I stood up and looked around. I was in the back of the train car and the sounds of yawning and waking up in front of me continued as the entire team came out of their sleep. Thunderlane stirred on the mattress-like seat just in front of mine (they were all separated by some kind of short glass barrier). He opened his eyes and rubbed the top of his head, looking around groggily.

"Dude I had a weird dream," he said shaking his head and after which he shot a quick smirk-like glance towards the Princess that I would've probably missed had I not been gifted with some extra information in that regard.

"Uh," I said gently, looking away. "It wasn't by any chance about Princess Luna, was it?"

"Huh?" he asked, immediately looking over with a surprised and somewhat nervous expression. Don't worry, I hadn't forgotten my promise. "H-how do you know that?"

"She visited all of us in our dreams last night you idiot," suddenly muttered the voice of Blossomforth. She had just sat up from her own sleeping pace on the other side from us and was rubbing her forehead. Thunderlane's mouth dropped.

"She... She can do that?" he asked, petrified. "You mean like that was actually her? So she remembers all of it?"

"It would seem so," I replied, feeling bad. His horrified face froze and he stared into space.

"Oh gosh... I'm screwed."

"Ugh! If this isn't the last thing I could ever wanna imagine before freezing to death!" Blossomforth said, shaking her head disgustedly.

"Oh come on!" started Thunderlane, getting more embarrassed by the second. "I mean, it's not like I - you know... It's not like we - it's not like anything hap-"

"Oh stop it," she replied, burying her head in her hooves. "Just stop!"

"I wouldn't worry about too much about it, I don't think she cares," I assured him, referring to the Princess. "Probably flattered more than anything."

"Well jeez, I'm sorry it's not my fault she's so attrac-" he uttered, rolling his eyes to the floor.

At that point it seemed just about everyone was awake now but the car was quiet save for a few muffled conversations. The Wonderbolts made up the front of the car, while us non-members - Thunderlane, Blossomforth, Buddy, Whitewash, Merry May, Clear Skies and myself - were in the back. The mood was identical for both groups; scared and quiet, though Spitfire and a couple other of her top lieutenants wore tough expressions. Given it was in the early morning hours, there was no sunlight whatsoever and our only source of light inside the car itself were oil lamps that went all the way down the ceiling from front to back.

"Welcome back from your dreams, my subjects," addressed the Princess, standing in the middle at the front of the car. There were two royal guards on either side behind her, both a charcoal grey in color. Her expression, like in my dream for the most part, was caring but serious. The rest of us went silent, and she could clearly feel the fear all around her. "I pray you all benefited from my conversations with you last night. There is real strength and value in each and every one of you, and I mean that so sincerely. There is no reason whatsoever that any of you should doubt each other... or yourselves," she continued. At her last words her had eyes rested on me.

I tried to gauge the mood of everypony there, but it was hard to tell. They were completely silent, and it seemed like they had a hard time accepting it. Everyone was just afraid.

"Now... do you any of you have any questions for me, before I move on to preparations?" she asked, her voice soft and encouraging though no one made a sound. She looked down and drew in one final deep breath. "Very well."

She turned her head sideways to signal to her guards, who's horns lit with magic at her command. Suddenly from some place I could not see there were black, heavy winter cloaks with hoods rushing down the isle, coming to a halt in each pony's hooves. They started in the front and made their way back towards us.

"We are in the Frozen Plains, not twenty miles from where you will be exiting this train. On a clear day you could see the Crystal Mountains to our north, and stretching out in either direction. To our west is your destination, where the mountains dip down into the Valley."

Just then, the cloaks had made it to the back of the car; Thunderlane and Blossomforth caught theirs, and I watched the last winter blanket sail into my hooves. It was thick and surprisingly heavy, but as soon as it got over my back and the rest of my body I knew that weight would disappear. They came in a pocket with a smaller cloak that I guessed was for the foal we carried. Thunderlane shot me a nervous glance, while another familiar female voice chimed in from somewhere close in front of us.

"Too bad our own winter coats aren't in yet," said Clear Skies, eyeing the skin on her own body disappointedly and after which Princess Luna continued.

"You may put on your clothing now. Next I am passing you back two sacks of oats of the highest quality. These you will carry over your cloak of course," she said, doing her best to hide any emotional weight in her words. She then looked over and nodded at a mare that I didn't know was here until just then; it was the fleabitten grey, Dr. Snowmane, the doctor from Whinnyapolis. She was clearly very smart, but new to this kind of situation and exactly confident.

