Snowblind

by CrowMagnon

Its Cold, Icy Sting (pt. 3/3)

Snowblind
by crowmagnon

Its Cold, Frosty Sting, pt. 3

Earlier...

Rarity had just caught her breath as the armored pegasus's death grip loosened. She looked toward her 'attacker', and gasped as her eyes met one of the mailmare's, then the other.

Derpy looked back at her and opened her mouth to speak, only to get tackled to the floor by an orange and blonde blur.

Applejack hissed, "Alright, who are you and why are you helping that monster?!" She pinned Derpy's wings with her front hooves and glared down at the pegasus. "And don't try anything, because I've taken self-defense classes!"

Derpy squeaked fearfully and tried to pull her head back down into the icy armor until Rarity placed a hoof on her friend's shoulder and whispered, "Applejack, don't hurt her! That's Derpy!"

The businessmare turned to her friend with an offended look. "Excuse me? I am not being 'derpy', as you put it!"

Rarity shook her head and pointed down at the pegasus. "No, no, she's Derpy," she whispered.

"... Darling, I'm confused. You want me to let her go so that you can verbally abuse her?"

Rarity clenched her eyes shut and brought a hoof up to her forehead while Spike slowly approached. "Issa Mailmare! Why were you twying to hurt mommy, miss Mailmare...?"

Derpy started tearing up as she tilted her head to focus one eye on the baby dragon. "I wasn't! I... I... I was going south to bring the birds back and I found that big meanie griffon and she called me a 'sassy moo-taint' and started chasing after me and I was so so scared and she cut the mountain open and covered me in ice and told me to grab Apple Bloom and I tried to fly away with her so the big meanie griffon wouldn't hurt her, but I messed up and crashed and everypony hates me and I don't know why this is happening!"

Rarity shook her head slowly. "Derpy Hooves is one of the sweetest ponies alive. She would never... intentionally hurt anypony," she explained to Applejack, wincing a little as she rubbed her bruised ribs. "This entire time, that Gertrude has been using her as a... a scapegoat."

The mailmare whimpered and looked up at the other mares with fear and confusion as a hush fell over the immediate area. Applejack slowly removed her hooves from Derpy's wings and sat down. "Oh, I truly am an idiot," she murmured, feeling a cold wave of self-loathing wash over her as she was faced with the stark truth of how she had treated the wall-eyed mare. "I should have realized... I deal with liars fibbers all the time in my business, but I was so quick to believe the worst, I just..."

"It's not your fault, Applejack," Rarity whispered. "Not entirely. I... I think maybe she and the Windigoes have been... encouraging us to feel this way. All day long, I've..." She took a deep breath, her ears flattening atop her head as she admitted, "I... hate Fluttershy."

This drew a gasp of shock from the two mares. Even Spike was stunned, his big green eyes watering up. "H-hate missus Fwuttershy? But she's weally nice! ... Isn't she?"

Rarity leaned in to nuzzle Spike. "Yes, dear, yes she is. It's just that ever since she bit down on your tail... I know I can be a little overprotective, but I've never held a grudge so fiercely against someone I care about before. My mind has been filled with... such vile thoughts that I can't even tell you which ones are really mine. It makes the world feel so cold and dark when I let them play out, but at the same time, by shutting out the rest of the world, I feel like I'm protecting myself, even if..."

Applejack leaned in closer. "Even if what, darling?"

Rarity hesitated, then shook her head. "No... no, I thought I had something, but it's gone. We have to act fast, in any case."

Applejack followed Rarity's gaze as the unicorn looked toward Derpy. "You're right. If Gertrude comes back down here, she'll see that we've broken her ruse. There's no telling what she'll do." Looking back up at Rarity, she asked, "Can you re-create that awful helmet? You have quite the eye for detail, and you're the only unicorn here who could possibly pull it off."

"I can try," Rarity murmured as she concentrated on recalling the shape of the helmet. "I'm sure that I could make the shape right, but how in Equestria do I make it so your head doesn't freeze?"

Derpy shook her head slowly. "I...I dunno why I'm not cold. It's like this ice is keeping all the cold on the outside. Even with the hidden holes so I could breathe."

Rarity mused, "Hidden holes...?" She and Applejack shared a look.

"Rarity, are you thinking that when Gertrude barricaded us in here...?"

"I don't know. It depends on how long she intends to keep us here, probably, but if we can find some sort of ventilation, that's a weakness that Twilight and the others outside can exploit." She smiled down at Derpy. "Thankfully, we've got a pegasus right here whose special talent is feeling air currents."

Derpy's expression brightened up considerably at this news. "Yay! Who?" When Rarity raised an eyebrow and pointed at her, Derpy blushed and giggled sheepishly. "Oops... hehe, that's right, it's me."

"Who is whom?" Fluttershy asked, surprising the others with her sudden presence as the pegasus was flapping her wings and hovering noiselessly overhead. Looking down at the unmasked mailmare, she smiled and set herself down into the huddle. "Derpy! I had a feeling it was you in there. How's my favorite mailmare? It must have been horrible, playing along with that meanie, but you've been doing a great job!"

