The Secret of Ponyville

by BleedingRaindrops


A Betrayal Most Foul

I awoke that night to a sharp kick to one of my hooves. I thought at first that I’d kicked something in my sleep, but I could feel somepony next to me. I looked up, and in the dim light of the dying fire I saw Gold Mine standing over me, a deep frown set under a hardened glare.

I shuffled backward instinctively, ultimately pinning myself against the crates behind me. He took a step forward, his hoof impacting solidly on the ground between us. A powerful blow from his nostrils disturbed the blanket beneath his hooves.

“You’ve got some nerve, kid.” He spoke low, barely above a whisper, but each word struck with the impact of an axe pick on ice as he spat them through clenched teeth. I found myself frozen in place. A deep chill clenched my chest as I stared with wide eyes into his own, finding an abyss of seething rage.

“You was supposed to get us through there safe. You were our guide. We were to slip in and out unharmed, and without so much as a whiff from the beast.”

He took another step toward me, and I felt splinters pressing into my back.

“I get your situation sucks. I’d have pulled something myself to try to escape. But what you did?”

He snorted again.

“I can’t prove you had her killed, but what happened smells worse than dragon dung. And to think you could have incapacitated it at any moment.” His lips flicked open into a snarl, then closed, flickering between the two.

“Then you left her. You left Rose without so much as a second thought, scooping up enough gold between you and the boss for triple what you’re worth, and you’re worth a lot, let me tell you.”

He looked down at my saddlebag, confirming its lack of contents with a gentle kick.

“Just as well the boss took it. You don’t deserve any of it. I don’t care what your situation is, you don’t just leave a mare to die like that and not even give a second glance over your shoulder. You’re scum!”

An icy blade cut through my heart as he spat the last word. My breathing came in strangled gasps as his piercing gaze pinned me to the heavy crate. His hoof shifted, nudging one of the sapphires I’d slept with. He stopped, looking down at it, then returned his gaze with a deathly glare that stopped my heart cold for a long minute. Then something stirred in me. A fire poured out, shattering the ice around my heart and building its blue flame behind my eyes. Gold Mine blinked, the malice in his gaze gone. He took a step back, shaking as though he were staring at a ghost. Then he turned, and rushed to the other end of the tent, nearly tripping over himself.

I rushed to cover up my three gems, cradling them to my chest like a mother hawk. I moved the blanket back over myself and curled up under it, shivering, but not from the cold. In moments, I was asleep again.

~ ~ ~

I woke to the whistle of the wind and the brush of frost against my face. My nose wrinkled at the smell of… burning flesh?

My eyes snapped open. The tent was gone. I was lying in the middle of a frozen tundra, the harsh wind cutting daggers through my thin coat. I leapt to my feet, every muscle tensing as I searched for the source of that awful smell.

“Rarity.”

I screamed, spinning around in an instant to face the voice that could not possibly be there. Before me stood nothing but the empty snow-swept plain, but that awful stench was growing stronger.

“Rarity, help me.”

The voice came through as a painful rasp, like someone struggling to breathe. I twirled again, searching for something I hoped I wouldn't find.

“Why didn't you save me, Rarity?”

The voice was even closer now, almost as if she were breathing into my ear. A shiver ran up my spine and the fur on my neck prickled.

“I'm Sorry!” I whirled around once more, closing my eyes from the nightmare that had visited me. “I tried, but my horn—”

“Why did you leave me?”

The smell grew even stronger, and now I could hear the popping and sizzling flesh.

“I'm sorry. Really I wanted to save you but I couldn't. By the time I came back you were gone. Please believe me.” My voice broke into loud sobs as I lowered myself to the ground and used my front hooves to protect my face from the horror that stood before me. I could feel the heat coming off of her.

“Why won't you look at me?

I began shaking all over, sobbing into my arms.

“Please. Don't—”

“Open your eyes, Rarity.”

“NO! You’re dead! I can’t—”

“LOOK AT ME!”

I shrieked and cowered beneath what may as well have been a banshee’s scream, but I lifted a hoof from my face and slowly pried one eye open.

