While traversing across the North Pole landscape with Rudolph and Borealis to find Father Time and his castle before they started their mission to find the Baby New Year, the Mane 6 felt like was the eternal flame in that snowstorm, for from the gray clouds came a wintry confetti. The blizzard covered the forest more snow than ever in an instant after it hit, but the group was determined to push through...
...no matter how cold they were.
Pipp shivered as they walked through the five inches of snow on the ground before turning to look at her friends. “If pegasi could still control the weather, like they did in ancient Equestria, I would totally fly up there and make the snowstorm clear out of here!”
“I wish that too, Pipp, but we have to-- ugh… keep going!” Sunny said as she strained against the howling winds. “Rudolph, do you guys have any idea who this Father Time guy is?”
“I think I heard Papa and Mama tell me and Bori a legend about him,” said Rudolph in thought. “They say he’s responsible for making sure all time in the universe runs smoothly.”
“Wow… he sure sounds important,” Hitch said. “And you really think he thinks we can find the Baby New Year?”
“We have to at least try, Hitch,” Borealis said. “Especially since the fate of the new year depends on us.”
“Great… no pressure,” Misty rolled her eyes before sighing to herself. “I wonder if Mom is spending her holidays all by herself. But... after I find a way to reform her, we'll spend every holiday together... no matter what.”
XXXXXXXX
Paradise Moonray was trudging across the North Pole landscape against the winds, shivering to herself. “Why did all the magical objects have to be somewhere so hard to reach, it takes a crazy pony to find them?!” she muttered to herself. “No matter… once I get the amulet, Mother will be back… and everything will be as it--”
Suddenly, a photo slipped out from under her scarf, causing her to gasp and grab it before it could fly away. When she looked at it, her face and eyes softened into almost... sympathetic.
It was a picture of herself, a younger Alphabittle and a toddler Misty, all standing together in front of the Crystal Tea Room in Bridlewood.
Her family... well, what she used to think was her family.
After Opaline found out that Paradise had given birth to a filly, she felt so betrayed... and Paradise knew she had to give Misty to her in order to repent for what she did.
Even though it cost her everything.
Paradise groaned and shook her head before stuffing the photo back underneath her scarf. “No… I’m not the foolish pony that almost betrayed her mother. I’m Paradise Moonray, daughter of Opaline Arcana… and a villain to all Equestria. Exactly the way I intend to always be.”
As she trotted through the howling winds, she decided to sing a song to herself and convince herself that this is the real, villainous her... the version her mother wanted her to be.
When I walk past a mirror, I scare myself
I'm the queen of mean
Don't care about anypony other than me
Isn't that lovely?
Don’t ask me to be nice, I don’t want to
I don’t play fair
I’m giving you the heat you can’t handle
And I… don’t… CARE
I’m a villain! (Glamourous and mean)
I’m a villain! (Evil as can be)
Darling, I’m a villain! (Make you shiver through your teeth)
Don’t you cry now, it will all be fine, I’m a villain
I'm a villain
Somehow, in her mind... she was envisioning herself as a trembling filly in the very walls of that palace that Opaline used to call home... and her mother was singing that very song to her.
Opaline: Hush little pony, don't say a word
Or you'll get cursed
Can you feel the flames getting closer?
Ain't that the worst?
Paradise: Don’t ask me to be nice, I don’t want to
I don’t play fair
I’m giving you the heat you can’t handle
And I don’t CAAAAAAARE
Then... Paradise and her vision of Opaline actually began to sing in perfect unison.
Both: I’m a villain! (Glamourous and mean)
I’m a villain! (Evil as can be)
Darling, I’m a villain! (Make you shiver through your teeth)
Don’t you cry now, it will all be fine, I’m a villain
Paradise: Oooh, I'm a villain
Opaline: I'm a villain
Both: (cackling)
Opaline: (spoken) Oh, I'm so scary...
And just as quickly as the song begun, it ended, and Paradise's vision of her villainous mother faded along with it. Paradise sighed to herself-- she had a job to do, and it came down to two choices.
Either she found the amulet, brought Opaline back and completed her plan… or live in her mother’s endless shame for the rest of her life.
XXXXXXXX
“Misty? Equestria to Misty!”
“Huh?” Misty shook her head as she turned toward Izzy. “Are you okay?” the lavender unicorn asked. “You seemed really out of it for a little while.”
