Day 2

Dawn finds the two of you on the move once again. The journey to each Wayshrine is becoming longer and longer as each subsequent gate is further away than the last. It’s a little sobering to think that without Celestia you’d have to spend days merely hiking to each one, never mind actually overcoming the trials within.

She lands a safe distance from the sixth shrine and you prepare to dismount, only to be stopped by a raised wing.

“There’s no need.”

Before you can ask her why, she’s carried you through the shining portal. The world around you wavers and vanishes, only to be remade anew as the trial begins.

You open your eyes to see the silver sands of a secluded beach beneath your alicorn’s snow white hooves. Small, wispy white clouds are scattered across the bright blue sky, still tinged with the lingering colors of dawn. A peninsula linked to the mainland rests across the ocean waters far in the distance. But easily the most striking aspect of the scenery is the constantly shifting sandbar, visible just below the water’s surface, which connects your beach with the far peninsula. The shifting currents constantly distort it, creating a silver road through the water that dances like the aurora of the northern skies...

Yeah, you remember this one. Running across that continually disappearing and shifting sandbar, trying to time your movements with the tides, and ultimately contending with the giant crabs that lurk just below the sands...

You didn’t make it on the first try, or even the seventeenth. To put it bluntly, this trial was hell for you, and you dearly hoped that you’d never have to see this god-forsaken place ever again.

Celestia spreads her wings and gallops toward the water. With a leap, she takes to the air, carrying you above the silver road and the challenges you once faced, and beyond the unpleasant memories of your time here.

Just like that.

You start to laugh, and soon she joins you.

“This feels like cheating, but I can’t bring myself to give a shit!” you manage to gasp between your bouts of laughter.

“While I understand what you mean, there is no ‘cheating’ in the trials,” Celestia replies through giggles of her own. “As long as one reaches the exit, any method may be used. This was another place where Lulu taunted us endlessly while still assisting us when needed. I admit, I was quite jealous of her wings at the time, and believe it or not I was actually looking forward to returning here, if only to stretch my own pair in contempt of this ridiculous trial!”

Though you can’t see her face, the turned-back ears on her head betray her angry expression, which you know from experience is kinda cute in its own way. You reach a hand forward and scratch the space between them, causing the ears to perk up.

“Sounds like you and I had a similar experience.”

“...I wouldn’t doubt it. But that was in the past, and now we’re free to fly.”

She soars higher and you look down to the world below. The various inlets, bays, islands, and lagoons of this region are breathtakingly beautiful from the air, and you take a moment to admire the view, committing it to memory. Already, it seems you and Celestia are writing a new story together.

You silently watch the scenery drift by for several minutes before you hear her songbird-like voice ring out on the wind, “We don’t have to return to Equus, you know. I could carry us to any one of these little islands, where we’d be alone. There would be food, and materials for a shelter... a peaceful place just for the two of us. Would you like that?”

“Yeah... it sounds nice, but how long would it be until Twilight tracked us down? Like a week at most? And then where would we be?”

She sighs. “Yes. You’re right, of course. In truth, with her magic it’d be a matter of days, possibly less. We really have no choice but to advance to the exit, to challenge the remaining trials, and to face her. That is the one and only path available to us if we want to hold any hope of resolving this.”

She adjusts her course toward the now much closer peninsula, where the rune marking the exit awaits.

“But if that is true and we have no choice in the matter... why have I felt freer and more unfettered during these past few days than I have in the last several millennia of my life...? It’s so strange... freedom is what I desired for so long, and that desire prompted the foolish decisions that placed us here. And now, even though I know and understand that I’m truly not free, I can still feel it, from the depths of my heart; as if I’ve found some lost, precious thing. It rings as both true and false at the same time, and I don’t understand how, or why, but still the joy remains, and I don’t dare try to quell it.”

You don’t respond right away, instead falling into your own thoughts as you consider her words and your fingers dance along the side of her neck. You close your eyes and lose track of time, only opening them again when you feel her start her descent, and as you watch the peninsula’s beach and the glowing rune there move closer, you suddenly have the answer.

“I think I know why. And I think you know why, too.” You can feel her tense beneath you before the next beat of her wings sends you further still. “But if you really want me to tell you, I will... after the last trial.”

She doesn’t look back as she replies, “I can dump you into the ocean anytime I want, you realize.”

“True, but I think you like me too much to do something like that.”

She turns back to you and smiles. “Yes, I do like you. But I also think you’re very cute when you’re soaking wet.” She tilts her body in the air, throwing off your balance.