Her beautiful white coat was now anything but. Where there was skin left it was black and bubbly and oozing. The exposed flesh beneath was glowing as though lit from within, but it was a frightening red glow, and I could hear it sizzling and popping. Only one of her wings remained, but one could hardly call it that. What was left was a shriveled, blackened section of skin clinging to the tiny bones beneath. Much of the flesh on her face had melted all the way to the bone. I could see most of her teeth, and what was left of her tongue. And her eyes were just... gone. One of them was a deep abyss while the other glowed like a flame. A trail of blood and blackened flesh snaked out behind her, and some waxy substance dripped from her face and down her legs, melting the snow around her hooves as she stepped forward.

I retched on the ground in front of me.

“Look what you did to me. Why did you leave me to die, Rarity?

“Snowflurry, I didn't—”

“Why did you let me burn?”

She flung a smoldering hoof at me and something flew off of it, smacking and burning my face. I screamed so loudly I thought my throat would burst. Then she was on top of me, smothering me beneath her hooves. I could feel my own face melting as the red hot bones of her still cooking flesh seared into mine.

I screamed as loud as I could, but she only pressed harder, muffling my cries beneath her massive weight.

“Shut up!”

The snow vanished around me, replaced by the canvas confines of our tent. Snowflurry’s glowing eyes became those of an enormous griffon, standing over me. His eyebrows were drawn low, curling in over his large curved beak, which was drawn back in an avian snarl.

My eyes snapped all the way open as I became fully awake, and I let out a shriek, though it was muffled by the massive clawed foot that was clamped over my mouth, crushing my face. I pounded my hooves uselessly against it, tears streaming down my face.

“Ugh, move over. I’ve got this,” Crystal’s voice called from somewhere beyond my vision.

The griffon, who I just remembered was called Storm Vision, and was part of the group of bandits who had kidnapped me, looked up at Crystal’s voice with a calm expression. He looked back down at me for a moment, and then lifted his gargantuan weight off of me.

I let out a loud gasp as my lungs rapidly reinflated, and scrambled to my hooves. There was a bright blue flash to my left, and I turned to see Crystal, smiling at me. I stared into her deep blue eyes as my breathing slowed, and the sweat cooled on my coat. Nopony spoke, or even moved. There was complete silence in the tent for several minutes. I didn’t even mind. It was as though nothing else in the world mattered except for those brilliant, iridescent sapphire blue eyes of hers.

Crystal chuckled, breaking the silence, and my concentration. I blinked, and realized my mouth was open. I shut it very quickly.

“That’s better,” Crystal said with a cheery smile. “I’d suggest we all get back to sleep, but it’s already morning, and I think we’re all pretty well awake now, so why don’t we get an early start to the day?”

The whole team responded in unison, moving to gather up any scattered belongings and pack them into crates. I tried to help, but they all pushed me aside, saying I was in the way. I managed to steal some of the gold pieces without any of them noticing. They offered me a small comfort, but hiding in the corner only gave me time to remember I was never going to see my family again.

My heart ached as I remembered the flames. Remembered… her—Snowflurry! Her name was Snowflurry. I remembered the last look my parents gave me before I left that day. Not anger. Not Disappointment. Not even confusion. Fear. They were afraid of me. I thought to the dragon’s cave, and of how I had used it to murder Compass Rose, and how I had frozen Crystal and the others.

My parents had feared me. Had they seen this in me? Just what was I?

What indeed? I didn’t need them. They had died, after all. I was alone out here, and holding on to my past wasn’t going to help me. I took in a deep breath, mentally linking it to everything I had once held dear.

A crack like a whip, followed by blinding white and intense cold, snapped me out of my reverie. I looked up, and saw that the canvas which made up our shelter had blown away in the wind. Feather Breeze was first after it, snatching one of the still attached ropes before it got far, but the canvas was like a kite, filling up with wind and pulling even the strong pegasus along with it. He was dragged through the air like little more than a doll, with Crystal and Gold Mine chasing after him. I looked around. Nopony was near me, or watching me. I was alone.

