//------------------------------// // Wrapping Up // Story: Agate's Vigil // by Wingnut //------------------------------// It took Agate a full day of non-stop flying to return to the westerner's territories. Finding the Battle Glacier wasn't too hard, though the thing did drift some distance from where it was. Giving up on trying to find the spot that it was in previously for the day, she went to sleep in a quiet nook further up the shore. As she took wing on the next morning, she noticed that the ice floe wasn't moving any more. It appeared to have beached, stuck on the bottom as the waves pushed it closer to shore. Agate idly wondered whether the cold-sustaining enchantments would last through the summer, before shaking her head and refocusing on her mission. Rediscovering the spot where Thundersnow perished was a much harder task, since Agate didn't really have any landmarks or details to go off of. Digging through her memory, she eventually got the idea to retrace the path she took when Polaris summoned her, flying along the shoreline and looking for familiar features. Once she saw a distinct rock formation, she turned around at an angle, circling the waves. While finding the exact spot was impossible, Agate hoped that she wouldn't need that. She was quite capable with her spirit sight, and she assumed that the glow of a pony's spirit should be fairly easy to notice in the darkness of the depths. Either that, or she'd find the crystal sphere that Thundersnow used. It was only water, and since Agate could see crystals through rock, it should have been possible - or so she hoped. Circling a patch of water, Agate hesitated. Back in the past, she thought about galloping across the bottom of the seabed to get to places without needing ponies to carry her, but those thoughts never really went anywhere. The northerners were more than happy to ferry her everywhere, and eventually, she figured out how to fly. The few times she did go deeper into the water, the alien environment made her oddly nervous. "Well... What's the worst that could happen to me, anyway? I'd die?" She repeated the familiar mantra in her head, steeling herself and plunging into the waves. ❅ ❆ ❅ Water was weird. Agate didn't float, even though she was weightless. She didn't have any trouble keeping her eyes open, but seeing anything was quite an issue. The darkness on the bottom of the sea was deeper than what she saw when she walked through solid rock, and at the same time, not. She could swear she saw things in the dark, undulating and flowing, but no matter how hard she focused, everything remained black and indistinct. It was quite obvious that the depths of the sea wasn't a proper environment for a pony, spirit or not. It was disorienting, stifling, creepy, and somehow managed to cause a faint undercurrent of dread even in a pony that's been dead for decades. Centering herself, Agate tapped her hoof on the silt. "There's no way to trot on hoof and know which spots I already explored... Let's try this, then." Shapeshifting was something Agate got quite good at, but she only had a singular form in her repertoire. Something other than a bird was clearly needed, but it wasn't as simple as just choosing a different shape. She studied multiple birds until she made her choice, and although she saw all kinds of fish in the nets of snowponies, she didn't really get to see how they actually swam when they were in the water, not to mention that flippers were far harder to change into and imagine using than wings. Ones, you just flapped like your forelegs, except you had feathers. Others... Agate had no idea. She saw plenty of seals, though. "Right then, big and jiggly. Or... Good enough to swim, anyway." Changing her tail and hindlegs into a singular form more suited for the water, she looked down at her flippers and much smoother body. After a few moments of examination, seal-Agate shrugged, giving her tail a few flaps and propelling herself through the water. It was still weird, but it did work. Agate still didn't get how and why things worked for spirits in such strange ways, such as being able to trot on any kind of surface without issues, but also being able to pass through solid objects. Still, she did learn how those rules worked, at least. A spirit could fly, if they had wings. And a spirit could swim, if they had flippers and a fish tail. Or a seal tail. SHARP, MASSIVE TEETH "Whoa!" It seemed that Agate's seal form had attracted some predators. She blinked the afterimages of entire rows of massive fangs flashing right in her face, shaking her head. She felt something pass through her, though it didn't really hurt. Whatever it was, the predator wasn't very magical. "Too late for that. You'll just have to find something else or go hungry." She kept swimming, slowly improving her abilities. It felt a bit like flying, and yet, completely different at the same time. For one, it was way, way harder to tell up from down in the murk of the seawater, and Agate smacked herself once she saw she was actually swimming sideways, when she thought she was facing the bottom. Grumbling quietly, she dove back to the bottom, righting herself and feeling something try to take a bite out of her tail. Rolling her eyes, she decided to just ignore it and focus on her mission. Taking off again, she began to swim in