Applejack did a double-take at Fluttershy. "Wait... you aren't surprised about this?"

Fluttershy shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Not really. I mean, what sort of pony would willingly sell us out to a big jerk like Gertrude?" She then took Rarity by surprise by smiling at her and wrapping her yellow forelegs around the unicorn in a warm hug. "At least... not without a sneaky plan."

Rarity blinked, briefly stunned by Fluttershy's embrace as the mare's wings wrapped around her and Spike. "Wha...?"

"I didn't tell her a thing, Rarity," Fluttershy said quietly. "I didn't give her anything she wanted, but you can. You can make a deal to get Spike and the fillies out of here, can't you? Then you can use that special talent of yours to get in touch with Twilight, and she'll save all of us."

The unicorn stammered, "How did you know...? Just how much did you overhear?"

Fluttershy tilted her head and just smiled innocently at her friend. "Hmm? Nothing really. I just got back, remember?"

Rarity looked back into the pegasus's big blue eyes, and started to smile back as she felt the warmth that Fluttershy gave off seeping through her. She had been spending the past while trying to harness the power of the cold, only to have control of it elude her. Every time she had stoked the dark feelings in her soul a little to feed the Windigoes and try to get a sense of how their magic worked, it felt like she was putting herself in danger of losing herself to those emotions completely.

It had been a risk that she was prepared to make for her family's sake. A risk that had seemed more and more like an inevitability as the cold had begun to take root in her heart. And yet, even as she had withdrawn into her anger toward Fluttershy in particular, allowing herself to entertain horrible thoughts about her pegasus friend, Fluttershy had done nothing but try to help and comfort everypony. She had even gone so far as to give up any chance she might have had of being the hero just so Rarity or Applejack could be the ones to argue for their loved ones' safety. It was a silly thing for her to do, but the thought behind it warmed the unicorn more than her friend's winged embrace could.

Her friend. Her dear, dear friend. Rarity clenched her eyes shut and nuzzled Fluttershy's wing as she thought back on how she had felt toward the pegasus, and as her heart thawed once more, she guiltily realized just how petty and stubborn she had been acting.

That was when inspiration struck.

Returning her friend's hug, she asked, "Fluttershy, when you were up there, what sort of impression did you get from Gertrude? How would you say she is feeling right now?"

The yellow pegasus pouted and shook her head. "Oh, she tried to hide it, but she seemed so sad. I really wish I could have helped her with that, but she wouldn't even let me try."

Applejack scoffed, "Help her? After everything she's done to us?"

"Of course," Fluttershy replied, her eyes starting to water up as she looked off into the distance. "After all... she used to represent one of the Elements of Harmony, right? Even if it was a long, long time ago, that means that she was once the Princesses' friend. I don't know what happened to make her turn on Celestia and Luna like that, but I'm sure she must have a good heart. I think... maybe she's just so afraid of getting hurt that she's hidden it away under all that armor and ice."

There was a moment of quiet as Applejack gave the motivator a dubious look. "You actually think that after plunging this town into a Windigo-fueled blizzard and terrorizing us all, that we should... what, offer her counseling? When she could easily tear us all to shreds at a moment's notice? It would be far more practical to help Twilight get in here and then hit her with everything we've got before she can hurt anypony more than she already has. Let the Princesses deal with her as they see fit after that."

"Maybe, Applejack. I can't say you're wrong," Rarity replied, pulling herself out of Fluttershy's hug in order to turn toward Derpy and help her up to her hooves. A smile slowly spread across her muzzle as she mused, "But thanks to Fluttershy here, the Windigoes aren't whispering to me anymore. I thought I could try to use their power to help us, but that wasn't taking me anywhere except down a bad road. I think I might have a better idea now, though, so if I'm right..."

Looking into Derpy's eyes (or at least one of them), Rarity placed a hoof on the breastplate of the pegasus's armor while a sky blue aura lit her horn. Nothing visible happened at first, but then the gathered ponies and dragon saw the ice around Derpy's neck start to spread up her head.

The wall-eyed pegasus fidgeted slightly as she felt it creeping up over her again, and she couldn't help but let out a small whimper of claustrophobia as the ice surrounded her head completely, shaping itself into a replica of the helmet Gertrude had fashioned.

When she was done, Rarity asked, "There... how's that?"

"It's a little chilly... but I'm okay, miss Rarity."

The unicorn smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear it. I'm sure I didn't get it perfectly, but it felt like I was on the right track." To the others, she said, "I can do this... What Derpy and Fluttershy said helped me realize what was missing. Her magic--"

Present time...

"So, you broke through my barrier? It only means that you have spared me the effort of leaving this place to snuff out your lives!" Gertrude's outspread wings glittered dangerously, and Derpy shouted out a warning to Rarity as she felt the sudden shift in the room's air pressure.

Lacking her Ranger friend's skill in teleportation, however, there was nowhere for the rock farmer to go as Gertrude flapped her wings, sending a focused blast of snow and arctic cold toward her. The other ponies saw Rarity's horn flash briefly before she was thrown back against the far wall. When the biting winds subsided, they saw their friend pinned against the bakery's wall, frozen solid in an icy shell.

