//------------------------------//
// 2nd Doctor - The Cosmic Hobo 
// Story: Dr Who / Lunaverse - Time after Time 
// by Talon and Thorn 
//------------------------------//

Rock Steady hated the cold. He loved his original home in Mareami with its tropical climate; to him ice was something you found in your drink, not something that you walked on, or that stretched as far as the eye could see. He gazed around the arctic environment that surrounded him and shivered. Even with extra padding the frozen metal of his armour still leached the heat from his body. Join the guard they said, see the world they said, they didn’t mention anything about this Luna-forsaken part of it, he thought.
 
“Come on, no lollygagging around!” came a shout bordering on a scream, from a few inches away from his ears.
 
If there was one thing Rock Steady hated more than the cold, it was Sergeant Ironside. The sergeant was a giant of a mare, larger than most stallions, battered and scarred by a life of soldiering; one ear long lost, her muzzle a shapeless blob. She had always been a hardass, but since they had been stationed here she seemed to have made it her job to make her subordinates’ life - and his in particular - as hard as possible. It was always his turn for latrine duty, or night patrol, or his armour wasn’t clean enough, or any one of a thousand slights against him. He wanted to tell the unicorn where she could get off, but so far his training had stopped him, just.
 
“Coming, Sergeant,” replied Rock Steady as he redoubled his pace to keep up with his superior. However, he failed to pay attention to where he put his hooves and skidded on a patch of ice. With a yell he slid into a deep snowdrift.
 
“Get up, you worthless mud pony,” growled Ironside as she yanked her subordinate out of the snow with her magic.
 
For a moment Rock Steady was shocked into silence by the slur. “What did you call me?” he cried, face red from more of than just the cold.
 
“You heard me, maggot. Now sound off, I won’t let you embarrass me in front of the Lieutenant again.”
 
Suddenly the pieces dropped into place for Rock Steady. “That’s what this is about? The Lieutenant? You’re soft on him. His boyish good looks makes your heart all aflutter? He’s a worthless toff, his parents probably bought his commission,” he snarled.
 
“Shut up! You’re on report!” Ironside yelled over the noise of the wind that had suddenly picked up, throwing flurries of snow around.
 
“Like I care! He’ll never stick it to you, you know. Even if you put a bag over your ugly mug. If he did it’d probably freeze up and snap off!” Rock Steady gloated.
 
“I’m going to wipe that grin off of your ugly face!” yelled the mare. However she found she couldn’t move; her hooves were frozen to the ground. “What the...” she exclaimed.
 
Rock Steady tried to jump back in surprise but found that he was likewise immobilized. He started to shiver, it was so very cold all of a sudden. “W-w-what the b-buck is go-going on,” he stuttered.
 
“W-what’s th-that?” Ironside shouted, trying to point into the snowstorm. The ice encasing her legs had almost reached her body now.
 
Rock Steady tried to ignore the numb feeling spreading up his body and peered into the blizzard that had sprung up. He could just make out a number of large blue shapes moving around them. They seemed almost transparent. “W-wha-a-t are th-they?”
 
Ironside was silent, her whole body encased in a thick layer of ice.
 
Rock Steady panicked. “H-h-he-elp!” he cried, “P-p-please, so-somepony! An-anypon-n-y h-h..” He in turn was cut off by the creeping ice covering him entirely.
 
For a moment all was quiet apart from the howl of the wind, then a pair of large blue equine shapes detached themselves from the clouds above and galloped through the air towards the frozen bodies. For a few seconds they circled, then cautiously approached. With a sudden lunge, each shape leapt towards one of the icebound ponies only to disappear upon contact.
 
With a cracking sound one of Rock Steady’s front legs smashed out of the ice encasing it, then the other. Finally the block of ice surrounding him shattered, throwing shrapnel in all directions. Jerkily his head turned from one side to the other, and his eyes opened to reveal a cold blue fire. He was still covered by a thin layer of ice, although it flowed like cloth over his body. Behind him Ironside broke free of her prison as well.
 
Slowly, but with increasing confidence, the two ice covered ponies started to walk across the frozen ground towards a collection of tents on the horizon. Behind them the storm started to intensify and more blue shapes could be seen moving in the distance.
 





  
 
The Doctor exited the TARDIS and looked around. The scenery was almost featureless, snow and ice stretching to the horizon in all directions. With a sigh that misted in front of him, he looked down at his own form. He was a short stallion in this incarnation, his coat a light grey in colour and his head and neck covered by a trick black mop of a mane. Most of his body was covered by a baggy black jacket several sizes too large for his diminutive form. His rear legs were covered is black and white checked trousers, and around his neck was a black bow tie. “I knew there was something I meant to do before I came here. The colour saturation circuits are still broken.”
 
“What’s that, Doctor?” asked a voice in a Scottish brogue as a second pony joined him. He was an earth pony stallion, standing only slightly larger than the Doctor, but was much younger looking. He had a shaggy dark grey mane and a light grey coat. He wore a fur lined jacket over a frilly white shirt. A tartan kilt covered his flanks and socks covered his hooves. “It’s cold as a witch’s heart out here! We’re no gonna find more Yeti out here are we?” he complained, trying to hug himself and almost fell as he took both his front hooves off the ground. “Hey, whas going on?” he asked trying to examine his form.
 
“I tried to explain to you, Jamie, the transmogrifier disguises us as natives of this dimension.”
 
“Eye, but you dinne say we were gonna be wee horses.”
 
“Well that’s what the natives look like here. Some are normal ponies, others are unicorns and some pegasus.” The doctor patted his forehead and his expression sank. “Oh, we both seem to be normal ponies, earth ponies I think they call them. That’s a shame, I was rather looking forward to doing magic again.”
 
“Magic, dinna you say there was no such thing?”
 
“Well not in our own world, but here the impossible is very possible - even likely.”
 
“Och, it’s a pity Zoe couldne come, I’m sure she’d love this place.”
 
“Yes, well, the Time Lords wouldn’t let all of us go, they wanted to keep her as a sort of hostage to make sure I came back. It was difficult enough to get them agree to letting you and me travel here, but when I explained the possible danger to both universes if we didn’t patch the barrier they didn’t have a choice.”
 
“You’re not gonna let them catch us again are you?”
 
“We’ll I don’t see that I have any other option, not with them holding Zoe. Still, I might have a few tricks up my sleeves. You know what they say, while there's life there's hope. Now let’s see where the shard is, shall we.” The Doctor pulled a long thin wand from his pocket and turned in a circle. The device gave a faint buzz. “Oh dear, it seems to be quite a way off, in that direction,” he pointed.
 
Jamie cantered forwards to the top of a low ridge of snow. “Near those tents?” he asked.
 
“What tents?” The Doctor squinted. “I think you’re right, Jamie.” There seemed to be a number of large tents on the horizon, blending into the scenery with their white colour.
 
“Well, if we have to make it all the way over there then we better be quick, I think a storm’s coming.” The young Scot looked up at the rapidly darkening sky.
 
“I think you may be right Jamie, it is getting a bit chilly.” The Doctor clutched his coat closer.
 
“Doctor,” called Jamie, tugging at the Doctor’s sleeve.
 
“What is it Jamie?” asked the Doctor somewhat testily. He turned to find out what was troubling his companion. There, only a few meters away, several large horse-like shapes were hovering just off of the ground. They were transparent with long flowing manes and tails, and an aura of cold seemed to waft off of them. They examined the travellers curiously. Behind the vanguard many more of the creatures could be seen circling in the sky.
 
“What are they, Doctor?” whispered Jamie.
 
“I don’t know,” replied the Doctor. “I haven't seen anything like them before.”
 
“They dinae look too friendly.”
 
“I know, but appearances can be deceptive. Still if I say run, run like a rabbit for those tents over there.” The Doctor slowly inched his way towards the blue creatures with a wide smile on his face. “Hello there,” he said, “I’m the Doctor and this is Jamie. We just want to be your friends.”
 
With a loud whinny one of the creatures reared out on its hind legs, and the Doctor felt a stream of ice cold air flow over him. “Run, Jamie!” he yelled.
 
His companion didn’t need to be told twice and had already started off over the plateau. The Doctor took off after him with several of the horse-like creatures in pursuit. They skidded on sheets of ice and leapt over snow banks in panic while the spirit creatures glided through the stormy air. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped, and snow started to flurry around the travellers dropping visibility to almost nothing.
 





 
Shining Armour was bored. He picked at the stitching of his red dress uniform; it wasn’t the most practical of outfits but at least it was warmer than his armour. When he’d first thought of joining the guard he’d imagined it would all be excitement and adventure, fighting dragons, saving beautiful mares, protecting Equestria. Of course, his years in the military academy had driven home just how much of soldiering was standing around doing nothing or long meetings and endless paperwork. He had hoped that now that he’d graduated and had his own command, it might have been a bit different... but here he was in the middle of nowhere, babysitting a group of civilians.
 
At least the scenery was nice, he thought, trying to sneak a glance at Lemon Crofter. The archaeologist’s coat was a light blue, the colour of a clear summer sky, and her long mane was a glossy brown, currently done in a tight plait that reached almost down to the ground. She was almost a decade older than him, but he’d always preferred older mares - somepony with some experience. This particular experienced mare was tall and thin but she was still nicely padded where it mattered. He risked a glance at her crossed pick axe cutie mark; he imagined caressing that mark and the noises she might make as he did.
 
“Lieutenant Armour,” she said in her deep, almost masculine voice.
 
That’s it, say my name, thought Shining in his fantasy.
 
“Lieutenant Armour?” she repeated louder.
 
He shook himself, his eyes wide. Had she noticed him staring? His blush showed clearly through his white coat. ”Um,” he stuttered, trying to sort through his thoughts. “Sorry, what was that?”
 
“I said, I think we can clear the last of the rubble by the end of the day, if your troops can help us.”
 
“Oh, well, there’s not many of us but I’m sure I can spare a few ponies to assist. With the rogue storm incoming it’s not like we can go out and patrol.”
 
“Good. Do you have anything for us, Times?”
 
