//------------------------------// // The Wrath of Queen Tundra, Part 2- Act 2 // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Harmony // by XFangHeartX //------------------------------// Pinkie sniffled as she sat on the floor...in fact, everypony else didn't look that far off from crying, either. Even Tempest seemed rather disheartened by what she had heard. As for Frostbite, he was sniffling as he retold the story of what his poor sister had gone through, while Winter Gale put a gentle woof on his wing. "That...is the saddest thing...I ever heard!" Pinkie sobbed. "Poor Velvet Snowfall," whispered Rarity. "...I can't believe everypony was so cruel to her," Applejack said. "Yeah," Rainbow Dash added while wiping her eyes. "I mean...I know she was kinda obsessed with winter and all, but that's no reason for anypony to pick on her like they did!" "And your mother passing away was too much on her," said Fluttershy. "I'm so sorry." "We all are," Twilight spoke, "but...how did your sister become Queen Tundra?" "I'm getting to that part," Frostbite said. "I decided that Velvet needed some time away from home...so I took her to a place where it was always snowy." Flashback resume Frostbite and Velvet flew over the snowy mountains, the latter gasping in surprise before she looked up at her brother, who smiled at her before they both dived down. Velvet opened up her wings and made a soft landing in the white powder, and she laughed with all the happiness and mirth she could muster before she and Frostbite began to frolic and romp together, throwing snowballs, making snowponies, and sledding the snowy mountainside before flying all the way back to the top again. "That was the first in a long time I had seen my sister smile..." Velvet and Frostbite sat in the snow, together, watching the sun slowly set beyond the horizon. "Thank you so much for bringing me here," said Velvet. "I've never been so happy." "I figured we both needed a vacation," said Frostbite. "Yeah...we did," Velvet said...albeit a bit distantly. "Something the matter?" asked Frosbite in concern. "...Can't we just live here?" asked Velvet. "I mean...I do love Ponyville and all...but I hate having to go through everyday where other ponies pick on me, just because I love winter more than I love the other seasons!" "They just need to learn to grow up, that's all," Frostbite replied. "...Still," Velvet began, "sometimes...I wish winter lasted all year-round...just like here on these mountains. The snowflakes are so pretty when they fall...and the ice and snow is so sparkly in the sun..." She then sighed. "I wish other ponies would see how beautiful it is." "Winter is beautiful," said Frostbite, "but like all the other seasons, it has its time and place." On that, he got up to leave, and his sister was about to follow, when suddenly... "Who says winter can't last forever?" "Huh?" Velvet muttered as she turned around. "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?" Frostbite inquired. "I didn't hear anything." "I heard a voice, just now," Velvet answered as she walked away. "W-wait, Velvet, where are you going?" asked Frostbite. "Velvet, wait! Come back!" When his calls fell on deaf ears, the Pegasus stallion began to follow after his sister. "What we found next...was shocking." After a while, the Pegasus siblings gasped silently upon entering a cave...where they found all sorts of buildings and houses...all frozen in ice. "What happened here?!" asked Frostbite. "I have no idea," said Velvet as she looked around. "Hello~? Anypony in here?" No response. "Obviously you were hearing things," said Frostbite as he turned to leave. "Let's go. This place gives me the creeps." As Velvet turned to follow her brother, that same eerie voice from before. "Velvet...Velvet Snowfall..." Velvet turned around upon hearing that voice again...and this time, she saw a light, flashing from behind a giant icicle. Growing more curious by the second, the Pegasus mare turned and headed toward the glow, to Frostbite's surprise. "W-wait a minute! Velvet!" he called as he followed after her. "Come back!!" Soon, Velvet reached the bottom of the icicle...where she found a tiara with a red jewel in the middle, shaped like some sort of snowflake. "It's...a tiara...?" Velvet asked. "Not just any tiara, my dear," the tiara spoke, causing her to gasp. "You...you can talk?!" asked Velvet. "I don't believe this...!" whispered Frostbite. "W...who are you?" asked Velvet. "What are you?!" "I am the spirit of Queen Tundra," the tiara spoke. "I was once queen of this frozen city you see now...but through unfair means, I was sealed within my own crown." "That's...that's terrible," said Velvet. "Yes, it is, isn't it?" asked the tiara. "Sort of like how you are wrongfully tormented, just because you love winter more than all the other seasons..." Velvet gasped silently. "I couldn't help overhearing your little plight," the tiara began, "and perhaps...I could help you make your dream come true." "My...dream?" Velvet asked. "Velvet, wait!" Frostbite exclaimed. "Maybe we should get outta here...I don't like the sound of this crown." "Quiet," the tiara hissed. "I'm speaking to my friend, Velvet, here...Velvet Snowfall. I have the power to make your wish come true: to make it winter all year, every year!" "...Every year?" Velvet repeated. "Winter has always been a hated season," the tiara said. "Ponies