A loud knock on the door. Just what Rainbow Dash needed first thing in the morning.
"I comin'! I'm comin'!"
Dash jumped out of her bed, eyes still red, and flew towards the front door. Even with her speed, another set of knocks had shot through the house by the time she reached there. Head banging, eyes cracking and her flank already missing the soft touch of her bed, she didn't know whether to open the door or send it flying the other way.
This better be good... She opened it.
Any and all thoughts of violence ceased as she froze and stared at the pony on the other side. Her eyes popped out, so white that it was like she had slept for two days straight, and her coat and mane zipped up into spikes. A euphoria exploded within her.
The pony in front of her was Daring Do.
"Yeeeeeeeees!" Dash squeed out. She charged and hugged her visitor using all her might. "Daring Do, at my house... I swear to Celestia if this is a dream..!"
"Uh..." Daring Do smiled, with an obvious look of awkwardness on her face, "Not a dream..."
Dash let go and quickly put on her cool face. "Sup," she said, high hoofing her visitor.
"You don't have to act that cool either," Daring Do laughed, "But hey... good to see you again too. Hope I didn't wake you up."
"Nah, it's not a big deal," Dash said, "So what are you here for?"
"Business..." Daring Do said with a smirk. She brought out a red covered book. The golden words on the title were indecipherable. "Important... secret business. What's in this is going to change Equestrian history forever."
......................................................................
The six Element bearers all crowded around a circular table in Twilight's basement with Daring Do beside them holding the book. There were no windows and the only door in or out was locked shut. The seven ponies all stared at each other and the book in silence.
A smile of excitement had shot itself up on each of their faces, with the most excited ponies being Daring Do, Dash and of course Pinkie Pie who jumped up and down like how she usually did. Twilight looked on with a more inquisitive face, like that of a diligent student in a classroom. She leaned in with her body weight on the table.
"Alright, ponies," Daring Do said, placing the book on the table, "I'm sorry for waking you all up this early, but there was no way I was waiting to let this out." The six Element bearers all leaned in closer to her. "I was out in some old ruins for the past week... wanted to get a head start on my next book... Everything was surprisingly boring for the most part, except for yesterday, when I found this." She placed her hoof on the book, "I'm gonna be honest... what I read worried me... worried me more than anything I've ever read before..."
Dash was chomping on her hooves like hay fries by this point.
Daring Do continued, "I came to you all first because of the fact that you're the six embodiments of friendship, and more importantly, I trust you. What I'm about to show you can't be shown to anypony else, got it! Your friends, your family, the princesses... At least until we're entirely... sure..."
She passed it to Twilight, "You're the magician here... Do the honors."
Twilight nodded and opened the book. Inside were ancient markings in black ink and letters similar to modern Equestrian, but still too foreign for any current pony. Twilight just gave the text a blank stare, "Uh... am I supposed to read this?"
"It's actually close to modern Equestrian," Daring Do said, "Just the order of the letters is weird... Just try reading it."
"Alright then... here goes nothing..." Twilight cleared her throat, and began reading. She spoke in what to the others was gibberish, and her own confused face only furthered that notion.
After a few lines of who knew what, Twilight's horn began glowing, but only for a second. Like a spark.
She looked around, "I'm assuming something was supposed to happen... right?"
Daring Do smirked, "Something did... look at your coat... Isn't it getting cooler in here... It can't just be you."
Applejack began shivering, "Y-Yeah... somethins' up wit' the weather..."
The temperature spiked down even further. Twilight's chemicals began freezing into crystals.
"Y-You don't suppose you c-can reverse it," Fluttershy said, shivering as well, "Please..."
"I would have brought my blanket if I knew this was what I was going to get myself into," Rarity added.
"No..." Twilight pondered, "This isn't a cold spell... This is coming from somewhere..." Daring Do continued smirking. "No..."
Twilight unlocked the door with her magic and rushed up and out of the basement. She charged out of the library's entrance, but never made it more than a few steps outside. The sight in front of her had taken her breath away.
A pack of windigos swarmed over Ponyville.
......................................................................
"H... How?"
