//------------------------------//
// FFF I 
// Story: Final Filly Fantasy 
// by Amereep 
//------------------------------//




Prelude

In the magical realm of Equestria, peace can be found abundant.  Ruled under The Princess of Friendship, the land is kept in a harmonic state.

Though this state of tranquility suited many, some saw this as a sign to claim this docile nation for their own.  Many battles were fought, and the Equestrians were victorious in keeping their home.  But, a new entity from the south has been making attempted strikes to claim the throne and kingdom.

With a team assembled by Princess Twilight Sparkle, four ponies were sent to cease this opposing force, ending their assaults once and for all.




"This Idea of yours is going to fail."

"Don't argue with me."

"Be quiet guys."

"Pfft, like that'll stop them."

"You can't pull something that's been done before."

"Will you put a sock in it!"

"Does this usually happen?"

"Not with confectionery."

As the grand door opens, a smokey-fur guard peers out and sees the giant three-layered cake before him.  He looks back and gestures to the other bulky storm creatures to follow him outside.

As the four observe the odd confectionery, one gestures the others to stay back as he gets closer with a spear.  He aims the weapon and pierces the cake.

"YEOW!"

The other storm creatures point their spears at the cake that just spoke.

"Do you get my point now?"

*groan* "PONIES, SADDLE OUT!"

The cake bursts open with four figures leaping at a guard.

The one that stabbed the cake is quickly enveloped in a light-rose aura and is flying back.

The one that opened the door is frighten at the image of a dragon coming at him and is taken down without a fight.

The one on the far left gets blind by frosting thrown at his face and is a wallop across the head by a smooth metal object.

The last one is already anticipating the target before him; however, the figure launches a current of electric-blue magic at him and the storm creature becomes stasis from paralysis.  He gets pinned down by a dark orchid mare wearing a tight black fabric with dark-violet metal plates covering her torso, giving her a sleek appearance.  He gets a smack by the hoof guard on her legs and loses consciousness.  The pony brushes the frosting of her moderate-rose mohawk and glares a scowl from her moderate-opal eyes at one pony in general.  "I told you it was going to fail, Shining Armor!  If it fooled them once, it won't fool them again." she yells as the flickering of her magic is seen coming from her broken horn.

"That'll be enough, Tempest Shadow." The light gray stallion orders the soldier as he brushes off the last of the icing left on him.

Compared to the mare, Shining is more geared up with majority of his sturdy frame covered.  Along with the metallic-gold appearance of his hoof guards, his crupper layers shared the same in colors.  The flanchard that is tied around his chest is overlain by the warm violet design of his peytral.  Hiding partially under the moderate-sapphire-blue mane of cerulean and dark-phthalo-blue streaks, is a gold coronet designed to cover the majority of his forehead with a slot for his horn to go through.  Each piece is smooth to the touch, making it work well with his wavy mane.

Shining looks back at Tempest with his moderate cerulean eyes in a stern gaze. "You shouldn't argue with your higher up."

"Excuse me!?" her tone implies the irritation she got from the weak reply, "I'm a commander.  I outrank you, Captain!"

"Maybe for the Storm King!" His tone is also equally in annoyance, "But in case you didn't get the memo, you're in my squad.  And as such, you'll be following my orders for the duration of the mission!"

"You certainly like to make-believe, because I remember the conversation I had from your sister very differently."





"Wait.  Repeat that to me again, Twilight."

In the dining hall at Canterlot Castle, Tempest Shadow sits at a decorative table across from Princess Twilight.  The two of them have their own teacup resting on the furniture, currently filling up from the teapot Twilight had in her magic.

"You want me to lead a squad on an infiltrating mission?"

"That's right," the lavender princess nods.  "For the past couple of months now, we've been getting constant attempts of assaults thrown at us by a group of storm creatures.  It seemed like a rebellious act at first of simply stealing food or vandalizing buildings, but it's starting to become more and more frequent and severe."

"So where does this infiltrating come into play?"

"Well after arresting a couple of them, we interrogated the storm creatures to understand their motive.  A few of them stated that this was all an order given to them by a monarch as a way to conquer Equestria."  She receives a contort look by the ex-commander.  "I know, that idea seems completely unorthodox if you're trying to overthrow a kingdom.  But the most baffling thing we learned was the monarch's name, someone going by the name of, 'The Ice Queen'."  The dumbfound face the princess obtains from her listener told that they were on the same page. "Did the Storm King happen to be married or have a fawness by chance?"

"I know that he didn't have a wife, but I've never heard him say anything about having a daughter."

"Well if she's related to him or not, we tried reaching out to her in hopes of coming to a peaceful end to her assaults on us; but, all our attempts keep getting brushed aside.  We tried by letter, but she never replied.  We tried by messenger, but she pushed us away.  We even tried some neighborly attempts of offering her some food, but she seems to be a picky eater as she doesn't even try to come out for a single bite.  She just keeps herself inside her castle and only allows a few individuals to get by the guards.  We can't be her punching bag forever, so I've decided to ask you for a mission to infiltrate and settle The Ice Queen's issue she has over Equestria."

Tempest readjusts herself to the feeling of skepticism she was getting from all of this.  "So you're asking me to break into the queen's castle, despite the fact that you have plenty of guards that could do it or even a powerful pony such as yourself doing it instead?"

"I shouldn't leave the kingdom unattended, especially when I'm heavily needed now for the preparations of 'The Gathering of Friends' coming up.  And unlike the Royal Guard, who are trained on defensive strategy, you're trained on the offensive side and the most experienced one I know of that's been on the field with it.  I need expert ponies who can accomplish this with only a small team, having an entire fleet barging in unannounced would undoubtedly appear as a fierce threat.  I want to settle this matter peacefully, yet we're already stepping our boundaries with this intrusion, but sometimes you have to show a firm hoof to someone who's being uncooperative.  It's imperative that you use excessive force only as a last resort."

Twilight levitates her teacup for a quick sip, "So can I count on you?"

Though it's been a long time since her military days, Tempest began feeling her spirits rising, "Alright, I'll take you up on your request."

"Thank you, this really means a lot."

Tempest cups her hooves around the glass drink and brings it to her mouth.  Twilight notes the way Tempest accomplishes this before looking at the cup she has levitating in her magic, "That reminds me!"  The mare trots over to the dresser, opening a shelf and levitates out a silver necklace with a deep blue colored crystal for the pendent.  "I want you to wear this when you go on your mission."

"It's very lovely.  Is there a reason why?" asks the handicapped unicorn.

"This was something that Princess Celestia gave to me when I was learning how to use advance magic under her studies.  It's a one of a kind heirloom that bestows the wearer an effect that stabilizes the flow of their magic, so I simply call this a Focus Crystal.  I want you to wear it because it'll help you at performing magic."

Tempest looks at the crystal again, suddenly getting a disquietude feeling in her stomach.  "...i...it'd be wasted on me.  I don't know any spells."

"I can teach you some."

"With this broken horn?"

"As long as you have a connected channel to it, it should work.  I can't promise you levitation or teleportation, but I can teach you the spell, 'Protect', and how to transfer the effect onto others.  It really isn't that hard to perform."

"...you know what, there's probably another pony out there that's more suited to lead this mission than me."

"Come on," The Princess of Friendship gives her an encouraging smile, "You told me in your letters that you were feeling depressed with the way things have been.  You said that you felt like you were just drifting through life with no real purpose.  Well here's your chance to change that."

Tempest averts her eyes to the discomforting sensation she's getting from the thought of accepting it.

"You wanted to a moment ago, why the sudden change of heart?"