from all Equestria have scorned it since time immemorial...but I can remedy that. Think of it, Velvet Snowfall...imagine an age of never-ending winter, where everypony can appreciate its beauty!" "N-now wait a minute!" Frostbite shouted. "Velvet, don't listen to this...whatever-it-is! It's obviously crazy! We've been over this, winter has its time and place! You don't need to make it winter all year long! Now let's go!" On that, he turned to leave...but Velvet didn't follow. Instead, she stared down at the crown with morbid interest. "Velvet!" Frostbite called. "Velvet Snowfall, let's go!!" "...No," Velvet whispered as she approached the tiara...then picked it up with her hooves. "This is my chance...the chance to show everypony that they were wrong." She then placed the tiara upon her head. "I'm going to show them...I'm going to show them all!" On that, there was a white flash of light, forcing Frostbite to shield his eyes as a powerful, cold wind blew throughout the cave. As the light subsided, Frostbite looked up and gasped in shock upon seeing a familiar, viridian-coated alicorn, towering over him. "V...Velvet...?!" Frostbite whispered...which caused the alicorn to smirk. "Not anymore," she said with a sinister tone in her voice before she snickered, evilly, to Frostbite's horror. "And that was how Queen Tundra came to be..." Flashback end Twilight and friends gaped in utter disbelief at what they had just heard while Frostbite hung his head in sadness and despair while Winter Gales put her hoof on his shoulder. "I...I don't believe it," whispered Twilight. "Sometime after," Winter Gales started, "Queen Tundra found us and began to make us her little army so that she begin her campaign to freeze all of Equestria, starting with Canterlot." "I thought that if I stayed by Queen Tundra's side," Frostbite started, "somehow, I could reach my sister again...but nothing I do is working." He then looked up at the Elements of Harmony, then to their respective vessels. "But there could be a chance to save my sister, yet! You can use the Elements of Harmony to purge Queen Tundra's spirit from Velvet and save her, as well as all of Equestria!" "...Uh...that's gonna be a bit of a problem, there," Applejack said. "Why?" Frostbite asked. "We can't use the Elements of Harmony," Rarity answered, regrettably. "W-what?!" Frostbite questioned in shock. "You're joking, right?!" "I'm afraid we're not," said Twilight. "The Element of Magic rejected me...and if I can't make my representative element work, then the other elements won't work, either, and we need all of them if we're going to banish Queen Tundra's spirit from your sister." "...So...there's nothing we can do?" Frostbite asked in horror. "My sister's going to be possesed by Queen Tundra forever? And Equestria will face an eternal winter?!" "Now hold on a second!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "We've saved Equestria without using the elements before, and we can do it again!" "But how?" Frostbite asked. "...Wait," Tempest said. "Frostbite, none of this started until after your sister put on that tiara, right?" "Well, yes," Frostbite replied. "Then we have our solution, right there," Tempest said. "We need to get that tiara off of her, then Queen Tundra will turn back into Velvet Snowfall!" "You make it sound like it's easy," said one of Frostbite's stallion subordinates. "I know it's a risk," Tempest began, "but it's our only chance we've got." "What do you think, Twilight?" asked Pinkie. "Should we go for it?" inquired Fluttershy. "...It might sound like a long shot," Twilight began, "but it does sound like our best bet." "In that case," Frostbite began, "I'm going to put my faith in all of you." "That's good," Tempest said, "because we need you as part of our plan." She then gave everypony a confident smirk. "Now huddle up, everypony...because here's what we're going to do." "Ooh! I love discussing plans!" Pinkie exclaimed in delight before the group all huddled up together to discuss the plan. XXX Back in Canterlot's underground shelters, Luna was trying her best to keep her subjects calm as she waited for Twilight and the others to return. As she waited, some ponies were shivering from the cold air and were doing their best to stave off the cold. Grubber was going around, offering hot bowls of soup to lift everypony's spirits, while Spike managed to make a fire. "Here you guys go," Grubber said as he put down a bowl of soup for each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Thank you," Scootaloo said. "Thanks," Apple Bloom spoke. "Thank you," Sweetie Belle added before they began to eat. "Here's yours," Grubber said as he gave a bowl to Starlight, who smiled and nodded her head in gratitude, while Spike sat with Moonlight, who watched the fire with a look of worry on her face. "Spike?" Moonlight asked. "Twilight's gonna come back, right? Because she and the others have been gone for a while." "It's okay, Moonlight," Spike reassured. "If I know Twilight- and I do- I know that she and the others will be back with the Elements of Harmony to boot!" "Yeah, and Tempest is pretty tough," Grubber added. "She can pull through pretty much anything!" "Trust me, Moonlight," Starlight said. "Twilight and the others will be back before you know it." "...I sure hope so," Moonlight whispered, worriedly as everypony looked up as they heard the howling of the wind.