Acting quickly, I grabbed a blanket and a food parcel and shoved them into my saddlebag. I lingered for a moment over the chests of gold, still unsecured. It should be mine after all. Why shouldn’t I take it? So I did. I grabbed several hoof-fulls of gold before deciding I should run.

Gold weighing me down in the heavy winds, I charged out into the snow. Away from my kidnappers. Away from Crystal. Away from her.

I made it about a hundred yards before an incredible weight, far beyond that of the gold in my saddlebag, flattened me into the snow. At first, I wasn’t sure what had even happened. I was galloping awkwardly through a field of white. Then, black. Crushing. Suffocating.

Needles pierced me, and ripped me from the ground. I flew through the air, feeling my saddlebags separate from my back, before striking something hard against my back. I cried out, then fell forward onto my hooves.

The wind was so loud I’m still not sure if I actually screamed, but towering above me was a massive black griffon, wings flared over his head to their full extent, eyes glaring murderously at me, and one claw clutching my now destroyed saddlebags. A roar blasted out from his beak that made the wind fall silent. Spit flew across the distance between us, smacking me in the face as I stared down his cavernous throat. I was briefly reminded that griffons once ate ponies, and in some places the practice had not been lost. My tribe was one of those places.

Then my eyes fell to the three sapphires at his feet. Snowflurry. My fear vanished. My eyes hardened. My legs found new vigor. Fear? I had feared him? He should fear me. Just as they had.

There was both fire and ice in my chest. Ice so cold it burned like fire, and fire so hot it chilled like ice. The two were one in the same. I felt it rise up within me, filling every hair on my coat, and turning the whole world bright blue.

The monster before me faltered. His snarl vanished. His wings fell, His eyes widened, and rage turned to horror as he gazed into the eyes of a power far beyond his own, and knew that he was beaten.

No. Not yet.

I took a step forward. He took a step back. My saddlebag fell from his claw, which he then held out in front of him.

“No, stop! Please I… I didn’t realize—”

There was a crackling sound, like fire on a log. His body slowed, then stopped, then turned blue. Frost crawled up through his feathers and spread along his plumage and coat. I drove it deeper by sheer force of my gaze, willing it to penetrate deeper into his flesh. Smoke rose from his body as the ice crawled toward his heart, until there was only a clear ice carving of a terrified griffon standing before me.

I stared at my handiwork, knowing this time that I had done it, and done it with intent. I had heard of cold blooded murder, and hot blood, but… were they really so different? The world remained blue as more cracks appeared on the surface of what had once been a powerful griffon. They quickly spread until they covered his whole body and then he shattered, like a diamond before me.

I stood transfixed, watching the shards of ice fall like snowflakes to join the snow. Through them walked… Crystal!

She strode forward like a wolf staring down its prey, bright blue eyes locked in mine. She stopped where he had stood, and looked down with a sneer.

“My my, a griffon with frostbite? It’s a wonder you and I are still alive.”

She reached forward and plucked three blue sapphires from the ground. “Ooh, these are pretty.”

I leapt at her. Reaching for the power I had just used to kill Storm Vision so I could strike her down with it as well. How dare she touch my most precious gems?!

But I didn’t move. My muscles protested, ignoring my commands and utterly refusing to move. I was frozen in place.

Crystal drew her gaze up toward me diffidently. “Oh, are these important to you. Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. Here. Have them.”

She tossed them to me through the air, and of course I caught them. I hugged them tightly to my chest, collapsing into the snow as I made sure they were not lost. As I stood, my gaze fell upon Crystal, mere inches from my face. A rather unsettling grin adorned it, one that made me step back.

“And you’re rather important to them, aren’t you? Why else would you murder another pony in hot blood? Oh. He wasn’t a pony was he?” She circled around me, and as I tried to turn my head to follow her, I found myself once again locked in place, unable to even look at her as she walked around to my backside.

