Snowblind

by CrowMagnon

Friendship and Laughter

Snowblind
by crowmagnon

Friendship & Laughter

Long, long ago...

"Halt and prostrate yourself, mutant!"

The knight's commanding voice echoed through the halls of the Snowheart clanhold, and the rag-clad mutant stopped in her tracks. She immediately threw herself to the ground, knowing that to do anything else would be considered defiance. Though she fought with all her will to not move a single muscle, her body trembled as he approached. Not from the cold of the stone floor that she pressed herself against, but dread. From behind the filthy tatters that covered her body from head to tail to hide her deformities from the pureblooded griffons of the Snowheart clan, two terrified pink eyes peered up.

"It is past your curfew, mutant. State your business in defiling these halls with your presence, and your punishment shall be light." The knight loomed over her, well-fed and -muscled as befitting the warriors of the most prosperous and feared of all the griffon clans. In his front talons, he hefted a mighty warhammer, though it was wholly unnecessary if the only purpose was to intimidate the scrawny griffoness.

"I...I was late in completing my duties in the kitchens, Sir Grabthar. I--"

The hammer slammed into her hind leg, causing her to squawk in pain. The knight roared furiously as he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her back, pinning the mutant to the wall. "Do not pollute my name by allowing it to touch your tongue, freak! You need not even know the names of your betters! That we even allow you to live and foul the air we breathe is more than you deserve, so remember your station and answer me! What are you doing here?!"

She struggled to breathe, her instincts screaming at her to claw at the knight and pull his talons from her throat. Experience, however, kept her talons and claws limp at her sides. After several seconds, the knight loosened his grip just barely enough for her to croak out her response. "I... was late... I only wished... to complete my duties, sir..."

The knight sneered and propped his warhammer against the wall, then raised his talons and slashed through the rags covering her chest. Dirty scraps of fabric and downy white feathers fluttered to the ground, followed by the soft thumps of four small apples, each one a hard, worm-eaten thing plucked from one of the few gnarled trees that barely clung to life in the wintry lands the Snowheart clan called home.

"Stealing... STEALING!" The knight's voice boomed like thunder in the mutant's eardrums. "When you were born, you should have been dashed upon the rocks and left as food for the scavengers. Instead, Lord Snowheart, in his generosity, gives you a roof. He gives you work. He gives you food. And yet here you are, thinking that you are deserving of MORE?!" With a heavy stomp, he crushed one of the apples under his hind leg.

The mutant whimpered, her eyes widening behind the rag wrappings as she reflexively reached out toward the crushed fruit. Seeing this, Sir Grabthar threw her to the floor and forced her beak down into the mashed remnants of the apple.

"You want to eat so badly? Go on, eat! If you're going to show the gratitude of a lowly beast, then you can eat off of the floor like one!"

The mutant whined, but did not... could not fight back. Instead, the rags around her beak parted as she stuck her tongue out, leaning toward the crushed bits of fruit.

Suddenly, a third voice interjected. "Mutant! Where are you with my--" Another knight approached, a spear strapped to his back. "Sir Grabthar? What are you doing with that creature?"

Grabthar looked up to regard the other knight. "Captain Gunther! I caught this mutant after curfew. Stealing food, as well. I was seeing to its discipline."

The Knight-Captain approached and picked up one of the apples from the floor. "Release it."

Grabthar stared at his commander in confusion. "Captain?"

"I said release it, Sir Grabthar. I sent this mutant to fetch me some apples from the kitchens. Did it not explain this to you?"

Grabthar growled as he reluctantly released his grip on the mutant and took up his hammer. "Nay, Captain, the freak said nothing about being on an errand for you, I swear by my hammer."

"Of course it didn't. Witless thing..." the Knight-Captain muttered. "You did well, Sir Grabthar. Resume your patrol. This beast wasted both your time and mine with its stupidity."

Sir Grabthar saluted and left the hall, but not without a menacing glare toward the mutant, who began timidly gathering up the remaining apples. Once he was gone, and the Knight-Captain was certain that no griffon was near enough to hear, he leaned down and whispered to the mutant, "Now then... why did you take the fruit?"

The mutant swallowed and replied just as quietly, "Rats, sir."

