//------------------------------// // Chapter 56: Enter the wendigo queen // Story: Era of Harmony // by Gambling_Sam //------------------------------// *Ronin POV* Grimbeak smiled and stood tall at the podium as he looked over the whole room before his eyes fell on me. "Welcome, everyone. It's with great pleasure I announce the start of ths trial. In this trial, we will attempt to find out if Ronin is guilty or innocent of the crime known as murder." He said as he looked to over to Blueblood. "For the offense, I call Prince Lunaris Blueblood!" Said prince stood and walked to the center of the room as he stopped in front of Grimbeak. He nodded to the Griffon before turning to the ponies that were on my right with a veeeery faked sorrowful face (at least to me, anyway. The ponies in the stands looked like they believed it.) "My fellow ponies! I come to you today ro do what the royal sisters failed to." He points a hoof at me as he continued. "I plan to do everything I can to prove this monster guilty of killing your family in cild blood." The ponies he was talking either nodded in agreement, gsve me dirty looks, or in the case of the mares, cried slightly at the reminder if the event itself. Twilight, who was now standing next to me since she accidently became my lawyer, looked up at me with a concerned look on her face. "Ronin, how are we supposed to prove you innocent? I can't think of anything that would get you out of this." She said as I sighed as I caught a massive glare from what had to be a mother in the stands, if only because of the foal sitting next to her. "Twilight...I'm not gonna be found innocent because I am guilty." I stated, but put up a hand to stop her reaction. "Let me finish." She nodded as Blueblood started going over some of thr details of the day I attacked the castle alongside Monsoon. "You see, I'm not doing this for me." I pointed to the girls overbin the other stands. Chrysalis was giving Blueblood one of the coldest glares I have ever seen while Redheart talked quietly with Pinkie, both of them looking beyond scared. "I'm doing it to find a way to keep them safe. If I can find a way to keep them out of the punishment, then it works out." Twilight frowned. "Don't you have an escape plan though?" She asked as Blueblood called for a witness from another part of the castle. Huh...wonder who it is? I nodded. "Yeah, but if I leave without ensuring the girls safety, Blueblood might try to punish thrm the same way using that stupid corporal punishment mentality Grimbeak has." Twilight gulped as she looked at the king with a grimace. "That Griffon...Every time I look at him, it feels like he should be the one standing on trial for murder, nor you." I shrugged as the doors opened and that same hornless unicorn walked in, escorted by two guards who wore silver armour. Wait...silver? I havent seen that type around here, just the sun and moon colored ones. Who the hell are those guys? They turned to Blueblood and saluted before turning and marching out the door as the pony that walked in took center stage. He cleared hia throat before turning to me. "My name is North Star." Seriously? "I was there on the day this...thing appeared in the court yard. He and another one were arguing before he kicked the other, causing our captain to order us to attack." He shuddered slightly. "How were we to know that this monster would be so ruthless, so uncaring about the life of others? I still have nightmares about when I looked into his emotionless eyes as he snapped my horn off and discarded my like garbage." He turned away with an audible sob. The story had its effect, because the ponies in the stands were looking wither saddened or enraged, though suprisingly they kept quiet. Blueblood turned to the guard and nodded. "That is all, North Star. You may leave now." The guard nodded before wlaking out of the room as the prince looked to me. "As my next witness, I call none other than the fiend himself, Ronin!" Gasps could be heard from throughout the room as I stood and walked to the center. I looked to Chrysalis, who was now holding Pinkie in her hooves with a worried look on her face. I smiled weakly at her and mouthed the words "Don't worry" before turning to the stand of ponies. "Afternoon everyone." I said, receiving glares from all of them, causing me to wince slightly. "I'm going to be honest, I'm not here to prove myself innocent." Looks of suprise came on most of their faces, while the rest kept glaring as I continued. "No, I am here to simply ensure those I love aren't punished for my misdeeds." I motioned to the girls. "They