I am a member of the Equestria Royal Guard. My name is Thunder Hawk, I am a Pegasus. Today I will be been sent out to patrol the mountains east of Canterlot. I always get stuck on the lonely patrol routs. The rout I am taking today has taken me farther than I have ever been, many miles from any civilization, and unknown to me at the time, this would come to be my final assignment.
I take off from Canterlot and head east. It takes me almost 3 hours to reach my assigned patrol area. I start my patrol. Flying a search pattern over desolate mountains was not what I was expecting to spend my life doing. After 5 hours of staring at the snowy peaks I am relieved by the next pony. Tired and aching I start the long trip back. Several minutes into the trip I see a flash of rainbow in my peripheral vision, and then I am falling
I start to plummet, and I am tumbling out of control. Our eyes lock, time slows a light blue pony with a rainbow mane; I’ve just been hit by Rainbow Dash. Our eye contact breaks, and I lose sight of her. “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” I scream at the top of my lungs. The ground is coming closer and closer. I pull up just before tree line, and lower my head and breathe a sigh of relief. I look back up right as I collide with a tree. My wing makes a horrid cracking noise. I fall the rest of the way to the ground, rolling over and over on impact. A rock in my ribs, my wing bending in awkward directions, and my head right into a tree. I finally come to a stop, and then everything goes black.
I awake to an overall intense pain. Vision blurred by tears I try to move, but an intense shot of pain through my wing stops me. The sun burns my eyes, and the air smells of iron. That is when I noticed the most grievous of my injuries, the spear I was carrying was imbedded in my chest. My heart leaps seeing the weapon penetrating my chest. I realize the size of predicament I am in. A broken wing so I can’t fly out, I am deep in the mountains and I don’t know the way out, and a severe chest wound. I try and keep my thoughts calm. I begin to render first aid to myself. I slowly pull the spear out of my chest, intense pain shoots through my body. I know that if I am going to make it out of here I need to get the spear out. I give one final pull and the spear comes out. I throw it to the side. Blood rushes out of the injury site. I rip a piece of cloth off of my uniform, and stuff it into the wound. I look at my wing. It is definitely broken. I rip long pieces of cloth off my uniform. I move the wing, and a pain shoots trough my wing. “GAAAAAAAHHH!!!!” I scream into the air. I grit through the extreme pain and tie the wing to my body. I stand up and say “I have to get home. I have to get back to my family.”
I spend the rest of the day gimping around, trying to find a bearing. I have one major problem, above the tree line every snowy peak looked the same. I am well and truly lost. The sun is setting and I need a place to stay the night. I find a tree and sit. The night gets lonely. The hours in the middle of the night are hard on the psyche. You sit there and all you can do is think, think and shiver. You think of how far away you are from home, you ponder on the unknown. There are more stars than you will ever see anywhere in civilization. The dark and the cold penetrate deep. The dark is darker than you have ever seen; it reaches into the deepest parts of you. The yipping of wolves snaps me out of my thoughts. I jump up and run, fearing they will attack. I run above the tree line and sit down again. The cold is piercing up here. With no wind protection my body starts to lose heat quickly. Minutes felt like hours. My thoughts wandered. I thought of my family, and of how they would suffer without me.
Dawn brings with it a sigh of relief. I have survived my first night. I don’t think I can handle another cold night like that though. I have to be better prepared. I gather materials for a fire, and then I decide that I need to be moving on. I check my wound, the bleeding has stopped and there’s no sign of infection. I know that civilization is to the west, and that the sun rises in the east. I hike out. It is rugged terrain, large boulders, sheer cliffs and high mountain peaks. Every time I stumble, and every time I step down a rock my wing shifts, sending jolts of pain through my body. The day’s hike is agonizing. My progress is stopped by a large cliff in my path. The cliff is at least 100 feet to the bottom, and extends beyond visual range in each direction. The sun was getting low in the sky, so I decide set up camp. I start a fire and lay back. All of a sudden I was walking back into Canterlot. My family was just a short distance away. I started to run, but everything distorted, and I started to fall into a deep dark void. I am jolted awake, it was only a dream.
It was another long, lonely night. The cold chilled to the bone. The next morning I decide that I am going to repel down the cliff. I gather a large amount of plants and vines, and make a rope. I tie the rope around a tree, and then I jump. I repel smoothly for the first half. Lowering myself inch by Inch. I take a short break. I feel the rope shift, and then it fails. “aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!” I scream as I plummet down the cliff face. I land on my back with a massive thud. I can tell I cracked a rib or two upon impact, and any bandaging I had worn is shaken loose. Yet again any movement sent bolts of pain through my body. I lay there for a while, motionless. Slowly I started to re-bandage my injuries. I grit through the pain as I hold my wing up to my body and wrap it. Bad news only got worse as I went to my chest wound. The injury site was showing signs of infection, a possibly deadly prognosis this far from civilization. I re bandage it, and sit there.