The Knight-Captain raised an eyebrow. "Rats?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir... I... I caught some rats alive... I thought that if I fattened them up... they would make a better meal."

The Knight-Captain grimaced at the thought of eating such vermin, but gestured toward the nearest exit from the clanhold. "Very well. Be on your way, then, and do not let yourself be caught violating your curfew again if you do not wish to face the consequences."

The mutant shuddered and clutched the three apples to her breast. "I-I understand. Thank you, sir. I will not forget this kindness, sir."

He left her, then, and she hurried on her way as quickly as she could while dragging her wounded leg behind her. Twice as careful to avoid getting caught again, she slipped out of the clanhold fortress and into the biting Winter storms which surrounded it.

Vicious winds howled around the clanhold, carrying with it ice particles which cut against any exposed flesh. The armor of the knights, forged and blessed by the clan's most skilled storm-shapers, would have repelled the arctic assault, but the mutant had only her rags to protect her as she made the trek toward a small wooden shack.

Once inside, the mutant barred the door shut to keep it from flying open with the winds, then pulled the rags from her face and took a deep breath. As shabby and worn as the shack was, it was still far better to be inside than outside. The many cracks and gaps in the walls were patched over with ice and snow, keeping the worst of the cold and the cutting winds from getting in.

The interior had very little to speak of. A straw mat in one corner served as the shack's sole piece of furniture, and a small wood-fired stove, currently cold, to provide both heat and the opportunity for cooking on the rare occasions when she had anything worth being cooked. Instead of starting a fire right away, the mutant made her way to the corner and pulled the straw aside to reveal a hidden panel.

The mutant pulled open the secret door in her floor, and saw a pair of cyan eyes peer up at her from the shadows. Reaching down into the dark recess, she helped the dark blue, winged unicorn mare that the eyes belonged to up to her level. Once the pony joined her, the mutant held the apples out to her. "I am sorry, your highness... this was all that I could steal away with. I will do better next time, I promise..."

The pony looked past her offering, however. Though her mane was unkempt and she was thin enough for her ribs to show through her dark coat, her eyes peered through the apples as though they were not even there while she instead focused her gaze on the mutant's leg where Sir Grabthar had punished her.

Daintily stepping around the mutant and placing a hoof against the spot where Grabthar's hammer had struck her, the mutant hissed in pain. The pony quickly pulled her hoof back, eyes widening with shock. "You were attacked."

"It will heal. It always does," the mutant quickly replied, seeking to change the subject by peering past the pony and into the darkness beneath the floorboards. "What of your sister? Has she recovered at all?"

The pony frowned and hung her head low. "Only a little... My sister is strong, but her constitution is ill-suited to these climes. As soon as she is well, we shall have to find a way to escape your clansmen's storm if she is to be fully healed."

The mutant bowed her head. "I would offer you everything within my power to help you, your highness, though I have none. I only wish that a wretched creature like me could have been of some use in helping you find what you came here for."

The pony looked up shyly from behind her pale blue mane, and she lifted up the apples in the dark aura of her magic. At the same time, she pressed herself against the rag-clad mutant, nuzzling into the snow-white feathers of her host. "I believe that you already have, Gertrude."

The mutant felt tears well up in her eyes as the pony embraced her and spoke her true name. A name that, so far as she was aware, no living member of the Snowheart clan knew, let alone one that they would speak aloud if they did.

Her tears truly began to flow as she recalled that the royal pony sisters in her care had not only given her knowledge of their own names, but permission to use them in return. "Thank you... L-Luna..."

Present day...

"Well, horseapples," Pinkamena mused as the griffon-shaped windigoes surrounding Gungnir let out another loud, windy howl. "It went and gave itself a name."

Through a lull in the roaring winds, Lt. Sparkle barked out, "Everypony who can't fight, get back! Sgt. Striker, cover the musicians! Private Pierce, you're on the Apples!" Glancing over toward Rarity, she asked, "How are you for breathing fire?"

Rarity swallowed, grateful that Spike and Sweetie Belle were indoors elsewhere with the Cakes. "Not very good, Twilight. I can hold it in my mouth, and that gets tiring after a few minutes. If I try to project it, I can probably get out one puff... maybe two, but then I'll be struggling just to stay conscious."

Lt. Sparkle nodded. "Then save it until it counts. I'll keep them on me as long as I can." With a flash of magic, the armored unicorn teleported in front of the howling Windigoes.

