Ice and Laughter
I only own my OC's and the plot. Enjoy!
The Adventures of the Elementals
Chapter 30: Ice and Laughter
*Blizzard Day 3; Mount Blackmane; 8:00 AM*
All night she slept. Through every minute of it, all Pinkie's head had going through it was Cryo and nothing else. The fact that he had been hurt by her actions was more than enough to put her in an extreme state of depression. She felt she deserved to feel like this as well. When he said that she was like her little sister and it put her in pain because of it, that was the big blow to her. When she woke up, she didn't expect to see what she saw.
She was underneath a blanket and Cryo was sleeping right next to her. Peacefully it seemed too. She didn't have a clue why. She thought he was mad at her. So why was he cuddled up next to her?
His eyes opened up and he sat up to stretch before she thought of the answer. Slowly, the ice pony began to gather his things and pack them in his bags ready to move again. Pinkie on the other hoof just stayed lying there on the ground sure that he was still mad at her. Then he looked at her.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
No anger, no sadness, no nothing. She couldn't tell if he was still mad or not.
"I'm...alright." She answered.
Cryo walked over and placed a hoof to her forehead.
"Well you still have a slight fever." He said gently. "But your eyes aren't red or puffy anymore. That's good."
He took away his hoof and looked back at the icy seal he made at the cave entrance last night. It was still there and there were no sounds heard from the other side. He figured the snow creatures decided to not bother and wait until he and Pinkie awoke to try and get in.
Upon seeing him look to the seal, Pinkie knew what it meant. Cryo had to resume his journey and get all the way up the mountain by today.
"I guess I should try to get back home when you head back up again." She sadly said.
Hearing it, Cryo turned around and looked into her eyes with seriousness.
"No. You're coming with me." He said.
Her own eyes turned back to him upon realizing that he was indeed, being serious.
"What...but why? All I'm going to do is just get in the way."
"If you stay here, you'll be a sitting duck for all the creatures that we will most likely run into. You need to be kept safe and the only way to do that is if you are near me. I know you're still sick but do you think you can make it?"
Pinkie couldn't believe it. Cryo was actually going to bring her along. But it still saddened her to know that he was under the gun and he felt as if he had no choice but to bring her along now. She was just extra weight he needed to carry.
But either way, she needed to make sure she wouldn't be a burden. She stood up as fast and best she could to appear strong even though she was still kind of sick.
"But what if I just get more sick then I am right now?" she asked a bit concerned about that.
"I can redirect the cold away from you as best I can. I can't leave you behind, Pinkie." He answered.
That was able to let her mind be at a bit more ease. With little confidence but enough to make her go on, she looked at him again.
"Then let's go." She said.
It was enough for Cryo to buy though. Before they left, he went into his stuff and pulled out some food for him and her to share. When they were finished, Cryo used his magic to pack everything back up into their bags and placed them on their backs. They then walked to the icy door of the cave and the stallion looked to his partner one more time.
"Stay close to me whatever you do." He said firmly.
She didn't need to be told twice. That was the whole reason she made the trek to begin with. To be close to him. She nodded and Cryo did so in response. Then he waved his hoof and the ice sealing the cave bean to vanish. With a look outside, they noticed that it wasn't snowing and the wind was barely blowing. There was still a chill to nip at Pinkie's nose and plenty of snow to walk through but still, the weather at the moment confused them.
They didn't have time to think about it right now. Cryo went out first to check for any monsters made of snow and found none to his surprise. He was still on guard though, knowing they could appear at any minute. Pinkie followed him out and their journey resumed up the mountain. They couldn't see it through the fog, but they were nearly there.
*Canterlot; Castle Dining Room; 9:00 AM*
The chefs of the castle were known for their precision cooking and fine etiquette with food. The royal sisters were taken aback almost every morning, afternoon, and night with every taste that touched their tongues. And they had been so again this morning. Rarity and Spike had joined them to delightfully share the divine tastes with them. The water mover was the only one missing from the group.
"These hash browns are simply exquisite." Rarity just had to comment.
"I'm glad you enjoy them, Rarity." Luna replied with a smile. "Our chefs drive themselves to nothing less than perfection."
"Well whichever of them dug up these gems is aces in my book." Spike said as he chewed up his own serving of various jewels.
Celestia let loose a single giggle at the young drake's antics.
"Freshly heated topaz. I hear it's a favorite of yours from Twilight." The solar princess said.
"Oh yeah. You bet." Spike took another bite.
It all seemed to be going like it was just a normal day. Everything was fine. Then a set of four blue hooves came into the room with them. He didn't walk to the table to sit down. Rather he walked to the window facing south, and sat down as he stared at the town he had come to know as his temporary home.
Luna was the first one to address him.
"Nice of you to join us, Agua. Come and eat. You need your strength for your upcoming lesson today."
The words reached the water mover but he didn't budge from his spot. All he did was keep in his place and stare out the window looking down at Ponyville nearly all the way covered by a blanket of snow.
"Agua, did you hear me?" The blue princess tried again.
"I did." Agua finally responded. "I'm just ignoring you."
Considering how much respect Agua seemed to show Luna before, this was not any sort of way they would have thought he would speak to her in. He wasn't being the gentlecolt and humble student as he had been whenever he was in her presence. He was just.......being Agua.
"Is something the matter?" Celestia asked the stallion.