"Rarity, no!" Applejack was the first to move toward her frozen friend, but she quickly skidded to a halt when the blade of Gertrude's spear suddenly thrust itself in front of her throat.

"She got what she deserved," Gertrude snarled. "You all will get what you deserve!" She pulled her spear back, readying it to strike when a violet flash appeared right in front of her face. The griffon reflexively brought up her wing to slash through the teleporting unicorn with her knife-like feathers, only for her wing to pass through nothing more than thin air and a flare of magical light while the actual teleportation spell brought Twilight next to Applejack in the split second that Gertrude was distracted.

With deadly speed, Gertrude realized that she had been tricked and attempted to skewer both ponies with Gungnir, but another flash of magic teleported them back to the shop's counter as the spear's tip sank into the wall behind where they had stood a moment ago. Staring evenly at the griffon from atop the counter, Twilight tapped into her inner strength and told her, "Gertrude of the Snowheart clan, I will offer you one more chance to surrender peacefully. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to assert my full authority as ranking officer in the Ponyville detachment of Luna's Rangers."

Gertrude snarled at the purple unicorn who dared to claim authority over her. Wrenching Gungnir from the wall, she slowly stalked toward Twilight, Pokey and Applejack, blank eyes narrowed and focused solely on the Ranger. "Ungrateful little cretin... To use that name as if it should have any power over me? I gave the Sun and Moon warmth when they would have frozen on the mountain cliffs of my home! I offered them food from my own plate when they would have starved! I stood by their side when they had no one to rely on. You should grovel before me in gratitude that you even know the name of Luna! And yet here you stand, so self-righteous while wielding the name of a treacherous mutant who stole everything from me!

"What do you think that you can do, Ranger?" Gertrude brought herself within her spear's reach while Pokey braced himself on trembling legs, pointing his horn at the griffon. Applejack bit her lower lip with worry as she slowly moved to hide behind the Rangers, but at the moment, Gertrude only had her eyes on Twilight, who stood tall and defiant against her.

"What will you do? Shackle me in the name of the Moon, and drag me before the deformed monsters you bow to? That traitor, Rarity, so lauded your intelligence and strategems. She claimed that you could envision countless possibilities. So tell me, my little pony, what future are you struggling toward? One where you drag me beaten and broken before Sun and Moon as they sit at an overstuffed banquet table? Do you see yourself praised for bringing their dear old friend to be humbled and tortured for the laughter of your tyrant god-queens?"

Ranger and griffon stared each other in the eye, but it was Twilight who's fierce gaze faltered first as she admitted, "Actually... no, Rangers aren't law-enforcement, so I don't have the authority to arrest anypony." When Gertrude snarled and narrowed her eyes further, Twilight pointed at the floor under Gertrude and added, "I just wanted you standing there."

For a moment... just for a moment, confusion crossed Gertrude's face before her white eyes widened with sudden realization. She turned to look behind her and realized that she was positioned directly in front of the hole that had been created by Vinyl Scratch's speaker system. Speakers which were, at that very moment, unleashing a tightly focused beam of classic rock straight at her.

Moments earlier...

As the echoes of Vinyl's choice of music faded away, Rainbow Dash glanced to Nocturne Striker and asked, "So, you think this'll work?"

The thestral Ranger kept her ears focused on the bakery, picking up on the sounds of scuffling from within. "I hope so. You've known the Lieutenant longer than I have, so you tell me."

"Yeah, by like a day. Besides, when we're hanging out, she doesn't exactly brag about all the plans she's cooked up in case of a demigod attack. I don't think she likes talking shop outside of work."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Dunno," the pegasus replied with a shrug. "Probably because it reminds her of why she left the Guard in the first place."

"Ah... She never told us about--" Nocturne trailed off, and her ear twitched as she picked up on the sound of Vinyl's speakers warming up again. "Get ready!"

Rainbow Dash braced herself and checked the pouch of dust at her side while Nocturne took to the air with a flap of leathery wings. A moment later, music erupted from the opposide side of the bakery. Even then Dash didn't need a thestral's superb sense of hearing to hear something huge slamming into the wall they were watching over the din. Though the ice held strong for several seconds afterward, long claws like swords of ice soon pierced through and began to slice through it.

Instead of slicing through cleanly however, the claws appeared ragged and cracked, and had greater difficulty cutting through the thick ice. Even so, within seconds, the wall was weakened enough that Gertrude exploded through it, blasted out by the force of Vinyl's music.

The griffon that practically tumbled out of Sugarcube Corner was not the same ruthlessly composed villain that they had seen earlier. Before, her armor had been a work of smooth, sharp-edged deadliness. Now, as she desperately scrambled out of the beam of music, the ice which covered her body was covered with cracks, crumbling off in large chunks even as she began to restore it with her magic.

Before Gertrude got the chance to recover, though, Nocturne swooped in. Upon spotting the spear in Gertrude's talons, she pulled up just in time to keep out of its range. A fortunate decision on her part, as the griffon swung her weapon as soon as she saw the thestral approach.

