Snowblind
by crowmagnon
Chapter 5 - The Snow Piles Up
"Wake up."
Derpy muttered something as she lay curled up under the warm blanket. The room outside was extremely cold, and even though her bed felt hard and lumpy, the comfort of the blanket was more than enough to keep her right where she was.
"Wake up."
Derpy groaned at the persistent voice. "I dun' haveta work today... Mr. Silver Script said so," she whined as she tried to curl up deeper under the covers.
"I said wake up, mutant."
Suddenly, the warmth was ripped away from her. Not the 'blanket' covering her, but the insulating effect that had kept her cozy. The bubbly pegasus let out a surprised whinny as she immediately started thrashing about, throwing off the snow she discovered that she had been all but buried in. "Wh-where am I?! H-how'd I g-g-get here," she stammered as she shook her wings and body. Then she turned and found herself in the unique (for her) situation of both of her eyes focusing upon the same thing.
Unfortunately, the target of her focus was the blank white gaze of her captor. Despite the griffon's lack of pupils or irises, Derpy could feel her stare stabbing through her.
"Eep."
The griffon was laying down beside Derpy, her front claws folded together as she regarded the pony. "Do you know what I have planned for you and your little town?"
Derpy trembled and slowly shrank down as low to the ground as she could make herself, as if trying to become one with the frozen rock beneath her hooves. She didn't understand what the big, scary white griffon wanted, but she felt like a mouse in the clutches of an eagle. Virtually every instinct in her body was screaming at her to take wing and fly away as fast as she could, but the rest remembered how well that went the last time, and her wings simply locked in place and refused to move.
"P-please don't hurt anypony," she pleaded in a quiet whisper, too terrified to raise her voice. Even then, the griffon glared down at her with icy contempt.
"Do you wish to live?"
Derpy whimpered and nodded slightly without lifting her head from the ground.
The griffon reached out to cradle Derpy's face in her talons. Though they no longer possessed the same life-draining chill as when she had pursued the ditzy pegasus, the coldness of her touch was enough to make Derpy shiver even harder. "Your princesses have abandoned you, assassin. By setting you against me, they have discarded you from their service as surely as if they had disposed of you themselves. That being the case, since you are no longer their tool, your only remaining option is to become mine."
Derpy didn't say anything, but looked up at the griffon in confusion. Most of what she was saying made no sense, but Derpy was too afraid to say so as the griffon continued. "What the Sun and Moon stole from me will be mine once more, and you will help me in this. The only question is whether you will do so alive and well-rewarded for your efforts... or the opposite."
Derpy blinked. "The princesses s-stole from you? M-maybe they just b-borrowed it and forgot? I do that sometimes, and..." When the griffon's talons started feeling cold again, Derpy squeaked and put her hooves over her mouth to silence herself.
Thankfully, the griffon let go of Derpy before her grip could grow too frigid. She turned away to gaze down upon the town spread out below. "If I am to take back the Element that was stolen from me, I must face the new bearers... these new six-who-are-one. But that does not mean that I will face them all at the same time. While the Windigoes keep them occupied separately, your task will be to secure a single pony who will deliver one of these six into my talons."
While she spoke, the griffon grasped some snow in her talons. She compacted and shaped it into a flat disc. When she was finished, the snow had been formed into a lens of ice which she held up to magnify Derpy's vision, showing the grey pegasus her intended target. Derpy gasped, her eyes widening in shock as she looked through the lens to see a little filly wearing winter clothes and a large bow sulking on the edge of town. "Th-that's Apple Bloom," she blurted out, recognizing the young pony from her mail route. "B-but... she's just a l-little filly!"
"Indeed," the griffon replied, crushing the lens into powder. "It should be quite simple for you." Focusing her gaze once more upon Derpy, the pegasus said with dangerous calm, "Just remember that if you do not take her, then I will. I cannot promise to be as 'delicate' with her as one of her own kind would be."
Derpy gulped as the implication sank in. Having experienced the terror of being pursued by the griffon, she felt that she had no choice but to nod.