"No. Nothing's wrong, your highness. Other than the fact that all of our friends in Ponyville are trapped underneath a blanket of snow down there and the chances of them even surviving this dwindle with every second that passes by. So forgive me if my mind isn't really focused on eating or learning more water moving right now."
With a growl, he turned his head back to the window and continued his gaze. Celestia sighed knowing how he felt.
"Agua, I'm sorry. I know you are worried about them. Trust me, I am too. But there isn't anything we can do for them right now. I know it's hard but we just have to believe they can get themselves out of this."
"How could they possibly get themselves out of this?" Agua snapped his head back to her with a glare. "The entire town is almost buried in snow with no chances of letting up, Cryo is the only chance they have and he's probably not strong enough to move all of that, and to make matters worse, the storm is almost here to Canterlot and the people outside are starting to get angrier. How the hell is Cryo supposed to stop all this by himself?"
"He's not by himself."
That little line from the princess of the sun earned her the stares of everyone in the room. She immediately regretted saying it just to calm Agua down some.
"How do you know there's someone with him?" Rarity asked.
Celestia didn't have a choice but to give them some sort of answer without giving the whole thing away.
"A reliable source told me he saw Cryo begin to walk up Mount Blackmane two days ago with Pinkie Pie not far behind him."
Now the concern was not on who it was Celestia was talking to, but rather the safety of their pink friend.
"Pinkie followed him?!" Rarity gasped. "How....how could she attempt something so foolish?!"
"Was she close enough to where Cryo would be able to sense her presence?" Luna asked hoping for a positive response.
"I am unsure. But if they are together right now, then it is probably for the better." Celestia reasoned.
"Yeah. That sounds much better. Let the most childish of the bunch hike up a mountain blazing with ice because she has mild separation anxiety. So much better." Agua was giving no cares in the world where his sarcasm went right now.
Rarity couldn't help but feel that he was insulting Pinkie Pie in the process of that speech.
"Are you saying Pinkie is childish?" she snapped at her partner.
"Oh are you JUST seeing that?" Agua responded. "That mare is so immature and wacky at times, I'm surprised she's the age she is."
"She just likes to make sure everyone is having fun all the time! Is that so wrong?" Rarity began to shout.
"And when she sees that ONE pony isn't enjoying himself, she goes depressed. Like FULL ON depressed. I'm sorry but THAT is childish to me."
"That ONE pony is always YOU!" Rarity got up and shoved a hoof at his nose.
"Well I don't like parties! Live with it!"
"I live with YOU! And that is bad enough!"
"Oh and like YOU are a breeze to live with?! The mare who has a mental breakdown if she screws up a button on an outfit! I mean by Poseidon's beard! How annoying can you get?!"
"At least I'm not out every night to try and divulge in debauchery with every female in eyesight! Don't you have standards?!"
"I DO ACTUALLY! I’D NEVER WITH YOU!"
"THE FEELING IS MUTUAL!"
"SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
That third voice was courtesy of Princess Luna who decided to take the cap off of the Royal Canterlot Voice for a bit. The entire castle shook at the sheer volume of her vocal chords. Celestia even had to pop her ears since she was right next to her. Spike dove underneath the table and took his plate of gems with him in fear of their safety over his own.
Angrily, Luna got up out of her seat and marched over to the two partners with a glare that probably by measurement, would have been enough to even freeze Cryo in his tracks.
"Listen to both of you! Is THIS how the bearers of generosity and water always act?!" she shouted.
"Uhhh...." Spike poked his head out. "Pretty much, yes. They clash about a lot of things."
"Well the clashing seems to be even more childish then Agua claims Pinkie Pie to be." She resumed her glare at the two. "I do not know what causes you to bicker so much, but let me remind you of who you two are. You are Rarity, the bearer of the element of generosity. And you are Agua, the chosen one of water. Both of you come from the essence of Poseidon, one of the greatest minds to ever walk this planet. I will not stand idly by and watch you two bicker over nothing like a couple of foals arguing over a bottle.
"The two of you obviously share an abundance of differences but deep down you are each the same. Both of you care only about the safety and well being of your friends and loved ones and you would give anything, even your own bodies to make sure nothing dreadful becomes of them. Is that not true?"
All of them stood in silence for a couple of minutes before one of the two ponies in question broke the silence.
"Of course it's true." Agua mumbled.
"You know it is for me." Rarity came back as well.
Luna let loose a breath.
"Very well. Then stop this pointless bickering and try to find more relations to each other than that. Unless you do that, you will never win this battle and you will never be able to unlock the power that dwells deep within you."
They knew the power of which Luna was referring to. The power of Poseidon himself.
"Yes....I do." Rarity sat down on her haunches. "Thank you for reminding me that I was born from an immortal water god alicorn."
The expression of disbelief at her origins started to crawl back up her spine. One of her hooves began to rub at her head as it began to ache.
"Just relax. You aren't moving water yet." It was at that moment Agua did something he was sort of known for. Change from a jerk to a friend. "But......I've seen you move around in your martial arts knowledge. If you want....I could teach you some water moving forms I know...just to be ready....up to you of course."
He didn't make eye contact with the mare he was rooming with while he made that statement. Though that hardly seemed to matter. The size of Rarity's smile would have probably been that big no matter where he was looking at the time.
"You'd....really do that?" she asked.
"Well sure." Agua replied. "If you're gonna be a water mover, you're gonna need to learn how to move your body first."
The smile remained in her face while she nodded.
