The everlasting sound of the heavy train engine echoed on in Corvo's mind of arrayed thoughts. He and the other ponies were seated in a pink and turquoise locomotive; bright-yellow pipes on the arched roof spewed curly ashen-smoke far and over a snowy tundra. Shards of frost licked the side-walls of the train; white mist danced up against glass panes on all sides.
Outside, a heavy blizzard hung in the outskirts of the Crystal Empire—inside was warm and soothing with a calm and quiet atmosphere lolling in the air.
Rows of undamaged fabric seats were placed down the rectangular pink floor. Twilight and her friends rested on the first two rows of seats, chatting and discussing plans—being about near-future events or personal problems. They were all skeptical, and concerning Corvo. Whenever they looked at the assassin's face for so much of a second, a wroth fire flickered in their eyes.
Back against the very end-wall was Corvo. His back was straightened, one arm leaning against a curved windowsill, resting his palm under his metal chin; his other arm laid motionless over his lap, fingering and scratching the wooden base of his folding sword.
Corvo sighed deeply. His finger scratched his mask's cheek, trying to array his future actions and thoughts. Corvo was quite clever, but his current situation left him with a sense of impotence. He could almost guarantee some catastrophe in upcoming events, as long as he were here, that is. But Corvo couldn't say exactly why he was here. He went from feeling guilty, to redemption, to just wanting to do something, plain and bluntly. These ponies, to him, were nothing more than temporary companions to help him out. But why he was helping them, he couldn't know for sure. They despised him, absolutely wanted to get rid of him, but hesitated to do so or to let him be in Equestria.
"Hello," said a voice. Corvo slowly turned to his left, eyeing the lavender alicorn who bore an implausible smile. She gulped down her nervousness. "Hello," she said again more clearly. "I notice that you are here, alone; would you like to join us?"
"Thank you for the sympathy," said Corvo, causing Twilight to turn her head, "but stop pretending to like me. That goes along with your other friends' thoughts."
"Wait, what?" said Twilight. "I'm not trying to pretend to like you. I'm just giving you a chance."
"I could say that I see right through it, you see, but I will not" said Corvo as he got up and made Twilight step back. "You ponies do not like me for dated reasons. You should start liking me once I know you are serious about it."
"I wonder," said Twilight, furrowing her brows, "why are you even here? How do you know about all this crazy stuff? Who are you to tell me how I think?"
"That is something I cannot answer at the moment. But very well, I will see what your friends currently think of me."
Twilight sighed. "Great," she said. "Let's just hope you don't make a fool of yourself."
"Maybe you should tell that to them, too," he answered, and both were quiet on their way to the front.
* * *
"I do not know why there is so much trouble in the Crystal Empire," said Rarity. "Wouldn't it be better to have some form of magic to cast away all this dreadful snow?"
"There is no way, Rarity," said Applejack. "This here blizzard can't be controlled by anypony!"
"I hear it's some kind of dark magic," said Rainbow Dash, "like that time with King Sombra; but we totally took him on, so I'm sure we can take on just a small blizzard."
All ponies froze, and before they could continue their talk, a shadowy hand rested its palm on the head of the cushion. Twilight walked back to her seat, and her friends looked up to see Corvo. He comfortably sat down next to a third nearby seat, crossing his arms and tilting his head to stare at the ponies across.
"What do you want?" said Rainbow Dash. "Can't you see we're having a talk? It's rude of you to interrupt."
"Who said I interrupted?" said Corvo. "I did not say a word but sit down while you ponies had your chat. You decided to stop and talk to me instead."
"I got my eye on you, buster," said Pinkie. "I bet you don't even like parties." She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out.
"Well, your purple friend here wanted me to come to the front."
"We can talk about who likes who later," said Twilight. "Come on, girls! We are here to discuss the matters at hoof. That's why Princess Celestia assigned this mission to us."
The ponies nodded with a hum. Twilight continued.
"So," she said, "Princess Celestia has informed us of some mysterious object found in the Crystal Castle. Princess Cadence and my brother are already aware of it, and it is believed to be connected with Equestria in someway—with these disasters, of course.
"And just what in tarnation is this mysterious object y'all know about?" said Applejack. "Seems like a pretty vague description."
"What can it really be?" Rainbow questioned in boredom. "Whatever it is, it probably connects to some evil power that we gotta take down. Should be easy if we're all together." Rainbow then gave Corvo a sour look. "Most of us, at least."
