'Sunday, September 5th, 1954,
I've finally done it! It took some convincing but I managed to assemble a group of highly trained mountain climbers to help me ascend to the peak of Mount Tia, along with funding from the museum for proper gear. We'll be the first ever pony expedition to reach the peak.'

'Tuesday, September 7th, 1954,
Ah... Mount Tia. Quite a story and equally interesting mythos behind it. Named after Equestria's regal princess herself... though apparently she didn't quite like the name. Something about a similarity with a nickname her younger sister gave her many hundreds of years ago. Ah, but regardless, the mountain is an untouched beauty, a gemstone in Equestria if you will. Unscathed by urbanization or otherwise and only ever traversed by dragons. And at the peak... that is what I'm after...'

'Monday, September 13th, 1954,
I do suppose it's been a little while. I did so mean to finish that last entry, I really did. Anywho, we've traversed by dogsled all the way to the bottom of Mount Tia. Legend has it there used to be a large city nearby, one of equal beauty to that of Canterlot... if one could believe that. Where was I? Oh yes, the peak. The Dragon's Horn, that's what they call it. A great relic of a past war, some many hundreds, or thousands of years ago. Nopony actually knows what war it was from, where it originated, or even if it really exists... just some foal's tale really.'

'Tuesday, September 14th, 1954,
We had to leave the dogs near the bottom of the mountain with Sprinkles. Couldn't risk them getting sick on us or running away... or even being eaten by something. It isn't hard really, climbing the mountain. One might expect it to be an impossible task but really... in just a day we've climbed well over a kilometer, I'm sure of it. The cold... it's bearable and it's still easy to breath.'

'Wednesday, September 15th, 1954,
I had an interesting conversation today with Toulouse, one of the best climbers on the team. He claimed to have done some research on The Dragon's Horn. The mere idea alone that one of the team members were even remotely interested in the artifact intrigued me. Though his story scared me somewhat. He said that it wasn't just any old artifact, it was some kind of... instrument if you will. Not really a weapon but apparently, according to him, it was... is, some kind of tool used to change the very outcome of battle, even if it's nearly certain that one side will win. The idea of it scared me enough to make me stop talking about it.'

'Friday, September 17th, 1954,
Sundance came down with a pretty bad cold today. Red, our team doctor, said it could be early pneumonia, and took him back down the hill. That just leaves Toulouse, Marshmallow and myself. Oh, I do believe this trip just got more difficult.'

'Sunday, September 19th, 1954,
We're nearing the top... I know it... I can feel it in my veins... or maybe that's the shivers I've been having... and the nausea in the morning. I do say... I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately, especially with this throbbing headache I've been having. I've been doing my best to keep it from the other two. They'd probably send me back down... and I won't... I can't go back down. I've made it this far, and I'm going to make it to the top. Be part of the first group of ponies to ever touch hoof on the peak of Mount Tia.'

'Monday, September 20th, 1954,
It's getting harder to breath, even with the air tank. It's so thin up here, it makes it hard to breath. I think the others know... I see it in their eyes. The way they look at me. They're probably going to send me back down, strip the glory away from me, slip it out from under my hooves... bastards, I won't let them.'

'Tuesday, September 21st, 1954,
I had a rather... dark conversation with Toulouse. He crept into my tent last night, which scared the living hell out of me because I didn't even stir in my sleep. It was only after he woke me up that I discovered his presence. He told me that we could retrieve the horn ourselves, tonight... leave Marshmallow behind and finish the climb. Said it'd only take a matter of hours if it was just the two of us. At first it was slightly tempting, but then when I said I'd tell Marshmallow so he wouldn't be worried if he woke up and we weren't there... Toulouse got aggressive, not physically but in tone... verbally. It was almost as if he wanted to do it in secret, not even tell Marshmallow. He then told me if we did it without him knowing, we could then ascend the final climb again with Marshmallow but The Dragon's Horn would be gone because we'd have taken it on the earlier climb. The when we got back we just tell everypony there was nothing up there, it was just a myth... then he offered me something I won't forget... offered to sell it to the underground markets... the dark ones, and split the profits between just the two of us. He told me The Dragon's Horn could be used to take over Equestria. Something about how it brings about the cursed spirits of dragons who died during the protection of this sacred land and that those spirits would answer to the demands of any who wielded this horn. He said he knew a buyer that'd pay four times what the museum was offering overall... that'd be a lot of money, more than any adventure I'd ever been on. But I'm not that kind of pony. I told him to forget about it, and never ever bring it up again.'

'Wednesday, September 22nd, 1954,
Argh... that son of a... son of a bitch! Ahh I'm such a fool! That son of a bitch Toulouse was working for Ahzrukhal. Oh goddess dammit... what did I do?! I should've told Marshmallow when I had the chance. Told him about Toulouse, and what he had told me. Together we could've stopped him.

That son of bitch. Toulouse helped me up over the edge of a cliff face we were climbing, but as Marshmallow reached up for his help, Toulouse simply kicked him down. He then turned his attention to me and hacked me in the side with his ice pick before leaving me for dead. I hope that stupid twat freezes to death.

I managed to crawl into some sort of... cavern... it's protected from the wind... but regardless I don't think I'll make it... oh goddess there's so much blood. I can see the exact path I took in here. It's like somepony splotched the trail I had been on with a pale of red paint. I... there's even blood on this journal... and in my lungs. I can feel it drowning me. I don't think I have much time left but I'll make myself clear to anypony who finds this journal...

DO NOT let Ahzrukhal get that horn. He would lay waste to most of Equestria with it, then rule over what's left, enslaving everypony beneath Celestia's sun. If by some act of god you manage to get the horn... don't even let the museum have it. Ahzrukhal would send goons to try and steal it... there'd be blood spilled that could've been avoided. Just... throw it down a crevice in this very mountain... or destroy it if you can. Something, anything... and, if you care to... tell my family I love them... and that I'm sorry I didn't spend more time with them. My final thoughts will be of them.'

Burdy's perspective,

I closed the journal and gently stuffed it into an inner coat pocket. “Arg!” I winced as a jolt of pain soared through my battered ribs. I reached up to my face with my left hand, but my left arm, namely my forearm, burned in pain. “Ahh!” I yelped and cradled my arm to my gut.

I used my right hand to reach up and slid my eye patch off for a moment to rub both my eyes. “Ugh...” I let out a groan of pain that trailed off into a mumble as I slipped the eye patch back on. Derreck looked to me, kneeling over.

“What's shaking?” he asked and I shrugged.

“Probably my ribs while I walk... I think they're busted ack! Hack! Gack!” I began to hack, viscous fluids along with slight traces of blood spitting up. Derreck looked to the spit glob then back to me.

“You gonna make it?” he asked and I nodded then stood up. I looked around the cavern for something...

Noticing a crevice, I walked over and looked down it. Derreck followed and looked down as well. “Hey... no need to get suicidal over her,” he said and I shot him a glare. “What?” he asked defensively.

