//------------------------------// // Ditzy's Heart // Story: Ice Hearts // by GrassAndClouds2 //------------------------------// The Vault ponies screamed. So did the Elements. A blizzard blew from within the windigo and coated the icy room in layers of snow. Pillars of ice which looked like extra legs sprouting from the windigo’s body lashed out and barely missed the ponies as they crashed against the walls and the furniture. Trixie yelped as a chunk of hail glanced off her ear. “Go away!” she yelled at the windigo, running to Cheerilee’s side. “Or we’ll use our Elements on you! We’ll--” “Use an illusion, Trixie!” roared Raindrops. “It doesn’t speak Equestrian!” “WORKING ON IT!” Meanwhile, the Vault ponies were backed up against the far wall, Ice Heart standing on Silver Sculptress’s back. His face held a mixture of awe and horror as he looked at his father. “Dad!” he cried. “Don’t hurt Auntie! Stop!” The windigo hissed, as if the words themselves were painful, and stomped a hoof. The blizzard intensified and Ditzy yelped as ice shards began to smack against her coat. “Hey!” Ditzy turned to see Carrot Top’s teeth beginning to chatter. “We need to stop the storm or we’ll all freeze!” “I know!” said Trixie. Her horn was flickering. “But it’s not working--” The wind suddenly reversed course and began to flow back out of the room, sending broken knickknacks and torn paintings hurtling behind the windigo and out into the winter wasteland beyond the hotel. Ditzy felt herself begin to be dragged towards the monster but managed to grab onto a heavy couch and hold tight. Then she heard a squeak behind her. “Ice Heart!” Indeed, the foal was gripping onto Silver Scuptress tightly as the wind clutched at him and tried to bring him closer to his father. “Dad, stop!” he cried. “Stop it! Stop! STOP!” The windigo locked eyes with him. And the wind stopped. For a moment, there was a deathly stillness in the room. Then the windigo stepped forwards and reached one hoof towards his son--but yanked it away as soon as it grew close. With an unnaturally loud sound, a crack burst into existence along his leg. The windigo stumbled backwards, its legs still completely out of sync with its body, and then turned to the Vault ponies with glowing eyes. It still can’t touch Ice Heart, thought Ditzy. Not with his friends there. But that means he’ll just try to destroy them-- Trixie’s horn flared up, as bright as Ditzy had ever seen it, and suddenly the room was an inferno. Ditzy cried out as a flame licked against her back leg, and in front of her Cheerilee and Puissance seemed to melt into ash. Even as her mind told her this was impossible, she felt herself backing away from the burning heat, and she held her wings forwards in a desperate attempt to shield her face from the flames. From somewhere within the smoke and flames the windigo roared with the fury of a blizzard. The sound cut out after a few moments--and, several seconds later, the fire did as well. Ditzy gasped as the icy room returned into existence and had to fight not to hug the intact -- though still-frozen -- Cheerilee. “What happened?” she managed. Trixie was panting, and sweat ran down her body in rivulets and froze as it hit the frigid ground. “Firestorm illusion. Figured it might… come in handy… for this trip...” “Where’s Ice Heart?” Ditzy turned to the Vault ponies, who were still pressed against the far wall. Orangerie was looking around. “Ice Heart? Where’d you--” “Um.” TIM pointed at a little icy footprint in the snow near the door. It was pointed back towards the rest of the hotel. “He ran off.” Silver Sculptress gaped for a moment before a scowl crossed her face. “Of course he did. He’s afraid of fire. Him being part ice and all.” She stalked towards Trixie. “What were you thinking, you idiot? You could have traumatised him!” “What? No! It wasn’t real fire!” “How was he supposed to know that?!” roared Silver. “What, couldn’t you have made it so only the windigo could feel the illusion?” “No! How do you think--” “You’re the Element of Magic! You’re supposed to be good at it!” screamed the sculptor. “You shouldn’t be scaring the ponies you’re supposed to protect!” “She did a lot more than you!” Raindrops put herself between Silver and Trixie. “Cowering against the wall… yeah, fat lot of use you all were.” “We’re artists,” snapped Bounty. “Not national heroes like yourselves. We expected you could handle it. That was your function here, was it not? The reason why the Vicereine has brought you here and treated you so royally?” “She did handle it!” Lyra thrust a hoof at him. “The windigo’s gone, isn’t he? And--” “STOP!” All the ponies turned to look at Ditzy. “This is the windigo’s doing,” she said, speaking as quickly as she could. “It’s making us hate each other so