obviously been a lot of rumours about Princess Cadance's disappearance, some say she became infected and left New Canterlot to be alone, others say she just got tired of being a princess and decided to go elsewhere... another popular theory is that somehow The Princess of Pestilence is responsible for Princess Cadance's disappearance, there's no proof of this but it wouldn't exactly be unexpected of her to attack another princess.

I'd like to think that all of these rumours about the princess are just that, untrue rumours, but it's kind of hard to ignore that a lot of them actually make a lot of sense and that she doesn't exactly do much to prove anypony wrong about her.
She's never made a public appearance, never offered to help anypony in need and there's that whole thing where she destroyed an entire city for no apparent reason...

Hulthemia seems to like the princess, I think anyway, we haven't spoken much about it but it's her whole reason for going to Canterlot to begin with, you can't hate somepony you're this dedicated to meeting, right?
Speaking of Hulthemia... she's been staring at me for a while.
"Uh... are you okay, Apple Bloom?" she asks, clearly concerned about me.
"Yeah, I'm fine! Why do you ask?"
"Well... you've been staring at nothing really intensely for a while now..."
Oh, I guess that is a thing I do a lot...
"Sorry about that, I just like to think a lot... it's just a thing I do, I guess" I answer as simply as possible, I hope she doesn't think I'm weird or anything...

Hulthemia quickly smiles before speaking further, "Well, I'm here now so if you have cool stuff to think about, how about you try telling me about it?"
"Well, okay... what do you think about the princess, any idea what she's like?" I ask, hoping to gain a little more information on her reason for travelling to Canterlot.
She takes a moment to think before answering but she seems calm, "I think she's probably a lot nicer than she seems, she's been ruling Equestria in such hard times, she's not perfect but I think she's better than everypony gives her credit for."
Hulthemia is definitely a fan of the princess, at least I know that for sure now, well... she's a lot nicer to the princess than most ponies are at least.

We continue our conversation, I try to explain some of the stories Granny Smith used to tell me to her, she seems especially interested in Cloudsdale, apparently she'd never actually heard of a floating city before.
I tried to ask her a little about the entrance to Canterlot but she seems hesitant to explain in detail, it must be pretty bad to scare her, I mean, she's pretty powerful after all.
As much as I'd like to gain more information about it, I think I like Hulthemia too much to pressure her into answering if she really doesn't want to.

We're here, it feels strange to stand in front of such a large place, I mean, I've only ever seen mountains from far away so it's kinda easy to forget just how big they can be.
Hulthemia turns to me before beginning some kind of explanation, "Okay, Apple Bloom... there are a few different ways we can get to Canterlot from here, the dumbest way would be trying to climb straight up the side of the mountain, since we can't fly and we don't have professional climbing gear this definitely isn't a good idea..."
I nod to Hulthemia to show understanding and allow her to continue speaking.
"There used to be a train that could take you all the way to Canterlot but nowadays most of the track is damaged, making the climb really dangerous, even if it is the most obvious route..." she paused briefly before finishing her explanation, "I don't think that's a good choice so we're left with one option, the old trails leading up the mountain, there're plenty of old paths and even though some of them are bound to be damaged because of how old they are, I believe it's the only option we really have."

I can't say I disagree with anything that she's said so far, the old trails seem to be the only option. We don't need to discuss this any further, we find the beginning of one of the old paths leading steadily upwards and begin climbing the trail.
It's pretty steep but compared to walking anywhere not marked by the old dirt paths, it's not so bad considering it is clearly marked, also helps that it's not a vertical climb.

Minutes pass by and I instinctively start getting lost in my own thoughts again, I wonder how long it'll actually take for The Pestilence to infect me, Granny seemed pretty certain that it wouldn't be very long but I still haven't been showing any obvious symptoms, how long is 'soon' anyway, will I become ill tomorrow or in three months? I guess time is actually kinda subjective after all.

I can tell by the way Hulthemia is looking at me that she's noticed my worries, she doesn't say anything at first but she isn't great at hiding her concern. "Apple Bloom, I promise if we get to Canterlot, you'll be okay... and I'll do everything I can to help you get there." She looks towards me, smiling slightly, it's not a big smile but I can tell it's genuine.

