No One Can Hear You Scream On Top of a Mountain.

Asuka had eaten breakfast, and packed up her things to continue her climb. She was expecting another tough day ahead, so she had taken a little extra time to rest after waking up this morning. After having packed up, and being ready to leave Asuka decides to check her campfire one last time just to make sure there are no embers. Sure she was on a freezing mountain, but Smokey the Bear would be upset if she didn't properly put out her fire. Asuka turns back to her fire pit, and leans down to make sure there are no embers left. After tossing a bit of snow on the ashes to be sure she stands up, only to freeze in place. Her eyes lock with another pair of eyes staring at her from across the campfire. Surveying the pony across from her Asuka can only assume someone's shadow has somehow managed to come to life, and turn it's eyes red. The two are still for quite some time as Asuka gets a very good look at the stallion. He... No. IT seemed very familiar. Almost as if she knows this thing personally. Something about it's shaggy mane, and poor fashion sense was turning a gear in her head. The twisted, murderous grin on it's face, however was not. Before she can put the pieces together the shadowy stallion lunges forwards over the fire pit at her. She stumbles backwards, and quickly pivots to turn around before breaking out into a sprint away from the stallion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzGtihtBYps A mountain wasn't the best place to be running full sprint, but with the current circumstances Asuka didn't have much of a choice. She kicks up snow as she barrels through it looking for any sort of escape routes. The shadowy stallion is not far behind her matching pace, and staying only a few feet behind her. 'Stay calm Asuka. You won't get out of here alive if you panic. There has to be somewhere you can escape to.' Asuka's thought process is interrupted as her front right hoof catches a rock. She tumbles forwards, and somehow manages to land sitting down. Before she can stand up Asuka quickly begins to slide down a slope made of ice. 'Stay calm! Stay calm!' She continually tells herself as she rapidly accelerates down the slope towards the snow below. As the slope evens out, and Asuka begins to skid through snow she quickly pushes herself up off of the ground and continues her sprint. She looks back for a second to see the stallion leap over the edge of the slope, and land a few feet away from the edge. He begins sliding down on all four hooves. Though it seems he was having a bit more trouble than Asuka was. She turns her head back around just in time to turn herself to the left, and avoid running straight off of a cliff. Asuka now finds herself running on a thin strip of rock in between a tall wall of rock to her left, and a great drop to her right. As she runs the path gradually gets wider; allowing her a bit more breathing room. The path eventually opens up greatly, allowing Asuka much more freedom in her movement. There's a strip of path ahead that appears to have narrowed into a bridge just large enough for her to run on. As Asuka approaches the path she slows down so she can safely get across the narrow pass. She's at about a quick jogging pace as her front left hoof hits the path, and begins to slide. The bridge is made of ice. Asuka tenses up, and allows herself to coast over the surprisingly slick ice. She only moves her body slightly if she needs to stop herself from veering off of the ice to her death. As she is just making her way past the middle of the ice there's a rumble from above. She elects not to look for now, and focuses on not sliding off of the ice bridge. Once she's safely made it to the other side that's not made of Ice Asuka looks back at the bridge. First she sees the stallion on the other side preparing to cross. Then her view is obstructed by a rather large boulder smashing through the middle of the ice bridge; creating a large hole. 'Phew. I should be okay now.' Asuka starts to turn to walk away. Her heart stops as she watches the stallion back up, sprint, and jump over the gap in the bridge. All in a matter of seconds. She breaks out into a sprint again. What was it going to take to get rid of this thing? The longer the chase continues the more tired Asuka becomes. Her muscles are starting to get tired, and the cold air is starting to cause her lungs to sting. She's got breathing equipment in her bag, but no time to put it on. Surely if she was getting tired her pursuer must be as well. Though the few times she had checked the stallion seemed fine. Hold on. It's chest wasn't even moving. Was this thing even breathing? Asuka's head is filled with different voices all telling her different things. One tells her to stay calm, and look for escape routes. Telling her not to panic. Another screams at her to just run, and scream for help. No, that wouldn't do any good. She'd just be wasting her breath. Another whines about her decision to climb the mountain in the first place. Despite trying her hardest to stay calm, and think rationally the chase, and exhaustion is starting to get to her. Fear begins to grip her mind causing her to stop looking for escape routes, and start checking behind her more often. Each check reveals the stallion getting ever so closer, and only causes her to panic more. Now the only thing she can think about is running. Asuka's attention snaps from the stallion to a sound coming from above. The entire mountain was starting to shake below her, and she could hear an almost deafening rumbling sound. With almost all of her energy spent Asuka stumbles underneath a rather large overhang of rocks. She flips herself over to watch the stallion who slows down. It didn't seem tired. It was just being creepy. 'This is it. This is how I die.' She doesn't even have the energy to cry. Her breathing is becoming short, and quick. The ground continues to shake more and more. Then, as if by some sort of miracle a torrent of snow, ice, and rocks sweeps over, and around Asuka's outcropping of rocks. The stallion disappears into the snow, and Asuka allows her head to lie in the snow. The shaking, and rumbling continues for about a minute before finally stopping. Had she just narrowly avoided an avalanche? As the shaking and rumbling stops, and Asuka prepares to stand she can hear another sound. Crunching snow. Before she can look it's upon her. Asuka covers her face with her front hooves, and shuts her eyes while the shadowy stallion stands over her with a hoof raised. "Please! Don't!" Asuka attempts to scream, but her words only come out as quiet squeaks. She braces herself, but no blow ever comes. Lowering her hooves, and opening her eyes reveals the stallion standing over her with a strange look in it's eye. Without a word it steps away from Asuka, turns, and exits the outcropping of rock somehow managing to get past all the snow. Asuka waits for a few minutes to make sure the coast is clear before she stands. She decides to rest here for a while before continuing. She needed to figure out what just happened.