I brought out The Dragon's Horn and looked at it. “This thing... it'll cause bloodshed over who wields it... even the museum can't keep it safe,” I muttered and Derreck looked me in the eye. I knew what he was thinking. Will I be selfish and do it for the money? Or toss it away and be further in debt? I coughed rather violently and gagged a little. “Goddess only knows the extent some might go through to get this thing...” I tossed the horn down the crevice and it quickly faded into the dark abyss. “It's better this way.”

I looked back towards the entrance. “Come on... we better... ahh... ack.” I began hacking again and Derreck slipped his right arm under my armpits and around my back, giving me leverage as he helped me along.

I was slightly delirious. I couldn't really keep my mind on track of anything, sometimes not even walking straight. I'd stumble and wobble, before Derreck would slap me, and hard enough to put my senses back into high alert.

As we continued along, Derreck would start asking me things... mostly silly things. Like what my name was, how tall I was, when I was born and even how old I was... the latter of the list kinda stumped me a little.

As I started drowsing a bit more he jolted, shaking me body in the process. “Who's your mother?” he asked. My good eye looked around to the endless storms of snow blizzards. He gave my body a bit of a shake. “Who's your mother?” he asked.

“Twilight... Twilight's my mother... Twilight Sparkle... she's my mom... mommy...” I muttered. He looked at me then rolled his good eye. His heavy facial scars were for the most part, concealed by the frost that had accumulated on his growing facial hair.

“Oh yeah... your mommy issue,” he muttered then kept hauling me down the mountain. We kept descending, but in my mind it felt like we were going in circles... or waves... or... something. Everything was starting to swirl around. Like I was stuck in a barrel rolling down a hill.

“Derreck... woah... I think I gotta... gonna puke...” I trailed off but no sooner had I, my senses all began to hype, spiking to an intensified alertness level. I could... smell something? My eyes went wide and both Derreck and I looked around.

As I turned, my world felt like it began spinning in three sixty motions. I quickly stumbled and fell forwards, Derreck however stayed on his feet, his nose twitching as he looked around with a terrifying stare, sniffing the air.

I saw a presence moving up behind Derreck, swinging something at him. Without even a warning, Derreck spun around, ducking as he pivoted on his heels. A machete was swung where his head had been just seconds ago. Derreck plowed his fist into the stallion's gut, winding him.

As the stallion staggered back Derreck delivered a mighty haymaker that spewed blood from the stallion's mouth. As the stallion's body hit the ground, blood began to leak from the stallion's left eye, the side that Derreck had struck.

Another stallion rushed at him and Derreck retrieved the dead stallion's machete and hacked at the stallion's head, lobbing it off. Blood spewed into the snow and soiled it just as another stallion lashed out at him with an ice pick.

Derreck ducked out of the way and the stallion ended up driving his weapon into ice and getting it lodged. Derreck went to finish him but spotted two more stallion's rushing him. Holding the machete in his right hand, he swung at the stallion on the right, swinging his bladed weapon from left to right with a smooth slicing action.

The stallion's jugular sliced open and spewed blood into Derreck's face. The second stallion on the left swung at him with a hatchet. Derreck grabbed at him with his busted left arm but still managed to hold the stallion's foreleg in place, stopping the swing.

He immediately swung down on the stallion's elbow and sliced his froeleg clean off. The baddy screamed in horror as he held up his stump, blood squirting out of it. Derreck looked back to the last pony. I looked too and noticed that it was the leader of the group from before, and these were the ponies that had been spared by Daring.

The stallion was still struggling to get his ice pick free and was jerking on it aggressively. As he jerked he took a quick glance to see how the fight was going but no more than a glance. There was a short delay before he looked again, an estranged look on his face, but he quickly resumed jerking on the ice pick as if he hadn't seen that all his stallions were dead.

Suddenly he slowly stopped jerking and took a longer look at Derreck, a look of shock on his face as he finally realized that his group had been slaughtered. Derreck, blood strewn all over his face, took a look at the stallion, a look that lasted a few seconds. He then smiled a most devious, sinister smile before speaking.

“Dare I say... that's one damn fine rope you've got.” I fazed out a little and all I really saw was a bunch of blurs. I also heard shouting but my mind couldn't piece it together. It was mostly the stallion screaming in agony and Derreck yelling things like 'You like this?! Take it bitch!' or 'You're lucky I'm in a good fucking mood!' and even 'Stop hitting yourself! Why you hitting yourself?' Then there was something about putting the wet end up his ass after beating him across the face with it. The last comment made me focus my eye a little.

I saw the blurry image of what looked like Derreck beating the stallion with a pony's leg. I then realized that Derreck had played rookie surgeon and had just hacked off the stallion's leg and was beating him with his own limb. “Oh... for fuck sakes...” I moaned as I tried to roll over. Another few seconds passed by and then there was silence.

Suddenly a pair of hands rolled me over onto my back, pulled down my pants and something sharp pierced my thigh. I gasped as I knew exactly what it was and tried to squirm away. “HEY, KNOCK IT OFF!” Derreck yelled as I felt something injected into me. Finally the needle head was removed and I began flailing around on the ground, screaming in phobic shock.

“Oh, knock it off you sissy... in a few seconds you're gonna feel energized,” he said and I looked to him. After a few moments my eye started to display a clearer image for me and my heart rate picked up. I could feel my eye go wide and my pupil shrink.

“Oh... holy shit... holy shit... HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” I gasped as I suddenly felt energized like the Energizer Bunny. “WHAT THE FUCK'D YOU GIVE ME?!” I gasped and Derreck looked at the needle.

“Epi... Epin... Epin-e-pur-her-ine?” he asked and I snatched the needle and looked at it.

“Epi-nep-her-in-ey?” I said aloud, trying to pronounce what the name said. “The fuck'd you give me?” I asked and Derreck blinked. “Derreck... what-the-fuck... did you stick in me?” I asked and he just shrugged.

“Artificial adrenaline. It'll keep you from being so dopey. He had some in his pack along with some ropes and other things that we'll need to save Daring,” he told me but the only thing I registered in my mind was that he stabbed me with artificial adrenaline.

“You gave me artificial fucking adrenaline? What if I had fuckin died? What if that shit fuck up my strawberry-” he slapped me across the face and dangled a spool of rope in front of my eye.

“Stuff to save Daring. And I stabbed you with it cause it'll keep you from passing out and going into a coma or some crazy shit like that,” he announced. I blinked... he had a rope... and some stuff to save Daring. I looked over to the mutilated body of the stallion group leader and flinched slightly. It was a pretty horrific scene. Despite what he had done... I don't know if he really deserved that.

I stood straight up and wobbled a bit. “Okay... okay let's go get our friend...”

Third person...

Daring laid there, vision blurring slightly as she lay up against a crusty lump of snow. She had tried to pull herself to safety but found that all but implausible. “Uhh... Daring... you've really done it this time...” she muttered to herself as she shook her head to try and get ride of the daze. "Come on... you can get out of this... you always find a way!"

“Uhh... oh I'm... tired...” she whispered to herself. She dipped her head. Knowing full well the dangers of falling asleep like this, she chose to embrace it anyways. “No... point in... prolonging it,” she said in a deflated voice. Her broken leg felt swelled and stiff, barely able to be moved.