"I would like that.......thank you, Agua." She muttered.
"Don't mention it." The water mover turned around and looked back at the window. "I guess I can eat and worry at the same time."
Rarity led him over to the table and he took a look at the various foods that were presented on the table. Using his water moving, her grabbed some utensils with tendrils made of his respective element. He began to eat just as a ruckus from outside began to turn up in volume.
"Is that crowd still outside?" Spike turned around to look down at the castle gate where the large group of ponies demanding Celestia's address to them.
"Unfortunately, yes." Celestia answered. "They are not very thrilled with me refusing to show myself."
"Well why don't you?" Agua asked.
"Because I have something that not a single pony down there does." She turned to Agua as she gave her reply. "Faith in your brother."
Luna nodded in complete agreement.
"In time they will see with their own eyes you mean no harm and they will hopefully leave it at that." She put in her own two bits.
"I hope so." That was all Rarity could say on the matter as the rest of them continues to eat.
*Ponyville; Town Hall; 10:00 AM*
The situation for the ponies down in Ponyville was only getting worse and worse with every hour that passed. The power had gone out all through the town last night while everypony slept, so the heater was now officially out of commission. Everypony had to put on the warm clothing they had before to stay that way, and the snow had not let up, letting at least three quarters of the force field surrounding town hall get buried in white powder. Hope was beginning to dwindle.
The emergency food supply was already beginning to dwindle and the ponies were getting hostile. The elements had to keep the peace but it wasn't very easy to do. With less food meant more unhappy ponies and more unhappy ponies meant anger and a lot of other negative emotions being thrown in all directions. It was mostly thanks partly to Pyro's words of calming wisdom and a bigger part from Terra's hollow threats of pain that order was kept and nopony really did get hurt.
That wasn't to stop their worry though. No, it was far from it, actually. And in all fairness they had a right to be with the way the cards were being dealt. With nothing but a force field powered by three unicorns holding back the snow, chances of them escaping were dwindling.
All everypony could do was just look out the window and watch as the creatures made of snow pounded away at the force field trying to get in. Scootaloo was one of these ponies. All she did throughout most of her time was just stay there in the window looking up at where the surface of the snow is in worry. Her idol flyer noticed this and decided to try and cheer her up.
"Heya, squirt." Rainbow greeted as if nothing was wrong. "You alright?"
"Is that even a question?" The young filly replied. "I'm scared, Rainbow Dash. What if.....what if this is it for us?"
"Hey." One of her hooves turned Scootaloo's head so they were looking into each other's eyes. "We have two ponies working on this. Two very strong and very good ponies. They'll come through for us. Just have faith, okay kid?"
All Scootaloo did was give a nod in the toughest look she could muster and then turn back to the window, resuming what she was doing to begin with. Satisfied, Rainbow walked away and sat behind the purple unicorn she called "partner", who was at the time talking with Terra.
"It's hard to tell somepony to keep faith when you're beginning to lose it yourself." She commented.
"Yeah well try losing it slower. We need to remain together for all that we are." Terra replied.
"I really hope the others are okay." Gem said worried. "Cryo should be up the mountain by now..."
"If Pinkie Pie didn't slow him down." Rainbow seemed to growl when she said that. "I still can't believe she went after him. How could she be so stupid?"
"Maybe she was doing what she thought was right." Pyro was the one to answer that as he walked over with Twilight by his side.
Of course Rainbow thought those words to be just ridiculous.
"How is going out into a blizzard of unstable proportions anything close to being right?" She demanded an answer from the red stallion.
"Only she can answer that fully. And I trust she will when she and Cryo succeed in their mission." He seemed WAY too calm about it all.
"Well it's nice to know YOUR faith is still as strong as ever." Rainbow walked off.
Pyro followed her movements for a bit before looking at his yellow geokinetic sister with concern.
"How is Cadence?" Both he and Twilight wanted to hear that report.
With a disappointed look and a sigh, she told them.
"Not a lot better. Jackie and Fluttershy are tending to her now but she's not doing so good."
Those were the results he was anticipating. Cadence was an alicorn and alicorns don't get sick very often. But when they do, they get hit hard. Twilight was well aware of this fact after living in the same building as the princess for many years. But neither she nor Gem knew how to treat it.
"Well....just keep doing what you're doing. There's no possible way she could get any worse than she is now." Twilight reasoned.
"Let's hope so." With that, Terra walked off to find something else to do.
That was pretty much all they could do: talk, give status updates, and hope for the best. Time was a resource they didn't have anymore and the pressure was weighing all on the shoulders of Pinkie and Cryo.
Pyro sat alone on the second floor looking out the window to the rising surface of snow with nothing but a look of unreadable emotion.
"Pyro?"
His first show of emotion came when he heard his name. Turning around to the left, he saw Rose there approaching him and sitting down next to him.
"It's awful isn't it?" she mumbled.
He only nodded and sighed in response. She glanced at him but swiftly returned her gaze to out the window.
"You know....back when I was a filly, I used to hate winter with a passion. It always made the flowers I tried to grow wither and die. It got me so frustrated. I tried so hard to keep them alive but the cold always got to them. It wasn't until months later that my parents told me that the flowers I was trying to raise were the wrong type. I felt so silly."
She giggled. Once he heard the sound enter his ears, Pyro's yellow eyes redirected to look at her.
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.
"Because....it's a silly story that makes me forget about my problems....like the one we're all in now. Don't you have any of those from your past?"