Past Times, Lemon’s assistant and their guide, looked up from the artefact he was cleaning, brush still in his mouth. “‘ot?” he grunted. He was a crystal pony, his coat a glittering ruby, and his mane was striped black and white. He had once boasted that he had some zebra in his family tree, but given the distance between their lands and the empire that seemed unlikely. He spat out the brush. “Nothing spectacular today, we found some more pieces of that mosaic and one of the students thinks they can get a partial translation of it given a day or so. We found a few more statues of course.” He held up the almost shapeless blob of rock with a shard extruding from one end. “Do you think this looks more like Clover the Clever or Princess Platinum?” He turned it around in his hooves. “Or maybe Pudding Head?”
 
“It looks like a stone. I think I saw one just like it on a farm once,” joked Shining, earning a glare from both Lemon and Past Times.
 
“If no one else has anything else useful to say, I’d like to get back to the dig and get that door uncovered,” said Lemon testily.
 
“Do you really think this could be it?” asked Golden Sceptre, the fourth pony crammed into the cramped command tent and the expedition’s patron. The unicorn stallion’s pale yellow coat almost glittered in the light, and his perfectly coifed golden mane fell like a waterfall down his back.
 
“Well I don’t want to get our hopes up,” said Lemon, “but the inscriptions on the door are in early Equestrian and although we can’t translate all of it there are several references to fire.”
 
“But the fire of friendship itself, could it really be here?”
 
“As I‘ve told you before, I can’t guarantee anything. Outside of Hearth’s Warming tales there is little actual historical evidence of the existence of the fire. It’s not even clear if it is an artefact or a spell or something else. However, the similarity between the mythical powers of the fire and those of the Crystal Heart may suggest a link, so here near the empire may be the best place to search. However, we won’t know for sure until we breach the main chamber itself, which isn’t going to happen if you don’t let me get back to work.”
 
“Ah, of course Ms Crofter, it’s just that this is all so exciting,” squealed the noble, clapping his hooves together. “To think Princess Platinum, one of my own ancestors, was present when the flames were first lit, and now...”
 
He was interrupted as one of Shining Armour’s soldiers, Sharp Blade, yanked open the tent’s flap allowing a blast of cold air to enter. “Sir,” she saluted crisply, “sentries have reported something approaching from the north.”
 
“What type of something?” asked Shining.
 
The soldier looked confused. “A sort of blue floaty thing, sir.”
 
Shining armour sighed. Despite her name, Sharp Blade was not the quickest of ponies. Still, she didn’t normally have the imagination to make things up. He turned to the rest of the group. “Gentlestallions, lady, if you would excuse me I should look into this.”
 
Golden gave an ornate wave and headed towards his own quarters - a much larger and warmer tent than this one - while Times returned to cleaning the statue. “Do you mind if I join you?” asked Lemon. “I could do with stretching my legs before I get back to the dig.”
 
Shining Armour nodded, while his inner school colt gave a little squeal. She wants to be with me! The three of them left the command tent and headed towards the perimeter. The wind was picking up and snow had started to fall throughout the camp. The group made their way to the northern boundary and met up with the two guards stationed there.
 
“Report!” ordered Shining. “What have you seen?”
 
“Sir, there’s something out there sir, in the storm, flying around they are sir,” said one of them. Shining thought his name was Pointer, but he wasn’t sure. He felt a pang of guilt about that; he had few enough guards under his command that he should at least be able to remember their names.
 
“There’s one,” said the other guard, pointing.
 
In the distance the sky could be seen darkening, and the fall of snow around them grew increasingly heavy. Shining narrowed his eyes. It did look like something was moving, but surely no pegasus would be stupid enough to fly in a rogue storm like that? Suddenly, with a blinding flash, a bolt of lightning erupted from the storm, followed a few seconds later by a rumble of thunder. Blinking away the aftereffects from his eyes, he saw a stream of blue figures detach from the storm, getting bigger and bigger as they approached. He remembered a Hearth’s Warming play many years ago when he was a colt; it had been a lavish production and several expert illusionists had been employed for the special effects, and the result had been scarily realistic. He’d been glad to cuddle up with his mother's swollen belly at the time, so he could protect his sister held within it of course. What he saw reminded him strongly of that and for a moment he wanted his mother to be here. “They’re… they’re...” he stuttered, unable to finish the sentence.
 
“Windigos,” Lemon breathed from beside him, sounding almost joyous. “They aren't a myth after all.”
 
Mutters passed between the soldiers around them and they started to back away.
 
Shining Armour shook himself. He was the officer in charge. He had to show some leadership. “Sharp, sound the alarm,” he commanded. “I want all the troops ready for action, make sure the civilians get undercover.”
 
The pegasus saluted and rushed into the camp yelling as she went.
 
“You two, form up,” he told the guards who shuffled uneasily, but readied their spears. “Ms Crofter, you should get back to your tent.”
 
She had produced a pad and quill from somewhere and was writing in a notebook. “Not on your life,” she replied without looking up.
 
Shining grinned. She reminded him of his sister, which given how he had been thinking of her only a few minutes ago made him feel a bit queasy. He pushed aside his thoughts and stepped forward. The first of the Windigos was now only a few hundred meters away. Taking a deep breath, he tried to put on a brave face and hoped that anyone would put the shaking of his legs down to the cold. “Halt!” he bellowed. “This camp is under the protection of the Equestrian Guard. Do not come any closer, we will defend ourselves if you attack.”
 
For a moment the lead Windigo seemed to pull up and Shining thought he might have actually intimidated them, but then it leapt forward and exhaled a cone of freezing air at him. It seemed to approach in slow motion until, to Shining’s surprise, he was suddenly shoved aside by one of the guards who took the blast in Shining’s place. Time seemed to return to its normal pace and Shining tumbled aside; he could hear the injured guard screaming, see his companion striking futilely at the air as the creature passed by. The rest were getting closer by the second.
 
Staggering to his feet, Shining shook his head to clear it. “Is everypony in camp?” he yelled.
 
“I think so,” gasped the uninjured guard. “I think I saw Ironside’s patrol return a few minutes ago.” He jabbed at the floating shape, but his spear passed straight through it and ice grew along its haft.
 
Shining Armour reached into himself and concentrated. A pink aura grew up around him and his companions, just in time to stop a second blast of cold from a Windigo. Several of the creatures cautiously circled the dome, while the rest of them made their way towards the centre of the camp where he could see the rest of his command starting to emerge from their tents. Centring himself, Shining threw a pulse of energy at the circling spirits, knocking them back before creating a second dome large enough to cover the whole camp. He felt several of the creatures attempting to force their way through the shield, but it held for the moment.
 
Shining turned to the injured pony. A chunk of his flank and one of his rear legs was encased in ice. “Thank you, private. You saved me.” He turned to the other guard. “Help him to the medic,” he commanded.
 
“It was nothing, sir,” groaned the injured guard as his companion eased him onto her back. “It looks like you saved us all,” he gestured at the shield above them.
 
For the moment, though Shining, feeling a slight, but growing, ache in his horn.
 





 
“How much farther, Doctor?” shouted Jamie, trying to make himself heard over the sound of the wind. They had been running from the flying creatures for what felt like hours and the storm’s intensity had been growing all the time.
 
“I’m not sure, I can hardly see my hoof in front of my face,” panted the Doctor. “Are they still following us?”
 
Jamie risked a glance back and could just about make out a shape moving behind them. “Aye, they’re persistent, I’ll give them that.”
 
Suddenly the Doctor slipped on the ice and went head over hooves into a deep pile of snow.
 
“Doctor!” cried Jamie, instantly stopping and turning to help his friend.
 
“No Jamie! Stay away, save yourself!” the Doctor tried to get up but he remained buried. Several blue forms could be seen quickly closing on their position.
 
“Och, dinna be daft,” Jamie reached the Doctor and started to pull him out of the snow. A shape loomed up and he turned to defend himself. Suddenly a transparent pink wall appeared between him and the creature. Unable to stop, the horse-like shape crashed into the barrier. Screeching as if it has been burned, the creature backed away. Several of its fellows stopped as well and hovered, examining the wall.
 
Jamie looked around. The pink aura seemed to form a dome around the area that he and the Doctor were now in; it stretched for quite some distance in all directions. Within it the storm had stopped, and it even seemed marginally warmer. He hauled the Doctor to his hooves.
 
“Oh my,” said the Doctor, looking around. He gingerly touched the wall before snatching his hoof back. “It tingles,” he declared with a grin.
 
“Well it keeps those flying beasties out.”
 
“Yes, Jamie. And us in.”
 
“Where did it come from?” asked Jamie.
 
“It seems to be covering these tents,” said the Doctor looking around. There were several large tents around the area. “It’s some sort of camp. We should look around and see who saved us, don’t you think?” Without waiting for an answer he started towards the nearest tent. With a sigh Jamie followed him.
 





 
The tents turned out to linked together into a complex by a number of fabric tunnels running between them, presumably so that the inhabitants could move from tent to tent without having to venture out into the cold. It took the Doctor and Jamie quite some time to find an entrance; it had been tied shut and they were unable to open it with their clumsy hooves and so were forced to chew through the ties. The fabric blocked most of the light so the inside of the tent was gloomy. It was difficult to see the contents of the tent but they could just about make out a large number of wooden crates of various sizes ranging from big enough to hold an adult stallion to the size of a hoof.
 
“What are they, Doctor?” asked Jamie.
 
“I don’t know. Let’s take a look.” Searching around the floor, the Doctor found a short crowbar and Jamie used it to prise the cover off of one of the larger boxes. Within stood an ancient-looking statue, time having worn away most of the fine detail. It seemed to show six ponies, two of each tribe, standing around what looked like a tall flame or possibly a tree. The Doctor took the tracker from his pocket and scanned the statue; it gave a quiet buzz, indicating that it was not the shard but may have been close to it recently.
 
“It’s just a bunch of rocks.”
 
“Humm, maybe something more than that. They might have some cultural or historical importance. This could be an archaeological dig of some sort.”
 
“What’s an arch-o-logical when it’s at home?”
 
“Archaeological, Jamie, it’s the study of, hum... well, I guess pony activity in the past.”
 
“What do they think they’re going to find?”
 
“Well, that is the question isn’t it. Wait, did you hear something?” hissed the Doctor, gently putting the statue back in its crate. “I think somepony else is in here.”
 
Jamie stalked forward cautiously and could just about make out a shadowed figure at the far end of the tent. It seemed to be nervously jogging from hoof to hoof. The Scot tried to get closer to get a better look, but in the darkness he tripped on one of the smaller boxes and fell to the ground with a bang.
 