“Whoa, whoa! Hold on a second! I’m not trying to torment you here... just think of it as like an extra incentive to get through the rest of this BS!”

She tilts her head up in thought. “Hmmm... an incentive, you say? That does sound tempting, and I have been prone to give into temptations lately...”

You breathe a sigh of relief.

“But what’s even more tempting right now is hearing the unique series of obscenities you’ll no doubt string together on your way to the water. From all our time together, I must say your creativity always surprises me. Bon voyage, my little human~”

“NO—!”

You plea falls on deaf ears as she turns the rest of the way to drop you in the water. It’s not a long fall, and she recovers you right away, but the damage is done. For the second day in a row you have to walk around with wet socks and underwear.

But on the plus side, you invented a new swear that was able to put a blush on the face of a 2500+ year old horse goddess. And sometimes, it’s the little victories that make all the difference.

The quiet is striking. Aside from the crunch of long-dead leaves under your boots and hooves and the occasional unanswered bird call, only the faraway breeze rustling the top of the forest canopy produces any sound.

You’d never seen overgrowth like this before, and haven’t seen it since. The tall but warped trees intertwine with one another as they rise, creating a series of almost solid walls of trunks and vines. Very little sunlight can pierce the canopy above, but that’s not as big an issue as it sounds, because a species of phosphorescent moss clings near the base of each tree, providing a ghostly soft-white glow to light your path. The floating mist which fails to rise above your waist softens the light from the moss even more, spreading it everywhere...

It’s tough to tell how long you’ve been here. It’s been hours, that much is certain, but without the sun an exact count is difficult. The more time that passes, the more you’re afraid you’ve been going in circles. It really doesn’t help that your method of getting through this place last time failed and you found the exit via sheer luck. Originally, you intentionally broke shoulder-level tree branches to mark a path and hopefully avoid backtracking, but it turns out the trees here don’t take kindly to that.

Speaking of which, there’s a vine wrapping around your leg now…

“Uh, Cel, a little help here?”

Celestia steps over, places a hoof nearby, and concentrates. The vine slowly releases you and slithers back toward its point of origin until it’s indistinguishable within the network of plants that compose the nearby ‘wall’ of the maze.

The alicorn sighs. “They’re not used to obeying commands from ponies... these plants certainly are obstinate.”

“Well, at least they’ve been staying away from you so far. I don’t know why they’re so interested in feeling me up, and I don’t think I wanna find out.”

Celestia giggles. “You’re just irresistible to the denizens of Equestria, it seems. Ponies, plants, and from what you told me before, even the kiang and minotaurs are eager to get to know you.”

“Yeah, I told you I don’t like to talk about that,” you grumble.

“My apologies. But perhaps you should stay closer to me, and maybe my unpopularity will rub off on you.”

“I guess. Come to think of it, I’m the only one who’s had a bath today thanks to your little stunt earlier, so maybe...”

Her pink tail smacks you as you get close, with an angry glare as a follow-up. Totally cute, and totally worth it. Resting an arm across her back, you drum your fingers on her withers for several more minutes as you walk, until your urge to ask the burning question finally gets the better of you.

“So, I hate to be the one to bring this up, but... are we lost?”

“Only temporarily,” she replies.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m searching for something, but haven’t found it yet. But once I do, I’ll know exactly where we are and where we need to go.”

“Oh. That makes me feel better. Sorta.”

With a roll of her eyes, she lets out a sigh and thrashes her tail again. “I swear, sometimes you’re almost as bad as he was.” She increases her pace and your arm slips from her back. Looks like you’ve managed to push one of her buttons.

You know who she’s talking about, of course. He was the third of the three ‘siblings’; her older brother...

”While Gloomy’s company was welcome, her presence brought me no closer to discovering the great magic. For several more weeks, I found only failure while she composed her star charts with the aid of Equus Island’s unusually clear night sky. It was disheartening for me, but at the very least I was happy to see that my friend was fulfilling the dream she was not permitted to chase amongst her own kind. Once again, I was coming to the conclusion that there was nothing to be found, and began to mentally prepare myself for my return to the tribe, when another chance encounter changed everything.”

“He was an older unicorn stallion, obviously entering his twilight years, though with a certain stubbornness that indicated he was only as old as he felt. His brown, somewhat faded coat, black mane and tail with streaks of grey, and almost comically bushy eyebrows presented an odd dichotomy between a venerated elder and somepony you weren’t certain you should trust, and his odd cutie mark of a four leaf clover drawn upon the pages of a spellbook did little to reflect upon the nature of his character. He appeared out of the blue one day as we were walking toward the caldera’s southern edge, and he seemed almost as surprised to find us as we were to find him.”

