//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Then the Storm Blows Cold // by Llama the Kujo //------------------------------// Chapter 2 “What just happened?!” asked Pinkie after recovering. “I dunno, but I think somepony is expectin’ us,” Applejack replied. She scrunched her face up for a moment before saying, “This all seems a mite strange. Am I the only one who feels like somethin’ is… off?” “No, I felt it, too, Applejack,” Twilight responded. “Ever since that incident on the trail, I've felt like something is amiss.” Dash muttered something angrily under her breath as she shook more snow off herself. “So… now what? Do we just wait for him to come back, or - or what?” Fluttershy asked. “I suppose that's probably the best option for the moment,” replied Rarity pensively. “I don't know of much else we can do yet.” She turned to Twilight. “Unless you have any ideas, Miss Princess of Friendship?” “I don't,” replied Twilight, ignoring the hint of irritation in Rarity's voice. “But who is 'she’?” “One would surmise ‘she’ is the leader of all of… this, whatever this is,” Rarity responded. “Beyond that, my dear, I've no idea.” * * * * * It was very quiet after that for a few very long minutes. It wasn't an awkward silence, really - just apprehensive. Twilight found herself fidgeting with her wings and brushed the snow off herself while she waited. Then she glanced up to see the unicorn stallion returning at a canter. He arrived, caught his breath, and spoke to Twilight. “She'll see you now, Princess. Follow me.” He led them through the village to the peculiar building at the top. For this building and this building alone, the ground had been leveled into a mound before the building had been erected. It wasn't dug into the side of the hill, and it wasn't on stilts. Also, it seemed to possess the only door made of… wicker... in the whole town. As the stallion stood aside and opened the door in his nearly black magic aura, Twilight suddenly realized he looked familiar, like somepony she'd met once, long ago. She shook the idea, dismissing it as coincidence. She stepped through the doorway into a smallish hut with a long wooden table. The walls were covered in stylistic paintings - of what, she couldn't tell. At the other end of the table sat a unicorn mare. Her coat was a bluish-purple, almost the color of Rarity's mane. Her mane was, except for a two-toned deep purple highlight down the middle, so white it was almost blue. Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Rarity’s surprise at being blocked from going through the door and the stallion emphatically insisting, “She only wishes to see the Princess right now.” Then the door slammed shut. Something is very wrong, thought Twilight. The mare at the end of the table cleared her throat and Twilight looked up. “So you are Twilight Sparkle, the Alicorn Princess of Friendship.” Now that she looked closer, Twilight could tell this mare looked only maybe a few years older than herself. “Yes. And who are you, if I may?” “My name is unimportant at the moment,” the mare said curtly. “I’m more interested in how the daughter of Twilight Velvet became an alicorn.” Twilight started to reply, but stopped. “How do you know my mother's name?” The mare, with an evil-looking glint in her eye, simply said, “I know a lot of things about you, Princess.” “Then you have me at a disadvantage.” The mare looked rather amused. “Why, yes. Yes, I do.” Twilight wasn't ready to give up. “How do you know so much about me - and my family?” she asked. “Again, those details are unimportant,” the mare said cryptically. “How did you become an alicorn?” “Those details are unimportant,” Twilight responded. “Ooh, we've got a feisty one here. I like that. However, that is a detail that is very important. In fact, it's the most important detail I'll hear all day. So I'll ask again, how did Twilight Sparkle, daughter of Twilight Velvet, become an alicorn?” “I don't know all the details,” replied Twilight evasively. “You'd have to ask Princess Celestia. I don't remember much about the experience.” “But surely you know more than you're telling me,” the mare prodded. “I rewrote and cast a spell originally written by Starswirl the Bearded, and then Princess Celestia was there, and then I was a princess.” The mysterious mare’s curiosity seemed to have been piqued. “And what was this spell that you rewrote, hmm?” “Why would I give that to a pony I've only just met, whose intentions are unclear to me?” Twilight responded hastily. “Oh, we've met before. Surely you remember by now…” the mare said. Twilight studied the mare in front of her, stepping closer to get a better look. After a moment, she gave up. “I'm sorry, but your face doesn't ring any bells.” Though there could be some family resemblance with that stallion outside. Brother? Cousin? she thought. “Then you've forgotten. And here I thought alicorns had perfect memories,” the mare said with a smirk. “Very well.” She stood and took a bow. “I am Filigree Frost, direct descendant of Snowfall Frost herself.” Twilight's eyes went wide and her mouth opened a little as Filigree took her seat. “S-Snowfall Frost? Y-You don't m-mean…” Filigree giggled evilly as Twilight stuttered and trailed off. “You silly filly. Did you think that story was made up?!” The room filled with hysterical laughter. Twilight felt sweat roll down her face despite the cold air. Having settled down, Filigree Frost looked Twilight in the eye. “So why are you here, Princess