She just had to ask about his past. Not directly but still, the word "past" got to him. The only memories he could ever conjure up were the unpleasant ones. Nothing about his past that was remotely good could hardly be remembered.
"Not a lot." He said sadly.
Rose only nodded but she wasn't done talking.
"Pyro.....please tell me we're going to be alright. You don't have to mean it or anything just.....tell me everything is going to be alright. I just need to hear it."
She was desperate and scared. Pyro could tell that easily. Without even thinking about it, he reached over and grabbed her right front hoof with his left one and held it tight, something to which Rose madly blushed.
"We WILL get out of this alright, Rose. I give you my word of honor."
She wasn't sure if it was the hoof holding or his firm tone of voice but whatever it was, it sure made Rose feel a whole lot better about the situation she was in. The two of them just sat there on their haunches just staring out the window at a wall of snow. And Rose couldn't stop blushing. Though if she were to look close enough at Pyro's face, she probably would have been able to notice that he was blushing like crazy too.
*Mount Blackmane; 11:00 AM*
He was a little dragged down because of Pinkie Pie but within a few hours time, they both got there. They had reached the top of Mount Blackmane. It wasn't the most pointy of mountain tops. It was more of a flat top at least wide enough to support a small cottage. They had encountered a few monsters on their trek, but they were easily defeated. They had at least just a hundred meters left to go in the snow and fog before they got up there.
"We're almost there, Pinkie! How ya holdin' up?!" The stallion shouted.
He received no answer other than a heavy round of coughs. No doubt Pinkie was getting worse from all this exposure to the weather. He picked the pink pony up with his magic and placed her over his back as he kept walking.
"We're gonna do it, Pinkie. We're close to the top now." Cryo kept talking as he walked, carrying all the weight on his back. "And when we do, we're gonna go back down the hill and WHOA!"
His face planted into the snow after he tripped over something. Pinkie was quick to get off him so he could stand back up. Turning back, he saw what he tripped over. A bar of metal sticking out of the ground like a tree root.
"What the..."
He ran a hoof over the metal bar and dug a bit into the snow to see if it went on. It did. And that meant there was more to see.
"Cryo...shouldn't we get going? Something doesn't feel right." Pinkie requested.
It wasn't the cold or the sickness she was referring to. It was something else. Cryo felt it too. That's why he had to say no.
"Pinkie, get behind me. There's something underneath the snow. I gotta see what."
Nodding without question, Pinkie walked behind her partner as he leaned over and dug his front legs into the snow. After a few seconds of charging up his power over ice, he spread his two legs out rapidly and a large portion of the snow in front of him flew off to both sides revealing what was underneath the snow to me an array of metal bars charged with magic in the shape of a cage.
Inside that cage was something that made Pinkie jump on to Cryo's back and latch on for dear life. What she had just laid eyes on was a creature in the form of a horse like body. It was a pale white and its eyes were somewhat glowing. It was also growling. Cryo gasped when he saw it.
"It's a windigo....but why is it here.....on a mountain near Ponyville?"
"Just forget about it!" Pinkie fearfully shouted. "Windigos are really mean creatures that only feed off distrust and hate towards other ponies!"
"They are also creatures that I show my utmost respect to. For this creature is a member of the species that are considered to be the very first ice movers." Cryo replied.
This was new information for Pinkie Pie.
"The first ice movers?" she repeated.
Cryo nodded and began to explain.
"Ponies weren't the first creatures in existence with power over ice. The very first ponies to wield this power sought out help from other creatures. The only ones with such a power were the windigos. Sensing the cold from within them, the beasts of ice showed the ponies the ways of ice moving. And from there, we allowed it to evolve into the technique it is now."
"So your tribe is friends with windigos. But listen to it! It's growling and it wants to eat us and have us live in its belly forever!" Pinkie cried still freaking out.
She tried to pull him away but instead she found herself easily overpowered and trapped within his own telekinetic grip and her body was enveloped in a cyan field.
"No...........it's in pain."
That correction from Cryo's mouth made Pinkie halt all movement and look at him with nothing but skepticism as he put her back down.
"What? How do you know that?"
"Because it said so."
He said nothing else as he walked past the head of the creature to inspect the rest of its body. Everything seemed to check out until he saw the underside of its chest. There was a giant hole right in the center of its chest. The stallion looked inside and saw a very big problem. There was a hole in this thing's chest right over where the heart should be.
But there was no heart.
"Okay....that's creepy." The ice pony commented before looking up to the windigo's face. "You just sit tight. I'm gonna get you out of here."
The windigo growled in response and Cryo ran full speed up the mountain with Pinkie floating next to him in a field of magic.
"That explains some things." Cryo noted. "A windigo is the only thing in this world that can produce cold of this kind on its own. But there was nothing to provoke it. Why is it doing this?"
"And where was its heart?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Shouldn't it be....not alive?"
Cryo didn't answer because he didn't have one himself. He only kept going until finally, his three day jaunt had come to an end as he reached his destination: the top of Mount Blackmane. Once he stepped hoof on the flat ground, he set Pinkie down and looked around. The only thing there to see was a very old, very small, and very worn down old house.
Confused, the two ponies approached the door of the place and Cryo ran a hoof over it.
"An old shack. What a place to hide a magical storm's power source." He said.