"Good," the griffon replied. Then, after a moment's pause, she added, "Still, to ensure that you remain cooperative..." Faster than a thought, the griffon's talons once again lashed out to wrap around Derpy's head, muffling her frightened scream as ice spread out across Derpy's body from the griffon's touch.
-----
Iron Will stared straight ahead, hobbling on his crutch toward his opponent. Once he was within arm's reach, he stopped and let his crutch fall off to the side. He cracked his knuckles, then did the same with his neck as he balled his right hand into a meaty fist. Balancing all his weight on his good leg, he wound his fist back, then swung it forward with as much force as he could muster.
When the minotaur's fist slammed into the side of the Golden Oaks library, the force of the crushing blow rippled outward from the point of impact and traveled up the large tree-building's trunk. It then spread out to the branches, shaking the snow loose. Soon, a veritable avalanche of snow and ice came tumbling down over Iron Will, only for none of it to touch him as a magical field hovered over his head like an umbrella.
Once the snow was all on the ground around him, Will grinned widely and flexed for the few ponies around to see the display of strength while Fluttershy jumped around and cheered her lungs out. While Will soaked in his wife's adulation and the scattered stomps of applause from other ponies, Fluttershy flitted over and gave him a big hug around his shoulders before picking up his crutch and giving it back to him.
Meanwhile, the pale lavender unicorn who had been keeping the snow off of Will tilted her head to one side. The magic field she was maintaining did the same, dumping the snow away from the happy couple while they walked back over to her.
"Snow's all gone and ready to be hauled away, as promised," the boisterous bull boasted. "Satisfaction guaranteed!"
Fluttershy added, "and I'll be by later to help pick up anything that might have gotten knocked loose. Right now, though, we've got a lot more trees to shake before the street-sweepers come by, so see you in a few hours, Dewdrop."
Dewdrop Decimal gave Fluttershy a friendly nuzzle in return. "I'll make sure to put some tea on for when you come by. Thanks, you two."
As Will and Fluttershy moved on, they heard the young librarian call out, "Oh, and I'm really looking forward to your next book!" They both looked at each other and chuckled before waving back to Dewdrop.
"You'll get one of the first copies! Autographed," Fluttershy replied while she flew alongside her husband. "You know, I'm kind of glad that we've been settled in here for the past few months. Everypony's been so nice, maybe we should consider buying the house so we have a home to come back to when we aren't on tour?"
Will smiled at the thought. "Heh, place is really growin' on you, isn't it? Not sure I can imagine coming home to you wearing an apron with a lasagna in the oven, though."
Fluttershy laughed and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Who says I won't be the one coming home to see you in an apron?" She then perched her forelegs over one of his broad shoulders and nuzzled his cheek. "Though I wouldn't mind spending time with the girls. It's been so long since we had such good friends outside our immediate families."
A cold wind blew down the street, and Will's smile turned into a frown. "Even Rarity?" His voice was a low grumble as he vividly recalled the heated words that he and the unicorn had exchanged as if they were still ringing in his ear.
"Now, Will, I don't want you holding a grudge against Rarity," Fluttershy replied. Her voice was gentle, but firm. "She's just very, very protective of Spike. She got scared and didn't know how to deal with it, so she took it out on... Apple Bloom!"
Will blinked in confusion. "Apple Bloom? When did Rarity yell at Apple Bloom?" He figured it out, though, when he saw Fluttershy fly off down the street toward where a little earth pony filly was sitting morosely at the edge of town. Picking up his pace as much as he could with one leg in a cast, he followed after his wife as she alighted on the ground next to her.
"Hi, Apple Bloom," she said to get the filly's attention. Apple Bloom glanced up at her, then turned her attention down to the snowy ground as she shuffled her hooves.
"Hiya, Ms. Fluttershy..."
Fluttershy felt the urge to put a wing over Apple Bloom's back, so she did just that. Thankfully, the filly didn't push her away. "What are you doing all the way out here by yourself? Don't you want to be with your family?"
