Searching for answers
The dark colored snow continued fall and the once happy demeanor of all of the partygoers had disappeared, now being replaced with fear and anxiety. Humans, ponies and spirits were in a frenzy, they did not know what to do. The snow fell harder, slowly covering the city with its dark snow. The Crystal Ponies were heartbroken, their once happy festivities had been destroyed by a wicked monster. It was King Sombra all over again.
The alicorns, President Raiko, Cadance, Shinning Armor and the Earth Queen stood upon the stage, trying to keep everybody calm. Raiko spoke through the microphone, “All right everybody, pleas just--“ but his voice was downed out by the constant screaming and yelling. He tried once more, “If you would all--“ he tried to say, his voice was still unheard. Finally fed up, Luna levitated the device towards her and used her ultimate weapon on the frantic crowd.
"BE STILL!!" Like a flash of lightning, all were silent. Luna's powerful Canterlot voice had finally ceased the craziness, allowing her to speak, lowering her voice only slightly as to not intimidate them. "I understand you are all frightened, but you must all remain calm. The leaders shall help escort all humans, spirits and non-Crystal Empire inhabitants towards the train station. Please go in an orderly fashion."
"But what about NightMare Moon?" A human asked.
"What will happen to the empire?" A crystal pony asked.
"What will become of our worlds?"
"Will it snow forever?"
More and more questions emerged among them, until Princess Korra took charge, speaking in just as powerful a voice as Luna, however her Counterlot Voice was less loud than that of the moon princess, but it was still strong enough for her to be heard by all and for them to remain silent as she spoke.
"Do as Princess Luna instructed and leave NightMare Moon to the rest of us. We have faced much worse adversaries in the past so she will be no different." she turned her gaze to the chief of police and her boyfriend, "Lin, Mako, both you and the police force lead everyone to the trains." the two saluted in response, "Tenzin, Dad, you and the other airbenders assist them while me and the royals come up with a plan to stop NightMare Moon and end this winter."
“But how will you do it without the Elements of Harmony?” one pony in the audience asked.
“We'll find a way, I promise. Now everyone, follow Chief Beifong, Tenzin and Chief Tonraq." Korra ordered before turning to President Raiko, "Mr. President, once you get to the city, inform everyone to remain safe and to keep calm." the man bowed in respect and she turned towards the crowd again, "Spirits, once you return home, if there is anything amiss in your world please report to either me, Celestia, Luna or President Raiko as soon as possible.”
“All right, you heard her. Let's move people!”, Lin ordered as she and the other police officers along with the pony guards, including Mako and Flash Sentry, helped the humans and ponies to the train station.
Korra took in a deep breath and Raiko placed a hand on her shoulder, “Well done.”
“Thanks, but don't celebrate just yet.”, Korra once again looked up at the sky. “Don't worry Twilight. I won't give up on you…I promise.”
(~)
It took some time, but with the help of the royals, Raiko, the police as well as Hou-Ting and Team Avatar, they managed to get the majority of the guests back into the train to safety. The snow was still falling and if it kept up, then both their worlds will be filled with ice and snow. The royals got the crystal ponies within the warmth of the palace, their only safe haven for now, as they all bundled up to keep warm while others remained in their houses to do the same. Raiko left with the people of Republic City and Hou-Ting returned to her kingdom in Ba Sing Se. Lin and her police force had joined as well, however a group of airbenders refused to let the ponies suffer and neither did Su's family. However, Opal pleaded with her mother to return to Zaofu, in case the wintery spell would hit their home.
"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Su asked her youngest daughter.
"I'll be fine mom. Besides, Zaofu needs you."
The two embraced in a hug goodbye, "Be careful, sweetheart."
"I will. I promise."
Tonraq and Senna hugged their daughter farewell, "Sorry this night didn't turn out like you hoped." Korra said.
"Just promise us you'll be careful out there." Senna pleadingly asked her daughter, "That NightMare Moon looked like she meant business."
"I don't care how dangerous she is, I'll do whatever it takes to save my friends."
Tonraq placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "Korra, whatever happened, remember it wasn't your fault."
Korra got the message behind the words and gently removed his hand, "I know Asami's still in there somewhere. I won't give up on her."
