One wobbly hoof after another, the old stallion trotted across the snowy lawn to the mountain cottage. The elder mare shuffled alongside, assisting him with each step as he regained his bearings. The two murmured to one another in the Snow Blood Tongue, with the stallion smiling and nodding between vaporous breaths.
Rainbow Dash watched them from across the morning-lit plateau. Behind her, rams and sheep grazed between the stone fences of the farm.
"Well, I've heard of swift recoveries, but this is ridiculous!" Rarity exclaimed.
Pinkie squinted at her. "Are you seriously complaining?"
"No. Not particularly." Rarity rubbed her neck with a sigh. "Just... not used to things going our way."
"Not like we were outrunning the Talon to find a remedy that worked," Fluttershy murmured.
"Good point!" Pinkie blinked. She looked at Rainbow. "What do ya think, Dashie? Did we finally give them the slip or what?"
Rainbow cleared her throat. Instead of replying to that, she looked at Twilight. "You think we overdosed him on the medicine?"
Twilight shook her head. "I just think the Snow Blood physiology is somewhat different from... well... Equestrian earth ponies. These folk are obviously very strong and hearty. I'm guessing their bloodstream is considerably more efficient than the likes of Pinkie or Applejack."
"I beg to differ!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out. "When cinnammon gets into my blood... whewwwwwww boyoooo! Stuff is potent!"
Rarity chuckled. "Well, at least they now know the ingredients in case a mountain wasp stings one of them again."
"Are we so certain of that?" Rainbow remarked.
"I saw it in their eyes, Rainbow." Fluttershy winked aside. "They know."
"Well, okay then, Mentalshy. If you insist." Rainbow sighed, gazing at the two elders as they shuffled through the snow. "Who knows? Maybe we just... like... cured an entire civilization of mountain wasp allergies."
"Wouldn't that be the bee's knees?!" Pinkie Pie giggle-snorted. "Get it?!?"
"Anywaaaaaaaaays..." Rarity looked at the others. "I certainly hope that means our job is done here. Mayhaps we can carry on to Wyvern Point?"
"Definitely." Twilight nodded. "Although I'm sure these three would give us shelter for as long as Rainbow needs it."
"Is that... something we should accept?" Rarity remarked. "I mean, generosity is generosity, but these aren't exactly wealthy individuals..."
"Don't worry, Rarity." Fluttershy smiled. "I'm certain they have plenty of goat cheese to spare."
"Yeah, okay." Rainbow stretched her muscles. "Time to go." She scanned the mountain plateau with squinting eyes. "Say, where's Sweetie Belle?"
"Don't look now!" Pinkie chirped, pointing.
With a creaking sound, the miniature mineshaft door's opened.
Rainbow looked over.
The young stallion came hobbling out with a bundle of gray cylinders strapped to his flank. He saw Rainbow Dash, then made a bee-line for her. "Haam frahn! Emfava glaam seemdeel havaglaan!"
"Yeah, uh... it's been fun, dude," Rainbow spoke aloud. "Glad your grandpappy is doing well and all, but I gotta hit the snow like... well... whatever it is in Rohbredden that hits snow and suddenly bamfs to Wyvern sanctuaries."
"I think he has something to give us, Rainbow," Fluttershy murmured.
The stallion stood before her, then held out the bundle of glossy pale cylinders. "Hreff! Sadrava mebeelem fava graam! Klehm!"
Rainbow merely blinked at him. "Errrr... sorry, but... unless there's a tattooed little filly around these parts that likes eating snow grasshoppers, I doubt I can understand a single word, buddy..."
The stallion merely smiled. Keeping his eyes trained on Rainbow, he slid one cylinder out and lifted it in his grasp. "Vreem?" He winked, then shoved the rod into the snow. Crunch. Leaning forward, he breathed hotly on the length of the cylinder.
Within seconds...
Fl-Flasssh! The cylinder strobed from top to bottom. Toasty warm heat wafted from it, causing some of the nearby snow to melt and steam.
"OoooOoooOooh!" Pinkie cooed. "Shiny!"
The stallion smirked and pointed at the heated object. "Favo graamsam, vreem?"
"Uhhhhhhh..." Rainbow stared at the rod while speaking aside. "...egghead?"
"It's... it's a frost rod," Twilight murmured. Her horn glowed as she stared at the glowing thing. "Still enchanted!"
"I guess all the ones we stumbled upon in the mine earlier were duds," Rainbow remarked. "But these three have a fresh, magical supply. No wonder they're parked up here in the middle of nowhere. This is friggin' snow-traveling gold."
"Does it work with Rainbow as well?" Pinkie remarked. "Or does it only have Snow Blood triggers?"
"There's only one way to find out," Rarity said.
Rainbow leaned in. She breathed on the heated cylinder.
It glowed even brighter in response, causing more steam to rise from the surrounding snow.
The stallion giggled, smiling up at Rainbow. "Graamsam vedava, haam frahn, haat?"
"Heeheeeeee..." Fluttershy hugged herself, smiling rosily. "Can we take him with usssss?"
"Watch it, darling." Rarity winked.
"Errr..." Rainbow turned to the stallion. "Haat. Totally haat, dude." She reached out and grasped the bundle of cylinders from him.
"Careful!" Pinkie gestured. "Don't breathe on them all at once, Dashie!"
"Boy, would that suck." Rainbow slid the material protectively into her saddlebag. After a deep breath, she said, "Well, Sweetie Belle... Scootaloo... Apple Bloom... it's been fun, but I gotta jet." She contorted her muzzle while pointing northwest. "Gotta. Go. Fast. Now." She pointed harder. "Wyvern Point!"