had no part in any of this, for it was only me who decided to spill blood. I was under orders to attack, not kill. Yet I killed anyway simply bacause I could." I looked to Blueblood. "Any reason you hate me could easily be justified, and I doubt I could ever prove you otherwise. But please don't hurt innocent bystanders to get me hanging on a nooze or something." I turned back to the crowd of eight in the stands. "Those three beautiful ladies haven't done anything wrong. If your gonna execute me, so be it. But let them live...please." They looked back at me in suprise, peobably not expecting me to beg for them to safe anyone other than myself. Then one spoke up, an older mare. "My grandson was one of the guards you killed that day, you know. He lost his parents to a couple of robbers a while back and I had been raising him since. But as I look into your eyes I just can't see the monster that supposedly killed him. I just see a wounded stallion that lost his way long ago." She sat down and sighed, noticing the looks of shock from her fellow ponies. "Now, I'm not defending him or saying he didn't do it, the stallion admitted to doing so himself after all. I'm only saying that you all should remember our families made an oath when they became guards to serve until death or retirement, and thats what my grandson did. He served his country proud and fought to the very end, and I for one know that this young colt was only doing the same." I, alongside pretty much everyone else, was shocked. This lady knew I had killed her grandkid, yet she was willing to see the moral grey line in-between...but why? A stallion near her spoke up. "Just because our kids signed up as guards doesnt mean they get to die without repercussions to the ones who did them in!" "No one is saying that!" Twilight stated as she walked up next to me. She turned to Grimbeak. "Permission to speak, your honor." Said Griffon shrugged. "Why not? These sort of things don't have much rules anyway, just as long as both sides say their piece." Twilight nodded before facing the ponies in the stands. "My brother served as a captain of the guard before he married and went to the crystal empire. My parents were constantly worried that one day he'd end up going to war or fighting something he couldn't beat." She turned to Chrysalis. "Then one day that threat came, not in the form of a beast or sword swinging murderer, but a tyrant that had tricked a Queen into attacking a wedding. I almost lost my brother and my friends that day, all because they were simply present when it happened." She sighed and looked at the ponies with a tired expression. "Accidentally or not, I am now my clients defense team, and even if I can't prove him innocent, I can say this." She looked up at me and smiled. "After the events of the wedding, Ronin went to Ponyville for a month, where he proceeded to befriend and fall in love with the ponies there. He worked to help provide a home for a species that was on the brink of exinction, all the while defending the town and its ponies from threats that could've easily hurt them...or worse." She let that sit in the room for a moment before turning to blueblood with a frown. "Now, has my client done some bad things, yes. But haven't we all? I can admit to being a tad...overexcited when it comes to my own projects, which has led to putting ponies I care about in danger before. And I am absolutely sure that the Griffon king himself has blood on his feathers that isn't pure." She said as Grimbeak shrugged, not really able to deny the claim. Twilight continued, seemingly getting into it now. "All I ask is that everypony that is present today think about their own lives and the decisions they have made before you are so quick to judge another. Especially if that pony...or person, is able and willing to change for the better." She nodded at me before going back to her position next to the seat I was at earlier and looked to Grimbeak. "That is all, your honor." Grimbeak nodded and looked around. "Before we go any further does anyone have any questions? I'd rather clear up any confusion before we get to the gritty ditty of the trial." Redheart raised a hoof. "I do. I see the witnesses over there and I know me and my friends are here as guests, but wheres the jury?" She asked as the rest of us, minus Blueblood and Gilda, looked to the king with curiosity. That is a good question. Aren't these things supposed to have a jury? Grimbeak smiled as he raised an eyebrow at Redheart. "In most trials, yes. However, Griffonia has always only needed a royal presence for their trials