//------------------------------//
// July 6th ('Storming' the Empire) 
// Story: Equestria Legends Online 
// by Shadowflame 
//------------------------------//

	“D-d-dammit! Why does it have to be so cold?!” Soul grumbled bitterly, shaking like a leaf as he was pelted with the unforgiving wind and snow of a full on blizzard.

“Ah, shut up.” Cinn answered back flatly, “We all heard you the last time you said it, back two miles ago. And last I checked, we were all in the same blizzard, and I don’t see anyone else complaining.”

“Well excuse me, Mr. Ice Ninja! We haven’t been in this kind of weather before!” The unicorn card player retorted.

“That’s samurai to you, baka!”

From the front of the line, I quietly sighed in exasperation, readjusting the neck of my cloak to cover the parts of me that were getting cold. We’d been traveling through this blizzard for the past few hours or so, but Soul was getting irritable about the cold, which was sort of ironic since he was the only one in the group wearing a leather jacket.

Of course, from what I’d learned about Cinn in the past day it took us to reach the blizzard zone, he hated people who were irritable; as he put it in his own words, ‘those kinds of people really annoy me’. Looking back at the duo of bickering unicorns, I’d say he was telling the truth.

I suppressed a slight shiver. The cold of the storm was really getting to me, and that’s saying something, considering the fact I could easily whip out a fire to warm myself up… of course, then I wondered how long a normal flame would last out here. Whether it could or couldn’t, I had decided to not use any magic power out here unless needed. Who knew what kind of monsters lurked out in this storm?

In all honesty, I think everyone would’ve preferred to take Westfalia to the Crystal Empire with us, partially because it’d save us a long trek through the snow, and also because it was pretty much our home now, ever since Jupiter decided to evict us from Canterlot to find the last remaining Elements.

But of course, as bad luck would have it, the airship was in no shape to go through a full blown blizzard like this in one piece. So, our only option was to set anchor just outside the blizzard zone and walk all the way to the Crystal Empire.

From the front of our group, I took a glance back to make sure we hadn’t lost anyone by accident, which wouldn’t surprise me if we did. I could barely see the end of our group through the snowfall.

Right behind me was Midnight5ky, wearing his black cloak with the hood pulled up to keep warm. Close beside him was Siren, who had apparently been getting more friendly with the demonic unicorn ever since his return at the changeling hive. At least she was cold, since her armor was a long trench coat, but I could see a few icicles hanging off the base of her crossbow already.

Behind them was Dylan, who was shivering in his hooves. He hadn’t been exactly prepared for the cold weather, since he had thought the trip through the blizzard was shorter than it was. Thankfully, Sky had provided an old cloak for his brother, so he’d have to make do with that.

Following him were Lexus and Neon Fire, who were walking with the sides of their armor pressed together. It wasn’t just because they were a couple, but more likely that Neon was keeping her pegasus boyfriend warm. True to her name, Neon’s armor seemed like it was lit with green fire sometimes. Neither of them looked cold, so I didn’t have to worry about them.

After those two were Violet Runner and Eclipse. Those two guys weren’t doing much, other than keeping their eyes on the ponies in front of them while they trudged through the snow. Occasionally, they’d glance out to the sides of the group, watching for any monster activity. Although, Violet was the only one of the two wearing goggles, his forger’s goggles, so Eclipse kept having to blink rapidly to keep the snow out of his eyes.

The ponies behind them were doing the same, but their detection skills were letting them see farther than the normal eye could. With goggles on to keep the snow out of their eyes, Comet and Swift Vapor kept a steady lookout for any monsters in the storm. There was no one better in our group to keep a lookout more than a hunter and our aerial pilot.

Even though they were poorly dressed by winter clothing standards, a scarf for Comet and an armored tunic for Swift, the two pegasi didn’t even look like they were cold… Maybe it was just a pegasus thing? I’d have to ask them about it later. (It still surprises me how much I don’t know about this game)

After them, a single pony trudged along near the back of the group. Behind his sunglasses, Crossheart kept his eyes towards the ground, idly following behind everypony else. I wasn’t surprised by this. Even after all this time, he still hadn’t recovered from Cloud Burst’s death at the changeling hive. He had gotten the Element of Laughter, but anything he’d done since then had been less than cheery.

Silently, I noted that I’d need to find a way to cheer him back up, or else his element wouldn’t activate and allow us to use the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord and free us from this game. Great, the fate of everyone depended on me and Sky to make our friend cheer up and get over his friend’s death. Isn’t that just peachy?