The door was unlocked and he opened it up. It was just a big shack with only four walls. In the center of the place was an object. A huge glowing light blue object on top of a pedestal. The glow it gave off was eerie and very very cold.
"Wh.....what is that, Cryo?"
"It's the heart." Cryo angrily informed her. "Ripped out of its chest and used as a power source for this storm."
The two of them looked around the chamber they were in. Energy seemed to be filling it and it was indeed originating from that beating heart.
"Nightmare must have captured this windigo and forced it into this. Making it feel nothing but anger and rage and powering the blizzard."
Pinkie looked at the sight disgusted. It was sick, twisted, and cruel. Right up Nightmare Moon's alley. Granted windigos weren't exactly the most friendly of creatures and Celestia knows they have caused enough trouble in the years of their known existence. But subjecting one to this kind of misery, this torture......no living thing should have to go through that.
"We have to get it free." She stated. "We need to put its heart back in its body."
Without even giving it a second thought, she rushed for the heart not yet sure on how she was going to make this whole thing go.
"Pinkie no!" Cryo shouted trying to catch her.
He was too late and when she was close enough, the heart gave off a reaction. A bolt of unknown energy shot out from it and hit Pinkie Pie and sent her through the wall of the shack nearly unconscious. Horrified, Cryo rushed to her and cradled her in his front legs.
"Pinkie....please be alright."
Slowly, her head turned up to him and her eyes weakly attempted to stay open.
"Cryo.....
"Just like Sierra....always running into things without even giving any thought."
She thought she was gonna cry right then and there knowing she hurt Cryo again. But her thoughts were cut off when out of the shack came a pair of glowing eyes easily recognizable.
"AHAHAHAHAAAAA! A brave hike you took, Cryo. I commend you for that. But your efforts are in vain. Nothing can stop this storm from spreading now! The heart of a windigo filled with nothing but hate and anger is the ultimate battery! You and your little pink friend have front row seats to the beginning of Equestria's ice age! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"
The windigo's heart began to pulse with more energy and Cryo could feel what it was doing. More energy to power the storm was pouring out of it at an exponential rate. The windigo down the mountain from them began to howl and roar in complete agony as its life energy began to dwindle. The eyes vanished as Cryo clutched himself to Pinkie as tight as he could.
"I.....have failed."
*Ponyville; 11:35 AM*
"Something really bad is happening here!" Rainbow Dash cried.
Right she was. Not even a minute had passed since activity from the snow creatures outside had spiked up dramatically. More and more beasts had been created and they were pounding on the shield making it more and more heavier for the three unicorns sustaining it. It wasn't long before it started to actually crack.
Pyro, Twilight, and Gem all brought a hoof to their heads and yelped in pain while the other citizens of Ponyville began to panic.
"Gem! Twilight! Reinforce the barrier, they're starting to break through!" Pyro shouted.
Twilight's and Gem's horns both lit up again and shone intensely. Their combined efforts made the shield surrounding town hall just a little bit stronger to keep the enemies out. Afterwards, both of them collapsed to the ground barely finding the strength to stand back up.
"Pyro, we can't keep this up much longer without Cadence!" Twilight cried as she rubbed her head.
"I know, I know. Just don't give up! I'll think of something!"
"Well, you better think fast, brother!" Typhoon shouted. "Zose frozen freaks look really nasty!"
Pyro's brain was being put to the test here. Town hall was filled with scared ponies and they were all starting to become doubtful of he and his siblings' abilities to protect them; that is never a good sign. He was distracted from that for a while as Terra and Applejack returned from the basement.
"Any better?" he asked them.
"No. If anything, she's worse." Terra sadly replied.
"Her cold is a really bad one. Ah don't think she's gonna be able to use her protection magic with a fever that high." Applejack added.
A loud smack echoed through the building when his own red and orange tipped hoof smacked into his face.
"Oh, that's just wonderful. We have a building filled with almost half of Ponyville's population, a freak blizzard threatening to freeze us all to death, Cadence is sick, four of the elements are missing, and the snow outside is literally coming alive and trying to kill us. Is there anything else I forgot to mention?!"
"Yeah, there is actually. We just ran out of food." Rainbow Dash added.
"LOVELY!"
It was all happening so fast and everything was quickly taking a turn for the worse. Now it wouldn't be long before the snow beasts broke through the shield. Worried, he looked out the window and through the wind and snow to view the mountain of the highest peak.
"Cryo, Pinkie......where are you?"
Asking questions wasn't going to do him any good now. He had to act. The shield was beginning to crack and the force on it was too great. He needed to get it to let up somehow so they could think of a plan. There was only one way to do that.
Without thinking twice, he bolted to the door
"Pyro, stop! Get back here!" Twilight tried to chase after him.
But he was already out the door and with a quick teleport, he was on the other side of the shield in the cold. His body heat was sustained for now but he knew it wasn't going to be long before it began to give out. He didn't have any other choice though. The pressure on the force field needed to be relieved if there was to be any hope at all.
The snowponies all started to slowly advance on him as soon as they realized he was there.
"Is this a stupid idea? Yes. But is there any other way? No. So bring it on you walking hunks of powder!"
His hooves caught aflame as he took his bipedal stance and charged for the nearest snowpony. One punch was all it took for that one to bust apart into a pile of snow back on the ground. But he noticed his hoof that he used to punch with was cold. The fire had already gone out. All of this cold snow and wind coming down on him, along with impacting these enemies made of snow itself wasn't bringing him a lot of favors.