"Haat!" The stallion nodded fervently. "Whyvernum Pointava!" He scampered across the plateau.
Rainbow's eyes followed him, blinking.
At last, he reached the tall wooden structure at the edge of the mountain. He yanked several ropes, then pulled a lever. A dull groan issued from the interior apparatus. Cussing in Snow Blood Tongue, he gave the tower a swift buck. It groaned to life, and Rainbow witnessed as several ropes, gears, and pulley rattled against one another.
Slowly, she shuffled over to the mountain's edge. Within minutes, a crickety wooden lift was drawn in by a series of far-stretching ropes. They led to and fro from the lower hills to the northwest.
The stallion swiveled to face her with a proud smile.
"Heh..." Rainbow drew the hood over her shaved head. "...just what the doctor ordered."
"It's true what they say, isn't it?" Rarity smirked. "Virtue is its own reward."
"Hehehehe..." Pinkie sighed. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh silly marshmallow."
Standing side by side on the edge of the mountain, the three Snow Blood farmers waved their pale forelimbs. They smiled from a distance, shouting kind words in their lofty language.
Rainbow waved back—then grimaced as the entire lift beneath her wobbled. She steadied herself, cautiously riding the flimsy wooden platform as it glided slowly northwest towards the far end of the windy pass.
"You okay, Rainbow?" Twilight asked.
"Oh yeah," Rainbow wheezed, trembling slightly. She gripped the splintery edges of the lift with tight fetlocks. "Just peachy."
"Oh please..." Rarity smirked. "Don't tell me that you're actually afraid of heights, darling."
"Of c-course not." Rainbow cleared her throat, standing upright again and adjusting the weight of her saddlebags. "I'm just less a fan of them when I've only got one wing working." She gulped. "And Celestia on a bike... I feel like a massive tank with all of this stuff clinging to me."
"It's all for the best," Twilight said. "We've got a long way to go before Wyvern Point. You need to keep warm any way you can."
"Thankfully those adorable Snow Bloods have given you the ticket," Fluttershy said.
"Flutters, why don't you marry them if you love them so much?"
"Heeheehee..."
"While it was a nice diversion," Rarity said, "It does feel good to be on the move again... and hopefully without the Talon to contend with."
"Well, I don't know about you gals, but..." Rainbow sighed. "...I think I really needed that."
Pinkie looked over. "Needed what, Dashie?"
Rainbow smiled at the three atop the plateau as the farm drew more and more distant. "I needed to feel like a hero again."
Fluttershy leaned in as if to nuzzle her. "You've always been a hero, Rainbow Dash."
"You just... had to deal with a lot of obstacles," Twilight said.
"Yeah..." Rainbow muttered. "...a bunch of unsexy obstacles." She turned and squinted northwest.
Row after row of snow-capped mountains loomed into the hazy distance.
"Hopefully it'll be enough to keep me going for a while." Rainbow tightened her saddlebag straps and clenched her jaw muscles. "Bring it on."
Elsewhere...
North of Sun Roost, a town rested in a forested junction of criss-crossing tade routes.
Ponies congregated in the marketplace, sharing brief Month of Thawing blessings in between business transactions. There were stallions hailing from the north, dressed in thick winter wear. Then there were ponies from the west wearing rice hats and green peasant wear. Griffons flew overhead, clad in government issued armor as they resumed their countryside patrols.
With brisk steps, a pegasus in a flight jacket bounded out of a two-story stave structure. He fumbled with a messenger bag, slipping a few last envelopes in.
"Hey Icewing!" a pony shouted from inside the building. "Don't forget to swing by Feather Prefecture! Word is that Frostknife is needing more recruits to reinforce the Central Guard!"
"Yeah yeah yeah..." Icewing grumbled, strapping on a leather helmet. "What am I, a town crier?" He stretched his wings, preparing for the long flight again. "Last year I do this during the Month of Thawing, I swear to Verlaxion..."
From across the street, a series of heavy hoofsteps bounded.
"You! You right there! Stay put!"
"No can do," Icewing grumbled. "I've got my route to cover."
"Are you headed to Frostknife?"
"And how."
"Please..." Theanim Mane came to a stop, wheezing. "I must be taken there at once. I'll pay anything."
"Hah!" Icewing smiled bitterly. "Fat chance, bud!" He gestured at the stave structure behind him. "You have any idea how overbooked the flight routes are now?! If you wanted personal passage to Frostknife, you should have registered months in advance. Tch... moron."
"You don't understand." Theanim frowned. He reached into his saddlebag and unrolled a scroll with an official seal. "This is top priority."
The pegasus did a double-take. Blinking, Icewing gawked at the scroll. "You're... you're with the Scientific Order?"
"Affirmative." Theanim Mane nodded. "I must get to Frostknife immediately. This is urgent business."
"Wouldn't a train be a more comfortable ride?"
"I can't afford to waste anytime. Will you take me there?"
"I... uh..." Icewing stammered. "Of c-course! Top priority is top priority! I... I-I'm sorry, sir—"
"Mane. Professor Mane. And it's quite alright." Theanim trotted up close, bracing himself. "I know it's very unexpected."
The pegasus flapped his wings and grasped the scientist from behind. "Be warned. It's gonna be bumpy."
"Indeed."
"I promise to get you to the Council of Verlaxion p.d.q."
"Negative." Theanim shook his head. "Take me to the Frozen Shelves."
Icewing's eyes twitched. "The... the prison?" He nevertheless took off, carrying the Professor in his strong limbs as he glided north. "Why in the heck would you wanna go to such a miserable place?"
"There's somepony I need to speak to on the double," Theanim shuddered, pocketing his scroll away. "Time is of the essence... as it's n-never been before..."