a slowly expanding circle, occasionally feeling something try and chew on her, the strange forms of the predators disappearing before she could get a good look at them. She could see faint glows around her, though none of the bizarre shapes looked anything like a pony, not to mention that they were all moving through the water, rather than sitting on the bottom. Undaunted, she continued on, circling and circling. She didn't know how long she went at it, but it must have been a fair amount of time, as she felt her strength slowly ebb away. "Come on..." The strange environment was taking its toll, but Agate continued on. Doggedly flapping her tail, she kept going, not wanting to give up and have to start all over. It wasn't like she could mark a spot or memorize a landmark of where she stopped last. Fortunately, when she was seriously debating whether to give up or actually try to sleep underwater, she saw a flash of purple in her vision. "Is that...?" She felt vindicated when she reached her target and saw that it was, in fact, the third amethyst sphere that she had made with Thundersnow. It lay partially buried in the silt, though of the shamare herself, there was no sign, nor of her creation. Focusing harder, Agate scanned the ground, finding a few loose scraps of hide and bone fragments that could have been the undead shark's just as easily as Thundersnow's. Agate was hardly an expert in bones, after all. Losing her focus and turning back into a pony, Agate slowly trotted in place, turning in a full circle as she scanned her surroundings. She put all of her remaining magic into it, her gaze piercing through the depths and showing her a myriad of tiny little fish and other creatures. Not a single pony-shaped spirit, though. With a sigh, Agate turned around and trotted towards the shore, using the distant pull of her totem as a guide. ❅ ❆ ❅ "I never really understood you fully, you know. We... Were not friends. We were partners, working together. You said you respected me. I respected you. You were clearly very clever, skilled, and powerful. Still, anyone could see that. The deeper stuff... What you did still confuses me, though I'm not really angry at you for it. At the very least... Know that you won, in a way. The shamares that attacked you got punished pretty severely, though I wonder how you would react if you learned that every single other shamare got demoted as well. Again, I didn't get to know you all that well." Agate was back on the seabed. After reaching the shore, she found a place to sleep, taking a while to rest and fully regain her strength. She didn't turn back to Snowpitt, though. Instead, she went back to the sea, to find the crystal again and make sure that Thundersnow wasn't anywhere around. Despite another day spent circling the waters, she couldn't find a trace of the shamare. She was gone. Returning to the amethyst, she held a farewell ceremony of sorts as she sat on the sandy bottom. Being underwater was still strange. She didn't know if she was even making sound or talking entirely in her head, but she did it anyway. Touching the amethyst, she felt the final faint wisps of the remaining magic. Focusing on her own reserves, she began channeling. Slowly, the sphere began cracking, Agate deliberately altering the crystal's structure. Bit by bit, new growths slowly emerged, changing the smooth, round object into a spiky, jagged snowflake, one that was like Thundersnow's cutiemark. The purple of the crystal's glow illuminated a small area, a tiny candle in an ocean of darkness. "I know there's still a chance we might meet, but I have this feeling that you're gone for good. Goodbye, Thundersnow." Without looking back, Agate began trotting, then galloping, and, once she got out of the water, flying. Without even looking for landmarks, she used the totem's pull to guide her back to Snowpitt, straight as an arrow. ❅ ❆ ❅ "So, no sign of her anywhere?" "No, Earthsong. Not a peep. No news from the west, either? She's not haunting the western shamares?" "Firm Root would have definitely said something if she was. It's only been a few days since he left, but I don't think that Thundersnow is anywhere in the western territory, unless she's hiding. But sneaking around wasn't her style, from what I heard about her." "No, it really wasn't," Agate agreed with a nod. "Well, that... Still leaves the Calling, I suppose. If she's really lost somewhere..." Earthsong trailed off, sounding unconvinced by her own theories. "I'm not sure we'll see her again." "That may well be. I suppose I shouldn't concern myself with this either way. It's certainly completely out of my hooves. All in all, it sounds like this conflict is largely over and done with." "Oh, it's definitely over. Even if something else happens, I'm fairly certain the chieftains are going to shut it down very quickly," Agate stated with conviction. "Hmm, quite true. Even if the western shamares or other ponies start acting out again, the chieftains will be obliged to make an example out of them, to prove that their ideas about curbing the power of shamares weren't just empty talk. And, from what I saw, the current crop of chieftains certainly don't lack the backbone to back up their words with actions." "So, are you happy now?" "Hm? About what, Agate?" "Well, remember how you told me about your worries