//------------------------------// // Ch 5: The Heart's Melody // Story: On Wings of Grace // by Midnight Solace //------------------------------// The two princesses made their ways towards Winter’s cottage, completely unaware of the other princesses’ presence, each followed by their fearful entourage. Rainbow and Twilight were both unsure of how Winter would react to two frustrated alicorn princesses showing up at her front door when she had so obviously panicked at seeing just Twilight. They didn’t have long to wonder as they broke through the brush and arrived at Winter’s house. She was sitting in her garden, smiling down at a pair of cockatrices that were eating feed corn from her hoof. Rainbow was just about to call out when the princesses made themselves known. “UNKNOWN ALICORN, I am here to meet and speak with you.” said Celestia and Luna at the same time. They turned and looked at each other upon hearing the other’s voice. A competitive glare sparked between the two as they both made their way over to a startled Winter, who was watching the cockatrices she was feeding run back into the forest, having been scared off by the sudden loud noise. “B-b-big p-ponies.” whimpered Winter as she cowered beneath the gaze of the two princesses. Celestia held out her hoof first. “I am Celestia, and I am…” started Celestia, only to be interrupted by Luna, who stuck her hoof out in front of Celestia’s hoof. “I am Luna, and I am here to…” started Luna before her vision was filled by an alabaster chest. “What do you think you’re doing here Luna?” demanded Celestia, irritation in her voice. “I came here to meet the new alicorn that you kept hidden from me.” said Luna with an equal amount of irritation in her voice. “I told you I would handle it.” growled Celestia. Winter was quickly backing away, her fear growing as the two princesses grew even angrier. Twilight noticed this and tried to intervene and calm the princesses down. But they didn’t even seem to notice her, the air crackling with the tension between the two. Winter’s whimpering was audible now as she was almost at the edge of her yard. Luna was digging her hoof into the ground as her voice continued to gain volume and timbre as she slipped into the royal Canterlot voice. “I have just as much right to meet this new pony as you do sister.” said Luna. “LUNA, I said I would handle it!” yelled Celestia, stamping her hoof, tearing the ground beneath it. At this Winter let out a yelp, her fear reaching its peak. She turned and darted into the woods, not caring where she went so long as she was able to escape the two angry ponies. “Look what you've done.” growled Rainbow as she darted off after Winter into the woods. As Twilight followed after Rainbow, she turned and glared at the two princesses, disappointment in her eyes and voice. “I hope you two are happy. You terrified her.” said Twilight before galloping into the wood. Luna and Celestia looked at each other, guilty looks adorning their faces. “Look at us, bickering over something so silly. And we managed to scare away this new pony with our arguing. What fools we are.” mumbled Celestia. “Yes. But we may yet make up for it. We need to look for her before she gets hurt.” said Luna, flaring her wings and taking flight. Celestia soon followed suit, but only after catching a glance at the two Timberwolves who were watching the exchange with only mild interest, as if they knew what was going to happen, but would not say. The thorns and bramble scratched and tore at Rainbow’s coat and mane as she galloped through the forest, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was finding Winter, who was most likely lost and terrified by now, if her complete disregard for which direction she had been running in held up. She was just about to run through a grove of Melata trees when she heard soft weeping from behind one of the trees. She quietly trotted over to the tree and looked behind it, only to see Winter curled up, her body shaking as she wept. Her mane was dirty and matted, her coat torn in places that had been snagged by the branches of the trees. “W-Winter.” whispered Rainbow as she slowly inched closer. Winter stopped sobbing, her eyes lifting to meet Rainbow’s before she pressed herself even further into the indentation under the tree to continue her sobbing. Rainbow trotted over and laid herself down next to Winter, feeling her tense up next to her before eventually relaxing. “Why did you run away Winter?” asked Rainbow, being careful not to do anything to spook the mare. “I don’t know. It’s just, when they were fighting, it looked so… familiar to me, as if I've seen it before. But I can’t figure out why. So I ran. Not merely because I was afraid, but because I was confused by what I saw and what my memories might hold.” said Winter, tears still rolling silently down her face as the unwanted memories surfaced once more. Rainbow raised a hoof to Winter’s cheek and