It's not long after that we run into our first problem on the trail, it's nothing that noteworthy though, a portion of the mountainside has collapsed, blocking the path ahead, we're currently travelling on one of the largest paths but now we'll have to take a side path around the debris.
The side path isn't as wide as the main trail but it's not too bad, a little slippery in places and we've had to move forward in single file instead of being able to walk side by side.
Other than those few small annoyances, this side trail is fine, it doesn't take too long to notice that this side path takes a longer route around the mountain as opposed to the main path which moved more in a direct and straight-forward direction... as straight as you can get on the side of a mountain, anyway.

Our journey may take a little longer now we're following a different path but there's not much we can do about that. This path is definitely taking us away from Canterlot but I can already see ahead of us how this path will eventually reconnect to the main trail so it should be fine.

The path is leading us in a large curve to the right side of the mountain, if I couldn't see the end of the path higher up, I'd think there's no chance this would take us to Canterlot, this is supposed to be the scenic route, I guess.
There are clouds beneath us now, it's a view I'm more accustomed to from living on the farm. I can see the sun clearly, it'll be nighttime soon but it's not like there's anywhere we can sleep safely on the side of a mountain so I guess we'll just have to keep going.

We're pretty high up now, not far until this side path reconnects with the main path but the closer we get, the less certain I am about how safe it'll be... oh well, there's no use second guessing the only path forward now.
Hulthemia occasionally tries to come up with her own conversation topics, they don't always last long but I definitely appreciate the effort, it seems like random Equestrian trivia is a common interest.

Hulthemia asked me what I think about the princess this time, I didn't sugarcoat it, I don't exactly have much hope in the princess actually being a good pony despite all the bad things I've heard about her, although, I would like to be proven wrong on that.
She seems a little saddened by my responses but it also seems like her feelings are mixed? like a fifty-fifty split between disappointment and hopefulness...

We discussed Princess Cadance for a while, it seems like Hulthemia doesn't know much about her other than that The Princess of Pestilence was known for having a dislike of the young alicorn and the city of New Canterlot, it was always seen as a sort of rebellion against her, proclaiming yourself a new princess and founding a new capital city is certainly one way to make enemies with the current ruler...

The topic of alicorns in general sparked an interesting conversation though, we pondered what causes the creation of an alicorn and if it was possible for anypony to become one if they met some mysterious requirements.
It's an interesting thing to talk about, when exactly did Cadance become an alicorn? It's fairly common knowledge that she wasn't always one but did she become one before or after founding New Canterlot and becoming a princess?

To our combined knowledge, there have only ever been three alicorns, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence and The Princess of Pestilence... although I still remember that strange message in the forest, the pony who wrote it seemed pretty sure there's a fourth alicorn out there, apparently trapped on the moon? It seems ridiculous, how could you even live on the moon anyway? Besides, even if it were all true, doesn't the legend say that the Mare in the Moon was supposed to return eventually? I'm pretty sure that should've happened by now...

We're standing in front of a sign, it marks the point where the side path reconnects with the main trail... It looked a lot less dangerous from a distance.
In front of us is a series of wooden planks, held up by nails and metal poles inserted into the side of the mountain with a series of chains serving as something to hold on to.
The sign reads 'The Alicornuashan Trail', there's a warning written at the bottom of the sign, apparently this is an extremely old pathway and it definitely isn't recommended that anypony uses it anymore...

It's just wide enough to walk on if you're careful, seems like getting lost in thought isn't an option for now. Hulthemia is clearly scared but we both realise there's no other option, we're too high up to take another route and if we turned back to find one, I could become infected by the time we reach another side path, if one even exists. Even if there are other paths we have no way of knowing if they'd lead to Canterlot, how much longer it'd take if they do and even if they didn't take too long, there's still no guarantee other pathways wouldn't also be dangerous.

The choice is simple, I just didn't like making it. I carefully set down my saddlebags and open them, I may not have brought professional equipment for mountain climbing but I did pack a couple pieces of rope, one end to tie around us and the other to tie to the chain that stretched across the wall of the mountain, if one of us falls, the chain should hold us for long enough for the other to pull us up, hopefully that doesn't happen though.