The shadowed pony almost leapt into the air before calming itself. “Is that you?” It sounded male.
 
Jamie started to pick himself up, not sure what to say. The Doctor pushed past him. “Well, who else would it be?” he said.
 
“Good. Now stay back,” warned the mysterious pony. “It’s better if we all stay anonymous, in case you get caught.”
 
“Of course,” said the Doctor, sounding as if he understood what the other pony was talking about.
 
As Jamie’s eyes adapted better to the darkness, he could make out more of the strange pony. Its coat almost glittered in the little light there was. “Oh, aye,” he added, trying to join the conversation.
 
“Right, now take all the crates with the red crosses on them. I’ve made sure they won’t be missed. I take it you have a cart or sled nearby?”
 
“Well a method of travel, certainly,” said the Doctor.
 
“Good.” There was a clink as the figure threw a bag onto the floor. The Doctor picked it up; it contained a large number of silver coins. “You’ll get the rest when you deliver these. Don’t think of double crossing me. I have many powerful friends, it would be a mistake.”
 
“Of course, but could you explain...”
 
The figure ignored him and carried on speaking. “See if you can get back here in a day or two. I’ve just found something that will make all of us very wealthy ponies. Very wealthy indeed.” He seemed to stare off into the distance for a moment before turning and disappearing into the darkness.
 
“What was all that about?” asked Jamie.
 
“I think that our ‘employer’, whoever he is, is smuggling these artefacts and thinks that we’re here to help him.”
 
“These rocks? Who’d want them?”
 
“Oh, some people like these sort of things very much. They like to hold on to them just so they know that they are the only one who has them. They pay an awful lot of money just so that other people don’t get to see them. It’s not right.”
 
“What was it he was talking about? Something to make us wealthy?”
 
“I’m not sure, a big find of some sort? I think we should follow him and find out, don’t you?” said the Doctor, heading in the direction the shadowy figure had gone. Jamie shrugged and followed him.
 
The pair found themselves in one of the canvas tunnels that linked the tents. It had several jars containing fireflies attached to the walls, generating light, but there was no sign of the mysterious pony. The Doctor wetted his hoof and held it up. “There seems to be quite a breeze coming from this direction,” he pointed down one of the tunnels. “Maybe somepony left the door open.”
 
Jamie moved ahead stealthily. The tunnel turned a corner and as he followed it he almost tripped over a pony in armour. He leapt back, colliding with the Doctor who had been following him. The two of them went down in a tangle of legs. “Errr, hello,” said the Doctor as he got to his hooves, “I don’t suppose you saw someone else coming this way? You see...” His voice trailed off as he noticed the pony hadn’t turned to face him, or in fact moved in any way. He cautiously approached it. The guard stood still as a statue. He was covered in a thin layer of ice. The Doctor tapped the frozen form and it unbalanced and fell with a thud.
 
“What’s happened?” asked Jamie looking at the prone form. It was a pegasus stallion, a look of surprise on his frozen features. He carried a spear which was thrust forward as if to ward off something, and like its owner the spear was covered in ice.
 
“I don’t know Jamie,” said the Doctor, examining a tear in the fabric of the tent.
 
Suddenly a large youthful white stallion in a red uniform came around the corner in front of them, flanked by a pegasus mare in armour. “Who are you?” he demanded. Then his eyes fell upon the frozen pony. “Spear Tip,” he gasped. “What have you done to him?” His angry gaze returned to the two time travellers.
 
“You canne think we had anything to do with that,” said Jamie.
 
The stallion stomped forward. “I find two strangers in my camp and one of my soldiers frozen solid! What am I supposed to think?”
 
“Well I suppose it does look rather suspicious,” said the Doctor. “But it really is totally a coincidence, Mr...”
 
“Shining Armour, Lieutenant Shining Armour,” answered the stallion automatically.
 
“Well Lieutenant Shining Armour, I’m sure if we all just sit down and discuss it like sensible ponies we can sort out what happened.” He raised a hoof in a conciliatory gesture.
 
“I’m na chatting with a red coat,” exclaimed Jamie, pointing at Shining’s uniform. He rushed towards the officer, attempting to barge him aside. However, he found himself suspended in the air by a pink aura. “Hey, leggo,” he struggled but couldn’t get free.
 
“Private, disarm these intruders,” Shining instructed.
 
Sharp moved forward and reached for the dagger in Jamie’s sock.
 
“Get your hooves of me dirk,” he bellowed.
 
Sharp shied back, blushing. “I didn’t mean to... You’re nice and all but... Well, unless you...” she stuttered.
 
Shining face hoofed. “He said dirk, it’s a kind of knife.”
 
“Oh, sorry sir,” She plucked the dagger from Jamie’s sheaf with one of her wings. She paused for a second then suddenly dragged back his kilt.
 
“Get offa me woman, you’re obsessed,” yelled Jamie.
 
“He’s a blank flank!” she exclaimed.
 
“What?” Shining Armour stepped forward to examine the greyscale pony. “At his age? Who are you two? We’re five days out of the Crystal Empire in the middle of nowhere. How did you get here?” he demanded.
 
“Now that can be a bit difficult to explain,” said the Doctor, stepping forward. “You see me and Jamie aren't really ponies, we just look like you. We’re from a different dimension and we’ve come here to help your universe by recovering a piece of the barrier between our two worlds.” He grinned as if that explained everything.
 
Shining blinked. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I think you’re something to do with the Windigo’s attacking us. For all I know you might be Windigo in pony form.”
 
“Windigo? Are they those blue shapes outside?” asked the Doctor. “It’s funny you said about them taking on other forms because something cut its way in here,” he gestured at the gap in the wall, “and did that to your soldier,” he pointed at the frozen pony, “and I can assure you it wasn’t us.”
 
“And why should I believe you?”
 
“Well if you look here,” the Doctor gestured at the tear in the fabric, “you can see there are small shards of ice embedded in it. And I think if you follow that path,” he pointed back the way Shining armour had come, “you’ll find a trail of these things. Plus if I could turn ponies into ice lollies I doubt we would have having this conversation, don’t you?”
 
Shining stared hard at the Doctor for a moment, trying to find the truth in his statement. The Doctor just sat there nonchalantly. The stalemate was broken by Jamie. “Can you no get me down from here?” he asked.
 
With a sigh, Shining lowered the grey pony to the ground. “Fine, I don’t believe all you’ve said, but I don’t think you attacked Spear Tip. However, I’ll be keeping an eye on you and you can consider yourselves under arrest for the moment.”
 
“Can I get my dir… knife back then?” asked Jamie.
 
Shining rolled his eyes. ”Oddly, we don’t normally let ponies under arrest keep weapons,” he growled, rubbing his aching head. He turned to the Doctor who had produced a stethoscope and had put it against the frozen pony. “Stop that,” roared the white stallion. “Show some respect for the dead.” He began to pull the older stallion from the guard.
 
“Wait!” cried the Doctor. “I don’t think he’s dead. I can hear a heartbeat.”
 
“What?” Shining’s jaw dropped in surprise.
 
“It’s slow and a bit faint but it’s still there. The ice seems to be preserving him in some way.”
 
“Can you unfreeze him?”
 
“I don’t know. I’d need to investigate further to find out.”
 
Shining gently picked up the frozen form in his aura. “We should get him and ourselves to Lemon, she probably knows the most about Windigos. Maybe she can do something about this. You two, follow me. Sharp, keep an eye on them.”
 





 
Shining Armour lead his party through the fabric walkways to the site of the excavation itself. Positioned at the centre of the camp, it consisted of a tunnel leading into the ground. The walls alternated between natural rock and inscription covered and crumbling plaster. Lemon had told him the complex had started as a natural cave but had been strengthened and built within by the ponies of the day. Much of their work had since crumbled with age. The complex was potentially a labyrinth of tunnels but most of them had collapsed. Times Past had talked of trying to clear them but it was the work of several years at least. So far the team had mostly worked on the largest paths in the hope that they would lead to their target.
 
The group finally came to a stop at the dig site itself. The area was well preserved with frescos on most of the walls, and a large stone door, twice the height and maybe five times the width of an average pony, stood on the far wall. The floor was still covered in rubble. Around the chamber stood several dozen ponies - the students and workers employed to clear the area, watched over by a small number of Shining Armour's troops and Scepter’s personal guard. They seemed quite subdued, which wasn’t surprising given what had occurred above their heads less than an hour ago.
 
Shining gently placed Spear Tip’s form on the ground again and gestured to his troops. “You two,” he pointed at a pair of soldiers, “Go topside and keep an eye on the shield.” The growing throbbing in his head told him his spell was still in place but the Windigos were attacking it. “Sound the alarm if anything breaks in and stop anypony from trying to get out.”
 
The soldiers saluted and ran back up the tunnel to the surface.
 
Sceptre started to walk towards the new arrivals but stopped part way and turned aside. Shining did not have time to question his behaviour before Lemon came over from the dig and stared at the frozen pony he had brought with him. “What happened?” she asked.
 
“He was attacked by something. I found those two,” he nodded at the Doctor and Jamie, “near him. They made up a story about being from another dimension but even so I don’t think they did it. Something else might have made it in. Do you know anything about Windigo attacking people?”
 
She shook her head. “Until I saw them I wasn’t entirely sure Windigo actually existed. I had suspected that they were just an allegory for inter-tribal strife. That’s my thesis down the drain then.” She grinned. “In the stories they froze the old leaders but that isn’t normally depicted as a direct attack.”
 
Shining sighed. “I hope we can find a way to defrost them later. Keep an eye on the new arrivals. I’m going to round up the rest of my forces and try to hunt it down. I’ll send anypony else I find down here - it’s easier to defend you all in one place.”
 
Lemon nodded, “I’ll see if I can get that door open. If the legends are true, what’s behind it might be the only weapon we have against the Windigo.”
 
“You’re right, that might be why they’re attacking now before we can switch it on.”
 
“I guess I better start thinking friendly thoughts to get ready, then.”
 
“I don’t have any problem feeling friendly with you around,” said Shining with a grin. Then he realised he’d been thinking out loud and blushed.
 
“Why, Lieutenant Armour, I didn’t know you felt that way about me.”
 