As one, four pairs of blank white eyes focused squarely on the Ranger.

"Okay... 'Gungnir', is it? There are a lot of ponies in this town who just want to get back to their lives, so there are two ways this can go." She paused for a moment, but the Windigoes simply stared blankly back at her. "Right... the first way involves you agreeing never to bother anypony again and going on your way. It was Gertrude who was terrorizing us, so as long as you don't cause any further trouble, we won't have to fight you."

... I UNDERSTAND, Gungnir replied. WE SHOULD ONLY FIGHT THOSE WHO HAVE COMMITED GRIEVANCES AGAINST US.

Lt. Sparkle tensed up, feeling a momentary sense of foreboding from Gungnir's choice of words. Foreboding which was immediately justified as she teleported three feet backward just in time to avoid being skewered while the Windigo's spear sank into the snow-covered earth where she had been standing.

FOR CENTURIES, I GESTATED IN THE SPEAR-MAIDEN'S HEART. WHEN SHE DENIED THE LIGHT OF THE SUN AND MOON, I GREW. WHEN THOSE WHO SWORE THEIR SPEARS TO HER BANNER TURNED THOSE SPEARS UPON HER, I GREW. OUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS WERE AS ONE, YET SHE DID NOTHING BUT MAKE EXCUSES AND FIND REASONS NOT TO EMBRACE THE TRUE WINTER.

Lt. Sparkle grit her teeth and charged her magic through her horn while Gungnir spoke. The violet aura surrounding it grew much brighter in intensity until she released it, sending a beam of magic streaking toward the Windigo. Instead of striking anything, however, Gungnir's body simply flowed around the beam with contemptuous ease as Twilight's spell shot up into the sky and ended in a harmless flash.

As if the Ranger hadn't done anything to interrupt it, Gungnir pulled its spear from the ground and continued speaking. I HAD TO STRUGGLE JUST TO BE BORN INTO THIS WORLD. EVERY STEP I TOOK TO DRIVE THE SPEAR-MAIDEN BEYOND THE POINT OF NO RETURN. I PIT HER AGAINST HER SWORN SISTERS, AND FAILED. Lt. Sparkle frowned and braced herself to act, her horn glowing faintly as she gathered her magic.

I URGED HER TO TORMENT THAT MUTANT, AND MAKE ITS OWN KIND TURN UPON IT, BUT I FAILED IN THAT AS WELL. Derpy whimpered, turning one skewed eye toward the frozen Gertrude. The expression she had as she looked at the albino griffon through the shell of ice surrounding her was a rare blend of hurt and pity.

I HAD MY WINDIGOES IMPLANT A FELLOW EMBRYO IN THE ONE PONY MOST CERTAIN TO GIVE BIRTH TO ANOTHER LIKE ME, BUT YOU BURNED IT OUT OF EXISTENCE MERE MOMENTS BEFORE IT WAS TO BE. Apple Bloom trembled with renewed terror as she realized just how close she had come, not only to dying, but to bringing a monster into the world like the one standing before them. She clutched Applejack desperately, and her sister returned the embrace.

BUT THAT WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU. YOU REACHED OUT TO THE SPEAR-MAIDEN, AND TRIED TO BURN ME OUT OF HER FROZEN HEART, Gungnir continued, lashing out again with its spear. Twilight teleported away behind it, but with a body only partially physical, the Windigo effortlessly shifted and flowed to face her and continue the attack. Again and again, the unicorn blinked from one spot to the next, but Gungnir proved to be a being purely of the wind and cold, and so it was able to keep pressing the attack as it ranted. YOU TRIED TO DENY ME MY EXISTENCE JUST AS YOU DID MY BABY! THE CLARITY YOU RESTORED TO THE SPEAR-MAIDEN CAUSED ME TO BE BORN, BUT I DID SO BURNING IN AN AGONY THAT YOU CREATURES OF FLESH CANNOT COMPREHEND!

"You'd be surprised what I can comprehend," Lt. Sparkle muttered as she struggled to avoid yet another flurry of attacks.