"You've got ten pounds of oats in these sacks. Now remember, our bodies need food to keep warm and function properly. The idea is to preserve them; eat little portions at a time frequently," she advised.

"Easy for you to say," muttered Thunderlane.

"The idea is to save a smaller portion for the foal you will be carrying," she added. Thunderlane nodded in defeat, though she of course was oblivious to his mutterings back here. "Same goes for the water in these canteens, which will clip to your coat."

The guards' horns lit up again and began passing back sacks of oats down the car, as well as canteens of water. I looked down and saw mine that had already been given to me. I decided to slip into my winter cloak while the others got their oats. It fell across my entire body and down my legs, though I kept the hood off. It didn't take long and I could already feel my body starting to warm up. It looked heavier before I put it on but now that I had it on it was surprisingly light and flexible. Thunderlane and I ended up getting each other's oats saddled over our backs, so one bag was on either side.

"Next, you will each be given twenty feet of enchanted rope - the strongest in Equestria, though gentle on your bodies. This will be to help secure your foals to your backs. As for the extra, you never know what you may need it for so we have decided to make it twenty," she said, and cords of rope began moving towards the back.

"Where are we supposed to put these?" asked a Wonderbolt mare who was struggling to put on her winter outfit.

"They come with a pin you can clip right to your clothing," said Princess Luna. "Lastly," she continued, looking us over, "you will each be given ten green flares and two orange flares."

Once again she nodded to the doctor, who pulled one out for a demonstration. Both the green and the orange flares were like like thin sticks with thicker, pointy tops - kind of like a firework, with a small fuse at the bottom of end of each one.

For the record, there was small degree of whispering going on throughout the car at this point but I was trying to pay as much as attention as possible to the princess and her aides, so I only really caught what they said and the words of those right next to me.

"On each of these flares you will find a small piece of cord attached to the bottom. If you need to set them off, hold them up and bite this small chord off the bottom," explained the doctor, pointing to it. "Obviously I'm not going to demonstrate in here, but they must be shot straight into the air away from anypony obviously. They go about fifty feet into the air and explode bright colors in all directions. They're fireworks, essentially. Just instead of entertainment they will help you find each other if you are lost. The orange flares are lit in the same way but they are just like torches. They each burn for up to an hour so use them sparingly. Once you light one of them you cannot relight it, so you must use the whole flare at one time."

I was surprised that no one had any questions or anything, especially considering the Princess frequently looked as though she was waiting for us to ask one.

"Finally," she said quietly, "you will each be given a small cloak for the foal you will carry back."

Suddenly I was overcome with a strange feeling. It was like a call to connect with the other ponies around me. I think I had remembered my promise to Rainbow to look after the other members of this team. I looked up towards the front of the car at each of the Wonderbolts sitting in front of me and then the rest of us here in the back. It seemed like we were already two separate groups of ponies trying to pose as one. Spitfire was the clear-cut commander of the Wonderbolts and the Princess seemed to have dubbed her the sovereign of all of us, but I knew she couldn't be nearly the effective leader of our group that Rainbow was. I wanted her to succeed, even if she had shown very little confidence in us thus far, but I just wasn't sure how she could since there seemed to be mutual resentment between us and her and we hadn't even gotten out there yet.

Gazing into each face of all the ponies around me, I soaked in as much of their feelings as I could. If I was going to be their servant I wanted each of their faces to have a personal meaning for me. I wanted to understand their thoughts and emotions. I wanted to learn to love and appreciate them in my own way, whatever that was going to be. I knew I can never be the cool and charismatic leader that Rainbow is and that it'd therefore be useless to try and imitate her leadership style. What is a leader, I asked myself. Does a leader have to be those things? Or can a leader be someone who just does what he can for his friends, whether they like him or not? I started to wonder whether or not she would approve of my efforts, wanting so badly to make my promise worthy of her.Just concentrate on them, her voice suddenly echoed from inside. The rest will come.

Suddenly the train came to a halt. I think all of our hearts dropped, including the Princess'. The only sounds were the faint whistles from the locomotive and the winds that sailed across the plains, and the silence loomed over us like a black cloud. Up until then I'd like to think I'd done a pretty good job of putting my fear aside, but now it was back in full force. Even the Princess looked afraid and at a loss for words.