that it can freeze us. See?” She gestured at Silver’s hooves, which were being coated by a rapidly-forming layer of ice. As the sculptor yelped and began to kick her way out, Ditzy turned back to the others. “We can’t let it win. We have to stay calm and be nice to each other or we’ll end up like them.” She nodded at Puissance and Cheerilee. Orangerie gingerly tapped the Vicereine. “Are they… dead?” she whispered. “Not according to the legends,” said Lyra. “The tribe leaders who were frozen by the windigo thawed out and were fine once the windigo were driven off. So as long as we can kick its flank, they should be okay.” “But we drove it off--” began TIM, just as the howling wind--which was still blowing into the room through the hole in the wall--began to pick up. “Not for long,” said Trixie. The Elements ran to Cheerilee and began trying to pick up her, but she was solidly frozen to the ground. The Vault ponies, in the meantime, were trying to do the same for Puissance. “Now what?” demanded Bounty. “He’ll be back any minute!” Trixie grit her teeth. “Come on!” she roared, shoving the frozen teacher alongside Raindrops and Carrot Top, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the wind had increased to a fever pitch. Ditzy bent low against it and tried to kick away at the ice trapping one of Cheerilee’s hooves, but she could tell it wasn’t going to work. “Come on!” Trixie repeated. “Come--” A sheet of ice flew through the hole in the lounge and shattered against the back wall, ripping several chunks out of the wall. Ditzy yelped and was only just able to shield her eyes in time to avoid getting hit by ice shards. Trixie stumbled backwards, and Ditzy saw that she was bleeding from a small cut just below her horn. “Stars. We’re stuck,” she hissed. Then, more loudly: “Okay. Some of us need to retreat.” “What?!” yelled Raindrops and Silver at the same time. “We can’t do anything for them now! But if we can drive off the windigo, maybe we can figure something out!” Trixie sighed. “Lyra, you and I are going to fight this thing with magic. The rest of you, run--” “You’d have your friends abandon the Vicereine?” hissed Silver Sculptress. “She was right. You are depraved.” For a moment, Trixie looked like she was going to kick Silver, but Ditzy wrapped a wing around her--it was all she could think of--and the showmare calmed. “As I was saying. Raindrops, Carrot Top: find all the servants and get them out of here. There’s other buildings in this stupid town, so put them somewhere. And Ditzy--” “Yes?” Ditzy had to raise her voice to be heard above the shrieking wind. More balls of ice were flying through the hole in the wall now. “Find Ice Heart. If we can’t get rid of the windigo, he’ll be going after his kid next. You need to keep him safe. Can you--” Before Trixie could finish, the windigo returned. Sharp icicles formed on the ground in lines extending from its hooves, and Trixie and the others had to rear back to avoid being impaled. “GO!” yelled Trixie. She shot an illusory fireball at the windigo. Besides her, Lyra summoned her lyre and then played a jarring, dissonant chord. Ditzy’s last glimpse of them, before she ran out of the room after her friends, was of the two of them dodging away from ice that seemed to form out of nowhere and reached out towards them with grasping claws. Then she was charging down the hallway, Raindrops and Carrot Top in front of her, and the wind howling at her back. *** “Woah!!” Ditzy skidded to a halt with Raindrops and Carrot Top. The latter, the mare who had spoken, looked around. “We’re near the staff areas--kitchen, laundry, servant beds. Raindrops, let’s clear them out. We’ll meet back here.” “Where is here?” asked Ditzy. She wasn’t familiar with this part of the hotel. Carrot Top pointed at a sculpture near them. “Okay, we’ll meet over there. By the statue of the gargoyle sacrificing a pony to Tirek.” None of them spoke for a moment. “Remind me again why we’re staying here,” said Raindrops. Further comment was forestalled by a blast of cold air and the sounds of a distant explosion. Ditzy gave a quick nod to the others. “I’ll find Ice Heart. Save the servants!” And then, with a quick jump, she was galloping down the hall. “Right,” she said to herself. “Find Ice Heart. Let Raindrops and Carrot Top deal with all of the Vicereine’s other minions. The other Vault ponies are with Trixie and Lyra, unless they ran away, which they probably did. That’s everypony, and…” She trailed off. “Oh no.” There was one more Vault pony who wasn’t with the others. And who, as far as Ditzy knew, had no idea what was going on. For a moment, her heart clenched and she was tempted to find Ice Heart first. The other pony had been awful to her, had even knocked her into a wall, and hadn’t seemed to