“Really?” stuttered Shining.
 
“No, you do tend to stare a lot. Almost as much as Sceptre.”
 
“Sorry.”
 
“Oh, I quite like it. We can talk about it later when we aren't going to be frozen to death by winter spirits.” She gently nuzzled him. “Think of that as topping up your friendship tank; you never know when you’ll need it.”
 
Shining turned back to his troops who were pointedly looking in other directions. “Come on, we’ve got a search to start, I want everypony in groups of at least two.” He continued to give orders as his force left the chamber.
 
Lemon walked over to Past Times. “Any idea how we can get some good feeling going between the ponies here? That’s what worked in the Hearth’s Warming story.”
 
“I’ll see if I can get an orgy going then,” deadpanned Past Times. The ears of several of the students pricked up and a few started to grin at each other.
 
“What sort of Hearth’s Warming stories did you hear as a kid?!” gasped Lemon.
 
“Well, they’re more of an Equestrian thing rather than Crystal Empire. We’re more about the fall of Sombra and the formation of the first Council of the Heart. I had to guess what you meant.”
 
“Well I didn’t mean that! I was thinking of something like a sing-along.”
 
“I’ll see what I can do, but I think my way’s better.” Past Times wandered off to talk to a group of students.
 
Golden pranced over to Lemon flanked by a pair of his guards. “My dear lady,” he said, “who are those two ruffians?” He gestured to the Doctor and Jamie. “I haven't seen them around before.”
 
“Some strangers Shining found in the camp.”
 
“They certainly look like disreputable types to me. Did they say why they were here?”
 
“Apparently they made up some rubbish about being from another universe.”
 
“Hum, clearly nonsense. I wouldn't believe a word they say. Probably scavengers of some kind. If we could I would just throw them out into the cold. No doubt they’d find their way home soon enough.”
 
“Well that’s more up to Lieutenant Armour than me.”
 
“We’ll no doubt you could find some way to influence his decision,” the noble leered at her. “He seems rather taken with you.”
 
“Maybe you should talk to him yourself,” she said pointedly. “I’m sure he could do with more ponypower to search the camp.”
 
“Then maybe I shall.” He returned to his guard and mumbled something to them, and they started back along the tunnel to the surface.
 
Lemon turned back to the dig to find the Doctor scratching at the door with a tool he’d taken from his pocket. “Hey, stop that,” she yelled.
 
The Doctor jumped and turned to face her, looking like a guilty schoolboy as he stepped away from the door. “Sorry, I was looking for a way to open it.”
 
“Well, we’ve been looking for over a week now and we haven't found anything. Sooner or later we’re going to have to use brute force, which is bad when used on priceless archaeological treasures,” fumed Lemon.
 
“Or you could use the door handle.”
 
“Or we could use the door handle,” she continued, then paused. “What door handle?” she asked.
 
“This one,” said the Doctor, pointing at a part of the mosaic on the door. It stood out slightly more than the sections around it.
 
Lemon was stunned. “How in Luna’s name did I miss that?”
 
“I wouldn’t have noticed it except for the oil.” The Doctor swept his hoof around the raised area and showed it to her. It was coated in a slight rainbow sheen. “I’d say someone added it to loosen the mechanism, probably fairly recently.”
 
“Past!” Lemon yelled.
 
“What is it, boss mare? Changed your mind on my plan?” he asked, walking across the chamber. Several students looked up in interest.
 
She pointed to the handle. “Who's been here recently?”
 
“I’ve been around since this morning, apart from the meeting.”
 
“Anypony here last night?”
 
“I don’t think so. Some of the guards maybe? Why?”
 
“Our guest here,” she gestured to the Doctor, who was fiddling with the tracker, “seems to have found a way through the door but it looks like somepony else did first.”
 
Past Times examined the door. “Wow, this is amazing,” he exclaimed. “When do we open it?”
 
“No time like the present,” said the Doctor. He prodded the raised area and a handle shot out. He took it in his mouth then let go and spat. “Yuck, oil.” He made a face then grasped the handle for a second time and pulled. Nothing happened. He dug his hooves in and yanked again. Still the mighty door did not budge.
 
“Ah, let me have a go, Doctor,” said Jamie, walking over. “You’ve no been eating your porridge.” The Scottish pony took a deep breath and pulled on the handle. Once again it didn’t move. He pulled harder, his face darkening. Suddenly he lost his grip and flew back into a small crowd of workers who had gathered behind him.
 
“Colts,” tutted Lemon. Her aura encased the handle and she gave it a gentle push. A gap only slightly larger than a pony opened in the centre of the door and a faint pink light flowed out. With a gasp Lemon rushed into the gap. “The fire of friendship!” she gasped. “It’s real! And still burning after all these years.”
 
The chamber beyond the door was large and domed. Around the walls were the remains of carvings, and several collapsed statues were scattered around the floor. In the very centre was a rectangular plinth as tall as a pony, with a concave depression in the top within which a triangular crystal stood. Above it floated a pink flame formed into the shape of a heart which glowed with a softly flickering light - at sometimes it faded to near invisibility while at others it seemed almost solid.
 
Lemon stood in shock for several minutes, barely aware of the numerous ponies pushing past her into the room only to join her in standing and staring. Finally she managed to pull herself together. “Ok, everypony. I want everything in the chamber recorded, every bit of rubble, every statue, every engraving, everything. This is the biggest archaeological discovery since... well, ever, and I don’t want anypony to mess up. Past, see if you can translate any of this stuff.” Shaking themselves from their daze, the workers started to follow her instructions.
 
“Um, excuse me miss,” said the Doctor, pointing a strange device at the flame, “but what is that?”
 
“Well I don’t want to be too hasty but... no, there's nothing else it can be, it’s the fire of friendship itself.”
 
“The what?” asked Jamie.
 
“The fire of friendship. You don’t know what that is, do you?” his and the Doctor’s puzzled faces showed the truth of the matter.
 
“Didn’t your parents ever take you to a Hearth’s Warming Eve play? You really are from another universe, aren't you?”
 
“Well, we did try to explain to Shining Armour, but he didn’t want to listen,” said the Doctor.
 
“Ok, short version. The different tribes used to live apart and war with each other. The old homelands suffered from a series of harsh winters caused by the Windigo, which forced the tribes to migrate to Equestria. The old disputes came with them, and the Windigo followed as well. Finally the leaders of each faction and their seconds were trapped together in a cave, slowly freezing to death. The leaders were unable to let go of the old hatreds and were frozen, but the assistants recognised they were all one people and became friends. The power of their friendship lit the fire of friendship, and it drove off the Windigo and stopped the winter. Thus Equestria was born. I never thought the stories were so literal, though. It’s not like powerful artefacts are unknown - the Crystal Heart, the Pillars of the Sun, the Golden Horseshoes, the Elements of Harmony... but there was never any evidence that the fire was real, let alone still in existence. This changes everything.”
 
The Doctor kneeled down and examined the floor. “I don’t think it has been alight all this time.”
 
“What?”
 
“Well, the fire puts out some heat but not too much. The ground over here is still frozen solid, but it’s damp near the flame.”
 
“So?”
 
“So it’s been recently defrosted. Sometime in the last day or two I’d say.”
 
“So whoever got in last night lit the flame.”
 
“So it would seem. Was this what you expected to find?”
 
“Not so much expected as hoped, although I might have overestimated our chances of finding the fire to my sponsors.” Lemon looked a little embarrassed. “During my research I found some references to an early Equestrian outpost near what is now the Crystal Empire, with some references to ‘the fire of the heart’. It took me quite a while to find a guide who knew the area - Past Times was Luna-sent in that respect. Then I managed to get house Sceptre interested - they’re my relations, very, very distant relations. Still I’m surprised they were willing to pay so much on such a long shot, and they even sent along their heir, Golden, to help oversee things. We were almost ready to send out a small expedition when I got a grant from Princess Luna herself via the Canterlot Royal Society to make it a medium expedition. They also provided Lieutenant Armour and his people. In return they get first pick of anything we find, but I get to study them in their laboratories. It’s win-win.”
 
“Maybe not everyone thinks so...” began the Doctor.
 
“Hey boss,” yelled Past Times, running over. “Somepony’s taken an axe to some of these artefacts, literally. Some things have been removed.”
 
“Let me guess, in the last few days?” said Lemon.
 
“Yeah, how did you know?”
 
“It looks like someone got in here last night and removed some things. Don’t know where to, though.”
 
“Well, I think we may be able to help you with that,” began the Doctor. “You see, earlier we came across a tent full of artefacts and some pony tried to pay us to take them away.”
 
“What? Who? Why?” exclaimed Lemon in shock.
 
“Well I’m not sure but I think it was...” He was interrupted by a commotion from the outer room.
 
There was the sound of screaming and a cracking sound. Past Times ran to the door just in time to collide with Golden Sceptre as he rushed in. “Ice pony!” yelled the noble. “Get out of my way! The flame might stop it!”
 
The Doctor rushed to the door and stared out. “Oh crumbs,” he uttered.
 
There, standing in the centre of the antechamber, was a large unicorn mare. However, it was clear that she was not normal. Her entire form was covered in a layer of ice, thicker in some places like armour but present all over her skin. It twisted with her movements like a living thing. Near the passageway at the back of the chamber, one of the soldiers and several of Scepter’s guard stood likewise encased in ice but unmoving. The few students and workers still present in the room were pressed against the walls, keeping as far away from the creature as possible. The ice pony slowly turned from side to side like a compass needle looking for true north. It came to rest staring straight at the Doctor. He gulped as it charged towards him.
 
“Get out the way, you stupid colt,” yelled Lemon as she barged him out of the creature’s path.
 
“It’s following me!” screeched Sceptre as the ice pony entered the flame’s chamber. One of his remaining guards fired a crossbow at it. The bolt flew true and embedded itself in the ice covering its barrel, but did not seem to harm the creature.
 
With a bellow, it rushed towards its attacker, who dropped her weapon in terror and tried to flee, but the creature was too quick. One of its hooved impacted with the guard’s flank, leaving a thick layer of ice behind. The guard gasped in pain as her legs gave out under her. With a hiss, the ice pony released a thick white cloud, and when it cleared the guard pony was encased in ice, a look of horror on her frozen features.
 