The pain slightly fades, and from there I hike the rest of the day. I spend another desolate night under a tree. Every night seems to be getting colder, even with a fire I am freezing. I awake the next morning to hunger pangs. It has been 72 hours since I have eaten. My body is injured and tired, but I get up and walk anyways. I quietly say to myself “Just keep walking; you’re not that far away from home. Just keep walking, just put one hoof in front of the other” The sun never fully rises, Before the sun is able to add any significant warmth dark snow clouds roll in, dropping the temperature further. The snow started to fall, and I lose my vision. The snow is so heavy I could not see my hoof in front of my face. I continue walking. My progress is slow, impeded by the limited vision, and the deep snow.
The snow is bad, piling up to one foot in certain places. My progress is agonizingly slow. I can’t see where I’m going, because of the whiteout conditions. The sun is nowhere to be seen. A large gust of wind knocks me down. While I am getting back up I notice an area clear of snow. I walk up and examine it. It’s a trial. My heart leaps for joy, a sign of civilization. I immediately follow it. I continue for the rest of the day, and when it seems that it is getting closer to dark I stop for the night. I try to start a fire, but everything is too wet. I sit back and try to keep as much heat as I can, preparing for the long cold night before me. I check my chest wound, not good, the infection is getting worse. The darkness slowly envelopes my surroundings, and the loneliness creeps in. The night gets cold, the snow saps heat from my body. Wolves start howling, they’re closer than they’ve ever been before. They slowly draw closer every night. The wolves get no closer through the night. The cold does not let up. By the morning I am shivering uncontrollably.
I get up and prepare to hike. The trail has been coated with a small layer of snow. The storm is still unending. I hike along the trail. I am making good progress and my moral is high. I have hope of making it home, and seeing my family. I come across a large rope bridge spanning a valley with a silver stream running through it. Wind makes the bridge lethargically sway from side to side. The bridge groans like an old door hinge. I take a step onto the first board, and it loudly creaks, but it seems to be holding my weight. I take another step. The plank squeaks, but holds. I decide that I can trust the bridge. I slowly walk down the length of it. In the middle the bridge sways side to side in long fluctuations. I hear a loud squeal from one of the anchor points, and then the bridge is falling. I stick my forelegs out, and they catch on the cables. The bridge falls like a massive swing, and then slams into the hillside. I am hanging on the ropes half way from the top, and half way to the bottom. I decide to abandon the trail, and lower myself. The first move I make causes me to tumble down the steep hill. I roll and roll. I roll all the way to the bottom of the valley. My worst fears are realized as I splash into the creek.
My body seizes at the shock. I gasp for air. The creek is ice cold. I gather as much of my senses that I can, and drag myself out of the creek. I am freezing, and soaked. My breathing is shallow. The wind draws more heat out my freezing body. My thoughts begin to slow. I need shelter, fast. I am shivering so bad I can hardly stand, but I walk. I see a cave in the distance. I begin to drag myself to it. I start to feel dizzy, and nauseous. I reach the cave, then I loose coordination in my body. I collapse on the ground, and then I begin to lose consciousness.
When I come to I am next to a fire with a blanket over me. I am still in the cave. There is a middle aged pony sitting by the fire cooking something. He leans forward, and says in an old worn voice “I saw you fall with the bridge,” I look at him with a surprised stare, “I saw that you needed help so I came here.” I sat up and asked “Who are you?” He replied “I’m Grizzly; I live up here in the mountains. I was huntin ‘and saw that bridge fall with you. I’m relay surprised that happened. I built that thing to last.” I questioned him again “do you know the way to Canterlot?” He said back “yeah, but the only rout that ain’t snowed in is one that takes ya up the tallest mountain round here.” I sat there pondering for a second, but my thoughts are interrupted when Grizzly asks “would ya like somethin’ to eat? I made stew.” I graciously accepted the stew, and after consuming the bowl I fall asleep.