Something sounded in the distance, sounding like heavy boots trudging through the snow. She looked up and saw a small glowing light, a yellowish orange light...

Burdy's perspective,

Moments earlier...

“DERRECK, I FOUND HER!” I yelled, the Eagle Eye picking up a life form and targeting it in red. The Eagle Eye glowed a yellowish orange tint as it ran. It was perfect really. Before it was weird having it cover just one eye, but now that I had lost the use of my left eye, the monitor display covered my entire field of vision. I rushed forwards, pain in my ribs urging me to slow down. As I neared her position, I tripped a little and fell down.

I let out a holler of pain but kept crawling towards her. The Eagle Eye did a visual scan of her and highlighted her broken leg in red, showing me an x-ray scan of her broken bone. “Daring... Daring...” I groaned as I dragged myself up to her.

I grabbed the back of her head with my right and cradled her body with my left, pulling her in tight. “Daring! Daring talk to me!” I yelled and she looked up drearily at me, exhausted eyes looking into mine.

“Wuh? Huh... Burdy?” she asked faintly. I looked back to Derreck who was just reaching me, having been walking a little slower and simply following me since I had the Eagle Eye.

“Derreck, do something!” I yelled and he nodded before pulling out a large needle.

He pointed to my Eagle Eye. “Give me that,” he ordered and I did as he said. He looked her over then suddenly pulled down her pants.

“What are you doing?!” I asked in shock just as Derreck jabbed the needle into her thigh. Daring flinched and jerked before trying to grab at the needle, but it seemed like she was in some kinda daze worse than the one I had earlier.

“Her blood is clotting excessively around the broken bone, probably due to the cold weather. This is blood thinner, it'll hopefully dissolve the clot and keep it from traveling to her heart,” he told me. My heart was still pumping at an alarmed rate due to the stuff Derreck gave me earlier, but I felt a shiver go down my spine.

I knew what blood clots could do to one's heart. One of my relatives died from something like that. I don't remember who it was, just that they were trapping or something in the wilderness. A blot clot traveled to their heart... or maybe they died of a heart attack... I can't remember now.

Daring was still dazy. “Give her some of that shit you gave me!” I ordered and Derreck shook his head.

“She might go into shock from the sudden burst of energy and have a heart attack, can't risk it,” he said and I gave him a furious look.

“So why the fuck'd you give it to me then?!” I boomed and he just shrugged.

“I knew your heart could handle it,” he stated then began pulling off some of the gear he'd filched from the stallion. “Drop off everything you don't need. Only keep a single tank of air, and some water.” Derreck ordered and looked through the backpack before pulling out a medical brace. He strapped it around Daring's leg, much to her pained discomfort.

He then quickly harnessed her body to his with the ropes. “Okay... your job is to keep her awake, let's haul ass!” Derreck yelled and began rushing down the hill. I quickly followed in tight pursuit.

Derreck would groan in constant pain, grasping at his sides and huffing for air. “Something wrong?” I finally asked and he nodded.

“Busted ribs... I think,” he replied while still scurrying along. “Hey... this eye thing is pretty cool. I can follow our exact path up here,” he said and I nodded. We continued to skimmer along but I quickly started dragging. The pain in my chest started to become to much to bear.

Liquids also started to build in my lungs and I found it nearly impossible to keep enough oxygen in my lungs, even with the air. It was like I couldn't breath deep enough. As we continued hurrying along, we were suddenly stopped by a steep dropoff.

“Aww... fuck!” Derreck yelled then looked to me. “Give me that fuckin' watch!” he yelled and I did as he asked. He strapped it on and pointed to the ground before pressing a button. A tranquilizer dart spat out. “FUCK! Wrong button!” Derreck yelled then pressed another button. A little harpoon attached to a cable shot out. He looked to me. “Get on my back and hold on!”

I did as he asked and he quickly began to repel down. I looked to Daring. “Hey... Daring... how yah feeling?” I asked and she looked to me drearily.

“You... you came back... for me,” she whispered. I nodded.

“Yeah... yeah of course I did,” I told her and she leaned her head forwards as our bodies kept decscending.

“Buh... I thaw... I thoughts you hated... me... an... never wanted to-” she began to slur and I cut her off.

“Forget what I said earlier. I don't hate you. I couldn't... I can't. You're my friend, and friends don't leave friends behind.”

Her head swayed side to side, still in a daze. “What... made you... change yer mines?” she was slurring.

“I... it doesn't matter right now okay!” I yelled and she looked to me.

“Ish... this the part... where you kissh me?” she asked in a daze and Derreck spoke up.

“WE COULD DIE! HARDLY THE TIME FOR ROMANCE!” With that he disengaged the repelling cable. We began to move at a fast pace again to which I nearly immediately fell behind.

“Derreck... hold on... ach, kack!” I began to heave heavily, horquing out globs of mucousy liquid from my lungs. Derreck stopped and returned to my side. We stopped for a few moments and untied Daring from Derreck's back.

“How yah feeling?” I asked and she just swayed her head around. “Come on... stay awake,” I said and Derreck passed me a water bottle. I took a swig before looking to Daring. “Hey... hey you need to drink some water,” I offered her some and she tried to reach for it but her depth perception must've been way off because her hooves missed the water bottle completely. I gently cradled her head in my good arm and slowly brought the water bottle top to her lips with my left.

I very gingerly began to trickle water into her mouth, slowly and not too much at a time. She slowly drank, and drank... and drank. After consuming roughly 500ml she stopped. “Enough?” I asked and she nodded.

“I've... I've been meaning to... say...” she huffed in effort to speak. “I'm so... so sorry for-” I cut her off, placing a finger to her lips.

“Not now, come on, we gotta hurry,” I told her. Derreck roped her to his back again and we began trudging down the mountain. As we descended, even at this pace I couldn't keep up and ended up collapsing and wheezing deeply, feeling as if I were drowning. Derreck stopped and hurried over to me.

“Come on! On your... feet!” he yelled, heaving me up, supporting me on his shoulder. I was starting to daze a little more. Derreck began to move along at a rate I couldn't match with the way I was. Truth be told I was surprised her could even maintain this rate. Being burdened down with both the weight of Daring and myself, added to his busted arm and ribs, he was hauling ass all things considered.

“Daring... nod if you're still okay,” I mumbled and she slowly nodded her head, though it looked more like she'd raise it then just let it drop.

Derreck spoke up. “Just another kilometer! And we'll be back at the truck!” He yelled, continuing to move at a rather fast past. As he moved along, he suddenly tripped, falling forwards and dropping me to do the same.

I merely groaned as he let out several curses. I wasn't ready to get up just then, I'd have rather just waited a moment, let my body relax, but Derreck had other things in mind. He heaved me up again, emitting a pained yelp from me as he began to race along again, still supporting both mine and Daring's bodies.

Amazingly, the whole trip down, Derreck showed no signs of fatigue, no signs of pain other than the odd grunt or groan, and absolutely no signs of stopping. He just kept going... like some kind of machine.