For a few seconds the inhabitants of the chamber stood in shock before they panicked, running in all directions. Lemon’s cries for calm were lost in the chaos.
 
The ice pony began to stomp towards the flame in the centre of the chamber. It moved slowly as if it was trying to make progress against a strong wind. The ice encasing it began to drip and for a second it appeared as though a blue shape was superimposed over the pony. Then it took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of icy air over the flame, causing it to flicker even more and begin to shrink.
 
A rock bounced off of the ice pony’s skin. “Hey, you leave that flame alone,” yelled Jamie. He balanced another stone on his hoof and tried to throw it at the ice pony, missing his target by a mile. He turned and kicked out at the remains of a statue, propelling it towards the creature, striking it in the flanks and knocking it back. Lemon flinched at the damage caused to the historical artefact.
 
With a cracking sound the ice pony righted itself again and turned towards Jamie. It was struck again from behind and it turned to see the Doctor throwing a further rock at it. Lemon used her aura to pick up various loose masonry; she took a second to search through it for anything particularly valuable before hurling the rest at the creature.
 
“Good thinking, Jamie,” called the Doctor.
 
“Well ye know, when in doubt bung a rock at it.”
 
Confused, the creature started to circle around, facing one of its attackers after the other. Slowly more and more ponies started to throw things at it. In the background the fire started to burn brighter again. The ice pony took one step back towards the entrance, then another. There was a cheer from the antechamber and half a dozen soldiers led by Shining armour rushed into the flame room. He stared at the Ice pony. “Sergeant Ironside?” he asked. “Is that you?”
 
The creature seemed surprised and froze in place for a second, and one of the soldiers darted forward and stabbed at it with a spear. To his surprise it stuck in the creature’s icy hide and frost began to creep up the haft. Shining’s aura wrenched the weapon from the soldier’s grip before the wave of cold could reach him. “Keep your distance,” he ordered before throwing a beam of energy at the creature, gritting his teeth in pain from the added strain on his horn.
 
With a snarl the creature rushed for the exit. Kicking aside one the guards, it fled the flame chamber and disappeared down the tunnel towards the surface. A cheer went up from the civilians in the chamber as their attacker disappeared.
 
Shining surveyed the room, his gaze locked on the fire in the centre. “Is that...”
 
“The fire of friendship?” asked Lemon. “Seems so.”
 
Shining shook his head. “I don’t have time to deal with this,” he announced. “I need to track that creature down and do something about it before it comes back or attacks anypony else.” He surveyed the scene and was shocked by how few of his people remained. Several frozen ponies stood around the chamber where they had been immobilized, and others had been partially encased. He had searched the tents above and found only a few more of his troops; by his count, his total force was just over half a dozen uninjured remaining out of his original command of twenty. The house Sceptre guards were even lower in number - only four remained to cluster around their leader. He quickly organised his troops, leaving the walking wounded to look after the civilians, and was ready to head out when one of the strange grey ponies came over.
 
“I’ll be coming with you,” Jamie announced, staring at Shining as if daring him to disagree.
 
“Oh, will you?” Shining asked, not liking the other pony’s tone.
 
“Aye, you need all the help you can get. The Doctor’s busy looking at yon chicken scratches.” He nodded towards the older pony who was talking to Lemon and Past near the engraved plinth under the flame. “I’m nae good with words but I knae how to fight.”
 
Shining sighed. He didn’t seem to have much choice. “Very well, but I won’t be responsible for anything that happens to you.”
 
“Fine by me, redcoat,” spat Jamie. “Just give me ma dirk back.”
 
“Oh no, that stays with Sharp,”
 
Jamie took a step forward until his face was only inches from Shining’s. The white unicorn remained there, staring at the Scot, not blinking. For a moment Shining thought the other stallion would throw a punch. Then without a further word he turned and headed off up the tunnel to the surface.
 
Shining let out a breath he didn’t remember holding and gestured to his troops. “After him,” he commanded.
 





 
Shining’s squad found Jamie staring at the ground just outside of the tunnel. “The thing came this way,” he announced.
 
“How do you know?” asked Shining.
 
“Like the Doctor said earlier they leave these wee crystals behind,” Jamie gestured at the floor which was covered by a thin sheen of frost, “and yon beastie shed this.” He produced a concave shard of ice about the size of two hooves.
 
Shining Armour sat back and considered the situation. “I think we’ve injured it, it’s probably trying to find somewhere to lie low and lick its wounds. If only we knew how to weaken it more, it’s not like we can bring the flame of friendship up here.” He struck his head with his hoof, then wished he hadn’t; it was beginning to feel like his horn was on fire. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep the barrier spell up. ”Fire, that’s what we need. Sharp,” he called, “where’s the nearest supply tent?”
 
“Not far, sir.”
 
“Good. Take the rest of the team with you, bring as much oil and wood as you can, take them to the east of the camp and make a circle. I’ll lead the creature to you and light the circle - that should at least contain it if not knock it out entirely.”
 
“Sir,” Sharp saluted and turned to leave.
 
“You gonna do all that by yourself?” asked Jamie.
 
“I am in charge here, it’s my responsibility.”
 
“And if yon beastie catches you? You need someone to watch your back.”
 
“And you’re volunteering? Are you sure you want to watch my back, not stab it?”
 
“Hey, McCrimmon’s aren't backstabbers, we fight face to face,” Jamie said angrily. “Besides, you still got me knife,” he continued more sulkily.
 
Shining stared at the earth pony for a moment. “Very well, you’re with me then.”
 
“Good, I think it went this way,” said Jamie, pointing along the path of ice crystals, and followed his own directions. With a sigh, Shining followed him.
 
The trail led through several of the large tents that had been set up to house the worker and guard population involved in the dig. Each had been turned upside down, with the meagre furniture and personal possessions within thrown aside. Every so often the pair came across a chunk of ice that had fallen off the body of the creature they were tracking.
 
Finally, the hunt led them to the command tent where Shining had held a meeting only this morning, although it felt like days ago. Jamie put his head around the door then quickly drew it back. “The thing’s in there,” he hissed.
 
“What’s it doing?” asked Shining.
 
“Just lying there, shaking a bit. It looks like it’s crying,” said Jamie, sounding confused.
 
“Crying!” Shining risked a glance. Indeed, the ice pony was hunched under the table in the middle of the room, shaking. The ice had flaked off half of the creature’s face to reveal the features of Sergeant Ironside. Water was dripping from her face but whether it was tears or melting ice Shining couldn’t decide. Oddly, she seemed to have a blue aura around her, almost like an after image, reaching a few centimetres outside her body.
 
“She dunna look all that dangerous now,” whispered Jamie. “We may not even need that ring o fire thing.”
 
“Appearances can be deceiving, but there's only one way to find out.” Shining stood up and hesitantly walked into the room. Jamie reached out to pull him back, but he was already too far away.
 
“You’re mad!” he exclaimed. “I canna been shown up by a red coat,” he whispered to himself, before following the white stallion into the room.
 
The ice pony looked up as they approached but was otherwise immobile. Its outer coating had mostly flaked off, revealing the pale coat beneath.
 
“Sergeant,” called Shining. “Can you hear me?”
 
The creature started to get to its hooves but fell again.
 
“Ironside, can you understand? It’s me, Lieutenant Armour. Everything’s going to be all right.”
 
Suddenly the creature was on its hooves, knocking the table aside as it leapt forwards towards Shining. He was too shocked to move and staggered back as the sergeant's bulk hit him. However, rather than attacking him the giant mare collapsed against him, hugging him. “You saved me,” she gasped. The last of the ice flaked off of her form and a blue equine shape lifted off of her back.
 
“A Windigo!” cried Shining. Still staggering under the sergeant's weight, he tried to turn the mare’s bulk to put himself between it and her. However, something seemed to be wrong with the flying creature; it was even more ethereal than the ones he had seen before, as if it had been spread too thinly. The ghostly shape let out a thin wail and disappeared.
 
“Well that was easy,” said Jamie. “As long as that’s the only one we’re all done.”
 
From behind them, there was a screeching sound, and the room’s temperature dropped rapidly.
 
“You had to say that didn’t you!” groaned Shining, turning to face a second ice pony as it entered the tent.
 
The creature leapt across the room, crushing the table under its hooves, and clouds of ice crystals spewed from its mouth to engulf Jamie, who gave a cry and then went silent. Seemingly satisfied, the creature turned on its remaining target. Shining tried to stagger back, his horn glowing bright as he levitated Ironside behind him, but the extra effort from his already overtaxed reserves dropped him to his knees. The Ice pony towered over him, but behind it the cloud cleared to reveal the bubble of magic he had thrown over Jamie. It popped to reveal the surprised grayscale stallion.
 
Blinking, Jamie quickly realised what had happened, and charged forward. With a cry of “Creag an tuire!” he barged into the ice pony. Ignoring the burning cold of its touch, he rammed it away from Shining and through one of the poles holding up the tent, causing the roof to sag.
 
“Get out!” yelled Shining to Jamie as he staggered back to his hooves. He lifted Ironside again and dropped her onto Jamie’s back, causing the earth pony to totter for a moment before rushing for the door.
 
As the ice pony regained its balance, Shining concentrated and with a grunt of pain snapped the remaining supports, causing the tent to fall in on the creature. Avoiding being trapped himself, Shining staggered down the corridor after Jamie.
 
“We have to find somewhere to hide,” panted Shining as they ran through the cloth tunnels, taking random turns.
 
“How about here?” asked Jamie pointing to the entrance to a random tent.
 
“Golden’s quarters? As good a place as any, I suppose.” The two of them entered the tent and Jamie bit through the ropes holding the flap open. With a sigh, Shining dropped to the ground, exhausted.
 





 
Quite some time had passed since Shining and his forces had left the dig site, and Lemon had gotten her people back to work in an attempt to stop them thinking about the situation above them. Most of the labourers were still clearing the rubble from around the main door, while the students lead by Past Times were cataloguing the various artefacts in the flame’s chamber. The crystal pony seemed intent on studying the runic symbols on the walls. The frozen ponies and injured guards had been moved close to the flame itself when it was found that the gentle heat seemed to aid in their recovery - the ice was beginning to melt off of the trapped ponies but it was slow going and the flame remained at a low ebb. Only Golden Sceptre and his guards kept away from the rest of the crew, remaining in one corner of the chamber and occasionally staring suspiciously at the other occupants. Lemon herself sat near the flame’s container staring up into the fire.
 