Tonraq and Senna knew their child was determined to rescue her friend form the darkness, and they needed to support that. "Good luck, sweetheart."
Cadance and Shinning Armor had no choice but to even escort the Crystal Ponies away from their home for safety. Sadly, none of them were willing to go. They had lost it once, they would not lose it again. They would rather die with it than leave.
After a while, dawn nearly approached and Korra did everything she could to break the spell on the Crystal Heart, but even by standing near it, she felt a powerful wave of cold air sweep around her body and she could barely touch it. It was no use, she couldn't do much. She flapped her wings and entered the palace. The Crystal ponies were ordered to remain in their homes until further noticed, some even took refuge in the warmth of the palace. Korra hugged herself as she approached her friends.
“We managed to evacuate nearly human, spirit and non-crystal pony safely to the trains.” Mako explained.
"Nearly?" Korra asked. Her gaze shifted to the various humans and spirits who volunteered to remain in order to help the ponies in any way they could.
“I got Lin to personally escort Pema and the children back home.” said Tenzin. He also remained, along with a few airbenders, other had returned to the city to help Raiko. P'li remained as well, along with Pema, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo and Kai.
"But what about the others who stayed?"
"They wanted to." Tenzin replied, "They didn't want the Crystal Ponies to have to suffer alone."
Korra was deeply touched by the kindness and selflessness of the humans and spirits. The scene was slowly warming her up from the inside out. She then felt her boyfriend's strong arms wrap around her, giving her even more warmth. "See? Not every outcome has a bad consequence." he said with a warm smile.
Bumi clapped his hands once, gaining everyone's attention, “Great. Now can somebody or somepony PLEASE explain what is going on here?!”
“Yeah, why did Asami turn all mystic and evil just now?” Kai asked.
“And why was the punch so sour?” Everybody looked at Bumi in annoyance while he held a cup of punch. “What? I'm I the only one who noticed?”
“I don't know.” Korra responded.
“How could you not know the punch was sour?” Bumi asked before taking a sip of the said punch, only to have Flash Sentry angrily slap it from his hand.
“Forget about the stupid punch!" the orange/yellow pegasus stallion exclaimed, "We need to focus! NightMare Moon has taken over Asami's body and now she has Twilight! Not to mention she plans on plunging the world into eternal darkness!”
Bolin began pulling his hair, "No, no we can't let the world plunge into eternal darkness. AGAIN!!" He was then slapped in the face by Fluttershy.
"Pull yourself together, man! This is not the time for you to go all crazy!"
“Sorry.”
“And we still can't figure out what she did to the Crystal Heart.” said Princess Cadance.
“I believe I have an idea on exactly what you are all up against.” Luna said as she stood before everyone. Her head hung down in regret and her ears were lowered as well. They could tell that this was a very painful topic to talk about. Her mother and sister's gentle wings wrapped around her, giving her the comfort she needed to tell everyone the truth.
“As you all know, many years ago, I was once transformed into NightMare Moon.”
“We know." said Mako, "You got really jealous of your sister, it turned you evil, you got banished to the moon, you came back hundreds of years later, Twilight and the others brought you back to normal with the Elements of Harmony.” Everybody looked at him with surprised/confused expressions. “What? I read about Equestrian history too, you know." Mako said as he crossed his arms.
“Anyway, there is one thing that nobody knows." Luna continued, "NightMare Moon was actually a separate being.”
Bumi spits out his punch in shock, “Seriously, what did you put in this stuff?”
Tenzin rolled his eyes, “You were saying, princess?”
"After the rebel ponies left Equestria and visited the human world, the four pony tribes eventually called a truce once they realized that the cause of the eternal winter that threatened their very survival was caused by the hate they felt in their hearts."
"Which was caused by the Windigos." said Korra, "They were defeated by the Fire of Friendship which emerged from the love the ponies felt for one another."
"Exactly. After that, many windigos slowly grew extinct. However, there were some windigos that lived longer."
Leilani explained next, "Most of them only have one common goal; to feed off of hatred, but some windigos have a much more developed subconscious and think almost as if there were beings of flesh and blood. And they do not only wish to feed on hate, they want to be the source and rulers of it.
Korra had placed the pieces together, “Let me guess, NightMare Moon is one of those specific windigos, isn't she?”