simply because the crown always made the right decision. And since this is a Griffon trial, I will be the one to give the sentence at the end." Oh heeeell no. This shit was gonna be rigged, I can tell. Twilight and the girls gasped. "That's... that's not right! You have a personal mstter in the trial, and being the judge allows you to bend the trial just so you leave satisfied at the cost of everypony else!" Grimbeak shrugged. "Ain't my fault, just the rules magic bearer." He points at Twilight. "Now, do you have any other witnesses or beings that can account for Ronin that are NOT in the stands over there?" He asked Twilight as she thought it over before frownong. "Not at all, your honor." She said, though I swear she spat the last word as another silver guard came in and walked up to Blueblood. The guard whispered something to him before the prince groaned. "Tell my daughter to go check it out. I don't have time to deal with a floating party boat causing a ruckus right now!" He said, made unaware how loud he was being by the attitude he possessed. As the guard left, I couldn't help but wonder about what he said. Floating party boat...that couldn't be Nicholas, right? I thought as the trial continued. ***************** Nicholas POV ***************** It's time. We were in position over the city, Octavia helped me link the guys instruments to mine so we could play in synch. Heck, Octavia figured out a way to amplify our sound hooking us up to the subwoofers on the ship. For a mare that was strictly classical, she knew her tech. I was now on the poop deck with my setup fully ready to wub. Roxas pretty muched lived in the mast now while Axel and Tak where in the front area of the ship. I looked down at my gear and found my hands shaking. Is this because of the stress for performing for the city, or is it because of that weird voice in my head? I felt a hoof on my shoulder, causing me to turn and face Octavia. "You ok, Nicholas?" She asked me. I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, just some pre-show jitters." I said with a weak laugh and Octavia smiled warmly at me. "I wouldn't be suprised. This is your first big show, after all." I gulped slightly, snd she sighed. "Sorry, not helping much, I know." She went to turn away before turning back to me, a smile on her face. "You know, Vinyl used to have this mental mantra she would chant in order to pump herself up before a show. Perhaps thats what you need as well." With that, she climbed back up to the steering wheel as I thought that through. Chant a mantra? Like a catchphrase or something. I shrugged and closed my eyes while breathing out slowly. I am speed...no wait, I'm not a racecar. I groaned before suddenly grinning big. I am wubs. Perhaps a taaad idiotic, but it worked. I looked forward and made eye contact with Tak and nodded, signaling that I was ready. He smiled and waved up at Roxas as Axel readied his guitar. I looked behind me and saw Octavia give me a nod and a wave. I nodded back as I turned to my music set and placed my hands on it, feeling the power surge through the device. Here we go. I thought as I cranked the volume and bass boost to max and began to play the song. Though as I began to amp the sound, I couldnt help but notice that the guys had already managed to start playing their instruments in perfect tune to the music. Must be that connection Octavia set up. I thought as Tak began to pick up on the lyrics, actually managing to sound like the starchild himself. I won't lie, the whole scene was amazing! Roxas was up top swinging his drumsticks in beat as they somehow produced sound while Axel kept up with the guitar riffs perfectly. And as the chorus came around, I couldnt help but join in alongside Tak in singing. As we played, I saw Flash appear from the control room and run up to me. "Nicholas! We got trouble!" He said quickly as I frowned, thankfully it was on the second verse, so I didn't have to sing yet. "What trouble? Are we not getting any emotions from the ponies below?" I asked, worried we had screwed up from the start. Sentry quelled my fears by shaking his head. "Nope! Crowds have already started to dance in the streets below, the problem is that!" He pointed ahead of us and I saw it. It was an airship like ours, except it was a blue-ish color with extremely fancy sails that had some cannon symbol on them. "We've got company of the royal variety!" Octavia yelled from the wheel as I looked forward to see Tak staring at me, the question he wanted to ask being told silently by his gaze. Do we keep playing? I nodded and looked up at Octavia, noticing