It was still warm. That was a good sign. The hundreds upon hundreds of refugees brought to Canterlot for shelter could bathe in the sunlight and writhe in the heat of a beautiful summer afternoon. But that was a dim, distant light in a long, shadowy hallway. Hope was as scarce as a cup of fresh apple cider during a vampire fruit bat infestation. The courtyard behind Canterlot Castle was filled to the brim with ponies from all over Equestria. Some ponies found their way to the top of the walls alongside members of the royal guard to escape the crowd, but elbow room was not a luxury so easily claimed. The only ones who had any space to themselves were the princesses, Celestia and Luna. They took position at the edge of the courtyard, gazing out over the western mountains in the distance, overshadowed by a thick layer of dark clouds bringing in the raging storm. Cadence and Shining Armor were trying their best to rest inside the castle, but the thought of an apocalypse coming over them as they slept sent too many shivers down their spine.
Celestia and Luna glanced at each other and nodded. As they turned back to the mountains, their horns glowed simultaneously. Celestia lifted the sun up over the south, shining over the badlands, and Luna raised the moon over the frozen wastes around the Crystal Empire, cloaking the north end of the world in a starry night. The day and night was split down the middle of Canterlot, Celestia glistening in her valiant sun and Luna blending into the darkness of the night she was born to bring about.
"They're not coming back, are they?" Luna asked her sister, still looking to the storm clouds closing in on the city.
"They will come, sister," Celestia assured. "Give them time."
Luna turned her head. "And if they don't?"
Celestia met her eyes with a smile. "Then we will stand together." She grabbed onto Luna with her front hoof and reeled her head into the sunlight. "We've done it thousands of years ago, and we can do it now." Luna closed her eyes and felt he sister's embrace warming her body in the cold night. Celestia released her sister and they both stood tall over the horizon.
"I could have never imagined this to be our end," Luna sighed.
"It would have to end in some way. But we'll pull through. We always have." Suddenly the mountain shook beneath them. Not enough to cause anyone to lose their balance, it wasn't a tremor. Something big was coming from below them. The shaking grew, and in seconds one could also sense the sound of a swarm of insects coming from the east. It kept drawing closer until both the noise and source was blacking out the sky. From the eastern end of the mountain an army of black creatures surged out of a large cave opening at full speed.
The crowd erupted into panic, squirming and knocking one another over in the close-quarters. The legion of changelings soared above the city, blotting out the sun to the south. The spur of shape-shifters turned towards the courtyard of screaming ponies, the guards readying their spears. Celestia and Luna looked back at the potential hostiles in relief. "Do you think they got on the changelings' good side?" Celestia asked her sister. It was then that they saw a light blue speck in the crowd of changelings, followed by a yellow, orange, and white group of equally-sized companions. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy carried their own weight while Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie were each carried by a pair of the insect-like creatures.
"I believe that is a yes," Luna answered.
Rainbow Dash dove down to meet the princesses at top speed, landing on the ground before them strong and proud. Fluttershy gracefully descended to her level shortly after alongside her friends as they got dropped off. "It's good to be back," Rainbow said.
"And it's good to have you back," Celestia greeted the five.
"Is Twilight back yet?" Applejack asked.
"Not as of yet," Luna informed them. "She is running much later than we anticipated."
"Well she better hurry up," Dash said smartly. "We don't have much time left." She poked her head between the two princesses and pointed to the storm clouds gradually making their way for Canterlot. They could see the blue sparks of lightning followed by the faint sound of thunder in seconds.
"Have faith, Rainbow Dash," Celestia advised. "Don't worry, your task was more difficult than what we asked of Twilight."
"Oh yeah," Pinkie recalled, rubbing her chin. "What was that super secret task Twilight had to do?"
"We'd rather not say," Luna quickly stated. "We can't have any loose lips alerting Frostborn of our plans."
"Aw," Pinkie moaned. "I won't tell. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She pretended to zip her mouth shut and smiled for the princesses.
"I'm sorry, we cannot chance this," Luna told them firmly. "Our chances of a victory are slim as it is at the moment, and we mustn't risk anymore of our advantages." Pinkie frowned while her friends nodded in understanding.