"Sonic," she finally said gently to me. "Will you please lead us out the back door?"

Her request caught me off guard and I think it also caught the others off guard as well. Not only was I expecting her to lead us out, she hadn't given us a final goodbye or speech of some kind. I presumed that would come outside, and I guess it made sense for me to go out first since I was the closest the person to the door. This also put me in an even more uncomfortable spot because then all eyes turned on me. After an initial hesitation on my part I nodded my head to her and turned around. I would've hesitated again at the door and taken a deep breath if I wasn't on the spot, but being on it I forced myself to open the door and walked out despite my reservations.

I stepped outside onto the platform and immediately an icy wind brushed itself over my face. I hadn't experienced cold like this in a long time, if not ever. With Thunderlane and Blossomforth right behind me I stepped down off the platform to make room for the others and walked a few steps from the train car, putting my hood up as soon as I could. The snow was not as deep as I was expecting, only up to my ankles though the snow swirled across the flat plains all around me. There was patchy cloud cover in the sky but the moon and surrounding stars were free. They lit up the valley, and with their shining down they conveyed to me that they alone knew my fate and were unable to share that mystery with me.

Down the tracks from where we came, which would be the south, I saw nothing but frozen plains as far as I could see. To the north though there was a huge mountain range, probably only a few miles in front of us. The world seemed so wide and vast up here that if weren't for the situation I would've gazed in awe at the sight of it, and did so anyway to some degree. There was a fork in the tracks right in front of the locomotive with one of the lines heading straight north into the mountains. The other line turned west northwest where it seemed the mountains came down a little further south, and remembering the map I guessed that back there was our destination - the dreaded Valley of White Death. Oh my goodness...

It was a narrow valley, apparently surrounded by mountains on all sides which it made it more menacing from right here. There was also a much thicker and darker cloud base over that part of the sky than any other section in any direction. Even at nighttime as an outline it looked terrifying, and just looking at it seemed to overpower me with intimidation. Rainbow... I'm so scared.

Eventually I felt Thunderlane and an increasing number of others standing right behind me at either side, looking on with the same fear. Think of those kids, Sonic... Think of Rainbow... I wondered in admiration how she could approach a situation like this with such courage and confidence. Looking at my path I knew this was one of those moments where you make a decision with lasting consequences.

It wasn't just me though. Everyone was going through what I was going through. This is a moment where you either face your fear and move forward for your loved ones or you tuck tail and run. I never thought the temptation to the latter would be so strong but given how frightening going forward would be. In my heart I knew I couldn't turn back now, because I couldn't leave Scootaloo and the others out there after seeing their faces last night in my dream. I would rather die than leave them out there and abandon a promise to the angelic mare that I owe my life.

"My most beloved subjects," called the tender voice of Princess Luna behind me. She was standing just a few feet from the tracks, and the rest of the ponies that had congregated on either side of me turned back and faced her as well. It was already clear that a few ponies did not want to be here, and were barely focused on her. "I wish with all of my heart that I could accompany you," she confessed, lamenting in her expression.

She then went silent. It looked like she was searching herself for the strength to give us, and at first she was struggling. Suddenly I think most of us probably felt as bad for her as we did for ourselves. She finally took a deep breath and after looking down at the ground for moment returned to us with boldness.

"There is nothing I can tell you that is going to make this journey easy. You are the best fliers in Equestria and you are our only hope. I know all too well the call towards that which is easy. But true friendship, my little ponies, is not easy," she continued, and her eyes softened. "At the heart of this mission is the dignity of our foals, and therefore the dignity of ourselves. These are your little brothers and sisters, and your own foalhood friends. Will you let them perish?"

I wasn't sure how the ponies in front of me were taking her words because they had their hoods up, but I wanted very much to take her words to heart.

"This journey will show who you really are. It will end in either happiness or tragedy. Truly I tell you... this will end happily only if *all* of you let the dignity of life and the power of friendship guide your every action and effort. You will go as far as you are willing to take your love."

She looked at us long and hard, and I have no doubt of the love that she had for all of us. Once again I was left wondering exactly how the rest of them took it, though their feelings were of burning interest to me. Several heads turned and looked at each other. The pony in front of me turned their hood backwards; it turned out to be Thunderlane, and I returned his soulful gaze with my own.