of Friendship?” “The Tree of Harmony sent us here, through its map. It summons us to different parts of Equestria to solve friendship problems.” Twilight's mouth had started moving on its own. Her brain was still in shock. “The Tree of Harmony, you say…” Filigree said pensively. After a long moment of deep thought, she looked Twilight in the eyes. “And just what do you know of this 'Tree of Harmony,’ Princess of Friendship?” * * * * * Applejack couldn't hear what was going on inside the hut. The door was wicker, but she figured there was some sort of spell to keep voices from traveling. As she glanced around, she didn't see any other building in the whole village with a door as seemingly fragile as this one. She studied the unicorn stallion who'd led them there. “Say, what's your name, friend?” He remained expressionless. “I'm currently acting as Ms. Frost's personal guard. That's what you need to know right now,” he responded cryptically. “'Ms. Frost’? Is that who's talking to Twilight in there?” asked Rarity, gesturing at the building next to them. “Yes,” the stallion replied curtly, with the finality to end the conversation. Applejack stood in place for a moment, studying the guard. She then moved off, motioning to the other four to follow her. They moved to where Applejack hoped they were out of earshot. She spoke in a hushed tone, “I don't like it. Somethin's really off here.” Nods of agreement came from the other ponies, but Fluttershy looked worried. “But that is why we're here, isn't it?” she suggested. “To, err, fix what's wrong?” “Precisely,” affirmed Rarity. “However, I would prefer to have Twilight with us before we do anything drastic.” Shivering, she added, “Though it is very cold out here. I should've worn a warmer scarf.” Applejack agreed that it was cold, but felt the urge to argue. “I agree about wantin’ Twilight here, Rarity,” she replied, “but are you seriously gonna choose now to complain that ye'r wearin’ the wrong scarf?!” “Not to interrupt your important discussion, but check this out,” Dash said from a foot above them, pointing at the guard. The black magic aura had returned around his horn, but none of the five mares could see anything being directly affected. “He's doing ‘it’ again, whatever that is,” Dash said, clearly annoyed. “I suggest we watch and see if we can figure out what he's doing,” offered Rarity. “I dunno, Rarity. I don't like jus’ sittin’ around,” replied Applejack, but she kept still and watched. * * * * * “That is all I need from you,” Filigree told Twilight with a wave. “You may go.” Twilight saw a soft blue aura appear around Filigree’s horn and heard a click and a creak and felt a cold wind behind her. She was already shivering before she made it outside. The storm had grown worse in the time she'd been inside with Filigree. She used her horn to pull her scarf out of her saddlebag and wrap it around her neck. Looking around, she saw the guard with the same eerie black aura around his horn not far from the door - again with no discernable target nor purpose - as her friends sat waiting and watching as they shivered a short distance away. Walking over to her friends, she asked, “Does any of you have any idea what he's doing?” “None,” came Rarity's reply. “That's what we were trying to find out. How did your conversation with ‘Ms. Frost’ go?” “How did you find out her name?!” Twilight asked incredulously. “I was sure that room was soundproof!” “Oh, it was,” Rainbow said very nonchalantly from her position a foot above the group. “The guard told us.” “The guard told you?! How did you manage that?!” Twilight demanded. “I asked him his name,” Applejack replied coolly. Twilight was speechless for a moment, then got a hold of herself. “Well, regardless, it was more of an interrogation than a conversation,” she said. “Interrogation? As in you interrogated her, or she interrogated you?” asked Rainbow, bewildered. “She interrogated me,” Twilight answered. “She mostly asked about becoming an alicorn, the Tree of Harmony, and things of that ilk.” She shivered hard, and an inch of snow fell off her coat. “Is it just me, or is this storm worse than when we got here?” “No, I'm pretty sure it is,” Applejack offered. “Am I the only one who thinks we ought to find some place warmer?!” Twilight asked incredulously. Rarity shook her head as though to clear it. “No, darling. I think we all just kind of got swept away, as 'twere. I wholeheartedly agree,” she apologized as she shivered hard enough to clear her coat of snow. “Although I'm not sure where we'd be welcome to go.” “I'll ask the guard,” Twilight offered, having to raise her voice over the storm. She walked over to the stallion and asked, almost yelling, “Is there somewhere we can go inside to warm up? We're freezing out here!” The black aura faded, and the unicorn looked at the alicorn who'd interrupted him yet again and sighed. “I shall ask Ms. Frost what arrangements are to be made for you, if any,” he said with resignation. Twilight looked at her friends hopefully as he disappeared through the wicker door. He’d been gone for scarcely a minute when he returned, slamming the door behind him in that black aura. As he spoke, Twilight realized the wind had died down enough to communicate easily. “She is willing to let you stay one night, in an empty house we have here,” he said, clearly unhappy. “I will show you there,” he added with a groan. “Thank you, sir,” replied Twilight, who motioned to her friends that they should follow.