“Oh... just a little cold, and... I guess I was thinking about my mom. If... she's safe... and if she's spending the holidays alone.”
“You sure do care about your mom, Misty. Despite everything that's happened,” Rudolph observed. “I do... ” Misty nodded. “I know she has the potential to be changed. I'm just... not sure how to do it, exactly.”
Somehow, Rudolph and Borealis understood that. Misty had been through a hard time the past few moons, and all she wanted was a stable family. And in her eyes... they stable family included her mother and her father.
Suddenly, Rudolph, Borealis and the two unicorns stopped to let some members of their group catch up, with one being much slower than the others. “Come on, General Ticker! You can make it!” Rudolph urged. “Father Time's castle can't be too far ahead.”
General Ticker had met the group only a few minutes earlier, being sent from Father Time himself to guide them to the castle. However, his large and wide clock body made it hard to walk on his stubby legs. Nevertheless, he managed to keep anyone else from falling behind. “You're all bold, sir,” the general told Rudolph. “I'm cold, sir-- this dashed snow!”
Sunny shivered, shaking the fallen snow from off her back. “I'm... pretty cold too. We all are.”
“Tell me about it...” Misty nodded. “This snow and wind is gonna freeze my horn into an icicle before too long!”
“But don't weaken,” the general told them. “Your beacons must cast their glow.”
“Oh, psh... don’t worry, Mr. Clock Soldier!” Izzy brushed off with a scoff. “We’re not gonna weaken when we have a baby to find!”
“Especially since this Baby New Year determines whether the next year is gonna come or not,” Zipp agreed. “Now we have to get to Father Time’s castle, in spite of this blizzard. I think the path goes on this way.”
“It sure does!” Borealis nodded enthusiastically before running down the path. “Come on! Follow me!”
“Bori, be careful!” Misty called as they followed the fox. “Don’t wander too far ahead!”
“Don't worry about me, Misty! The snow zone is my go zone!”
True to her word, the little fox cub seemed to move effortlessly through the snow and wind, since it was her original domain when her mother was still around. And, the storm seemed to be letting up, making it that much easier for Borealis to zig and zag along the path.
Soon, the edge of the forest came into sight, causing Borealis to gasp. “I think we finally made it to other side of the woods! Father Time's castle should be on the other side!” she exclaimed as she and her friends raced toward the forest’s edge. “We’re here, we're here! We're finally--”
But after passing the trees, the group screeched to a stop at a strange sight-- sand for miles and miles around, and this desert was also known as the Sands of Time... a very fitting name for Father Time’s domain. “--at a strange place with yellow snow in every direction?” Borealis said with a shudder. “Someone must have really had to use the little reindeer's room.”
“Ha ha ha ha! This isn't snow, Bori,” Sunny couldn’t help but laugh. “It's sand, like you would have at the beach. But, when it's for miles and miles and there's no water, that would make it--”
“A desert?!” Hitch exclaimed before turning toward General Ticker. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“We cross, sir,” General Ticker answered. “The boss, ma'ams and sirs, is still quite far.”
“Father Time's castle is on the other side of the desert?” Rudolph asked in surprise. “Oh, quite, sir. Tis right, sir,” the general pointed up to a big bright star in the sky, “beneath that star.”
Everyone looked down from where the star was and found a glow shining in the distance, behind several large sand dunes. “Wow...” Borealis spoke in awe. “But that's still a long way to go... even with pony and North Pole magic.”
“Oh, perhaps I may be of some assistance.”
A camel pulling a small sled was then seen walking over to the group, catching them offguard. “W-Who are you?” Rudolph asked. “A friend,” the camel said respectfully. “How do you do? I am the Great Quarter-Past-Five. Father Time sent me to help you in your journey.”
The ponies felt quite relieved that it was only a friendly camel, and nothing too dangerous that they couldn’t handle. “The Great Quarter-Past-Five?” Borealis asked curiously. “M-May we call you Quart, for short?”
Unfortunately, the camel denied this request with the shake of his head. “I'd rather you didn't, if it's all the same to you. Now, hop on my back or on the sled, please.”
Borealis squirmed onto the camel's back with Rudolph and General Ticker, and while the flightless ponies rode on the sled, Pipp and Zipp decided to fly and glide alongside the camel as they set off into the unknown desert sands.