back in the day? That hard times will come, as they always inevitably do, and you won't be prepared enough to stop them? Looks like this crisis passed just fine, and with almost no casualties, especially compared to those old stories of lean years and ponies starving." "...Hrm. Well. I suppose the hard times did pass. And I didn't even have much, if anything at all, to do with that. Funny thought. We here in the south looked at the feuding western and northern tribes like squabbling children, so much that we haven't even considered that we were acting like overbearing parents. I am happy that it ended without escalating into something really bad first, yes. And... I suppose I can relax now. Whatever crisis comes next, it won't be up to me to deal with it." Agate nodded, the hidden subtext not going unnoticed. Earthsong's colors all but faded over the years, the formerly earthy shamare looking more like a snowy northerner these days. She was over a century old, which was considered quite impressive. Even the most impressive ponies had their limits, though. Unprompted, Agate got up, trotting over and giving Earthsong a hug. The mare blinked in confusion, chuckling after a moment. "I'm not dead yet, you know." "I know." "And what about you? What are you going to do next?" This time, it was Agate's turn to freeze as she pondered the situation. A large portion of her life was spent surveying the northerner's islands, which she then traded for working with Thundersnow. Now, she had nothing lined up, nor did she spend any time thinking about what to do after the conflict was over. "Huh. Good question," She mused, sitting down again. "I have no idea. I have various skills that I could apply, I'm sure. I make a pretty good scout. Or messenger. I'm definitely good at that one." "No ideas of your own?" "No, not really. It's not like spirits can engage in personal projects. They just hang around to help other ponies, while I'm around because I'm waiting. I'll probably just laze around for a little while, and see what comes up. Something always seems to come up eventually." "That it does, that it does indeed. Have you thought about hibernating?" "Yes, and it sounds like a bad idea. If I went into a sleep so deep it'd be enough to sleep the centuries away, there's no telling if I would even notice when the Empire came back. I could miss my parents completely, and then all the effort would be wasted. I'd much rather stay awake, even if there's little to do. Hm... I should go to my family in the north, now that I think about it. The time went by so fast... Hard to believe I spent almost a year on that ice floe. The foals will have grown a lot by now, I bet." "Ah, that sounds lovely. And I'm sure the northerners won't take long to rope you in to some new shenanigans," Earthsong chuckled. "Most likely, yeah." ❅ ❆ ❅ Agate spent a few weeks in Snowpitt, relaxing and meditating, occasionally going for a gallop through the tundra. Everything remained quiet. No messengers arrived with news about Thundersnow reappearing in the west, no travelers told rumors about a shamare's spirit haunting the region. Nothing. Eventually, she felt recharged and sufficiently stable to travel again. She hadn't even noticed at first, but the time spent on the Battle Glacier made her tense and jumpy. Much like it happened to the warriors that accompanied Thundersnow, her reflexes sharpened significantly, but it did not come without a cost. The routines and habits that she kept repeating weren't that easy to stop, even if they were of no use any more. She found herself suspiciously eyeing the various birds flying overhead, reflexively preparing to jump toward where the wards were set up, only to remind herself that none of that existed around her. She might have left the battle, but it was taking some extra time for the battle to leave her. Once she felt ready, Agate said her goodbyes to Earthsong, and took wing towards the north. Though she had calmed herself, her thoughts shifted to the others. Spirits were less affected by emotions than living ponies, and the others spent the time in even greater tension than Agate, given that they could be hurt quite badly if they ever let their guard down. Seeing as she probably needed to have a talk with them anyway, she reminded herself to find Spear Whittle and the rest of the group. Though they did chat a bit as they traveled, and their mission was formally over, it still felt wrong to end their adventure without a proper conclusion, and Agate didn't consider it to be over until they tied up all the loose ends - including the ones she kept secret. As such, they talked a while in Snowpitt, but the northerners left while Agate was searching for Thundersnow. Given the time it took to reach Green Land, Agate figured that there was a good chance she might arrive soon after, or maybe even before Jagged Ice and the rest made it back to the island, depending on how fast they travelled. She glanced at the islands as she passed them by, remembering her previous adventures across the northern expanse. After the mess in the west, it was a bit jarring to see just how normal everything was everywhere else. While fierce, the conflict was confined to a relatively small area, and the consequences didn't spill out far. Island by island, she kept going, eventually reaching Green