My mind fuzzed while my vision blurred. “Daring... say something,” I said, checking up on her. She mumbled something ineligible but at least I knew she was still alive. Suddenly Derreck stopped and I looked to him. “What?” I asked.

“Good news or bad news?” he asked and I thought about it.

“Bad news,” I said, wanting to get that over first.

“We... I... somewhere... somehow... someway-” I cut him off.

“Get on with it. Spit it out!” I exclaimed.

“Took the wrong path,” he said and my eye went wide.

“What... so where the fuck are we?” I gasped and he held up a finger as if to motion me to wait for him to continue.

“That's the good news,” he said, pointing down over the edge of a cliff. I looked down over the edge. About... a good hundred yards downwards, was base camp. Juggernaut was still partially visible, though mostly covered in snow.

“Oh... shit...” I crept back from the edge, a shivering tingly feeling going down my spine from being this high up. Derreck pointed the watch at the ground and pressed the button for the repel cable, but nothing came out. “What?! It's just a single use?!” He gasped and I slapped myself in the face.

“What else can we do?” I asked, then quickly began to scroll through the various options in my mind. Derreck pointed to a ledge across a gap.

“See that?” he asked and I looked over. The gap was a good six foot jump. Not bad if I didn't have busted ribs, and Derreck wasn't carrying Daring.

I shook my head. “No way... no way...” I kept shaking my head.

“It's either that or... we backtrack a few hundred meters then finish the ascent.” I just dipped my head. Daring coughed and hacked a little and I felt my own lungs filling with liquid again.

There was a short pause before I nodded. “Fuck... fuck... fuck! Fuckfuckfuckfuck... FUCK!” I yelled in distress. I just knew this was a bad idea. “Okay... fuck... before I change my mind,” I swore. We both quickly stripped just about all our clothing and gear except our pants and footwear, making ourselves lighter for the jump. I grabbed the camera and Archimedes journal from my coat and stuffed them into my pants to make sure I didn't lose the only evidence we had that we had successfully climbed Mount Tia. We left Daring bundled up in clothing, figuring she was bad enough as is. Derreck nudged his head towards the gap.

“Well... hurry up then... ladies first,” he joked. I tried to take a deep breath but ended up just hacking up more fluids from my lungs. Derreck patted me on the back, helping knock the crud from my lungs. Finally, I took a deep breath.

I rushed towards the gap and leapt, pushing off with all the force I could muster. Time seemed to slow for me as my gaze traveled to that of the ever terrifying drop below me. Finally my feet set down, a few inches past the edge of the ledge and due to my momentum, I fell forwards, crashing to the ground and tumbling along.

I groaned in pain but managed to look up as Derreck stepped back, then rushed forwards...

Time seemed to slow for me again. His right foot planted on the very edge of the gap ledge as he pushed off, launching the combined mass of both himself and Daring's body weights, into the air.

His legs flailed slowly in my perception of reduced time. He brought his right foot forwards to take a proper landing, but his eye went wide as he realized something, to which I quickly realized as well.

His foot landed just on the very edge of the cliff gap and the crusty ice gave way, crumbling beneath him. His feet scrambled to get a footing but the ice kept falling. “DERRECK!” I yelled, trying to scramble to my feet to help the duo.

The crumbling edge gave way and he fell with it, Daring strapped to his back. I rushed to the edge just as Derreck's bone claws extended from both hands, stabbing them into the ice, stopping their sudden descent.

His busted arm must've been excruciatingly painful because nearly immediately he yelped in pain and pulled his arm back, relieving the pressure on it while the claws retracted. However, all the weight was put onto his right arm, which kept them suspended.

Groaning, he kicked the spikes of his mountain climbing boots into the ice. He kept groaning, pulling his busted arm close to his chest. After a moment of pain, he dislodged his left boot and took a step upwards, then his right. After that he quickly swiped his right arm up higher and slowly pulled himself up.

“This... better be fucking worth it!” Derreck yelled, closing the final gap between himself and the edge. As he neared the top, I reached down with my right arm. He gritted his teeth and slapped his busted arm into mine with a roar of anticipated pain. We gripped the other's forearm with our hands and together pulled him and Daring up.

We both stood up, gasping in pain and coughing violently, namely from our busted ribs. “She... owes you... big time,” Derreck commented but I shook my head.

“No... this is me making up for being an asshole towards her,” I told him and he frowned before giving me a glare. I just looked away then looked around. We were on a small little ledge, there was no pathway down or anything. “Hey... what do we do now?” I asked, still looking around.

He pointed down the side of the edge. I looked down. It wasn't a complete drop, but a very steep decline. “Woah... fuck that... there is no way-” but he cut me off.

“Chill, it's only... about a sixty degree angle. You might not be able to walk down it but you can definitely slide.” I shook my head.

“No way, no way I'm gonna slide down that!” I exclaimed and Derreck just rolled his eyes.

“Oh yes you are.”

“Oh no I'm not,” I said with a shake of my head.

“Oh yes...” he trailed off and gave me a gentle push which started my fall. “You are.”

At first I simply started sliding down the decline, fluffs of snow blustering past me. Then the snow beneath me began to build up and I began to tumble and flop, flaring the pain in my busted ribs.

I managed to rearrange myself slightly but quickly ended up tumbling again. Suddenly the decline smoothed into a nice curve that brought me safely to leveled ground and I skittered to a stop. I groaned, body aching in pain, fluids filling my lungs.

My eye was sore from the cold and my skin itched from the freezing irritation. I looked up and saw Derreck gently and gracefully sliding down the decline with Daring roped to his back. He was sliding with such grace I swore he might've had a toboggan.

Derreck slid up next to me. “Woo! That was fun!” he said excitedly but I merely gave him an annoyed groan. He grabbed me by my waist belt and began to heave me along. “Come on, before we both get frostbite or something,” he said, in an upbeat tone. I began stumbling as he pulled me along.

We finally reached Juggernaut and Derreck made quick worked to brush the snow off the doors, namely with his bare forearms. He cracked open the door and pulled me into the back, slamming the door behind him.

Unroping Daring, he looked to me. “Make sure she stays awake,” he ordered me. He rushed to the front of the vehicle and tried to turn it over. But alas, much like I had feared, the vehicle didn't want to run.

He tried again, and again. “Come on Betsy... come on!” Derreck shouted. The engine sounded as if it wanted to turn over but kept on sputtering, having difficulty creating the power needed. “COME ON YOU PIG!” Derreck yelled.

“Juggernaut, her name is Juggernaut,” I told him. He kept swearing at the truck.

“Hurry up you pig. In a second I'm gonna pour ether down your gullet and you really won't like me then you-” he was cut off as the truck engine finally puttered to life. It sounded really, really rough. Almost like an old Ford tractor with a pooched fuel filter.

“HA-HA! Success!” Derreck yelled before cranking the air heater. He rushed back to me. “Alright, in a few minutes it's gonna start getting warm. You're gonna have to start getting her clothes off,” he ordered and I looked to him.

“What, why?” I asked, stunned by his request.