Apple Bloom was quiet for a moment, but then nodded. "Ah do, but... she's there, an ah jus'... what am ah supposed t' do?" Apple Bloom looked out across the snow-covered fields, dotted by the occasional pony pulling a plow. "Mah whole life, all ah heard 'bout her was 'bout how great mah big sister was, an' how amazin' an' successful she is, but she was always bein' all amazin' an' successful somewhere else. Ah don't even remember th' last time she came by fer a family reunion... always jus' sent a letter, sayin' she was too busy. An' then last Wakin' Night, she promised that she'd make time, but..."
Fluttershy winced and replied, "Waking Night was crazy for everypony. She was doing everything she could, and almost gave her life to save you..." She didn't expect that to do much to alleviate Apple Bloom's sour mood, though.
Apple Bloom had been one of the innocents that had fallen victim to Eclipse upon the shadow demon's return, and had been plunged into a deep, nightmarish coma shortly after Applejack had arrived in Ponyville. When she had finally been brought out of it thanks to the efforts of Applejack and the rest of the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony, she had woken up to find that her sister had to spend too much time dealing with being put in the spotlight as one of the saviours of Equestria to spend any appreciable time with her family. It didn't matter that Applejack had fought tooth and hoof to save her sister's soul. If it had just been that one incident, it surely would have been forgivable. Nevertheless, Fluttershy could tell that for Apple Bloom, Waking Night had merely been the continuation of a pattern.
Indeed, when Apple Bloom spoke, she muttered, "She doesn't wanna be here... Prob'ly jus' came by 'cause she felt guilty an' hopes we'll jus' ignore all th' times she ain't been here. Then she can go on back t' her diamond tiaras an' silver spoons an' leave her country bumpkin family behind again."
Before she could sink any deeper into her depression, the filly suddenly found herself wrapped up completely in the soft fur and feathers of Fluttershy. The pegasus hugged her tightly and stroked Apple Bloom's mane. "Oh, sweetie, I swear to you that isn't how she feels at all. She's here because she loves her family. She loves you."
Apple Bloom looked up at Fluttershy, and it was clear by way her eyes were so wide and pleading that the filly really wanted to believe what she was saying. "But... she don't even know me..."
The pegasus smiled down at her and nuzzled the filly. "She knows that you're smart. She knows that you have a big heart. And she knows you have the Ponyville Elementary record for 'Longest Sustained F--'"
Apple Bloom's eyes somehow managed to go even wider, but this time it was with shock. Letting out a sort of strangled squeak, the filly yelped, "What?!"
Fluttershy giggled, her smile turning mischievous. "Oh, wait, that's right! She doesn't know about that, yet! I think I'll go tell her. Oh, she's going to be so proud."
Apple Bloom wailed, "No, ya can't! Pleeeeaaaase don't say it!"
Finally catching up, Iron Will asked, "Don't say what?"
Fluttershy tousled Apple Bloom's mane and replied, "Oh, she's just shy about how well she's been doing in school. I was saying we should go find Applejack and tell her. Do you think you can handle the rest of the tree-shaking yourself while we go do that?"
Will confidently thumped a fist against his chest. "Leave it to me! I'll have every tree in town as bare as your uncle Buzz Cut's head before you get back!"
Fluttershy let go of Apple Bloom long enough to flit over to the minotaur and give him a peck on the cheek that lit his cheeks up. "Thanks, hun. Love you!" She then made her way back to the filly and started walking off toward the fields with her. Apple Bloom seemed reluctant to follow, until Will heard Fluttershy say, "You know, Apple Bloom, I held a few records of my own back in school."
"Huh? Like what?"
Iron Will couldn't make out what she said, because Fluttershy leaned in close and whispered a response into her ear. Whatever it was, it caused Apple Bloom to stop in her tracks. Then the two mares suddenly burst into giggles, and when they started walking again, the filly had a bit more bounce in her step.
The minotaur chuckled and shook his head as he turned to make his way back down the street. "That mare's some sort of magic worker," he mused to himself.
-----
That mare is going to be difficult.
I watch the one called "Fluttershy" make her way across the fields toward an ancient and dessicated old mare tending to an apparatus heating up barrels of cider for the workers who are trying to clear away my Winter. Though the Windigoes have already plunged half of the town and its surrounding environs into a deep blizzard, they are hesitant to approach the pegasus. Her heart burns too brightly for them to approach without my direct command.