“A griffon, our natural enemy. Cold blood then? You wanted to kill him, didn’t you? It was easy, wasn’t it?” She leaned in and whispered just audibly in my ear, “Oh the power you must wield.” A shiver rolled down my spine as she said it. She strode back in front of me, lips turned up in a permanent sneer.

“Oh, you’re quite interesting, aren’t you?” she said, then licked her lips and backed away slowly. “I think I’ll be watching you very carefully. I want to see how you… progressss.”

Her eyes flashed blue, and then she was gone. I felt my muscles relax. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I blinked once, and I was once more alone in the cold. I still wasn’t quite sure what to make of what had just happened. Had Crystal just… showed favor? My little filly mind struggled to make sense of her behavior. Sure she was cold blooded and selfish, but surely she couldn’t have enjoyed what had just happened to Storm Feather. Of course, had I been a little less naive, I might have realized that was exactly what had just happened. As it happened, I found myself struggling with the idea that maybe I had enjoyed it myself, just a bit.

I stood there in the cold, completely baffled, until I heard somepony crunching through the snow. Crystal! She had come back to taunt me again. I crouched, eyes trained on the space my ears told me she occupied. The sound of her hooves grew closer, pounding through the snow toward me. I caught a glimpse of her mane through the whitewall as her silhouette came into view. My lips drew back into a snarl.

“Kid? Is that you?”

I flinched. That wasn’t Crystal’s voice. The earth pony silhouette became more focused, and I realized it was too large to be Crystal. I stood up, peering to get a better view.

“Oh, thank goodness. I’ve been looking for a chance to get you on your own.”

I took a step backward, horn lighting up instinctively.”

The pony stopped. “Relax, I’m not here to hurt you.”

He strode into view and I finally put a name to the voice. It was Gold Mine. He looked nervously over his shoulder and crouched low, then beckoned me closer.

“The boss is busy helping Feather Breeze with that canvas, and I have no idea where Storm Vision is. That guy creeps me out, honestly. Look, I wanted to apologize.”

He took a seat in the snow, crouching low and continuing to look about. I didn’t trust him, but I didn’t want to see Crystal, so any distraction was worth it.

“Are you alright?” he asked. “You look cold. Come here.”

I sat down next to him, and he loosened his cloak and tossed it over me. Ah, wool. Not very comfortable most of the time, but in the freezing cold it’s the most heavenly material imagined. I snuggled into it, and he smiled at me.

“Like I was saying. I’m sorry about last night. I ain’t gonna say you’re not scum, because for all I know, you could be. And I ain’t gonna take back what I said, because I meant it. But I shouldn’ta said it to you, and I shouldn’ta assaulted you like that. I was angry for Rose.” He hung his head.

My surprise must have shown, because he glanced at me and nodded, then stared off into the distance.

“I loved her, ya know? She’s sorta how I got wrapped up with the boss. She and I used to go treasure hunting together. We grew up together, and we sorta ran off together too. We’ve been through a lot, she and I. Then about a year ago, we met the boss. Strangest thing I ever did see. She’s a weird one, that filly. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was a full grown mare, but she’s just a kid, ya know? But it don’t sit right with me how she knows all the stuff she does. She just ain’t been around long enough.

An’ what’s even stranger? Nopony knows where she came from. Storm Vision and Feather Breeze aren’t her first crew. They’re actually new recruits we picked up on the way up here. She already had a few ponies followin’ her back when she found Rose and me, and they didn’t know where she came from either. “

She’s a mystery, and so is the ponies she keeps around her. They don’t last long, ya know. That’s why I know you didn’t kill Rose. Ponies who hang around the boss too long, they just up and vanish sometimes. I’ve watched her get rid of every last one of her crew ‘cept me an’ Rose a couple of times, one at a time. Now I guess it was finally Rose’s turn.”

He looked down again, and I could see the tears running down his face. He looked up at me with eyes full of fear. His lip trembled and he struggled to form words.

“I… I gotta leave before she…”

“There you are.” Crystal’s voice shot ice through my veins colder than the blizzard we were sitting in. Gold Mine turned the color of the snow and turned swiftly to face her.