"Go, my subjects," said the Princess, "with all of the good will of myself and my sister. Heaven bless you all."

We stood still in spite of her command, but only for a moment. This was in a way our official beginning of the journey. We knew that by turning around and taking flight we were leaving the comfort and protection of our previous lives and journeying into unknown territory. Turning around and leaving our Princess wasn't easy after all.

Finally Spitfire , who standing closest to the Princess, barked over back over her shoulder towards.

"Wonderbolts - formations," she called.

The rest of them quickly but reluctantly began to fall in some kind organized stance shoulder to shoulder in between Spitfire and I. Myself and the rest of us non-members who were from Ponyville stood still in confusion. Eventually they formed a V with a space at the front where the tip and leader would be, which Spitfire then walked up to with Fleetfoot on her right shoulder. She spread her wings and the Wonderbolts on either side of her followed suit together simultaneously.

"Fall in line," she remarked to us. I presumed this meant now, but before we could join their V she commanded "Up!" and the group went flying into the sky towards the valley.

Instinctively I leapt into the air and started to follow them and the rest followed suit. Just as my instincts sent me into the air, they suddenly caused me to stop in a hover. I turned around as every other pony from our group whizzed past me towards the main group and for one final look at the Princess. She was having quite the emotional experience as I mostly took pity and wonder from her gaze as she stared back at me. I had felt like we made deep connection in my dream and I wanted to thank her for counsel, but I realized I didn't have time for that could only hope my looking back at her said enough. Just as I turned away from her I caught a glimpse of a stray tear falling down her cheek.

The wind in my face as we flew towards the mountains behind which lay the Valley of White Death was painfully cold, and all implications seemed to be that the weather inside the valley was even worse. I had settled on the right side of the V formation at the last spot. Buddy was just to my left, and Clear Skies just to his left. As we got closer and closer the mountains that were already so tall and steep seemed to tower over us suffocatingly. There didn't appear to be any kind of entry point; it seemed like the only way in over the top of the mountains. It wasn't until we had nearly reached the mountains themselves that a meandering pass through the mountains became visible.

Spitfire slowed us down to a slow glide as we approached it. We were low to the ground too, maybe only twenty yards high. The mountains seemed to dip down to smaller heights in this converging spot. There were several pine trees at the mouth of the entrance which was very dark given given the surrounding mountains. There was a small path at the base with still steep cliffs on either side and it appeared to narrow to just a few yards wide like a rock maze with towering walls. The path ahead made a right turn into the rocks and then quickly disappeared.

Wrought with angst I looked back over my shoulder for one last look before we went in. In front of me and to my right were the vast frozen plains, with small orange specks of light representing lanterns from our train maybe three or four miles away. To the left of this view in the direction the train was pointed laid the Crystal Mountains that got appeared bigger and bigger as they got closer and closer the more leftward I looked until they finally disappeared just in front of the range we were about to enter.

"Single file!" barked Spitfire.

I whirled my head back around just as we entered the pass into the valley. The Wonderbolts in one giant movement sifted into single file line. We in the back were much less graceful in our formations, bumping into each other shuffling. As Spitfire made the first turn into the twisting rocky path the rock walls blocked out the moon and stars and it became so dark that it was difficult to see much of anything.

"Left!" cried Spitfire in the pitch black, and the first few Wonderbolts after her began to turn with her as she had somehow sensed a turn. Ponies a little further behind them however started crying out as they ran into the rock wall and onto the ground. I slowed down to a hover and reached my hooves out to stop Buddy from going any further. He jumped with reactionary fear at first before he realized it was just me.

"Ah! Everybody down," shouted an angry Spitfire from some unseen spot up ahead. The sound echoed loud in this narrow pathway as the rest of us dropped to the ground, which was freezing cold rock with no snow. "What's the problem? Are you really not able to follow simple common-sense procedures?"

"We can't see anything!" cried the voice of a mare among other muffled sounds of aches and bruises.

"We've got to talk more. Communication is the key," said the voice of Blossomforth.

"She's right," muttered the deep voice of what sounded like Whitewash.

"I'll make the decisions, thanks. I know how to assess a situation," replied Spitfire. Suddenly her fiery face lit up in an orange light that illuminated much of the path and surrounding rocks; she had lit her torch, and it was resting in her mouth. She spit it into her hoof and handed it to Fleetfoot who was right behind her and walked forward as she assessed the group of ponies struggling to get up off the ground. I noticed Thunderlane and Merry May among the fallen, though other four or so were Wonderbolts, which seemed to unpleasantly surprise Spitfire who shook her head.

