Final Fantasy: Equine Quest

"Drop it Like it's Hot"

A sharp gasp interrupted my train of thought. I glanced over to Sour Note and I noticed that his leg was violently twitching. "What's the matter, Note? I thought you packed an extra scarf."

He nickered, but paused a while before turning to me, "We'll be at the tower soon, but there's a blizzard moving in."

I shot back a concerned look, "Do you think we'll have to start a fire to thaw him out when we get there?"

"Assuming the poor soul is still alive, yes..." But then I heard him stop. As I turned to face my fellow, he was hoofing through the snow to the frozen ground. "I do believe we'll have company within the hour as well. You think you can fight in the snow?"

I shifted the swords strapped to my saddle and replied, "That depends, will I need the big sword or the small one?" I smiled as he let out a laugh.

"Definitely not enough for the Buster sword, but I'm more concerned about the wasted time. I don't want to become a pony snow bank." He wiped his nose and added, "Or have icicles growing out of my nose."

"You worry too much," I turned and continued north, "I'm sure they'll turn tail after we wing them, killing anything just about ruins my day." Sour Note then turned and slowly started to follow me.

"You seem to forget how bad the monsters are up here. Why else would the only requirement for Luna tier knighthood be to spend a week up here alone? It's bad enough that the cold itself can kill a stallion, but I hear the monsters are always hungry, always searching for food..."

I tried to ignore such negativity as Sour Note continued to ramble on about perpetual doom. The cold really was something else, I can't imagine how it must be north of the watchtower. I suppose I'll find out eventually if I want to become a Lunar Knight.

I am fairly surprised that we haven't seen any signs of life on our journey so far. You wouldn't think that the monsters that live up here would pass up an opportunity to munch on some nice pony flesh. Every now and then our guard patrols have their hands full when one of the larger beasts decides to go exploring. From what i hear, they act ferocious, but they go running on home as soon as you stab them a few times. Are there even are any normal animals left in the world, other than the ones preserved by pony settlements? I've never personally seen a creature that wouldn't attack you outside of the cities, villages, and homesteads.

"I said hold up!"

Sour Note's yelling snapped me to attention, "I'm sorry, i guess your rambling made me zone out a little bit."

"Oh, ha, ha. Let's be serious now, Basalt. There are a bunch of odd snow mounds up ahead that just seem out of place smack dab in the middle of the trail. This is all flat-lands, so I think we should go around them."

"Oh, come now, Note, do you seriously think that the Boogeyman will jump out of the snow to get you?" I started laughing at him, and then sneezed from excessive amounts of ice in my nose.

"Bless you." he said with an unamused look on his face, which just made me laugh more. "Would you quiet down and take this a little more seriously? We haven't come across any monsters yet, and i think i can see the Watchtower from here."

"Well, we both know you've been wrong before, this might just be one of those-"

My head snapped in the direction of a guttural yowl and i saw the snow mounds explode. Insectoid beasts with patches of fur came bounding towards us with their maws open, revealing rows of teeth. I noticed Sour Note draw his spear and enter a defensive stance as i grabbed the short sword off my saddle. "Ah guessth you were righ'."

I charged towards the closest monster. Right before we made contact, I could see the beast's legs coil and I slid beneath it as it pounced over me. I struck the creature's leg with the flat of my sword and could feel the bones break. The first monster hit the ground skidding and as I turned to face the second, it barreled into me, sending me spinning on my back into the snow.

I heard Note's spear clang as he parried the third combatant. I spun around while getting to my front hooves and gave the second a swift buck in the chest. It started wheezing and stumbled backwards, but I wasn't taking any chances. With a speedy lunge, I body-checked it onto it's back.

Sour Note had stabbed the third creature several times, all in non-vital areas, and it was starting to back off. The pack moved together off in the distance, no doubt second-guessing their current choice of prey. As I moved back into position with Sour Note, I quickly glanced at him to make sure he wasn't injured. We put down our weapons momentarily to brush the snow out of the crevasses in our armor.