Land. Given the distance, the settlement of Smoky Bay was likewise completely unaffected by the conflict, at least in the material sense. The local's passions had clearly been roused, though, given that many of the support crew were from the village, or nearby islands. There was an air of celebration in the village, and Agate's landing was met with cheers and congratulations by the onlookers. Agate could only assume that Jagged Ice already returned with the news of their victory, if it could be called such. Thinking about it more, she decided that it probably could. Their goal was to stop the westerner's attacks, and it was fulfilled, even if it didn't go quite the way ponies imagined it would. And all it cost was one life. Still, the northerners, and snowponies in general, were far more in touch with the circle of life and death than any other tribe that she was aware of, and Thundersnow's death didn't seem to have affected them all that much. Several ponies approached Agate to ask about the shamare as she was trotting to the chieftain's house, but once Agate told them that Thundersnow disappeared without a trace and couldn't be found even on the seabed, they accepted the answer without question. Trotting towards his home, Agate saw Jagged Ice outside, shuffling some rocks around as he examined them one by one. She guessed he was doing maintenance or improvement works on his abode. Silently entering his field of view, she nodded to the stallion, getting a respectful nod back. "Agate. Always an honor. How did your search go? It has been quite a while." "No news, I'm afraid. It didn't take all that long to find the... Remains. I was back within a week, I think. She's gone, spirit and all. I spent the time afterwards meditating and resting back in Snowpitt, and I didn't hear any news about her either. She could be hiding somewhere, but, as an old friend said, that isn't really her style." "She must have moved on, then. Unless her..." He stopped himself from saying more, glancing around. It wasn't hard to guess why. "Mm... Those were the remains that I found, at least a part I definitely recognized, so I don't think she's trapped on the bottom of the sea. She probably moved on, like you said," Agate said quietly. "Well, shame that it had to end this way, but I did all I could to prevent things from playing out the way they did. I would have used more forceful means if I had my revelation earlier, but that's hindsight for you. Thank you for everything you did for us, Agate. You truly are a boon for my tribe. If there's anything you ever need..." "Oh, I don't need much, just a warm bed and a- Oh, wait, I don't even need those," Agate snorted with a grin. "Yes, selfless spirit, and all. I heard that about you before. Still, if anything ever comes up, for you or anyone else - don't hesitate to ask." "Well, I might need help to take down Sombra if he returns to the Empire again, some, oh... Bit less than a thousand years from now." Jagged Ice stopped to stare at her for a long time, still holding a small boulder in his hooves. Slowly, his face morphed into a grin, before he slowly began laughing, dropping the rock and holding on to his belly as the mirth shook his body. "Well, I can't say that I'm going to be around myself, but I swear by my ancestors, Agate, the spears of the northern tribe are yours to call on, and if my distant descendants refuse you, I'll come back from the beyond to shame them myself!" "I'll keep that in mind," Agate nodded with a smile. "Speaking of spears, are Spear Whittle and the others still around, or did they all disperse by now?" "A good part of those ponies live here on Green Land, so they're definitely somewhere around here, and I don't think the others have left yet. A great many ponies wanted to know what happened, so they've been enjoying the hospitality and free food in exchange for telling their tales, though I have a suspicion some of them have been embellishing things." "Ooh. I should go and put a stop to that, their reactions should be fun. Later, chieftain," Agate grinned wickedly, nodding to the stallion as she trotted off. "Goodbye, Agate." ❅ ❆ ❅ "So there I was, barely deflecting the blows from the floewolf, when-" "Deflecting? I don't remember that. Everyone was dodging and running off, since its swipes were quite deadly, far as I recall," Agate suddenly supplied, sticking her head through a low rock wall into a gathering of ponies. Suddenly put out, the stallion went silent, looking at the impishly grinning spirit. Slowly, his brows furrowed as the listeners sniggered quietly at his expression or gave him flat looks. Glancing around, he took a gulp from a mug, recomposing himself. "Now why would you go and do that, wind rider?" He grumped, using the less common title for Agate. "You were there with us! You should have my back!" "I don't see the need to embellish anything when the real story is plenty interesting by itself," Agate shrugged, taking a seat in the small clearing. "Yes, but it doesn't make me look as good," He said with a cocky grin while flexing a foreleg, which earned him a swat to the back of his head from a mare sitting next to him. "I'd prefer an honest stallion that does less but does it for real, rather than an empty braggart that would bring home imaginary fish," She huffed as the crowd laughed. "Hey, the