"Good," Celestia said. "It's best we just have patience. And I'd imagine that convincing Queen Chrysalis to aid in our efforts was not an easy task."
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" said a toxic voice from above. Chrysalis descended from the black cloud of changelings and landed in front of Celestia and Luna. Dash and her friends stepped back for her to land, not that she would have changed her path if they hadn't. "And I'll have you know that you were the biggest reason I hesitated." Her gaze pierced through the light of Celestia's eyes, and she forced her way in between the two sisters to look out over the western cliff side.
"Uh, we should go," Rainbow suggested. "Should we go and calm down the crowd?"
"They'll calm down on their own if they haven't already," Celestia responded. "They might have taken notice to how the changelings are taking no hostile actions by now. Your families are worried, though. You should go to them."
"C'mon, let's go," Dash jumped up. She ran back to the crowd with her friends trailing right behind her.
Celestia and Luna turned to face the west on either side of Chrysalis, who stood where the day and night collided. The right side of her body was in the dark like Luna's, and her left was illuminated by the sun with Celestia. The trio watched the blizzard as it inched it's way towards the castle. "I want you to know that this will be the last time you will ever see us working side by side," Chrysalis growled. Celestia turned her head slightly towards her daughter and sighed. She reached her hoof over the changeling's back and brought her head to the base of Chrysalis' neck. The queen flinched and tried to pull away from her mother, but Celestia wouldn't let go.
"I never wanted to let you go," Celestia told her.
Chrysalis continued resisting in the hopes that Celestia's grip would finally give. "Why should I believe that? You told me to leave yourself. Didn't even bother to show me a place where I could live a life of my own."
"I had to make choices, Chryssie." Tears were forming at the backs of her eyes and she began to sob. "And I've made some terrible ones in the past. Sending you away just may have been the hardest I've ever had to make." Celestia's hug was no longer serving the purpose of comforting Chrysalis, but instead was more of a way to comfort herself. "I was wrong, Chryssie. I'm sorry." She hushed up to stop herself from crying hysterically and minimized it to stammering breathing.
Chrysalis paused with her hoof lifted from when she was trying to repel Celestia. Now she held it there with eyes staring off into space. She hadn't thought that choice was so painful to her, let alone even remain painful to this very day. All those millennia of disgust towards her mother her truly felt compassion for her. Chrysalis slowly moved her hoof over her weeping mother and wrapped it around her shoulder, still gazing into her own thoughts to at least try to understand what really happened that day.
"It wasn't her choice," Luna said, looking out over the edge of the city. "I was the pony who sinned. Many times I have. I looked upon each one of you changelings like vermin, full of imperfections." Chrysalis readjusted back to reality and her eyes narrowed. "When your people attacked Canterlot I couldn't bring myself to step in. None of us are perfect. Our flaws, be it a disgusting physical form or a deep, ruthless bitterness inside." She directed her attention to the moon to the north, and imagined a unicorn's head design formed from craters. "We all have them." Chrysalis and Luna sat in silence for a moment, Celestia still trying to calm herself. The chattering crowd was but a muffled sound in the distance, and there was an eerie stillness.
"I don't ask forgiveness," Luna said, breaking the silence. "I can't ask forgiveness. But I can say that is an honor to fight beside you in the end." Chrysalis turned to meet Luna's eyes and nodded. Celestia lifted her head up with one least sniffle, and the changeling retracted her arm from her mother's back. Celestia wiped the tears from their eyes and looked back to the stormy horizon making it's way to Canterlot.
Meanwhile, Twilight's friends scoured the crowd to locate their families and friends. The Apple family wasn't difficult to pinpoint. They were able to form their own mob on the outside of the crowd. Applebloom was mounted atop Big Mac's shoulders, trying to find Applejack in the crowd. With a few turns of the head, the little filly caught sight of her sister's brown hat resting on an orange head with a yellow mane fashioned in a ponytail. She tugged on her brother's orange mane to get his attention, and when Big Mac looked at his little sister, she pointed to Applejack walking alongside her friends. They waved to them from the crowd, Applebloom jumping up and down as she did so.