“Gloomy didn’t trust him at all, and I didn’t blame her. Of the tribes, the rivalry between pegasus and unicorn was the most bitter. I was cautious too, but the lesson I learned from meeting her— that I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover— lingered in my mind, and I approached him. And, just like with Gloomy, what I discovered was completely unexpected.”

“His name was Clover, and he was an exile. Even I had heard of him; he once held a position as an advisor to Princess Platinum herself, but was shamed and cast out due to his constant urging for peace and reconciliation. Even more amazing still, the very reason he came to Equus was the same as mine: he was searching for the great magic, for he felt it was the key to finally ending the conflict between the tribes.”

“I couldn’t fully bring myself to trust him upon our meeting, and obviously I didn’t reveal my own purpose, though I suspect he already knew. But the more I came to learn of him, the more my heart softened. His greatest joy was to make ponies laugh and smile; a quality that I’ve only ever seen reflected in a similar capacity by our own Element of Laughter. He and Gloomy eventually bonded when they discovered a mutual love of pranks, much to my chagrin.”

“I can’t remember exactly when it was, though I do remember exactly what I felt. We were camping near a hill, and as the sun began to set I was suddenly struck by an odd sense of calm. In that moment, I knew in my heart that I trusted the two of them completely, and that they felt the same. We glanced at one another and I could tell they were having a similar experience. Before a single word could be spoken, a column of fire descended from the sky, consuming the nearby hill. It danced and swirled, but strangely burned nothing, and when it disappeared, a mysterious altar was left behind...”

“Ah, there it is!” Celestia exclaims as she prances over to an odd looking section of the forest wall.

“What? Did you find something?” you ask as you follow her.

“Yes, this is exactly what I was searching for. Amazing... it still holds residual magic.”

You look more closely at the wall and discover that an image of a four leaf clover has been carved there. The lines of the cut still have a dull shine to them, as if empowered by a lingering energy.

“Clover carved these to mark our way. He had to use a spell, as any other method would be quickly erased by the speed at which the plants here heal themselves. I was hoping they would remain, and I was right. If we follow the direction the stem points, we’ll come across the exit soon enough.”

She trots away, eager to find the next mark, and you’re quick to follow, eager to not get molested by more vines. Sure enough, the marks hold true, and you find the return rune amid a secluded grove deep within the forest’s center. Together, you step into the glowing circle, feel that familiar sensation of falling, and open your eyes to see that Equus surrounds you once more.

You pull the stone from your pocket, now constantly warm to the touch and radiating a dull silver light.

“Halfway there...”

“I AM ROCKHOOF GUTSCRUSH! I HAVE STOOD UPON THE FIELD OF BATTLE SINCE BEFORE I COULD FORM WORDS! COUNTLESS TIMES HAVE I HEARD THE SWEET LAMENTATIONS OF THE COWS AND CALVES OF MY ENEMIES AS THEY WITNESSED MY HAMMER RAIN DEATH UPON THEIR VILLAGES! THE TEARS THEY SHED QUENCHED MY THIRST AND THE SPOILS OF THE CONQUERED SATED MY HUNGER! AND NOW, YOU DARE TO TELL ME THAT I MUST STOOP TO EATING MERE—*Ooomph*”

You jam a spoon in his mouth before he can keep yelling at you. God damn, at this rate you’re gonna lose your hearing before this is all over.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s great,” you mutter as you pull the spoon away. “Now eat your mush. Do you like your mush?”

The old minotaur swallows, then swipes the spoon from your hand. The scowl of unfathomable rage never leaves his face as he takes another unsteady bite.

“IT IS ACCEPTABLE.”

“Good. Hit the buzzer to let the nurse know if you need anything else.”

With a relieved sigh, you push your supply cart out of the old minotaur’s room and back into the hallway, careful not to bump the white horn conspicuously sticking out between the folds of the tablecloth covering its lower shelf into anything.

Yeah, this was the stupidest idea ever...

So, from what Celestia said, this place has been around for thousands of years. Apparently minotaurs have either great respect or absolutely no respect for their elders, depending on how you look at it. Once a minotaur reaches a certain age, they move here to live out the rest of their days in relative peace. It doesn’t sound so bad until you consider that minotaurs are kinda all about not-peace, so it sorta sucks for them. No wonder most of the residents here are so angry all the time.

