The other side of the barrier was nothing like Sunny ever experienced. The landscape could only be described as a frozen wasteland. The temperatures were below freezing and, as far as the eye could see, every single tree and rock was covered deep in snow. Grim mountains stood guard in the distance, though Sunny wasn't sure how tall they truly were. Their peaks, along with the rest of the sky, were covered in thick, dark clouds. Behind her, like she was peering into a bizarre inverted snow-globe, the Equestria she knew glimmered in all its warm glory, separated from the cold outside by a round, shimmering veil.
Sunny immediately attempted to go back. However, the veil pushed her back as if she was trying to pop an extremely resilient balloon. She tried again and again, kicking and punching the veil, but before long she lost her fervor and just felt exhausted, cold and alone. The cold air hurt her lungs and her exertion has only made the frost ache that much more. Sunny's hooves burned as she took out the protective clothing she was given and put them on. She also wrapped her father's scarf over her face, making the air she was breathing a bit more bearable.
Having ensued her immediate survival, Sunny turned around and surveyed the grim world in front of her. She could not spot any landmarks in the gloomy darkness. She squinted her eyes. Wait. She suddenly noticed what appeared to be a tower in the distance. She thought it was a mountain at first, but no. It was different. Not only was it a pristine white, compared to the dirty-gray look of the peaks, it was also far-far closer. As Sunny continued to look at it, it seemed to glisten like a crystal.
With no other good destination in sight, Sunny adjusted the scarf over her mouth and began her slow journey towards the tower. There was almost no sound, the snow drowned out everything, except for the soft crunching the snow made under her hooves.
As Sunny walked deeper into this frozen world, the woods became sparser and sparser and she soon found herself in a massive clearing. The tower stood in the middle and a haphazard formation of massive lumps of snow stood around it. She couldn't help but think that the shape of these things and the way they were arranged were strangely familiar. As she ambled between them, she saw some black rods jutting out of the ground with iced-in globes of glass hanging from their ends. Things suddenly clicked in Sunny's head. She must be in a snowed-in city and these were once houses and lamps.
Sunny shuddered at the thought of being alone in a long-dead town. Were these homes empty? Would she find the frozen remains of the ponies that lived here inside? Feeling the dread mount inside her, she quickly decided to move on, instead of pondering these questions. As she walked towards the tower, she could not stop herself from anxiously looking left and right, almost expecting something to jump on her. Yet, because she was so preoccupied with watching the streets, she didn't even notice a pair of steely blue eyes peering down at her from a balcony on the side of the tower. The eyes then looked away into the sky and motioned towards the lonely mare down below. A shadow in the sky responded to its master's call and silently began descending towards the ground below.
As Sunny crept towards the tower, she finally fought down her mounting fear and decided to take a better look. Even with all the snow on it, she could easily spot the carvings and elegant arches that the distance hid before. Beautiful patterns of snowflakes and brilliant crystals adorned the massive building. Whatever the purpose of this spire was, it was a monumental work created by someone or something. Her awe didn't last long, however, as something caught her eye and she spun around. Did she really see movement in her peripheral vision? She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Aside from her own hoofsteps in the snow, everything seemed as undisturbed as before. Sunny shook her head for a moment and continued moving.
Finally, she arrived to the base of the spire. It too was a truly masterful display of architectural art. Instead of a solid foundation, its bottom was hollowed out and the spire was held up by four more intricately carved, gigantic arches. The empty space inside was protected from snow by the rest of the building and Sunny figured, it must have served as a town-square of sorts. With nothing obscuring the view, Sunny could see that the floor was pure crystal decorated with even more intricate patterns than she saw on the walls. In the middle of the square, a spike jutted out from the floor, while another hung from the ceiling. It looked like a shrine of sorts, but whatever object of worship belonged between them was long gone and missing. Sunny trotted forward, hoping she might be able to gleam some information, but just as she was about to lean closer, she suddenly heard a noise behind herself. As she turned around, she merely saw a blurred shadow, before something hit her on the head. Sunny's vision immediately went dark.