AJ saw the waving in the corner of her eyes and glanced over to see her two ecstatic siblings. "Come on, y'all," she called to her friends. "This way!" Applejack lead them through the mix of Apple family members who were sighing and getting excited to see her safe and sound. While pushing through the crowd, AJ bumped into a tall red stallion, the impact making her a little dizzy. One by one, each of her friends made their way around the staggered pony and lined up in front of Big Mac and Applebloom, the younger still jumping up and down from excitement. The filly dove down and tackled her sister while she was recovering and knocked her down to the ground. The sisters rolled around on the ground, laughing all the while.
"Applejack, you look fine as a Canterlot pony all dressed up in fancy garments," said an old pony's voice from behind the red stallion before the five friends. Applejack and her sister stopped playing for a moment and AJ peeked her head to the side to see Granny Smith poking her head out from behind Big Macintosh's back legs. "Yer friends don't look too out-a-shape, neither."
AJ nudged Applebloom off her chest and rose to her hooves. "Thanks, Granny. I'd bet you'd know that firsthoof now, wouldn't ya?"
"Darn right I do," Granny Smith said. "Now come on ever here, Pumpkin, and give yer old Granny a hug." Applejack did as instructed. She squeezed her granny with all her might until she turned blue, and Granny Smith hugged right back. Applejack saw the crowd shifting and looking down behind Granny Smith. A pair of fillies made their way through the maze of legs to Applejack and their friends. One was a white unicorn with a half purple, half pink mane, the other an orange pegasus with a fully purple mane.
"Applebloom!" they called to their little earth pony friend. The CMC raced together for a group hug.
"Good to see ya girls," Applebloom said with joy.
"Well we weren't gonna just leave you at a time like this," Scootaloo said smartly. "We are a trio."
"Work as a team," Sweetie Belle chimed in.
"Sticking together no matter how bleak things seem!" they harmonized.
"Hey, aren't you forgetting somepony?" There was a voice coming from the crowd Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle just came from. Whoever it was was young and had a Manehatten accent. Out of the crowd came a brown earth pony with a red mane, green eyes, and a proud stance. "Didn't think I'd be skippin' out on a Cutie Mark Crusaders reunion, did ya?" Babs called out. The other CMC reeled her in on the group hug and held each other tightly. Rarity tried to join in on her sister, but the hug suddenly felt awkward for all five of them, and they separated.
"Sweetie Belle, have you seen Mom and Dad?" Rarity asked in concern.
"No, I thought you did."
"Allow me," Rainbow Dash offered. She soared up into the sky and looked out over the crowd for Rarity's parents. She zoned in on a unicorn-earth pony couple of a white earth pony stallion with a brown mane and mustache and a pink unicorn with a purple mane. "Hey!" she called to them. "Rarity's parents!" The couple turned to Rainbow's direction and looked up at the blue pegasus. "Down here!" She pointed down below her to Sweetie Belle waving to them on Rarity's back. Her parents moved through the crowd to their children with haste. They pushed through and met their kids with warm, welcoming hugs.
Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to catch up with Scootaloo while Rarity and Sweetie Belle were being reunited with their parents. She slid her way to the filly's side and wrapped her arm around her neck. "How ya been Scoots?"
"Great!" Scootaloo cheered. "I just learned to do a back flip on my scooter last week."
"Wow, that's impressive. So I guess while I'm ruling the skies with my spectacular flying skills, you'll be tearing up the dirt on your scooter."
"Oh, stop messing with me," Scoots said with a giggle.
"Boulder says she's over here," said a monotone voice from the crowd behind Pinkie Pie. Pinkie stiffened right up with a smile and charged through a few ponies to a grey earth pony mare with a very unsaturated purple mane.
"Maud!" Pinkie yelled, expanding her arms on either side of her. She brought her arms in and hugged her sister with all her might, and Maud cracked a small smile. Pinkie looked behind Maud and took notice to the rest of the Pies awaiting their greeting. She took her left arm and pulled the whole family into the hug with her. Giggles were exchanged while they chatted about how happy they were to see each other.