The broken horn unicorn peers at the accessory, watching the crystal that dangles in the air.





Tempest wipes off the frosting from the crystal that dangles around her neck.

As Tempest and Shining continue fighting, a frosting covered pony watches from the side and turns to the pony next to him, "Mind if I do it this time, Flash?"

The pony he spoke to brushes the frosting off his brilliant-gamboge fur.  He pulls off his helmet using the wings attached to his sides and wipes off the frosting on his gear.  "Be my guest, Wind." he offers as he replaces the helmet over his sapphire-blue mane.  His vivid cornflower-blue eyes can hardly be seen behind the impressionable armor that invokes an unique imagery of him.  With the spikes on his hoof guards, the bat wing design of his coverts plates, the reptilian face for the helm, and the scaly imprint from the crinet down to the tail-guard, Flash's armor made him look like a violet scaled dragon.

As Wind approaches his arguing teammates, the frosting covered stallion pulls his right side back and flings the icing at the two unicorns with the wing that was covering it.

Tempest and Shining get hit and turn to the summer-lime furred pegasus that threw it.  Standing in a tigers-eye brown chest leather, Wind slouches while tapping the bronze hoof guard he wears.  A strand of his ruffled orchid mane springs up at the back of his head, flicking off some icing as it did.   The cutie mark of a phoenix feather on his flank shows his recovering spirit and his amber eyes show the burning confidence that resides in him and the lack of experience he has on the field.  "We won't get anywhere if you two keep arguing."

The lack of discipline to his posture leaves an impression on Tempest that she has to address.  The mare glances at the pony she's arguing with, "Will you tell me why he's here already.  This was supposed to be a team of elites.  Why is a rookie here?"

Feeling a sense of reclaiming control of the situation again, Shining eyes the pony in question, "Privet Second Wind, if you would."

Second Wind lifts the frosting on his left wing and he flings it to the floor to show his prosthetic wing.  Made of metal, the inside of the wing had key panels and a small window of a blue screen monitor.  Using the feathers on his right wing to tap the keys, the monitor lit up with a series of images of various objects.  As he taps one last key, a spark of light flashes before the pegasus and a deep-blue heater shield with a hot-pink starburst insignia appears in the air for Shining Armor to clutch in his magic on.

Wind returns to his wing and gallops over to Flash, leaving the two unicorns to talk.

"Mind telling me what I just saw." Tempest requests of Shining.

"While he can't fly, Second Wind's artificial wing was built using a form of technology that allows him to conjure up a space pocket."

"Has technology really come that far?"

"Not that I'm aware of.  According to Wind, that wing was made for him by a relative named, Cider.  I brought him along because he'll be very helpful for carrying supplies like armor, weapons, first aid, those sort of things."

Wind summons a double sided steel halberd and gives it to Flash.  While the pole was jet black, the head portion was tinted red.  Each blade is carven in a way to give itself a small dip, almost like a low valley.

"The Stratocaster." states Wind and begins to approach Tempest, "And for the lady...... The Spiorad."  In a flash of light, a great sword appears for Tempest to wield.  The blade is tinted in a deep violet pommel, wrapped in a black strap on the handle and a cross-guard of dark turquoise.

As she found some affection for the weapon, Tempest also found the choice baffling.  A great sword is a heavy sword for almost anycreature to lift, let alone wield properly.  "You don't expect me to use that, do you?"

"Just imagine the blade as an extension of your body and you'll be fine."  Shining reassures.

"But the only way I can wield it is to grip the handle with my mouth.  I won't be able to properly communicate or command others."

A smooth smile is given by the captain, "I don't see a downside so far."

Flash intervenes the two before they start another fight, "It might be best that you let Captain Armor lead us, Tempest.  We've been trained under him, so it might be easier on all of us if we follow him."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Flash Sentry." Shining smiles for the given support.

Flash leads up by whispering to Tempest, "Besides, I don't think receiving orders from you would go too well for him, especially after the petrifying experience you caused his wife to go through."

Tempest feels her commitment to lead the team taking a steep drop at the facts she has to swallow.

"Could... could one of you take the sword already."  Wind asks the team, now starting to struggle to hold up the sword.

Groaning at the situation, Tempest caves in, "Alright fine, you can lead the team."

With the roles settled, Shining looks past the unconscious storm creatures to the door to the castle and ord-

"Hey Captain,"

The stallion looks back at the mare that called him.

She gives him a snarky look, "......don't buck up."

Armor feels his patience with her starting to run dry, much like the day that only has a few minutes of sunlight left.  He shoves her remark aside, "Stay together.  I don't want anypony to break from the group."

"And that's the first of many to come." Tempest murmurs under her breath before gripping the handle of her sword in her teeth.





They arrive at their first obstacle at the turn in a hallway.  Shining Armor halts the party and peers around the corner.

"I see three storm creatures guarding the gates to the courtyard." Shining informs his team, "Each holding a pike, be prepared for it to possibly be thrown at you.  When I give the signal, we charge at them."

Wind and Flash nod while the shaking of Tempest's head goes unseen.

"They're about thirty yards away, but we should be fine.  Satyrs don't have Flux Lights, after all."

Tempest drops her sword into her hoof, "And just what are those?"

"You know, the essence of one's magic.  Didn't they teach you that in magic school?"

A grouchy Tempest looks at the captain with sparks snapping from her broken horn.

"Oh... right...  Well to briefly go into it, Flux Lights are basically the spiritual core all magical creatures possess that allow them to use magic.  Changelings can use theirs to change appearances, Cockatrices can use theirs to petrify others, but the strongest flux lights are considered to be Equestrians.  Unlike other creatures, Equestrian flux lights are more versatile and can be used in almost any given situation, whether it be to shoot magic bullets or strengthening one's self.  Not everycreature has it, such as Storm Creatures, so I have confidence that everything will go smoothly."

"Let's hope for all of our sake that it does." Tempest remarks, clenching the sword with her teeth again.

Shining brushes the snarky comment aside and takes his shield in his aura, "Weapons at the ready."

Flash tightens his grip on his spear and Wind unfurls his metal wing.

".....go!"

The four of them charge down the hall, revealing their position to the guards.  The Storm Creatures react in different manners for the oncoming assault; the middle one takes a defensive stance, the right one pulls his spear overhead, and the left one makes a retreat.

Shining throws his shield like a disk with the right Storm Creature hurls his spear like a javelin, and while the satyr may have let go of his weapon, Shining still held his in his aura.  The thrown spear is flying at the gliding pegasus, Flash Sentry.  "Heads up!" the flying pony warns, arches his wings and he spirals around the projectile as it soars by him.  The spear now falls at Second Wind as he gallops.  He sees it coming and holds his metal wing over himself, blocking the spear like a shield.

As for the shield Armor threw, it spins at the satyr that still holds his spear.  The storm creature embraces for impact from the aura cover shield, near inches from colliding with his spear.  The shield jolts around the satyr in a clockwise manner and launches itself at the satyr that threw the spear.  The shield bashes against the satyrs head and ricochets to strike at the surprise storm creature, knocking both of them unconscious.  Shining brings his shield back using his magic and the ponies ease up upon reaching the doorway to the courtyard.  

Lit up by the fading sun in a twilight glow, the courtyard is made of cobblestone flooring with cracks in erratic locations.  It's very open; no porches or balconies to hide under, no bushes or trees to blend with, no fountains or ponds to dive in.  The layout is far in width yet short in length like a rectangular with the ponies being near one of the corners.  Its size appears that it could hold about seven, perhaps eight hundred creatures in the open lot.