He figured so long as the shield stayed up and the snowponies were being lead away from it, he was doing his job. So he kept fighting them off using his martial arts and pyrokinesis to ward them off for as long as possible.
"Is he insane?" Rose asked from the inside. "He can't take them all."
"He's warding them away from the shield." Gem observed. "That must be what he intends."
"We need to think of something fast....or we're all done for." Rainbow said in fear.
As Pyro continued to fight his life away out there in the cold, that was what he and everyone else in that building was thinking.
*Mount Blackmane; 11:45 AM*
All Cryo could do was sit there and watch as he, his friends, and his family became buried in a land of ice and snow. He couldn't believe it. Everything he had come to love since he started living at Sugarcube Corner was about to be demolished and even worse, the princesses would be so ashamed and disappointed in him.
Then his mind went to another. Sierra. What would she say if she saw him like this. He knew what she would be. Sad and disappointed.
"Sierra....I'm so sorry........I can't believe I let this happen."
Pinkie was still there in his grip and her sickness was starting to bring her into unconsciousness. But she kept fighting to stay awake for Cryo's sake tired of seeing him like this.
"Cryo....all you've ever told me about Sierra are the bad unlucky times you had with her. But.....weren't there any good times? Any that made you smile...or laugh?"
Cryo sighed and looked at his partner saddened.
"What good would that possibly do for me? If anything it will probably just make me hurt more."
"That's just silly." Pinkie coughed. "Come on, Cryo. Just once. Tell me one funny story about your little sister. Are you going to stand there and honestly try to tell me there isn't one good memory you have with her?"
That was something he just couldn't argue with. Of course there were times when his little sister did bring some concern and fear to Cryo. But that wasn't all his relationship with Sierra was.
"Of course I have good memories. I mean there was this one time when she was just a foal, she was about to start walking and I was so excited to see her do it. She ended up going only one step before she lost balance and fell into a bowl of food. Oh you should have seen how adorable she looked."
He chuckled. Something he hadn't done ever since this whole journey started. He cracked a smile and gave off a small laugh.
"Whoa....where did that come from?" he asked himself.
Pinkie just smiled and did her best to sit back up on her own.
"See? Just because right now things seem bad, it doesn't mean you can't laugh altogether, Cryo. You just need to keep happiness close to your heart and fight so you can keep laughing forever and ever. And I'm sure wherever Sierra is, if she saw you right now, she would think you are the coolest big brother to ever live, and she was the luckiest sister in the world."
He finally saw how he had been for the past hours. How stupid he was. How much of a stubborn pony he could be. He only viewed the negative memories of his sister because they plagued him so. But he never once thought to think of the positive ones to give him light and strength. Not a single time. As soon as he realized it all of them began to re-emerge from his subconscious. Sierra being born, her first steps, the fun times they played together in the snow, learning to use her ice power, there were so many. Cryo's face began to smile wider and wider. As each memory began to warm his icy heart.
"Oh Pinkie.......thank you." Not even caring about the job he had to do, Cryo hugged his partner.
She hugged back and then the two of them began to do something together. Something they had needed to do for days but only now really had the chance to.
They both began to laugh.
Back in Ponyville, they had officially hit rock bottom. Pyro was on the ground too weak and too cold to move. The shield was cracking more and more, Cadence couldn't help them, and everypony was now in a full blown panic. Yelling, screaming, and light violence was the only thing filling that building now.
All the fillies and colts were next to Cheerilee who was also trapped with them trying to think of words to ease them. But alas she came up with none. All she could do was just hope with them as it began to go out the window.
"That's it....Ah can't believe it." Applejack let her head hang. "........it's over."
All of them thought so as well.
Terra just kept her eyes staring at the top of the snow that was lying against the shield. Her eyes going up and down looking at the top and bottom of it. Snow, nothing but snow, and then there was even more snow at the top that was.....
......starting to fly up and away from the shield in various large chunks all around it.
"What the......girls....you might wanna take a look at this."
Applejack joined her partners side and looked up seeing what the mare of earth saw.
"Aw great. NOW what are they doin' out there?" She assumed this was more work of the enchanted snow.
That theory was questioned though when Typhoon put her hoof to her head and spoke.
"Zere ees something out zere.....something.......familiar."
That last word was not the word everypony was expecting her to say. Powerful, maybe but familiar? All it did was make Applejack and Terra scan the outside even further to look for what was causing this. Typhoon kept on using her telepathy to try and find the source as the snow kept on rising. The more snow that got out of the shield’s way, the clearer her mind was able to see things outside. The force field itself was now free of pressure because the first layer of snow around it had been lifted away.
"Look! Who is that?" Rainbow Dash looked out and pointed.
Out the window they all looked and saw two silhouettes of pony shape moving about throughout the blizzard. They didn't appear to be attacking the snow ponies. They looked as if they were just moving around like a couple of dancing partners on their hind legs. But they weren't embracing each other. They were just moving around and waving their front hooves around.
"Wait......" Looking closer, Twilight was able to see something odd about the ponies.
Their eyes and cutie marks were shining.
"Could it be...?" The mare of magic muttered.
They could see it clearly now and the images brought back memories of the fight in Canterlot. Only now it was happening to two different ponies. Cryo's and Pinkie's eyes and cutie marks were glowing bright white together and Pinkie's element of laughter necklace was around her neck, the balloon shaped charming glowing its respective blue.