Taking up the rear of our group was Soul Cards and Cinn. They had volunteered to keep an eye on the rest of the group, just in case someone accidentally left the party and wandered through the snow… Well, that, and they also had to make sure Cross stayed up with the rest of us while he trudged along in depression. Obviously, Soul was freezing, though he was the only one voicing out his discomfort in colorful language.

Athough, Cinn on the other hoof wasn’t even shivering. I figured it had to do with his ability, Frost. Since it was an ability similar to my Blaze ability, considering the fact that it allowed me to walk over freaking lava, I figured the same thing applied to him in this instance. Hm… I wonder how powerful he is in comparison to me… Although, being an alicorn kind of makes that match up a bit unfair. Oh, well.

Needless to say, the atmosphere of our trek through this blizzard wasn’t like a Pinkie Pie party. Back in Equestria, it had been Summer, since it was the middle of July. Just like real life, the game kept weather patterns very identical to those you’d see during seasons in the real world. Even when the game started back in January, I’d never felt a snow fall in the game, let alone a blizzard.

Sure, we had fought against some ice monsters before, but we’d never felt cold on this scale before. Sort of made me wonder how Shining Armor could handle the cold while wearing nothing except a scarf and goggles… Although, that could’ve just been laziness on the animators part.

I shouted back to those on look-out duty, “Any signs of anything?”

“Negative!” Comet replied back, “I don’t sense anything within a kilometer of us.”

“Nope, I’ve got nothing!” Swift answered.

I sighed, “Good, at least we don’t have to worry about anything on the way to the empire.” I shouted back to them, “If you see even a tiny sign of anything, report it!”

“You got it!” Swift replied, while Comet only nodded like a soldier. Honestly, those two seemed like complete opposites to me.

Nodding again, I referred back to my Player Menu, where I had a map pulled up. According to Jupiter, the point where the blizzard started was supposedly 20 miles away from the Crystal Empire. At the speed we were going, we’d most likely reach it in five hours… that is, unless Discord did something to change that. After all, none of the scouting parties had been able to reach the empire, so I figured Discord did something to keep them out.

I glanced back at the group, yelling over the wind, “Keep it up, everybody! We still have about five hours to go at this rate!”
I was only greeted by a few groans, while the others who weren’t quite as bothered by the cold simply nodded. I rolled my eyes at those who’d groaned,

“Oh, don’t worry about it! Heck, if we pick up the pace, we should get there- Oof!”

I felt the wind suddenly get knocked out of me as something crashed into me from my side, sending me sprawling into the snow a few feet away. Over the initial shock of getting rammed by what felt like a truck, I realized it was more like getting hit by a glacier. Whatever had hit me had been as cold as ice.

I quickly got back up to my hooves as soon as I realized we were under attack by something… make that multiple somethings.

As soon as I got up, I was greeted by a row of sharp, icicle teeth as they aimed for my throat. I reacted quickly and jumped back out of range of what could’ve been a gruesome death, drawing my sword and shield as I did.

I instantly lit my sword on fire and got a closer look at the monster I was facing.

The creature reminded me of a timber wolf back in the Everfree, but instead of being made completely of wood and splinters, this one seemed to be made of ice. Its eyes glowed blue, and its claws and teeth looked like sharpened icicles. Everywhere a normal wolf would have thicker patches of fur, this wolf was covered in a layer of snow.

The ID above the creature read: White Wolf.

As quickly as I could recover, the white wolf lunged for my throat again. But with a quick flick of my magic, my sword came down on top of the icy beast. I guess my sword would have stopped short against the wolf’s ice body, but the flames around my blade melted the creature through where it sliced, like warm butter.

Ooh, what’d I do for something warm to eat right now… oh, wait, battle to fight. Right.

I dispatched the wolf with a single, flaming blow, and it dissolved into blue code, though the code camouflaged with the pelting snow.

I quickly turned back to the rest of my group, only to find that they were in a similar bind. Dozens of white wolves surrounded them, as well as a few more that suddenly popped out of the icy terrain. It was an ambush, and now we were beginning a big fight for our lives.

I galloped back to the rest of the group, cutting down a wolf in the process as it was stupid enough to try and kill me when my sword could easily melt it. I would have flown, but I doubted I’d have enough feeling in my wings from the numb cold to even take off, much less fly in these wild winds. Once back with the main bulk of the group, I ran up to Comet and Swift.

I shouted to them over the growls of the wolves and the whipping wind, “Where did these things come from?! I thought you said it was clear!”

“It was!” Comet shouted, before stabbing another wolf under the throat with her knives.