“When it gets warm her clothes are gonna thaw out and they're gonna be damp and cold,” he stated. “Now hurry up and get her clothes off!” he ordered sternly.

I quickly started stripping off her clothes while Daring muttered things, mostly incoherently. After stripping her down I looked away and Derreck looked to me. “Something wrong?” he asked and I nodded.

“I just... stripped her...” I said bashfully and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, so? You'll be helping to save her life,” he said as he began rummaging through the truck.

“So... so she's naked now,” I said and he rolled his eyes.

“How many ponies do you know that are usually naked?” he asked and I looked away timidly.

“Well... it's different cause...” I didn't really have a definite answer. It was just weird because it was Daring. I just remembered her as having clothes and it was more of a... privacy matter.

“AH-HA!” Derreck announced as he pulled out a big blanket, one of the extra ones we had left behind in the truck, thank goddess. He quickly bundled Daring up in the blanket then rubbed his hands together to create friction warmth. “Not much else we can do...” he trailed off and looked to me.

“You might wanna ditch your pants and crawl in there with her,” he said and I looked to him with a disgusted look but he merely let out an irritated groan.

“Not like that you dunce. I meant for body heat. You've both lost a lot of it and you might be coming down with pneumonia, judging by the fluids that keep building in you lungs,” he stated.

I shook my head. “No way... She can have the blanket, ack... kack!” I began to horque up globs of fluids again. Derreck slapped me upside the head.

“Enough with this moral compass privacy crap. You're getting in that blanket!” he told me. He lifted the blanket and motioned for me to get underneath it. I just frowned but finally obliged and crawled underneath, though I stayed as far as I could from Daring. Not out of rudeness or anything like that. I just felt so... uncomfortable. We were both naked, and being on death's doorstep the last thing I should've been thinking about was that, but I still was.

After another few moments Derreck began playing with the instrument controls on the vehicle. “Battle truck, nearest hospital!” Derreck ordered.

“Her name is Juggernaut,” I told him. Daring mumbled to herself, still in a daze.

“Who's jugs not?” she whispered, tilting her body a little. “It's warmer in here... are we home yet?” she asked, probably speaking her mind without filtering it.

The truck monitor spoke back. “Crystal Empire hospital, ETA... fourty minutes,” the truck spoke in a female Aussie accent. Derreck scowled.

“Make it twenty!” he boomed but the truck didn't reply and quickly began a quick descent of the mountain. Derreck quickly climbed into the back cabin and looked out the back window which was a bit clearer since some of the snow had been blown off from the vehicle's speed.

He gave the scenery the middle finger. “FUCK THIS MOUNTAIN!” he swore. As the truck bumped along in some kind of autopilot, Derreck simply watched through the back window while I lay on the floor with Daring, trying to keep still as to minimize the pain from my chest.

As we continued along, Daring's fur brushed up against me. It felt warm, but I immediately tugged away in timidness. She was warm though... and the floor was awfully cold. Slowly, and rather sheepishly, I snuggled a bit closer to her, just barely touching the tips of her body fur.

Daring mumbled something, incoherently I think, but I couldn't understand it. Suddenly she rolled over, flopping her forelegs over my body and snuggling into me, muttering something about a warm puppy dog.

The embrace scared me at first but the warmth quickly overtook my timidness about the idea of us being this close under a blanket while both naked. Derreck looked solemnly out the window.

“Was it worth it?” he asked and I pointed to my pants where the journal lay. He shook his head. “It's not what I meant... I know what would've become had we brought that thing back... I meant all this... the entire adventure? All those who died before us... and for what?” he asked and I rocked my head back into the cold floor.

He was right in some respect. All I had really accomplished was sneaking away behind my mother's back, climbing a dangerous mountain, throwing away the dangerous treasure and now not only was I in debt with Rarity but Flim and Flam as well... at least Rarity still didn't know it was me who trashed the boutique.

All I had to show for this was some busted ribs, a couple photos and some dead stallion's journal. “I don't know... only time will tell,” I replied. I continued to lay on the floor, trying my best not to move. Not generally due to the fact it hurt to move, but namely because if I laid in one spot long enough, my body would heat that part of the floor but when I moved I could never find that perfect spot again.

The windows thawed a bit and I could see the scenery, though it was dull and eerie. The outside skies were dark with gray storm clouds. I just kept watching the sky while holding Daring close. Derreck kept watching through the back window, a gloomy face staring out to the emptiness of snowy plateaus.

Finally the truck started to slow as we reached the borders of the Crystal Empire. “Juggernaut, blow right through it. We don't have time to stop!” Derreck ordered and the truck obliged, revving up the engine and driving head on through the gates. Guards yelled out for the vehicle to stop but it just kept going, but thankfully avoided hitting anypony.

As soon as we entered the city, the truck was met with smooth cobblestone and pavement rather than the harsh snow conditions. The automated voice of Juggernaut spoke up. “Deactivating enhanced traction,” she said just as the spikes in the tires retracted.

Picking up a higher speed, the vehicle raced through the streets, pursued by guard ponies. Finally reaching the hospital, the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. Derreck flung the back door open. “Come on, get Daring!” he ordered in haste.

Ever so painfully, I stood up and cradled her in my arms, though with busted ribs and a broken arm, it wasn't easy. I managed to step out of the vehicle but we were immediately surrounded by guard ponies.

Derreck cocked his right arm back as if to ready a punch, but held his left arm forwards, both fists clenched. “We need a doctor!” he ordered but the ponies didn't back off. Immediately afterwards, his bone claws extending with a gruesome squelching sound cause by the blades slicing through his skin. He let out a petrifying roar as blood dripped from his wounds and the guards deterred slightly. “This guy is Princess Twilight Sparkle's faithful student... and her son... now back the fuck off or I'll cut my way through you!” Derreck roared.

One of the guards spoke to another and they let us past but still followed us in. Derreck retracted the claws in his left hand and pointed to somepony in nurse fatigues. “These two need a doctor, they're in critical condition!” Derreck boomed. However, as soon as she saw his bone claws still protruding from his right hand, along with the blood, she simply screamed.

Ponies frantically hurried away, fearing the worst. I looked around, Daring now ready to pass out. “Can somepony get my friend a doctor, SHE'S DYING FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE!” I yelled. Nopony really answered me. I guess we were pretty frightening.

I looked over and saw a stretcher. Quickly rushing over, Derreck in quick pursuit with the guards staying cautiously back, we set her on the stretcher. “Doc... DOC!” Derreck yelled then pointed to one of the guards. “Get this mare a doc for fuck sakes!” he roared and the guard rushed over to a counter and spoke to the hiding receptionist.

After another few moments a doctor arrived, though obviously very frightened. “Please... please don't kill me,” he pleaded as he cautiously took control of the stretcher and began pushing it along.

I turned to Derreck. “Retract the claws,” I told him and he did as asked. I turned to the doctor. “Sorry about the scare... it's just we didn't have much time,” I told him as we went along, though I was staggering painfully.

“What in Equestria were you two doing?! You look awful,” he stated and I smirked.