"And just what is this evil power you speak of?" said Corvo. "We need to know what we are against before we can approach it. That is the basic rule of thumb to learn."
"Does it matter?" said Rainbow Dash. "All we need is the power of our friendship to stop whatever causes these events, and then you could be on your way back home, Corvo!"
"I must, ahem, agree with Corvo on this one," said Rarity. "We must know what we are going to deal with before we confront it."
"Come on, Rarity," said Rainbow Dash; "who's side are you on?"
"The smart and reasonable side, fortunately for her" answered Corvo.
Rainbow frowned and gritted her teeth. "Shut it!" she said. "We don't need your help—you would just cause trouble."
"Okay!" Twilight interjected suddenly. "Corvo, please tell us about yourself. Do you have any magic at your disposal?"
"Ooh, I love magic!" cried Pinkie Pie. "It's like my favorite thing to do!"
"Pinkie Pie!" said Twilight, followed by a face-hoof. "You can't even use magic."
Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Well, I thought breaking the fourth wall was magic, but whatever."
All ponies lifted an eyebrow in confusion. Whatever nonsense Pinkie just said, they threw it aside—it was just Pinkie being Pinkie, after all.
"I can teleport short distances," said Corvo after a short silence.
"Ah'm sorry," said Applejack, "but Twilight can already do that at long distances. Is there anythin' helpful yah can do?"
Corvo looked down to his black mark and furrowed his brow. "I can bend time," he said. That made Twilight freeze, looking at him aghast.
He can bend time? But almost nopony can do that—only ancient unicorns and powerful alicorns could and can bend time for a short duration. Can he really bend time? "Prove it," said Twilight. "If you can bend time, would you care to show us?"
"That would be nice to see," added Rarity with a dubious chuckle. "I doubt Corvo here can control time. If he could, he would—ouch!" she yelped. A small, sharp pain flicked against her head. All other ponies raised their brows in surprise as they looked round the room.
Corvo lifted his hand—a thin strand of purple hair was trapped between his fingers as he slowly twisted it. After only a moment, the ponies gasped in shock as they realized he held a strand of Rarity's mane. They could only think of how he did it, or they mentally shook in fear. Twilight bit her lower lip as her ears drooped.
"This should be proof, I think" said Corvo. He flicked the strand of hair aside, making Rarity gasp; but she didn't speak, too shocked to mutter a word.
"W-w-what!" said Twilight in astonishment. "You can stop time? But that's impossible!"
"It is possible if it is proven," said Corvo. "Now that I have gained your attention on this conversation, allow me to continue: I can teleport, bend time, blast gusts of wind and air, see through any type of mass and in the dark; posses the minds of creatures and animals for a few seconds; I can also summon rats, but that would never be very useful in this situation."
The ponies could not speak, but allow their jaws to hang loosely and their eyes to become round. Twilight, bereft of her formality, shut her jaw and cleared her throat.
"That... sounds like dark magic," she said. "Are you saying you are a dark magic user?"
"That explains it," said Rainbow Dash. "He just uses cheap dark magic and gets what he wants." Rainbow extended a hoof towards his face. "Look at him! Clearly he has a bad case of evil history with that creepy mask. Whatever it is, I say we solve the problem and get him out of here!"
"Rainbow Dash!" said Rarity, forwarding her head towards her pegasus friend. "We don't want to talk like ruffians. Please, I am sure whatever evil history Corvo has, that was made by his conscious."
Corvo gritted his teeth and bowed his head, his mind going back and forth on what to say. These ponies, who had no clue of his history, kept falsely accusing him of such deeds.
The assassin capered forward, throwing a cold, dead stare at each and all the ponies. Despite his glass eyes being lifeless, they could each very well tell they had just aggravated him.
"You know nothing of my history," muttered Corvo. "Kindly do not talk to me in such context."
The room remained noiseless, save for the heavy cries of the restless locomotive engine, and the endless pats of snow against the glass panes.
"We're... sorry," Fluttershy barely whispered. She had been cowering behind Applejack every since Corvo had joined in on their chat. He looked at the shy pegasus, drooping his eyes deep in thought. Then, Corvo leaned back to rest against the bumpy seat.
"When shall we arrive at the Crystal Empire?" said Corvo, more calmly.
"U-um," Twilight stammered. "We should be there any minute now."
"Hey, look!" said Pinkie Pie from an opposite seat, peeping out the window. "There's the Crystal Empire—really far away, though."