Fluttershy looked around at all her friends happily being reacquainted with their friends and family. Then she realized that she didn't have anypony to meet up with. She had her animals, but there was no way that they were in the crowd. One would notice a bear or maybe an assortment of colorful birds in the mix. What if they never made it out of Ponyville? What if Frostborn had frozen over them already? What if..
"Angel, no!" Fluttershy heard the voice from towards the front of the crowd by the edge of the city, and recognized it instantly. She hovered up and looked towards the source of the voice and saw Spike next to the moonlit wall with all of his friends' pets running rampant around him. Angel, Owlowiscious, Tank, all there. Fluttershy dove in on the annoyed dragon and took Angel off his hands. Wasn't much of a help, though, as Tank kept flying around Spike's head, Winona ran circles around his feet, Gummy was latched onto his tail, and Opal, well actually Opal just sat there, but it was still a pain.
Rainbow Dash and the others found their way to Spike and Fluttershy in little time. "Hey, Spike," Dash snickered. "Need a little help there?"
"Wouldn't mind a hoof at the moment," the dragon mumbled. Dash understood him well enough. She grabbed tank and brought him back to the others. She caught Winona and placed her beside Applejack, Gummy by Pinkie, Opal by Rarity, and so on.
"Where are all the other animals?" Fluttershy asked in worry. She looked back and forth in panic.
"Don't worry," Spike insisted. "Got em all cooped up inside the castle. You can count on me to take everything into account."
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" she praised.
"So is Twilight back yet?" Spike asked them all.
"I'm afraid not," Rarity said, her face turning glum along with all her friends'. "Princess Celestia said that she should have been back already. All we can do is wait and see if she makes it back."
Suddenly Pinkie felt a strange sensation in her tail. She turned and saw it shaking like there was no tomorrow. "Everypony get down!" she alerted the others. They all ducked as they heard the sound of someone screaming and getting louder.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH," yelled a draconequus flying towards the courtyard. The friends scattered around the courtyard as Discord came hurtling in. He crashed into the ground on one of the hard cobblestone pathways while everypony slowly gathered around him.
"Discord?" Applejack asked. "Where'd you come from?" The draconequus pried his face from the ground with his eyes spinning circles in his head. He pointed to the direction he came, and the six friends all turned to see a purple alicorn making her way down to the courtyard.
"Twilight!" they all shouted with glee. They rushed to her as she descended to the ground into a massive group hug.
"Sorry about Discord," Twilight apologized. "I slowed down a little too fast and I guess I just launched him."
Discord took his lion's paw and smacked himself in the side of the head to relieve himself of his disorientation. He shook his head a few times just to make sure it was gone. "Perhaps next time a little more consideration to physics would be a higher priority."
Twilight snickered, "Next time."
"So what was Discord doing with you?" Dash asked. "He wasn't in the throne room when we left."
"And what was that secret mission they had to send you on?" Rarity questioned. "Princess Luna wouldn't let us know."
"Well, you see..." Twilight was interrupted by the sudden crack of thunder, and the noise startled her. The air had turned considerably more cold and the gusts of wind grew stronger. In a state of panic, Twilight's heart raced as she looked back over the western cliff side towards the fleet of storm clouds under Frostborn's command come too close for comfort. The excitement of returning to her friends and seeing them in one piece was enough to suspend the thought of the big mission from her mind. She couldn't let herself get destracted too much by her friends. She needed to focus.
The storm slowed to a halt a short distance from Canterlot's perimeter. "Weapons at the ready!" shouted one of the guard captains atop the walls. The other guards huddled down in defensive positions with their spears pointed towards the dark skies. The ponies in the crowd shuddered from both fear and from the cold weather in what would normally be a hot summer's day. Twilight and her friends, on the other hand, stood strong alongside the princesses and Queen Chrysalis, waiting for the Master of Ice to make his move. The city sat in near silence, only for it to be broken by the faint sound of wind gusts carrying the countless snowflakes through the air.