At the same time, on the outskirts of town, Scootaloo kept her eye on Ponyville through a pair of binoculars while snow accumulated atop her hat. She was cold and bored, but it was the job that her mom and Lt. Sparkle had given her before they left with the weather ponies, so she took a sip of the no longer aptly named mug of hot chocolate beside her and kept at it.

Just as she returned her focus toward the town, the filly caught a glimpse of a purple flash rising up above the buildings. She quickly brought her binoculars up and traced its path back to the vicinity of a very unique and familiar building. The instant she was sure of where it had come from, Scootaloo turned and practically tumbled over herself and her cape as she dashed back into the tower.

"Signal! She shot off the signal," Scootaloo shouted as she stumbled inside, relaying the information to the adult pegasus sitting by the fireplace.

The other pegasus turned to look at her. "Which way am I going?"

"Sugarcube Corner," Scootaloo replied. The other pegasus wasted no time getting up and putting on the saddlebags that had been prepared before Lt. Sparkle led the others back into town. "You sure you can make it?"

The other pegasus ground her teeth so hard, they practically sparked as she stomped up the stairs to the top of the tower. Once at the summit, the mare looked out toward Ponyville and flared her wings. "Just let 'em try to stop me," she growled before pushing off and taking flight.

While Lt. Sparkle kept Gungnir distracted, Nocturne followed Twilight's orders and flew toward Vinyl and Octavia. With Gungnir on the attack, the other Windigoes had followed suit and split off to deal with the other ponies. One had gone after the musicians, and Vinyl was struggling to fend it off with bursts of magic that did little more than shoot off beams of bright neon light while Octavia swung her cello bow like a sword.

Nocturne took a deep breath as she got close, then let out a piercing bat-like shriek the moment she was almost upon the Windigo. The griffon-shaped spectre took the whole brunt of the sonic attack and dispersed as Nocturne passed through the space where it had been. Lacking a solid form to begin with, however, it quickly reformed behind her and shot a blast of freezing wind at the bat-winged Ranger.

Nocturne's wings seized up as she felt them freeze in place, causing her to crash and tumble into a snowbank. The two musicians immediately hurried over to help dig her out of the snow and help her back onto her hooves.

"Are you feelink vell, Ms. Ranger? That vas nasty spill!"

Nocturne shook her head to shake the snow off, then flicked the last bit from her tufted ears. "I'm alright! Vinyl, can you still do that sound-focusing spell?"

The DJ nodded while looking up at the sky, then ducked as the Windigo swooped down just over her. "Sure, Sarge, but my speakers are deader than polka! Even if we could blast it, this thing'll just keep coming back!"

"Trust me, Vinyl, we just need to make this thing think twice about bothering anypony!" Her ear twitched as she heard the Windigo approach again, and leaped high up into the air. A nimble backflip carried her over the attacking Windigo, and this time she was able to land on all fours. "Just cast your spell!"

"On what?! I told you, my speakers are gone!"

Nocturne looked over her shoulder at Vinyl, giving the DJ a fangy grin. "What do you think?"

Comprehension dawned on Vinyl's face as Nocturne took a deep breath.

Zecora's ears flattened against her head to protect her hearing from the window-rattling shriek. She glanced toward Nocturne Striker and saw that with Vinyl's help, her cry discorporated the Windigo attacking her so thoroughly that when it rematerialized, its limbs were mixed up with its wing where its tail should have been, and its head sticking out the side of its barrel.

The shaman turned to look elsewhere, and saw Pokey Pierce making a valiant stand against another Windigo as it tried to get around him to attack the Apple sisters. His horn glowing with a pale blue aura of sharpness, he swung it like a sword to ward the spirit off, seemingly scoring numerous cuts. Given that these cuts immediately healed over, though, Zecora suspected that it was held at bay more by the way Applejack and Apple Bloom clung to one another than by the young Ranger's efforts.

A pained howl snapped Zecora's attention to the third Windigo as her faithful student struck it with her good wing. Said wing was tinted a faint green from a thin coating of loa dust, but Zecora could see that Rainbow Dash's lack of control over the powder was causing a bit to shake off with every strike.

Zecora was in motion the instant she saw this. She galloped toward her student and called out, "Rainbow, mind your wing! You cannot fight these creatures without the magic of Spring!"