Once she felt the spear swing past her, the thestral inhaled deeply and let out a piercing shriek directly at Gertrude. By itself, the scream was nothing compared to magically-focused music Vinyl wielded, but Gertrude's armor had already been rendered weak by the sonic weapon. Nocturne's bat-like cries reverberated through her, widening the existing cracks.

Gertrude lunged for the bat-pony, flapping her wing toward Nocturne in an attempt to hurl a volley of dagger-like feathers, but the armor had already crumbled away to the point that she only lashed out with a large wing covered in downy feathers as white as fresh snow.

At the same time, Rainbow Dash flapped her one good wing toward Gertrude. Unlike the griffon, however, the Rainbow Witch of the Everfree succeeded in doing exactly what she intended. By creating a current of wind with her wing, the green dust she carried flowed out of its pouch and wafted through the air straight toward the rattled griffon.

Gertrude, so distracted by Nocturne's sonic assault, failed to notice the approaching dust until it had already reached her. By then, it was too late for her to stop it from seeping into the cracks of her armor, preventing the ice from repairing itself. As more and more of the armor fell away from Gertrude's body, the dust coated the otherwise pure white coat of her fur and feathers.

The crazed griffon let out a terrible shriek of her own as she tried to restore her armor, only for the ice to fall away as it proved unable to gain purchase wherever Dash's powder coated her body.

Inside Sugarcube Corner, they heard Nocturne's shrieks as she and Dash wore away at Gertrude's armor. Turning toward Pokey, Lt. Sparkle said quickly, "Private Pierce, keep an eye on what's happening outside! Let me know if Sgt. Striker or Dash need help!" Before the young stallion could say a word in reply, she then vanished and re-appeared right next to the spot where Rarity had been frozen.

Lifting her foreleg up, Lt. Sparkle slammed her armored hoof against the icy shell surrounding her friend. "Rarity! Rarity, come on! Your message said you'd figured her magic out, didn't it? So get out of there!"

Charging up her horn, the Ranger began furiously attacking the ice with both magic and powerful kicks, but both failed to make a dent in it.

"Don't make me walk out of here and tell Spike he's an orphan! I'm not going to explain to your little sister that after all that, she lost you because I... I failed again! I won't do it, do you hear me?!"

Behind her, a small voice croaked, "She's... gonna be okay, right...?"

Lt. Sparkle looked back over her shoulder, and saw Apple Bloom trembling as she looked up at her. Applejack came up behind her little sister, her jacket draped loosely over her back as she put a foreleg around the filly and hugged her close. "Shhh... don't you worry, Apple Bloom," the businessmare said in a soft, soothing tone. "Miss Rarity will be right as rain, just you see."

The Ranger hung her head low, unable to share in her friend's optimism, even if only to fake it for Apple Bloom's sake. When she had been an officer in the Guard, being post in Canterlot meant that she never had to inform the family of a fallen subordinate that they had lost a loved one. Still, even before the Waking Night attacks, the responsibility had hung over her head.

The risks were greater as a Ranger on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, but most of the dangerous creatures were more or less dormant during the Winter months, and ponies knew well enough to stay away. Thanks to that, her Rangers had not seen much action in the months since she had taken command, but again the possibility remained in the back of her mind.

She had never wanted to think that the first time she fulfilled this duty, it would be for a good friend. A civilian. A young mare who had only wanted to bring beauty into the world.

I have to kill her. Lt. Sparkle herself was surprised by how easily the thought came to her. She's powerful, but she's exposed now. Vulnerable. I can do it. I have to do it before she hurts anypony else.

As a pony, the idea of taking a life didn't come easily to her, but as a soldier, she knew that there were times when it was necessary to protect her fellow ponies. A task that she had failed to perform. My mistake was giving her a chance. Rarity's message said that she could be helped, but why did we even try?

She's a monster. It's my duty to kill monsters.

"Twilight...?" A voice was saying her name, but it sounded so far away that the one inside her head came much clearer.

"Twilight!" It won't be the first time I've taken this sort of sin upon myself so nopony else would have to. After what I did to Princess Celestia... this is nothing. I can do it and nopony else has to get their hooves dirty.

"Lieutenant!" That's what I'm here for. To be the one who makes the sacrifices... to be the one who does what has to be done, no matter wh--

An orange hoof struck Twilight across the face, jolting her out of her train of thought. She brought a hoof up to her stinging cheek, and turned to look at Applejack in shock. "Wh... what? What are you thinking, Applejack?"

Applejack let out a sigh of relief and pointed toward their frozen friend. "I think that I have a good idea of what you had on your mind... and I also think that you should hear out what Rarity has to say first."

Lt. Sparkle grit her teeth, wincing as Applejack spoke so flippantly about Rarity while they were standing right next to her.

And yet, despite being so close, she had been so focused on other things that she had completely failed to notice the purple glow of dragonfire inside her fellow unicorn's mouth until Applejack pointed it out to her.

Lt. Sparkle stared at Rarity as the frozen mare actually started to melt the ice around her head by holding the purple flame in her mouth. The Ranger was stunned with disbelief, even as her thoughts kept telling her to leave and deal with Gertrude. Her happiness at seeing that Rarity was still alive clashed with the voice in her mind that was urging her to decisively end the threat that the griffon posed.