At the moment, they are waiting for that command. I did tell them to keep the six-who-are-one separate from one another, after all, and the pegasus is approaching her well dressed comrade. Beside me, my new servant also waits for my command to seize the filly. The mutant is now clad from eartip to tail in armor of near-inpenetrable ice, just as my Guard were so long ago. Like them, I can ensure her loyalty by threatening to freeze her solid with but a thought. Only the mutant's wings are exposed, now. A small concession made to stop her from whining about not being able to feel the wind.
I raise a foreleg up to get their attention. The assassin and my Windigoes tense, awaiting my instructions. With a single word, I deliver their command.
"Wait."
They are actually startled by this, particularly the mutant. They expect me to throw them at my enemies without regard for their safety or well-being. They are not entirely wrong, but not for the reason they think.
The Windigoes are focused on the pegasus because her heart burns so brightly. They see her as a threat. I look upon the filly beside her and see quite the opposite. I see a heart who's flame flickers weakly around a core of emptiness and cold. A heart wounded by betrayal and loss. Hers is a pain I know well. I turn my gaze toward her sister, and see a mare of wealth and excess, who cannot fill the void within the filly's heart.
There is no need to attack at this moment. I will allow this meeting to run its course. Then, we will strike.
-----
"Hnnngh! Grrrrrgh!"
"Ya sure ah can't jus'--"
"NO! No... thank you, Macintosh..." Applejack dug in her hooves and struggled against the weight of the plow she was assigned to, stubbornly refusing any and all help from her brother even as sweat poured down her strained expression. "I go to the gym... three times a week... I jog every day... take self-defense..." Gritting her teeth, she fought against the unmoving snowplow. "I am not just... some weak... pampered... society trollop!"
Throwing all of her weight into trying to make the plow move caused it to shudder and almost push forward an inch, but Applejack's hoof slipped on the edge of a frozen puddle. Feeling her leg suddenly slide out from under herself, the businessmare barely had time to yelp before she fell face-first into the dirt and snow. Big Mac walked over and bent his head down to ensure his sister was alright. Seeing her shivering despite her warm coat, he gently placed a big hoof on her shoulder.
Applejack sniffled and wiped the snow off her face. "I wanted to try. I honestly wanted to try, Macintosh. I knew I couldn't possibly make up for all the time we spent apart... All those chances I missed to watch little Apple Bloom grow up... Be there when it mattered... I still wanted a chance to make a start. But I can't do anything..."
Big Mac settled in beside her and draped a foreleg over her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. "You c'n be here now. Yer still her big sister. Ain't nothin' can change that."
Applejack sighed and tilted her head up to look at Big Mac, though whatever she was about to say died on her lips as she saw something in his silhouette that made her gasp. Seeing her change of expression, the stallion tilted his head. "What is it? Ah got somethin' on mah face?"
The businessmare closed her eyes and shook her head to clear it before picking herself back up onto her hooves. "Oh, no. No, it's just that for a moment there, you..." She looked away from Big Mac as she re-adjusted the harness keeping her attached to her plow. "You reminded me of pa."
Big Macintosh was known for, among other things, his stoicism in the face of surprise. Had any reporters for Ponyville's local paper been present, they would have immediately jumped on the sight of the big, quiet stallion looking utterly dumbfounded by his sister's comment. They would have only gotten a few seconds to do so, though, as he pulled down the brim of his hat to cover his face. Eventually, he muttered, "Well... uh... must be colder'n ah thought, then... seein' as pa was blue."
Applejack smiled as she reached up to push the brim of Big Mac's stetson back and look him in the eye. She then gently pressed her forehead against his and said, "They really are big shoes to fill, aren't they? And I left you to carry that burden all by yourself. So many burdens... I'm so sorry, Macintosh. I was so ashamed of myself for not being here when ma and pa... then you got hurt last year and I was so afraid you wouldn't even want to see my face that I couldn't bring myself to do more than send those workers to help you."
"... You knew?" A third voice piped up beside them. A higher, very familiar voice, quivering slightly. The siblings looked over to see Apple Bloom and Fluttershy, and the filly was staring at them with slowly narrowing eyes. "You knew when it happened and ya couldn't drag yerself outta yer cushy big city office t' see him!"