gently wiped away the tears that were falling. Winter turned to look at Rainbow, confusion, shock, and… hope in her eyes. Rainbow draped a wing over Winter, looking up at her face, tears streaming down her own face, not because she was sad or angry or happy, but because she could be there for her. For the mare she loved and cherished above all others, although she had tried to deny it at first. “It’s okay to be afraid, Winter. Even I can be scared sometimes. But you don’t have to let that fear rule your life. If those memories are hurting you so much and causing you to be so afraid, then let me take some of the burden. Let me stand by your side, to support you when you fall and praise you when you succeed. Let me be in your heart when you are alone, so that you may always have someone at your side. You don’t have to stand alone. You don’t have to close off your heart so that it can’t be hurt. You can be strong and brave and heroic. You can be and do so much Winter. Just… let me in. Let me be with you.” said Rainbow, baring her heart and feelings to Winter, tilting her head so that she could gaze into the eyes of the most beautiful mare she had ever known. And then she leaned in and kissed her. Winter’s eyes widened at the kiss, her mind freezing up as Rainbow’s soft lips locked with her own. But she didn’t resist. In fact, it felt quite… nice. As she closed her eyes and leaned in to meet Rainbow, the only thought that clouded her mind, pushing aside all her worries, fears, and anxieties, was that she loved this mare. She couldn't explain why or how, but she just knew that she would do anything, be anything for her. The tension that had earlier claimed her now slid off of her like water, a warm, tingly feeling taking its place in her heart. She would have been content staying there, embracing Rainbow for hours until she heard a loud piercing scream followed by a terrible roar. Her head shot up as she recognized the roar for what it was. It was the roar of a manticore and an angry one at that. Before Rainbow could realize happened, Winter had lifted her with her magic and placed her on her back. Winter spread her majestic wings and took to the skies, the trees and clouds twisting away from the air current she produced. Twilight was backed against a stone wall, six manticores having cornered her in a dead end. She couldn't move her right wing, as one of the manticores had struck it with its claw. The lead manticore roared again, taking another step closer to Twilight. Twilight’s back hoof struck the stone of the wall, signaling the end to her movement. Twilight closed her eyes in acceptance of her fate, so she didn’t see the blue blur that swooped down and landed in front of her, letting Rainbow slide off her back and go stand next to Twilight, who looked at her and then at Winter in shock. The manticores were surprised by the new arrival but not too intimidated, although they could feel the power rolling off of this new pony. The manticores all roared in unison, hoping to intimidate the new challenger, but Winter just stared them down. The air thrummed with power as Winter prepared her spell, her horn glowing with a threatening green magic. The trees around her groaned and creaked as her magic surged into them, their roots and branches reaching out for the manticores, who took a few steps back, eyeing the advancing foliage given life warily. The wind had also picked up, feeding off of the protective nature of Winter’s magic. It was whipping around, picking up branches, rocks and whatever else it could, throwing them around at high speed. The clouds above took on a dark, menacing color as the temperature began to drop drastically. Snow had begun to fall as the clouds surged together to form one endless storm cloud covering the entire sky. Frost was forming on the forest floor, the trees and everything else the snow touched. Winter’s eyes now glowed a hateful blue as she glared at the manticores, whose eyes were finally filling with fear. Icy frost was exhaled with every breath and the ground rumbled beneath Winter’s feet as her spell became more intense. Ice was forming around the manticore’s feet and they were frantically trying to break out so they could escape, now terrified of the god-like Winter. She could hear somepony speaking frantically to her, but the actual words were drowned out by the roar in Winter’s ears. Winter’s eyes widened as she realized what was happening and the memories that resurfaced due to her actions horrified her. “No.” she whispered, tears streaming down her frost covered cheek. Celestia and Luna had to fight against the freezing winds to keep from being thrown to the ground. The snow only made it harder as it stuck to their wings and the cold began to numb the tired appendages. The storm had appeared out of nowhere, blanketing the entire Everfree forest with the cold white sheet. It raged far harder than any natural storm and it was beginning to