Chapter 3
Spike had just rolled a natural 20 for his killing shot on the Squizard when he felt like vomiting. He belched some green fire - he'd aimed it away from the game - and there materialized a letter, presumably from Princess Celestia.
Discord looked rather nonplussed at having his game interrupted in such a fashion, but he held his tongue. Big Mac’s eyes just went big.
“It's a letter from Princess Celestia!” Spike said as he opened it. I told you, Twilight, he thought to himself. He muttered as he read. “My dearest Twilight, there is a very important matter I must discuss with you. please come to Canterlot as soon as is feasible. - Princess Celestia.” Spike looked around for parchment and a quill. “Sorry, guys. I'll be right back. I've gotta take care of this really quick.”
He muttered as he wrote. “Dear Princess Celestia, I am not with Twilight. She's at Foal Mountain on a friendship quest. She said you had other ways to contact her. Thanks, Spike.” He blew it in a puff of green smoke to the Princess of the Sun and sat back down at the table. “Now, where were we?”
“You know, I could have just forwarded that letter, Spike,” Discord scoffed. “And it would have been so amusing to see her belch it up in a puff of green fire! Oh ho ho ho ho!”
Big Mac almost fell off the chair he was on from his laughing as he said, “Eeyup!”
* * * * *
The seven ponies arrived at the house in question after trudging through four inches of snow for almost twenty minutes. At least they were warmed up some from the travel, Twilight thought. The storm had abated quite a bit, as well, she was happy to note.
As she stopped and actually took in the house they were going to sleep in that night, her face contorted into a mix of confusion and disgust. It was built of cement… on stilts. The guard ushered them inside and slammed the door - more a giant rock covering the doorway than an actual door - rather forcefully in his black magic aura.
And then they were alone. The ‘house’ was more of a one-room hovel than what Twilight thought of as a house. It seemed completely devoid of furniture of any kind, but it was better than being outside.
Twilight was about to speak when she felt something moving in one of her saddlebags. She stopped and levitated it out to see that it was the small figurine that Princess Celestia had asked her to keep with her whenever Spike wasn't around. Celestia looked up at Twilight with the figurine’s face and said, “There you are.”
Twilight just about choked and screamed, “Princess Celestia! Hi!” She could feel her cheeks warming.
The white alicorn princess had a stark-white coat and an ever-flowing polychromatic mane and tail. She was somewhat lanky and normally very tall, but right now she was the height of the small figurine. She just chuckled and said, “Hello there.” Then her face got serious. “I have an important matter to discuss with you, Princess Twilight. Your friends, too.” Twilight set the figurine down on the floor and everypony gathered around.
“Oh, I meant in Canterlot,” Celestia continued, somewhat amused. “Though it is nice to see you all this way. It's not often that I get to use this spell.” She cut Twilight off before she could object. “I'm quite aware of your current situation, but I need to speak with all of you, privately, and I don't have a lot of time right now. I have a meeting with the ambassador from Saddle Arabia in a few minutes.”
“We'll head out in the morning, Princess,” said Twilight humbly. Then she smiled. “But you're going to have to teach me that spell,” she said with a wink.
“When this is all over,” came Celestia’s reply. Then she was gone. The figurine was once more just a figurine.
Twilight tenderly levitated the figurine back into her saddlebag. “Then we'll leave in the morning, provided we can get the door open.”
Fluttershy squeaked. “What do you mean, ‘provided we can get the door open’? You can't mean that… that…”
Twilight shook her head. “I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I didn't mean it that way. I just meant if that storm picks up again, there may be too much snow in the way for us to get the door open.”
Fluttershy whimpered and hid behind Rainbow. Twilight grimaced.
“And we shall have to pack warmer when we return,” suggested Rarity.
“Well, nopony thought it would be this cold,” snapped Rainbow. “It is the top of a mountain, but Cloudsdale hasn't scheduled it for more snow for another moon!”
That is odd, Twilight thought. “Why would it be snowing if it's not Cloudsdale’s doing?” she wondered aloud. She couldn't figure out the missing piece.
Then something clicked. “Unless…”
“Unless what, exactly?” asked Rainbow.
“Unless this has something to do with that stallion we met,” Twilight answered. “We never could figure out what he was doing. When Rarity had Rainbow's cutie mark, she was controlling the weather with her horn. There was snow then.”
“Don't remind me,” Rarity muttered. Rainbow agreed.
“What if this stallion is doing the same thing?” Twilight continued, not to be interrupted. “Come to think of it, the storm always died down after he stopped whatever his magic was doing.”
“You may be right, Twilight,” Applejack retorted, “but I don't see how that's a ‘friendship problem’ that needs all six of us to be up here.”
“I don't, either, Applejack.” Twilight let a little too much worry come out in her voice. “I just hope we'll get some answers in Canterlot.”
* * * * *
Applejack awoke the next morning chilled to the bone. They'd slept on blankets, but it was still a stone floor, and a stone floor held up by little wooden stilts, at that. She shivered. This wasn't how building was done, and she knew building.
She sat up and looked around. Pinkie's hind leg was sticking up in the air, twitching all the while. There was a cute little half-snore coming from the direction of Fluttershy's blanket. Rarity was sprawled out with her yellow fru-fru blindfold on. A sound akin to a full-size horse at full whinny was emanating from the rainbow-colored blankets. Twilight was motionless and silent.