In the conflict between her compassion and pragmatism, something had to crack. What finally did was the cocoon of ice surrounding Rarity as the heat of her dragonfire melted a hole through it, followed by a crackling, breaking sound as ice began to shift and move. This triggered Lt. Sparkle's protective instincts, and Ranger shot a lance of magical force into the cracks in order to pry it open like an oyster.

It was difficult, but between her magical strength and Rarity fighting from the inside, the ice eventually split in two, allowing the unicorn farmer to fall back the floor where she gasped for air, still coated with a layer of frost.

Applejack quickly took off her coat and tried to place it on Rarity, but the unicorn weakly held up a hoof and shook her head. "No... no, Applejack, it's alright. I'll be fine."

"The hay you will," Lt. Sparkle replied, frowning with worry as she could see Rarity trembling. "You're shivering and still covered in ice! We have to get you warmed up!"

Nevertheless, Rarity shook her head again and stood on weary legs. "No, I'm just... exhausted. Between all the dragonfire and trying to find the basis of Gertrude's magic... it's just finally catching up to me," she said with a tired smile. "And don't worry about the ice. This is hers. The inner layers... they were completely hers. Fluttershy was right this whole time."

Lt. Sparkle blinked, feeling as though the floor was dropping out from under her. "Wait.. what? What am I missing, here? You said you'd figured it out already, that's why I agreed not to hit her with an all-out attack right away! And look where that got you!" Noticing that Rarity was no longer shivering so badly as she got her legs under her, Lt. Sparkle narrowed her eyes and asked, "And why aren't you freezing?!"

Rarity gave the Ranger a sheepish grin as she admitted, "Well... it may have been more of a hunch at the time... but Fluttershy said something very important earlier. Whatever happened to her since, Gertrude was once a friend of the Princesses. She bore one of the Elements of Harmony. Her power isn't meant to be destructive. That's why I'm not feeling the cold right now. The magic in her ice... it isn't meant to destroy warmth and life; it's meant to preserve it."

There was a long pause as Twilight rolled this over in her mind before replying, "... What."

Outside, Gertrude flapped her wings and flew through the freezing air like a white demon of vengeance as she chased Nocturne through the air surrounding Sugarcube Corner. Though deprived of the ability to cover herself in a protective layer of ice by the accursed dust that had now thoroughly permeated her feathers and fur, she still gripped Gungnir and repeatedly lunged toward the batpony.

Much as Derpy's talent for feeling the currents of wind around her had saved the wall-eyed pegasus before, however, Nocturne's exceptional hearing helped her track the griffon's movements without having to look at her, allowing her to duck and weave between buildings where Gertrude's greater size and wingspan would trip her up.

In a battle, Gertrude knew that she would have already skewered the thestral Ranger and moved on to the rest of the ponies who had decided to thwart her. Nocturne had no interest in getting into a fight with the griffon demigod, though, and instead focused everything she had on simply keeping ahead of her.

This tactic also brought Gertrude back around to the side of Sugarcube Corner where Vinyl, Octavia and Zecora were waiting. A fresh blast of noise struck the griffon as a result. Weaker than the previous ones, as Vinyl's magic was also beginning to hit her limits, but still enough to knock her back. Once she recovered her balance, the griffon narrowed her eyes and threw Gungnir with all of her might at Vinyl's speakers.

Despite the wind and snow, the spear flew straight, piercing straight through the sound system, speakers blowing out and sparking as the musicians ran away.

Gertrude smirked, watching the mares flee. As she did so, a fresh cloud of green dust flew up and struck her in the face, guided by the mohawked zebra who had been stationed near them. Gertrude hacked and choked on the dust, letting it into her lungs where it began to further sap at her power and dull her senses to the point that she didn't even see Iron Will moving toward the ruined sound system until he had lifted it up over his head and hurled it straight at her.

With several hundred pounds of technology striking her in the chest, Gertrude let out a croaking wheeze and fell to the ground. Despite the strength of Iron Will's throw, she still wasn't badly hurt, and would recover quickly. Once she did... the thought of what she could do to the minotaur once she got her talons on him made her feel a familiar chill as ice once more began to coat her body.

For a moment Gertrude reacted to this sensation with surprise, but it soon made sense. Though it had done little harm to her, the last blast of sound she received had knocked much of the rainbow witch's powder from her body. Even with her power somewhat weakened by Zecora's attack, she still had more than enough strength to regenerate the armor for most of her body. All she had to do was outlast the wretched ponies, and soon they would have nothing at all to use against her. Without the sound system focused by Vinyl's spell, it would be strong enough to protect her from anything.

Before it could fully form, however, two forms zoomed across the snow-covered streets on yellow and grey wings, tackling against her.

"Are you sure Miss Rarity's gonna be okay? Maybe you should stick with your friends," Derpy said as she and Fluttershy stepped through the hole that Vinyl and the others had made to get inside the bakery.

Fluttershy grinned at the other pegasus and replied, "Oh, I'm not worried about Rarity. I babysat Spike for a few hours a month ago, and let me tell you, anyone tough enough to be a dragon's mom isn't going to let something like being frozen solid stop her."