The team flinch to the sound of a bell suddenly clanging outside, ringing loud enough to be heard throughout the castle.  In seconds, a hoard of storm creatures comes pouring in from nearly every entrance to fill the courtyard.  Each one fully ready with armor, shield, and spear on their person.

"Now the entire fortress is under high alert because of the one that got away," groans Tempest as she finally catches up with the team with the heavy sword she drags by hoof.  "Now what, 'Captain'?"

Shining gives a 'don't test me' look to her, "Typically during a lockdown, those with status are held in the throne room.  It's one of the most secured and heavily guarded areas to be in, so we'll be heading that way."

"Mmm-hm." Tempest says with uninterest sass, "So tell me, how are you going to get by that?"

Tempest points to the courtyard where around fifty storm creatures are waiting.  All of them are guarding a specific entrance with plenty of visibility and more than enough time to prepare for impact.

"With the amount given here, the entrance they're guarding is probably the only direction we have at reaching the queen."  Shining taps his chin, "But the amount of guards will be a problem."

The team of ponies think of a plan while keeping an eye on the storm creatures.

"Hey, look!" Wind points at the top of the guarded entrance within the frame, a metal sheet going from the left frame to the right, is presenting a row of spikes aiming down over the entrance.  "Isn't that a portcullis?"

Shining Armor begins feeling that luck is favoring him, "We could drop it to keep the satyrs locked outside!"

"Though, I have to question," Wind wonders aloud, "why don't they use it for themselves to keep us out?"

"Because luck favors the foolish." Tempest answers and looks the other way before Shining could eye her.

"In any case," Shining refocuses, "we still need to get by them somehow." 

"Then let me act as decoy."

Tempest, Shining, and Wind look over to Flash Sentry, not expecting the offer of volunteering himself for something so hasty.

Shining Armor has an unsettle on his face, "The idea of a decoy seems like an effective choice, but there's so many of them."

"I'm the best one for the job," Flash tries convincing, "I'm the fastest one on the team, and the only one that can fly.  If things get dicey, I'll just fly out of their reach."

"Valid points," Shining thinks over the idea, keeping Flash’s reasons in mind, and his views on the idea changes, "...I'm starting to like this plan.  If you feel confident about this, then you have my thanks and approval."

Flash Sentry gyrates his joints and loosens up his wings with a few flaps, "Okay.  Everypony ready?"

"One moment." Tempest requests as she got closer to the daring pony.  She lays her hoof between Flash's shoulder blades and lights up her horn.  He feels a tingling sensation coming from Tempest's hoof coursing throughout his body.  Tempest returns her hoof to the floor; yet, Flash keeps feeling the sensation moving inside him.  "I cast 'Protect' on you.  If Shining Armor thinks something is a good idea, then we better prepare for the worst."

The captain and commander exchange a glance that expresses their vexing impression they have of each other.

Flash gallops onto the courtyard before those two start to fight and swings his halberd in his wings.  All the storm creatures prepare for the assault, but only a dozen of them break formation to go after the pegasus.  Sentry takes careful aim as he pulls back his spear with the approaching satyr closely watching his actions.

As Flash throws the halberd, the storm creatures slide to a halt at the surprising sight that he throws the spear far too high over them.  They watch his weapon embed itself into the stone surface.  The satyr looks back at the pegasus and one of the storm creatures becomes a victim of being a hoofstool as Flash bounces off of the guard.  Sentry goes into a glide and nabs his halberd into his hooves.

Flash Sentry flies over the storm creatures still guarding the entrance.  "Not coming after me?" Flash tries to provoke, "I guess you guys are the doormats."

A few take offence and the storm creatures he jumped over rejoins the group of guards.

Flash gestures at the satyrs that they're not worth his time, "Your mother is a space mutant."  Sentry flies off and almost the entire group of storm creatures chase after him, throwing their spears at the pony.  Flash avoids their attacks and sees that only one guard is keeping his post.

Flash turns around and flies in close to the lone storm creature standing guard.  They glare at each other and Flash Sentry uses his best insult to trigger the satyr to follow him.

"You spoony bard."

The storm creature lunges at Flash the pegasus flies away and takes the entire group of guards with him.

Shining Armor, Second Wind, and Tempest Shadow take their chance and they gallop to the unguarded entrance.

Flash Sentry continues to dodge spears as it's thrown at him.  He weaves, he curves, and one particular spear comes at him that he isn't prepared for.  It's unavoidable, and it's going to cost him as the spear strikes at a bare portion of his chest.

The impact sends him flying back; but, he manages to regain his balance from falling out of the sky.

The spear that struck Sentry falls to the floor and the satyr that threw it retrieves it, surprised upon seeing that the spear isn't tarnished in blood.

Rubbing at the spot he was struck, Flash reviews the aftermath and is thankful that there's no puncture wound.  He still feels a sting, but it could've been worse if he wasn't under the spell 'Protect'.

Shining Armor and his squad make it to the unguard entrance.  Tempest lights up her horn and shoots a ball of magic skyrocketing into the air and explodes in a dazzling display.

Flash spots Tempest's 'Firework' spell and flies to join them, leaving the storm creatures behind.  He listens to the guards roaring at his retreat, and suddenly hears them gasp.  Sentry begins to feel something's amiss at a crackling sound and getting an intense heat behind him.  The pegasus turns his head and is immediately blind by a giant ball of fire coming up fast.

Flash takes evasive action and avoids the fireball burning past him with only a scorching impact hitting his right wing.  Sentry seethes at the pain and dives for the entrance where his team awaits.  He comes falling through the door and skids across the floor.

Shining kicks the winch's handle to send the portcullis dropping to the floor and turns towards the lieutenant, seeing his burnt left wing sizzling.

"A fireball," Flash informs everypony before they could ask, "one of them must've had a scroll."

"Here too!" Shining slams a hoof at the floor, "I should've cast 'Shell' on you earlier when I had the chance." beating himself up over the unforeseen mistake.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tempest asks, "I thought you told me that Satyrs can't use magic."

Wind pulls out some ointment and begins applying it on Flash, leaving Shining to answer her question, "We've been recently getting reports about creatures using various forms of magic by which they shouldn't be capable of.  Shooting lasers, increasing gravity, the spells they use have always been different.  Unfortunately, we haven't found the root reason as to why this has been happening, but we do know that each caster uses a scroll to execute the spell."

"Are the scrolls magical in any way?"

"That was our first assumption, but once we acquired a scroll from a fleeing caster, we found that it possesses no magic.  Our best guess is that there is only a certain amount of times you can cast a spell from it before the scroll loses its magic.  As for how they get these scrolls, we can't really say."

Wind finishes aiding the injury on Flash's wing and steps back for Sentry to test out how efficient of a job he did.

Flash flaps his wing, feeling completely pain free of the burning sensation.  It's as if he was never burnt, literally as there's no scorches or rashes left on him.

While Flash and Shining seem casual about this, Tempest has to ask Wind, "What'd you use?"

"Just an ointment I made by mashing up some Rawst Berries."

"Berries?!" Tempest watches Wind return the ointment back to the space pocket his wing activates, "What else do you have in there?"

"Well I have some Dead Peppers to hasten one's movements, couple Jolt Tonics to wake you from a deep slumber, there's sleeping bags, a few eye drops, a smoke bomb, dozens of potions, don't ask what's in them."

"Wait, smoke bomb!"

"Mm-hmm, I've got only one and Captain Armor wants me to have it on wing in case we really need it."

Tempest grumbles under her breath as she drags her forehooves down her face, "What's the point of having it if you don't use it!"