I take the first step onto the wooden 'path', it creeks and I really don't like it. Two, steps, three steps, four steps and I've moved my entire body forward slightly, now I just have to keep doing this for around the next five to ten minutes... I hate mountain climbing.

More steps, more creaking, more anxiety... Hulthemia isn't dealing with this well, I'm not either but I think she's significantly more afraid than I am, she's behind me every step of the way, occasionally the wind picks up and I get the feeling I'm about to be blown of the side of the mountain like a speck of dust... it doesn't happen but it's still pretty scary.

We're halfway across, on the other side of this absolute deathtrap of a trail is a smooth slope which reconnects to the main path from earlier, from there it's a simple walk to the entrance of Canterlot, at least there's something to look forward to, I guess.

I'm almost at the other side when suddenly everything goes wrong, out of absolutely nowhere the mountain starts shaking, the chain starts rattling and the movement somehow pushes Hulthemia over the edge, she immediately falls, screaming loudly and just as quickly the rope reaches its full length causing her to stop falling and begin swaying from side to side.

I panic, planting my hooves carefully on the wooden platform and grabbing the rope with my teeth... I realise something terrifying, I loosen my grip on the rope slightly to shout down to her,
"I- I can't pull you up, I'm not strong enough!"
She can't say anything, fear has completely overtaken her.
What can I do, what can I do, what can- I suddenly have an idea, calling it a risky plan would be like calling a hydra unfriendly, it's the understatement of the century, but... it's the only thing I can do, I get ready to tell Hulthemia my plan.
"Listen! Can you cut the rope with your magic somehow?" I call down to her
She looks up, full of fear mixed with absolute confusion and shouts up to me,
"What‽ I... uh, I guess I can but why the hay would I ever do that‽"
"Okay, listen to me, I'm going to use the rope to swing you back and forth, when I say 'now' you cut the rope!"
She might still not understand the plan but I don't have any more time to explain it to her, I tighten my grip on the rope and begin swinging her... left, right, left, right... with every swing her momentum increases and she reaches higher and higher, closer to the edge of the mountain, closer to safety.
"NOW!" I shout as loud as possible as I swing the rope one more time, she lights her horn and the rope suddenly snaps in half, she screams as she's flung across the gap...

She reaches the other side of the mountain, landing on her side and rolling across the ground until eventually coming to a stop when her momentum runs out, as soon as I see she's safe, I quickly move across the final part of the wooden bridge, also making it to the other side of the mountain, back on the main path.

I run over to her, she's sat up, catching her breath... she's sobbing uncontrollably, I admit, I'm crying too, it was a awful experience.
I gently approach Hulthemia, holding her in a gentle yet firm hug, it's all I can do for her.

Just ahead of us is the entrance to Canterlot, we made it across The Alicornuashan Trail.

It's been so long but it still hasn't been long enough, I won't continue until Hulthemia is okay.
My hooves are still wrapped around her, she's been returning the hug for a while now, I just want her to be happy again, she's my best friend, after all.

Even more time passes, it's gone from sunset to night without me even realising it. It's not important. Hulthemia stopped crying a few minutes ago but she only now lets go of me, I do the same and we look at each other.
"Hulthemia... are you hurt?"
"...I don't think so... Just a few scrapes from the fall..."
"We're almost there... you can see the princess soon." I say, hoping a reminder of how close we are to her goal will help her refocus on the task ahead.
She stands up slowly, and turns from me, walking slowly down the main path, I quickly join her as we approach the entrance to Canterlot.

Right in front of us is something that I didn't expect to see at all, a large ravine separating Canterlot from the path, there's a waterfall nearby and there's no bridge across.
Hulthemia seems to have expected this and decides to take this moment to explain.
"This ravine was created by the princess to stop anypony from trying to enter Canterlot, but even if we had a way across, the invisible shield I told you about earlier would still stop us from getting in."
"Alright, well... you said there was a way around it, right?"
In response she simply points down into the ravine, on the other side there's a large cave entrance in the side of the mountain wall... It's somehow worse than I thought it'd be, the cave is the entrance to Canterlot.