floewolf was totally real! I even got one of its teeth! It's certainly not imaginary!" Agate chuckled along with the crowd. Though the couple looked like they were squabbling, it was pretty clear that they were just teasing each other. The mare's tail was heavily intertwined with the stallion's, and she wasn't moving anywhere from his side, despite her behavior. Glancing around, Agate saw Spear Whittle, who was getting up from her seat. Tossing Agate a salute, she reared up and hopped off, with a quick "I'll gather the others!" "Hmm, well. If this is going to turn into a storytelling party, then maybe I should go get my family, too..." With a little effort, she spun around, turning into a bird in front of the fascinated onlookers. Flapping away, she went to Glacier Glider's place, the family greeting her excitedly. Once they learned that there was going to be a big gathering of all those that participated in the expedition, they quickly began grabbing the important essentials, such as dried fish, berries, and a few pots and herbs for brewing tea. While the number one priority in any settlement were the homes, ponies needed other things to live comfortably as well. The clearing was one of those places, a patch of forest deliberately left empty for ponies to have a place to gather outside. It was built up a little, with a nice stone firepit, seats made from roughly hewn logs, and even a half-finished little shed for dry kindling that someone stacked together from the rocks that were lying around. The arrivals also decorated it with various glowing crystals, the expeditioners eager to show off what Agate taught them. Not every single pony that went west was present, but the crowd was still pretty huge. Parents, grandparents, siblings, knowledge-hungry singers and lorekeepers, and the occasional random passerby that happened to overhear them talking all joined in, many of them bringing food and drink, while others went deeper into the forest to look for firewood. Before long, it turned into a proper party. There were songs and dancing, though the main interest was the stories. One by one, ponies recounted the entire time they spent in the west, the storytellers switching out every once in a while to wet their throats, and to let others have their moment of fame. When they spoke about big events, such as battling the floewolf or particularly fierce battles against the flocks of bird spirits, multiple ponies all told the versions from their points of view. As always, Agate was one of the ponies the others were most interested to hear from. For once, though, she didn't feel like the attention was undeserved. She did end up being a rather important player in the conflict, directly working with both Thundersnow and her followers, doing everything she could to find a solution behind the scenes. She ended up getting asked to help tell the story for an entirely different reason, too - they wanted her to be a visual aid. Her companions good-naturedly poked and prodded her until she agreed to shapeshift into various birds, mimicking and acting out the various battles they had with the spirits while Agate flapped about. They even got her to try and pretend to be a floewolf, though that kind of flopped. Agate managed to make a passable shape for a few moments, but she couldn't growl to save her life. Moments later, she collapsed back into a pony with a roll of her eyes as everyone laughed their flanks off at the "floewolf puppy". Things quieted down a little when they spoke about fighting windigoes, the vile spirits always bringing the mood down whether they were present or not. Everyone was curious about the mysterious shamare that drove them away with the power of the aurora, but Agate knew she couldn't tell anyone about Polaris, even if she kept the other details secret. The risk was just too great. There was a moment of silence for Thundersnow, as well as a number of silently muttered curses directed towards the "shark" that killed her. Though no one from her family was present, she was still well respected in the tribe. While dying due to carelessness caused by excessive pride usually meant that your name would be made into a cautionary tale, Thundersnow's undeniable skill and accomplishments turned her into a tragic hero, instead. Once that part of the story was concluded, it didn't take long to wrap it all up and reach recent events. Agate narrated her part of fruitlessly looking for Thundersnow on the bottom of the sea, while several others recounted their parting with the westerners in Snowpitt. "...And they tried talking trash about Thundersnow as were were all standing outside Snowpitt's borders. They didn't have the guts to say anything to anyone else, but I guess they wanted to get a last jab in, and weren't expecting any pushback, since, you know, Thundersnow wasn't exactly there. Wind Whisper put them in their place, though," Spear Whittle said, gesturing at the sheepish shamare. "What did you do, Wind?" Agate inquired curiously as the other's attention turned towards the young mare as well. "Oh, well, I learned a thing or two from Thundersnow... I usually try to remain quiet when the elders speak since I'm still so young, but they kept saying those insults, and I just..." She trailed off, too embarrassed about losing her composure to actually describe what