"Well, girls," said Twilight loudly as she rose to all fours, throwing her worriment aside. The train began to slow its speed. "We have arrived!"
Corvo and the ponies dismounted the train, and now walked down the deep snow and roaring blizzard. It was a large and wide tundra: the snow lapped any visible land for miles, and was accompanied with a freezing wind. The snow on their very hooves were dense; it tried to suck them in, deep into the frost. The wind blew south as the entourage headed north—they also felt angered snow against their very fur. Deep, white fog danced up in the sky, creating a dark shadow over the frozen land. In the very distance was a shining blue dome of light and magic: the force field which shielded the Crystal Empire from the sprinting snow.
As the ponies looked ahead, a blue light flickered in their eyes—a sign of hope—but that hope was challenged by painfully cold lashes of snow, hitting their eyes and mouth. Corvo, as the other ponies, shook from the cold. His face was cold; his mask felt as if it had turned into ice. Both of his shaky hands were draped in his deep pockets; the cold snow still hurt his fingers.
The companions walked lowly in the amidmost of the white tundra. It was the bane of all green nature; it was unnatural and extremely peculiar.
"Come on, girls, don't give up!" cried Twilight, but her voice barely reached her friends as the storm muffled all spoken sound.
"Ah don't get it, Twilight!" yelled Applejack. "Where'd all this snow come from? Ah'd reckon it'd be winter, but that's do in five months from now!"
"I don't know!" said Twilight.
"What!" cried all of her friends simultaneously.
"I said I don't know!" Twilight cried back. "Even in winters, there shouldn't be this much snow! After we defeated King Sombra, there never was another snow storm, and there are no pegasi causing this. I honestly can't explain this!"
Out of nowhere, a screech, as horrible as the destruction of a city, bellowed over the ponies and the assassin. Despite the sound-muffling wind, the horrible screech slipped past the storm, stinging the ears of anyone who heard it. The sound became deeper, and finally, ended with a scratchy hum.
The ponies moaned in pain, slapping hooves on ears. Corvo bent low on one knee; his jowl twitched.
"Explain what that was!" said Corvo, panting loudly.
"Oh no," muttered Twilight, "It seems like—" But her voice silenced at the very moment four blue figures shifted in the cold fog.
Corvo, too, looked up, as well as the other ponies in shock. They appeared to be turquoise silhouettes of great sizes: heavy in the chest, but each bore two slender forelegs, and a misty blue trail of smoke ran down their backs as their hind legs. Their eyes were of pure white and deadly shapes; long faces, flying through and over the fog.
Another loud screech clamored, and the company gritted their teeth.
"Windigos!" cried Twilight. "Run, girls! Run!" And they all ran over the thick snow to the shining sphere at the end.
"What devilry are those creatures!" yelled Corvo, running behind the ponies.
"They're windigos!" said Twilight. "But they can't be here!"
"Twilight!" cried Pinkie. "Weren't those things extinct? Remember that play we did for Hearth's Warming Eve?"
"I know," said Twilight, "they're supposed to be extinct. Why they are here, I really don't know!"
"But, Twilight," said Rarity, "if I remember correctly, windigos fed off fighting and hatred! If nopony here is in an argument, how come those things are after us?"
"I don't know! This is all happening too fast and I need time to think! We need to cross that shield!"
But Corvo's eyes flickered red. They were much too far away, and looking back, he already saw a windigo speeding down towards them. The assassin stopped, halting suddenly, and all ponies stopped a second later.
"What the hay are you doing!" cried Rainbow Dash. "We need to go!"
"Go!" Corvo commanded. "I shall stand against these foul beasts of snow and ice. Do not worry about me."
Twilight's ears flagged down; she breathed rapidly as her pupils shrunk. "What do you mean!" she cried. "You don't even know about these things. You have to come with us!"
Time seemed to slow down as Corvo shifted his gaze between the windigos and the lavender alicorn. His body felt cold and hands lead, but he could not risk getting these ponies killed. He reached to his belt, pulling out his folding sword. The ponies took a step back in fear as the blade whipped out and gleamed in response.
"I shall not say this again," said Corvo. "Do not worry about me; I shall attempt to deal with these creatures. Begone!"
Without noticing, Twilight found herself listening to Corvo's every word. She turned as her friends did, and bolted off to the white distance. The moment was still as Corvo turned back to the advancing spirits.