He wakes me the next morning. We gather a few materials and head out. I neglect to mention my growing infection to Grizzly. The snow storm has slowed severely, and the sun even begins to show itself through the clouds we walk a short distance to a trail. Today we hike only uphill. I ask Grizzly “how far are you going to take me.” He responds “I’ll guide ya all the way back to Canterlot.” The hike is agonizing. Darkness sets in, and we set up camp high on a mountain. We start to cook dinner. “So, howd’ya manage to injure your wing like that?” Grizzly asked. I explained my predicament to him. He responds “Yeah you have to be careful in the mountains; you never know what can…” The growling of wolves stops him mid-sentence.
We stand up, Grizzly produces a knife, and I grab my spear. A wolf jumps from the shadows, tackling me onto my back. I try to keep the wolf off my body, but it bears its teeth deep into my foreleg. Grizzly stabs his knife into the abdomen of the wolf, and it whimpers as it runs away. Blood begins to well up from my wound. The rest of the pack sprints into the light. I bury my spear deep into the chest of a wolf. It gives a whimper and drops dead. I swing the blunt end of the spear, hitting several wolves. I look over to grizzly, and he’s being overtaken by wolves. They bring him to the ground. I run to help him. I fight the wolves surrounding him. I am stopped by the sharp pain of a wolf’s claw shredding down my back. I turn to combat my assailant. The wolf jumps at me, and claws my eye. I stumble away in pain, covering the injury. With my good eye I find the wolf, and throw the spear into its skull. I hear loud howling in the distance, and the wolves disperse. I turn to Grizzly, but things aren’t looking good…He’s dying.
Grizzly has a deep wound in his neck, he has chunks of flesh ripped off of his body, and his abdomen is ripped open, showing is innards. I begin to apply pressure to areas of high bleeding, but it’s no good, he has too many wounds, and he’s bleeding too fast. He shakes violently as if he is going into shock. I look at him. He knows he is dying. The wolves begin to reappear from the shadows. He pulls my ear close to his mouth and whispers “run, leave me behind. I’m about to die. Save yourself.” The wolves begin to draw in. I look at Grizzly, and he says one last thing “Just make it home.” His eyes roll back in his head, and his body falls limp. I turn, and I bolt. I go at a full gallop, ignoring the fact that I have lost the trail. I gallop until I can no longer hear the wolves fighting over the body of the pony who rescued me.
I have lost count of the days since I lost grizzly. Has it been 9? 10? Or has it been closer to 12? I don’t know. The snow storm began again the morning after he died. After that everything is a blur. I have climbed over ridge after ridge. Each night brings me closer to deadly hypothermia. I don’t even know if I am traveling the right way. With the snow storm I can’t see the sun. I haven’t eaten since I was with him. My body is exhausted.
An opportunity presents itself to me. There is a mountain with a peak that looks to be above cloud level. If I can reach the top I might be able to get a bearing to find my way home. I begin my clime. The mountain is steep, and I have almost no energy. Every step is exhausting. The higher I go the colder it gets. I begin to shiver. The climb takes me hours, but I am finally above cloud cover, and only a short push from the summit. I push myself hard to reach the summit, maybe harder than I should. I reach the summit, and my body gives out. I have no more energy to move, every muscle in my body is limp. I can’t do anything but lay here.
Perhaps dying won’t be that bad. I mean the snow is soft, and I am comfortable. I am warm, because the sun is shining on me. The view is amazing. I can see forever. Death would release the physical and mental pain I am feeling right now. I’ve been lost for weeks, they’ve haven’t even looked for me. Maybe nopony cares. I’m Shure my family will find a way to move on. They are strong they can live without me. I feel relaxed.
Everything begins to turn black. I am taken away from this mountain nightmare, and I am taken back to my family. My son walks up to me and says “I love you” my wife gives me a hug, and then they too fade away. I am now in a long dark hallway, with a bright light at the end. I hear distorted voices in the distance. I slowly begin to walk towards the light. Each step echoes down the long hallway. I feel a strong attraction to the light. I must go to it. The voices begin to get louder. I take one more step, and then I am yanked back. I fly a few feet backwards, and land of my back. I try to get back up, but I am being pulled back.
The world begins to brighten, my eyes open, and I am back on the summit. There is somepony standing over me, hooves on my chest, preforming c.p.r. I gasp for air. Seeing that I am alive he stops the chest compressions, and says something to me. I can’t understand what he said. I am having trouble understanding what is going on. I stare at the pony for a second, and then my mind realizes what is happening. My heart leaps with delight, I am being rescued. I AM BEING RESCUED!!! The joy overwhelms my body. I shed a tear of joy. I feel as if the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. I can go home and see my family. I can live on. I am alive. I muster the words out of my mouth “I…am alive.” Two other pegusi, unseen to me, grab me under the shoulder, and take flight. We fly off into the setting sun, back to my life.