“How did we not see them?! They were popping out of the snow, like daisies!” Swift yelled, “Camouflage, maybe?”

Comet absently nodded, “Most likely. That’d explain why neither one of us could detect them.”

I grumbled under my breath as I raised my shield, just in time for a pouncing wolf to ram face first against it, “Well, that’s just great.” I turned to the duo, “Watch your backs. I’ll help the others!”

I jumped back into the fray of wolves, continuing the same process of cutting down wolves who were in my path. As I did, I kept an eye on the rest of the battle.

Everyone seemed to have been separated from the bulk of the group, but luckily no one seemed to be caught alone against the barrage of wolves. That is, until I spotted a lone figure fighting off a group of wolves on his own, away from everyone else.

Cinn stood on his hind legs, grasping his katana like a samurai would. He fought exactly the way a human would’ve, and he seemed to be holding his own, but as I neared him, his face showed that he was struggling slightly.

I cut down a few of the wolves around him, and found myself standing back to back with him.

Cinn growled under his breath as we warded the wolves off with sword-point, “Dammit! This would be so much easier if they weren’t already made of ice!”

“No kidding!” I replied, stabbing another wolf and letting it burst into blue code. I was grateful my flames could at least one-shot these things, but a quick look towards my magic meter showed I couldn’t keep it up for much longer. It turns out keeping a sword lit on fire in the middle of a blizzard was more taxing than in normal conditions.

Cinn and I kept fighting the wolves, only taking tiny scratches from them whenever they managed to get a lucky hit. But we were rudely interrupted as somepony was suddenly thrown into the air, soared across the heads of the wolves with as much grace as a flightless Dodo bird, and landed face first in the snow between Cinn and I.

Violet Runner groaned as he quickly got back up on his hooves, massaging a bright red, coded mark on his side where he’d been hit, “Ow, these buggers hit like small trucks!”

“Heh, join the party.” Cinn replied.

“Wait, you’ve been hit by a truck before?” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. In all honesty, we’d handled harder fights, but that didn’t mean we didn’t have to take them seriously. But that also didn’t mean we couldn’t have a bit of fun when we fought.

Violet grabbed another hammer from his Player Menu, having apparently lost his when that last wolf sent him flying over to us, 

“Alright, time to fry these guys.”

Just like whenever I used Blaze, Violet’s ability, ‘Bolt’ sent the head of his paladin’s hammer alight with electricity, making the snow crackle as it fell onto it.

But sadly for us, before any of us could attack again, the wolves instantly did something I didn’t expect.

They dove back under the snow, right where they had come from.

Violet blinked in surprise, “They’re… gone?”

“I’m not sure.” I answered, “That’s odd.”

But suddenly,-

*CRACK*

Cinn’s, Violet’s, and my eyes widened as we heard what sounded like ice break beneath our hooves.

“What the hell was-“ Cinn was cut off as another crack pierced the air, and the ground beneath our hooves suddenly disappeared.

And then, we fell, straight down, with a full layer of snow. The ground we’d been standing on hadn’t been solid ground. It had been pure ice, like a glacier. And now, we were falling down between what appeared to be a giant crevice.

Out of instinct whenever I fell in midair, I quickly spread my wings to try and catch myself. But as soon as I spread my wings, a loose block of ice crashed down onto my open wing. The cold sting jolted through the limb, making me yelp in pain as the blow rendered my wing useless, sending me into an uncoordinated spin as I attempted to fly with only one functional wing.

I saw Cinn and Violet falling at the same speed as me, and they weren’t faring as well either. Cinn tried to think fast a plunge his katana into the ice walls, but his blade only recoiled off of the solid surface like a tooth pick against a metal plate.

Meanwhile, Violet flailed his arms in desperation of being able to catch a ledge or something, but all for naught.
It wasn’t long before we landed with a thud against the frozen ground at the bottom of the abyss, and everything went black.


______________________________


I awoke to a series of groans, including my own. Not the best way to wake up, but I couldn’t complain because I was too busy complaining about my aching body and a particular wing that wouldn’t stop twitching in pain.

I blinked my eyes open to see where I was. The first sight I saw was a giant wall of ice, only barely visible from the dim light of wherever I was.

Ignoring the complaints from my body, I got back up to my hooves, though I stepped on my sword and shield in the process, which must’ve dropped from my grip when I landed after falling down that huge pit.

Oh, yeah… Now I remember. We fell down here. Sheathing my weapons onto my back again, I glanced around, Where did Violet and Cinn go?