The two of them were standing bipedal, waving their front legs, and were both moving about in what seemed to be a rehearsed formation. Both of them were doing it in perfect sync with one another. With every wave of their hooves, more and more of the snow and ice began to budge from its place, breaking the thick blanket across Ponyville up into parts and lifting it into the sky. Seeing the door was clear to open up, the shield, after three days, finally came down. Gem opened up the door and walked outside as the snow resumed rising up to the sky.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash followed her and soon all the others after. Nothing but astounded faces and dropped jaws were seen as the ponies of Ponyville gazed at the snow and then at the two ponies moving it. Nopony however could have been more surprised than Mr. and Mrs. Cake. The young pink mare they had taken in like a daughter was right in front of them, glowing in her eyes and flank and using her mind to lift up impossible amounts of snow.
"Pinkie!" Pound Cake shouted.
"C-cwyyo!" Pumpkin Cake reached out a hoof for the stallion.
With every motion of their hooves and every step those two took, Pinkie and Cryo lifted up more and more snow from the floor of the town. Sooner than everypony thought, they got to the houses which were already buried and freed them from their captivity of ice. The other elements were just looking at this while thinking moving that much snow had to be stressful on Cryo's and Pinkie's bodies. But they just went on moving it in their little dancelike pattern as if it was nothing at all.
Twilight looked away from the two of them for a brief second and then rushed over to Pyro once she saw him fall to the ground. He through the snow as it broke up into pieces and hit the dirt slightly weakened. With his partner’s help, he got back up and looked over to his brother and his own partner.
"Do I know how to pick teams or what?" He chuckled.
Even though the most amazing thing in any world Twilight had ever seen was happening right in front of her, she couldn't help but return the laugh with one of her own. Everypony else just continued to stand there and gawk as the town began to lose more of its blanket of thick snow. As the residential houses got uncovered, the front doors opened up and the ponies living in them came outside, looking up wondering what in Celestia's name was going on.
Before they knew it, Cryo and Pinkie had lifted up the entire field of snow above the town.
"This impure snow...must be eradicated."
Those words came from both Pinkie and Cryo speaking in sync with each other. Then as if what they were already doing wasn't enough to put Ponyville into a state of shock, the two acting heroes decided to put something else into play. From the tip of Cryo's horn and from one of Pinkie's hooves, another source of white light began to shine. After a matter of moments to charge up, that light blasted out of both of their respective appendages and into the floating mass of snow in the form of a beam. The beam itself lasted for maybe a second or two but its effects were clearly seen.
From the center of the snow outward, it began to dissolve. Not melt. Dissolve entirely away from existence along with the storm clouds that poured the snow down in the first place. A minute later, the work was done and the ponies of Ponyville couldn't have been happier to see Celestia's sun in the clear blue sky again. Their cheers and yells of happiness and relief signified it. Soon though, their attention returned to the two ponies who made it all happen.
Their eyes and cutie marks stopped glowing but Pinkie's element of laughter necklace remained attached to her. Once they stood back down on all fours, a huge wave of dizziness and disorientation overtook them both. They were about to fall down on their sides before Fluttershy caught Cryo and Typhoon made Pinkie balance back out.
"Easy zere, you two. Just breathe. Eet takes a lot out of you, I know."
"Maybe we should get them some water." Fluttershy suggested.
The two pegasi spoke from experience being the only other ones of the group to glow like that so far.
"Water.....would be nice." Cryo mumbled before he opened his eyes back up and looked at Pinkie.
After her own eyelids fluttered open, she turned her head left to see the white unicorn smiling at her.
"Pinkie......thank you so much for following me." He said.
It was at that moment, Pinkie Pie did was she was best known for. She smiled a great big smile and went over to Cryo latching onto him for a hug. The stallion of ice happily reciprocated as the citizens of Ponyville continued to stare at them. While the two hugged, the others saw that from both of their chest, more glowing came. Pinkie's element of laughter gemstone was shining and a small light from Cryo's chest was glimmering too. Once the two of them opened their eyes and saw it, they backed away from each other confused.
Once they were apart, the two shining lights from each of them shot out of their bodies and into the sky above them colliding with each other. From the two lights put together, a shape formed. The shape of a pony. When it died down, the present Alamantians were in shock. The pony lowered itself down to the ground on its bright powder blue wings. Shoes made of solid and enchanted ice touched the dirt and the pony opened up her eyes below her magnificent horn while her snowy white mane and tail waved in the passing breeze.
The five Alamantians, Cryo especially, fell down into a bow.
"Lady Skaldi." The ice mover mumbled. "Words cannot express how honored I am."
Once that name was heard, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all bowed to her as well. Seeing that it was an alicorn present and she was wearing some sort of icy crown on her head, the rest of Ponyville bowed too, even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon reluctantly.
The goddess of ice herself, Skaldi, stood before them. She looked down and smiled at her two disciples of white and pink as they stood back up.
"You two have done extraordinary." She said in a soft and calm voice. "I am very proud of both of you."
Pinkie, needless to say, was ecstatic. And hopped on the goddess hugging her.
"Oooohhhhh! You're Skaldi! I was born with part of you inside me right?! Give it to me straight. Am I gonna grow wings? And a horn! Oh! Will I get to move ice again?!"
Skaldi giggled as Pinkie calmed down.
"There will come a day where you and your friends will be able to do more than you could ever think possible, Pinkie Pie. But until that day comes, I need you and Cryo to do something."