The snow began shifting around as it fell from the clouds hovering just above the castle's defensive walls, collecting together to form into the being everypony there knew would appear. The alicorn shape quickly came into a clear, identifiable formation, but Twilight and her friends still stood tall. The layers of snowflakes multiplied as each second past, making the figure more and more of a solid white with particles spinning around it. Once there was not a gap between the flakes to be seen, the snow burst out in all directions, leaving behind the ice-armored, breezy-maned Master of Ice himself, bearing eyes that did little to hide the confident smirk behind his frozen mask.
"Citizens of Equestria," Frostborn began. "I am sorry to say that the end times have come so soon. For your heroines have released a power to stop my sister, Magmare, not anticipating the consequences for their actions. And the cost for using an all powerful deity for their first line of defense would be more than just their own lives, or their entire civilization, but the lives of all those around them inside their greatest of sanctuaries. However, I did find spirit in those ponies who have unleashed this very fate upon you, and because of that spirit I have decided to spare their lives so that they could return home and prepare for the coming storm. Such a kindness is nothing more than me upholding my honor as one of the most powerful beings that Earth has ever been the home of."
"Tyrants do not have any honor to uphold, Frostborn," Luna exclaimed.
"Nightmare, watch your tongue."
"I go by Luna now, fiend."
"No daughter of mine shall accuse her father of tyrannical actions when his only intent is to obey the laws of nature!"
"You are not my father to tell me so!" Luna had chosen her words carefully, and she meant every one.
"Very well," Frostborn replied. "You have betrayed me once, Luna." He said her name with disgust in his voice. "That was enough to seal your fate that you face now. A second offense cannot worsen your punishment. It still pains me that I will have to bury my own daughter alongside the kin of the enemy."
"My mother was stronger than you ever were, Frostborn," Celestia stepped in.
"Do not defend her. If you were loyal, you would have stayed by her side and fought alongside her for all of eternity. Unlike my traitor of a daughter."
"I was loyal. It was Luna who truly brought me into the light. My mother could create a child that would stay by her side no matter what obstacles stood in their way. You failed to do so, and it is all because of that superior intellect you hold so dear."
"Silence, whelp!" Frostborn exploded. "Do not tell me my strengths in this world!"
"Enough of this!" Chrysalis screamed. "You came here to freeze us over, and here you are stalling like a child refusing to complete a chore! If you're just as fearless as you claim to be..." She whistled through one of the holes in her hooves and her army of changelings swarmed over her head. "Then prove it!"
"I will enjoy burying you!" Frostborn bellowed. His eyes glowed white and horn light blue.
"Guards!" Celestia alerted. "Defensive positions! Frostborn does not reach the city!" The guards took off from the walls, about 50-60 in total. The clouds above Frostborn started spiraling as they did before during his duel with Magmare. "All units, attack!"
"Go my subjects!" Chrysalis ordered. "Let him have it!" The guards and changelings attacked in full force, but they didn't make it very far. From the swirling clouds above came a rain of icy spikes falling down towards the city, and the two forces were right in their path. One by one, the changelings and royal guards were struck down by the storm, sent into free fall either towards the near courtyard or the snow-blanketed ground hundreds of yards below. "Don't let up!" The queen was forcing all her persistence into her subjects' will, but the effort was in vain. She couldn't keep them from being knocked down so easily. Celestia's guards suffered the same fate.
Piles of unconscious ponies littered the edge of the courtyard while others rested on the cold ground at the bottom of the mountain. Frostborn continued to unleash his rain of ice spikes just off the edge of the courtyard before the two princesses and changeling queen. Celestia turned back to Twilight with a strange sense of worry on her face. She was hoping she wouldn't have to play this next card. "Twilight, we need you," she pleaded, stretching out her hoof.
"My pleasure," Twilight said. She flew over to the wall of ice at level with Frostborn, and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply, her horn glowing in a strong purple. She could sense a strong aura coming from the Master of Ice as she inhaled. This was it. She just had to pull off her new trick and she would win the battle for all of Equestria. She felt the connection between them form when a one of the icy spikes shifted out of alignment with the others and struck her on the head. Twilight lost focus and fell to the cobblestone floor beside Princess Celestia. She stood up and grunted before taking a second attempt to steal his magic from the ground, but another chunk of ice hit her directly again, causing her to collapse once more.