“I wondered where you wandered off to, Goldie. Having a chat with the merchandise while Feather and I tie down the fort? Oh and I see you’re offering her comfort as well. I don’t recall giving you permission to run off on your own, or to make friends either.” She bore down on him like a hound, and he balked beneath her gaze. She stopped, then smiled. “She’s going to go away when we get to Yaktown. It would be a shame if we were to lose more than one valuable item to those greedy furballs. Am I clear?”

Gold mine’s lip trembled, but his eyes hardened and he stared her down with such bravery I still admire it today.

“Crystal,” he said. There was pain in his voice, though he stood just a bit taller as he said it.

Crystal scowled, then leaped up and spun to kick him across the face. He landed sprawling in the snow, holding his snout. She grinned wickedly and continued in a sweet singsong voice.

‘Good. Now be a dear and help Feather Breeze load the sled. We’re moving out soon. Oh and Storm Vision left, so you’ll be pulling it this time.”

This time I saw the blue flash in Gold Mine’s eyes as he stared blankly ahead, and nodded silently. I frowned as I stared at him. He looked almost like a puppet carried by a string. He stood up and walked away slowly, and if he still noticed the cold, he didn’t show it.

Then Crystal looked at me, and said sweetly. “You too, dear. It’s time to go.”

I never even noticed what was happening. Her words seemed so sensible, and I silently obliged. My legs moved under me of their own accord, and while I struggled to regain command of them, they carried me blindly through the blizzard, back toward the camp. She let me walk past her, glancing back at where I’d been standing, before following right on my tail.

~ ~ ~

Yaktown appeared between two distant hills later that afternoon. It was quite small by Yak standards, but with my limited knowledge of a single pony settlement, it looked absolutely massive. Thatched roofs not unlike those I would later come to know of in idyllic Ponyville topped nearly a hundred enormous round huts. The streets were paved with stones probably taken from the nearby mountains. And of course, there were Yaks everywhere.

I actually smelled them before I saw them. Yaks are far from the cleanest creatures. Their shaggy fur traps on all manner of grit and foul smelling substances, not to mention it makes a wonderful home for fleas. Further north we didn’t have to worrry about them but it was warm enough there that there was actually green grass in places. My eyes dazzled at the sight of it, and my stomach growled in anticipation.

Before my excitement could brew very long, however, a noose slipped around my neck. I felt the rope tug and I looked over to see Feather Breeze on the other end, hovering with a smart grin on his face. Beneath him stood Crystal looking… I’m not sure triumphant is the right word, The grin on her face certainly spoke of a satisfying conclusion to a long played strategy, but her eyes were searching, watching carefully in anticipation of… something. Oh, if only I’d known at the time, perhaps I might have acted differently. Perhaps I could have found a better solution. Then again, perhaps not.

Behind her, Gold Mine stood staring at the ground. His eyes spoke of more pain than I knew how to feel at the time. Pain I would not learn about for years yet to come. My heart nearly stopped as the realization struck. Some small part of me had known this was coming, but the rest of me had hoped that we would never arrive, and that I could perhaps find a way to escape.
But Crystal was too strong. Even with the power that damned fox had granted me I knew I could not escape her. And so I hung my head and let the tears fall. Feather Breeze moved forward, and I was forced to follow him.

As we drew closer, a new smell rose out from the dregs. It wasn’t the filth of simply not bathing for a long time. Well, it was, but it was mixed in with something a bit stranger. An odd musk I had no way to place. It made me feel sick, and only grew worse as we got close to the massive buildings.

I was initially shocked to see not a yak, but a stallion trot out from between two of the houses on the edge of town toward us. He cut a path in the snow to intercept us a short distance from the houses.

There, Crystal signalled to halt, and we all stopped. I began to cry.

“Oh shut it. You knew this was coming.” Came Crystal’s harsh voice. “Though I do seem to recall you saying I’d end up sold and not you. Maybe you’re about to pull some switcheroo?” She stared at me mockingly. This time I watched as her eyes started to glow brighter, and shut mine. This earned a snort and a chuckle.