“Penny for them?” asked the Doctor, settling down next to her.
 
“What?” she asked, blinking as she turned away from the blaze.
 
“Penny for your thoughts, or should that be a bit?”
 
“Oh, I was just thinking what an honour it was to be here where Equestria itself was founded, even if it looks like we’re going to die.”
 
“Oh, cheer up,” said the Doctor. “Where there's life and all that. I’m sure I’ve lived through much worse.” He frowned. “Although I can’t think of much at the moment.” He searched his pockets. “Maybe I have my diary here somewhere.”
 
“Still it is odd,” continued Lemon, ignoring the Doctor, “that the founding place of Equestria is now outside Equestria. The borders have changed over time but there’s no evidence this part of the world was ever in Equestria. Plus all evidence shows that the old kingdoms were in the south and east - any scouts would have had to travel over a thousand miles to get here. I really only ever expected to find an outpost here at best.”
 
“Well, maybe they moved the flame here.”
 
“What? How do you move something like this?” She gestured at the flame and its brazier.
 
“Well, it does all come apart, see there and there, those pieces just lift off, one or two ponies could probably carry the bowl itself.”
 
She peered at the construction. “I think you might be right.”
 
“Plus it says it was moved, just there.” He pointed at an inscription on the plinth.
 
“This is proto Equestrian. Not even Luna understands it perfectly.” She stared at the short pony in astonishment. “Are you telling me you can read this?”
 
“It’s a gift,” said the Doctor with some pride.
 
“Times!” she yelled. “Bring a scroll and transcribe what the Doctors saying.”
 
The crystal pony rushed over, “What’s going on?” he asked.
 
“Shut up and write. Doctor read, now,” insisted Lemon.
 
The Doctor cleared his throat, the paused. “This is rather long winded. Do you mind if I condense it a bit?”
 
“Just read,” she insisted.
 
“Very well. When the fire was first lit from the souls of the founders it drove the Strife Born away.”
 
“Is he...?” began Past Times in astonishment. Lemon shushed him and gestured for the Doctor to continue.
 
“However, it was feared that although the fire protected much of the land, its reach was limited and the Strife Born remained on the borders, attacking any that came near. It was feared that as our numbers grew our children’s children would be forced to face the cold again. We were saved by the house of the stars, the wisest of us all, may their line endure for ten thousand years. This is all rather flowery.”
 
“Carry on,” growled Lemon through gritted teeth.
 
“Okay. We were saved by the house of the stars, who created the stone hearts which once lit by the flame could carry its light to the corners of the land, driving back the Strife Born. With the hearts went their guardians, those whose coats became as shiny as their charges.”
 
“Guardians with shiny coats? Could that mean Crystal ponies? And the stone heart? The crystal heart, there’s more of them? This is amazing,” gasped Past Times.
 
“The hearts were placed at the four corners of the land and their light lit the world, but still the strife born remained at the edges although much reduced. Like the heart from the flame the sparks were born from the hearts. Weaker but more numerous, they were placed on the borders, and the numbers of the strife born continued to dwindle. Then the burning one in her wisdom did call us to stop, for to destroy a race for the actions of their ancestors would be a great evil, and she, her servant, she with blood the colour of the sky, did seek parlay with the king of the Strife Born. Thus a truce was reached, the strife born were to no longer seek to spread their influence, and ponies were to no longer hunt the Strife Born with their sparks. The sparks were extinguished but their energy retained against treachery from the Strife Born. Let none break the treaty on pain of death. I carve this so that none may forget, signed Lord of the Sceptre. Yes, I think that’s it.”
 
“Wow,” said Past Times, his pencil dropping from his mouth. “This is amazing. The strife born, are they the Windigo?”
 
“I think so, and we had a peace treaty with them,” said Lemon.
 
“Which you broke by lighting this spark thing,” continued the Doctor.
 
“Which is why they attacked us.”
 
“You sort of declared war on them,” announced the Doctor, “Oh crumbs, oh dear.” He jumped to his hooves and ran around in a circle. Most of the ponies in the room stopped and stared at him. “We need to stop Shining Armour and Jamie before things get any worse,” he exclaimed as he ran out of the chamber followed by Lemon and Past Times.
 





 
Jamie gently lowered Ironside to the ground. The giant mare had not regained consciousness but was still shaking violently, and she felt cold to the touch. Without ceremony the Scot dragged several expensive rugs over her form to try and warm her. This duty completed, Jamie turned back towards Shining who was still sprawled on the ground. “I dinna think I’d ever say this to a red coat, but thanks for saving me.”
 
The exhausted stallion raised his head. “What is it about my uniform that you hate so much? Mum says it makes me look very distinguished.”
 
Jamie gave a laugh. “Ye Mother? Well I think all mothers say that about their sons. Ach, is nothing aboot ye personally like. Red coats are the uniforms of those lowlanders and English fighting against the Bonnie Prince.”
 
“Bonnie Prince? You really are from another dimension.”
 
“Well we did tell ye so.”
 
Shining staggered up and walked over to a chest in one corner. He carefully opened it and rummaged through it. Pushing aside a flask of oil, he lifted out a bottle. Using his mouth, he put it down and carefully prised off the lid. “I need a drink to deal with this.” He took a swig from the bottle before passing it to Jamie.
 
The Scot took a sniff. “What is this stuff?” he asked.
 
“Bourbon, I think.”
 
Jamie swallowed a mouthful. “It’s nae a patch on whisky.” Shining reached for the bottle again, but Jamie brushed away his hoof and took another swig. “But I didnae say it was bad.” He passed the bottle back.
 
Shining laid back and sighed, letting the warmth of the drink spread through him. “Luna,” he swore. “This whole thing has turned to horseapples. My first deployment out of the academy and I get over half my people injured, trap myself inside my own shield, and we’re probably all going to get killed by not so mythical bogey ponies. What would my parents think?”
 
“I think they’d be proud of ye, you’ve fought well.”
 
“My father is Viceroy Nightlight, head of house Starlight. Unless I get myself killed I’ll be Viceroy someday. Well is not good enough.”
 
“I’ve nae heard of the fella.”
 
“Really? Oh, other universe, right? Well, he’s one of the most powerful ponies in Equestria and my uncle’s the captain of the guard - they’re big shoes to fill. I’ve tried to do everything on my own but it’s not hard to find out about my family. I’m always asking ‘did I really do well enough’, or were the instructors just trying to score points with my family? Take this mission. It looked like a cake walk and if it turned out alright then there’d be a bunch of glory. Was I really the best candidate for it or did someone wanting to curry favour pick it for me?”
 
“Aye, I come from a fine pedigree myself, ye know. A long line of pipers, they say my Grandfather played for the King o the fairies himself, and got a tip for his troubles. My father was called to serve the Bonny Prince himself. It’s just as well I’m one of the best pipers ever, or it might have been a wee bit intimidating.” He gave a cocky grin.  
 
“I wish I had your confidence. I don’t think I’m anything but an embarrassment to my family.”
 
“Now dinna be so hard on yourself, you’ve kept everybody alive despite the Windythings and the ice ponies. I’m sure the Doctor will figure some way out of this.”
 
Shining stomped a hoof on the ground. “But I’m in charge here, I’m the officer, I’m going to be Viceroy, I’m supposed to know what to do...” his voice trailed off. “I’m not supposed to be scared.”
 
“Lemme tell you something, only fools don’t feel fear. I was at Culloden, I’m a piper supposed to lead the men from the front but och there was smoke and the cannon fire and the screamin’, it was like hell itself. I was terrified.” Jamie took another gulp of alcohol and gazed into the distance, “I looked around and there was Ross, a clansman of mine just standing there grinning like he’d heard a joke, but his guts, they were all spread over the ground.” A single tear ran down his face. “I took one look and I ran and I ran.” He looked into Shining’s eyes, “I’ve never told anyone that before, not even the Doctor. Now, you may be scared, but you’re nae coward like me, you’ve nae run.”
 
Shining stared, eyes wide, jaw hanging loose. He tried to think of something to say. Suddenly he was cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps in the tunnel outside of the tent.
 
“It’s getting nearer,” whispered Jamie.
 
Shining pulled himself to his hooves. The rest and drink had allowed him to recover some of his strength but his horn still felt like a burning nail forced into his head; he doubted he could keep the shield up for much longer. They needed to deal with the second and hopefully last ice pony soon in order to focus on driving away the Windigo. “Jamie, find something to cut a way out of the tent with and get Ironside out of here. I’ll try to lead it into the trap.”
 
“Why am I helping the lassie? I won’t run this time!” said Jamie angrily.
 
“It’s not that,” hissed Shining. “I don’t think I can carry her without my horn dropping off but I can still run.” Barely, he thought. His knees felt rubbery. “It’s got to be this way around.”
 
Jamie stared at his companion for a while. “Fine then,” he grumbled. He looked around the room and found an ornate dagger which he took in his mouth. “‘is ‘ould do it!” he said.
 
“Odd, I thought I saw that at the dig. Lemon said something about it being a good example of early lightning forging or something. I guess it doesn’t matter,” said Shining as Jamie sliced open the wall, before tucking the blade in his sock. He hefted Ironside on his back and, straining slightly, ventured out into the snow.
 
Waiting a few minutes, Shining tried to calm himself as the sounds of the ice pony got louder. “You, private,” he yelled. To his surprise his voice did not waiver. “Get in here now.”
 
The ice pony pushed its muzzle into the tent almost cautiously.
 
“You there!” barked Shining. “Stand to attention when I’m yelling at you!”
 
Much to Shining’s and possibly the ice pony’s surprise, the creature raised its hoof in salute before freezing for a second and then lunging towards the lieutenant. Shining dodged back, feeling the cold radiating from its hoof as it passed him, before turning on his heel and rushing through the gap in the tent’s wall.
 
Outside the sky had darkened, and the faint light was tinged pink by the shield still in place over the camp; outside, a violent storm was blowing. But among the clouds and snow, the partially obscured shapes of dozens - if not hundreds - of Windigo could be seen. Occasionally they would crash into the barrier before bouncing off. Dragging his eyes away from the scene, Shining desperately looked around for the rest of his command, but he could not see them. Behind him, the ice pony tore through the tent and without slowing started to rush towards him.
 