I turned at the sound of their groans, to see that they were behind me, getting back up to their hooves as well.

Violet Runner groaned as he rubbed his head with a forehoof, taking his goggles off since there was no longer snow blasting around us, “Ugh~, did anyone get the number on that truck?”

I sighed, “Dude, what’s with you and trucks today?”

He weakly countered, “Hey! Trucks are cool!”

Cinn groaned in exasperation, “Whatever! Not important.” He blinked his eyes to try to see in the dimly lit cavern, “Where’s a light switch when you need one?”

Violet and I lit our horns, lighting the ice cave with yellow and red light, colors differing respectively. Seeing it, Cinn merely facehoofed as he momentarily forgot he could do that. He let his horn glow as well, sending a blue colored light into the mix.

With the three of us illuminating the area, the whole cave interior became more visible.

To say it was a cave was an understatement. It was more like a ravine, just a single, extremely large ‘crack’ between two ice walls. Pointing a light upwards, I could see the top of the ravine, but it was completely solid. I couldn’t even see the opening we had fallen through. I guessed the ice must have closed again on us once we had fallen through.

“Hm, looks like the opening sealed itself.” I commented, “We’ll be stuck down here unless we can break it open”

Cinn stomped a hoof against the icy ground, “Dammit! I bet those white wolves broke the ice under us and sent us down here to die!”

Violet frowned, “If that’s the case, then I bet the wolves were also the ones who sealed the opening up there so we couldn’t escape.”

“No. Actually, that was me.” A new voice spoke.

All of our heads turned in surprise towards the source of the voice. Cinn instantly drew his katana in prep for combat, “Who goes there? Who are you?”

After a moment’s pause, a figure walked into the light of our horns, revealing an unarmed, unarmored, cyan unicorn. His mane was a mix of blue and cyan, and he had no cutie mark.

I felt all the air leave my chest when I saw him. I wasn’t sure about Cinn, but I’m sure Violet had a similar reaction when he spotted the unicorn’s ID.

Sharky smiled nonchalantly, “I closed off the entrance to stop the snow from falling down here from outside, and in doing so, kept you three from freezing to death while you were unconscious. You’re welcome, by the way.”






_________________________________


It’s not every day you get led down a tunnel made of ice with a dead guy as your guide.

Soon after making our acquaintances, Sharky quickly led us through the ice ravine and into a tunnel that split off from the chasm. We all walked through the dimly lit ice cavern, all of us lighting the way with our horns. Sharky led up front, while Violet, Cinn, and I followed behind.

Sharky glanced back at me in particular, a friendly smirk on his face, “So, long time, no see, Shadowflame. I see life has been treating you well. Heh, an alicorn to boot, even.”

Cinn’s eyes widened, “Wait, you actually know this guy?”

“Yup,” Violet answered, though he seem sort of overly conscious about Sharky, “He sort of broke into the Canterlot Castle during a guild party we had a while back.”

“I did not break in.” Sharky detested, “I am an admin of this game after all.”

“But if you’re an admin, how are you still a unicorn while the other admins are earth ponies?” Cinn asked.

“That’s because everyone thought I was dead at that time, even Discord.” Sharky replied, chuckling slightly, “Heck, even I didn’t know I was dead then, but I know now.”

Cinn’s expression turned to one of confusion, “What? You’re dead?!”

I glanced up to Sharky, “Your house exploded back in the real world, just a few hours after the servers for ELO went online. That’s what you’re talking about, right?”

Sharky nodded, his appearance seeming to grow darker, “Yes… Jupiter told you about that, I would assume?”

I nodded.

Sharky sighed, “Then I suppose I have a lot of explaining to do, don’t I? Don’t worry, though. There’s a place where we can sit down and talk ahead.”

Violet spoke up, “Okay, but I have one more question: Where’s the rest of our group? Did they fall down here too?”

Sharky shook his head, “No, only you three fell down here. But the rest of your group had tried to find you. Unfortunately, I don’t think they could’ve found you out in that blizzard. The storm up there got even worse after you three fell down here, so they had to continue without you. They’ll wait for you three in the Crystal Empire, since they could see you weren’t dead from their team lists.”

“How’d you know that?” I asked.

Sharky shrugged, “While you were unconscious, a fellow named Midnight5ky sent you a message. I merely used your own hoof to answer it and read it. You can check your inbox for it to see for yourself. It should still be there.”

I quickly pulled up my Player Menu and checked my message box, only to see that Sharky had been telling the truth. Though it was unsettling that someone read my message while I was unconscious, I just shrugged it off as we continued down the tunnel.