Fluttershy put a hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder as she tried to soothe the filly. "Apple Bloom, why don't we settle down and talk this out?" This time, however, the little earth pony pushed herself away from Fluttershy. A cold wind blew through everypony present, circling them as Apple Bloom glared at her sister.
"Ah thought you were just outta touch an' hadn't heard about it. But you knew an' you didn't... No, it's worse than doin' nothin'! You sent a bunch o' strangers t' work the fields without so much as showin' yer face! Real Apples pitch in an' help out with their own hooves when family's in trouble! You just threw bits at th' problem, 'cause that's all you know how t' do!"
-----
As expected, the meeting between the two sisters serves only to deepen the wound. The warmth is drawn out of the very air around them with almost no help from me. The Windigoes are no longer as afraid as they had been, now that they see that the flame of the pegasus's heart cannot burn away the cold on which they feed.
"Go," I tell them, letting the Windigoes loose. The blizzard they have created now spreads rapidly across the fields as they charge. I look to the armored mutant at my side and simply command, "Come," taking wing and using the cover of the storm to fly toward my target. The assassin is reluctant to follow, so for a mere second, I remove the enchantments keeping her from freezing.
The abrupt reminder that the ice she wears could easily become a frozen coffin shocks her into obedience, and she follows me through the sky.
-----
Everypony around Apple Bloom was stuck in a state of shock. The filly had been angry and hurt before, but there was something more to it now. Even as the temperature of the air around them dropped and the confused cries of ponies suddenly finding themselves caught in a snowstorm that was spreading across the fields toward the Apple family and their pegasus friend.
Neither noticing nor caring about the snow that had begun to fall around them, Apple Bloom pointed a hoof at Applejack and shouted, "Ah hate you! You ain't nothin' but a rotten Apple!"
This time, whether Applejack would have responded to the heated accusations with the same defensive retorts as earlier or if she would have tried to weather them with more grace, the orange mare wasn't given enough time to choose before Apple Bloom turned and dashed off into the blizzard.
Fluttershy gasped, and as the freakishly sudden wall of white falling down from the sky soon caused her to vanish, she cried out, "Apple Bloom, wait!" She looked back for a moment and said, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for this." She then flapped her wings and flew off in the direction that Apple Bloom had been running before she disappeared from sight, calling out the filly's name.
Applejack was stunned for a moment longer, but was broken out of it when she felt her harness slip loose. Big Mac said in a deep, commanding voice, "Go on. Ya can still catch up t' her if'n ya hurry."
The businessmare blinked in surprise. "Me? But what about you?"
"Ah wanna, but ah've gotta get Granny outta this blizzard an' make sure mah team's safe. Now go on!"
For an instant, Applejack had to wonder whatever happened to the colt she remembered, who had spent most of his life saying almost nothing but 'Eeyup' or 'Nnnope.' Given that it was an instant where Apple Bloom was getting farther and farther away, however, she pushed that thought aside and nodded. "I'll make sure she stays safe, Macintosh, I promise!"
With that, she dashed off through the snow after Fluttershy and her sister.
-----
Apple Bloom whimpered as she ran through the blizzard as fast as her little legs would take her. She had no idea where the snowstorm came from, and she didn't care. All that was running through her mind was Applejack... no, Jacqueline's words as she and Fluttershy had approached.
She had known Mac was hurt, but didn't come. She had known Mac was hurt, but didn't come. Birthdays with nothing but a store-bought card. Hearth's Warmings where Apple Bloom would open some fancy present that had nothing to do with her actual likes and interests, then have to send a thank-you letter to the pony who sent it. A sister she had practically never seen.
And Big Mac and Granny would spend so much time gushing and praising that pony, as if by doing so they could fill in the hole created by her absence. But there wasn't any filling it. There was nothing but empty space where a sister should have been, and a bit-grubbing fraud pretending to be an Apple trying to take her place.