she looked worried as the ship came closer. "Octavia, take over from here for me. I'll get on the ship and distract the ponies on it." I said as I hopped over my set and went to the starboard side of the ship while Octavia jumped down from the area she was at and gave me a bewildered look. "I can't play that! I'm a classical artist!" She said with a huff as I rolled my eyes. "So your best friend was a techno junkie and you never learned how to at least USE her equipment?" I asked as she smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. "That's what I thought, it's not that hard anyway." "But what are you gonna do?" She asked me as I looked towards the ship, seeing some sort of filly in a dress standing near the front of the floating boat. I smiled. "I'm gonna go practice using my magic." I looked to Tak, who already seemed to know my plan, and nodded to him as the ship came up right next to us. I jumped onto it and was met with the sight of about three guards and that dressed up girl wairing for me. "So, you must be the friends of those girls that escaped earlier. Tell me, I don't see them on your ship, so where are they?" She stated as I felt myself starting to get angry. She was not only the reason that the girls had to leave early, but the reason Larxene was put in jail. And if she hadn't done that, then Larxene... I shook my head before responding, no point in getting emotional about things we don't know the whole story to. "Well, they kinda disappeared. Though now I must ask you what your doing crashing our performance?" Thankfully, the guys were able to handle the singing while I talked with the frilly filly, because I could tell this was gonna go south quick. She frowned. "I am princess Azul, daughter of Blueblood and chief cannons expert." Her dad put a child in charge of defenses...really? "I can do whatever I want, and I have special permission to stop this party." With the glow of her horn, several cannons appeared behind her and aimed themselves at me. Azul giggled. "Now, you can either give up and give me your ship, or I'm gonna have to start being a bully." She said as I sighed. Lets hope my powers decide to work properly. I smirked at her, hoping to bluff her into reconsidering. "Bring it on, princess. I'm not afraid of some bully. Heck, I'm dating one back home!" She growled as she flashed her horn again. "Fine then! I guess you'll just die!" All the cannons suddenly fired at once, their metal balls heading straight towards me as I put out my hands. Like before with the other projectiles before, these never landed. They were all suspended in mid-air in a horizontal line in front of me. Azul looked at the balls in shock. "W-Wha? How'd you do that? You don't even have a horn!" She exclaimed as I smiled, letting the balls drop to the floor with a pinch of a thud. "There's more to me than meets the eye, princess." I said before diving out of the way of another cannonball that barreled past and destroyed part of tue railway without remorse. I kept moving left in a circle motion until I was able to get behind a mast. "Even with your magic, I doubt your able to stop them from coming from all sides." She said as I could hear her getting closer, her dainty hooves clopping on the wooden planks. I was gonna have to figure something out quick, considering this girl could easily destroy an airship with those cannons of hers. "Why are you even attacking us? It can't be a crime to perform in the sky?" I said as I moved around the mast as she did, making us circle the thing. As long as she couldn't get a clear shot... "Daddy said so, and that means you have to be breaking some kind of law. He IS s lawmaker, after all." She said as she feinted left before moving right, causing me to move directly in front of her. Crap...Time to improvise. What would Ronin do? "Listen, princess. You seem like a beautiful and smart filly. Look down below at the crowds. You'll see they are enjoying the music being played." She walked over to the railing and leaned over as I followed suit. Sure enough, there were a LOT of ponies and even other species either gathered together or dancing to the music. As I watched, I noticed Azul was now looking at me. "What is your name?" I looked at her, suprised she wasn't trying to kill me anymore but not complaining. "12K is my stage name, though you'll have to work to find out my real one." I said with a wink. (Hey, if Ronin was able to flirt his way into a king job, I can flirt my way back to my friends...I hope.) She narrowed her eyes as she leaned in about inches from my face. "Work?" She said, seemingly