want anything to do with her. But Ditzy Doo was the Element of Kindness, and she was going to do what she could to help anypony who needed it--even if she were running for her life, and even if the other pony was cruel. So she flew up two flights of stairs and raced to the door which housed the 7th Vault pony, the one that had shoved her away two nights prior. “Get out!” she called. “We’re under attack!” “Attack?” The response was instantaneous. “From who?” “The windigo. It froze Puissance, and--” The door opened, and--despite all that had happened, despite the windigo and Cheerilee being frozen and everything else going on around her--Ditzy was stunned silent by the pony she saw. The mare was tall, unusually so. She had a white coat, large wings, and a big white horn that tapered to a very fine point. Her mane was a yellowish-white, as was her cutie mark, which looked like a big ball of fire. It was Corona that stood before her. Except that it wasn’t. The mare wasn’t quite as tall as Corona, and she lacked the fiery mane. She also looked more overly muscular than the Tyrant Sun, as if she spent time working out, instead of exploiting an unchanging alicorn physique. And then there was the right side of her face, which featured several faded--but still noticeable--scars. This wasn’t the Tyrant Sun. It was just a pegasus-unicorn hybrid who looked somewhat similar. Ditzy saw her, and she realized whom Puissance had been referring to when she had said that the Vault had some ponies that would not be tolerated in the outside world. She had met the Tyrant Sun, she could tell the difference, and still she was tempted to flee in terror. How much worse would it be for those who knew no difference between the mare before her and the monster that haunted the nightmares of ponies all over Equestria? “Where?” the pony demanded. Her horn glowed, and several bracelets, necklaces, and strips of rune-covered metal appeared all over her body. The mailmare took a breath and got herself under control. The pony before her was not the Tyrant Sun; she was an innocent bystander who needed help. “The antechamber off of the main lounge--” With a flash, the hybrid’s horn lit up and her body was enveloped in flame. “I’ll rescue her,” said the other pony. “Stand aside.” “No. You need to flee. Trixie and Lyra will protect--” The mare’s eyes flashed. “I will not allow the Vicereine to come to harm,” she hissed as she began to run. In seconds she had crossed the hall, blasted through the wall blocking her off from the stairs, and vanished. Ditzy stared for a moment before reminding herself that she had more work to do. She turned on her hoof and headed out to find the wayward Ice Heart. *** The task had at first seemed daunting to her. Ice Heart had run away and could be anywhere in the hotel, not to mention the endless snowy wastes outside. But even though they had only met a few days ago, Ditzy was pretty sure she had a good idea of where Ice Heart would be. He wouldn’t run too far as long as his Auntie was in trouble. That meant he would definitely be either in or near the hotel. And the area around the hotel that he, a snow-loving half-windigo would be most comfortable in, was… She burst into the inner courtyard and saw the two eyes blinking at her from deep under a pile of snow. “Ice Heart!” she said, stopping near him. “Ice Heart, don’t worry. I’m here. It’s okay now.” Ice Heart wiggled deeper into the snow. “Nuh-uh,” he said, in the hoarse voice of a pony that had been crying. “Yes. I swear--” “It’s not okay. It’ll never be okay.” Ice Heart sniffed. “Auntie Puissance protected me. She kept me safe from all the mean ponies. But now she’s frozen. Nopony’ll protect me, and the mean ponies--” “Won’t get anywhere near you.” Ditzy gently dug Ice Heart out. Part of her was screaming to get him on her back and get as far away from the hotel as she could run, to hurry to the train station and commandeer the best available engine to flee to Stalliongrad--or Canterlot--or, or that matter Mareami beach--but she restrained herself. “I promise.” “How? Auntie Puissance was the only one who could do that. Cause she had enough money to build me a home where the mean ponies can’t go.” I could get you to a home with no mean ponies either, and that includes your Auntie, thought Ditzy, but she didn’t say it. Her thoughts felt clearer than they had before, and she knew how to avoid hurting the foal. “Let me finish. I promise that I’ll find some way to fix your Auntie Puissance. And to protect you until she’s better and can take care of you again.” She smiled. “I Pinkie-promise, even.” Ice Heart’s eyes were big. “You won’t leave her? I thought you didn’t like her.” “I…” Ditzy paused. “I don’t,” she admitted. “But I’m a Knight of the Realm. And part of that