I was then roughly shoved to the side, while somepony scrambled with the strap for my saddlebags.

“What are you doing?” I opened my eyes to see Crystal tearing the strap with her teeth. It came free with a snap, and she ripped the whole set from my back. She spat it out and kicked it aside.

“Oh, just taking back what’s mine. It was fun watching you steal from me, thinking you were going to keep it, but the end result is the same. It’s still mine.”

My breath stopped. The sapphires! Snowflurry was still in there! I scrambled to my hooves and leapt at her, horn glowing. But a weight descended on me from above, and I felt myself pressed into the snow. The air squashed out of me, and I heard Feather Breeze chuckle. A thick gag slipped between my teeth before I could close my mouth, and something wrapped tightly around my horn. Crystal walked up to me, sneering.

“Sorry, but you’re not getting out of this. You’re going to go live in a brothel the rest of your life. Maybe even make a few friends. And you’re going to learn to love it, meanwhile I’ll be loving all the money I got for selling you. You’re just a worthless slave pony now, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.”

I looked up at Crystal, whose face was now inches from my own. Once again her grin spoke of triumph, but her eyes were still waiting, expecting something.

But her face, and her entire body vanished a moment later as somepony slammed into her. She landed several yards away in the snow. Gold Mine now stood over me, casting a deathly glare in the direction he’d just sent Crystal. I felt a weight leave my back, and the leash grew tight around my neck. Gold Mine cast a quick, caring look down at me, then up at Feather Breeze, before grabbing my leash and pulling at the other end of it. He leapt up and yanked down at the same time, closing the distance between him and the pegasus. I heard a yelp, an impact of two bodies colliding, and a soft thud as they both landed in the snow behind me. I refused to look, and instead kept my eyes locked onto Crystal in front of me. And I am glad I did, because what I heard next sends me chills to this day.

A brief scream cut short by the wet sound of something being driven into pony flesh, the strangled sound of somepony struggling to breathe, and then the wet gurgle of liquid in somepony’s mouth. Something hot and wet splashed across me, then silence. A moment later, my leash pulled tight around my neck, then vanished with a snap.

“Kid. Run!” Gold Mine’s voice was muffled, as though there was something in his teeth.

I couldn’t move. All I could do was stare at Crystal, who was slowly getting to her hooves. She didn’t appear hurt, just stunned. I didn’t have long to look though, before teeth clamped around the back of my neck and I was pulled roughly backward, and shoved onto my hooves.

“Go on, get out of here. I’ll hold her off.”

I cast a glance back at Gold Mine and nearly vomited into the snow. His golden fur was stained dark brown in patches, there was a small knife clamped between his teeth, dripping with blood, filling the snow around his hooves was with bright crimson. And his eyes. They burned with a cold fire I have never seen in anypony else to this day. He looked terrifying, and determined. Had the situation not been so dire, it would have been awe inspiring, but for that matter, it might never have taken place. I took a few steps backward, then turned and galloped toward Yaktown. If I could hide out long enough, maybe I could find a way out of here, and then maybe find a way to get back to Snowflurry.

Snowflurry! I dug in my hooves and slid to a stop.. I had left Snowflurry behind. Her sapphires were still in my saddle bags! I looked back. Gold Mine was standing stock still, staring at Crystal, whose face was twisted into a feral snarl I would expect to see on one of the Arctic wolves that used to attack my old home.

But when I saw her face, my fear vanished. Or rather, shifted. I no longer cared about myself, and my safety. It was him I was worried about. The knife was no longer in his mouth, which hung open loosely. I looked to Crystal. Her eyes were practically pulsing blue. I could nearly feel the shockwave impacting against my eyes from the sheer power she was putting out. I reached out with my mind. Screaming, begging for him to look away. To turn. To run. But he didn’t, he just stood there transfixed.