Shining took off at a gallop, circling around the edge of the barrier, head swinging this way and that. Suddenly as he passed a tent he saw his unit at the opposite end of the dome. Straining his eyes, he could just about make out a discoloured circle of ice in front of them. He felt a cold breeze to his left and instinctively twisted right as a cloud of ice flew past him from the pursuing ice pony. Righting himself, he dashed forwards as quickly as his hooves could carry him towards the other guard ponies. His breath came in ragged gasps as his lungs drew the frigid air in. The ice pony remained just at his heels.
 
For several minutes they played a deadly game of cat and mouse. Shining was quicker than the lumbering creature behind him, but with most of his strength used to maintain the field above him he quickly tired, while the ice pony kept on coming at a steady pace as inexorably as a glacier. Shining was forced to swerve several times to avoid crushing blows from its hooves or blasts of its freezing breath. Finally when he felt he could run no further, he realised that his people were less than a hundred meters away. To his surprise and pride they seemed to be cheering him on. Some of the soldier started to run towards him. “No, keep back,” he panted.
 
His spirits buoyed, Shining pushed himself on, noting the rough circle of timber partially covered in snow in front of him. He rushed through the circle, only to find his hooves slipping on oil poured onto the snow. With a bone-jarring thud, he landed heavily in the snow, facing upwards. As if in slow motion, he saw the ice pony leap into the air and almost gracefully arc through the air towards him. With a slight force of will that caused him to groan, he created a spark from his horn, which ignited the oil. Flames sprung up in the circle around him.
 
Suddenly a pony leapt through the fire to his right, colliding with him and pushing both of them through the ring of fire and out the other side. Behind them the ice pony landed heavily where Shining had been lying only a few moments before.
 
The world returned to normal speed and everypony around him seemed to be shouting at once. Off to one side, Sharp Blade laid in the snow, several other ponies patting out the fires in her mane, tail and wings. “Well done, sergeant,” he croaked.
 
“Thank you sir,” she said, getting up. “But I’m only a corporal.”
 
“I know sergeant,” he said with a smile.
 
“Oh... Thank you sir.”
 
Behind them the frozen skin of the ice pony was flowing and cracking off of its coat. It spun around in a seeming panic before collapsing to the ground with a moan. A blue shape detached itself from the back of the creature, while Rock Steady dropped to the ground, shivering despite the fire. The newly released Windigo attempted to flee from the fire all around it, but there was no escape and it faded away with a howl.
 





 
The Doctor and his companions rushed out of the dig site, followed by a small group of workers. On the way out they bumped into Jamie, coming the other way with Ironside on his back.
 
“Jamie!” called the Doctor. “What happened, where is Shining Armour?”
 
“We caught up with the ice pony and it sort of shrivelled up, releasing this lassie.” He passed the unconscious mare off to a pair of workers who carried her back down the tunnel. “Then we were jumped by another one. Shining tried to lead it off into a trap but I havnae seen him since.”
 
“Oh crumbs! Oh my giddy aunt!” gibbered the Doctor at this news. He rushed off into the snow. Confused, Jamie and the rest of the party followed. To the Doctor’s horror, he saw the remaining ice pony surrounded by a ring of fire. As he watched, the Windigo left its host and disappeared into the ether.
 
“Wait!” he cried as he arrived at the group of soldiers.
 
Shining dragged himself to his hooves and turned to the new arrival. “What?” he asked.
 
“We just translated the writing in the flame chamber,” said Lemon.
 
“Equestria made a peace treaty with the Windigo. You promised not to use the flame anymore,” panted Past Times.
 
“What did you do to that ice pony?” asked the Doctor.
 
Shining swallowed hard. “I think we killed the thing inside it, or dispersed it or something.”
 
“Oh dear, oh dear,” mumbled the Doctor trotting around in a circle.
 
“Doctor!” yelled Jamie, looking up at the dome.
 
The Doctor craned his neck and looked up at the sky. Outside the dome, the Windigo had ceased to throw themselves against the shield. Instead they had begun to circle each other, their paths twisting in and out, getting faster and faster and closer and closer. At once the Windigo formed into a single blue mass, which reshaped itself into a huge equine form easily a hundred feet long.
 
“Doctor,” gasped Jamie open mouthed. “Look at the size o that thing.”
 
“Yes Jamie,” gulped the Doctor. “That certainly is a big one.”
 
With a silent roar the creature brought its front hooves down on the shield.
 
“Gggaaahhh!” screamed Shining armour, dropping to his knees, horn sparking, as the feedback ripped through him.
 
“Shining,” cried Lemon.
 
“I can hold it!” panted the young stallion, struggling to rise. The gargantuan creature struck another blow to the shield, flooring Shining again. Blood dripped from his muzzle. “I always liked this jacket, it hides the stains,” he grinned.
 
“Stop it!” cried the Doctor. “You’re going to kill yourself!”
 
“Must protect my people,” he gasped. “It’s my mark, it’s what I do!”
 
“Listen, the Windigo can be reasoned with, we can make peace with them. But we have to make a show of faith, we have to let them in.”
 
Shining screamed as the creature outside again smashed into the shield, which momentarily flickered.
 
“We have to do this, this is bigger than us, if we don’t make peace here the Windigo might attack all of Equestria again,” begged the Doctor.
 
Shining gave a sigh and the shield dropped. The long denied storm surged in with a vengeance. The wind struck the unprotected ponies almost like an icy fist, scattering them. Snow thick and white instantly dropped visibility to only a few feet. Above them the luminescence of the Windigo could only just be made out; it seemed surprised that the barrier had fallen and was frozen in place.
 
The Doctor shielded his eyes from the blizzard and started to edge forward towards the towering creature. To his surprise Shining pulled himself up and put a hoof on his shoulder. “My mission. My responsibility,” he yelled, blinking bloodshot eyes. The Doctor nodded and the two of them started to drag themselves forward into the teeth of the gale.
 
The two ponies staggered forward step by step, leaning on each other for support through the snow. By the Doctor’s reckoning the Windigo wasn’t far away, but they could easily have been turned around in the storm; they could be heading away from their goal. Suddenly the storm ceased, the wind reducing to nothing, and they staggered forward as the pressure on them vanished.
 
Looking around, the Doctor realised that the storm had only stopped in an area around them a few meters wide. Beyond the unmarked boundary the blizzard continued to howl but where the two stallions stood all was calm.
 
“What happened?” asked Shining, looking around.
 
“I don’t know,” started the Doctor, then he pointed. “Look!”
 
In front of them, several Windigo materialised out of the storm and stood at the border of the area of calm. They were skittish, hopping from hoof to hoof as they stared at the two ponies. Slowly turning on the spot, the Doctor noted Windigo approaching from all sides, including above. “Uhm, hello,” he said waving a hoof at the approaching creatures. “We’re terribly sorry for all the trouble we caused you.” He gave an apologetic grin. “We didn’t know about the treaty with you, it was such a long time ago all the ponies had forgotten. Please, can you forgive us?”
 
The Windigo turned to each other and seemed to silently confer for a moment, then one of them stepped forward just into the hole in the storm. It exhaled a cloud of ice which formed itself the rough shape of a pony. Within it breast two shapes pulsated.
 
“Oh dear. Yes, I’m different from the other ponies. You see, I’m from another world, but I’m speaking on their behalf.”
 
This seemed to anger the Windigo; several started to stamp and snort. The temperature around the Doctor, which was already frigid, seemed to drop even further.
 
“I rather think that want to talk to you, Lieutenant Armour,” said the Time Lord, turning to the white stallion. “I think they consider me an outsider in your dispute.”
 
“Me! What can I say?” hissed Shining.
 
“Speak from the heart, Lieutenant Armour, speak from the heart,” advised the Doctor.
 
Taking a deep breath of the freezing air and trying to stop his knees knocking, Shining Armour stepped forwards, his hooves making snapping sounds as he pulled them free of the frozen ground. “My name is Lieutenant Shining Armour of house Starlight,” he began.
 
Several of the Windigo went berserk at this, spewing sheets of ice around and stomping their intangible feet on the ground. One started to charge forwards towards the trapped ponies but another threw itself in the way and they spun into the sky biting at each other.
 
Shining tried to back away, but found his legs firmly rooted to the ground as ice started to creep up past his knees. Looking around, he found the Doctor in the same situation. Trying not to let his panic show, he continued, “On behalf of myself and my government, I apologize for the actions that have occurred here.” He wished that his mother or father were here; they were so much better at this diplomatic stuff. Then he thought of the situation he was in and changed his mind. He was so glad they were far away and safe. “The land of Equestria has no wish to wage war with the Windigo. This has all been an accident. I’m sorry.”
 
The ice had reached his body and was starting to creep along his flanks. The surrounding Windigo appeared to have calmed down, although some were still rearing up in agitation. Most were examining Shining closely.
 
Shining tried to keep his voice steady despite the creeping horror of being encased in ice. “I’m sorry for the deaths of your people. We didn’t understand what had happened, why they were here. They fought well.” He thought he saw the slightest glimmer of respect on the faces of some of the creatures watching, but it could have been his imagination. “Please, there is no reason for war between our people, no reason for more to die.” He felt the icy grip reach as far as his neck.
 
The Windigo that had previously stepped forwards gave a decisive huff and started to turn back to its kin.
 
“Please,” cried Shining is desperation. “Please, I’m in charge here, this is all my responsibility. Do what you want to me but let the rest of my people go. Please!” He felt the ice start to creep over his eyes freezing his gaze on the leaving Windigo. For a second the creature hesitated then it turned back to him.
 
By now, the ice covered all of Shining’s body and he could feel a biting chill start to reach into his body towards his weakly pulsing heart. His frozen eyes started to dim and the world seemed to become flat and grey around him. Oddly he found his thoughts drawn to his sister and the fact that he’d not had a chance to say goodbye to her before he had been deployed. Sorry Twilie.
 
Suddenly, with a crack, the ice encasing him fractured into a thousand shards which fell to the ground around him. Gasping for breath, Shining fell forwards onto the ground. He shook his limbs, trying to return feeling to them. In front of him, the lead Windigo exhaled again - this time, the breath formed the shape of a flame which suddenly was snuffed out. Then it popped into existence again only to be snuffed once again.
 