XXXXXXXX
“So... why do you think this place is called the 'Sands of Time'?” Borealis asked, looking around the desert landscape. “It doesn’t really seem to have anything to do with time, other than Father Time living here.”
“According to this non-Equestrian magic book that Santa gave me as a Christmas gift,” said Sunny as she flipped through the book in her hooves, “the Sands of Time are the only place in the known universe to have sand that can actually possess magical properties to turn back or stop time when placed inside a magical hourglass from Father Time's castle.”
“We better make sure that Paradise doesn’t know about it, because who knows what she could do with that kind of power,” Hitch said. “Excuse me? Mr. Great Quarter-Past-Five?” Misty said as she raised a hoof. “How much longer until we get to Father Time’s castle?”
“Within an hour or so, my dear,” the camel answered. “Not very long at all.”
“Phew… that’s a relief,” Pipp said. “As long as nothing else gets in our way, I think we’ll get through this mission without any more problems!”
But as soon as Pipp said that, a loud screeching sound, almost like a bird call, came from behind them, and when they turned, they saw a huge bird with black feathers, an ugly twisted beak and a horrible cry flying in their direction! Pipp whimpered, ears folding back upon seeing this. “Why do I always have to jinx us…?”
“What is it?!” Rudolph asked with wide eyes. “I-I’m seein’... old Aeon!” General Ticker said, turning to the Great Quarter-Past-Five in panic. “We’ve got to flee!”
“But, he can’t flee and carry our sled at the same time!” Hitch pointed out. “Here’s an idea, sheriff!” Zipp cried as she and her sister landed on the ground to join their friends in a quicker escape. “Get off the sled and run!”
“Good point!” Hitch cried, and he, Sunny and the unicorns got off the sled and began to bolt for their lives. “Run run run!” the monstrously huge bird squawked. “Run! All fear Aeon the Terrible! RAAAWWW!!!”
The ponies panted tiredly as the bird got closer and closer to them, and upon the Great Quarter-Past-Five’s back, Rudolph and Borealis looked a bit green at how the camel bobbed up and down repeatedly as he ran. They never rode on a camel before, so it was understandable why they would feel so motion sick.
But for Borealis, all that motion sickness turned to fear when Aeon gained on them, growling and snarling sinisterly. Suddenly, something in Izzy and Misty caused them to turn and blast magical beams at Aeon to try and get him to turn around. “Hey you big buzzard!” Izzy cried out. “Leave our friends alone!”
Aeon, although surprised that these horse-like creatures would stand up to him, merely smirked as he watched the others continue to run. “There’s better pickings,” he muttered to himself before flying off, squawking, which allowed the others to finally slow down. Satisfied with how they drove the bird off, Izzy and Misty returned to the others, just as the Great Quarter-Past-Five came up with a hypothesis on why Aeon suddenly gave up. “Why, it’s not us he’s looking for.”
“Then… w-who does he want?” Borealis whimpered, still startled from Aeon’s attack. “I do fear the New Year,” said General Ticker before he turned to the Great Quarter-Past-Five. “You agree?”
“Oh, I certainly do. He’s out looking for Happy too,” the camel nodded before turning to the confused Equestrian and their Christmastown friends. “You see, Aeon can only live until he is one aeon old, then he will turn into ice and snow.”
“How long is an aeon?” Rudolph asked as Zipp vigorously took notes on her FlyPad. “Oh, immeasurably long,” the Great Quarter-Past-Five answered. “But his aeon is finally up this December 31st. He has only six days left.”
That’s when Rudolph and Zipp both came up with the same conclusion. “That’s why he wants to capture the Baby New Year!” Rudolph exclaimed first. “To stop time!”
“Rudolph is right!” Zipp nodded. “Because if December 31st goes on forever, so will Aeon himself!”
“Why, he’ll never change to snow,” said the Great Quarter-Past-Five, “and he’ll never stop scaring people.”
“And to make matters worse,” said Misty, “if this year goes on forever, we may not be able to get back to Equestria and save Mom!”
“Not if we find Happy before he does,” Rudolph reassured before turning to their camel guide. “Come on, Great Quarter-Past-Five! Get us to Father Time's castle, quick!”
“Oh!” the camel said in surprise as he turned. “Well, since we're being quick about things… you may call me Quart!”
“Ha ha! Let’s go, Quart!” Borealis giggled, and the ponies trotted alongside their friend, knowing that their first destination was only a little further ahead. Then… the real test would begin.