Really, it doesn’t take much to set them off, and brawls are common. But if there’s one thing these old assholes really fuckin’ hate, it’s ponies, so it’s only natural that one of the Wayshrine Gates of Equus leads to a random supply closet somewhere within this fine institution!

You roll your eyes and curse under your breath as you push the cart along. She really wasn’t kidding about the ‘progenitors’ having a bad sense of humor. Then again, from the perspective of just about anyone else, this is probably goddamn hilarious. You’re walking down the hall, decked out from head to toe in an orderly’s outfit (including surgical mask) that’s about 3 sizes too big for you, pushing a cart with delicious senior citizen mush on the top and a barely concealed Sun Horse on the bottom shelf. You’ve been pretending to do your job of taking lunch around to the residents as you make your way toward the exit. Yes, this idea is absolutely retarded, but you decided to go for it for two reasons:

1) Most of the old minotaurs here have Mr. Magoo-level eyesight. They probably think you’re some kind of scrawny minotaur with a hair problem, and the oversized duds you stole from the supply closet do a good job of covering up any obvious differences, like the lack of goat legs.

2) Your silly horse companion couldn’t sneak her way out of a wet paper bag. Seriously, she’s terrible, so it’s up to you to get the two of you out of here.

Based on what you remember, you’re a little over halfway to the exit rune. It doesn’t look like anyone’s on to you yet, so if your luck holds out...

Your supply cart sneezes and you facepalm. Hoping for this to go smoothly was probably too much to ask.

“Gesundheit, sugarplum~”

And it just became infinitely worse.

“Oh no. No, no, no...” you whisper to yourself, daring not to turn around. Maybe if you don’t acknowledge her, she’ll go away…

A wrinkly four-fingered hand grabs your ass.

“I knew you’d come back to me, my hornless little love-cake. They never could resist the beautiful Loretta Loveglutes. Not durin’ my glory days, and not now~”

Yep. There’s no doubt about it now. It’s her...

You barely escaped last time. Even though they’re old, these minotaurs can still crush rocks with their bare hands. Yes, including the females, and especially this one. Even the most battle-hardened badass retirees who still hobble through these halls hobble even faster in the other direction at the sight of her, for a variety of equally valid reasons.

“You know, I’ve had my fill of every bull here, whenever and wherever I want. All except for you, sugarplum. You were the one that got away, and I must say... I’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout you...” She spins you around to face her. “And since you’re here... I know you’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout me~”

The fact that you don’t immediately throw up is a miracle. Sure, you knew what to expect, but to see it in person again would be more than most could take.

The geriatric female minotaur wears an oversized sun hat with a matching ‘seductive’ red dress that’s almost bursting at the seams when she flexes her still sizable pecs. She’s like a giant California Raisin with horns and a massive nose ring, but that in itself isn’t too bad.

No, the thing that turns your stomach is the fact that the, uh, cut of the dress reveals way more crotch-cleavage than you, or anyone else in the rest of the world, would ever want to see. The shriveled sack that was once possibly an udder is practically falling out like a waterfall of flesh and teats. Without the dress there, she’d be dragging the damn thing across the smooth tile floor in her wake, undoubtedly leaving a trail of—

YOU KNOW WHAT, LET’S NOT THINK ABOUT THIS ANYMORE.

“Anon, who is this?”

Oh, and now Celestia’s emerged from the cart and is staring the aging minotaur down. Great, now your cover’s completely blown. You wriggle your way out of your stunned captor’s grasp to face the alicorn.

“...What’re you doing?” you ask her, even though you probably don’t want to know the answer.

“I’m simply curious about who this is. It appears you know her,” Celestia replies.

“Yes, and I wish I didn’t!”

“Are you attracted to her?”

Your jaw almost hits the floor. “Are you fucking serious?!”

“It’s because she’s old, isn’t it? You must have a fetish for older mares. I should’ve known... why else would you be interested in a plain old mare like me?” She folds her ears back and sniffles.

“Ugh! A... a pony?!” Loretta stammers, retching at Celestia’s presence. “Who let that vile creature in here? Are you... ‘familiar’ with this thing, sugarplum?!”

“Um...”

“Yes, I’m afraid he is!” Celestia exclaims, stepping between the two of you. “And you won’t win him, because I can assure you that between the two of us, I am much older! Why, he told me he can’t even get aroused unless his partner’s seen the passing of the 500-year Horsehair Comet twice or more! I’m afraid you’re out of your league here, you hussy.”