“I understand,” said the Doctor, picking himself up from the ground. “We’ll get rid of the flame as soon as we can. Thank you, thank you very much. Oh very well done Brigadier, I mean Lieutenant,” he whispered in Shining’s ear.
 
There was a sudden whoosh and the storm free area surrounding the two ponies expanded, revealing the whole camp. Not too far behind them other ponies including Jamie, Lemon and Past could be seen starting to dig themselves out of deep snow drifts. The storm continued outside the camp and all along the boundary stood ranks of Windigo watching impassively.
 
“Doctor,” yelled Jamie trying to force his way through the snow, “Am I glad to see you. What happened?”
 
“Something wonderful,” replied the Doctor, “Peace happened, Jamie. Peace happened. Now we should get back to the dig as quickly as possible before we try the patience of our hosts.”
 





 
The rather battered group of ponies made their way back to the dig site, only to find that the entrance had been covered in snow during the brief storm. It took several nerve wracking minutes to uncover the opening. Every second, Shining Armour expected to see a Windigo approaching over his shoulder and to once again feel the numbing feeling of the ice creeping over him. With a shiver, Shining pushed forward with his power to move the last of the snow, but was rewarded with a stab of pain from his overtaxed horn. With a sigh, he helped to clear the path by hoof.
 
Once it was clear, the party made their way down the short path to the flame chamber. To their surprise they found the place a hive of activity; the main door had been forced open, damaging it, and the workers and students and even several of the injured guards were taking apart the plinth upon which rested the flame. As they entered, several unicorns working together lifted the flame’s container from its position and gently dropped in onto the back of one of the house Sceptre guards who grunted with the weight but held it steady.
 
“What’s going on here?” asked Lemon and Shining together.
 
“Oh thank goodness you’re all alright,” simpered Golden as he pranced across the room. “I thought those creatures might have gotten you.”
 
“What have you done? Why did you take that apart? You’ve ruined the find of a lifetime,” exclaimed Lemon.
 
“Needs must I’m afraid my dear, this flame seems to be the only thing that drives off the Windigo so if we’re going to get away we’ll need to take it with us.”
 
“You don’t need to anymore,” said Shining. “We’ve worked out a peace treaty with the Windigo.”
 
The noble’s jaw dropped. “Wh..What?” he stuttered.
 
“We’ve agreed to put out the flame and they’ve agreed to leave us and Equestria in peace.”
 
“I mean this politely my lad, but have you lost your bucking mind!” exclaimed Golden. “Haven’t you seen Hearth’s Warming pageants? The Windigo are evil and they just told you to destroy the only weapon we have against them.”
 
Shining started to feel pangs of doubt. What Golden was saying made sense - he didn’t have any proof of the Windigo’s good intentions. Was he just disarming himself?
 
“Now look here,” said the Doctor, bustling forward. “The Windigo could have killed us at any time, they could have killed all the ponies they froze.” He gestured at the now mostly defrosted ponies huddling near the plinth. “But they didn’t. I don’t think they actually want to hurt anypony. Anyway the flame didn’t stop that ice pony much, I doubt it will stop an entire herd of angry Windigo by itself.”
 
“And who is this pony? Some random hobo wandered in off the snow? It is likely that he is working for the Windigo anyway.”
 
“Now you can nae say things like that about the Doctor, he just saved your life,” said Jamie.
 
“Look Shining, Lemon,” continued Golden, ignoring the Scot. “Think about it, if we shut off the flame we may never be able to start it up again, it’ll be lost forever. As it stands, if we can get this thing back to civilisation it will make all of us very wealthy ponies. Very wealthy indeed.”
 
“What did you say?” asked Jamie.
 
“I’m sure there will be something for everypony when we get back. Even you, whoever you are.”
 
“I’ve heard your voice before, you’re that smuggler!”
 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Golden defensively.
 
“What’s this about a smuggler?” asked Lemon.
 
“This great jessy tried to pay us to take away all these rocks when we arrived.”
 
“It was you,” accused Lemon, stepping towards the blond pony. “You opened the door to the flame chamber, you lit it and you stole those artefacts.”
 
Golden sighed. “Let’s end this farce,” he said. Dropping his foppish demeanour, he pulled a dagger from his sleeve with his aura and held it to the surprised archaeologist's neck. A further flash from his horn knocked Shining aside into the wall. Around the chamber the house Sceptre guards brought their crossbows to bear on any nearby troops. The workers and students started to mill about in confusion.
 
“How? Why?” gasped Lemon.
 
“Mostly money my dear, as always. My house has recently gotten into a rather expensive feud with house Optiebeurs-Golo and unfortunately we’re rather near to bankruptcy. Luckily a search of some of the house’s oldest records suggested the existence of this place, if not the exact location. It took some time to find somepony with your skills, my dear - it was a bonus that they were housed in such a delightful package as well.” He leered at her. ”It wasn’t hard to make sure you ‘discovered’ the right papers and then I stepped in to help fund your expedition. Unfortunately, the Canterlot Royal Society got in the way and managed to station these fools,” he gestured at the guards, “here but the boy here,” he gestured at Shining’s stunned form, “turned out to be too dull to see what was happening under his own snout. If these two idiots,” he gestured at Jamie and the Doctor, “hadn’t gotten caught and come up with some stupid story about being from another dimension, my artefacts would be halfway to Canterlot by now. Still, no matter, this little beauty will make my house the richest and most powerful in Equestria. Anyway enough of this, move,” he commanded, bringing the knife closer to Lemon and gesturing with his head towards the cave’s entrance.
 
Grunting with the effort, the pony with the flame on its back started to stagger down the passageway.
 
“You,” Golden ordered, pointing at the Doctor, who pointed at himself and looked around as if the noble might mean somepony else. “Yes you, and your friend with the silly accent, help him with that thing, we’ve got a long journey ahead of ourselves.”
 
The Doctor and Jamie slowly made their way over towards the container and took the weight on their backs. The guard pony sighed in relief and the three of them started to carry the flame down the tunnel.
 
A few minutes later they found themselves above ground again, the confused herd of ponies following. Sharp helped the still dazed Shining stagger along with them.
 
Around them the Windigo surrounding the camp reacted to the appearance of the flame in anger and fear. Most of them took to the air and began to circle closer and closer, while others galloped towards the party.
 
“Don’t worry,” shouted Golden, “The flame will keep them away, we’re quite safe.” He didn’t sound entirely certain. The guards turned their weapons towards the approaching horde.
 
While everypony was distracted, the Doctor cautiously slipped the tracker from his pocket and touched it against the container on his back. With a loud crack the container and the flame above it winked out of existence, to be replaced with a lump of crystal about the size of a pony's head. Surprised by the reduction in weight, Jamie and the guardpony staggered to the ground.
 
“What have you done?” screeched Golden. “You’re going to kill us all!”
 
In his surprise, Golden released his grip on Lemon, and she twisted around and spat in his face. He reared back in shock and Lemon spun around, kicking back at him and catching him between his hind legs. He froze in place for a moment before crumpling to the ground with a high pitched wail, clutching his injury.
 
Jamie recovered quickly and spun around towards the guard next to him, swinging a hoof. It caught the pony on the side of his head and he crashed to the ground, stunned. In a single smooth move, Jamie reached for the ancient dagger in his sock and threw it at another guard. It thudded into his flank hilt first, causing him to drop his crossbow. Several soldiers near him took the opportunity to pounce on him. Sharp dropped Shining to the ground and leapt towards the remaining guard. A bolt shot over her head and she crashed into the guard in a ball of feathers and legs. Within moments the guard was subdued.
 
Picking himself up, Shining glanced at the oncoming wave of Windigo. He flinched, expecting to feel another burst of icy energy freezing him in place, but instead only a few metres from him the Windigos pulled up into the sky and flew away from the ponies. A single creature remained - although it looked identical to all the rest Shining thought it might be the one that had communicated with him earlier. It hovered in the air above the camp and seemed to bow to the assembled ponies. Struggling to remain standing, Shining returned the gesture and the creature shot away, disappearing into the distance.
 





 
Several hours had passed since the Windigo had left and the camp was starting to be broken down. Shining had decided to leave the area as quickly as possible in case the air spirits returned. Lemon and Past Times had originally violently disagreed with this course of action, but they had eventually been talked round and had started to organise their assistants into packing the supplies and artefacts into the wagons that had originally brought them here. Golden Sceptre and his guards had been restrained and were currently kept under the watchful eyes of Shining’s troops. The prisoners could look forward to further punishment when they got back to civilisation. Ironside and Rock Steady sat off to one side, quietly talking to each other, bonding over their shared trauma.
 
“Can we give you a lift, Doctor?” asked Shining Armour, turning to the grey pony next to him.
 
“Oh, that’s very kind, but our transport isn’t very far,” he replied.
 
“Are you sure you have to go? It’ll make my report much easier.”
 
“I’m afraid if would be quite disastrous if we stayed too long. Just make sure your report gets stored properly, we wouldn’t want some busy body throwing it away, it would be like we were never here.”
 
“Aye, I’ll be sorry to leave ye,” said Jamie. “I nae thought I’d be friends with a red coat.”
 
“First time for everything I suppose, I didn’t think I’d be friends with a stallion who wore a skirt.”
 
“It’s a kilt, not a skirt,” said the Scot defensively.
 
“A leaving present for you.” Shining floated a half full bottle to Jamie. “The last of the Bourbon.”
 
“Thanks, that’s very generous of ye.”
 
“Don’t mention it, it was Golden’s anyway.”
 
“Now come on Jamie, we better get back to the TARDIS and return this shard to its proper place,” said the Doctor, turning away from Shining.
 
“Then we have to return to your people and they’re going to do God knows what to us.” said Jamie, following him.
 
“Well, yes, but I have a few ideas about that. Plus the Windigos turned out to be civilised, so maybe my own people will be as forgiving.” The two of them set off into the featureless white wilderness.
 
As Shining watched them go, he became aware of Lemon standing next to him. “We’re almost ready to go,” she said. “It’s a shame but I think I’ve got enough artefacts to write several books on now, and of course the Hearth’s Warming stories will need a bit of updating.” She kissed him on the cheek.
 
Shining blushed. “What was that for?” he asked.
 
“Just topping up your friendship tank,” she explained. “You never know when you might need it.”