“We climbed Mount Tia,” I replied and he looked to me with shocked eyes then returned his gaze to that of where he was pushing the stretcher.

“Really? No lie?” he asked and I nodded.

“I have pictures...” I collapsed suddenly, hacking and wheezing, barely able to breath. The doctor stopped. “Just get her to a room... and hurry!” I yelled then sucked back and began coughing violently. Derreck came to my side and heaved me up, supporting my body weight and helping me along.

Finally getting her to an emergency room, the doctor turned back to help me and at that point I merely collapsed out of Derreck's hold and onto the floor, passing out quickly afterwards...

Third person...

Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor arrived at the hospital, having heard the news and were met by a large squadron of guards. Shining was the first to speak. “What's going on?” He asked, noticing the profuse amount of blood that trailed away down the hallways.

The leader of the squadron stepped up. “Well sir... uhm... we really don't know,” the stallion stated, a little bit emberessed.

Shining looked to him with a most peculiar gaze. “What do you mean: you don't know?” he asked and the commander scratched his head.

“Well... uhm... this... this... motorized carriage looking thing crashed through our border gates without stopping so naturally we pursued it. Strangely enough, it stopped at the hospital and this... creature stepped out and threatened us with claws saying it needed a doctor,” he said but Shining cut in.

“Wait... what do you mean claws?” he asked and the stallion gulped.

“Uhm... well I... the creature-” but Cadence cut him short.

“Please, do stop calling him a creature. He is my sister in law's private student and she cares for him very much,” she ordered in a gentle tone that could have easily been mistaken for a request.

The commander nodded then looked back to Shining. “The... student... it had claws, they could retract and extend through its knuckles,” he stated and Shining nodded. “Then we got them a doctor and they were rushed off but the crea... student collapsed,” he informed the former captain, now pronounced prince.

Cadence gasped. “What on earth happened to him?!” she asked and the commander shrugged before offering her some pictures.

“These were procured from the thing they were driving, along with a journal. We had to devolope the photos but... ma'am... I think they did it,” he said and Cadence looked at the photos, her eyes going wide with realization.

“Is this... did they really...” she trailed off and the commander nodded.

“Ma'am, if our suspicions are correct... they climbed Mount Tia, right to the top and subsequently made it back down safely,” he stated.

Cadence looked to Shining. “Send a letter to Twilight immediately, she needs to know!”

Monday, June 16th, 2014...

Twilight had received the letter a mere day and a half after it had been sent, and she had immediately boarded the first train to the Crystal Empire, along with her friends which included Lassie and Spike.

Shortly they would be arriving at the train station. Twilight's hoof tapped erratically and Lassie just rolled her eyes. “Chill out princess, he's fine,” Lassie said and everypony gave her a stare, some a little angry, others slightly worried while some were just confused.

Twilight looked to Lassie. "You've been telling me that for a month Lassie, A MONTH! Kept saying it was nothing and 'oh he'd be fine'! Well look where that's left him!” she scorned the dog who simply sighed.

“Okay seriously, listen to yourself. You're talking about Burdy here. The most bad ass person in the history of Equestria. Dude... Applejack,” Lassie began pointing to the farmer pony. “Who was it that rushed into the burning abyss that was your family farm to save your little sister?” she asked, though the question struck a deep emotional nerve with the farmer as she remembered it was Burdy that went in to rescue Apple Bloom, not herself.

Breaking the silence, Lassie spoke up again. “Burdy, yeah... that crazy, stupid, dense motherbucker rushed right into a burning building, and saved a little filly but was severely burned to the point he probably looked like a burnt bubbling marshmallow of flesh,” she said, keeping it somewhat PG-13. “And you know what? Like a week later he's out screwing around and helping ponies again, and you know why? Cause the guy's like... like... like a super human or something... he's like Supermare but not a pony and he's a male... he's like Superman, but dense as a rock and utterly stupid like a cow,” she informed the group.

“So yeah... maybe he's in the hospital. Maybe he's busted up. But I'd be willing to bet that in a few days he'll be his same old self again,” she assured the group. The train came to stop and the group wasted no time in rushing towards the hospital.

As they arrived, Lassie took note that Juggernaut was parked out front. 'Son of a bitch must've been working for Flim and Flam again,' she thought to herself. The group entered the hospital. There were only two guards, along with the royal couple.

Twilight rushed up to her elder brother who immediately embraced her into a hug. “Where is he?” Twilight asked worriedly, fearing the truth.

“Twilight he-” Shining began but Twilight cut him short.

“I don't want to hear it. I need to see him with my own eyes!” she began to tear up.

Shining drooped his head. “Okay... doctor?” he asked and a doctor came over then began to lead the group upstairs. As he led them along, he began to speak.

“Ma'am, he came in with-” but Twilight cut him short.

“I don't want to hear it... please, just let me see him for myself,” she said and he nodded. Finally reaching the room, he opened the door to the dimly lit room. On the opposite side of the room to the door, lay Burdy, his left arm in thick bandages and his bare chest wrapped in medical tension wrap.

A monitor was hooked up to him and displayed a slow heart rate. Twilight nearly dropped to her knees. The doctor spoke up. “Ma'am he-” but Twilight didn't answer and just rushed to his side.

She quickly squeezed him tightly. “Don't you die on me!” She began to weep, but no sooner had she grabbed him and said that, his heart rate spiked and he shot up and out of her grasp.

“AHHHH! TOO TIGHT, TOO TIGHT!” He yelped in agonizing pain and Twilight looked to him in shock, Burdy returning her look with an equally shocked expression.

“Mom... you're... you're here,” he said in disbelief. She blinked and looked at him before pummeling his chest with her hooves.

“You jerk! You jerk, youjerkyoujerkyoujerk YOU BUCKING JERK! You promised never to do something dangerous like this ever again!” she yelled. Burdy squirmed in agonizing pain, Twilight having not known about his busted ribs.

“Ahh... ahh okay, ahh I give!” Burdy yelped then simply rolled himself off the hospital bed, pulling out the monitor needles that checked his pulse. With no pulse to check, the monitor emitted the flat-line beep. Within seconds several nurses and doctors were in the room. The doctor in the room waved them away, signaling everything was okay for the moment.

Twilight cornered Burdy, tears flowing from her eyes. “How could you do this?! How could you break your promise?!” she asked in a heartbroken way.

“Wait, just let me explain!” the man gasped. She stopped for a moment...

Burdy's perspective,

Hours earlier...

I awoke with a pained gasp and looked around. Last I remembered I had collapsed. I looked around and noticed an empty bed beside me. It looked like it had been recently occupied.

A doctor soon entered the room. “Hello... uhm... please, don't feel threatened, I'm just coming to check up on you,” he offered in a sincere tone. I relaxed and he stepped up towards the side of my bed.

“Where's my friends?” I asked and he looked over to the other bed, letting out a depressed sigh.

“Sir... I'm sorry but she didn't make it,” he informed me and my eyes went wide. After all that... after all we had done... “Oh... before I forget...” he trailed off and rushed over to his cart that had a few items on it.

