Weather Permitted (closed)

[Shivaree]

As a strong gust of wind descended the rocky slopes, Starlight's periwinkle mane swayed as the wind tugged at her. She cringed slightly, the frosty nip in the air seemed to grow colder by the minute. She had left the window open on account of the warm weather, but that was at the base of the mountain. By now, Starlight figured they were reaching the peak of the mountainous ridge. Starlight had experienced bad weather before, but nothing like this. It was her first time travelling along the mountain ridge.

"I sure hope we make it in one piece." Starlight spoke through chattering teeth. Her petite body quaked as the cold continued to seep in, even after she had closed the open window. As the train continued to climb the mountain, she could only hope that the storm would let up. Weather had proven itself to be unpredictable.

Starlight turned towards the window. Though her eyes could not see what lie beyond the glass, her nose could just feel the frost as it built up on the window's frame. It was probably snowing by now. At the moment, she could only imagine what the mountain side looked like.

OoC: I hope this was an okay post. Let me know if I need to revise anything.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

The winds gave out a loud howl as the toast colored stallion focused on the tracks in the Eponnine Mountains. Promontory constantly had to as the other train ponies called it "surf the rails" where he would put his hooves atop the rail guards and slide the small one person train behind him so that it could make it through the tight twists and turns while keeping its wheel locked in the tracks to keep the passenger safe.

I know Hoofenheim makes its own laws but clearing a passenger train for the blizzard is nuts. Even for my own standards."

Promontory puffed out as he pulled the train as hard as he could over a large brink before being forced to quickly "surf" around a face that blended in with the howling snow and wind. Promontory knew that this was getting to dangerous but the Celestial guards had asked for this mare to be delivered as soon as possible for a special venue at Canterlot and it seemed the studio that had hired her were more then willing to put her and Promontory at risk if it meant getting in good with the Princess.

"Lets see if those books were right, then next is the spindle gap that will lead to the next mountain pass.

Promontory thought; recalling his time spent in the library at Hoofheim attempting to pick the fast train route to Canterlot. Sure enough, a large drop appeared in the blinding snow making the small one passenger train rocket down like a roller coaster into a small passing area. However as Promontory planted his hooves into the Earth to slow down the train he felt his front hoof give way under a sheet of black ice that had built up under the tracks.

"Shoot!"

Promontory said angrily as he tried to quickly readjust his black hooves to stay within the rails. However the more he tried the more his hooves began to slip on the black ice. Finally it happened, Promontory felt his front hoof slide again and this time he went to his knee making him slam into the front of the train. The train cart to rock violently back and forth from the large stallion being pushed into the train until the wheels finally snapped from the safe rails and made the train begin to slide on the frozen track. Prmontory quickly tried to recover and pushed all into the frozen ground.

"Come on! Come ON!"

Promontory thought angrily as he stomped his hooves harder making them smash through the black ice and into the dirt. Finally after what felt like a life time the small train came to a sliding stopped. Promontory hooves where deeply dug into the earth. As he pulled each hoof out he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his front right hoof that made him wince.

"Great...Just great."

Promontory thought angrily as he looked up at the gray clouds as another gust of wind howled passed him.

[Shivaree]

Making her way to the small bed at one corner in the passenger cart, Starlight could hear a loud gust of wind outside. The whole train seemed to shake at its passing, forcing Starlight to anchor herself down. She entered a slightly crouched position, waiting for the train to even out. Of course, it wasn't long when the train seemed to enter free-fall.

"Eep!" She let out a startled squeal as the train soared down the slopped tracks, until finally reaching the bottom. Starlight could feel her weight forced back down, her head spinning and disoriented. She tried stumbling towards the bed, hopefully to get some rest before arriving in Canterlot.

But the ride was only just beginning. As the train slipped and slid across the frozen land, Starlight felt herself being pulled across the small room. Everything entered into chaos. Her luggage was flying across the floor, and anything not nailed to the ground was jumping all about.

"What in Equestria is happening out there?" Starlight stammered as the train came to a sloppy halt. The train was finally stopped. The blind mare took a few moments to compose herself, figuring the weather had been far worse than she imagined. Still, there was little time to be dallying about. Starlight used her magic to navigate the littered floor, making her way to the door to the passenger cart.

Pushing it open, fighting against the wind as it pushed back, she finally managed to get it open. The wind was furious, and the snow came down mercilessly.