"Alright, I guess we'll have to walk through here on hoof. Who's in the middle, Rapidfire? You get a torch going, and who's in the way back?" she asked, looking back in my direction. "Oh... I should've known," she remarked when she saw me as other heads turned in my direction. "Torch," she said, pointing her hoof at me commandingly.

Without any further hesitation she walked back to the front of the line and continued down the path, with Fleetfoot now holding the flare in her mouth as she and the rest began to follow in a single file line. Once us in the back had gotten into place, we too started walking again. I took the orange flare out of the pack hanging over the left side of my back and ripped the fuse out with my teeth. I wasn't sure how these things worked but I pulled it and a fuse seemed to shoot up one end on the inside of the flair before it lit the entire top on fire. I figured its main lighting source must be in the middle of the inside of the flair. I didn't want to hold it in my mouth so I placed in upright down one of the bags hanging over my back and kept my wing away from it. It felt a little warm but it wasn't as hot as I was expecting.

It was nice to have a stronger light in the back with me as we started forward again. It still wasn't comforting; the only sounds were our own hooves hitting the stone and the light winds passing through the path and the sound of stronger winds came from above over the rocks. I tried to keep my mind from racing; at times I found myself thinking almost exclusively about Rainbow and Scootaloo, though I tried to stay focused on the ones around me. That's what made this mission so hard; having to do it without her.

I was struggling to understand how she could possibly join us out here without the ability to fly. She insisted on it, but was she getting ahead of herself? No... Not even a broken wing could keep her from trying to come out here, even if this is the most undesirable place in the whole world. But then what role was she going to play in this? What role was I going to play? I still didn't even really know.

Poor Buddy I noticed right in front of me was shaking something awful. He seemed like a nervous wreck before we even came out here, I honestly wasn't sure how he even managed to get off the train. I admired him for his courage and I thought I'd try to lift him up.

"Hey, you're doing fine," I whispered to him. "I'm scared too... believe me."

His eyes turned back to acknowledge me; he seemed grateful but still very shaken (literally). An uneasy thought came to me as I turned my head back over my shoulder to see the path behind me disappearing into darkness.

"Hey, I'm in the very back so if anything comes from behind I'm gonna be the first one eaten. You'll be able to run away," I added. I guess it was my own sort of coping method, an attempt at dark humor that I really meant for to comfort him but upon hearing it he gasped and looked behind me with terror. I stopped and looked behind; though I was scared in general and conflicted interiorly I didn't expect there to be anything behind me yet at least. I turned around and that was still the case; nothing there.

I turned back around and encouraged him to walk forward.

"Those kids and the families of those kids will be eternally grateful for what you're doing right now," I told him with much more sincerity. He shook his head up and down with his eyes closed as though reassuring himself with what I said. I felt so bad for him, but I was right there with him too even if I didn't maybe show it quite as obviously as he was.

In front of Buddy, Clear Skies was walking delicately and looking up the walls on either side. Curiously, she looked more curious than afraid to me.

"Clear Skies," I whispered over Buddy's shoulder and she turned around. "How are you holding up?"

"Oh, I'm alright thank you for asking," she said much louder than me and a pegasus from the middle of the line turned around shushed towards the back of us, leading her to look embarrassed for a moment. "This is just like the time when the Mane six were wondering through the Everfree Forest at nighttime to confront Nightmare Moon a couple years ago," she remarked in a much quieter whisper.

"Uh, yeah... hehe," I replied.

"Are you alright Buddy?" she asked, looking as concerned as I had been. He shook his head up and down embarrassingly, though it was clear he was having a harder time with his fear than anyone else here. "You wanna walk beside me?" she offered, trying to smile at him. He seemed to like that idea and the two of them started walking shoulder to shoulder though they were barely able to fit down the narrow path. I came up close behind them and hoped that someone would not look back and complain that they weren't single file.

Suddenly the path began to widen on either side. The rocks stretched out and it seemed we had one more straightaway to make before we would turn back in the direction of the valley where we would presumably enter it officially. A small amount of snow started to cover the ground again.

We came up to the turn, and when we made it we eased forward slowly.

