In the middle of the ocean, there were only three things that could be seen. A boat without passengers that had the length of ten ponies, a smaller row boat carrying two paddling earth ponies, and an iceberg that was twice as tall as Ponyville town hall and as wide as the Sisterhooves Social racetrack.
Then, a windless tropical rain started, and even these were hard to see.
“Thank you for coming with me for this, Pinkie Pie,” the dark blue pony said over the sound of the rain. “It’s not easy to find climbing partners these days.”
“I’m always up for a fun adventure with a friend,” the pink pony smiled. “And everypony in Ponyville is my friend,” she bounced. “And you, Zenith,” she touched her nose on her friend’s face, since all her hooves were busy, “even if you’re always out somewhere far climbing high tall mountainy peaky thingies, you’ll always be a Ponyvillian.”
“Still, I’m honored,” Zenith said. “And hey, we arrived. Alright, I don’t know how long this rain is going to last, so let’s get going anyway. We’re going to get to this peak in a jiffy or my name isn’t Zenith Chaser.”
“Hooray!” Pinkie cheered, pronking onto the iceberg as Zenith hooked the boat. The only reason she didn’t slip was because of their special horseshoes, called Alponyst’s Claws. “Wait, do I have to change my name too if we get up there late? Because I really like my name.”
Zenith smiled with determination as she started checking her clawed horseshoes again. “Don’t worry, Pinkie. I like my name too,” she said. Then she checked Pinkie’s. All eight of them were good.
She looked at the inclined natural ice walls on front of them, devising a path. She had to take the rain into consideration, which meant she couldn’t take straight up paths, but it also meant she could make steps out of almost any path at an angle. This would make the climb easier, but there was this one other thing that would make it harder…
They were both completely soaked, cold on their hooves, and they could also feel the frostbite nibbling at their ears and noses. Zenith Chaser pressed on, fully intent on her goal.
Pinkie Pie followed close behind. She panted heavily, struggling to keep up, but didn’t want to lose her friend from view. They were only few dozen meters up, but, with the rain, their coats were heavier, the visibility was shorter, and the whole experience was simply more draining.
“Wow, I didn’t expect to get frostbite so quick,” Pinkie panted. Despite her strained voice, she sounded as excited as her usual self. “This is great. I think it’s been a whole month since I had any adventure with a friend.”
Zenith’s body extremities were just as painful. But she was too focused into reaching the peak of the iceberg to understand the words she just heard. “There’s not much left, Pinkie,” Zenith said, looking down at her. “At this pace, I think we can get there in five minutes.”
The two ponies pressed on. Pinkie was always some ten to twenty seconds behind Zenith, which was just enough to keep them in sight under the rainfall. They’d often slip but recover quickly. All eight legs involved were shaky, and every new step was difficult because they had to consider the interaction between their Alponyst’s Claws, the ice, the rain, and the occasional sliding lump of slush.
Zenith smirked with determination and anticipation. There was a strong squint on her eyes that looked like a terrible frown, and she rarely looking up so she could protect her eyes. Pinkie’s face was simply panting, constantly looking up to keep Zenith in sight and down to protect her own face. Then they started hearing a terribly bass rumbling sound all around them.
“Uh oh. We’re running out of time,” Zenith said, looking around, but still climbing, stepping ahead on muscle memory. “The iceberg is crumbling.”
“You did it!” Pinkie cheered, “you reached the peak!”
The low and loud rumbling sound grew and grew and was joined by the intense high-pitch sound of running water. Lots of running water. It was the ocean filling in the empty space being opened within the iceberg.
“Congratulations!” Pinkie went on, clearly paying no mind to the fact that her own climbing wasn’t finished, “you got there! We’re going to make a huge party about this back in Ponyville!”
Zenith looked back at Pinkie, an actual happy smile slowly forming on her face. She slowly gazed around, this was indeed the peak. Two more seconds slowly went by, the rumbling and running water still sounding, her smile growing wider. “I did it,” she repeated, finally starting to believe it. She looked around again, seeing no higher ground on the iceberg. She could also notice that it was sinking too, but she paid no mind to that.
The breaking was a bit worse closer to where Pinkie was, and she could no longer maintain her position. The iceberg finally started an extra crack right below her hooves. She moved to one of the broken sides, and, as it started to slowly tilt away from Zenith Chaser, she turned right to run and jump into the ocean for safety — and, why not, for a good dive. It was a very tall jump, something between forty and sixty meters.
Zenith saw Pinkie’s jump with a small pang of disappointment that her friend couldn’t come up with her. She stared at Pinkie’s landing spot, worried if she’d be ok. She probably was, but what friend would she be if she didn’t make sure? After seeing Pinkie breaking surface with an excited smile on her face, she sighed, putting that worry aside.
Then Zenith looked up at the overcast sky, it was still pouring rain, but now a lot thinner and less punishing. She was no stranger to heavy weather, not at all.
Zenith Chaser did it. She did. But something was wrong. What was it?