means it’s my responsibility to protect all ponies, even those I don’t like.” The foal still looked skeptical. “But…” “It’s like this,” said Ditzy. “Imagine if you did something that made your Auntie mad. Like… you dropped a very expensive plate or something. She’d be upset, wouldn’t she?” Ice Heart nodded. “But she’d still protect you from all those mean ponies, wouldn’t she? Even if she didn’t like you at that time?” The foal considered for a long moment before nodding again. “Yeah.” “It’s the same thing. I disagree with your Auntie on… well, everything, except maybe what flavor of ice cream is best. But she’s a fellow pony and so I’ll do whatever I possibly can to help her. Just like I’ll do whatever I can to help you.” Ditzy gently picked up Ice Heart with her wings. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a commoner or a Vicereine.” For a moment, it looked like Ice Heart was going to go for it, but then he shook his head. “Maybe you’ll help the Vicereine,” he conceded. “But all the normal ponies are scared of me. And even though you’ve got cool eyes, you’re still almost normal. Why would you or anypony else help me?” “Like I said--you’re a pony. I’m not scared of you, but even if I were, I’d still help you. Just like I’d help TIM even though he’s related to Sombra, or like I helped the hybrid that looks a little like Corona--” “You met Solar Flare?” gasped Ice Heart. “And you helped her? But--but she told me nopony outside the Vault would ever be nice to her, cause she looks like the Tyrant Sun!” Ice Heart paused. “I mean--she’s why there’s a Vault! Auntie bumped into her and took her in, and then realized there would be other ponies like her, and so she began looking for them. But… you helped her?” “Of course. I saw her, and I said that the windigo was coming, and I told her where he was so she could get ready. And she charged off to help fight for the Vicereine.” Ditzy smiled. “I’m a Knight, Ice Heart. It’s my job to keep you all safe, and I’m going to do it. I’m going to get you to a safe place, and then I’ll head back and help your Auntie. That’s a promise.” “Well…” Ice Heart let out a long sigh and gratefully wrapped his legs around Ditzy’s back. He didn’t feel that cold, though Ditzy acknowledged that she had run outside without a jacket into a snowstorm and that there was thus a limit to how much colder she could feel. “Okay,” he said with relief. “Thanks, Miss Doo.” Ditzy settled Ice Heart onto her back, then hurried through the passage and out into the snow. “I think the train station would be best,” she said. “We’ll put you on the next train out, and if something goes wrong we can get you out of town. Does that sound good?” “Uh huh,” said Ice Heart. “But I wanna see Auntie first.” Ditzy paused. “Um, that’s--” “I wanna see her! To make sure she’s okay!” said Ice Heart. “Please? I couldn’t leave if she’s not okay. I love her, and…” “I know you do. But it’s too dangerous.” “Not to me! My dad doesn’t wanna hurt me!” Ice Heart tugged at Ditzy’s coat. “He won’t do anything to me, I promise. And all I want’s one peak…” The mailmare was about to refuse, but then she considered how Dinky might react if she were stranded in town. She doubted that her foal would want to leave either. Plus, she heard sounds of fighting, but they seemed to be coming from the steppe. The windigo had apparently been forced outside of the hotel. “One peak,” she said. “And then we go.” *** When Ditzy made her way back into the ruined antechamber, she saw the Elements, the Vault ponies, and the still-frozen Puissance. “Hey,” said Trixie. Her horn was smoking and she was gasping for air. Lyra, lying down next to her, looked even more tired. “Glad you’re back. Where’d you put Ice…” Her voice trailed off. “Ditzy, please tell me that’s not him on your back.” “He wanted to see his Aunt,” said Ditzy. Even as she spoke, Ice Heart was flapping down off her back and running over to Puissance. The other Vault ponies moved aside from their work--which seemed to be putting blankets on Puissance and moving torches and candles underneath her--to let him hug her. “Auntie?” he whimpered. “Are you okay?” “Poor colt,” said Carrot Top. “I feel bad for him.” “I’ll feel bad for us if we don’t find a way out of this soon,” grumbled Raindrops. “Carrot Top and I got all the servants to the train station, but the tracks are frozen. They say it’ll be twelve hours before we can get a train out of here. If we can’t beat that windigo, we’re not going home.” Ditzy frowned. There goes that plan. “What happened here?” Lyra sighed. “Well, we’ve tried hugs, positive thoughts, and power ballads towards Cheerilee, and the Vault ponies tried blankets and torches on Puissance, but nothing worked. I don’t think we’ll be able to thaw them until we get rid of