Crystal took a step forward, and so did I. My breath caught in my throat. I looked down at my hoof, then back up at her. That was just a coincidence, wasn’t it? She took another step, and I matched her. Panic rose in my chest. No, no she wasn’t looking at me this time. She couldn’t—

Crystal turned, and stared straight at me, straight through me. Her eyes drilled deep into my own with a piercing blue gaze. I was stuck. Good and trapped by whatever magic allowed her to do that. I had figured it out, but too late. She had me. As if just to demonstrate, she lifted a hoof and held it there, and my own hoof matched it perfectly. Then she set it down.

I felt beckoned toward her, and obliged without thinking. She did not move for me this time, but I trotted up to her. Gold Mine did not budge an inch. He was like a statue, gathering snow.

When I caught up to him and Crystal, she smiled at me.

“There, see? I told you, you can’t escape. There’s really no point in fighting. You can’t defeat me, and I’m going to have what I want.”

She gave me the same mixed look as before. I frowned, trying to piece together what she was saying. There was something she wasn’t saying. Something she wanted me to figure out. I quickly gave myself a headache, and Crystal snapped her gaze back to Gold Mine.

“Oh quit staring. You’re scaring the poor dear. Go ahead, Goldie. Talk.”

Gold Mine let out a gasp as his body became his own again. He collapsed onto the ground, clutching at his chest. He took a few moments to breathe, then stood again, this time staring daggers at her once again. He didn’t take a step toward her, though he looked like he wanted to.

“Well, go on then. Tell us what’s really on your mind. Hmm? What prompted this little rescue attempt? Killing Feather comes without a shock from a pony of your caliber, you greedy glutton. But freeing our biggest score since we discovered the location of a dragon’s hoard? Come on. What’s the deal, Goldie? Aww, you didn’t have a soft spot for her did you?”

He let out a snort, swallowed, then took a breath. “So what if I did. What are you going to do, kill me?” He lifted a hoof with some effort, but it quickly slid back to where it had been. Crystal’s smile widened. “Like you killed Rose?” he spat. Crystal’s smile vanished. Replaced with surprise. Fake, but I didn’t see it then.

“Oh? Did I? And how do you suppose I did that? Your stupid girlfriend forgot to watch her step. She woke the dragon, not me. She deserved to burn like that.” Gold Mine struggled visibly against something that bound his limbs in place. Veins popped on his temples, and his eyes bulged from his face.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I would loved to have done it. She’d outlived her purpose anyway, now that I’ve got this little gem compass.” She pointed to me. “But some dumb dragon beat me to it. Such a shame. I would have loved to watch the look on her face as she realized she was going to die. Really, that’s always the most amusing expression. Did you happen to catch it on Feather Breeze over there?”

She nodded to the place behind Gold Mine where I knew the pegasus now lay dead. Tears rolled from Gold Mine’s eyes, but his rage seemed to burn stronger. He took in a breath, but then his jaw clamped shut again.

“Now that’s enough out of you. I need our guest to hear this next bit. You see, I’m not going to kill you. She is.”

Gold Mine and I both exchanged a look of utter shock. I stepped back, already feeling sick at the idea. Crystal laughed.

“Oh, you don’t believe me? Well, I guess we’ll just see, but first, why don’t you open up your saddlebags for me?”

Gold Mine looked back at her, his face now as white as the snow. He trembled beneath her gaze, which somehow still held him in place.

“Oh? You already know what I’m going to find, don’t you? Or rather, what she’s going to find.”

A quiet whimper escaped Gold Mine’s clamped lips. I took a step closer, eyes narrowed. Was she expecting me to find something? What could he possibly have that would strike such fear into him if it was found? And what did it have to do with me?

Crystal nodded once, and Gold Mine began to move as though controlled by strings. He reached back rigidly, clamping the clasp for his saddlebag with his teeth, unlocked it, and then pulled it slowly off of his back and onto the ground between the three of us.

“Well, go on. Dump it out for us.”

