New Friends from Far Away

During Mickey's rescue...

Flurry assembled Skye, Everest, Chase, and Rory to go with her to Mount Everhoof and rescue Minnie. Skye expanded her helicopter to fly everyone to the Crystal Mountains while Flurry grabbed some tools to open the hatch on Minnie's escape capsule. A severe snowstorm was ravaging Mount Everhoof, so all five needed to wear heavy coats to stay warm. Once everyone was ready, Skye took the yoke and they took off in her helicopter. Arriving at the foot of the mountain, Flurry explained the plan.

"Skye, you and Rory will wait here until we get to Minnie and open up her escape pod. Chase, Everest, and I will ascend to where Minnie is and then call you on radio. According to the signal that Toodles intercepted, she is halfway up. Since this is a cold place, we need to have heated blankets ready because we will likely all be shivering."

"Understood, Flurry.", said Skye and Rory together.

Since Everest was trained in traversing snowy terrain more than Flurry, she was allowed to lead. The trek up the slopes was treacherous and took two hours. Luckily, Flurry had a radar tracker that was locked in on the EPIRB on Minnie's escape pod. When they got to a flat spot, the signal was strong and only fifteen feet east of them. Even with their warm clothes, all three were shivering profusely. Nevertheless, they headed east and spotted the orange safety stripes on Minnie's pod. It was partially buried in the snow. Everest and Chase's paws were numb from the cold, but they quickly got to work digging the pod out while Flurry contacted Skye.

"Skye, this is Flurry Heart. We have reached Minnie. Get above us and get ready."

Skye acknowledged Flurry's call and flew upward until she was directly above them. After digging away the snow, Everest lit a flare so Skye could see them. Flurry looked in the window and saw Minnie inside. She was awake and her teeth were chattering. She seemed to be very cold and her helmet's visor was broken.

"Is the heater broken in your suit and in your pod?", Flurry asked loudly over the wind.

"Y-Yes, th-they are b-broken. I c-c-can't get my hatch open either.", Minnie said before sneezing from being so cold.

"Stay back. I'm going to cut the hatch open.", said Flurry as she pulled out her plasma cutter.

Once the hatch was open, Minnie unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped out into the snow. Skye had already dropped a rescue basket at this point. Everyone got in as Rory lowered a magnet to pick up the escape pod. Once the basket was hoisted up, Flurry helped Minnie get out and everyone wrapped themselves in blankets.

"All clear, Skye.", said Chase as Flurry shut the helicopter door.

Skye flew back towards Twilight's castle and then landed so everyone could get out. Mickey was waiting outside when Minnie got out of Skye's helicopter and once she was out, she ran over and crushed him in a hug. The sun was starting to set when Twilight led everybody inside. She said they would save everyone else tomorrow. Ryder agreed and everyone laid down to sleep.

During both rescues, Applejack and Pinkie had managed to get through to the other five awaiting rescue with Toodles helping them. Millie sounded desperate because water was beginning to leak into her pod. Zuma assured her that they'd try to save her before she sank, but they could not guarantee anything.