True to his word, within a minute, Sharky led us into a fairly large chamber of the cave. Its walls were made of ice as well, but in the center of it, the ground was actually soil. On the dirt stood what resembled to be a fire pit, with a few logs in the middle of it, ready for use. Right beside it laid a sleeping bag, which I assumed was Sharky’s. The place seemed to be his little camp.

“Would you light a fire please, Shadow?” Sharky asked.

I nodded, sending a small ember into the fire pit, igniting the logs. The glow from the fire illuminated the whole of the cavern, so everyone let go of their horn’s glow.

Shark gestured towards the fire, “Go ahead, sit down and get warm. I’ll explain myself while we do so.”

The three of us complied, though Cinn seemed surprisingly hesitant. I couldn’t guess why.

Once we were all gathered around the fire, Sharky cleared his throat, “Hm-mm, I guess I’ll begin.

“As you know, I am Sharky, admin in charge over the design and everything pertaining to monsters inside ELO. If you three know of me from Jupiter, then you would know that my body in the real world was destroyed in an explosion just after ELO went online. Fortunately, I was in the game at the time, so I don’t think it would’ve been a painful death.”

He quickly raised a hoof to silence us, “And before you ask me how I survived the explosion, don’t. I have no idea how I did. As far as I can tell, either my body somehow survived the explosion, as did my Nervegear headset, but I’m still stuck in the game, or my body was destroyed and my mind somehow survived inside the game.

“Of course, I didn’t know that my house had exploded after coming into the game. Discord had trapped everyone in here, so I merely assumed at the time that I just couldn’t log out, which is still the case either way.

“Anyways, at the start of the game, it became clear to me that I was the only one out of the admins who wasn’t turned into an earth pony, but he still wiped my admin access code. Before ELO was released, I had chosen to be a unicorn over an alicorn, so I’m guessing that’s why Discord’s power didn’t affect my race when he took over.

“Since that was the case, I kept myself hidden, hoping to be able to use my unicorn magic to take back the game. But I knew I couldn’t reveal myself as an admin to anyone, and I couldn’t even go to another admin for help, both because Discord might find me and take away my magic, and it wouldn’t look good for an admin to come strolling into the open as a unicorn after Discord took over, having conveniently kept his magic. I figured some players might get the wrong idea and think that I set Discord loose and trapped us all here.

“I decided to keep my distance from anybody, to see if I could help in any way from the sidelines.” Sharky sighed, “It worked for maybe a little while, but I was hopelessly behind when it came to current information. That’s why I slipped into Canterlot Castle on the night of the party, so I could update myself using Jupiter’s records.”

The cyan unicorn chuckled grimly, “I didn’t know about my so-called death then, but when I was scrounging through Jupiter’s records, I found a journal entry about the first day everyone was trapped in there. That’s when I found out my house exploded with me inside.”

He smiled sheepishly, “You could say that was a bit of a shell-shocking discovery. When I learned about that, I was close to hysterical panic. It didn’t help when you then walked in on me, Shadow. I was so confused about the whole situation, I ran for the hills!” He chuckled, “And I’ve been keeping my distance ever since.”

“Hm…” Violet tapped a hoof to his chin, “But why are you out here? Inside a glacier isn’t exactly the comfiest of places to hide.”

“It isn’t supposed to be, Violet Runner.” Sharky replied, “In order to keep Discord away from me, I had to hide somewhere he’d least expect it. What better place than under the ice in the middle of an eternal blizzard?

“It’s actually out here where I’m working on trying to help on my end. I practice my unicorn magic out here, and I think I’m close to a point where I can manipulate the system to the point where I can take control of it.”

“How so?” I asked.

“You remember that wall of ice I created when I escaped Canterlot?”

I nodded. I remembered I had to melt the dang thing, but by the time I had, Sharky had disappeared.

Sharky continued, “That was simply creating an ice wall, regular, programmed magic. But when you get to a high enough level, you can actually manipulate part of the map, provided it’s somehow associated to the magic you control.” He gestured a hoof to the ice cavern, “I use ice magic, both as magic and as a weapon. These tunnels down here are my own creation. I can actually manipulate any part of this body of ice as I please.

“However, I can’t make a large change happen to the map’s landscape, for fear of a… er, “lag-spike”, so to say. If that happens, Discord will be on my tail instantly, and all hope is lost on my end.”
Cinn frowned, “Well, being able to manipulate the map is cool and all, but what does it have to do with taking back the game from Discord?”