Rainbow, hearing her teacher, grit her teeth against the cold as she used her wing to keep the Windigo pinned to the ground. "Sorry Teach, I don't have any left in my pouch! I used up a lot making a fake Fluttershy!" Looking up to see the confused look on her mentor's face, she laughed nervously. "It was a good idea at the time... Pinkamena can vouch."

Zecora narrowed her eyes. Running on three legs briefly, she dipped a hoof into her own pouch of dust, then leaped up into the air and slammed it down onto the pinned Windigo. Another howl erupted from the spirit as it squirmed and struggled free, taking to the air to get away from the zebra and her apprentice.

Before the Windigo got far, however, it was suddenly yanked back as if by an invisible leash. Zecora took note of this, then looked toward Gungnir as it continued to pursue Lt. Sparkle. "The instincts of the Windigoes should be telling them to flee, but there is a strange power that will not let them fly free. Like all things that exist on this world's surface, the Windigoes also have their place, but that Gungnir has passions and emotions that do not belong to their kind at all. No matter how hard I try to remember tales of another like it, there are none I can recall."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" a third voice asked as Pinkamena seemed to materialize behind Zecora from out of nowhere. The pink poet had a quill and notepad sticking out of the neck of her sweater.

Rarity also stood beside Pinkamena with a fretful expression on her face "Please, Pinkamena said that you know how to deal with these creatures. We have to put a stop to this as soon as possible! Even Twilight can't keep teleporting around forever."

The four mares turned their focus on Lt. Sparkle, who was indeed starting to slow as she kept avoiding Gungnir's spear, always keeping just close enough to hold the monster's attention so that it wouldn't attack anypony else. As extraordinary as her reserves of magic were, it was proving to be nothing combared to the stamina of the Windigo. As the two battled, the wounded Windigo that Zecora and Rainbow Dash had teamed up on limped its way through the air toward Gungnir and let out a pained whimper.

This caused Gungnir to hesitate in its attacks. For a moment, it turned its attention toward the lesser Windigo before turning its baleful white stare on Zecora.

ENOUGH OF THIS, Gungnir intoned as its form flowed to turn toward Zecora. Rather than continue pursuing Lt. Sparkle, it spread its wings. Freezing winds erupted from its body, filling the streets with a blinding wave of snow that battered against everypony around it. Twilight quickly teleported herself between Gungnir and the spot where Pokey Pierce stood protecting the Apple sisters.

Lt. Sparkle's horn glowed brightly as she quickly erected a disc-shaped shield between the arctic wave and the ponies behind her. A short distance away, Iron saw the oncoming blizzard and held Fluttershy to his chest, turning and crouching away from Gungnir to shield the dainty pegasus with his broad back. Nocturne and the musicians were far enough away that they had time to take cover before it struck them.

The remaining four had no cover to hide behind, but Zecora shouted, "Rainbow, protect your friends! Summon up a countering wind!" As she did so, she opened her pouch and let a large amount billow out into the cold air.

Rainbow Dash froze for a moment. Thankfully not literally, though the sight of the rushing winds and billowing snow hurtling inexorably toward them caused her to lose her focus on the world around her to the point where she could barely even hear her mentor. The oncoming wave of snow, and the force of the wind blowing in her face made her feel as though she were flying toward a bank of clouds.

The world seemed to grow darker around her, and the pegasus shaman saw flashes of what looked like lightning in the blizzard. Somepony started screaming. Whoever it was, Rainbow thought they sounded a lot like herself. Especially as the others were shouting her name from somewhere very, very far away.

Suddenly, a shadow passed in front of her and suddenly the clouds were gone. Instead, she saw large patches of sky blue taking up most of her vision.

"Flap, Rainbow! Flap now," she heard faintly. It was Pinkamena's voice, so even though she was too disoriented to think, she did as her friend asked and began flapping her good wing. As she did so, her vision began to clear, and the blue in front of her took the shape of her poet friend's eyes. Everything else was pink as Rainbow Dash's eyes darted around in a panic, but Pinkamena was pressing her forehead against Rainbow's, and her long mane blocked off the pegasus's view of the world around them.

At the same time, Zecora blew a large quantity of dust toward her student. Rainbow Dash's wing caught the dust, where it mingled with her own pegasus magic to create a breeze against the raging winds hurtling toward them. The soft wind she created cast the dust into the raging blizzard, and broke Gungnir's cutting winds just before it could consume them.