spread outside of the Everfree’s borders, touching the outskirts of the apple orchard in the distance. The trees that were touched by the snow froze solid almost instantly, shriveling into unrecognizable black forms. And the storm was only growing more powerful with each passing second. Even Luna’s moon seemed to be growing paler as the cold settled into her sister’ body. A normal Pegasus or unicorn, no matter how powerful would be able to create a storm like this. And Celestia knew Twilight, despite being an alicorn and having as much power as she did, would not be able to form such an intense blizzard, if it could be called that anymore. So that left only one other alicorn who could possibly summon the power to create it and it was the one alicorn Celestia knew nothing about and the one that caused her much worry… Winter Song. Winter stood in the center of the clearing, her powers growing wildly out of control. Twilight cowered against the stone wall, frost covering her form and making her appear almost white. The manticores were now entirely encased in ice, their last expression one of pure terror as they had tried to flee from their impending doom. Tears rolled down Winter’s face as she tried to make her power stop, but it just wouldn't listen to her. Celestia and Luna landed a distance away from Winter, folding their wings in to prevent them from being snapped off by the powerful wind. Both princesses could feel the emotions of terror and sadness reverberating through the air, their very presence making the snow feel even heavier. But their source was not Twilight Sparkle nor Rainbow Dash, but the alicorn that was the center of the storm. The princesses could not even approach the alicorn, as the magic that was surrounding her would not let any pony near. But one pony stood from her place among the snow and began to trudge towards Winter, ignoring the biting wind and flaring magic that beat against her coat. Rainbow Dash would not let Winter suffer alone. Far from the epicenter in the dusty badlands, the Hive of Queen Chrysalis was just starting to feel the effects of the emotional blizzard. The changelings had all taken cover inside the protective walls of the hive, preferring not to take their chances with the violent winds outside. Even Queen Chrysalis refused to venture out into freezing winds, although she, like the entire hive, could feel the powerful emotions coursing through each blast of cold. She wanted to send out a scouting party to determine the source of the powerful emotions, but she was not going to risk any of her children just to find out what she already had a strong feeling about. The emotions that were pouring out of the winds felt just like the ones she had experienced long, long ago. Almost 258 years later and she still remembered the face of the one true friend she had managed to make when she was but a young mare. Chrysalis hoped that once the storm subsided, she would be able to go and see her old friend once more. Rainbow pushed her way through the opposing wind and snow so that she could get to Winter. “Winter.” cried Rainbow, almost near Winter now. Winter turned her head, her eyes still shining an icy blue, tears turning to ice before they even left her face. “Please, stay away from me. I don’t want you to get hurt.” she begged, turning to face the mare she loved more than anything else. “No. I already told you that I wouldn't let you be alone. Whatever happened in your past and whatever you’re suffering through now, we can face it together.” said Rainbow, moving even closer to Winter, managing to grasp Winter’s tail in her mouth and pull herself closer. “Please. I beg you. Leave.” pleaded Winter. “No. I won’t.” said Rainbow as she wrapped her hooves around Winter’s neck, pulling her close. Winter’s tears stained Rainbow’s coat, but Rainbow didn’t care, continuing to hold Winter until the wind started to die down and the air started to warm. Winter’s sobbing began to soften until it stopped altogether and she turned to look at the mare that had stopped her violent outburst. Rainbow was just smiling up at her, her eyes sparkling with happiness. Without another word, Rainbow buried her muzzle in Winter’s chest, wishing to lose herself in her love’s blue coat. Celestia was watching the exchange with a measure of disdain, an expression that did not go unnoticed by her sister, who looked at her sister with worry. Chrysalis noticed the dying winds and quickly made her way to the balcony that was just starting to clear of the thick blanket of snow that had accumulated. Unfurling her gossamer wings, she quickly took to the air. She would not miss this opportunity to meet with her old friend and the one mare who had stolen Winter's heart. She sent a message through the hive-mind to not follow her. What she didn’t realize was that a pair of hateful, envious eyes were watching her disappear into the distance, a devious plan forming in his mind.