"Hello?" She called out, hoping the stallion pulling the train was alright. She was never formally introduced to him, so calling to him by name was out of the question. "Hello?!" She cried out again, hoping her voice could be heard over the constant howling of the wind.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

Promontory unhooked the rail he was wearing arcoss his yoke making the rods fall onto the snow patted rock. He then turned to inspect the damage to the private train. From a glance it looked like most of the train was okay just scratched up. However, as Promontory looked closer at the wheels he could tell that the guard rails had been snapped clean off and that the connector rods where in no shape to be driven with.

"Shoot. Could this get any worse?"

He muttered to himself in a low tone. Suddenly he heard the voice of a young mare calling out. The passenger must of come out to know what was going on.

"I had to ask."

He thought as he looked over to see a very slender pastel purple unicorn get off the train.

"Ma'am go back in-"

Promontory began as he walked towards her but then felt a sharp sting of pain in his injured hoof making him cut off his sentence.

"Sweet Celestia that hurts!"

Promontory accidentally blurt out making him bring the injured hoof back off the ground as much as he could so not to lose balance. He took a moment to breath before he started to talk again.

"J-Just go back inside an I'll try to get the train back on the tracks."

Promontory grunted out as he hobbled toward the side of the train and began to push on the large machine with all of his strength that was in his remaining three limbs.

[Shivaree]

Starlight heard the stallion's voice respond. She turned to face the source of the voice, only to hear a frustrated exclamation. The stallion proceeded to order her back into the passenger cart. Starlight backed up, but waited for a moment. By the sound of it, the stallion had gone back to work without another remark.

Using her magic to guide her, Starlight approached the laboring stallion as he pushed against the train. If there was one thing she disliked most in this world, it was to feel useless.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked, quickly adding, "I'm sure I can do something more useful than just sit quietly in the cart."

[sleeps]

Promontory:

Promontory tried to push the small cart back onto the tracks but the mixture of wind, ice, and pain from his temporary disabled hoof was proving to out match him. Still his stubbornness pushed him to keep trying.

"A-a little more."

He groaned out trying to push with his shoulder on to the train until he heard the Unicorn came over offering to help making him push to hard onto the cart and end up stumbling back land on his hoof making him wince.

"L-look your my passenger. I gotta make sure you're safe. An the safest place at the moment is in the train."

He said as he caught his breath as he slowly limped back towards the train.

"Though if you really want ta help,"

He said as he dug his back hooves into the ground and started to push his body against the small train again.

"Then go inside an put somthin warm on."

He continued as he puffed and grunted as he pushed against the train trying to get the locomotive to move as it quickly continued to get buried in snow making it heavier and harder to push.

"That can at least buy me some time to think."

He thought to himself as he felt another arctic blast of wind rush past his face.

[Shivaree]

It quickly became clear that this stallion wasn't going to budge on the matter. Letting out a defeated sigh, Starlight decided it would have been counter-productive to sit there and argue. Turning around, Starlight headed back into the coach to find a coat. She hadn't planned on facing such icy conditions. At most, she would have packed a light poncho.

Once inside, Starlight used her hooves to feel around. It was hard to discern what exactly she was touching, the bumpy ride sure left the inside of the passenger car in a chaotic mess. But then Starlight felt something soft. It was large, big enough to wrap herself in. Using her teeth to grab the cloth, she flung it over her shoulder. Whatever it was, it managed to cover her neck and flank perfectly. For all she knew, it could have been the curtains after they were thrown off their hinges. Still, it was warm and it did the trick.

Starlight waited for a few moments. Things didn't seem well, perhaps the train was in worse shape than she had thought. Starlight made her way back to the entrance, poking her head out and facing in the direction she thought the stallion was in.

"We're not getting back on the track, are we?" Starlight assumed. Never did she imagine she'd be stranded in the middle of nowhere, during a fierce storm no less. Things were looking bad, and Starlight felt as lost as ever.

[sleeps]

Promontory

Promontory continued to try to move the train only for the storm to continue to howl and further freeze the train. The Toast colored stallion began to become frustrated realizing that it was a lost cause.

Fine! If I can't push it back on I'll buck it back on!"

He angrily thought in desperation as he turned and kicked the side of the train as hard as he could putting to much pressure on his injured hoof making him fall into the snow. He let out a quick yelp of pain which made him instantly come back to reality.

"Owch,Owch,Owch....okay, maybe not the best plan. I gotta think this through slowly."

He calmly continued to himself taking a deep breath of the cold air as he looked over the train. By now the freezing winds and snow had begun to clog the smoke stack and the exposed wheels were already pretty much solid ice.