The Windigoes howled with impotent rage as the very winds Gungnir had created carried the dust throughout the storm, dissipating the icy magic wherever the green particles passed. For all of the Windigo's fury, the storm it created melted away without so much as a whimper. As the cloud surrounding Gungnir gradually shrank, however, its spear suddenly shot through the snow and dust without warning, flying straight toward Zecora with shocking speed.

The shaman gasped as she saw it coming toward her, much too quickly for her to get out of the way. She reflexively attempted to use her dust in some way, but found that her pouch was all but empty after devoting most of it to dispelling the blizzard in the first place.

Thankfully for her, a blast of purple flame scorched the air between her and the spear of ice as Rarity also reflexively called on her magic, but unlike Zecora, she did still have some to spare. Gungir's spear flew straight into the magical dragonfire she exhaled, which caused the weapon to crack and evaporate as it passed through.

The magic which had crafted the weapon was potent, but nothing against a dragon's flame, even if that flame came from a pony. Though it did not vanish completely, so much of the spear's mass was lost that only a few slivers of ice survived to harmlessly fly past the ponies and zebra without so much as scratching them.

The dragonfire had taken its toll, however. Rarity gasped for air, struggling to keep her balance as the blast of magical flame had taken up almost all of the magic she had left in her. Zecora quickly moved to support her. "You saved my life, my pony friend. My gratitude to you is without end."

Rarity smiled tirely at that, and leaned against Zecora so she wouldn't fall. "Just... please don't ask me to do that again until I've had a good night's sleep..."

Any relief that they felt was short-lived, though. Gungnir once again spread its wings, dispelling the blizzard that it had created, and along with it the dust that had been used to counter its attack. THIS BATTLE IS OVER, it proclaimed. YOU ARE WEAK. EVERY DEFENSE YOU HAD HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED. EVERY WEAPON BROKEN.

The griffon-Windigo panned its sightless eyes across the ponies surrounding it. Its eyes were nothing more than a decoration to the spirit-creature, but it 'saw' the life and warmth of every living thing around it, and how they were all drained. With a flap of its mighty wings, Gungnir rose up and rode the wind so that it could look down upon its victims.

As it did so, the three lesser Windigoes flew up to join it. As soon as they came within reach, Gungnir grasped hold of two, and snapped the third in its enormous beak, crushing the spirits in its grip and causing them to dissolve into streams of mist and snow. The remains of the three Windigoes swirled around Gungnir, flowing around and into it, adding their spectral forms to its body and creating plates of armor very much like the suit of ice that Gertrude had worn.

THIS IS THE FATE OF ALL WHO STAND AGAINST THE WINTER. IN THE END, ALL YOUR WORKS WILL FALL TO THE COLD AND THE DARKNESS. ALL THAT YOU CAN DO IS CLING JEALOUSLY TO YOUR MEAGER POSSESSIONS AND PRETENSES OF CIVILIZATION, AND SOB FROZEN TEARS AS THEY ARE TORN AWAY FROM YOU. WHEN ALL IS LOST, YOU WILL PREY UPON ONE ANOTHER, SO YOU MAY CONSIDER IT A BLESSING THAT YOU SHALL NOT LIVE TO SEE IT COME TO PASS. OR YOU MAY NOT... THE WINTER DOES NOT CARE.

"You're wrong!" A tiny voice defiantly called out from down below. From behind Twilight's shield and Pokey's horn, Apple Bloom glared up at Gungnir. "Y-you're wrong! You're jus' sayin' that 'cause... 'cause you ain't got nopony! Maybe Winter's cold an' dangerous, but if'n you've got yer friends an' family with ya, it ain't bad at all!"

YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A FOAL. WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

"She knows enough," Applejack interjected, standing beside her sister. With a regretful frown, she looked down at the little filly. "She knows more than she should how scary the world can seem when it feels like she has nopony to rely on. We both do... and so did she," she said, looking over toward the frozen Gertrude. "Gertrude lashed out at us because she was hurt, but at least it turned out that she had a heart. What is your excuse?"

Gungnir hesitated to answer, giving Fluttershy a chance to step in while she warmed her husband's back with her wings despite the ice caking his broad shoulders. "Oh you poor thing, you don't even know, do you? All that time you spent existing inside her, as a part of her, and all that anger and fear she felt must have affected you in some ways. Do you even understand why she felt that way?"