"Oh my goodness," said Clear Skies.

"What in the name of-?" said the voice of Spitfire from up front.

Several other ponies cried out with awe. In front of us the rocks got higher and higher above us as the path widened to about fifty yards, until the sky above us disappeared. The convergence of the mountains here there seemed to have been formed a natural bridge of rock. The valley seemed to lay in front of us on the other side of this rock bridge ceiling with the rocks and cliffs spreading wider until there was a distinct space between the real skyscraping mountains on either side. It appeared that way but was difficult to see past a few hundred yards in front of this natural bridge or so because it was simply too dark. Our flares had made it visible that it a few flurries of snow were drifting their way back to us.

What amazed us all though and was making our necks sore was the amazing circular holes that formed at the ceiling of this convergence of the mountains. Directly above us there were channels of rocks maybe five feet wide that you could fly up through and then into the valley as they were only a few yards long; they looked like they formed as for the winds seemed to come into them from the valley and be shot down directly on us. There was no wind at all but for a light breeze shooting straight the holes onto us, though the sounds of thundering gusts seemed to be just a half mile or so in front of us out in the open valley.

The ground we stood on seemed to be universally slanted downward at a slight decline towards the valley, and right in front of us as a huge and curious black hole many yards across and spanning the entire fifty yards or so wide. In awe of these new surroundings we seemed to have lost our organization and we all approached this black hole as a scatter. I walked up to the edge cautiously, careful not to lose my hoofing though I knew I had my wings to save myself if I did.

Just about everyone peered breathlessly into it. I put the torch back in my mouth and held it over. It appeared to be nothing but a black void going down an unknown distance, seemingly infinite in the already dark atmosphere we viewed it in. It was a mysteriously unpleasant thing to look at with an unspoken feeling of unbearable pity for the poor wingless creature that was cursed to fall into this black abyss.

"How deep do you think it is?" asked Thunderlane. But no one replied. We were too fixed and disturbed to answer.

Suddenly the winds in the distance died, and there was almost no sound. The uneasy feeling in all of our hearts got worse as we looked around frightened.

"Maybe we should keep moving," I uttered to myself, though it came out loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I think I remember hearing something about the entrance to this place. How it was dangerous," said one of the Wonderbolts, a stallion whose colors I could not really see but I knew he was male from his voice. Most of the rest of us turned a cautious eye to the pit, wondering if some monster was down there.

"Where did you hear that?" asked Spitfire, unable to hide the twinge of fear in her voice. "I thought no one ever came into this valley."

"It's very rare. The doctor was telling me on the train how most ponies have never made it far into the valley because in at the front of it there's some dark terror," he continued.

Looking at the huge hole and "dark terror" are certainly two words I could use to describe it. I looked over top of us and the natural bridge seemed to be pooling itself down into this hole even though half of the hole - the side opposite of us - was not even covered by the bridge, but by the open sky.

"Well, let's just fly across it and be done with it then," said Spitfire in a tone that seemed to admit it was much easier said than done. She said it, but nobody moved, not even herself. It was clear nobody wanted to be the first one across. I certainly was no different. "One of you - go out across," she commanded, pointing a hoof at Whitewash and Blossomforth who standing together. Both of them looked back incredulously. I looked back at the pit. Maybe it's just a hole... nothing more. Come on Sonic. Be brave. Be brave like her.

"Uh... after you, dear leader," said Blossomforth, as Whitewash stood his ground. Spitfire couldn't seem to believe their defiance, and wasn't amused in the slightest. She started to walk forward indignantly, and sensing a conflict arising I forced my will against my fear and went to speak up.

"I'll go across-"

Right when I went to speak up, a great and terrible noise came thundering in out of nowhere that demanded all of our attention. It did not come from the abyss, but from the open land just beyond the other side of it - from the valley. A roaring and monstrous gale just above our heads. Every last one of us froze, our eyes turning every which way in an upward direction. The thundering gust of wind came down and hit the rocks our heads before swirling down the tunnel.

"Fly! Into the valley!" someone cried.

Just as they did, about half the ponies from the group took in flight to the other side of the chasm, I among them. When I landed on the other side -the valley side - the winds were as not strong and they were not a threat as the gusts seemed to be stronger aloft where they hit the natural bridge and entered through the tunnels on the other side. To my shock and horror about the half group was still back on the other side, including my couple of friends from Ponyville. I watched as the winds smashed into them from the top and they struggled to keep upright as it blew them into the ground and then down towards the huge black pit.