Sharky smiled, “There’s a lot of code running through the servers of ELO, a large part of which is the map of Equestria. Heck, the map itself is actually the foundation for most of ELO’s coding. If a player can manipulate the land, he can pretty much rewrite the entire code of ELO. It’s a tiny exploit, one of which none of the admins thought could happen, but it could very well be our only way out of here, besides taking Discord head-on.”

All of us listening gasped, Cinn voicing our thoughts, “Wait, you can do that?! Aw, hell yeah. Let’s just skip getting the rest of the elements and go straight to that plan!”

Sharky winced, “Eh, well there is one problem with that. You’d have to be a certain level to be able to manipulate the map, and even higher than that to change the map completely.”

Cinn paused, “How high?”

“About level 90 to manipulate the map, and probably level 150 to change the map.”

“Dammit! Son of a kujo- how high are you?”

“Level 97.”

Cinn rolled his eyes, sighing, “And here I thought we could get out of this game early.”

I admit, I was a bit disappointed, but I can’t honestly say I was surprised, “Figures as much. This is just like when we thought we had a lead on getting out of the game after we found out the king of the hater’s guild somehow hacked into the system.”

Violet nodded, “Yeah, I remember that. That didn’t go anywhere, because nobody wanted to risk their lives, or possibly the lives of everyone else by trying to hack the game.”

Sharky chuckled sheepishly, “Yeah, I know it’s a bit stupid. It’d take me months to even get up to at least level 120, so the quickest way out of the game would still be by taking out Discord with the elements.”

“So we’re still going with the original plan. That’s just great.” Cinn huffed, “Oh, yeah, that reminds me; Speaking of plans…”

He turned to Sharky, “Before we left Canterlot, Jupiter told me he had some suspicions that you were out here in the blizzard, since you have an affinity for ice. He told me if I found you, I needed to bring you back to Canterlot at all costs.”

Sharky raised an eyebrow, “Jupiter wants me back in Canterlot?”

Cinn nodded, while Violet and I just gave our group member some confused looks. Why would Jupiter have told only him and not anyone else?

Sharky paused for a moment, before sighing, “Well, if the Knights of Harmony are already on their way to get the ninth element out of ten, then I guess my way of getting out is somewhat obsolete. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to go back now.”

He nodded to us, “Alright, I’ll tell you what; I’ll head to the Crystal Empire with the three of you, help you take down King Sombra, and then return back to Canterlot. Since I was the one who actually programmed the dark tyrant, I’d be an invaluable asset to helping in his defeat, as well as any other mobs along the way.”

Cinn nodded, “Good! Now that my job’s done, let’s get going to the Empire.”

Sharky raised a hoof, “Sorry, but we can’t leave yet.”

“Why not?” Asked Violet.

“Stay silent and listen.”

The four of us shut our mouths tight, so the only noise in the chamber was the crackling of wood in the fire pit. But above that, I could hear a low whistle, like wind through a tunnel… no, wait, it was the wind.

“That wind,” Sharky explained, “Is the sound of the blizzard above us. There aren’t any outlets from beneath the ice to the surface, yet the sound can travel through the ice. The worst part is that the ice separating us from the blizzard is fifteen meters thick.”

Blinked in surprise, “And we can still hear it? The blizzard’s that powerful?”

Sharky nodded, “After you three dropped down here, the blizzard got even worse. That’s why I had to close the opening above the ravine, just so it wouldn’t freeze you to death. It hasn’t let up so far, and trying to make it to the empire in the middle of it would be suicide. But based on the few months I’ve spent in this area, the worst part of the blizzard should be over in about an hour.”

“So, we’re stuck down here until the blizzard dies down a bit?”

“Yeah.”

Cinn groaned as he slumped back with his back on the icy ground, “Ugh! Fine. I guess we’ll just have to wait.”


________________________________


For the next few minutes, we all did our own things to keep ourselves busy while we waited for the storm to weaken.

I sat by the fire, talking to Sharky about what he’d done out on his own, as well as his own abilities. As a group leader, I figured it’d be good to know what our new ally could do, just in case it could come in handy later.

For example, it turns out conjuring ice was all Sharky was really adept at, from what he told me. He had no physical armor or weapons, until he made them, that is. He showed me his weapon of choice by making a pair of ice gauntlets appear over his forehooves, topped with icicle spikes which followed the gauntlets’ edges up to his elbows. From what he told us about his current level, I could tell he could rival me in raw power, even if I was an alicorn.

Cinn basically fell asleep by the fire, taking a nap after the long trip we’d traversed before.