That had been it, really. The culmination of everything Apple Bloom had been feeling. Every doubt and fear, brought to a head. When she had heard it from Jacueline's own lips, it had broken what little hope remained that she actually had a big sister. All that was left in its place was the cold, and even the heat of anger couldn't keep her warm. That was why she ran away, galloping through the snow and biting winds toward the nearest warm place she could think of, where Jacqueline would never find her. Her secret place.
Even without being able to see more than ten feet in front of her, Apple Bloom knew every inch of Sweet Apple Acres. Better than some big city corporate suit, at least. Though her lungs protested from sucking in ice-cold air with every breath, and her legs ached from the pace she had set, she did not slow down until finally she came across the outline she had been looking for.
She had found the little club house earlier that year while she and her friends had been playing hide-and-seek. Well, technically it was Scootaloo who had found it and thought it a good idea to hide inside the only hoof-built structure for half a mile in every direction.
Back then, it had been decayed from age. Boards had been loose or rotted out, and whatever paint it might have been colored with had long since faded away. Scootaloo had dubbed it a 'totally lost cause' at the time, but the idea of a special, secret place just for them had captivated the young earth pony. Since nopony grew up an Apple without participating in the occasional barn-raising, she had taken it upon herself to renovate the little shack.
Miraculously enough, with just a little work and some hardware borrowed from around the farm, she had been able to transform the decrepit old structure into a place where a couple of fillies could comfortably hang out, play some games, or plan their activities for the day.
It was a place for making memories. The sort that she had never had the chance to make with the mare who called herself her sister. It would also provide shelter from the storm, and allow her to wait it out until it blew over.
Before she could even touch the door, however, something slammed into the clubhouse at great speed, falling out of the sky and causing Apple Bloom's special, secret place to explode! The door flew off its hinges and pushed her back, sending her sprawling into the snow.
-----
Applejack ran, calling out Apple Bloom's name as she galloped through the orchards. Sometimes, she even called out for Fluttershy in the hopes that the pegasus had already found her sister and was feeling more like responding. Though tired from her failed attempts to move the snowplow, her excercise regime did indeed keep her in good enough shape to keep pressing forward, though the real issue was her inability to see where either of the ponies had gone. If Fluttershy had remained airborne, then she wouldn't leave tracks anyway, and the blizzard was coming down hard enough to cover whatever hoofprints Apple Bloom might have left behind.
Nevertheless, a strangely nostalgic feeling passed through the mare as she simply did her best to keep going in the direction she had last seen them. It was almost as if there was a sense of familiarity guiding her, but that seemed unlikely. It certainly wasn't the layout of the trees. Those had been re-planted since she had last been in this area of the farm. She could barely even remember which cultivars were planted in this section. In fact, the only thing she could remember about this particular area was...
No, it couldn't be. Was Apple Bloom heading there? Toward her old clubhouse? She could hardly imagine that the old thing still existed, but as she felt the rise and fall of the land beneath her hooves again, that odd sense of nostalgia kept pulling her toward it. The closer she got, the more she hoped to find that she was on Apple Bloom's trail.
Eventually, feeling that she was near it, Applejack raised a hoof to shield her eyes as she tried to peer through the blizzard. It took a few seconds of scanning around, but then she saw it. That old, familiar outline from so long ago. A place she had built with her own hooves and made so many memories with her foalhood friends. It also represented her best hope of finding Apple Bloom in the frozen storm as the snow only piled up deeper and deeper around her.
Before she could take one more step toward it, however, she caught a glimpse of something hurtling through the air immediately above her at great speed. It slammed into the clubhouse with such force that the small building simply exploded, chunks of wood splintering and bursting apart in every direction!
Applejack stared, jaw slack with shock. What had just happened? Why? It was so sudden that her mind simply couldn't process it, but in an instant, the hopes of finding Apple Bloom in there, safe from the storm, were replaced with terror at the thought that she might have been in the middle of it. "No," she whispered before seeing something start to rise up from the wreckage. From a distance, all that Applejack could make out was a winged silhouette with the head of an eagle.
Then she heard the scream.
It was a high-pitched scream that pierced through the blizzard and echoed between the trees, but Applejack immediately recognized the voice as that of her little sister. She called out Apple Bloom's name and was ready to rush to her aid when, without warning, a second shape dropped down immediately in front of her. She barely had a chance to make out what it was beyond the fact that it was huge and as white as the snow that fell around them. Before she could so much as look up at the creature's face, it swiped its talons at her and sent her flying into a nearby tree.