"Anything, m'lady." The unicorn stallion swore.
With a soft smile and glance between her two disciples, Skaldi spoke her request.
"Always stay together. You need each other much more than you know."
The two ponies that came from that goddess before them looked at each other sharing the same considerate smile before they looked back up at her.
"Always, Lady Skaldi." Cryo muttered.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Pinkie Pie placed a hoof over her closed right eye.
Skaldi nodded, approving their answers. Her attention was then diverted when she heard a harsh cough and sneeze exit town hall. Cadence was being helped out by Roseluck and that Bran stallion Typhoon befriended. She looked horrible. Her eyes, bloodshot red just like her nose; bags under her eyes that looked like they could carry a load of groceries; and her mane was such a frazzled disaster, Rarity would have had a panic attack if she saw it.
The goddess of ice walked in between her two children bearing her essence and made her way to the cold wrought princess of love. The other ponies of Ponyville parted once she approached, allowing her a clear path. Once she was right there in front of Cadence, her horn shone in a brilliant white and she lowered it down to touch the tip of her head. The spell Skaldi casted overtook Cadence's entire body and once it died down, the love princess's appearance was once again in her regal form.
Her nose was no longer red, the whites of her eyes were white and nothing more, and her mane was straightened out again. Also, her royal crown, neckwear, and shoes were back on her. Bran and Rose stepped back awestruck that the goddess of a gold element was able to do such a thing.
Upon seeing who it was in front of her, Cadence took her own turn to bow.
"Formality is not needed here, young Cadence." Skaldi said to her.
"But it is respectful to show to somepony such as you, Lady Skaldi. I am honored just like I was with Aeolus." Cadence replied back.
Skaldi gave a hearty laugh as her whole body began to glow. She turned and walked back to Cryo and Pinkie speaking only to them and making sure nopony else that wasn't supposed to hear it did not.
"You have taken one giant leap closer to defeating the enemy. You are all nearly there. Just stay with each other and guide one another, and you will succeed."
The glowing intensified on her body as she began to disappear.
"Until the next time."
With those words, her body was gone and Pinkie's element of harmony vanished off her neck. All the ponies in Ponyville then walked off more than ready to resume their lives peacefully. The pink mare then turned to Cryo, remembering something.
"Cryo, what about the windigo? Did we ever help it?"
Cryo looked to the now clearly visible Mount Blackmane just in time to see something large take off for the sky with three smaller objects following it. He smiled and began to explain.
"In more ways than one. Nightmare caught that windigo from the arctic north and forced it into powering the storm. To make things even heavier, she caught the windigo's pups and held them hostage. There isn't a rage or fear stronger on this planet than a mother concerned for her kids' safety."
The other elements joined him at Cryo's side as they watched the windigos all fly away back to the arctic north.
"Amazing." Typhoon muttered.
"Cryo, you and Pinkie kicked ass!" Terra gave her brother an affectionate punch to his shoulder.
Everyone was alright with it. but there were two ponies however, who stood in their place with their twin babies. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were staring at Cryo and Pinkie with their jaws dropped halfway to the ground.
"Um....maybe we should take them home and explain a few things." Cryo suggested.
"Yeah." Pinkie walked over to the cakes and began to walk them home with her partner at her side. "We'll talk to the rest of you later."
The rest of them nodded and they too started to walk. All of them headed for the library and walked inside. Twilight was relieved to see it was still standing on nothing on the inside had been damaged in the least.
"Well....two down. Four more sets to go." Terra looked to Applejack. "Hey, maybe we'll glow next!"
"Ha ha ha. Maybe." Applejack finally found her smile.
Once they all sat down to rest for a bit, the door opened up again and in rushed the two partners of water and generosity. Spike however sprinted in and jumped on Twilight.
"TWILIGHT! I'm so glad you're okay!" Spike hugged her tighter than ever.
Knowing how scared he must have been, Twilight returned the hug.
"It's good to see you too, Spike."
Agua and Rarity were brought up to speed on what the others had to go through while they were in Canterlot the whole time. The ending made them see Cryo and Pinkie in a new way. Rarity just smirked at Agua.
"Told you she's strong." She muttered.
Agua rolled his eyes and didn't reply. But then he decided to spill on what he found out information wise in the castle.
"Guys...get this. I think I know why Shining Armor hates us."
All of them, especially Cadence were interested to hear that. As soon as Agua told them, none of them could believe it.
"Jealous? Him? Of US?" Gem just couldn't comprehend it. "What do we have to be jealous of?"
"You mean other than elemental powers beyond anything Equestria has ever seen before?" Rainbow Dash commented.
"Okay there's that but other than that we got nothing."
"I think there's a lot more to it than that. And I for one want to find out what it is." Agua said.
Pyro stood up and nodded to his brother.
"I agree, Agua. It's time we had a little talk with the esteemed captain."
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The moment of truth coming soon...
Wow, epic chapter. Absolutely loved it. Keep up the nice work.
"He through the snow…"
- I think you're missing a word here.
Also, you forgot to put in the breaks near the end. I almost got lost there. BTW, I'd like to see an allusion to Snowdrop, the blind pegasus filly who introduced the concept of snowflakes to Equestria.
this series gets more and more like dragonball as it is written. long stretches of tension and buildup that is utterly EPIC when the waiting is over.
2983314 The author's either missing a word here or meant "threw" and mis-spelled it...