In all directions, only the snow-covered landscape could be seen through the furious snow storm. He could no longer feel the cold sting of the wind or the plates of his armor chafing his bare skin. Had it been eight days or nine? He had lost all sense of time since his last assault on the enemy. Moreover, there had been no trace of a crystal guardsman or this supposed evil in all that time. Was there truly nothing beyond the southern wastes? No, he said to himself, the reports were so reputable, so many and so vivid that there must be an encroaching darkness. By my word, the Crystal Empire will not fall!
With impeccable timing, a long overdue sight greeted his weary eyes: the Crystal Empire in all its magnificence. If he still had feeling in any part of his body that wasn’t frozen, his heart would certainly be warmed by the sight. All his fears had been slain by a single observation. The empire still stood tall and proud, a jewel amidst the bleak frozen wasteland this far north. There was no mysterious evil come to consume it, no force of nature to wipe it off the face of Equus, and no foul sorcerer bent on wanton destruction.
Was he now galloping or was he flying? Regardless, he found himself fast approaching his kingdom faster than he thought physically possible. As his approach closed the distance, he began to hear voices. Were they his? No, there were far too many. Familiar they were, but so strange at once. ‘What is that?’, ‘Get the townsponies to safety!’, ‘King Sombra was right! There was something out there!’