Instinctively I darted back across the void and onto the slope where they were struggling, and immediately the mighty winds rained down on me. They were incredibly cold and powerful, and despite my wings and body resistance they seemed to be pushing me down the decline in the rocks and into the abyss. The ponies around me were all having the same problem and I was beyond scared. Images of Rainbow and I as foals played in my head as my life was flashing vividly in front of me. The winds seemed hellbent on blasting us into the hole and never letting us back up.

I slid into the hole and flapped my wings in fierce defiance of the winds. Other ponies around me were doing the same. Thunderlane was struggling hard against them, heading downward into the darkness as he desperately tried to save himself. Noo!!

"THUNDER!" I called to him.

Not about to see my beloved friend come to this unspeakable fate I struggled my way over to him and the two of us locked legs. We both powered ourselves forward with our combined wingpower. We made it to the other side and out of the most intense winds. We grabbed the side of the cliff and tried to hold on; it was too steep to climb but our wings allowed us to up it. When he looked like he was in the clear and with Wonderbolts and others reaching down to grab him from the top, I let him go and looked behind me. Buddy was struggling similarly, if not more desperately. I kicked off the cliff and re-entered the monstrous downdraft. I crossed my legs with Buddy's and the two of us started powering our way to the other side like I'd done before with Thunderlane. Amidst the chaos I looked over and just barely made out Clear Skies and Merry May screaming with terror as they struggled against the winds, their eyes shining with the fear of the abyss beneath them.

"Clear Skies!!!!" I shouted desperately and at the top of my wings over the roaring wind and the cries from ponies. To my tremendous relief I saw the faint gleam in her eyes through the darkness looked up from the black pit and at me. She saw what I was doing with Buddy. "Take Merry May!!!" I shouted.

Buddy and I reached the other side and the two of us climbed up the cliff side wall with the aid of our wings. When we got near the top the same stallion that had helped Thunderlane out took my hoof and lifted me up and out of the hole onto the other side as a group of ponies stood around us. When we got to the top I flung back around ready to throw myself back in if I had to. I saw Clear Skies and Merry May reach the side wall we were standing above and I saw another couple that had locked limbs doing the same a ways over from them. The two of them were having a little more trouble getting up as they were a little deeper and they had more winds going against them. Instinctively I leapt straight down the wall and stopped just beneath them. As Clear Skies made her way up, Merry May was struggling right behind her. I buried the top of my mane into Merry May's tail and pushed up with as much Wingpower as I could muster. Thunderlane, it turned out, had done the same with Clear Skies.

Merry May took the hoof of a ready stallion on top and was lifted up and out, and me right behind her. A few moments the other couple was helped out. Now, with all the ponies out of the hole and safely on the other side, we all fell back panting and gasping for breath as the thundering gail died down. The strongest winds that had come in from above and were never a threat to this side to begin with died down so all that remained was an strong arctic breeze across our faces.

"Is that everyone?" asked a wide eyed, panting Wonderbolt. Blossomforth's hoof was circling the group quickly and efficiently.

"I got everyone," she announced breathlessly, "but let me count again."

At those words I collapsed into the snow on my back and closed my eyes in relief. No one got hurt... My friends would live to see another hour. I survived and could hope to see Rainbow and the kids again, and deliver us all home safely where we could all be happy again. I can still dream a while longer... The thought of the children in danger and the possibility of failure still lingered as I laid there breathing, but it tortured me to a much less hysterical degree as the overwhelming terror I'd just experienced.

As I went to sit up I was thrown back into by Thunderlane who had wrapped his limbs around me almost suffocatingly.

"Dude!" he proclaimed joyfully. "I don't mean this in a weird way or anything, but like if I was a mare... well, forget that. Dude... You're the greatest!" he cried, burying his head in my chest. I was so relieved to see him so happy, and I indulged in his brotherly affections and gave them right back.

After a little bit of playful celebration we both got back up. Ponies all around us were having little moments like this in their own respective groups. Across the way I made out Blossomforth standing near Whitewash, looking triumphantly (though also respectfully) into the hole that they'd narrowly avoided. Buddy, Merry May, and Clear Skies appeared on either side of me as well.