suprised I'd demand such a thing of her. Though now I was able to smell the slightly fragrent smell of strawberries. Perhaps it was perfume? "The best things are the things you work the most for." I said, quoting something I heard Raiden say to Ronin while attempting to make him finish college...It didn't work. However, Azul seemed to have a different reaction. She smiled and leaned up to my ear. "12K...you have either a lot of courage a lot of idiocy to say such a thing to me. Though I can't help but like you for it." She said with a small blush on her face as she leaned back to face me again. "Here's the deal. You and your friends are free to go if you promise me something." I gulped slightly before nodding, worried about what she would ask. "What?" She smiled and pecked me on the cheek before turning and walking away slowly. "Since your so dead set on courting me, you must come back in a week to hang out with me. You'll find courting much easier when the lady is in your proximity." She said as I stood there, stunned. So THIS is why Raiden always says don't act like Ronin. He actually liked the girls he flirts with. Oh well, I doubt I'd see this girl again anyway. "Very well, I shall see you in a week." I said as I hopped back over to the our ship. Hopefully, the girl would forget about the whole thing. I walked over to a now relieved Octavia who happily returned to the wheel and took my place on the DJ set just as the song finished. I looked up at Tak. "Hey, how much more love magic do we need?" I asked as he gave me a big grin. "We just recieved enough! All we have to do is transfer it to the cannon and BAM! Ronin is saved." He said as Sentry came out of the control room. "12K, the cannon is starting to be filled. We need to turn towards the target if your gonna use it." He said as I nodded and looked up at Octavia. "Ok! Octavia, turn us towards the castle." I said, eliciting a gasp from the guardpony next to me. "The castle?! Why would you do that?" He exclaimed as Axel and Tak walked over. "We're saving a friend, but dont worry. The cannon fires magic, not metal. And the spell we are firing is a teleportation spell, so it won't hurt anyone." Tak said as the ship turned while Flash frowned. "That somepony wouldn't happen to be that Ronin guy? Don't tell me you guys were actually plotting to free somepony from prision!" He said as Axel sighed. "Yes, we're freeing the man. So what? You can't stop us from here, and you already said you'd help." He stated as Sentry backed away slowly into the control room door. "No no no no no. I can't let this continue! I an a royal guard of the princess!" He said as he unfurled his wings and took what I believe is a fighting stance. "No, I won't let this continue. That human is criminal that killed several of my friends and I wont let him-GAH!" Thankfully, Roxas chose that time to drop from the mast...right on top Flash. Roxas got up from the crash landing and smiled big. "That. Was. AMAZING!" He proclaimed, ignoring the pegasus underneath him. "We were so cool!" He said as Axel groaned and Tak shook his head, a smile on his face. I looked up at Octavia, wondering what she thought of all this, only to notice she had a slight smile on her face. "Hey, Octavia." I said, noticing the castle was in front of us by peripheral vision. "How do we fire the cannon?" She came back down from the wheel and pointed at the castle. "Since its loaded already, all you'll need a mental command to fire it." She said as looked down at Flash. "While you do that, I'll get him inside." As she pulled the now unconscious Sentry inside the control room, the guys and I walked over to the cannon. I knelt down, placing my hand on the wood above the cannon and turned to Tak. "Alright, we got one shot at this. See if you can contact your mother and ask where they are." I said as I felt that brainfreeze come back, this time it was waaay worse though. Roxas noticed my wince and frowned. "Are you ok, Nick?" I looked to him and smiled weakly. "Yeah, just a headache." I lied. He didn't need to worry about me, not now. Axel frowned, probably seeing through the fib, and was about to speak when Tak spoke up. "They're in the throne room, so we fire at the center mass of the castle." He said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Take a deep breath, and concentrate on pushing." I chuckled. "I'm firing a cannon, not giving birth." I said, earning a laugh from Tak and Axel and a confused look from Roxas. I did what he said though, and focused my mind on the cannon. Now, to explain what it felt like to aim a magic cannon, I