"At this rate the train will become an icebox and my passenger will freeze to death. Still I can't risk taking them through the storm. I gotta find us some shelter."

He thought as he began to hobble through the snow to the main engine era. He opened it an grabbed a few maps and books. As he did this the Unicorn again appeared asking if they were truly stuck.

Eeyup.

Promontory said with a small gruff as he slowly walked from the train to the coach. As he got closer he could see that the Unicorn had grabbed some bed sheets and draped them around herself.

"Good enough."

He said as he walked passed her into the coach. The room was thrown about but it seemed that nothing was destroyed. He propped up a small table and unfolded a map of the region and attempted to look it over. However, the clouds blocked out most of the light making it hard for the stallion to make out anything in the dark coach.

"Ya'll got any candles or somethin?"

He said as he looked over at the unicorn.

[Shivaree]

Starlight stood aside as she heard crunching snow. With the stallion approaching, she cleared the entrance, allowing for the stallion to enter. Starlight managed to learn something about the stallion, or at least his current condition. As his hooves clopped off the floor, they revealed something. Is he...limping? Starlight lowered her head for a moment, focusing on listening. It would have made sense, the crash was rather violent.

"Candles?" Starlight repeated, thinking for a moment. She had to remember where she had stored them. "Oh, yes, of course." She answered back, recalling she had placed them in one of the overhanging shelves near the rear. Using her hooves to navigate the mess, she made her way towards the back of the passenger car.

Her horn glowed a soft pink as she used her magic to open the shelf. Several objects rolled out, smacking into Startlight's muzzle before she let out a startled gasp.

"I guess I should have seen that coming," she muttered, chuckling sheepishly as she lowered her head. Picking up one of the cylindrical objects with her teeth, she made her way back to the table the stallion had propped up. It took her a few tries to land the candle on the table's surface, but sure enough, she managed to place it at one corner of the table.

Starlight moved back to the rear of the train, this time to look for a match. Using her hoof, she prodded the ground until she found a small wooden stick. Using magic to hold the match, she returned to the table and struck the match until she heard a familiar hiss and snap. Positioning the lit match at the candle's wick, waiting a moment before she pulled the match away blew it out.

"So, any ideas as to where we are?" Starlight inquired curiously, looking in the direction she believed the stallion to be standing.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

Promontory turned when he heard the Unicorn let out a gasp. It seemed that the candles she had packed had shifted and smacked her on the head. Still what made Promontory even more puzzled was the fact the unicorn had trouble putting the candle on the table.

"Is..Is this mare blind?"

He thought as he grabbed the candle before it could fall from the edge of the table and let her light it. He hadn't even bothered really to get to know his passengers much. To Promontory it's his job to delivery them safely not know who they were.

This is no time to be curious about some mare.

He thought to himself as he looked over the map of the Eponnine Mountains eventually he found the small gap that they were in. It was in a long and difficult area of the Eponnine Mountains called the Spindle Ridge. As he continued to look he heard the mare ask him a where the were.

Were in Spindle Ridge."

He said dully looking over the map slowly seeing if he could identify any caverns. Finally after a few minutes of silently searching he found one that particularly caught his eye. It was called the Dragon Tear Cavern.

"Here we go."

He said as he quickly flipped open the book next to the map to get more information on it. The book didn't have much but it did mention that it did contain a natural hot spring deep in the cavern.

"Perfect, that should at least keep us warm for the remaining storm and night."

He thought as he looked up to the window where the wind was still white.

"Though lets just hope we can get their first.

He said as he blew out the candle making the coach go dark again. As he got up from the table where he had placed the map he rolled it up and began to limp over to a set of curtains that fallen to the ground and placed the map and book inside tying it closed and the connecting to his yoke. As he finished he began to walk toward the door. However, the pain in his injured hoof was staring to become more noticeable in his steps.

"Well uh...Miss. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we gotta walk. This train will freeze over soon and us gettin locked inside ain't gonna help. There's a cavern called the Dragon Tear about 2 or 3 hours from here. If we hurry we can get der before sundown and buckle down until mornin."

He said he pushed open the door and holding it for the mare.

[Shivaree]

Starlight could hear the flipping of pages and the rustling of paper. She stared blankly in the direction the sound came from. She heard movement, and backed up. As the stallion moved, Starlight heard the distinct pattern of his hoof-steps. Now she was almost certain this stallion had received an injury during the crash. Of course, she wouldn't know for sure unless she opened her mouth.