"Such simple tactics won't help you," Frostborn taunted. "I may be inferior in strength to Magmare, but I still have enough power to crush you and the intelligence to predict your every move." Twilight looked down towards the cliff edge and noticed a thin layer of ice freezing over the courtyard. Slowly but surely, it was going to cover the whole city with all the citizens inside it. The citizens, each having strength of their own, just going to fall along with the most powerful beings in Equestria.
"Maybe not," Twilight thought to herself. She rose once more and flew to Frostborn's altitude once more, but this time had her back turned to the wall of ice spikes falling from the clouds. She looked over the stockpiled ponies in the crowd, the weakened changelings, the princesses, and her friends. With a cringe, Twilight had made her decision, a difficult one at that. She closed her eyes again, her horn glowing once more.
"Uh, Twilight," she heard Rainbow Dash call in worrisome curiosity. "What are you doing?" Twilight opened her maw wide. She tried her best to sense the magical power of all the ponies before her. The pegasi, earth ponies, unicorns. all of them. Even the princesses and her dearest of friends were a target at this point. She inhaled, and the entire courtyard was a mass of ponies surrounded in a purple magical glow. Hundreds on top of hundreds of purple magical beams extruded from the ponies who suddenly felt weaker. "Twilight?" Rainbow asked again. Twilight felt a tear roll down her cheek as she felt her friend's terror flowing through her, but she kept going.
The beams of magic cut off, and the ponies below all dropped simultaneously, eyes unsaturated and legs unable to pull themselves back up. Twilight felt the surge of power inside her. The excessive amount of magic intake all at once gave her a burning feeling all over her body, and with a wail of pain she was able to relieve it in an instant. A magical surge of energy forced it's way out of Twilight's body in a powerful white explosion all around her, blowing the storm of ice spikes apart and sending Frostborn further from the castle. The ponies below were out of range, thankfully, and the bright glow of magic subsided with Twilight still there without a scratch. She held her eyes loosely closed for a moment then opened them slowly, bearing a confident smile and eyes beaming with determination. Despite the large blast of magic that just escaped her body, she could still feel the same power that she had when she had just finished draining everypony's magic. She was ready.
My readers, I am so sorry to interrupt in a time of such sheer crisis, but there is something that must be said. I want to thank you for joining me on this adventure, and I hope it was a fun experience. I put my heart and soul into producing this little story so that you could enjoy reading it just as much as I did writing it. There's just one problem: it's not done yet. Why am I thanking you now if you haven't finished reading? Well with a story like this I'm glad that I kept you interested long enough to keep you going until the very end, and for that, I think you deserve a reward. We have an Ice God to stop, my readers, and seeing how we're all out of bubblegum, I think it's only right to provide you with the best music I can find to fit the occasion. Let's get back into this and show Frostborn that Equestria is not his personal playground!
Lyrics or instrumental. Take your pick.
Twilight turned around to face the Master of Ice, who still suffered from shock after the blast. "Ready when you are," Twilight said confidently.
"Bold move taking in your companions' power to make a stand," Frostborn admitted. "But we shall see who truly is the more powerful being." Frostborn's eyes turned white again as his horn charged with them. He took no hesitation to aim directly at the mare's chest and unleash a blast that lit up the night sky in the north. Twilight used her new found flight strength to dart her way below the courtyard, dodging the beam that left a hole in the cobblestone flooring and launching weakened ponies back to the crowd. Twilight conjured up a magical bolt of her own and shot it right in Frostborn's underbelly while he was still firing his ice beam.
The attack staggered the colt and launched him further into the air. He took a few seconds to regain his flight stability, but by the time he did, Twilight had stacked a full on beam attack on his head. The ice mask shattered with the blast, and the Master of Ice concealed his exposed face out of pain, and when he lowered his hooves, he glared at Twilight in rage. His face was scorched from her magic beam, at least that's what she thought it was from. For all she knew it could have been from a previous battle with Magmare.