If Derpy knew better, she might have thought that Fluttershy's smile looked more shaky and nervous than usual. She didn't, though, so the motivational mare's words bolstered her own spirits. "Okay! Let's do this, Mrs. Fluttershy!"

Watching as Nocturne led Gertrude into another attack from Vinyl's sound system, soon followed by an attack with Vinyl's sound system, the pegasi saw the impact cause griffon to drop down low. Sharing a nod with one another, they spread their wings and pushed off as fast as they could through the wind and snow, flying straight for Gertrude.

When they collided, Derpy couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised by how soft Gertrude felt as she wrapped her forelegs around the griffon, clinging as tightly as she could while Fluttershy did the same. The sudden embrace startled Gertrude and caused the ice that had started to form around her to fall away, only for her to begin generating it again.

"What are you filthy mules doing?! Did you finally think you could assassinate me, mutant?!" Gertrude thrashed and writhed, trying to throw the pegasi off. Fortunately for the ponies, Fluttershy had a good grip on the base of her wings, and Derpy's embrace was freakishly strong. "It won't work! It won't! Even without my armor, you cannot slay me," she shrieked, sounding far more frightened than her boast would have otherwise suggested.

"Shhhh... shhhh, it's okay, Gertrude. Nopony's going to hurt you anymore," Fluttershy said in a soothing, motherly voice.

"Shut up," Gertrude snarled, trying and failing to reach behind her to grab the pink-maned pegasus. "Do you think that I can't hurt you?! Do you think that I can't kill you?!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Fluttershy admitted, "Oh, I know you can, Gertrude. But you don't really want to, do you?"

Gertrude flinched and grunted as though she had been struck. "What...? What is this nonsense?! I would have gutted you already if I didn't need you to reclaim the Elements of Harmony!"

"But... you said you didn't care about that anymore," Derpy said with genuine confusion as she held on.

"She's right," Fluttershy added. "If it was just about the Elements, there are all sorts of ways you could have extorted them from us. If it was just about hurting the Princesses, you wouldn't have needed to keep us prisoner. This whole time, you've been making excuses to yourself to explain why you haven't been hurting us... and the truth is that you just don't want to, isn't it?"

Gertrude siezed up, clenching her teeth together inside her beak. "How... can you say that...?" she asked.

Then she began screaming as though she had been set on fire.

They're burning me! Wretched, spiteful, monstrous little creatures, they're burning me!

How long has it been since I've felt this warmth? The agony! Something as simple as another creature sharing their warmth in the cold is killing me!

It was Gunther. That night when my dear friend came to me to warn me of the Sun and Moon's power-grubbing betrayal. Gunther saw that I was in turmoil even though I knew then what I had to do and for a few minutes, I was not a Queen, and he was not my Knight-Captain. He simply embraced me and assured me that all would be well because he was in Equestria's saddlebag from the beginning. But even if that was true, I can still feel the warmth and love he shared with me that night burning me away!

My throat, already hoarse from the dust I inhaled, is wearing itself raw from my screaming.

Why am I screaming?

"Gertrude... are you really happy carrying all this anger around?"

The screaming dies in my throat. "I... I don't want to be happy," I protest, rearing up on my hind legs so that I can better reach the mutant. I don't need to pull her away... I can simply slice her open and spill her blood upon the snow until she is as cold as the blizzard my windigoes have created.

"I don't... want to be happy," I repeat, feeling my heart clench in my chest. My voice catches on the words, betraying the lie in them.

"The Sun and Moon betrayed me," I snarl. "Gunther and his knights betrayed me! If I have to suffer, so should they!"

I growl, grasping the mutant pegasus in my talons. Even without my armor, they are strong enough to crush stone, let alone a pony's body.

Despite this, Fluttershy speaks calmly in her soft, sweet voice that reminds me so much of one of the friends I lost long ago. "You aren't going to harm her," she says, even going so far as to nuzzle my back. "I don't think you're a bad griffon. You've just been lost in the cold for so long."

"I am the cold," I retort. I wave my wing, but she holds on tightly. If I were to restore the armor to it, though, the blades of my feathers would slice her to pieces. "I am the Winter. I am ice and darkness. I am loss and sorrow. Stop trying to find the warmth in me, you simpering wench, because there is none!"

"You feel warm to me," the mutant replies with the most ridiculous grin on her face. "You're actually kinda fluffy when you aren't all sharp and pointy!"

Fluttershy asks, "that's the whole point of the armor, isn't it? The world turned into a dark, cold place for you, so you shut yourself away from it to hold onto the warmth inside. But that's the sort of time when you need somepony to share the warmth with the most."

"You can't stop the darkness from coming," another voice interjects. I fall back onto all fours and turn to see Rarity stepping out of the bakery with Applejack and the soldier standing on either side of her. Even though she is coated in a layer of ice, she shows no discomfort... because it is mine. I remember, I added the enchantment so that she would stay alive without even thinking about it. But... I did that, even feeling as betrayed as I did?