the windigo for good.” “Where is the windigo, anyways?” asked Ditzy. “It figured out that all my illusions weren’t real fire pretty quick,” said Trixie. “It almost froze us, but then somepony that. uh, looked kind of like Corona showed up and blasted it with a fireball that actually knocked it back a few feet.” “Solar Flare,” said Ditzy. “The first Vault pony. I think her special talent is setting things on fire.” “... ookay. Anyways, I peaked with my magic vision, and she’s up to her eyeballs in magic artifacts and charms to boost her power.” Trixie shrugged. “She drove it off a few minutes ago and it hasn’t been back.” “It’d be nice if somepony else could save the day for once,” said Carrot Top. Hope for that outcome stirred in Ditzy’s heart too, but she shook her head. “If the Hearth’s Warming legends are at all true, you can’t beat a windigo just by burning them out. She bought us some time, but I don’t think we can count on much more than that” As if to underscore the point, a cry of pain echoed across the steppe as another flash lit up the sky. Orangerie looked at the Elements. “Aren’t you going to help her?” she asked. “I know Solar Flare looks scary, but--” “We can’t,” said Raindrops. “What do you mean, you can’t? You have the Elements!” Trixie sighed. “We need all six of us to use the Elements. Cheerilee’s frozen.” “And we can’t just use the power of friendship,” said Lyra, “Because we’re not friends with Solar Flare. We’d be able to protect each other but we couldn’t extend that to her.” “Also, she’s rather grumpy,” said Stream Dreams. The other Vault ponies glared at her, and she shrugged. “What? It’s a legitimate point. There are some ponies that could make friends with their rescuers in seconds, quickly enough to matter under these circumstances. Solar Flare isn’t one of them.” Silence filled the room. “So, what exactly is our plan?” asked Carrot Top. “I don’t know.” Trixie hung her head. “I mean… if and when it comes back, if we keep our heads and focus on our friendship, maybe that’ll drive it off. But that doesn’t help Solar Flare.” “We could go get her,” said Orangerie. “I mean, we’re friends with her. Shouldn’t that be enough to protect her?” “We can’t go! The Vicereine needs us!” said Silver Sculptress. “I think she’s starting to defrost!” Ditzy couldn’t see any difference in the frozen Vicereine, but Silver did sound sincere to her, not cowardly. “Even so--” “We could try,” said Carrot Top. “I mean, do we know the Elements won’t work with only five of us? We’ve never done it before. Maybe it’ll be enough.” “I don’t think I’m comfortable with a maybe.” Trixie bit her lip as another cry echoed across the plains. “Not when so much is at stake.” Raindrops sighed. “I hate to say this, but maybe it’s time to call in the military. We know there’s Shadowbolts around here somewhere; they told Puissance where to find the windigo, remember? Maybe they’ve got some anti-windigo weapon that’ll melt it or something.” “NO!” Ice Heart jumped off of Puissance. “They’ll kill my dad!” “Kid, I hate to break it to you, but your dad kind of tried to kill us first.” Ditzy glared at Raindrops, who had spoken, but the latter mare just shrugged. “What? It’s true.” “No he didn’t! He just wanted to protect me! He didn’t understand I was friends with you!” Ice Heart turned to Ditzy. “You said you’d protect everypony! Don’t let them kill my daddy! I mean--if you have to force him to thaw my Auntie and the other mare, I can…” he trailed off. “But don’t kill him! Please!” “I don’t think we have a choice at this point,” said Trixie. “Raindrops, search Puissance’s room. We’ll find out how she’s communicating--” “Wait.” Trixie turned to Ditzy. “Got an idea?” “If we lure the windigo back here, it won’t be able to hurt us. We’re all friends, and so are the Vault ponies. If we got it here and then focused on our friendship, instead of blaming and attacking each other, we could drive it off that way. Without killing it.” Ditzy paused. “I’ll go get Solar Flare and have her run back here. Then I’ll lead it back.” “What?!” Trixie’s eyes bulged. “Why you? If somepony’s going to lure it, let’s all go--” “We can’t lure it with all of us. Only with one. And it has to be me.” Ditzy was silent for a moment, but when she heard another scream--this one louder and more hoarse--she explained her plan. It only took a few sentences. When she was done, she saw the worried faces of her friends. But none of them objected. “Fine,” said Trixie. “But for the record, I hate this.” She sighed. “Let’s do it.” Ditzy stepped towards the hole in the wall, preparing for what she knew would--for better or for worse--be the night’s last trip outside. She tensed, but then felt a hoof on her back. Turning, she saw Orangerie, with Ice Heart standing besides her. “Thank