He brought over a letter, entitled 'Mr. Burdick'. “They said not to let anypony but you read it,” he said. I ripped it open. The letter wasn't all that long.

'Dear Mr. Burdick,

You created some ruckus in the Crystal Empire upon your arrival. Our contacts in the museum there confirmed Daring's presence and retrieved her from the museum to be treated by a private doctor of ours. Please do understand that her identity cannot be known to the public. We had our contact help fake her death and told the doctors that she was a terminally sick mare who's dying wish was to ascend to the peak of Mount Tia, a wish which you helped her succeed. Unfortunately this adventure was too straining on her body and she died shortly after.

Mr. Burdick, not only are you going to be known as a generous man for helping fulfill a dying mare's final wish, but you're probably going to become an icon for the press, being part of the first ever pony expedition to reach the peak and return. Just warning you now, you may be flocked by media reporters

We have also retrieved Sir Archimedes II's journal as it is of historic value to us. We do wish you the best in your travels.

Yours truly,
Mrs. Applenathy'

I looked through the ripped envelope then to the doctor. The letter said the journal was worth something... so where the hell was my money? “Did they leave me any money?” I asked and he shook his head with a somewhat confused look.

A sudden realization hit me. She had played me again... played me the whole time. Acted sincere and nice, like she was truly sorry. “THAT FUCKING BITCH!” I yelled and shredded the letter into pieces. The doctor was shocked and somewhat fearful as he took a cautious step back.

I looked to him and simply sighed. “Don't worry... it's... it's nothing.” I dipped my head into my palm. 'That stupid two timing, lying, fucking whore!' I thought violently to myself. By goddess the next time I saw her I was gonna gut her...

Present time...

“Alright... okay... there was this mare... she really liked Daring Do,” I said, and immediately I had caught the attention of Rainbow Dash. “She really liked her adventures and stuff,” I said and Twilight gave me a narrow gaze.

“And she had been diagnosed terminally with a disease, it was gonna kill her and there was nothing the doctors could do,” I lied. Twilight continued to stare me down, like the angry mother that she was. “Her dying was was to climb Mount Tia-” I said and Twilight bellowed in.

“So you just mindlessly tried to help some random mare climb a mountain that has never been climbed before?” she interrogated and I gulped.

“Nopony... has climbed it before. See... I'm not a pony so I should be able to climb the mountain... at least that's how she explained it.”

Lassie spoke up. “Like I said... he's retarded,” she mentioned and I just rolled my eyes from the familiar voice of my ever quirky canine friend.

“Yeah... anyway, so she explained to me that she was dying and nopony would help her... and... well... you know. What could I say. Her dying wish was to see the beautiful unscathed elegance that was the peak of Mount Tia,” I said and Rarity nearly burst into tears as she flopped herself against me.

“Oh darling, that is so heroically courageous and eternally generous!” she said in a very feminine tone as she squeezed me.

“GACK! GAHHHHH! RARITY TOO TIGHT!” I yelped and she immediately pulled away. I looked to them, then to just Twilight. “I know I promised... I know I screwed up... you don't have to forgive me or even understand why I did it... just hear me out. She didn't have much time, and we didn't mindlessly go up. Flim and Flam helped her too, giving us the gear we needed to go up,” I said and Applejack gave a frown, obviously not impressed that we had been helped by the brothers... but who could blame her really.

“You could've died!” Twilight chimed and I nodded. Before I could speak, the doctor cut in.

“Actually... I've been meaning to talk with somepony who really... knows him. Uhm...” He walked forwards with some papers, mostly x-rays.

“He arrived a few days ago as you already know, but since that time has made an unnaturally rapid recovery,” he stated, offering Twilight a few of the x-rays.

“He had several broken ribs, five overall. Two on his left side and three on his right. His left forearm also had fractured bones. His right lung was collapsed and his left lung was slightly pierced by a broken rib. He also had pneumonia, very severe pneumonia at that... ma'am I have no idea how he even survived let alone walked into the hospital and made it as far as he did before collapsing,” he stated and Lassie spoke up.

“Superman,” she quipped and I just rolled my eyes. The doctor spoke up again.

“Actually... that's the least of this... bizarre case. Ma'am, these were taken a day and a half later...” he offered Twilight more x-rays. Twilight looked them over before the doctor spoke. “His arm had healed completely and his pneumonia had completely vanished without a trace. Some of his ribs had realigned and were already healing.” He brought out a final batch of x-rays.

“These were taken about eight hours ago. Ma'am... he shows no signs, other than some minor discomfort, that he had been severely injured. Is this normal?”

Lassie spoke up. “Oh yeah dude, he does this kinda stuff all the time. Like I said, he's Superman,” she said with a wink. The group looked to her and she just shrugged. Namely, Cadence and Shining gave shocked expressions, having never seen a talking dog before.

Twilight stood up and wobbled. “I just... I just need to sit down... I think... I don't know what to think...”

Hours later...

Her face, that betrayed look. It had been sitting on me all night. Dash thought it was totally cool that I had gone all the way to the top and was even more intrigued by the pictures. Rarity was all kook-koo about it, thinking I was some great gentlecolt for what I had done and was all lovey-dovey towards me. Applejack didn't have much to say, probably cause I had broken my promise to Twilight. Pinkie and Fluttershy didn't have much to say and were their usual selves. But Twilight...

She was so gloomy. Almost as if I had stabbed her in the back. Technically I guess I had. I looked to my watch which had been retrieved from the vehicle along with some of my other belongings before it was moved out of the way by Lassie since nopony else knew how to work it and the fact it had been built with some sort of magic resistant steel meant no pony could move it with magic... Flim and Flam were genius bastards.

It was just a few minutes past midnight. I snuck up and out of bed. Luckily enough I was no longer hooked up to the monitor so nopony would know if I went for a midnight stroll. The nurses did periodic checks every... about twenty to thirty minutes. So I had around a half an hour.

I slipped out the door and through the hallways like a shadow. Like the doctor had been, I was surprised at my body's recovery rate. I couldn't even tell I had been injured anymore. No broken bones, no bruises, not even aching pains.

I slipped into the visitor section where the group had stayed for the night. I remember Rarity making a fuss about being in the Crystal Empire with royalty yet having to sleep in a hospital visitor room.

I slipped into the visitor overnight room and immediately Lassie's head poked up and she looked at me, almost as if she were a guard dog. “Lassie... it's me,” I whispered and she smiled then came over panting happily.

“Hey, you're out of bed,” she said, and though it wasn't loud it sounded deafening due to the fact everything else was quiet. I motioned for her to hush, putting a finger to my lips.

“I need to talk to mom,” I said quietly and she nodded. I crept over to my mother who was dozing though it looked like she was having a bad dream. She was stirring constantly and her legs were twitching as if she were running to something... or someone.

I gave her a gently nudge... then another. On the third nudge she awoke with a gasp. I brought my finger to her lips. “Mom, sssh... sssh... it's okay,” I hushed her. At first she was shocked to see me, but quickly returned to the mood I had last seen her in.

“Evan... what do you want?” she asked, almost like she didn't want me to be there.