After some time with Shining Armor leading the way down a corridor that feels like it's suspending in the air, Flash, Wind, and Tempest finally arrive at the giant double doors that lead into the throne room.  The frame of the doors stretches thrice the height of any of them.  The doors have a pattern of diamonds trailing down the front of it with the moonlight beaming from a high window along the wall.

They're almost there, but something at the end of the hall blocks the throne room's doors.  A large figure in a red tatter cloak stands guard in wait, appearing like no storm creature they've met before.  The team slows down to a fair distance away from this creature that's twice the height and width of any of them.  The creature's face is completely hidden, allowing only the team the pleasure of seeing its fearsome white eyes as It narrows them on the ponies.

"I've been waiting for your arrival." it declares in a tone much too deep and rough for it to even be considered female.  "You have traveled well, but I'm afraid that this is where you will fall."  His cloak shifts and his bulky white hand comes out holding the end of a rolled-up scroll.  "I am the holder of the spell to end all spells.  The most powerful spell ever created, Ultima."

He points the top end of the scroll at the team.  The scroll begins humming, emitting a low light inside as it charges up to invoke the spell it possesses.

"Hold your ground!" Shining orders his squad, "We don't know what to expect from this spell.  So be prepared for anything!"

The humming of the scroll deafens the 'humph' from Tempest, but the four of them prepare for the worst.

A heavy brush of the wind begins to swirl in front of the troupe.  A small sphere of pure light forges in front of them and starts to expand.  The four ponies stare up as it gets bigger and bigger and bigger, violently shaking the room and only getting worse by the second.

And finally, upon reaching its full size...

IT EXPLODES!

*pop*

"............."

All five of them stand in silence, dumbfound that the spell made an explosion the size of a tiny bubble.

"Wha....what happened?"  The cloak figure blares for his opponents.  He scans the parchment, reading the words it contains inside, "I followed exactly what it said.  Where did I go wro...!"  The figure slaps his head, "I have been conned!  This is not the legendary spell 'Ultima', this is the spell 'Ultimid'."  He tears the scroll up and tosses it into the air.  "Bah, I prefer weapons anyway."  The figure grabs his red cloak and tosses it away.

"Quiver in fear ponies, for you are about to face an opponent the likes of which you have never encountered before."  A ring on his right finger flashes and a red pole as tall as him with a sharp blade at one end appears in his grip.

"From distant lands I have traveled, vanquishing many powerful adversaries that dared to challenge my skills."  He spins the weapon around his biped body, covered in fine cloth and protective golden leg, wrist, and shoulder guards.

"Now fate has brought me here, hired by 'The Ice Queen' herself, to stop those who foolishly venture into these halls."  He grips the pole under his armpit and hones his gaze with an intimidating white painted face with red stripes going along it.

"Remember this day well ponies, for this is the day you fight against the legendary..." He pulls his right side back and lifts the leg to it.  Holding out his left palm like he is pushing something ahead of himself, he poses to show off the body of a minotaur's.

"Genji Spirit!"

The four equestrians take in the sight of this showboating minotaur that keeps his pose steady.  Shining looks around if the bizarre display is a decoy, Flash lifts his helmet to see if his eyes weren't playing tricks, Wind hangs his jaw to the off-putting reveal, and Tempest is irk as her horn cracks out some sparks. 

"I see that my presence has silenced all of you in utter terror." Genji comments, "It is to be expected, as I've left that impression upon many others before you."

Not finding anything that suggests trickery at hand, Shining loosens up, "I think I speak for the rest of us, that we didn't expect The Ice Queen's last line of defense would be a clown."

Genji loses his balance to the remark, "Wha!  Clown!?!?  How could you arrive at that assumption?" He rubs the chin of his painted face, "Didn't you hear what I said about myself in my speech?  I thought I nailed it."

"Look, we're just planning to have a discussion with the queen.  So if you don't mind, please let us through."

"Bah," Genji grumbles, "I suppose action speaks louder than words for the likes of you."  The minotaur puffs out his chest and stands firmly in front of the doors with his polearm at his side.  "Approach me, and I'll prove to you who's the real clown around here."

Shining huffs a smile, finding this odd situation amusing, irritating, and hard to believe that it's happening.  He gives the female of the team a sly look, "Well Tempest, you've been in a cheery mood lately.  Why don't you show us what a 'commander' can do."

Tempest slouches with an eye roll, "Oh phor phuken tsakse!" she muffles with the sword in her mouth.  She puts up with his order and guns for the minotaur.

Skidding the tip of her heavy sword on the ground, Tempest pulls back with signs that she intends to strike the guard's left side.  Genji acts accordingly and prepares for the impact.

Once within striking range, Tempest swings her body instead of the sword, revealing her back in the twirl and swinging the blade at Genji's right side.  Despite the effort, the minotaur blocks it with the polearm like a pro and locks their weapons together.

"Claymore," Genji announces, "Crafted in The Highlands, around 50 years old, near perfect condition, but forged out of poor material.  My best guess is that it has a few good swings in it before it breaks."

Done with his analysis, Genji shoves Tempest.  The mare stumbles back with the heavy sword pulling most of her along, "Your choice in quality is as poor as your choice in weapons." scolds the minotaur.  "And YOU..." Genji points at Shining Armor, "sending a lady to fight your battle, are you or are you not a male?"

Shining response before anyone could answer that with the glow of his horn.  Genji is enveloped in the light-rose aura of Shining Armor's magic.  The stallion tries throwing the minotaur aside, but is surprised to find that he isn't budging.

Genji notices the magic that's covering him, "Oh that is a low blow, turning me pink like this.  Fine, if that's how you prefer to fight..." the ring on Genji's right hand flashes and the minotaur points at the team a scroll that suddenly appears in his grasp, "then here's MY low blow."

The scroll shines and blasts out a ridiculously powerful torrent of wind, pushing the ponies back by the overwhelming force.  The four of them struggle to keep their ground and resort to using their weapons to root them down.  Flash Sentry stabs his spear down and attempts to pull himself closer to the halberd.  Second Wind digs his prosthetic wing in the floor and feels like he's about to lose another limb.  Tempest is having the hardest time with both weight and force against her, she can't even manage to pierce the floor with her heavy sword.

Tempest loses her grip on everything and she separates from her sword while flying back.  The blade jams itself in the wall, but Tempest's hoof is caught by Shining Armor and he pulls her behind his shield, currently lodged in the floor.

They both push against their only means of protection from the gale.  "YOU KEEP MAKING ONE WRONG DECISION AFTER ANOTHER, ARMOR!" Tempest attempts to yell at him over the howling wind, "YOU DON'T LEAD A PARTY TOGETHER THROUGH A FORTRESS, YOU SEND A SCOUT TO SURVEY THE ROOMS AHEAD.  YOU DON'T CHARGE AT GUARDS FROM AFAR, YOU LURE THEM INTO AN AMBUSH.  YOU DON'T ORDER A DECOY FOR A HORDE OF ENEMIES, YOU BLIND THEM AND TAKE THEM OUT IN THE CONFUSION.  YOU DON'T STANDBY FOR YOUR OPPONENT TO CHARGE AN ATTACK, YOU CHARGE AT THEM FIRST TO BREAK THEIR CONCENTRATION.  AND YOU ATTACK A SINGLE ELITE WITH UNRELENTING FORCE FROM THE ENTIRE TEAM, NOT ONE BY ONE LIKE SOME TURN BASED ROLE PLAYING GAME!"

The pressure of the wind pushes at them harder and the entire team is showing signs of faltering under the strain.

"YOU'RE GOING TO GET US KILLED AT THIS PACE, SO WILL YOU PLEASE LET ME LEAD ALREADY?"