"Thank you Sonic," said Merry May quietly with her head turned away and blushing. All this gratitude was starting to feel a little strange but I accepted it nonetheless. Buddy walked up with eyes rolled up and away but then he unexpectedly wrapped his front leg around my neck for hug of thanks.

"That was *amaziiiing*!!!" said Clear Skies. "That was just like Rainbow Dash when she saved her friend Rarity from the Cloudsdale flight competition!"

"Oh no," I replied, not meaning to cut her off. "Rainbow would've done more. Believe me," I muttered, knowing in my heart that she's a better flier than me and a lot less hesitant than I am.

Spitfire came and stood in the middle of us with a torch, and the groups of us all went silent. Her eyes were glued on the pit, and the rest of us turned back to it as well. She walked up to the edge and held the flare over it. Then, after we all scooted over the edge for a better look, she dropped it. We watched in silent unison as the flare fell down and down. It fell for several seconds, an amazingly long time, before it finally disappeared into the crushing darkness. All of us were speechless.

"I must say, that was a good idea to couple together like that, combine your wingpower," remarked Spitfire after a while, eventually looking across at both sides of herself where we were still lined up along the edge. "Who were the first ponies to do that?"

"I think it was these two," remarked a Wonderbolt stallion, pointing to me and Thunderlane.

"This guy saved me! You should've seen it! I mean, I'm not gonna give up all the credit," boasted Thunderlane.

Spitfire seemed surprised to hear this and if I may say so myself, almost disappointed. She looked at me as though she still didn't approve of my being there, which I just couldn't understand.

"Well, I guess Sonic has to make up for himself after ruining our water lift and injuring his girlfriend," she remarked with cold eyes in front of everyone. Her comment seemed to cut open a way for the freezing air to blow itself onto my heart. I turned my head down and looked away from her, unwilling to let her gaze pierce me anymore than they already had. Feeling the other's eyes I started to relive it all over again.

"You're unbelievable, do you know that?" cried a disgusted and disbelieving Thunderlane shortly after her comment, who went to move forward but was immediately restrained by Buddy and Clear Skies.

"I for one would like to know what exactly you hope to accomplish with remarks like that," said Blossomforth in her direction coldly.

"Let's get one thing straight," snarled Spitfire, walking towards her with building rage. "I'm in charge here. That's not just my rank, that's from the Princesses themselves. If I say you do something, you do it. If I say cross the canyon, you cross it! Why don't you start putting the needs of the team, the needs of the children before your own, huh? That's the only way we're gonna survive this cursed mission, understand? You wanna get back home, you listen to me. 'Cause look, if you wanna wander off on your own out here, and let me tell you - you Ponyvillians that have never been to the academy, save Whitewash here who doesn't even count - you wouldn't last a minute without us Wonderbolts. That goes for everybody. I wanna get out of this place and go home as badly as you all do. So if you wanna get through this with our protection, you better follow orders which means you better remember who the boss mare is. Are we clear?"

I didn't see the others' reaction, but I could hear Thunderlane's furious panting from here; I turned my head up ever so slightly though I was terrified of seeing Spitfire's eyes again. For the record I had felt the need to defend myself and clarify that I hadn't been the one who caused the water lift failure (or Rainbow's injury) - that I was in fact set up, but she didn't believe me before and didn't seem like she would now. At the end of the day I still hesitated when those three bullies were about to act against me in the tornado.

"You will show me some respect," she told Thunderlane to his face as he fumed in Buddy and Clear Skies' limbs. A stallion to my right leaned his head in to tell me something. By his voice I recognized him as Soarin', and I got that he may have been a friend of Rainbow's.

"She's normally not this bad," he remarked, but unfortunately it didn't help much. "I'm sorry."

Eventually Spitfire turned around and walked several steps the front of the group as we all put a few ponies' lengths between us and the pit. In front of us all now was the outline of the dreaded Valley of White Death. Directly in front of us the valley expanded to a half mile wide or so. Visibility in front of us was less than two miles, and even at two miles it was very obscured in the darkness and the light snow that blew around us which we knew from the flakes in our manes and the lone flare that remained lit - Rapidfire's. Pine trees littered the rolling hills that were scattered throughout bottom of the valley. On each end the mountains stood steep and abrupt, quickly disappearing into the cloudy night above us or into the snows in front of us. A stiff and icy wind hovered at ground level where we were, and in the distance stronger winds howled. We were officially here.