As for Violet… wait, where was he?

I asked Sharky if he’d seen where Violet had gone.

“Oh, I saw him go back through the tunnel. He’s probably heading back to the ravine. Got any idea why?”

I tapped my chin with a hoof, “Hm… come to think of it, during our fight with the white wolves up above, his usual hammer got knocked away from him before we fell down here. He’s probably seeing if it fell down here too.”

Sharky frowned, “I don’t think I remember seeing another hammer drop down with you three. I bet it’s probably still up top, probably buried beneath a foot of snow by now.”

Getting up, I shook off a tiny bit of water from the melted ice I’d been sitting on, “Well, I’m gonna go help him find it, just to make sure we don’t have to go digging through the snow to find it again.”

I turned and headed for the tunnel, lighting my horn as I left the light of the fire pit.

I travelled back down the tunnel, until I again reached the ravine where we had fallen underground… er, ‘underice’, technically.

Once I got there, I spotted the yellow glow of Violet Runner’s magic. I saw Violet at the opening of the tunnel, but he was sitting on the ground, and not searching for his hammer like I had assumed. He had his back to me, so I couldn’t see what he was doing.

Violet’s head whipped around towards me as my hooves made a clip-clop sound against the ice. But his face, it didn’t have his usual, cheery look. He seemed… troubled. His mouth was contorted in a grimace, and his eyelids drooped down part way over his eyes.

He spoke with a quiet voice, “Oh, hey Shadow.”

I approached him, confused, “Hey, are you okay? You seem like, I don’t know, you have a problem or something?”

Violet shrugged, turning his head back forwards, lifting his gaze towards the open expanse of the ravine. Looking up, I realized that we couldn’t even see the end of the ravine from here. The darkness just seemed to swallow the light of our horns before it reached the end of the great chasm. The sound of the blizzard above us only added an effect to the sight, making the darkness a bit unnerving, as if there were some beast waiting in it as it breathed in long wheezes.

Violet sighed, staring glumly at the dark ravine, “It’s nothing really, it’s just… being cooped up down here, I can’t help but think about things. Right now, those things aren’t so good.”

I sat down to the side of him, “You want to talk about it?”

He was hesitant at first, but eventually nodded, “Sure. You’d probably understand why I say this, but you’ll probably think I’m just being silly.”

I stayed silent, waiting for him to begin.

Violet sighed, his gaze not even drifting from the blackness before us, “We’re nearing the end of the game, aren’t we?”

I nodded.

“Then why does it feel like the end is still so far away?” The tan unicorn asked, “When we began this game, finding the ten elements seemed like something we could do quickly. But with each element we found, things only got harder.” His head drooped in sorrow, “Even on the walk back from getting the Element of Spirit, monsters ambushed us and killed some of my friends.

“Every time we’ve gone into a new place to find another element, Discord’s tried to kill one of us… and last time, he succeeded. I can’t help but wonder if the same thing will happen this time when we face King Sombra. Will one of us die before the fight, or will there be even more deaths than that? Will it be me, or will it be my friends?”

His gaze returned back up towards the ravine. I followed his gaze, to where the light of our horns couldn’t penetrate the dark. The end wall of the ravine wasn’t even visible, nor was anything between us and it.

Violet grimaced, “I suppose you could say everything we’re doing now is like this ravine; everything at the end of it is so dark, you can’t tell what’s waiting for you beyond what we can see, or if you’re even going towards the end at all. I’m starting to think the same way about this game. I-…”

He hung his head, “I’m not sure if I can handle what’s up ahead. I’m wondering if we should back down now before somebody dies again.”

I stared at him wordlessly. I understood where he was coming from, and I admit that even I wasn’t sure what waited for us later in our journey. Just thinking about it, about Discord and his cruel ways of killing, I felt the same fear Violet did. But…

I turned towards Violet, “Yeah, I know how you feel. I’m sure everyone in the group does. One of us may die… but we already knew that, didn’t we?”

Violet glanced back towards me, “Um… yeah, I suppose we did. But back then… I don’t think any of us realized just how dangerous this was going to be.”

“Well, things have always gotten harder for us. But that hasn’t stopped us before, has it?”

Violet paused, a frown on his face, “No…”

“Then why should it stop us now?” I put a hoof on his shoulder, “Listen, Violet Runner,” He perked up slightly, since I never used his full username, “Things will only get harder from here on out. I’m not even going to try and lie about it. But I think, in order for everyone to survive, you’ll need to stop thinking like we’re going to die tomorrow! Everyone’s already doing that, and I don’t need you doing it too.”