"Right," Starlight replied after the stallion explained the situation. "But, should we take care of your leg first?" She added, hoping her assumption would be correct. As a dancer, Starlight was all too familiar with leg injuries.

Pulling off the sheet she had wrapped herself in, she used her teeth and hoof to shred a thin strip from the fabric. Having her make-shift bandage, she replaced the sheet over herself hastily and turned her attention back to the stallion.

"Now, which leg is it?" Starlight asked, taking a step forward as she waited for a response.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

When the Unicorn called out his injury he rolled his eyes in annoyance. Still the Unicorn looked determined as she began to make a make shift bandage. Promontory was about to protest but thought for a moment.

"I better pick my battles wisely. If I don't accept her help she might not want to leave. That would slow us down even more."

Promontory thought as he closed the door as he limped back over to the Unicorn. What really surprised him though was when she asked which one it confirming his early thoughts of her being blind.

"Oh-it's...uh my front right."

He said somewhat embarrassed as he got close to the thin mare not sure what she was going to do, or even how seeing that she was blind.

Ya'll don't need to do anything for me if ya don't want to....um....uh....I'm sorry but what was ya name?"

He babbled out trying not to sound rude.

[Shivaree]

Starlight reached out with her right hoof, searching the area in front of her until she felt the stallion's leg. Now that she knew where it was, she used her magic to wrap the cloth bandage around his ankle, assuming that was where the injury was. If she had splinters, perhaps it would have provided better stability, but this would have to do.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," she assured the stallion, giving him some space once she had finished wrapping his leg. "I'm Starlight Dancer, but everyone just calls my Starlight for short." She added, "and you would be?"

[sleeps]

Promontory:

"Promontory."

He said as he winced a bit from feeling Starlight touch the injured ankle. When she was done the Unicorn stepped back letting Promontory put his hoof down. Promontory took a look down at the makeshift bandage with a bit of annoyed looked.

"This probably ain't going to work but still. Might as well humor her."

He thought to himself as he put the hoof down and started to put a bit of weight on it. Promontory closed his eye expect a sharp shot of pain to go through his leg but found that it was only a minor tinge compared to before.

"Huh...Well I be darned."

He said aloud. He said as he took a few steps on it. He could at least walk normally now making Promontory give a happy but small smile.

"Well, thanks Miss Starlight. I guess we will be able to move a bit faster with this."

Promontory said as he looked over to the unicorn. However, the wind from outside brought Promontory back to the reality of the situation they were in.

"We need to get moving; we only have a few hours of light left."

Promontory remarked as he walked over to the door opening it to a icy howl of wind.

"Just stay close and will be fine n dandy."

He said a little louder then usually so that the Unicorn could hear him over the wind. As he got out of the coach he went back over to the train engine where had kept his books and maps and opened it again pulling out a small compass. He flipped it open and checked the direction to make sure they were heading the right way.

"So, the map said we need to go southwest until we hit the spindle face.

He thought as he looked up at the direction.

"Still how is she gonna climb a mountain face with no sight? I guess I may have to carry her through their....I hope this leg of my holds out.

Promontory continued to himself as he looked silently back at the Starlight and then to his compass.

"I don't have much of an option though."

Was Promontory thought before he grabbed a small set of rations from the train and put them in his make shift bag before walking up next to the unicorn.

"Common this way."

He said over the wind as he gently nudged the unicorn to follow him.

[Shivaree]

Starlight was happy to hear that Promontory was able to at least walk without having to worry about the pain. She nodded after he'd thanked her. Just as she was about to respond, she heard the loud whistling wind continuing to stir outside. Starlight did as Promontory asked, staying close as she exited the train. She was glad she found that blanket, as the icy wind buffeted against her small frame.

"Right," Starlight acknowledged as Promontory he called over the howl of the wind. She followed his lead, focusing her hearing on the sound of his hooves crunching down the snow.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

Though Starlight makeshift splint helped Promontory it still made his walking feel a bit off.

"Common you stupid leg. We gotta keep moving. After all you may not have your train but you still have a passenger.

He thought to himself as he looked back at Starlight making sure she didn't get to far behind. When a loud popping sound from the woods along the destination made Promontory stop in his tracks.

"What was that?"

He thought as he attempted to look through the trees. Again another loud popping sound came from the tress but closer and louder.

"Come on. We need to move."

He said to Starlight as he began to try to trot a little faster hopping what ever it was wasn't falling them.