Corvo lifted his sword against his chest, and he breathed out and looked up to the windigos. Every second, they became closer, spitting towards him. At last, Corvo too ran, as did the windigos to him. His sword was ripping through air on a firm grip; he lowered his shoulders and bent his risk. As the windigo tried to headbutt the assassin, Corvo jumped to the side, and slashed at the flying spirit. But it seemed that the only thing his folding sword ate was ice, for when he slid back on his knees, the half-end of the blade was licked by frost.
The windigo turned one-hundred-eighty degrees round, and clamored a loud screech. Corvo's eyes twitched as a swirling mist formed in the midmost of the windigo's mouth—and it let out a miasma of ice and snow.
Corvo grunted, and lit his Mark brightly, teleporting from sight. His vision became sable as he grabbed at his chest. His heart slowed down to an unnatural rate.
The windigo turned once again, and charged at the downed assassin.
Corvo slid a finger in the metal trigger of his crossbow, lit his Mark, and stopped time instantly. He jumped to his feet and ran off to the side. Corvo blasted a fiery arrow of burning smoke towards the frozen spirit. His arm ached as time resumed, and the fire arrow snapped, overlapping the windigo's hide, setting the screeching spirit to red flames.
Corvo jumped back, sheathing his crossbow. "There must be something wrong," he said. "I feel as if my entire body is about to sleep... but I cannot give in to death!" And he stood tall and proud, ignoring the pain encompassing his ribs and shoulders. Corvo drew forth his gun: a long metal tool, aiming at any incoming windigo.
Another came from up above. Corvo reacted quickly, looking up, descrying the forming image charging towards him. A long, blue face was all he saw, getting bigger and bigger. Corvo lifted his right arm, along with his left, holding the cold gun in one and the Mark glowing on the other.
Flicking his wrist, Corvo sent out a gush of jetting wind. It exploded on contact with the windigo, paralyzing it for the moment. Corvo squeezed the trigger, and sent forth a rapid bullet: it tore through the windigo's ice skull, and it screamed as it vaporized into cold dust.
Corvo then ran to the shining shield down the path. He panted heavily as he did so, and looking back the assassin's eyes went round as two more windigos flew through the roaring wind, towards him. But Corvo's will was adamant, and he could not stumble and die on the snow.
But a whiplash of ice appeared to his side, and before he could react, it impacted his leg, and Corvo heard his bone snap.
He cried in pain as he slid against his shoulder, holding his knee close to his chest and an arm wrapped round it. With a quick thought, Corvo let out another wind blast, knocking the two incoming windigos off their track and past him. He flipped over to his stomach, and tried to stand, but his leg creaked and twisted in more agonizing pain.
Corvo managed to crawl with one supporting knee. He gritted his teeth as he were biting stone; and he charged his Mark with a bright glow.
"I would have to be delusional to even think of stopping now!" he cried. As the two previous windigos hurtled towards the injured assassin, Corvo froze time. And as he did, he felt his hand ache with pain—but ignoring it, Corvo shot two metal bolts directly on the windigos' exposed heads. Lastly, he managed to teleport yards away before time resumed, and the windigos hit the snow with metal bolts sticking out of their frozen skulls.
Corvo flexed his left arm, and the Mark glowed dimly. He struggled to walk to the bright shield ahead, for he became closer to it, and was only several dozen yards away from his grasp.
But several more screeches, louder than the last, boomed in the sky; and a plethora of windigos shot from the high fog towards the assassin.
Corvo's ears twitched as he looked back, then quickly forth again. A storm of ice spirits bolted towards the assassin. Using his Mark, Corvo teleported forward, but stumbled and rolled on the snow. He lifted his heavy face from the cold floor. Corvo reached out an arm, but the force field was just several yards away from his desperate fingers. He flipped to his back and grunted in pain, and looked ahead to see the sea of windigos approaching.
Corvo could not turn again, and he could not teleport backwards. His eyes squinted in agony, and he lifted his sword.
This cannot be the end, he thought. At this point, simple physics can help me.
Time mentally froze for Corvo as he awaited his bane: the windigos which were just seconds from freezing him. He could not move and all the ponies had left him. But this was his decision.
Corvo screamed, facing his left palm towards the windigos. Using what little strength he had, Corvo wind blasted, and the force flung him in the opposite direction. The windigos headbutted his stomach simultaneously as he shot back the powerful gust of wind; and he impacted the bright force field.
Corvo's vision turned to nightshade.