“Gods and Stars,” Zenith cried out to the skies without even realizing what she was doing. “Though most of my life I had dreamed of alpinism.” She firmly stepped at the slowly sinking peak, and went on regurgitating her thoughts to the slowing rain, “I have risen to the top of the tallest mountains out there in the West. The most dangerous ones in the South, I have braved them. The most remote ones to the East, I have reached and bested them. The coldest ones to the North, I have warmed up to them. And even here in the grand seas, I am making eternal memories at the top of this ephemeral peak that will be no more within the next few hours.”
Pinkie was too far and too entertained swimming about to hear any of it, but that didn’t matter.
“This is my life and destiny, and I can call it anything but unfulfilled. Yet…” Zenith paused, bracing herself to admit it to herself. “Yet, I do not feel that way. Yet, this mark of a mountain peak on each side of my flanks, it still makes me yearn for something.”
She stopped for several second, as if expecting a reply. She knew it was silly, that she was alone except for Pinkie, who didn’t hear it and probably wouldn’t be helpful if she did.
“What is it, then, Gods and Stars? What is my life for, really? Should I retire and live idly on my laurels? I don’t want that,” Zenith’s voice faltered.
She reached into her saddlebags for her flagpole. She pulled it and slowly tugged on the peak. She didn’t bother making sure it’d stay, she knew it wouldn’t matter anymore by dusk. The rain subsided to thin drops, and some patches on the clouds let the sunshine in here and there. She looked into the horizon in a whisper, just loud enough for herself, “what am I for?”
The breaking and splashing sounds were getting quieter as well. All in all, she was happy that the iceberg broke mid-climb and it didn’t affect her, Pinkie, or the rowboat they arrived in. “I can’t even bask in my accomplishment because it’s sinking,” Zenith deadpanned quietly.
“Zenith,” came Pinkie’s voice down from sea level. She sounded happy, but with Pinkie, that isn’t always indicative.
“Pinkie, are you okay?” she cried, skidding in place while trying to step down, “did you break anything? Are you too cold to move?”
“Of course not, silly filly,” Pinkie giggled, “I’m moving here to call you.” She playfully dived in for an instant and spit water theatrically as she came back up. “Dive in,” she beckoned. “The water is great!”
Zenith smiled in relief to see that Pinkie had no trouble, then looked straight down to the cliff formed by the previous break of the iceberg. It didn’t look safe. No, it didn’t look safe at all. “I’ll be right there,” she said, unsure if that was going to be true. She looked around. The cut ice was jagged at places. Not everywhere, but enough places to no longer be any safe way down. She’d have to climb her way down, and she wasn’t prepared for that. Her hooves were too frostbit to properly cling to anything.
“What do I do?” she whimpered loudy. “I don’t wanna die! Jumping is too risky!”
“Just jump anyway,” Pinkie said. “It’s just a skip and a jump. I don’t recommend a hop, nope, no hop. But I know you can do it. Come on, skip and jump.” Pinkie produced cheering pom-poms that were inexplicably dry. “Go Zenith, go!”
Her simplicity of thought was unnerving, but Zenith knew from experience that if she pointed out the obvious Pinkie’d keep pointedly ignoring it. She snorted with a glare at her friend, which was received with indifferent glee. Finally, she stepped a few meters back to hop, and then jumped.
“Celestia help meeeeeeeeeee—”
“Zenith!” Pinkie cheered. Or was she trying to warn her about something?
Her rope was pulled to make her hit the walls square by her flank. “—eyouch!” she yelped, gasped, and started breathing slower.
Pinkie swam closer, giggling.
Zenith is quick to recall smaller falls, but she took some time to realize what happened. One her safety ropes were tugged by one of the spikes and her trajectory, which would originally land her safely in the water. “Oh well,” she sighed, and let her body relax. Her hooves went wet. “Oh.” She was at sea level.
“You’re the princess of peaks!” Pinkie cheered. Yes, Pinkie Pie was definitely cheering this time. She tried to hug Zenith, but her jump felt short, so she grasped at nothing, and then she ended up diving instead.
“Easy, Pinkie. Let me just unhook this.” Back to her wits, Zenith stood clawed against the wall, bit the rope, pulled it loose, and let herself fall. On Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie just giggled, while underwater. Her giggles failed to make any sound a pony could hear. She floated back up, and as soon as she broke surface, her saddlebags were tugged and she started drifting away from the Iceberg. Then she heard, once again, that unfathomably bass cracking noise.
“This ‘berg is falling apart. Let’s go home,” Zenith said. Then, in a plaintive mutter, she finished, “and then I’ll figure out what to do with my life.”
“That’s silly. There’s plenty you can do. Drinking a delicious Sugarcube Corner milkshake with your friends is one of them,” Pinkie chirped.
Zenith smirked, half amused, half annoyed. “I’m more in the mood for a hot chocolate,” she thought aloud.
Author's Note
This first chapter is based on a dream I had that woke me up at 1AM, March 8th, 2013. The other half of the story is my own ‘lucid’ story.