Every one of her choices feels like a slap to the face to Shining at how much more smoother this mission would've been if she had led.  Caught between fear and responsibility, he feels like he's gambling the fate of his team away, with both choices appearing to lead toward bad endings.

Shining Armor turns towards Flash and Wind, finding that dealing with the torrent to be easier than his next actions, "TEMPEST IS TAKING COMMAND."

The deafen words can hardly be made out by the two pegasi, let alone seem believable to them.  They manage to turn their sights towards the captain, barely managing to keep their eyes open.

"FOLLOW TEMPEST'S ORDERS."

His lips match what they hear and the two pegasi give subtle nods.

Now that the leader has been shifted, Shining turns to Tempest, "SO WHAT'S THE PLAN?"

Tempest informs him of the idea she has in mind before the wind blowing from the scroll begins to die down.

Genji notices the shift in the wind, the scroll is giving off nothing more than a breeze.  The minotaur tosses the scroll aside with a displeasing look, "Their lifespans just keep getting shorter everyday."  Genji spots Tempest Shadow galloping over to Second Wind and Flash Sentry, conversing about something.  Wind opens his prosthetic wing and begins typing on it.

"Okay Genji," Shining Armor regains the minotaur's attention.  The stallion holds his forehooves up as he got out from behind the shield, "I'll admit it, I was wrong."

Second Wind pulls out a Dead Pepper and gives it to Flash for him to eat, leaving Sentry feeling peppy and hasty.

"You're definitely no clown."

Tempest lays a hoof on Flash's back and he starts feeling like he was earlier when he was protected.

"We don't stand a chance."

Shining's horn glows and Flash is suddenly in a magic layer that forms over his body like a shell.

Genji raises a brow, getting conflicting signals from the ponies.  "So you're falling back?"

The question takes Shining by surprise, "Did you believe me!?"

Flash opens his wing and launches into the air with a swift and strong jump.

Genji prepares for the assault from the pegasus, but he shifts gears as he sees the entire team charging at him.  Shining pulls out his shield with his magic and swings it at the minotaur.  Genji embraces for impact and the shield stops midair just before hitting him.  Genji only firms his stance further, refusing to leave an opening for a fake out.  With the shield blocking most of his sight, Genji is taken by surprise as the shield flips down and reveals that Second Wind is approaching.

Genji prepares for a low attack from the pony with just enough time at the sudden shift.  The minotaur sees Shining's shield facing the floor down low and realizes their strategy the moment Wind lands a hoof on the shield.

Like a spring, Shining Armor uses his shield and bounces Second Wind up over Genji.  Wind has his metal wing ready to bash the minotaur as he falls and Genji shifts his weight to his upper body for the attack from above.

Genji barely blocks Wind by taking the blow with his arm.  The minotaur suddenly feels his hooves sweeping off the ground from Tempest's effort of giving him a leg sweep.  Wind and Tempest bounce back as Genji falls on his back to witness one more attack descending from above as Flash drops the bottom of his spear down onto Genji's stomach.

Now that the wind is knocked out of him, Shining, Wind, Tempest, and Flash get to the side of Genji and shove the minotaur out of the way of the door to the throne room.

Genji begins to regain the air that he lost through a series of gasps and coughs.  He begins to return back to his hooves, "You *cough* you are indeed formidable adversaries when all of you are working together."

The four ponies put up their guard for another battle.

"But... erm... b-but I have a dentist appointment to get to, so I must cut this fight off.  Just something we have to grin and bear with."

The ring Genji wears flashes and his polearm vanishes from his hands.  The minotaur makes a high jump and grips to the ledge of one of the windows to the hallway.  He pulls himself up and crouches on the window sill.

"Do be patient with her." Genji tells the team, "I believe she may be inflicted with something that she can't help."

Genji then proceeds and jumps out of the window, leaving the team of ponies to recompose themselves.

"What do you suppose that means?" questions Shining Armor.

"We'll find out soon enough," Tempest Shadow answers with an unfaltering demeanor about herself, "but first..." she suddenly shifts her body into a more introvert and contrite posture, "could... could one of you... help... get my sword?"  Tempest points at her blade, jammed into the wall far too high for her to reach.

Shining wraps his magic around the sword and pulls, but it isn't coming out.  "Could you give me a hoof with this, Flash?"

Flash Sentry flies, grips the blade, and pulls at the sword with Shining Armor; but, the weapon isn't budging.

Tempest watches the struggle a bit before turning away, finding each second of watching them harder and harder to cope with.  Her eyes catch Second Wind sitting off to the side, pondering about something with a concerning look towards the ground.  Wanting to get her mind off the assistance she's getting for the sword, she pursues her curiosity and approaches him.

"What's on your mind, rookie?" Tempest directly asks the pegasus.

"I'm just trying to make sense about that ring of Genji's."

"Make sense?"

"The polearm.  The scroll.  You caught that he was transmitting them, right?"

"I was more focused on Genji's movements, to be honest."

"Every time he transmitted something, that ring always shined just before it transmitted.  Like it's a device designed to be used as a space pocket."

"A lot like your wing."

"And that's what I'm confused about.  My uncle told me that he was the one that invented the space pocket component.  The first and only model he built is installed in my prosthetic wing.  So how did Genji come across a ring with the same properties?"

Tempest places some thought into it, reflecting upon the battle minutes ago, "...they act the same, but it's done differently.  It takes a moment for you to pull out an object, while Genji can summon things on the spot.  To me, it sounds like somepony came up with the same idea your uncle did."

"Maybe... it's just hard to believe that somecreature could think up of something so complex and arrive at it much differently than my uncle did."

Tempest and Wind jump at the sound of metal dropping to the floor.  The two turn to see Shining and Flash had finally pulled the sword out of the wall, currently resting after the difficult struggle.  The sight of their exhausted state returns the feeling Tempest just got rid of.

"Alright," Shining says while wiping the sweat off his face, "so how are we going to approach The Ice Queen in the next room?"

Tempest Shadow gestures to Shining, Flash, and Wind to gather around her for the briefing, "We're about to be dealing with someone who'll be hostile towards us; but, we have to try to get her on our good side to form a truce between her and Equestria.  This is going to be ending in either an agreement or a fight, so here's what we'll do.  We're going to be pulling a tactic I simply call, 'Eyes on Me'." she gestures this by pointing to her eyes and laying her hoof on her chest.  "It's basically a precaution decoy tactic where two teams will be prepared for one of the possible outcomes."

"The rookie, Shining and I will be trying to settle things peacefully, while Flash will be approaching The Ice Queen unnoticed.  We'll try to keep her focused on us as we try to talk her into a truce, but if things get out of hoof, Flash will be ready to ambush her and take her down without too much of a fight."

"Remember, our mission is to get her to stop her assault on Equestria through pacifistic means.  Only use force if the situation demands it."

There's no objections or questions amongst the group.

"If everypony is ready, let's saddle out."

Tempest puts her shoulder to the throne room's door and begins pushing it.  A cold breeze from inside hits the team, sending a chill from imagining how true this 'Ice Queen' must live up to her name.  When the door opens wide enough, they take a peek inside a somewhat small throne room with a center aisle and three pillars on each side of it.

The team's eyes are immediately drawn to the ceiling and the oversized lightning megacryst.  It illuminates almost the entire room, with much smaller megacrysts that fill in the areas it can't reach.  The room is void of windows, but not of banners; though, that's about the only decoration the room has that isn't made of stone.  Three banners, each bestowing the emblem of The Storm King, is present behind the throne at the back.  Carved and brushed down, the chair to throne is made from a cold boulder that's currently... empty.