"Well, it's official, we might freeze to death." Note mumbled. I looked around, and I guess I hadn't noticed it since i was so focused on the current engagement, but it had started to snow. A quick glance around our horizons confirmed that there was quite a storm brewing. Grey clouds were swiftly moving towards us from the west.

Curiously, the one whose bone I had broken was now packing snow around its leg. As i observed them, the wounds caused by Sour Note on another seemed to become a patchwork of skin as the snow hit it. The third one was just sitting there, but stopped wheezing after a while.

"I don't think we'll make it to the tower without properly dispatching these guys first." I said to no pony in particular, but Sour Note just harrumphed.

I grabbed my sword out of the ground and began to walk towards our foes. Sour Note started to follow me. I could hear his spear hit the ground, and I spun around expecting a sneak attack.

But all I saw was Sour Note, Stiff as stone, falling sideways while shaking violently in his armor.

The sword fell from my muzzle. "Note, What's wrong!?" I called out, Hoping to Celestia that these twisted figures weren't poisonous.

He stopped convulsing, but then I could see his eyes shoot wide open. "It's big sword time, IT'S BIG SWORD TIME!"

The ground began to quake beneath our hooves. Our three previous combatants perked up, but then immediately started running away in random directions. I watched them flee in what seemed like terror, but just what are they running from? As if in response to my question, a massive claw tore open the ground. With a deafening crack, the claw impacted and sent squalls of snow over us. I rushed over to aid Sour Note onto his hooves, and we both stood our ground against this unknown threat.

"Note... what is that?" I squeaked out between wind gusts.

Another claw ripped through the earth. My ally and I stood fast. I couldn't tell if it was anything but fear that held us at this point.

"Maybe if we ask nicely, it won't kill us." I heard him say quietly.

All at once, the other claw came crashing down as a gargantuan figure burst through, as if it was pushing the very continent apart. It towered above us but we could not see what it is was. The blizzard was in full force now so all the surrounding area looked like we were stuck in a giant snow-globe.

We stood, contemplating our options, and only one viable solution came to mind for me. I turned to Sour Note and tried to stay as calm as possible. "I think we should run now."

He paused for a moment and cocked his head as he looked at me. "I think that's a really good idea."

I grabbed my short sword and slipped it back into my saddle as we started sprinting away from the figure. As we turned to circle it, the claw nearest to us started glowing. In one swift movement, it picked up its claw and then slammed its palm down into the snow. The glow around the claw dissipated just as quickly as it had formed.

I came to a grinding halt as the earth around us began to shift and crack. I turned to Sour Note with a frantic look on my face, and he just stared back with those bright yellow eyes. "It's been nice knowing you. If I die first, I’ll put in a good word with Celestia for you."

I glared daggers at him, how could he just give up so easily? "Nopony's dying on my watch." I spat, and then bit his saddle. I began to spin, slinging Sour Note around me. I could feel the earth become increasingly more uneven, but I had a plan.

"Basalt, don't you dare!" I could hear Sour Note scream, but he really didn't have much say in the matter anymore. I released his saddle and sent him sailing above the ground towards Luna's Watchtower. The area beneath my rear hooves gave out and I clambered forward to hold onto the ledge. I can feel a strange warmth starting to burn my backside so I quickly looked behind me. The fissure that the figure had created was now a canyon of magma. Just my luck, I get to burn to death in the freezing cold.

But, where did that towering figure go? I can't see anything but magma and snow at this point. I can feel the ledge continually crumbling. As I tried to pull myself up, the area of snow surrounding me splintered off and fell into the fire. Now I wish I hadn't tossed Sour Note so far, I could tell him to pull me up. As soon as I slung one of my rear legs up, the ledge gave way.

Why is the only thing i can think about right now is how my parents won't have to bury me? That's just weird. I grabbed my Buster Sword and twisted in mid-air towards the sprawling magma pit so I may face my death with honor.