“Calm down everypony! There’s no reason to panic!” Mayor Mare shouted down at us from town hall.
“Give us one good reason not to!” The mare next to me shouted and I joined in shouting my agreement. A look of relief crossed the mayor’s face.
“Because Equestrias own heroes are here to save us!” She pointed a hoof and I was the first one to pop my head up and look over the crowd. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack trotted slowly into town and stopped near Big Mac and Sugar Belle. Nopony wanted her here but Big Mac made it pretty damn clear what would happen to anypony who touched her when he stomped an apple under his hoof. We all stayed away after that display.
“Where did all these ponies come from?” Applejack asked Granny Smith.
“Earth ponies been pourin in, lookin for somewhere safe,” Granny answered.
“We don’t have unicorn magic or a city in the sky to hide in like those cowardly pegasi!” Winter Lotus shouted and took a step forward. A rainbow blur got right up in her face and I gulped, mirroring Bon Bons nervous expression. We all knew how Rainbow Dash got if anyone insulted her or her kind.
“Cowardly?” Rainbow snapped. We all looked up as the sky got cloudy. Winter Lotus pointed at hoof where I could make out some pegasi blocking off Cloudsdale.
“They’re blocking off Cloudsdale! Said they didn’t want no ground ponies up in their business!” She gave a subtle flinch as Rainbow shoved a hoof against her chest.
“Listen up buddy!” Rainbow snapped and flapped her wings back. I really was getting ready for this to come to blows before Fluttershy got between them.
“Don’t! This is exactly what Chrysalis and
others want, more fighting!” Fluttershy looked at us. “We know you’re scared. We’re here to help.”
“You’d better fix this!” A voice shouted from behind me.
“Yeah!” I shouted, mirroring Bon Bon and Octavias angry expressions.
“Twilights probably as worried as anypony else and trying to find somewhere safe. That’s why ah was sure she would be waiting for us in Ponyville,” I barely made out Applejack saying. “Where else could she be?” I didn’t hear what Spike said but it must have been important enough for them to run off somewhere. It got really cold and my legs started shaking from the sudden change in the weather. A roaring sound made me and a few others look up.
“The w-windigos!” Somepony shouted.
“It’s just a Hearths Warming Eve story,” Winter Lotus brushed it off.
“Creatures made of wind that spread cold and misery across the land to punish ponies?” Another pony nervously piped in. “Seems pretty real to me!” Me and Daisy looked up at the three Windigos.
“Let the pegasi deal with this!” Someone shouted. “There’s nothing we can do except hide.” That started a whole new round of panic and running. I started to gallop to my house to check on Ruby and make sure she’s warm.
“We all know the story of Hearths Warming Eve,” some random colt said and we all stopped running. “We can defeat the Windigos together!”
“You really think if we all sing a bunch of songs, we’ll all be fine?” I asked in disbelief. He pressed his hoof to my chest.
“It’s not just singing that saved the founders of Equestria, it’s what it represented!” He answered.
“What is that cursed buzzing sound?” Octavia demanded as we looked around nervously. Some weird magical mirror like thing appeared in front of us.
“The Elements? Didn’t we just see them?” Cheerilee mumbled.
“Haven’t you noticed somethings wrong in Equestria?” My blood went cold and eyes widened as Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow stepped into the frame. “We’ve been busy.”
“A whisper here, a rumor there,” Chrysalis grinned.
“Destroy some crops, cause some chaos,” Tirek announced and we all looked at each nervously. We knew who was actually behind the property damage now.
“Turn pony against pony,” Cozy Glow said triumphantly and my eyes narrowed. That filly had been playing with my daughter a few months ago before the school incident. And now she was trying to destroy Equestria.
“Until your whole kingdom was pushed to the precipice, waiting for something to push them over the brink,” Chrysalis snapped.
“There’s no backup friends or rainbow magic to save you now.”
“Golly, I think it’s time for some redecorating!” Cozy grinned and the three destroyed half the castle. We all stared in shock at the sight.
“What does this even prove?” Winter Lotus asked hesitantly and the colt took the opportunity.
“To get us to work together! To save the world!”
“You know what’s stronger than friendship, Twilight? Fear.” Chrysalis slammed her hooves against the bubble and it shattered.
“Because when you have to protect yourself, you have no time for anypony else!” Tirek held Twilight in front of them in his magic.
“Are we about to watch a princess get murdered?” Cherry Berry asked nervously as she covered a fillys eyes.
“That would explain why we didn’t see her here,” I mused as we watched with wide eyes. A large slab of stone slammed into the three and we stared in surprise at Rarity’s sweating face. I didn’t know she had it in her to be honest.
“See! Twilight got away! She most likely has a plan and we have to help her,” the colt announced and we all nodded. First, I had to check on my daughter.
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I shoved the cellar door opened and slid down the stairs.
“Ruby!” I shouted as I looked around frantically.
“I-I-I’m over h-h-here,” Ruby stammered out, shaking in a ball. “C-c-cold.” I grabbed a few blankets and wrapped her up, rocking her back and forth. I started peppering her forehead with kisses.
“Are you okay?”
“Getting there,” she mumbled. “What’s going on?”
“Windigos are here but we got a plan to stop them,” I coaxed lovingly. “I’m staying here now though.”
“N-n-no. We should go,” Ruby shivered.
“Absolutely not. You’re freezing. We are staying,” I declared adamantly.
“Please,” she begged and gave me her puppy dog eyes. She has been spending way too much with Dinky to have perfected that look.
“Fine,” I consented. “But after, we are getting you warm. No arguing.”
“Okay.” I made sure Ruby was comfortable on my back in the blankets and trotted outside.
“Berry?” Bon Bon asked in awe. Junebug and my other friends gathered around us. “Is that Ruby?”
“Uh maybe?” I offered a smile.
“Where did you keep her?” Octavia asked.
“T-t-the cellar,” Ruby stammered out and I gave her a worried look.
“She’s freezing. I wanted to stay here with her whole you guys dealt with the other villians but she refused.”
“We would have helped hide her,” Roseluck kissed Ruby on the head. “We all love this filly.”
“Agreed,” Daisy nuzzled Ruby who tiredly did it back.
“Maybe we should stay here,” I glanced at Ruby.
“No. We are going,” Ruby grumbled. “I want an adventure.” We all laughed at that.
“Life is an adventure,” I argued.
“Please?” She gave us all her puppy dog eyes and we all melted.
“Let’s go.”
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I gave Tirek a swift kick to the knee with my back legs. He made a shouting sound and I got smacked by his hand. I rubbed my head as I laid on my back.
“Gonna be fucking feeling that for a bit,” I grunted. A large shadow fell over me and my eyes widened at Tireks raised hoof over me. I closed my eyes and sighed. Well, this is it. I’m gonna die. A loud shout made me crack an eye open. My eyes widened at the hoof levitating in the air and Ruby standing in front of me sweating. Junebug grabbed me and pulled me back and Octavia snatched up Ruby and we trotted to a safe distance. I wiped some sweat away and we watched as he got turned into stone.
“That was impressive kid!” I hugged Ruby and she tiredly hugged me back.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
“I’m fine. Are you okay?” I hastily over looked Ruby. “I left you on the hill. Why did you come down?”
“You needed my help,” Ruby offered weakly. “You always help me when I’m hurt.” I squeezed her tired form tighter.
“I love you kid.”