The minotaur stumbles back and dry heaves a bit. “That’s bestiality! It’s wrong! Oh, oh my stars... I can’t believe I wanted him... I...” She swoons. “A-Attendants! Come quickly! There’s a pervert on the loose~!”

“What...?”

Yeah, you’re completely lost as to what the fuck’s going on now as a bunch of orderlies begin pouring into the hallway. Celestia brushes past you, whispering as she kneels, “This is the part where we make our escape.”

Her words are enough to snap you back to reality. You mount her and she begins tearing through the hallway at top speed, toppling food service carts and bowling or vaulting over hapless retirees as necessary.

You lean down to speak in her ear as she runs, “What in the hell was that back there?!”

“It didn’t seem like you’d be able to easily escape her once she grabbed you, so I felt a distraction was in order.”

“And out of all the things you could’ve possibly done, that’s what you chose?”

“It worked, didn’t it? Oh, and which way at the next intersection?”

She pauses to buck a wheeled service cart behind her which smashes at high speed into a pair of pursuing orderlies, dousing them with warm mush.

“...I guess. And turn right, I think,” you answer.

She does so, using a beat of her wings for a quick speed boost to traverse the long hallway.

“So, you admit that it was effective,” Celestia continues.

“We blew our cover and have to run for our lives from homicidal minotaurs now. All I’m saying is that it could’ve been handled in a way that kept us incognito.”

“And I’ll concede that point.” She stops, allowing you to pull a nearby fire alarm which causes water to begin pouring from the overhead sprinkler system, further slowing your pursuers when their hooves lose traction on the now-slick tile floor. “But a wise individual recently taught me that sometimes the most direct solution is the best one. I’m merely following his advice.”

You chuckle to yourself. There’s no winning with her, so you just scratch behind her ears as she runs.

“Fine, you win. It was a good plan, and you made the right call.”

She giggles. “Indeed I did. The look on your face was even better than I imagined it would be.”

The hand scratching behind her ears flicks one instead, but it does nothing to quell her laughter as the exit rune comes into view.

Stealing that surgical mask ended up being the best decision you’ve made in a while. Right now it’s the only thing preventing you from choking to death on the smoke and ash-laden air. Celestia wears a mask of her own, fashioned from a strip torn from your orderly outfit as the two of you slowly trudge along the uneven rocky ground.

This place is a vision of hell. The radiating heat of the lava pouring down the side of the distant volcano is debilitating, robbing you of your strength. Each step must be careful and measured in order to ensure that your next footfall will be on ancient igneous rock instead of 1000 degree black lava. The earth rumbles and a nearby vent erupts, spewing deep red magma and superheated rock behind you. It’s impossible to predict where the next one will be, and honestly it feels like it’s up to pure random chance whether you’ll live through this or not...

There was no special trick to this trial. No secret shortcut or clever way to lessen the danger. The gray ash clouds that waft a few feet above your head make flight a more dangerous prospect than remaining on the ground. Ash-caked feathers don’t work so well to hold winged creatures aloft, after all, and the superheated air from the eruptions above could prove to be fatal.

You suddenly feel the soles of your boots starting to melt and quickly reposition your feet to a cooler patch of ground. A glance down at Celestia’s now soot-blackened hooves causes you to wonder if she’s in any pain from the heat. She notices your gaze and gently nuzzles you in a wordless reply that everything’s okay.

You trudge on in silence. Speaking is an unnecessary risk when the air is so harmful, so the two of you keep quiet and use body language to convey any instructions or warnings to one another.

If there’s one positive thing in all of this, it’s that the exit is only several miles from where you arrived. You will yourself to place one foot in front of the other with the knowledge that each step brings you closer to the end. But despite the amount of concentration it takes to keep yourself moving in the heat, your mind still finds time to wander, flittering between disconnected memories and daydreams; anything to take you away from your current circumstances.

You think back to your arrival in Equestria, and all the things you had to adjust to. The first day was quite a shock, but you adapted quickly because your first defense mechanism was to convince yourself that you’d fallen into a coma somehow, either on the trail or due to a previously unknown medical condition. Believing that this colorful world was merely a very vivid dream made accepting things as they came easy.

Yet, there’s a certain point you normally reach when the fact that you’re dreaming becomes obvious. You kept waiting and waiting for such a time to come, or for there to be even a hint of it, but it never appeared, and that’s when you started to become afraid.

You weren’t mistreated. The ponies were all welcoming. Your eventual audience with Celestia was a little cold and intimidating, but she deemed you no threat. But when you asked her if there was a way for you to return home, and she replied that it wasn’t possible, your greatest fear was suddenly realized, and you didn’t know what to do.