I pointed a hoof at him, in a bold manner, “You’re going to help me get everyone’s spirits back up, because that’s exactly what we need now. You can’t expect everyone to fight hard and survive if they don’t have any fighting spirit! I can’t think of anyone better suited to keep everyone’s spirits up than you, but you can’t do that when you’re doubting our chances of living too.

“You’re the Element of Spirit, Violet Runner. And right now, the elements of harmony need your help if we’re going to beat this game. What do you say?”

Violet stared at me for a moment, taking in everything I had said. I silently hoped my impromptu pep talk actually worked… actually, I’d be surprised it did.

But to my surprise, Violet actually began to smile. It wasn’t just a friendly smile, but rather a smile of determination. He nodded to me, “You know what? You’re right. It was fighting spirit that got us through this mess so far. We just need a little more before we finally take on Discord. I might worry, but I know it’s my job to keep our spirits strong and keep fighting, even if we have to roll with the punches.”

I blinked in surprise, Wait, my pep talk worked!? Oh my gosh, I’m better than I thought!

Violet got back up to his hooves, “I’m feeling more ready to go than ever. Hopefully the blizzard dies down soon, because as soon as we reach the empire,” He grinned determinedly, “I’m ready to smash Sombra’s horn back into his skull with my hammer!”

I grinned as well, “That’s the spirit.”

“Did you expect anything less?” He laughed as he galloped back down the tunnel, with me following after him.


_________________________



Midnight5ky


Sky stood at the other edge of the blizzard, he and the rest of the group having made it through the whole storm. The rest of their group was waiting with them, save for a few who went to scout out the surrounding area, since their maps weren’t showing them the whole of this new area, since it had been closed off before.

Sky stared into the midst of the blizzard, waiting and silently hoping that he’d see their missing team mates emerge from the storm. He and the others had been there for what seemed like hours now. But the blizzard had already died down a while ago, which gave them hope that hopefully their lost team mates were alright. Their health bars were still visible in the group’s player menus, so they knew that Shadow, Violet, and Cinn were all still alive.

And their waiting was soon rewarded, as Sky spotted three figures in the storm, walking towards them… no, wait, there were… four of them?


________________



Shadowflame


I trudged through the snow for the last time I ever wanted to, though with my luck, I knew I’d probably have to walk through a blizzard again before we got out of this game. Either way, I was relieved to finally see the storm’s edge, the ground under our hooves beginning to transition from snowy mud to grassy plains.

And to my even greater relief, Violet, Cinn, and I saw that our group was waiting for us.

They all greeted us back in their own ways… very different ways.

Neon shot towards us like a bullet and picked up me and Violet in a bone crushing hug, shouting, “Oh my gosh! You’re back! We thought you were in trouble, or something like that!”

Violet coughed as his lungs were crushed, trying to tap out from Neon’s hug, “Down, Neon! Down!”

“Oh, sorry.” Neon put us back down on the ground, much to my relief. Apparently her hugs could crush through armor, because my chestplate hardly did anything to suppress the hug’s force.

Sky approached me as I tried to catch my breath, “What happened out there? And…” His gaze drifted behind me, “…who’s that?”

I followed his gaze towards Sharky, and Sky’s jaw threatened to drop open when he saw the newcomer’s ID.

Siren was the first to catch on, since the whole team suddenly noticed Sharky. The pruple pegasus gave Sharky an incredulous look, “Wait a minute… Sharky? As in, the Sharky everyone in Canterlot talks about?”

“Isn’t he supposed to be dead?” Eclipse asked.

“The rumors all said that his house exploded, yet he still lives inside the game as a haunting spirit.” Dylan added.

Sharky chuckled as he stepped forward, “Yes, yes, I’ve heard those rumors, but I better put them to rest. I am Sharky, head admin over the monster programing and development. And no, I’m just as alive as any of you, even if my house exploded while I was in the game.”

Sky recomposed himself, “Hm, figures. You guys go missing for a while in the middle of a storm, and you come back with a dead guy. You sure you guys didn’t go to the underworld or somewhere like that?

I chuckled, "Heh, something like that. I'll tell you everything on the way to the Empire."

He shrugged, before pointing a hoof behind him, "Well, you better make it quick, because the empire is right there!"

I glanced behind him, and my eyes widened at the sight. The sun was beginning to set, right behind a single, mazzive, crystal pillar in the distance. The sun's rays shined through the blue crystal structure with magnificent radiance, as did the top of the buildings below it.

We were here. We were in the Crystal Empire.