"So..." I begin, "How exactly do we get across the ravine?"
She points to the right of the cave entrance to a nearby ledge, it's surprisingly wide but it sits directly underneath the waterfall, that's definitely going to make the surface slippery.
We've already come this far, there's no way I'm turning back now.
We carefully descend the edge of the ravine, eventually finding ourselves standing on the ledge, we rebuild our confidence and carefully walk across the side of the ravine, the ledge is wet but we're able to cross it without falling... I really don't need a repeat of last time.

We're standing at the entrance of the cave, I take the first step towards it but Hulthemia has something to say.
"Stop, I need to tell you why this path is so dangerous now..." she begins, "This cave is an ashenwolf den, I don't know how many there are in there but it's the only way past the shield..."
Of course it wouldn't be easy.
"Well, you know a spell that can defeat ashenwolves, right?"
"Yeah, but I can only use it on one wolf at a time, so... if we get attacked by more than one I might not be able to keep them all away..."

Whatever, we're doing this. I begin moving forwards again, I have to show Hulthemia I can be confident. She follows behind me as we enter the cave, there are a few different pathways leading in different directions, Hulthemia claims to be good with directions so she decides to lead the way through these caves, as a pony who's never set foot in a cave larger than my dining room, I don't argue.

The caves pathways twist and turn in various directions, often we come to splits in the path and Hulthemia does her best to lead us in the right direction. I haven't seen any ashenwolves yet but I can't lower my guard, they could be around any corner.
The pathway we're on starts leading upwards and eventually we find ourselves on a path overlooking another part of the cave, a wide, open room, it's incredibly dark. The only way forward is to jump down from the path we're on an enter the room, so that's what we do.

Hulthemia and I carefully climb downwards into this large room, ahead of us is another pathway leading to the left, what we didn't immediately notice is the fact that the large room went further back behind us than we originally thought.
Behind us is a collection of bodies, ashenwolves sleeping in a pile, there's at least six of them but they don't seem to have noticed us at all.
Carefully we walk towards the exit of the room, stepping around pebbles and twigs in order to avoid making any sounds that could wake the creatures.

We reach the other side of the room, walking into the pathway, turning a corner and-
It's right there.
A seventh ashenwolf is standing in the middle of the path, in an instant, Hulthemia casts a spell, attempting to kill the monster before it can attack.
It works... almost. Before the creature completely disintegrates it lets out a distorted howl.

More howls and growls can be heard behind us, it's over, the pack has awoken.

Before my mind even has the chance to realise what's happening, we're already galloping through the caves, I follow Hulthemia as she quickly chooses between multiple split-pathways, an uncountable number of alternate routes pass by us as we run.
I can hear them behind us, there're definitely more than six of them chasing us. Hulthemia takes the left path, then right, left again, middle, right, right, left. If I were leading the way we'd already be dead, I can't even comprehend how many different ways there are to choose from.

Light. There's light at the end of this pathway! We speed up, finally reaching the end of the cave system.
We practically leap outside but the chase still isn't over, the other side of the cave has an entrance not far from Canterlot, the important part is that it's inside of the shield.

There's a wooden archway over the top of the entrance, it's old and damaged, It gives me an idea.
Hulthemia turns quickly and begins firing spells into the cave, hitting as many of the ashenwolves as possible.
While she's doing her best to keep them back, I turn away from the wooden arch and prepare to kick the support beam, it's already damaged so it's not too hard to take down.
One kick weakens the pillar, another almost breaks through it and finally, a third kick is enough to completely break the old structural support in half, causing the archway to entirely collapse.

The mountain shakes and a large number of boulders fill the entrance to the cave.
It's over, we're safe...

We sit for a while, catching our breath, it's been one heck of a night... after a while I notice Hulthemia looking at me strangely...
"Uh... what's wrong, Hulthemia?" I ask her, genuinely confused.
"It's... your hoof..." She replies, incredibly concerned

I look back at my right leg and I finally notice it, it must've gone completely unnoticed before because of everything that's happened recently but the sign is clear.

My hoof is turning grey,
It's started, I'm ill.

Author's Note

I know it's nothing incredible but I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter, I hope it's as exciting to read as it was to write! :)