Twilight could only stare as the clouds over her home spiraled into what long ago should have been erased. One by one, the bright morning sky turned into an icy gray until all that could be seen overhead were the ghostly eyes of the windigos. They gazed down upon the ponies of Ponyville. Their shadows blanketed the town, until every bit of green had been turned into gray.
The townsponies stared up at the sky, frozen and with obvious fear in their eyes. All motion in Ponyville had ceased, and what items the ponies had once held were on the darkening ground.
"No... n-n-n-n-n-n-n-no!" Twilight yelled, her head shaking. She wasn't sure if her stuttering was from panic or from the rapidly dropping temperature. How in the name of Celestia does this even make sense?!
And that was when the snowfall began.
Twilight rushed back to her basement, "Tell me how to stop them!"
"Stop wha'?" Applejack said.
"The windigos!" Twilight stopped in front of Daring Do, "Tell me, before it's too late!"
"Windigos?!" the rest of the Element bearers screamed.
Pinkie began laughing.
"This isn't a joke, Pinkie!" Twilight yelled.
"I know..." Pinkie said, "What? I can't laugh?"
Twilight gave her friend a blank stare before returning to Daring Do, "You made me say the spell! How do you get rid of them?!"
"Whoa!" Dash said, "Daring Do would never-!"
"No, it was me," Daring Do smirked. The Element bearers, sans Twilight, all gasped. "Right now there's a pack of windigos over Ponyville. Give them some time, and they'll be all over Equestria."
The Element bearers all stood silent, their eyes wide open.
Daring Do laughed, "Calm down, I'm just messing with you all... they won't last more than a few minutes... the high amount of friendship will drive them away."
Twilight looked unsure.
The few minutes passed, and by the end of them so did the sudden gust of snow and ice. The temperature began rising, almost at a rate that was a shock to the body, and one look at the sky showed the windigos thinning out.
"Hey!" Pinkie bobbed around in excitement as her once spiked coat dropped back down.
The sunlight cracked through the veil of darkness above. The townsponies all jumped around with excitement.
Just a minute later, the windigos were gone.
Like they were never even there.
The Element bearers all smiled and sighed, though all Twilight could do was wipe her forehead and exhale. Daring Do continued smirking, "Told you."
"Okay... first of all," Twilight turned to the Pegasus, "What were you thinking?!" Daring Do's smirk only grew. "And second, where in the wide wide world of Equestria did you find that book?!"
"Yeah, seriously?" Dash said, floating over the two.
"Personally, I consider the book a hazard!" Rarity said, walking to Daring Do, "I know you have your reasons for possessing it, but this is one thing I'd rather not have fall into the wrong hooves."
"Agreed," Applejack said, "Who's to tell wha' kinda stuff the wrong kinda pony could with that."
"But everything is fine now..." Fluttershy said.
Pinkie disappeared and reappeared in an instant, now dripping wet, "Yep! All gone! And don't worry, I made sure they're not hiding either!"
"That is true..." Twilight went into a thinker's pose.
Daring Do spoke up, "Like I said, the high amount of friendship was too much for them. There was never anything to worry about. Hopefully you all aren't so scared that you forgot how windigos work." She laughed.
"Well... at least give us a warning next time!" Twilight said.
"No promises..." Daring Do said with a chuckle.
Twilight continued, "But all that aside, that book is far too dangerous to not be guarded! Who knows what other spells might be in there!"
"True... never thought about that actually... but I guess that just makes it all the more fun doesn't it?" Daring Do said.
"Hey, Do," Dash said, "I... actually kinda agree with Twilight... There's a lot of sketchy ponies out there that would love to get their hooves on something like that."
Twilight gave Dash a quick smile, "Agreed, the windigos might not be able to grow here, but I can't say that with certainty for other parts of the world. Sorry, Daring Do, but the only place that thing belongs is under heavy security. There's no way we can risk that spell being used!"
Daring Do smirked and looked down at the spell's text, "Being used... Is that what you all think?"
The Element bearers gave her a blank stare.
She looked back at them with a confident smile, "Isn't it obvious? This spell's already been used before..."
No response.
"The windigos? Friendship?" Daring Do closed the book, and the six Element bearers all froze, the scope of their realization apparent on their faces.
"Hearth's. Warming. Eve."