Frostborn's horn glowed again, and at his sides appeared a massive ice sword and matching shield. He held out the shield in front of his body, blocking the entire thing from the front, and charged Twilight with the sword ready to swing. Twilight quickly shrouded herself in a magical shield bubble glowing in every color imaginable. Frostborn swung the sword down on the shield, only for it to shatter on impact. Twilight lowered the shield and charged her horn for another attack, but the Master of Ice kept going and bashed her with the shield, knocking her into the side of the mountain.
Frostborn turned his eyes white once more, and the clouds above him spiraled just like before. The storm of ice spikes came back for a second strike, but Twilight used all the magic she could to grab a telekinetic hold on the spears. All at once, the spikes gained a purple aura and stopped in their tracks. They turned around under her command and launched themselves in a barrage towards Frostborn. At the last second, he put a protective sphere of ice around himself as the ice spikes struck. A cloud of smoke and icy debris surrounded the area of impact, and lingered long enough for Frostborn to charge his horn and unleash a devastating beam at Twilight. The purple alicorn soared up as the attack triggered an explosion just below the courtyard, sending fragments of stone in all directions.
Twilight charged her horn for one last attack. She outstretched her wings and her eyes turned white. Her horn radiated in an especially bright aura as she hovered above the Canterlot courtyard with all her friends watching from below. Twilight lunged her body forward, unleashing a cone of magic stretching too far for Frostborn to dodge. He tried to hold up another ice shield, but as soon as the magical blast made contact, it shattered into tiny fragments barely large enough to see with the naked eye. Twilight's cone of magic engulfed Frostborn, unrelentingly singeing his icy blue fur.
Twilight felt herself growing tired, and she stopped the attack to take a break for some heavy breathing. Down on the frozen ground at the base of the mountain lay Frostborn, unmoving. His fur was tattered with black spots from the magical blasts, and once could see him gritting his teeth from pain. He had to try one more thing, and he got his horn to glow.
Frostborn forced himself to sink into the blanket of snow below, not even causing the piles to shift. He was fusing with the snow willingly. Twilight hovered in a little closer to get a better look, but the snow erupted before she could make any considerable distance. Frostborn soared out of the snow, his fur pristine and unmarked once more. He darted at full speed towards the startled Twilight, horn charging more valiantly than ever. A bright blue magic, brighter than his own fur formed a shell around the Master of Ice's body like a mortar shell. She hadn't much time to react, but Twilight tried as best she could to channel all her energy into a focused beam at him. The colorful attack hit Frostborn dead on, but his own magic redirected the beam all around him, and he punched through the attack like it was nothing, and rammed himself right into Twilight, knocking her back into the courtyard right next to her six, limp and powerless friends.
"You thought you could outmatch a force of nature!" Frostborn bellowed. "Now you lay weak and helpless while my victory is just over the horizon!" Twilight tried to get back up, but she couldn't find enough strength to overcome the numbness of her legs long enough to even stand. She looked back at her friends who were stuck in the same helpless position as she.
"I'm sorry," Twilight apologized. "I wasn't strong enough."
"None of us were strong enough," Applejack admitted. "If we were, we could have taken out Frostborn already."
"I would have liked to stand by you the whole way, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said sadly. "I bet the journey wasn't easy for you."
"It wasn't," she answered. "None of it was easy. Now we're at the mercy of somepony who's going to leave us as frozen statues for all of eternity."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Pinkie said, trying to cheer her up. "You tried your very best, and that's all that matters."
Twilight smiled. "Thanks for your support, Pinkie. It means a lot."
"So this is how it all ends?" Rarity asked darkly. "Frozen in time forever?"
"I guess so," Twilight said.
"Well at least we're together," Fluttershy said, looking on the bright side. "We can end this just the way we started."
They all smiled, and used all the strength they could find to hold hooves with one another. "Together," they all chanted. Suddenly, they felt a surge of strength in each of them. Magical power coursing through their bodies. They each started to glow in a color matching their coats that lifted them slowly into the sky. The six friends let go, but the glow still stayed, lifting them higher and higher into the air. Frostborn looked at them in shock, unable to comprehend how they still had so much power left in them.