she did. "She made a loud BOOM! She kind of yelled it out, but it sounded just like thunder, and boy, those westerners got scared! Most just screamed, but the bandaged ones dove to the ground, trying to take cover! It was hilarious! They tried to play tough, but it was pretty obvious that Thundersnow put the fear of the northern storms into them!" The retelling was met with universal laughter, multiple ponies cheering on Wind Whisper. With the story finished, the party turned to the usual merrymaking activities, with laughing, dancing, singing, and so on. Agate saw some familiar and unfamiliar faces, ponies that she met over the years. Eventually, though, the hour grew late, and with some final farewells, the adventurers parted ways once more. ❅ ❆ ❅ "There was once a hero of indomitable spirit, a truly stunning mare For her kin she toiled night and day, about her tribe she did care But one day, her care lead to her making a mistake She caught a great shoal of salmon, causing the westerners a real bellyache The western elders their fury upon the northern tribe did vent The chieftain offered apologies, but they were not content Turning up their snouts, they went off and cooked up a nasty plan And one day, a great horde of spirits darkened the skies with their wingspan From the skies they fell upon her in a great, screaming flock Caught wholly unprepared, she was in for quite a shock The winds rose, and at her behest they did blow She wasn't going to take it lying down, for her name was Thundersnow! Oh, Thundersnow! A shamare most wild! Loved by her kin, and the westerner's most reviled! They thought their ambush would leave her in a bind! But the depths of their mistakes they would soon find! She summoned her friends, thunder and snow And her attackers soon fell, blow by blow! The conniving westerners really underestimated her, my friend All by herself, the entire flock fleeing in terror she did send! Next time they met, the cowards attempted to lie "You angered the spirits," They said, their faces sly But ponies, of one thing have no doubt: No matter the lie, the truth always comes out. In this case, the time until it did wasn't even that long At the same meeting, they learned the treachery of Oak Bark and Birdsong At their attack, Thundersnow laughed until she fell down Needless to say, the westerners left with quite a frown Oh, Thundersnow! A shamare most proud! The westerners hated her, cursing her name aloud! With great fury in their hearts did they leave Their chieftain deposed, the shamares wouldn't give her a reprieve! More attacks came, the travelers beset by a storm Great winds blew, and huge waves did form They rushed towards an island, a safe port The westerners tried, but their attempts kept falling short Now Thundersnow, she had quite enough The attacks were pitiful, and the northern tribe is tough Still, it was an insult by that wretched, lying lot And so, the rightful punishment she began to plot She put out a call for warriors most skilled And when they came in droves, she was quite thrilled Veterans and youths, young and old Regardless of age, they were brave and bold Oh, Thundersnow! A shamare you did not want as a foe! Blessed by the north, she travelled west riding a great ice floe! Steering the currents with her might, the shores were soon in sight! And the westerners were terrified, she gave them a real fright! Soon, the terrible battles between the shamares truly began Storms and spirits, all kinds of attacks they did plan Lightning and thunder, wind to knock you flat Spirits with claws that tried to snag you like a rat Through the seasons they did battle, neither side giving way Though outnumbered, Thundersnow persevered, day by day Her companions aided her, they refused to run The warriors and spirits, they wouldn't leave 'til they were done When the windigoes came, they brought their terrible cold But even against such odds, their wills did hold They fought floewolves and spirits, their courage would not break No matter what came at them, in the face of a foe they would not quake Oh, Thundersnow! A shamare of incredible will! She wrestled a floewolf into submission, an amazing show of skill! Even the windigoes that dared to challenge her had no chance! They were driven away, across the great expanse! When the seasons changed and the Sun came back, it gave the ponies no joy For the westerners resumed their attacks, sending beasts in their employ The warriors swiftly defeated them, it didn't even take long But despite all their successes, something soon went wrong One spring morning, Thundersnow was snagged by a terrible beast It dragged her into the depths, where the foul creature certainly had a feast Now, the thing's description gave everyone there quite a pause It was a shark with a bird's claws, scores of teeth lining its jaws A wily conniving shapeshifter, rightfully viewed with disgust It cut Thundersnow's life and battle short, a fate quite unjust Without her power, the others were forced to retreat They were skilled, but by themselves, their fate was quite concrete Oh, Thundersnow! A mare with too much pride! Her overconfidence made her slip up, and so she died! Friends! No matter your power or skill, remember the very first northern rule: Never, ever get complacent, or you will end up dead, a fate unpleasant and cruel." ❅ ❆ ❅