//------------------------------// // Flurry (Alternate Ending) // Story: Forgotten: The Frozen North // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Izzy simply stood and stared, uncertain and unsure of what to do as her best friend stood in the center of the chamber, with the glowing wings and horn she had gotten right before Reunification Day. "Sunny? Can you hear me?" She asked, taking a single step forward. The earth pony didn't respond at all, almost as if she was in another place entirely. After another few moments, she took a few steps to the left the glowing stone on the floor, and reached out a hoof. There was another flash of light, and the unicorn shielded her eyes. A moment later, there stood Sunny, sans glowing wings and horn, and on the ground in front of her was a light magenta pony. She had a horn and wings, her mane and tail were cerise, violet, with streaks of arctic blue. She looked like she was barely breathing, and looked half frozen. Sunny gave a gasp and immediately started removing her layers of winter clothing as she knelt down next to the mare. "Izzy, go get all the survival blankets we've got," Sunny told her friend as she covered the mare as best she could with her jacket. "Wh-wh-who... Who are—" "Shh, don't talk. Save your strength, we're getting you out of here," Sunny told her, digging into her saddlebags and coming out with her insulated bottle of hot chocolate, opening the nozzle. "Here, take a sip," Sunny said, cradling the mare's neck and head, tipping the nozzle towards her lips. She was coherent enough to listen, accept the warm drink, and swallow. Removing the single blanket from her saddlebags, she unfurled it and covered the mare as best she could, tapping her headset to the other channels. "Everypony? Stop what we're doing immediately. We have a survivor, and she needs medical help as soon as we can get it to her. Hitch, I know you can make due, but she needs a hospital. Meet me in the castle to help Izzy and me get her down to the vehicle. Sprout, get the Scouticus turned around and ready to head out. We need to get to Zephyr Heights ASAP." "I don't want to know what you mean by 'survivor' if we're the first ones up here in centuries, but I'm on my way," Hitch replied. "Pipp and I are headed back to the vehicle," Zipp replied afterward. Izzy arrived back with a stack of blankets, and Sunny had her lay out the first one right next to the mare. The unicorn then gently picked her up with her magic, and laid her down on the warm blanket, putting a layer between her and the ice cold floor. As Sunny kept giving her sips of her hot chocolate, Hitch came up through the doors, and immediately came down to check on their unexpected new arrival. "She just 'poofed' out of thin air," Izzy explained. "We have to get her someplace warm, is it safe to move her?" Sunny asked Hitch, the closest thing their expedition had to a medic. "Safer than leaving her here," Hitch answered, putting three more blankets on top of the clothes Sunny had already covered her with. "Izzy, you think you can keep her levitated on the way down?" "I'll try," Izzy said, nodding. Sunny capped her bottle, put it back in the saddle bag, along with the Crystal Heart, then helped guide Izzy down the stairs as she concentrated on levitating the freezing mare. They came out into the snow, and immediately made for the headlights. Zipp opened the passenger side door and helped gently lift her into the cab. "Keep the heater on low, Sprout. We don't want to warm her up too fast and send her into shock," Hitch said as they got her situated on one of their sleeping bags. Once they had the mysterious mare situated, they did a quick headcount, ensuring everypony was accounted for. "Alright, Sprout. Back the way we came, as fast as you can safely go," Hitch told him. Nodding, Sprout pulled the steering lever to the left, and did a wide 180, following their tracks back up and down from the valley where the frozen city lay... The next 48 hours were the longest Sunny could remember. She could barely tear her eyes away from the mare underneath the blankets. 'Did they work... The crystals, did they work?' Sunny had answered yes to this question as she reached out for her in her Crystal-Heart-powered vision. Whoever this pony was, she had a pretty good guess that she had created the crystals that had helped reunite Equestria. The mare didn't speak, and slept for most of the journey south, which really made Sunny nervous, afraid that she would glance to something else, and she would stop breathing, and silently slip away. They had to take the long way around to a more accessible entrance to Zephyr Heights, where an ambulance was ready and waiting to take her the rest of the way. So here she sat, in the waiting room, with nothing to do but worry and wonder. "Miss Starscout?" an inquisitive voice pulled her from her thoughts, and she looked up to see an orderly pegasus in medical scrubs. "Yes?" "The mare you've brought in? We've stabilized her. We've got her on an IV drip, and she'll remain under observation for a few days until we're confident she can function on her own. She'd like to see you, if you'd follow me." the orderly replied. Leaving her winter excursion gear on the seat next to her, Sunny took her saddlebags and followed the orderly down the hall, to the third room on the left. There, in the bed and covered with a blanket considerably thicker than normal, lay the mare with wings and a horn, and she glanced tiredly toward the pair. "Your rescuer, Miss Flurry Heart," the orderly announced, before excusing himself. Sunny walked up to her bedside, and gave her a gentle, hopeful smile. "Flurry Heart? Daughter of Prince Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance Cadenza?" She asked. Flurry softly nodded with a tired smile. "So you know who I am, but I don't believe I've had the pleasure," Flurry replied. "Sunny, Sunny Starscout, your highness," Sunny said, giving a half bow. "None of that nonsense, Sunny. Not when you saved my life, and from what little I heard on the journey back, it sounds like I don't have much of a kingdom left." "I won't bombard you with questions in your current condition... Flurry. I just want to say that I've spent my entire life studying your era, and Princess Twilight," Sunny told her. "'Era'... So I'm assuming it's been some time. I won't pretend to know what kind of trance the Crystal Heart put me in, or if it merely helped you pull me through to your time. I don't suppose you could tell me how long it has been?" "Not precisely, I'm afraid. I believe it's been centuries, at the very least," Sunny answered. "I figured it's been awhile, I've never seen anything like that contraption you brought me here in. So, the crystals worked? Do you know when that happened?" Flurry asked. Sunny nodded. "A few months ago. My friends and I tracked them down, and used them to reunify Equestria." "After months of strife and mistrust. Perhaps I should be grateful that Equestria got the chance at all. But if Equestria reunited because of you, I don't know how to thank you," Flurry told her. "I don't deserve all the credit. My friends helped me along the way, and my dad set me on this path in the first place," Sunny answered. "Well, I look forward to meeting your friends, and your dad." Sunny's face flashed a somber expression. "My... My dad hasn't been with us in quite some time." "Oh, I see. My condolences, Sunny. But I'm sure he would have been proud of what you and your friends have managed to do for Equestria. I know I am, and I know that once I'm up and about, that there is much we can tell each other."