Twilight's wings began to glow in a light, sparkling purple. The magical energy coated her wings on all fronts, and the shape started to expand to a great size. Twilight had grown a wingspan larger than the entire length of the courtyard she and her friends hovered above. Frostborn's heart sank. "How? No force of nature is capable of this variant of power!"
"No, Frostborn," Twilight said with strength in her chest. "This kind of power doesn't come naturally. This is a power that even we have been yet to fully wield for ourselves. This journey was difficult beyond measure, and I constantly found myself wanting to lean on my friends to get the job done. But what I didn't realize was that time to handle situations on my own was exactly what I needed. You see Frostborn, friends are a force to be reckoned with, but it is also important that we learn to stand on out own four hooves. That way when we do finally come together, we create something stronger than ever before!" Twilight's wings folded over each other, encasing the alicorn in a ball of purple glittering light, and it sent out a circular shock wave that passed through Frostborn right down the middle.
The Master of Ice's body suddenly turned into a bright, magical blue. His fur, armor, eyes, and all were now an embodiment of his magical energy. The magical Frostborn split apart from head to hoof, and the two halves formed themselves into a pair of glowing blue orbs half the size of Frostborn himself. The two orbs shot in opposite directions, one to the North and one to the South. Both magical spheres returned to the portals at either pole to submerge into the Earth once again.
The opposite end of the shock wave passed over the pile of limp citizens littered in the courtyard. The saturation returned to their eyes and they found the strength to stand up again. Canterlot broke out in a massive celebratory uproar for Twilight and her friends. The six mares descended gracefully to the ground while the crowd came over to grab hold of them and toss them up and down. Twilight told them to let them down when she noticed the attention and fear of heights was freaking Fluttershy out, and so the crowd dispersed, leaving the heroines to themselves. Princess Celestia walked over to Twilight with Luna at her side.
"I see you learned what I was trying to prepare you for by separating you from your friends," Celestia congratulated.
"I did," Twilight said proudly. "The right decision isn't always the one you're most comfortable with. Sometimes we just have to go through with it."
"I'm glad you saw why I decided to take such an action."
"Yeah, well it was still a long-shot," Rainbow argued.
"It worked, did it not?" Luna asked rhetorically.
"And I trust we will be seeing you as an ally in the future," Celestia said, turning to Queen Chrysalis who remained at the edge of the courtyard.
"You've made a friend this day, Celestia," Chrysalis responded. "A close one."
"Hey Twilight," Dash began. "You still got our magic inside you? Or are you back to normal now?"
"I think that blast we did at the end there drained all the excess magic from me. Next time delivering a final blow won't be so easy."
"Well, we aren't done yet," Rarity chimed in. "Frostborn's left quite a bit of ice laying around and we can't live on that."
"Girls, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Twilight asked. The six friends exchanged glances then took a deep breath, Twilight making sure not to focus on her friends' magic and cause another problem.
Winter wrap up, Winter wrap up!
Let's renew our homeland
Winter wrap up, Winter wrap up!
Cause things didn't go as planned
The ponies of Equestria got to work. They scoured the city for wheelbarrows, shovels, and anything else they could use to move the snow off Canterlot property. Pegasi got to cloud busting and unicorns gathered up large piles of snow to put in anything they found suitable for transportation. The animals were let out of the castle an allowed to roam around once the city was back to it's lush green and warm self. It was going to be a while before they could all go back to their hometowns again. They had a lot of work to do with Canterlot alone and it was too dangerous to move around with all the snow and ice between settlements. Looks like they were gonna be stuck there a while, but nonetheless, this battle was a victory.
And they were gonna spent the whole time cleaning up in celebration.
"Would you look at that, girls?" said a familiar voice. "We're finally back in the saddle and we're getting spoon fed a limitless supply of magic right from the start.
"Never thought a return would be this easy," said another voice with a darker tone than the first.
"I can't wait! I'm so excited to sing again!" This voice particularly upbeat and louder than the other two.
"Quiet, Sonata," said the first voice. "Let's make our entrance a little more surprising."
Ahhhhhahhhah, Ahhhhhahhhhh.