would have to compare it to controls on a call of duty game when handling a sniper rifle. Immediately after connecting with the cannon, I saw things from a scope perspective. And after about a minute or two of aiming and realigning, I was able to get the cannon in set position. "Fire!" I heard Axel yell, and I did just that, causing a loud boom and a big pinkish light ball to be sent flying towards the castle. Hopefully, we were in time. I thought as the guys celebrated our victory, though I swore I could hear a women laughing as the ball barreled towards the castle. *************** Raiden POV *************** What. The. Actual. Hell. The Tarus guy had just finished tranforming, and the result was actually terrifying. He had a bear body that was about ten feet tall. His head was that of a lion but the mouth was full of tentacles. And his eyes...well, bloodshot would be an understatement considering his eyes were just blood sockets. "Tis what we feared." Luna said as she took a step back, causing me to look to her in shock. "What?! You know what this is?" I said, pointing to the monstrosity that was in front of me. Luna nodded, her eyes never leaving the thing. "It was a beast that haunted my nightmares for years as a filly. I had spotted it hunting while flying, and immediately flew home in fright." She shook her head, finally gazing at me. "My parents told me it was a hallucination, but now I see I simply saw him." The thing cackled, making a wet laughing sound that made me shudder. "So, you were that blue-ish pony I saw eons ago. I always wondered who had spotted me that night." The thing shrugged. "No matter, tell me where Ronin is, or die." I shook my head, unwilling to give in just yet. "I dont think so, Tarus." I said as he sighed. "Very well." He said as one of the mouth tentacles shot out at me at lightning speed. "Raiden!" I heard two voices yell out. One was Luna, and one was- "Oof!" I grunted as I was tackled out off the way of the tentacle by Fluttershy. As we landed nearby, I looked up at her as she was right on top of me. "Raiden, are you ok?" She asked me as I nodded. "Yeah, thanks Fluttershy." I said, earning a blush from the yellow mare. I looked past her and saw that the tentacle was buried deep into the ground. The damned thing would've killed me on impact! I thought as I stood up as Fluttershy got off me. Luna rushed over and put a barrier around us just as another tentacle would've hit me. "We thank thee, Kindness, for saving our mate. But why are you here? Didn't Tarus send you into the castle?" She pointed up at the barrier that. surrounded us and answered quietly. "There was a barrier around the garden like this one that wouldn't let me out." I nodded. "Right. We put up a force field to keep big and ugly away from the castle." I said as Tarus suddenly got really close to the barrier, his face inches from it. Fluttershy was the first to say something to him, and man did she look mad all of a sudden. "How dare you try and hurt my friends! And after we shared tea together too!" Tarus chuckled. "Oh please, like I care about you and your stupid tea parties. I'm not Discord, after all." Luna frowned. "What does Discord have to with anything?" She asked as Tarus blinked, causing blood to squirt onto the bubble...gross. "Oooooh. You haven't done that yet, that's right. Ignore that last part then." He said as he put a big clawed hand onto the barrier. "I'd love to chat about your futures more, but I need you out of the way so..." He squeezed the bubble, causing it to break and sending Luna to her knees. "Luna!" I exclaimed, slowly helping her rise. She had a leg on my neck and was leaning against me for support while Tarus laughed. "You'll find that any spell you Equines use can be countered by my touch, and the effects are veeeery painful." I narrowed my eyes at the beast, now completely pissed off. "Now listen here, you piece of-" "BOOM!" A loud boom echoed across the gardens as I saw a pink light ball fly into the throne room. Must be Nicholas! He and his buds pulled it off! I thought happily as I turned back to Tarus. "Too late, man! Ronin is gone! You'll never get him now!" I exclaimed as he hissed in anger. "You little fucking brats! I'll kill you all!" He yelled, raising a big hand into the air and slamming it down, causing me close my eyes and await the impact. POP. Uh...what? I opened my eyes to see he was gone. I looked to Fluttershy and Luna and saw they were just as confused. "Um...where did he go?" Fluttershy asked as Luna raised an eyebrow. "I do not know, but he is gone and that's what matters." She said as