It was a blow you didn’t think you’d ever recover from, but two ponies wouldn’t let you fall into despair. Not if they had anything to say about it, at least. The first was Pinkie Pie, your friend from day one. She convinced the Cakes to hire you and kept you busy with working together, playing games, or assisting in her antics. The second was Twilight Sparkle, the little unicorn who was endlessly fascinated by you. She wanted to know everything, EVERYTHING, about your world, your species, your culture, your habits.

And yes, her enthusiasm was very cute. You spent a lot of time talking with her at the end of each day, and she filled journal after journal with notes as the candles burned down to their wicks inside the cozy Treebrary...

You stumble for a bit and Celestia catches you with her shoulder. She flashes a worried glance but you hold a hand up to indicate that you’re fine. You turn your gaze to the river of lava flowing down the far side of the mountain as you resume your march. Being transported to a land of magical horses is one thing, but who’d have thought you’d ever end up in a place like this? Where did it all go wrong?

It was so gradual you barely even noticed, but Twilight’s obsession grew. And you spurned her, over and over again, first unintentionally, and then with the intention of gently guiding her interests elsewhere. You didn’t want to break her heart. Looking back, you were a coward about the whole thing. Maybe if you’d been up front about it from the start, this all could’ve been avoided, and you could’ve lived your entire life without having to literally stroll along the river Phlegethon.

But then again, maybe not. Especially given the lengths she’s gone to bring you back. It might just be in her nature, and it could’ve been some poor colt on the receiving end of all of this instead of you.

Yet, despite all that’s happened, some good has come of it. No, not just ‘some’ good... a LOT of good. You met a girl. Well, a mare. You lived together. You had to deal with all her annoying mannerisms and habits. You pulled huge multicolored balls of hair from the shower drain more than once, and any sweets left around the house would quickly vanish, among other things...

But along with all that stuff came a gentle warmth that filled your life and drowned out the emptiness left behind from being torn from your world and your home. Like the sun rising on the last day of winter, she melted it all away and uncovered the real you again, and in doing so, she revealed her own self to you.

And in that way she captured your heart...

Your gaze has unconsciously shifted from the burning river to the exhausted alicorn. She notices and you see the crease of a smile form underneath the piece of cloth she’s using as a mask.

And then there’s a loud whistle from the ground beside you: the sound of a new vent opening. The initial blast of air is followed by a small spray of molten rock, and in that instant, you know you’re going to die.

A large white wing wraps in front of your body to shield you from the lava, and you hear Celestia’s cry of pain as it sears her. The two of you stumble to the side to escape the vent, even as the white feathers burn away.

When you’re certain you’re both in a safe place, you examine her wing to find that the secondaries are all but gone, and most of the primaries are either missing or burned beyond use. The flesh of the appendage is badly burned in places and needs treatment as fast as you can muster.

You see the tears in her eyes for a moment before she stands again and ushers the both of you forward. A thousand thoughts are flashing through your mind that you want to voice, but you know you can’t without inhaling too much of the fouled air.

You reach out to pet her neck, she turns to you, and everything is answered by the expression in her eyes:

’Some things are much more precious.’

She leaps from the top of a ridge, and you feel weightless for a mere moment before her hooves make contact with the snow once more, sending a large plume of white spray into the air. You clutch her mane tighter as she gallops faster than you’ve ever seen, as if she could outrun the frigid wind itself.

“Geez, Cel, take it easy! You’re gonna work your bandages loose at this rate!”

She snorts as she turns to avoid the remains of a shattered progenitor pillar rising from the snow.

“I’m not that fragile. And it’s just a wing. I grew up without them, just as I grew up without unicorn magic, and I needed neither to overcome something as trivial as this!”

You lean back a bit as she drives on through the frozen fields and take a moment to admire your surroundings. Intricately carved pillars reach toward the heavens all around you; some easily 15 feet in diameter and 10 stories high or more. They resemble larger versions of the pillars found near the desert ruins, though they’re carved from what you assume is a much sturdier type of local stone. The stars are already visible above in the slightly cloudy midnight blue sky as the setting sun paints the snow-covered horizon various shades of yellow and orange...

This place is the polar opposite, in nearly every way, of the last trial. Instead of there being a scant few miles of terrain to traverse to reach the exit, this vast, somewhat uneven snowfield easily stretches for over a hundred. Instead of the ever-present danger of erupting lava and toxic air that would kill you relatively quickly, the greatest threat here is the creeping cold which drains the strength of the unwary traveler until they fall into a sleep from which they’ll never awaken.