you,” whispered Orangerie. “We don’t know what else to say, but… thank you.” Behind her, the other Vault ponies looked at her with grateful expressions. Ice Heart threw himself against Ditzy and hugged her leg. “Can you really save my Auntie without killing my dad?” he whimpered. Ditzy smiled and hugged him. “I think so,” she said. If I survive this, she added to herself. “You’re the best Knight ever,” said Ice Heart, before Orangerie gently tugged him back. “Good luck.” Then Trixie cast a spell, and Ditzy ran out into the steppe. *** Of course, it has to be me. The cold was the worst Ditzy had ever felt. It stabbed into her, cutting between the hairs in her coat and slicing into her skin, her muscle… her heart. But still she pushed forwards, battling through the snow and the wind. The other Elements can’t go because the Vault ponies don’t trust ‘normal’ ponies, and I’m the only one that’s not normal, that’s ‘worthy’ of the Vault, thanks to my wandering eye. Her hoof bounced off a rock, and Ditzy almost stumbled, but she kept her balance and continued towards the yells and howls of combat. The sky was occasionally illuminated with a burst of flame, but they grew weaker each time. If Ditzy waited much longer, she knew, they would vanish entirely. The Vault ponies can’t go because Puissance wouldn’t want them to. She’d want them to stay and protect her. For this plan to work, the bait pony has to be acting as a friend. If one of them went, they would know that they were betraying their friend the Vicereine, going against her wishes in her hour of need. But Cheerilee, she wouldn’t want us to stay by her when a pony needs help. She’d want one of us to go help whoever’s in trouble. So it had to be one of us Elements… and I’m the only Element that would qualify for the Vault if I wanted. So it has to be me. A thin, ragged tree blew past her, its trunk whistling by her head as it hurtled into the night. So it’s up to me. Ditzy forced herself to breathe evenly even though her body told her to hyperventilate with panic. Fine. Time to work. She came across Solar Flare a few minutes later. The mare was kneeling on the icy ground, struggling to rise to the point where her head would break the snow, and Ditzy would have missed her had she not seen the mare’s flickering horn. “Solar Flare!” she squeaked. “Back to the hotel! We have a plan!” Solar Flare managed to get up. Somewhere in the darkness beyond them, Ditzy knew, the windigo was surely waiting, but it didn’t move to strike. “Plan?” asked Solar Flare, her horn lighting up and illuminating them with a ragged red glow. “What plan? Is the Vicereine okay? And what are you doing here--” Her voice cut off as she came to the realization that Ditzy had been counting on. Solar Flare leaned in close as her eyes widened. “You’re not him,” she whispered. “You’re not Ice Heart.” “Nope,” Ditzy squeaked. Trixie’s illusion had been almost perfect. She looked like a foal half her size, with veins of ice moving throughout her flesh--or maybe veins of flesh moving through the ice. Her tongue looked icy, her tail gave off little ice shards when she shook it, and even her voice squeaked like the colt’s. Only one detail remained the same. Her eyes did not align. “I’m Dame Ditzy,” said the mailmare. “I came to rescue you.” Solar Flare hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s my job to keep the Vicereine safe. I would die for her. I--” “You don’t need to. We can all get out of this alive.” The hybrid snorted. “Ridiculous. Who else will save her? Nopony else likes the Vicereine; they’re jealous of her wealth, and her power, and her depthless generosity to her friends. Her enemies are so bitter they would leave her here to freeze if they knew.” Solar Flare turned back to the windigo, limbs trembling as she did. “Even her own family is ungrateful. We--the Vault ponies--are the only ones that truly love her.” And that belief, Ditzy thought, Is what Puissance truly wants to gain out of the Vault. Of course… that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Aloud, she said, “I don’t love her. But I’ll also fight to save her.” “Why should I believe that? Maybe you’ll just have me leave and then slip away so the windigo can freeze her.” The mare’s eyes hardened. “For all I know, you’re one of her enemies.” “You have many enemies too. Ice Heart told me about them. But I came to save you, didn’t I?” Ditzy gestured at her eyes. “I can see your value, and the value of what the Vicereine has done for you. I can appreciate your uniqueness, because I’m also unique, and her generosity, because I too was hurt for being different and once wished I could go somewhere where there were no mean ponies to hurt me. We’re alike in that way.” Ditzy tapped her eyes again. Personally, she