I gasped. "Crap, we need to head to the throne room and see if Ronin made it out!" I yelled as I did a one-eighty spin and ran into the castle, Luna and Fluttershy hot on my heels, though I couldn't help but feel like the whole area just got colder for some reason. ************** Chrysalis POV ************** It is official. I hate the government of Equestria. Considering Ronin was already been found guilty by admission, I was suprised that lavender pony was able to keep the trial going for so long. Of course, big brains means big mouth, so I shouldn't be that suprised. Grimbeak stretched his wings, causing several ponies to wince at the metal sounds his wings made in the process, and spoke. "After hearing such testimony from both the accused and the accusors alike, I can't help but come to the conclusion that you are guilty, Ronin." I sighed as I heard Pinkie whimper while Redheart comforted her. That was unavoidable. I thought as he continued. "Of course, due to it being mentioned in the trial, his herdmates didn't take part in any actions he made, so they are free of punishment." The ponies on the other side sighed in relief, but he wasn't done just yet. "However, his defense operator will suffer the same punishment as per Griffon rules." He said, causing gasps to come from the ponies on the other side of the room and an angry growl from Pinkie. I felt Taks presence in my mind as Redheart kept Pinkie from attacking Grimbeak. After answering his question, I returned my attention to the scene in front of me. "But that's not fair! Twilight didn't kill those ponies, I did!" Ronin exclaimed as Twilight seemed frozen in shock of being punished by law. Grimbeak was unfazed though by his yelling, and continued. "It is Griffon tradition that whoever defends an accused must suffer the resulting punishment or reward of the following trial. Twilight appeared as the call for a defense was issued, so she takes the mantle." As much as I'd like the brat to die, this was a veeery shitty way for her to do so. But before I could retort Grimbeaks actions, a loud boom resounded from outside. "What the?" Blueblood said, awaking from a nap he was having as the female Griffon pointed outside. "Incoming!" She yelled, dodging out of the way of a big pink ball that flew through the room...straight into Ronin and Twilight. With a loud pop, the light flashed bright. I smiled as I knew what was happening. Lookd like Tak and the others pulled their little show off after all. I thought with a feeling rising in my heart that was brand new. Was this...pride? For something my son did instead of me? Grimbeak wasn't as happy, though. "What in Tartarus is that?" He exclaimed ad the pony witnesses fled the room while I stood. "Ronin is no longer your problem, Grimbeak. You won't get your claws on him now." I stated with a snarl. It was then a wave of cold temperatures hit me, odd considering it was spring. I looked around as I shivered and noticed everyone else react similarly. "W-Why is it cold all of a sudden?" Redheart asked as I turned to the pink teleport bubble, which should've disappeared by now. Instead, it was starting to glow blue now, and was the epicenter of the cold drop in temperatures. As I watched closely, I couldn't help but back up as something stepped through. No, not something. SomeONE. A human-like thing stepped through the light. It was covered in ice and, due to the appearence of her body, was a female. She bore a staff in her right hand and had ice shards coming out of her eyes. Grimbeak made a squealing sound when he saw her, apparently shocked she was her. "No! How are you here!?" He exclaimed as the lady laughed. "My dear metal friend. You didn't think I'd miss out on a family reunion, did you?" She said as she turned to me. "Ah, you must be the current changeling queen. Tell me, have you seen a little human boy around here?" I frowned, knowing that she spoke of Tak's friend and Ronin's little brother. "I have not. Why?" She sighed, a cold wind escaping her icicle engraved mouth. "Because he's the reason I'm here. Besides killing Luna, of course." She said as she pointed the staff towards the blue light. "Come, my friends! Help me tear this kingdom apart!" She yelled as the room began to get colder as blue monsters started flying out of the light and started floating around the room. "What are those things?!" Blueblood squealed as one tried to dive bomb him, causing him to hide behind the throne. The lady chortled. "They are my wendigo subjects." She said, causing me to look at the blue things in shock. "And I am their queen." This just got bad.