In front of the chair though, is a biped slim figure pacing about.  It's of female stature, taller than the team but within reasonable size.  She wears a cropped tube top that matches her thongs in a royal-blue colored fabric.  The cloth shares the same color as the fingerless lace gloves on her hands, looped around the middle fingers and tattered in a snowflake design.  On top of her head lays a gold tiara, cut in curves to make it look like it was housing the central gem of a sky-blue Topaz. The last bit of her accessories is the robe that covers her mouth, starting in a snowy white color and transcends down to an icy blue.  Her skin is of phthalo bluish gray, visible only by her hands, face, and two toed feet.  The rest of her body, from the top of her head to the end of her short tail, is covered by light azureish gray fur, making her appear quite elegant for the young faun that she is.

The faun paces left and right in front of the throne with an anxious expression.  She's rubbing her hands nonstop, making her left fingers sliding over her right knuckles and repeats the pattern with her right over her left to form a circular motion.  She spots Tempest, Shining, and Wind peeking their head inside and her brilliant opal eyes begin to widen.  The faun gives a frustrating groan and begins striking her palms at her head like she's trying to jump-start her brain from a state of panic, 

The group of ponies share a baffle look amongst themselves, already having doubts that she could be reason with.

Tempest slowly walks into the room with Shining and Wind following close behind, trying to give some time for the faun to adjust to their presence.  "Might you be, 'The Ice Queen'?" the mare asks.

The faun stiffens up at the mention of her name.

"We're representing Princess Twilight Sparkle's delegators, here to negotiate a truce between your kingdom and Equestria.  We only wish to do it in a manner of peace.  No weapons involved and completely unarmed."

Tempest displays this by showing her sword.  The Ice Queen watches the mare lay the blade on the floor and slides it off to the mare's left, allowing Flash to bolt through the air to the first pillar on the right.

Tempest looks back at Shining, he catches the message and follows suit.  She looks over to Wind, he shrugs with his empty open wings and an awkward smile.

"We didn't want to infiltrate your castle like this," Tempest apologizes, "but your constant isolation was giving us little options to work with."

The Ice Queen looks at Tempest stern eyes and immediately looks away as if the mare's gaze is frightening.

Tempest catches this and softens her expression, "Would you please tell us why you're attacking Equestria?"

The Ice Queen looks at Tempest's gentle eyes and immediately looks away as if the mare's gaze is frightening.

"I-i-i-it's... th-that I... um..." outside of the obvious fear, The Ice Queen's tone is constantly changing, like she can't find the right pitch to use.  She keeps shifting her position, rubbing the back of her neck and watches the floor.

Flash zips to the second pillar.

"Is this the thing Genji was talking about?" Wind whispers to the group.

"She's acting like my daughter when she's trying to make up a lie." Shining replies in a hush voice, "She might be planning to deceive us."

"...no."  Tempest replies at an average tone, loud enough for The Ice Queen to hear.  "I'm starting to see the issue here.  Your odd actions, the frantic agitations in your movement, that wild meltdown you displayed coming in, the lack of eye contact you're making."

"You have Autism, don't you?"

Ice Queen wraps her robe around herself for security.  Her head from the nose up are the only things visible that show her shock expression.

"That's why you've been dodging us, because you have a disorder with communication and social interactions.  You wanted to avoid a situation like this one."

She looks down her robe, now hiding her nose inside the garment.

Flash flies to the closest pillar from the queen, flipping his spear with the intent to hit her with the bottom of the weapon if need be.

"Please," Tempest reassures, "don't be too concerned about us.  Just take your time, and tell us when you're ready."

The Ice Queen still couldn't look at the mare in the eyes, but the words got through nonetheless.

While they wait, Shining and Wind ease into a comfortable stance showing no hurry.  Flash loosens up that he doesn't appear to be needed.  But Tempest is starting to see something.  There's something about The Ice Queen's face that's starting to become familiar to Shadow.

Tempest watches the queen taking swift glances at the team before turning away, feeling like each second of watching them is getting harder and harder to cope with.

The Ice Queen shifts in her robe.

"Are you ready to talk?" Tempest asks in a benevolent tone.

".......urk!"

All of their ears perk up to the sound she made.

The Ice Queen falls on her knee, clenching at her chest.

Tempest, Shining, and Wind approach the fallen faun and stop after the first step.  The three of them trace back, more startle than concern that The Ice Queen suddenly starts to glow a shade of blue.  They feel a freezing gale blowing at their fronts and get launched across the room.  As the team slides on the floor, Flash struggles to keep his position behind the pillar as this breeze refuses to give up.

A violent tundra engulfs around The Ice Queen, wrecking up the room with hail and frost.  The banners over the throne swiftly shred to pieces and all the lightning megacryst flicker as if the room was possessed.

The phenomenon vanishes as fast as it appeared and the ponies begin to stagger back onto their hooves.  The area feels much different than before, much colder with flakes of ice dancing in the air.

"Just what in hellblazes was that?" Shining asks.

"It feels like we're in a giant freezer." Wind shivers.

"...what about her?" Tempest suggests to the faun's state.

As they look at the creature in question, something was getting up in her place.

With the lightest of touches, the queen flattens her hand on the floor and pushes herself up.  The sound of the floor cracking echoes through the chamber from a heavy wave of frost spreading from her palm.

In supple and graceful motions, she stands up to reveal a complete overhaul in her physical features.  Starting at the bottom of her five toed feet, up her tone legs, past her tail-absent waist, trailing her smooth stomach and arms, over the soft hills on her chest, skimming the elegant neck she bares, along the enchanting curves of her face, and stopping at the top of her forehead, bares her light grayish azure skin from any fur, leaving only the garments intact upon her form.  The only part of her body that bears any resemblance to her fur is the long flowing hair that shimmers like frozen icicles.

None of the ponies are quite certain at what they're seeing, but there was something otherworldly to her.  The way she sways her willowy figure has a calm and controlling flow.  She gazes at the perplexing faces the ponies gave with her cold expression and tosses her robe aside no longer as a faun, but a species resembling that of a 'homo sapien'.  The Ice Queen closes her eyes while stretching her arms up.  An orb of light appears above her palms, producing an eerie sound.

"Tempest!?" Shining's voice is full of concern.

"Orders?!" Wind's tone is swelling in panic.

The eyes of The Ice Queen shoots open at them.

"MOVE!!"

Tempest and Wind roll to the left with Shining dodging to the right and avoids a beam of icy magic blows from The Ice Queen's palm in a howling roar.  The stream of magic slams the door the team came in and begins to form a large layer of ice against it, sealing everyone inside.

Even without touching it, the ponies feel their skin being the victims of frostbite with the temperature in the room exponentially plummeting into a chilly breeze.

The monitor installed on Second Wind's wing begins to static and powers down. "THIS TEMPERATURE IS FREEZING OUT THE POWER ON MY WING!" Wind yells at Tempest over the loud gale.

"WHAT?"

"I WON'T BE ABLE TO SUPPLY YOU WITH ITEMS FOR THE TIME BEING."

With things looking bad and no sign of getting any better, Flash Sentry takes action and made an assault in the form of a dive at The Ice Queen.

The queen glazes her sight on the approaching pegasus.  She swiftly turns to snatch the spear in her right hand just mere inches away from in her expressionless face.  Flash jerks and pulls at his halberd, but he's not even making The Ice Queen struggle with the frozen grip she has on the weapon.