YOU ARE THE ONES WHO DO NOT UNDERSTAND, Gungnir retorted. HER SUFFERING BEGAN SO THAT I MIGHT KNOW LIFE. YOU KNOW NOTHING OF ME, OR THE TRUE NATURE OF WINTER.

"I'll tell you what I know," Lt. Sparkle replied, lowering her magic shield as she looked up to the sky. "I know how long it takes a laden pegasus with a below-average flight speed to travel here from the Ranger outpost. I also know something you didn't... that I lied when I said we weren't able to free the pony who got frozen."

IMPOSSIBLE! Gungnir let out an annoyed howl, the cries of the three Windigoes it had absorbed echoing in its voice. I SAW THROUGH THE SPEAR-MAIDENS EYES. WE SAW YOUR HEART AS YOU SPOKE!

Lt. Sparkle's eyes widened, but she seemed more curious than shocked by this revelation. "Oh? Well... a little trade secret from my time in the Guard. It is sometimes possible to catch somepony in a lie by monitoring their vital signs for fluctuations, but only if you get an accurate baseline to work off of, first. Trying to use that method alone when your subject is terrified and erratic to begin with..." She gave a wry smirk, even as she admitted to the levels of panic she had been experiencing beneath the veneer of her discipline and training.

IT IS STILL IMPOSSIBLE, Gungnir exclaimed. YOU COULD NOT HAVE FREED ANY OF YOUR KIND FROM OUR ICE!

A few hours ago...

"This-s-s-s isn't w-w-working," Blossomforth griped as she, Thunderlane and Cloud Kicker pressed their bodies against the frozen form of their co-worker, Raindrops. Looking over toward her manager, she saw Cloud Kicker not only maintaining the embrace without her teeth chattering, but the blond pegasus was smiling as well. "H-how are you d-d-doing that-t?"

Cloud Kicker looked back to Blossomforth with a sultry smirk and replied, "Just thinking... friendly thoughts about Raindrops, Blossom. That always keeps me warm."

Blossomforth groaned, taking a moment to pull her forelegs away from Raindrops to rub her temples. "Ugh, this isn't working!"

Thunderlane let out an awkward cough. "Umm... how long have we been doing this?"

"Seventeen minutes," Lt. Sparkle replied with a sigh. "Pull back, and we'll try something else. At least we know she's alive in there, just... in a state of suspended animation."

As the pegasi let go of their frozen friend, Zecora said, "If I may, there is something that I would like to try." She produced her pouch of green powder.

"Wh-what is th-that?" Blossomforth asked, rubbing herself with her forelegs to try to get warm again.

"The dust of the loa. Do not get any in your eye," the shaman replied. "This powder is made from the essence of an Everfree spirit. One so capricious that most creatures fear it. It is, however, a spirit of Laughter and Spring. It might thaw out your friend so that she can once again take wing."

Lt. Sparkle arched an eyebrow at the simultaneously ominous and light-hearted description of the powder's origins, but was not in the mood to neigh-say so long as somepony's life was on the line. Looking to Cloud Kicker, she said, "Raindrops is your subordinate. It's your call."

Cloud Kicker's usual flirty demeanor faded as the weight of responsibility for Raindrops's fate was placed in her hooves. With a serious expression, she nodded once. "If there's a chance, do it." Walking over to the frozen pony once more, she placed a hoof affectionately against Raindrops's cheek. "She may not be the fastest flier on the team, but once she gets going, she can punch through a typhoon. I'd feel a lot better knowing she's okay..."

"Then please remove your hoof from her face and give me a little space," Zecora said. Once Cloud Kicker stepped back, the shaman took some of the dust out with her hoof, then blew it toward Raindrops. The powder drifted on her breath, then seemed to take on a life of its own as she guided it with her will. It drifted around and around the frozen pegasus, but was unable to penetrate the icy shell and seemed to have no effect.

Whiel this was going on, Scootaloo shifted on her mother's back. Having recovered some of her energy, the orange filly roused from her recuperative nap and slid off of Nocturne's back so she could groggily make her way toward the station's restroom. Nocturne saw that this was taking her straight toward Raindrops, so in order to keep her daughter from interrupting Zecora's work, she reached out with a foreleg to pull Scootaloo back.