thought they were alike in that they were both ponies, but for the moment she’d exploit the ‘unusual ponies stick together’ thing the Vault ponies had going. “And I’m not going to let a fellow ‘special pony’ like you get hurt,” she continued. “Or a benefactor of ponies like us. So--run back to the hotel. Now. I’ll stall for a few minutes and follow.” Solar Flare was silent for several moments, apparently considering. “You can’t think your disguise will fool the windigo.” “That’s my problem, not yours.” Ditzy managed a smile, though she didn’t know how that would look on Ice Heart’s face. “To melt the Vicereine, she’ll need all her friends. She needs you, Solar Flare.” That seemed to do it. The mare straightened and extended her wings. “So be it. Good luck, Ditzy.” And she flew back towards the hotel. Ditzy watched her go until she could no longer see the mare’s glowing horn in the blizzard. Finding her way back would be difficult, though Trixie had assured her that she would come up with a plan for that. If not, they’ll probably find me after the next thaw, she thought. A soft hiss came out of the air behind her. Turning back around, Ditzy saw the storm seem to warble. It was almost pitch black, but part of the wind seemed to be adopting a wavery blue-green glow similar to the Aurora Borealis. It shifted in the air for a moment, stretching and doubling back on itself in a dizzying loop, and then Ditzy found herself looking at the windigo. What would Ice Heart say? she thought. She had to stall for as long as possible. The whole scheme was pointless if the windigo was able to catch up to Solar Flare before the mare returned to the hotel. “Hi, dad!” she chirped. “Long time no see!” The windigo growled, this time more harshly, and Ditzy had the distinct feeling that her perfect disguise had just come undone. She backed up a step, but then the windigo flashed forwards, as if carried on the breeze. It thrust a hoof at her, slamming it against her head. She felt a very cold sensation-- And then a feeling of pure need. It wasn’t just desire, like she might want a hot bath, or a good night’s sleep, or to play with her muffin after a long and stressful day. It was a life-threatening, desperate need that seemed to swallow petty concerns like ‘food’ and ‘warmth’ and ‘survival.’ All other thought was wiped from her mind as she wheeled around to fulfill that need, the need for her son-- I don’t have a son, she thought. An image of Dinky, hazy and distant, floated into her mind. She seized it and focused on it, letting it buoy her and fend off the windigo’s assault. She focused on every detail of her wonderful daughter, and all the things she needed--a loving mother, good friends, food, shelter, an education--and let those desires, which were so much more important than her own petty concerns, swamp the ones the windigo had flooded her head with. She didn’t know how much time had passed when she managed to pull away. Her whole body was shaking from the cold, and she noted that the illusion around her body had been ripped away, but she hadn’t fallen. “You can’t have him,” she said. “I’m sorry. I really am. I know what it’s like to love one’s offspring. But you can’t. Not now.” The windigo said nothing. Knowing it was pointless, Ditzy tried to explain. “We don’t know if he can survive with you. What if he froze to death? Half of him is pony, and if we're out in the cold too long we can get very hurt... or even die. Would you want that?” She shook her head. “For his own safety, you can’t have him.” She shook her head and crossed her wings in the universal pony symbols of ‘no.’ “I’m very sorry.” The windigo continued to say nothing for a long moment. Then, with an enraged roar, it swept out a hoof and a sheet of snow--which had to be six feet tall--blasted at Ditzy. The mailmare was already running away by the time the snow wave had crested. She managed to outdistance it, barely, but she could hear the windigo behind her, and then heard it pulling to her side. The wind and snow grabbed at her, and as she fought her way free, back towards the hotel, she felt it touch her again. And this time she saw more images-- Of the time when Trixie terrified Fluttershy, her good friend, by demanding that the agoraphobic mare play at a concern to be attended by hundreds of ponies and the princess herself. Of the time when Raindrops had called her a failure as a mother. Of the time when Carrot Top’s deranged mirror pool clones had almost destroyed the post office. Of the time when Dinky, her surly child, her stale, bitter, and rancid muffin, had gotten in a hoof fight with Scootaloo and hadn’t even seemed sorry later. Of the time when she snuck off in Canterlot Castle and got herself abducted by Duke Greengrass of all ponies, without a care in the