The Ice Queen gently lowers her arm to where she meets Flash at eye level.  She observes him struggling and lowers him to the point where he nearly touches the floor.  Flash glares up at her, a little worried at what she's doing.  The Ice Queen raises her left hand, and with the snap of her fingers, Flash's legs and torso are immediately encased in a block of ice.  She toys her captive victim, crouching down and scratching under his chin and sends chills through his body in the literally form.

"Negotiation is over," Tempest declares to the team.  "Attack the rear." she commands while looking at Shining, then turns to Wind with the order to... "Provide us support."

Shining and Wind brake formation.  Tempest grips her sword in her teeth and gallops to save her teammate head on.  The blade of her weapon clangs on the floor's surface is making it very obvious of her approach.

Tempest swings the heavy sword at the queen with the sharp end of her blade, hearing it cling upon impact and feeling a shiver coursing through her body.

The Ice Queen's posture is unfazed, acting like she was never struck.  Tempest puts all her strength to at least make her budge, but it feels like she's pushing against a glacier.

Finally, The Ice Queen turns her attention to the unicorn that's trying to graze her, locking their eyes on one another with no wavering from either of them.  Tempest glares at the icy gaze she's receiving, getting a cold feeling at who's before her.

Gracefully rotating her wrist, The Ice Queen pinches the sword between her thumb and index finger.  Frost begins to appear on the blade, crackling under the intensity of the freezing temperature.  With a flick of the queen's wrist, the blade snaps off effortlessly.

Tempest falters, she eyes her weapon that is now nothing but a hilt and a stub for a blade that's short as her broken horn.

The broken blade in the queen's clutches shatters into snow powder from the overwhelming temperature.  With the remaining dust in her palm, The Ice Queen blows it in the mare's face and she slides back across the room.

Tempest rolls along the floor and is met up by Wind.  "You think we can restrain her, Tempest?" asks the pegasus while helping her up.

She spits the broken sword to the floor, "I don't know, but that thing isn't the same creature we met coming in here."

The Ice Queen stands back up and immediately bends her body by the hip, just barely dodging Shining Armor's shield thrown at her from behind as if she anticipated it.  Shining pulls the magical grip he holds on the shield back at the queen. She jerks herself forward and slides on her knees like the floor is made of ice, resulting in the captain to miss again as she limbos under the shield.

Shining continues to swing his shield at The Ice Queen; but, the queen keeps swerving around the weapon like she's skating on ice.

"The control she has over her body," Tempest states, "it's completely contradicting to what an autistic creature should be struggling with."

"Why does she keep dodging it?"

Tempest turns to Second Wind from his comment.

"I mean she caught Flash's lance and she took the blunt force of your sword.  Catching a shield should be as easy as catching a disk, so why is she dodging his shield?"

Tempest snaps her attention back to the fight with this new information.  Despite as he might, Shining Armor isn't landing a single hit, even when The Ice Queen isn't looking at the shield encase in a light-rose color aura.

"...THE MAGIC!" Tempest blurts, "The difference is the magic the shield has around it."

"Then that means only you and Shining Armor pose a threat to her." Wind clarifies.

"Go try and free Flash." Tempest commands Second Wind while she gets back into the fight.

Tempest Shadow takes steady aim while her horn charges for a shot.  As The Ice Queen makes a leap over a low attack, Tempest shoots the 'Firework' spell at the queen.  Just like with the shield, she anticipates the move and swings her arm, casting an orb of ice to take the impact of the mare's spell.

"Tsk." Tempest expresses her frustration, "It's like we have to be right on top of her if we want to leave a scratch."

Despite missing her, The Ice Queen expresses a hint of bitterness from the attempted attack and she twirls her wrist with a gentle glow at the fingertips.  A zephyr of snow twirls around Tempest, and with the clenching of the queen's fist, Tempest is encased in a light-rose color layer of magic, shielding the snow that's trying to envelop her.  The snow slides off the mare and both the ladies turn to Shining Armor, currently casting his magic to 'Shell' Tempest from The Ice Queen's assault.

Shining wraps his aura around his shield again and continues where he left off by attacking The Ice Queen.  She dodges just as before and slides herself towards a pillar with the shield following her.  The queen lays her right hand on the column and spins around it clockwise.  Shining guides his shield counterclockwise around the structure for a surprise attack.  The Ice Queen glides her feet farther from the pillar, sliding herself down the column to avoid the shield.  The moment she sees Shining Armor, she kicks out a sharp icicle from her foot that soars towards the stallion.  The display takes Shining by surprise; but, the icicle shatters in a display of flickering light from an intercepting 'Firework' shot from Tempest Shadow.

Second Wind reaches the trapped Flash Sentry, still residing in the block of ice.  Wind pulls back his metal wing and begins to chip away at Flash's icy prison.

The Ice Queen is showing signs of her struggle with the two unicorns as they keep defending each other and attacking her.  She keeps up her attempts and spots in the fray that Wind is trying to free her captive.  It's becoming clear that she's losing control of the situation.

In a vehement display for control, The Ice Queen glides to the center of the room and begins to spin in place, forming hail around herself.  Shining's shield goes for The Ice Queen and it's pushed back by the tornado of hail.  The hailstorm quickly fills the room and the entire team is getting pummeled in an onslaught of ice the size of peas.

The hailstorm ends as fast as it came, exposing The Ice Queen from her hiding spot.  Shining shakes off the hail and continues to attack with his shield, but his shield isn't reacting.  Tempest brushes off the hail on herself and casts 'Firework' at The Ice Queen, but nothing is appearing.

Tempest and Shining look at each other, then at the other’s horn and see that the other's horn is embed with hail.  The unicorns try casting a spell, but the hail is stopping their horns them from casting any magic.  They both share a face of dread to the impending doom they're in and look upon their executioner.

The Ice Queen sweeps back her hair and glares her unflinching cold gaze upon Tempest and Shining.  She keeps looking between the two vulnerable ponies, lifting her left hand with the thumb and middle finger pressing together.

The chipping sound of ice catches the queen's attention.  She looks past the unicorns towards Second Wind, still using his wing to break Flash Sentry free.

Shining Armor sees the glare she's giving Wind.  As The Ice Queen extends her arm at the pegasus, Shining pushes Wind out of the way, resulting with the captain being encased in an ice block to the queen's clicking fingers.

The Ice Queen looks at Second Wind outside the block of ice, but refocuses her attention on the only pony that pose a threat to her, Tempest Shadow.

Tempest backs up, reevaluating the situation.  She jerks her head to the entrance that's been sealed in ice, swings her head to the concern pegasus with a frozen system to the supplies, darts her sight on the queen that's resilient to everything but magic, zips her head to one of two magic users currently frozen in a block of ice, and flicks her eyes to her broken horn that is now unusable.  She bumps her rear on the wall behind, nowhere to run from this unwinnable fight.

The Ice Queen folds her arms as she approaches the mare, taking her time as she ponders on what to do with the pony.

Tempest Shadow's heart is beating like crazy, registering just how hopeless the situation has become.   She watches The Ice Queen getting closer, and with each step that's taken, Tempest begins to settle down.

Second Wind reads the pony's ominous expression and takes quick action.

The Ice Queen taps a finger on her cheek and ceases her approach.  She pulls back a hand, forming a glowing orb in it.

Tempest relaxes her body, waiting for The Ice Queen's cold embrace.

The queen swings her arm with Second Wind getting between her and Tempest with Shining Armor's shield and block a flurry of tiny ice crystals being blown from The Ice Queen.

The dust shimmers like diamonds with temperatures well below zero.  The shield isn't enough to completely protect the two ponies and Wind resorts to using his metal for support.  He looks back at Tempest, getting a 'why are you even bothering' look from her, "Why are you just standing there?!"