As if hearing my thoughts, Rarity smiles faintly. "You were actually right, Gertrude. I think I do understand you. The world needs Winter. The magic in the land needs time to rest before we can enjoy the bounty of Spring. In the same way, the times when we don't have much and everything seems darkest, that's when we appreciate the little things so much more. That's how you feel pretty much all the time, isn't it?"

How dare she? How dare any of them make such presumptions? "What do you know, you lapdogs of traitors?"

Lt. Sparkle speaks up, her tone hesitant as she glares at me. "Well, I know that if it were up to me, you'd be dealing with me and the Rangers instead of a couple of huggy pegasi." From atop my back, Fluttershy giggles, prompting the Ranger to give her a look that clearly says, 'are you serious?' Then she looks back at me and says in all seriousness, "But that's because you scared the horseapples out of me when I thought you'd hurt my friend, or worse. Even when she turned out to be alright, when she told us to try giving you a chance... it was really tempting to tune her out and go on the attack."

"So why didn't you...?"

Lt. Sparkle reluctantly replies, "Because... it's selfish, shutting out your friends. If I did that, it would be a betrayal of their trust. Believe me, I know..."

Applejack nods to the purple unicorn. "Agreed... you terrorized this town, my friends, and my little sister. Ordinarily, I would be siding with Twilight's first instincts here, but my other friends here insisted that you are worth giving a chance to." The earth pony sighs and gives me a wry grin. "I may not be inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I do trust them. Perhaps if you had extended the same trust to Celestia and Luna..."

"Th-they betrayed me," I stammer, feeling weak and a little dizzy as I try to comprehend what they are saying. They are insane. Every one of them is utterly mad not to press the attack now, while I am relatively vulnerable. "Our friendship was a lie."

Fluttershy asks, "If it were, then why did you tell us that story earlier? You've been holding on to that precious memory of one ordinary day and thousands more like it, keeping them safe and close to your heart this whole time. If you take all those thousands of ordinary days and put them in a pile versus the one where you think the Princesses betrayed you... which feels more real?"

I clench my talons, digging them into the frozen ground. I want so much to deny what the pegasus says. All I need to do is restore the armor to my wings, and she will be silenced, but it would not remove the uncomfortable truth from her words.

The truth, as painful as it is to admit, is that the friendship seemed so real. Even when the Element of Honesty himself told me that Celestia and Luna were amassing the power of our fallen friends for themselves, I wanted so much to believe that it was a mistake. Despite this, my thoughts constantly turned toward their betrayal. Every waking moment that I spent wishing for it to be untrue, my eyes refused to see anything but their transformation into selfish monsters.

These ponies should be fighting me. They know what I am capable of, so why do they not fight to put an end to me? Why do they allow their friends to remain within my reach and offer me aid after everything I have done to them?

My body convulses as I feel a terrible pain well up in my chest. Memories rise up unbidden of two ponies wandering lost in a blizzard of my clan's making, one with a coat as white as the snow and a mane the color of cherry blossoms, the other as dark as the evening sky. Food and warmth shared. Stories told and battles fought beside the truest of companions. Could all that really be rendered meaningless in one pivotal moment?

It had to be. It had to, because the alternative meant...

My chest heaves, and a wracking cry erupts from my throat. I gasp, convulsing and sobbing as the possibility that I had been trying so hard to protect myself from claws its way to the surface.

My eyes burn as I struggle to breathe. The heart that I tried to ignore pounds in my chest so hard that the blood rushing through my veins sounds like a deafening roar. For so long, I have kept a wall of ice between me and the world. I thought that it was to protect myself from the painful truth, but as the warmth returns to me, my eyes grow watery and the frozen film covering them begins to melt away for the first time in centuries.

"Griffon lady? Mrs. Fluttershy, is she okay?"

Fluttershy smiled as she loosened her grip, but still kept close to Gertrude to offer her warmth as she lowered herself back down to the ground. "Don't worry, Derpy, she'll be fine." She looked up at the sobbing griffon's eyes, and saw that the blank white was beginning to melt away, and she could see a faint tint of color in them. She then looked up and saw that the clouds above were beginning to thin, brightening the area as sunlight began to filter through them. "Every Winter has to thaw eventually."

"It's a pretty sappy trope," Rainbow Dash said as she stepped into view, having followed Nocturne and Gertrude's path around the bakery. "Still, no matter how dark things seem, you've gotta hold onto hope."

Applejack smiled wanly and looked down at her hooves. "And sometimes you have to be willing to take a leap of faith and be the one to reach out to those who'll see you through the Winter." She looked back over her shoulder, and saw Apple Bloom slowly approaching her. "It's... it's too easy to convince yourself that you'll be turned away and left alone in the cold. But that's selfish, because you aren't just depriving yourself of happiness, but the ones you could be helping in turn."

Turning toward her sister, Applejack embraced the little filly. The two Apple sisters whispered to each other too quietly to be heard, but Apple Bloom could be heard sniffling as she nuzzled her big sister.

Lt. Sparkle kept her gaze firmly locked on Gertrude for signs of trouble, but still flicked her ears toward the sisters, her stern expression softening slightly. "Well... I can't say I planned for this, but I'll chalk it up as a win," she mused as the threat seemed to be over. Doing a quick head-count of everypony present, she then blinked and asked, "Hey... where's Iron Will? And Zecora? And Private Pierce?"