I love these ponies, Applejack thought.
A rumble from her stomach told her it was breakfast time back at Sweet Apple Acres. She found her saddlebags and rifled through them, finding only an apple she hadn't eaten in the trail.
Oh, what had happened on the trail? she wondered to herself as she swallowed the apple. Why had she been so irritable? She couldn't seem to remember now what had been going through her mind then. Okay, yes, she had a habit of occasionally blowing her top over little stuff, but most of the day before had felt different. Being rested and clear-headed now, she couldn't wrap her head around why she'd been so short-tempered the second half of the day.
A yawn from Dash broke her from her thoughts. “Hey, AJ. Already awake?” She sounded like she was still mostly asleep.
Applejack let out a short chuckle. “Heh, yeah. I'm usually halfway through breakfast by this time,” she said, smiling.
“Oh, yeah, huh…” Dash yawned out as she rolled over. Her snoring resumed shortly thereafter.
Applejack chuckled to herself. Wasn't that just like Dash.
* * * * *
Filigree called her cousin into the room. “What's taking so long?”
The unicorn stallion answered with trepidation. “I can only keep it up for so long at a time, and there isn't enough to keep them here without my spell. B-Besides, I thought I w-wasn’t the only m-major p-part of this p-plan.”
Filigree frowned at him. “Of course you're not, Ebon. I have a very special spell that I'll be casting soon. And Hoarfrost has other duties. But you are very important. Very, very important. Without you, the other parts won't work.”
“O-Of course, Ms. Frost. I-I'll do my best. This Princess of Friendship and her friends aren't m-making it any easier, either,” Ebon ventured. His blue and green tail fidgeted.
“Just make it happen!” snapped Filigree. “You know what's at stake if we fail, Ebon Flow.” If only that cursed princess hadn't turned Discord, this could've been so much easier, she thought. Even Nightmare Moon would've been a boon to the cause.
“Y-Yes, Ms. Frost. I do. I-I'll do what I can,” he replied, his voice quivering as he turned to leave. Filigree glowered as her wicker door opened, letting in the bright morning light. Celestia, she hated that.
* * * * *
Twilight had just finished packing up her special dark purple blanket with her cutie mark on it when she felt a cold chill run down her back. Something was different. “Did you feel that?” she asked everypony in the room.
“Feel what?” Pinkie asked brightly.
“Something in the air just changed,” Twilight replied as another shiver ran up her back. “Something cold and repressive just settled in.”
“Twilight, it's been cold since we got here,” Rainbow said with an eyeroll. “We're at the top of a mountain, and it's been snowing since yesterday afternoon.”
“Not that kind of cold. Just… nevermind.” Twilight quietly shook her head.
“You mean the kind of cold that doesn't really make your outside cold” - she hugged herself and shivered - “but makes your heart shiver because it's more evil than cold and it makes your blood freeze and your heart stop” - she clutched her chest - “and you just want to curl up in a little ball and die?!” Pinkie screamed at an extremely high pitch as she curled up into a ball and bounced off the floor.
Everypony looked at her with blank faces. “Yes, exactly, Pinkie!” Twilight said, surprised.
“Nope, didn't feel it,” Pinkie said very matter-of-factly. She returned to what she'd been doing… whatever that was.
Twilight sighed heavily as Applejack suggested, “At any rate, let's get outta here before the little stilts holdin’ the floor up give way.” Fluttershy quickly agreed.
Twilight moved the rock in front of the door with surprising ease. As the sunlight poured into the room, Twilight was momentarily blinded. As her eyes adjusted, though, the sight in front of her soaked into her visage. The first thing she noticed was the complete lack of snow. Apparently it had all melted in the few hours since they'd gotten to the house. The next thing she noticed was the sheer population. The village had appeared barely populated the afternoon previous, but the vista before her was of a bustling shopping day. Ponies were selling and buying and visiting and acting like ponies in a healthy town generally did.
“Well, that's a change,” Rarity remarked as the ponies walked out the doorway.
“It really is,” replied Twilight.
They bought food and trotted out of town as though nothing had happened. Nopony stopped them on their way out. Nopony asked if they were new or where they were going. Everypony kept to their business and nopony was caught watching the six ponies.
* * * * *
Ebon had started his spell again soon after his meeting with Ms. Frost. He didn't like that he had to address his younger cousin that way. Sure, she was the acknowledged leader of the cause, but he cringed inside every time he had to call Filigree ‘Ms. Frost’. She was more like a younger sister to him even than a cousin.
Filigree had correctly foreseen - guessed, if Ebon were allowed a personal opinion - that the Princess of Friendship and her entourage would show up not long after Ebon had started to extend the range of his spell, it was true. He didn't understand how nor why the Princess had known something was happening, nor how nor why Filigree had known she would. That wasn't his job, however. His part in the cause was to keep his spell going whenever and for however long he could manage it.
And now the Princess's entourage was leaving the village. For the short-term, Ebon was relieved because that meant his job would be easier for the moment. The bonds of friendship the six of them shared were very strong. For the long-term, however, he worried. He didn't know why they were leaving, but again, that wasn't his job.