In short, it’s a different kind of test of endurance. While the Road of Fire required everything you had at once, this place requires everything you have in a strictly measured amount: too little and you’ll never advance, too much and you’ll never see the exit.

You learned all this the hard way. Your hobbies of mountain climbing and backpacking back on Earth helped prepare you for this somewhat, but to actually make it the entire way through here on your own put every survival skill you had to the test. For you, this was by far one of the hardest trials you faced.

…But don’t bother telling Cel any of that. She’s moving so fast you rub your eyes to make sure you’re not riding a goddamn motorcycle instead of a horse. At this rate, you’ll traverse all 100 miles in 3 hours or less!

Though you can’t see her face, her determination is all too evident from the positioning of her ears and head that you’re able to catch a glimpse of as the strands of her mane not currently in your hands whip about in the air. Now, more than ever, you can see an image in your mind of the proud earth pony, Celosia, as she galloped onward through these same fields with her friends in an age long forgotten by most...

”The appearance of the mysterious ‘Altar on the Hill’ changed everything. We quickly discovered that standing near it at dusk would grant each of us a special stone of incredible latent magical power attuned specifically to us. This was, without a shadow of a doubt, the great magic both myself and Clover were searching for. But no matter what we tried, we couldn’t determine how to harness it in any useful way. It was frustrating, but I knew it was only a matter of time until we discovered the secret. It was right in front of us, so tantalizingly close, but I felt in my heart that together we would prevail.”

“To have the existence of the great magic confirmed caused me to have a crisis of conscience. My mission and duty was to return this power to the earth pony tribe so it could be used to overcome and subjugate the pegasi and unicorns. But in my months getting to know my new friends, I came to learn that not all ponies of the other tribes were bad. Far from it, as from what they told me, others of their kind were growing tired of the constant state of war between us, and the same was true of some of my old earth pony friends. As I held the strange, but precious stone in my hooves, I came to realize that I could never do such a thing, and that I would have to betray the wishes of my people in order to stay true to my heart.”

“Tearfully, I confessed my purpose to the others. Gloomy was shocked; Clover, not so much, but neither spurned me. We spoke long into the night, and eventually made a vow with one another: that we would unlock this power, and then use it to unite the tribes in friendship and harmony. Though such a thing would’ve been unthinkable to me mere months before, I knew it would be possible now, because the three of us were living proof. Through the vow we made, we became siblings, and as an only foal I was delighted to have suddenly found an older brother and younger sister.”

“Our next great discovery was learning that if we held one of the special stones and approached the Wayshrine Gates, they would become active portals to other, faraway places throughout the world, some of which nopony had ever seen or dreamed existed. Further still, when one eventually returned from these places via a special exit spell created by the shrines, the stone they held would be empowered by incredible magical energy, though the energy still couldn’t be harnessed. As a result, we came to the conclusion that we would have to pass through all thirteen gates with a stone in order to unlock its potential.”

“It took us two and a half years, Anon. We had to learn everything ourselves. We lost many of the stones to trial and error, and had to start from nothing over and over again. We completed some of the earlier gates more times than I can count, but we persevered, and eventually each one of us held a true, completed Orb of Ascension. But still, much to our endless frustration, the magic remained sealed within the Orbs, forever out of our grasp. We didn’t understand; they were filled to capacity with the world’s magic, so there could be no more gates. What were we missing? What more was there to do?”

“Like so many other times, the answer came by chance. Gloomy willingly passed her Orb to Clover for him to examine, and in that moment the great magic we sought for so long was revealed...”

The field drops off as a vast frigid ocean comes into view on the horizon, marking the trial’s end. You take the time to examine the bandages on Celestia’s injured wing again, as you’ve done the entire time, to make sure they’re holding. You don’t care how much she bitches about it at this point; you’ll be changing them again and reapplying some burn ointment after you return to Equus.

You can see the rune shining on a nearby cliff overlooking the ocean now. Celestia slows her pace as she nears it, then stops and collapses in the snow, throwing you from her back.

“Cel!”

You quickly recover and scramble over to her. Her chest heaves and her deep, gasping breaths flow through the cold air and drift away on the wind. You brush her mane away to get a look at her eyes and assess her condition.

“Cel, are you alright? Can you see me? How many fingers am I holding up?”

She takes a few more gulps of air and shakes her head a bit before laying it back down in the snow.

“I’m... I’m fine... I just need a moment, please...”