"Will hubbled 'ff lhking f'r fumfing to frow affer he chkked a fpeaker at Gertrude," a muffled voice said from behind Lt. Sparkle, causing the startled Ranger to jump in surprise before turning to see Pinkamena furiously writing on a notepad with a quill in her mouth.

"Pinkamena! When did you get there, and... did you say 'chucked a speaker?'"

The pouty pink poet pointed a hoof toward the remnants of Vinyl's sound system, now half-buried in the snow just as Lt. Sparkle heard a familiar-sounding yelp coming from nearby. A moment later, Will came limping back on his crutch while holding a discombobulated Pokey Pierce over his head with his free hand. "I'm comin', Fluttershy! Come on, Pierce, make with the horn! There's damsels that need un-distressing!"

Seeing Will approach, Fluttershy gave the sobbing griffon a pat on the shoulder before flapping her wings and zipping toward her husband at such speeds that when she collided, Pokey got dropped into the snow beside him while Iron Will found himself getting squeezed and peppered with kisses from the delicate-looking pegasus.

As the couple were reunited, Zecora came following after him and shook her head. "I told you not to charge off, but to wait instead. Maybe next time you'll get it through your thick head," she told the minotaur, even though both he and Fluttershy were apparently lost to the rest of the world. Seeing that her advice was bouncing off them, she helped pull Pokey out of the snow while looking toward Gertrude. "Glad I am that we have stopped our foe... but was anything done about the Windigoes?"

For a moment, Zecora's question hung in the air with the only other sound coming from Gertrude's cries. Then, a baleful howl echoed through the town square, soon joined by two more. The town darkened again as the clouds grew thick and black once more, and three spectral figures in vaguely equine shapes could be seen galloping in a circle through the air above them.

The ponies looked around frantically, though Lt. Sparkle braced herself and charged her horn with magic as she did so. "I don't get it! Gertrude doesn't want to fight anymore, and none of us are feeling enough hate to attract them! Zecora, why are the Windigoes still here?"

The zebra was actually at a loss for words at first as she stared up at the sky. "I don't understand, they should be driven off, unless..." She watched the circling spirits and saw what, or rather whom was directly under them. "Of course, the thing she hates the most must still be addressed!"

"M-me? But I don't hate anypony," Derpy protested as she saw Zecora pointing at her. With a groan of frustration, Zecora pointed slightly higher toward the griffon as ice crystals began forming on her body once more. Not in the organized pattern that had shaped her armor, but spreading across her form in random spots like tumors. "Oh no! Griffon lady!"

Derpy reflexively tried to hug Gertrude again to share her warmth and fight off the encroaching freeze, but the griffon pushed her away with ease with a swipe of her foreleg before it froze in place. Opening her eyes, Gertrude's gaze panned across each of the others with large pink eyes unclouded by ice. Those eyes were filled with sorrow and regret as she looked upon the results of her actions clearly for the first time in centuries.

"It's no good... If Celestia and Luna didn't betray me... that means that I betrayed them...

"If my knights did not sell out their kingdom, then they perished fighting to protect it...

"If I wasn't surrounded by monsters... then that means I was the monster...

Gertrude's voice choked as she clenched her eyes shut again. "I'm sorry... but I do not deserve to be saved... do not deserve a second chance. I do not deserve to live!"

The Windigoes howled joyously as the icy shell completely enveloped Gertrude, then began to shine even through the darkness of the storm. A terrible biting wind began swirling around the frozen griffon, gathering snow and ice in its gusts until a freezing cyclone obscured everypony's view. From out of that cyclone, a fourth howl joined the chorus of the three Windigoes, chilling the very souls of all who heard it before the cyclone exploded and knocked them to the ground.

As they began to pick themselves up, everypony there beheld a terrible sight. Beside Gertrude's frozen form stood a new being in the shape of a griffon, but where Gertrude had worn ice as armor, this one was made of snow and ice and freezing winds. The other three Windigoes set down upon the snow beside it, their forms shifting to more closely resemble griffons themselves as the new creature examined its freshly created form.

"Hatred toward others is how Windigoes feed," Rainbow Dash muttered, recalling what she had said earlier. "Hatred of yourself is how they breed..."

BREED... YES... I WAS BORN OF HER, the Windigo said. Though its beak never moved, its words were carried by the wind itself, and the very sound of it chilled those who heard it. Not so much moving as flowing through the air, it shifted into a cloud of snow and reconstituted itself beside Gertrude's spear. Plucking it from the ground, the Windigo observed the spear of ice approvingly. I AM THE WINTER THAT FROZE A GENEROUS HEART. I BROUGHT ABOUT THE RUIN AND LOSS OF ALL THAT BROUGHT HER WARMTH. WHEN THE LAST FLICKER OF HOPE DIED IN HER HEART, IT WAS THE SPEAR-MAIDEN WHO GAVE ME LIFE, SO I SHALL BE GUNGNIR, THE SPEAR OF WINTER!