The moment Applejack felt her body impact the apple tree, every bit of breath was knocked out of her lungs, leaving her woozy and gasping at the base of it. The monster didn't even wait for her to catch her breath before pouncing upon her and wrapping its talons around her body in a grip so cold that it sapped the consciousness from her in mere seconds.
-----
"Applejack! Applejack, wake up!"
Applejack groaned, her body shivering while her mind slowly pulled itself out of the dark void she felt as though she had fallen into.
"Is she alright, dear?"
"I think so, Mrs. Cake, but bring a few blankets over here. And something warm for her to drink."
"She'll be okay, won't she, sis?"
Applejack winced as she grew more aware of the voices. With consciousness came awareness of the pain in her barrel, but at least it was only an ache and not the sensation of being stabbed by her own broken ribs. Three of the voices she could make out, though she didn't understand why she was hearing them. There was Rarity, Rarity's younger sister, and the voice of an older mare... that one must be 'Mrs. Cake.' So why was she hearing those voices instead of Big Mac or Fluttershy or--
"Apple Bloom!" The name came slurred and groggy from the businessmare's mouth, but it was enough to make her force her eyes open. Once she did, her eyes took several seconds for the blurry fields of color surrounding her to coalesce into more solid shapes. She saw a faint glow and heard the faint, high hum of magic being used as a blanket wrapped around her body. She tried to squirm out of it and crawl across the wooden floor that she found underneath her hooves. "Apple Bloom! Where's Apple Bloom? Where are we?"
Before she could get far, she felt hooves on her body holding her in place, shapes around her forming into ponies both familiar and not. The two white unicorns she saw were among those she knew, and they were accompanied by a pudgy blue mare. Rarity leaned in and assured her, "We're in Sugarcube Corner, and Apple Bloom wasn't hurt. She's alright." The unicorn bit her lip before amending her statement by adding, "At least... as alright as any of us are." She pointed a hoof to draw Applejack's attention to a corner of the room where Fluttershy was softly singing a lullaby while keeping her wings wrapped around Apple Bloom and Spike.
Applejack let out a sigh of relief as a lanky orange stallion came up to her with a tray in his mouth on which there were several mugs of what smelled like hot chocolate. After setting it down on the floor beside her, the stallion said, "You should drink some of this. Get some warmth back into your body."
Applejack reached out toward one of the mugs but found that her hoof was shaking, so she held it carefully between two and lifted the hot drink up to her lips. As she slowly drank it down, feeling it settle in her stomach and radiate warmth to the rest of her body, she took in a deep breath. "Oh, Rarity, darling, I feel like I just woke up from a terrible nightmare. What... what happened to us?"
"I did," a new voice spoke up from the other end of the room. This voice was different, with an alien, crystalline tone to it. Applejack gulped as she and the others turned to face the speaker. As the businessmare's eyes panned across the shop, she noticed the telltale signs of a bakery. Fitting for the name she had been given, but in her experience, no other bakery had a front wall entirely encased in ice as this one did. Though nearly opaque, Applejack could see the outline of the bakery's actual wall, and the large gaping hole where it looked as if the shop's window may have been smashed in.
In front of that wall of ice, the speaker sat. Applejack could not help but swallow again as she took in the sight of a griffon of immense stature, locks of wintery white flowing around her head and tail despite the lack of any breeze within the building. Her body was colored entirely white. A pure, cold, sterile white from her beak to her tail, including her eyes which somehow seemed to stare deep into the businessmare despite being completely blank. Feeling herself shiver again under that frigid, expressionless stare, Applejack said, "You... you knocked me into that tree. Who are you? What do you want?"
"Gertrude of the Snowheart clan," the griffon replied impassively. "But if the assassin your princesses sent after me did not know that, I don't imagine that it would mean much to you. No, the other question is the only one that matters to you, because giving me what I want is the only way that you will get what you want. So tell me, my little ponies. Where are the Elements of Harmony kept?"