world for how much other ponies might worry. Those thoughts and innumerable others pounded into Ditzy’s head as she ran, and each one seemed to come with an extra dose of ice that chilled her from the inside out. It was almost enough to make her stop for a moment to focus on them and on her hate for all the cruel, petty, and vicious ponies who had contaminated her wonderful life. After all, her thoughts insisted, they deserved it. But Ditzy was the Element of Kindness, and she did not believe them. She took one step forwards and summoned memories of Trixie. She remembered the showmare bravely fighting against the golem that threatened to destroy Ponyville. Trixie leading the charge to fight Corona, and Grogar, and the other monsters they had encountered over the past year. Trixie taking the time to introduce herself to Fluttershy properly and become one of the mare’s most beloved friends. She recalled Raindrops when he battled the bloodthirsty dragon called Spike and saved them all from certain doom. She thought of the time that Lyra had driven herself almost to the point of overchanneling when she fended off three sirens that wanted to eat them. Of when Cheerilee had talked some sense into her and prevented her from making a horrible mistake about Dinky’s future. Of all the times that Carrot Top had given and given and given some more to help her friends, including her favorite mailmare. And she thought of her beloved muffin, the most precious foal in all the world. Her laughter, her joy, her inquisitive nature, and her boundless empathy. Her preternatural ability to make friends with absolutely anypony, up to and including the great-grandcolt of a Vicereine. Her love of life, of her friends, and, most of all, of her mother. She thought of all these things, and she realized that the snow wasn’t holding her anymore. Ditzy burst into the ruined antechamber in the hotel--illuminated by a blue glow no doubt produced by Trixie--and skidded to a halt in front of the frozen Cheerilee. “He’s right behind me!” she yelled. “Everypony get ready!” The windigo burst through the hole a few seconds later. It swiveled its head between the two groups; the Elements clustered around Cheerilee, and the Vault ponies guarding the Vicereine. Solar Flare stood at the front of the Vault ponies, with wings outstretched and horn aglow, and with Ice Heart perched on her back. The windigo turned and stormed towards them-- And stopped. Its hoof flicked back as soon as it neared the air in front of them, just as it had earlier on the steppe. It roared, and the winter storm pounded through the destroyed wall--there was no surface in the room that was unfrozen, and the ground was soon covered in at least three feet of snow--but when it moved its leg again, it still couldn’t reach Ice Heart or the Vicereine, and when Ice heart reached out to him, the other Vault ponies yanked him back before they could touch. The only result was another small crack in the windigo’s body. “Shouldn’t they be driving it away?” whispered Raindrops. “I mean, that’s what our friendship did, right?” “They’re pretty good friends, I guess,” said Trixie. “But we’re the best.” She grinned. “Come on, girls. Let’s win this thing.” The windigo turned to them and advanced. Ditzy felt her head fill with hateful images again, but this time she wasn’t even slowed down. She fortified her thoughts with all the joys and triumphs she had shared with her friends in the past year, from defeating monsters like the Tyrant Sun and Grogar, to little things--saving a farm, pulling off a concert or a magic show, getting the mail routes re-organized. Every smile, every laugh, every warm feeling that Ditzy could muster went to fend off the windigo. Besides her, she knew her friends were doing the same thing. And she knew it would work. The wind and snow stopped blowing into the room. The windigo howled, but there was a weak, watery quality to it this time. It darted forwards but couldn’t get anywhere near the Elements. A rainbow of colors was swirling around them, and every time it touched the monster its body seemed to break a little more. When it thrust its hooves at them, not even a single snowflake responded, and it had to yank them back as they began to bubble and crack. “You’re not welcome!” roared Trixie. “We give you one last chance. Leave in peace, or--” The windigo leapt at them. Ditzy took the hooves of her friends and stood tall, ready to fight and struggle and bleed for their sakes, just as they were for her. There was several loud cracks, almost deafening in volume. Ditzy whipped her head around, saw the broken pieces of ice falling from around Cheerilee and Vicereine Puissance, and then turned back to see the form of the windigo as it was hurled far away into the winter night.