“Mom... I need to talk to you,” I said but she turned away. I bit my lip.

“Haven't you done enough talking?” she asked and I drooped my head.

“Okay... yeah I fucked up but please... can we just talk?” I asked and she looked to me, and there was a long pause.

“Well?” she asked and I shook my head.

“I mean... somewhere else,” I said and Twilight huffed, rolling her eyes and reluctantly getting up to follow me. Lassie came to follow but I waved to her. “Just me 'n' mom,” I told her. She obliged while Twilight and I walked away.

I led her outside to the front of the hospital. I turned to her. “Okay... yeah I know you're probably pretty mad... and that's putting it ligthly-” Twilight cut me off.

“I'm not so much mad as I am... you hurt me. You lied. You said you wouldn't get into these things if you could avoid it,” she said, tears coming to her eyes again. I sighed.

“I know... I know. I fucked up, just please... please hear me out. I can't bear to go on without you-” but she cut me off.

“So why didn't you think about that before doing this?” she asked. “Evan, I love you with all my heart but... I can't... if you keep going on all these wild adventures what's to say one day you'll never come back and I'm just left alone, wondering what happened to you?” she asked and I sighed.

“Okay... I know, but please, just let me tell you the truth,” I said and she rose an eyebrow. “There was never a terminally sick mare-” but she immediately cut me off.

“SO YOU JUST WENT UP THERE CAUSE YOU FELT LIKE IT?!” She gasped and I flinched from her sudden outburst.

“Hold on, let me explain!” I pleaded. “I'll start from the beginning.” I settled and took a deep breath. “Okay... remember Batlimare? With Freeze?” I asked and she nodded slightly. “Alright... well... while you were all frozen, I met Discord... then we decided to come rescue you but... well... my friend Derreck busted down Rarity's doors to get us some clothes-” Twilight cut me short.

“But it was cold in Baltimare and Rarity said most of the things stolen were finely tailored suits and dresses,” she announced and I nodded.

“Yeah... well Derreck said it might be the last suits we ever wear and we all figured... well if we failed and Freeze took over Equestria... then paying Rarity back wouldn't exactly be a huge issue.” I said but Twilight shook her head.

“What does this have to do with Mount Tia?” she asked and I sighed.

“Okay... Rarity still doesn't know about the boutique. I SWEAR I'VE BEEN MEANING TO TELL HER! Seriously... I just... don't really have any money to pay her back yet and... okay, I'm gonna sound insane...” I said but amazingly Twilight listened.

I took a deep inhale. “Daring Do... is real...” I said and Twilight looked at me, blinked and waited for me to continue. “We've met before and she came up with this brilliant plan that because I'm not a pony I could climb the mountain. I know it was retarded, believe me I didn't want to go... but she offered me a hundred thousand bits... and I conned her into giving me a hundred and fifty thousand,” I told her and Twilight's eyes went wide.

“So... because I didn't have much money... I agreed to go. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd flip out-” Twilight cut me short.

“Of course I would flip out!Why wouldn't I flip out?! Evan that mountain is dangerous and ponies die all the time trying to reach the summit!” she exclaimed and I nodded.

“Yes I know but... I didn't do it for myself... I did for Rarity. I wanted to pay her back,” I said and Twilight huffed.

“Evan, you could've just told Rarity and apologized. Coming from you she'd have accepted an apology as enough,” she informed me. I sighed.

“But to me that wasn't enough,” I told her and Twilight dropped her head with a depressed exhale.

“Evan... I just... I don't know. I've loved you... harboured a crush for the longest time but... I just... if you keep this going... I don't want to lose you. I can't bear the thought. Every moment you're off for an extended period of time, I worry about you,” she said and I nodded.

Somewhere... deep inside. I felt something. Something warm... cuddly... like everything would be okay. I have no idea what it was, and have never felt it before in my entire life. “I give up...” I said and she looked to me. “It's over...” I said and she gasped, holding a hoof over her mouth.

“Are you... are you... leaving me?” she began to cry and my heart skip a beat as I lurched forwards.

“NONONONONO! THAT'SNOTWHATIMEANT!” I sputtered. And she looked to me, still on the thought I was breaking off our relationship. “I meant... I'm over... I'm done... done this... this life...” I said but she was still unsure what I had meant.

I flumped down and leaned the back of my head up against the wall. “It was a thrill... the excitement of nearly dying kept me from remembering my past... kept me in the moment... made me feel alive... honestly, I don't know why I did what I did... maybe because I could... I don't know. I was afraid of this world... afraid to accept that I'd never see my own kind again... never see my home...” I looked to the stars.

By goddess, Luna... they were so beautiful tonight. The Aurora Borealis was out... or maybe it was called something different in this world. “They're beautiful... more beautiful than anything the day has to offer...” I muttered and Twilight looked to the sky and snickered.

“Just don't let Celestia hear you say that,” she giggled and I shook my head.

“So... I was... I couldn't let myself... my old world morality... couldn't let it go. I had the distant hope... a flickering light that maybe... somehow... one day... I'd find a way home...” I whispered. Twilight leaned into me with a hug.

“Evan, I am so sorry about bringing you here...” she apologized but I shook my head and held he chin so we could be face to face.

“Never... ever, feel sorry for bringing me here...” I trailed off and we leaned into a kiss, sealing our lips together. After a moment I pulled back. “I... I may not fit into this world perfectly... but... I want to live the rest of my days here...” I looked her dead in the eyes, as if looking into her soul. “With you.”

She smiled brightly, cheeks turning a hue of red. “I'm sorry I lied to you... but I just... well... it was thrilling and something I thought I couldn't live without... but after seeing you... seeing how I had hurt you... I realized it's something I can't live with... not if it does that to you.” She blinked, he mouth slightly agape.

“Evan... are you saying...” she trailed off and I nodded.

“I want to-” I bit my lip. I couldn't believe I was going to say this. “I wanna settle down in life. Leave my old life behind... make you happy,” I told her and her smile... it made everything perfect.

We sat for a while longer before I sat up and offered her my hand. “Come on...” I said and she took my hand. “Let's go for a walk... maybe watch the northern lights.” With that, we walked away, arm in arm. Our feet/hoofsteps echoed in the quiet night of the city. Our bodies were gently illuminated by both the northern lights and the dimly lit street lamps. I think I could get used to this life...

Author's Notes:

See... well, actually I didn't really know where I was going with this story when I started and I still don't really know how it's going to end (It's reaching the end though). I figured I'd make him a brash asshole who rarely listened, but then as I was writing it, the story took a new path where he was screwy in the head and had mommy issues. I'm not gonna say spoilers cause I think most people have figured out that he suffers abandonment issues.

But anyway, it's fun because in most stories the protagonist has to rise up to the challenge, become someone strong or build up their skills to take an adventure on. Whereas Burdy, he was physically fit, tactically aware, near superhuman senses... the man was, as cited by some people, a Mary Stu. But... his story transgressed more into a story where this guy has all the stuff he needs to take on any adversary but instead is slowing down in life and now is trying to settle down completely... it's kinda interesting.