"Rookie, it's over." the anguish audibly present in Tempest's voice, "We have nowhere to run, we have no way of stopping her, and we have no way of protecting ourselves for very long.  We've lost this fi-"

"WE NEVER LET LOSSES STOP US!" Second Wind's outburst silences Tempest, gaining a sliver of optimism from her.  Ice begins to creep around the makeshift barricade, "Broken ponies like us don't let their losses stop them, they forge new paths that lead towards uncharted possibilities."  He puts on a smile to fight the chill of the ice slithering across his body, "If there's any chance we have left to get out of this alive, it's in your hooves."  Wind begins shivering, but he refuses to drop his grin, "J-just.... f-f-focus...."

Tempest takes a sharp inhale to the sudden wave of ambition flowing life back into her.  She looks at the Focus Crystal hanging from her necklace.  "....bestows the wearer to stabilize their magic." she looks through the fog of ice at the frozen Shining Armor then over to her broken sword on the floor, "Imagine the blade as an extension of your body."

Tempest Shadow displays her reinvigorated spirit by jumping out of the icy fog and gallops for her broken sword.  The Ice Queen ends her attack and studies the mare as she scoops up the broken weapon into her mouth.  Tempest charges at the queen like a jouster, reflecting in her eyes the housing magic inside that desires release.  Her broken horn tries to glow, but the hail is halting her from shooting out a spell.

The Ice Queen shows no concern and forms a sharp icicle directly above the trajectory Tempest is charging for.

As Tempest is about to pass by the queen, the mare quicken her galloping with a sudden burst of speed, dashing by the icicle before it falls on her.

Tempest slows down her charge.  She looks back to see that The Ice Queen is still holding the icicle in the air, only now dropping it after a long delay.  The queen falls on a knee, struggling to bear with the seething pain she's getting from her leg.

The Ice Queen looks back at Tempest, her horn is still embedded with hail.  The queen looks at the pony's weapon in her mouth, a broken sword, wrapped in a black strap on the handle with a cross-guard of dark turquoise.  The blade is but a stub tinted in a deep violet pommel color, and beyond that, extends an electric blue blade made entirely out of magic.

The Ice Queen takes another sharp hiss to the pain before she sits on the floor in a hunching posture.  The ice in the area begins to melt at an alarming rate, but the temperature of the room feels no different.

And suddenly...

An orb of light gently flies out of The Ice Queen, leaving a trail of heat that's both colorful and fleeting.  It hums a soft sound that Tempest can't quite compare to anything, but the sound leaves her feeling calm and at ease.  It's soothing to her ears, but there's also some sorrow to it that pulls at her heart strings.

As mysterious as this sphere is, another flies out of the queen.  And then another.  And another.  And more continue to as the previous orbs of light begin to fade away.

The Ice Queen's image of the 'homo sapien' begins fading away, slowly revealing her faun figure.  Almost like a second layer of skin, both of her forms are synced up, moving together for the time being.

Shining Armor, Flash Sentry, and Second Wind begin to break out of their icy prison, gathering by sight of what's happening around them.

Tempest lays her sword, void of the magic blade to it, "So..." the mare begins to converse with The Ice Queen again, "are you going to stop these assaults on Equestria?"

The queen gives a droll chuckle, "Why did I even bother trying?  I was never cut out for this life, let alone to be a queen."

"Why were you attacking Equestria?" Tempest asks The Ice Queen again.

"Because that's how he did it, how he ruled.  He was never into monarchy, and I can see why.  This country was slipping through my fingers.  We needed more of this, we needed more of that, and I could only see that solving the issue was to take over other kingdoms." The Queen's prior appearance is nearly gone with her faun form becoming more solid as the orbs continue to leave.

"If you were low on resources, why didn't you just accept Princess Twilight's kind gestures of just being friends?  I'm sure she would've helped."

"Because it was just too hard.  I could never get the hang of making friends, let alone maintain them for long."

"Because of your Autism."

The faun nods as the 'homo sapien' is now completely gone with only the orbs of light remaining, "I would just make things worse because of that cursed limitation, so I resorted to taking down Equestria from the inside."

"You could've always just handed the kingdom down."

"And then what?  What do I do after that?  I'd just be drifting through life with no real purpose."

Shadow's eyes widen.  The faun is beginning to appear transparent.

"Stepping down, my mind wouldn't take all the questions I'd be asking myself."

"How will I live?"

"I can't survive!"

"I'll find a way!"

"What if I don't?"

"The kingdom will fall without me!"

"I'd rather die than to continue ruling!"

"Will they understand?"

"I'm just acting selfish!"

"No... I'm NOT SELFISH!"

"But, what if I am selfish?"

"This is all because I'm Autistic!"

"I'm just using that as an excuse!"

"No, it really is because of Autism!"

"NO, IT'S REALLY BECAUSE IT'S ME!"

The queen slams her forehead on the floor, creating a loud 'bam'.

"I hate this!"

*Bam*

"I HATE HAVING IT!"

*BAM*

The Equines flinch to every impact she makes.  Tempest wouldn't stand watching this self abuse any longer.  She attempts to place a hoof on The Ice Queen's shoulder and...

"It's... it's just..."

...she goes right through the faun.  The queen is completely transparent now, only a vague image of her can be seen.  As the orbs of light leaving her body start to run dry, it takes away the last bit of the autistic faun from their sight.

"No matter how hard I try, I just can't look life in the eyes."

The room lingers in silence.

Tempest, Shining, Flash, and Wind, struggle to make sense of the events that just transpired, but they just keep coming up short.

Tempest still holds her gaze at the spot where the faun vanished, "...mind explaining this one, Armor?"

"...I don't have one."

"What do you mean, 'you don't have one'?" Tempest bargains for an answer, "You've been helpful at bringing me up to speed so far.  What happened to her?"

The aware and concerning look on her face tells Shining Armor everything, "I think you and I have reached the same conclusion."

"That creature," Flash spoke in, "...when she touched me, it felt so unnatural."

"Unnatural how?" Shining pushes.

"Like... like if you gave magic a body, that would be her."

"That might be why she was so unfazed by weapons and susceptible to magic." Wind gives his opinion.

"A creature made of pure magic?" Shining ponders aloud, "That can't be the case.  The Ice Queen was a faun that morphed into that thing."

"Whatever it was," Tempest wraps up the conversation, "I can't help but think that she was a victim in this."

"Hm?  What makes you say that?"

"......." Tempest shakes her head, "It's... it's just a feeling."

The team of ponies begin to gather their things and prepare themselves for the trip home.  Shining takes his shield, Flash grabs his halberd, Wind reboots his wing, and Tempest picks up her broken sword.  Though the mission to stop The Ice Queen's assaults ends in a success, it feels more like a hollow victory to them.

"Come on," Shining Armor tries to remotivate the squad, "let's report back to Princess Twilight."  He leads the team out the door, "We'll put this incident behind us once we get back and return to our daily lives."

Tempest halts her pace upon hearing his words.

The sound of the amount of hoofsteps being made felt a bit light to Wind.  He scans his team and sees the handicap pony standing in place, "Tempest?"

She stares out into space, not even aware that her name was spoken.

"Hey Tempest?"

".......now what?" A hint of quivering is heard in her mumble tone.

Second Wind gives the mare's shoulder a little shake, "What's wrong?"

Tempest snaps out of her trance and quickly gathers the situation.  "I-it's nothing." she shakes Wind off and continues her return back to Equestria with a sullen face and a jitter to her steps.