Slowly, shakily, Gold Mine grabbed the bag in his teeth and lifted it by the bottom. Out slid an assortment of books, small tools, odd trinkets, and many especially shiny bits of gold. Oh, they were immaculate. Each one shone like its own gem, cleaned and polished so that they glowed from within. And each was perfectly round and smooth. I could feel drool forming in my mouth. But then, three items fell from his bag that changed my curiosity to confusion, shock, horror, then anger, and finally a heat that rose in my chest, and burned, hotter and hotter until I could no longer feel it..

Gold Mine screamed through his clamped teeth. The sound was muffled, and mixed with brays and whimpers. Once again veins bulged out everywhere on his body as he fought to be anywhere else. A small chuckle came from Crystal, which slowly grew into a cackling laugh one would expect from an evil mastermind. Which I suppose she was. How gauché

Myself? I saw the edges of my vision grow dark. I felt a gentle compulsion come over me, but not one I wanted to fight. I felt power built behind my horn, begging to be let out. The air around me began to vibrate as my rage built. Sitting atop Gold Mine’s pile of prized coins, where the three Sapphires I’d brought with me from Snowflurry’s grave.

All of his kindness that morning, wrapping his blanket about me, telling me that story about Rose. All just a ruse to get close to me so he could steal Snowflurry’s Sapphires from me. They were the finest gems I’d ever seen, and apparently so had he. That must be why he had done it. Why else would the thought of dumping his saddlebag terrify him. He knew what I would find. Snowflurry had been right.

I never even felt the magic release. I never saw the change happen. I stared deep into Gold Mine’s eyes. If looks could kill… I saw the fear in his eyes. Saw the realization that he was going to die. I almost smiled. How dare he try to take something so precious to me. Well he would not have her. I would protect her. A scream ripped from his throat, which he now had control of. His scream became the roar of the wind. His skin became the ice of the storm. And the wind took him and carried him away in a thousand floating pieces.

When the pressure on my ears subsided, and the edges of my vision returned to normal I was staring at nothing. There was nothing left of Gold Mine, except a frozen circle where he had stood. There was no wind, and no snow falling either. Crystal and I stood alone out on the frozen tundra.

“And? How was it?”

I snapped my head in her direction. She was smiling warmly at me, glittering anticipation in her eyes.

“I— W-w-what?!” I stammered.

Her sharp laugh caused me to jump. “The look in his eyes, when he realized there was nothing to stop it. That’s always my favorite part. Go on, tell me.”

By the gods, she actually looked excited! I took a step back. I glanced down at the sapphires. She followed my gaze. Her eyes narrowed into a sneer. She made a leap for them. NO! She couldn’t have them. I wouldn’t let her.

I reached for them, not just with my hooves, but with my mind. I willed myself to take them from her, to protect them. To protect Snowflurry! A different form of magic thrust itself forward. It was nothing like what I had been using so far, but it was exactly what I needed. It flowed up through my horn, and extended outward like a thousand tiny invisible hands, and wrapped around the three little gems. They moved, shifted, just enough that she missed them, then came to my side.

I held them tightly to my chest with my new magic, and galloped in the other direction as fast as I could

“Hey—GLLK!”

I slammed into something both soft and hard. All of my momentum stopped as I stared at dark blue fur, inches from my face. Blue fur that was quickly turning red. I heard the same sound that Feather Breeze had made earlier, and quickly shut my eyes. But I couldn’t shut my ears. And I couldn’t stop the warm, wet feeling surrounding my horn, and starting to drip down my forehead, and into my mane.

No. No make it stop! “MAKE IT STOP!”

And suddenly I felt cold. Cold everywhere. I opened my eyes, and I was staring at a wall of ice. I tried to pull back, but I was stuck. My horn was frozen into… into… I shut my eyes. There was something sitting at the front of my mind like a needle. I pushed it forward, and I heard a sound like glass breaking. My head came free and I opened my eyes. Before me on the ground was what looked like a frozen pony, broken into a dozen pieces. There was a hole in its chest, and its eyes were wide with fear.

I collapsed onto the ground, covered my face and cried. I cried long and hard, deep wails that burned my throat. It wasn’t fair. I never asked for this.