She doesn’t look fine. Not by a longshot. This amazing pony just ran for over a hundred miles at top speed, never stopping once, all while carrying you and your gear upon her back. You run your fingers through her mane as you uncork your canteen and help her drink what’s left inside.

“We could’ve stopped to rest, you know,” you say. “We had the time.”

The exhausted alicorn shakes her head. “No. I couldn’t stop, Anon. Because if I did, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get started again.” She attempts to stand, but quickly falls back to the snowy ground, and she flashes you a sheepish smile. “I’m... I’m afraid I’ll need you to help me the rest of the way, my little human. I hope it’s not too much trouble.”

With your assistance, she’s able to stand, and you slowly guide her toward the nearby exit.

“It’s not. But I’m used to you causing trouble, so even if it was, it’d be no big deal.”

That gets a slight giggle out of her. “You’re so gracious to put up with me. Is it too late to ask for a humanback ride?”

“Yeah, way too late. If you were as small as Apple Bloom, maybe, but I kind of like my spine to be not-collapsed, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh. So you’re saying I’m fat, then.”

You sigh and ruffle her mane a bit as she leans against you. “I’m saying you’re my big pony. And it’s one of the many, many, many reasons I love you.”

She closes her eyes and places her head on your shoulder. “You’re such a charmer. That was a good save... I suppose I’ll need to lay a better trap for you next time.”

You chuckle and switch your mane-ruffling into a gentle noogie as you step onto the rune together and return to the much warmer open fields of Equus.

Despite her protests, you didn’t allow Celestia to lift a single hoof as you made camp and prepared dinner. Her absolute exhaustion was more than obvious whether she was willing to admit it or not. Thankfully, this also meant she was too tired to misbehave, so she calmly remained within the safety of the shelter you built, her magenta eyes following you as you went about your work. You even fed her her dinner yourself, one spoonful at a time, which she initially strongly resisted. That attitude quickly changed after the first few bites and she savored the treatment, even playing with you a few times by refusing to let go of the spoon.

After dinner, you removed her bandages and retreated and redressed her wounded wing. She was surprisingly more cooperative this time, so you were actually able to do a proper job. Once that task was done, you went foraging for more fuel for the fire in addition to some leafy plants to provide extra bedding (and possibly a midnight snack) for her.

You return to camp to find the pony resting with her eyes closed, but she opens them again when she hears your approaching footsteps. You kneel down and gently push her shoulder, and she understands the gesture and rolls over on her good side so you can lay the additional bedding down underneath her.

“You know, if you keep this up I’ll become spoiled,” she says as you spread the leaves out beneath her.

“More spoiled than me, you mean? Because if I remember right, you’ve been carrying me on your back for most of these trials.”

You place a few more branches on the fire and sit down beside her. Soon enough, a pair of white lips find your cheek for a chaste kiss.

“That doesn’t count, because I enjoy doing it.”

“Then none of this counts either, because I enjoy doing it too.”

She leans against you, and you gently guide her head to your lap, where she lets out a contented sigh as you begin to scratch her favorite places.

“...I was a little silly back there, wasn’t I?” she mutters.

“Yeah, a little. But you were damn determined, that was for sure. It was amazing.”

“Yes, well, when I realized I couldn’t fly anymore, I thought about how much time we’d lose as a result, and I wanted to push myself to make up for it. But any time we gained would’ve been easily lost and more had my strength given out and I collapsed far away from the trial’s exit. I promise I won’t be so reckless again.”

“It’s okay, Cel. I would’ve carried you the rest of the way. I don’t know how, but I would’ve figured it out.”

“I know. But I don’t want to have to ask that of you. What you’re doing now is more than enough.”

You gently place her head on the bedding as you stand to tend the fire again. “You should sleep.”

“Yes, I should. The adrenaline is wearing off, and the food in my stomach will coax me to sleep soon, I’m sure...” You turn back to her, and her tired eyes plead with you in that way she knows always works. “But you’ve become a bit of a security blanket for me, and I’m afraid if you’re not by my side, I’ll have nightmares.”

“Right, right, I get the message...”

Removing your gear, you lie next to her, and like always two hooves soon find themselves around you. Celestia lets out a contented sigh as you both settle in and close your eyes.

You both begin to drift off, but just as you’re almost asleep, you hear her mumble, “Three gates remain. They’ll be difficult, but I’m confident we’ll succeed.”

“Yeah... me too.”

“The true challenge will be what comes after, I fear...”

You don’t answer, her warmth and steady breathing having already lulled you to sleep.