The sudden jostling helped wake Scootaloo up further as she was held back, and she opened her eyes to see Raindrops in her current state.

The scream she let out rattled the eardrums of everypony in the outpost as she stared at Raindrops. The jasmine weather pony's frozen expression was a terrifying enough sight for an on-edge filly to wake up to in the first place, but the green dust in the air lent it an extra air of supernatural menace that freaked Scootaloo out.

So powerful was her scream, in fact, that a faint spiderweb of cracks began appearing on the surface of the ice. And though Zecora's concentration slipped slightly from the sonic assault, she saw that her dust was beginning to seep into the cracks, its magic preventing the ice from restoring itself.

Moments later, Nocturne managed to place a hoof over her daughter's mouth and muffle her cries, but by that point the cracks had spread through most of Raindrops's upper body. A faint rumbling could be felt by everypony in the room as the frozen shell surrounding Raindrops began vibrating menacingly, the cracks growing wider even without Scootaloo's screams. Suddenly, it split open and Raindrops spread her wings as she gasped for air and smashed her way out of the ice!

Present moment...

"Well, it wasn't the 'fires of friendship'," Twilight admitted. "How do you think we knew how to break into Sugarcube Corner?"

YOU LIE! THAT IS WHAT YOU PONIES DO, YOU MAKE UP LIES! But despite the fury growing in Gungnir, causing it to lose its composure, it sensed a warmth in the sky above it. Its form shifted as it turned to look up and focused its attention on the single sturdily-built pegasus flying toward it. A pegasus pony who was loaded down with several layers of warm clothing and a full pair of saddlebags.

IT MATTERS NOT. YOU SAVED ONE PONY, BUT YOU WILL STILL ALL DIE HERE. YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT WITH WHICH TO FIGHT ME. With that proclamation, Gungnir flapped its wings and sent a focused blizzard toward Raindrops.

The jasmine pegasus took the full brunt of the wintry blast, not being fast or agile enough to avoid it even if she weren't weighted down. Gungnir watched as the snow and freezing winds claimed her...

...Only to see her fly straight through and keep charging forward, using gravity to help her pick up speed as she angled downward.

If Gungnir's face were capable of showing emotion, its shock would have been immortalized in the minds of all ponies present. It sent up more wind and snow and ice to assault Raindrops with, but the pegasus broke it with brute strength whenever it tried to freeze on her. Her wings were held in a rigid position to begin with as she dive-bombed toward Gungnir, building up speed and inertia. When she got close, Raindrops pulled back one of her forelegs, then thrust it forward with all her strength to strike the stunned Windigo.

Gungnir exploded into a shower of wind and snow as Raindrops smashed through its armor, and Raindrops spread her wings to catch the air and brake before she could slam into the ground at terminal velocity. Letting out a satisfied huff, Raindrops glided toward Lt. Sparkle and set down in front of her. "Hoo yeah! That was cathartic. Guess you won't really be needing these?" She pointed a hoof back at the saddlebags on her back.

Lt. Sparkle allowed herself a genuine smile, though there was still tension evident there. "Not quite, but you bought us a few seconds." Indeed, Gungnir was already beginning to pull itself back together. As her horn glowed and she reached for the objects that Raindrops had come to deliver, she asked, "Have you ever thought of pitching in part-time with the Rangers?"

The jasmine pegasus snorted. "Between the weather team and working as a mover? My plate's full, thanks."

Lt. Sparkle nodded and at least tried to hide her disappointment. "Well, we've already thrown everything we've got at this thing..." Six golden necklaces floated out of the saddlebags, each one with a different gemstone carved into it. One was an orange jewel in the shape of a stone slab and chisel. Another was a pink rainbow which appeared cracked, but closer inspection would have revealed that this was simply part of the design. The third was a blue stone in the shape of a hoof and a hand holding one another. The next was a purple tree, followed by magenta geode.

The last necklace had a gem in the shape of a crimson compass rose, which Lt. Sparkle placed around her own neck while sending the other five out to their respective owners, who were taking advantage of Gungnir's brief incapacitation to run together and surround the recovering Windigo. "Now it's time to see what the Elements of Harmony can do."