“Yes, that's exactly right. Unlike previous windigos, these kinds don't wait for others to feel hate, they try and force it out of them by influencing their most negative emotions. Jealousy, anger, hatred and pride. Any one of these feelings could be an easy target for the windigo. They often increase these feelings with painful memories which outweigh the good ones.”
“Making them feel nothing but negative emotions." Luna continued, "This gives the windigo enough power to merge with the host and use his or her body to inflict physical harm against their own will. That's how she was able to consume me by influencing my jealousy for my sister, and made me forget my love for her. Once she took me over, my subconscious had realized what I had done, but by then it was already too late. My soul was trapped within NightMare Moon's sinister hold.”
“But why would it go after Asami?” Rainbow asked.
“Don't you see Rainbow Dash?" Applejack explained, "When Asami saw Ginger kiss Bolin she felt heartbroken. No doubt, NightMare Moon used the moment to her advantage and made forget all of her good memories."
"Only remembering the moments she felt betrayed." Rarity clarified, "She attacked her when she was most vulnerable to succumb to her anger and envy."
After saying this, all eyes fell on both Mako and Bolin, taking both of them by surprise. As much as it pained them to admit it, they were both equally guilty for having hurt Asami one way or another. Mako rolled his eyes, "Really? We're still on that?"
"No, Mako's right." said Bolin, "If anyone is to blame, it's me. I should have told Asami the truth from the get-go. This is all my fault."
Varrick, who had been there the whole time with the crystal ponies, popped in from behind the brothers. "Yeah, you were pretty much a jerk."
Bolin and Mako both glared at him, "Hey, you stabbed her in the back too, ya know!" Mako pointed out.
"Yeah, but I also helped her company. If anything It should be her pops who's to blame, he was the one who started the chain reaction of betrayal for that girl."
"Enough!" all eyes fell on Korra upon hearing her outburst, "We're not helping anyone by pointing fingers at each other. What's done is done now we need to focus on how to save our friends."
"How?" Varrick asked, "Not even your magical jewel accessories could do anything to stop her."
"While it is true the Elements defeated NightMare Moon," Luna explained, "it did not destroy her as she said. Back then, the only negative emotion she managed to get from me was jealousy. When I saw the Elements of Harmony again it reminded me how much I loved my sister. It weakened NightMare Moon's hold on me and allowed the Elements to extract her out of me.”
"So, somehow the Elements reached out to your active subconscious and allowed you to take control at the last minute." Korra concluded, putting the pieces together.
"Indeed, Korra."
Fluttershy tapped her chin with her hoof in thought, "So what we need to do is try and reach out to Asami's subconscious."
"Once we do that, she might be able to break free of the hold long enough for us to use our Elements." said Rarity.
"How do we do that?" Spike asked.
“I'm afraid in her current state it will not be easy.” said Leilani, "NightMare Moon has gained far too much power. It will take more magic to reach Asami from within."
While everyone pondered on a way to save their friends, Korra noticed something in the corner of her eye. Standing on the window was the butterfly with Raava's patterns on the wings. It flew down to a crystal stone on the wall, and Korra noticed the reflection of her friendship neckless. Then, images flashed before her eyes, she could see the past from when Leilani and White had placed the prophesy book within the tree of Harmony. However, White had one day snuck out and retrieved the book, adding something within it, but the vision ended before Korra could see what it was.
“I think I know where to start." she said and she turned to Celestia, "I need the prophesy book.”
“It's still in the Canterlot library.” said the sun princess.
“Well then let's go get it.”
"Why do you need the book?" Opal asked curiously.
"I think within its pages there might be something that can help us reach Asami."
Leilani arched and eyebrow, "I've written the book word by word, I don't recall having written anything about NightMare Moon's return."
"Maybe not you, but what about White?" everybody looked at Korra in curiosity, "I know it sounds crazy, but I had a vision that White may have written something down in the book once. Maybe a message for the future Avatar."
"You really think it can help us?" Flash asked.
"It's our only lead right now." she turned to Cadance and Shinning Armor, “We'll get the book while you two keep the empire safe. Tenzin and the others will help."
The royals and everyone else nodded their heads in agreement and Korra turned to her teacher, "Will you be all right?"
Tenzin nodded, "Yes. Now go, quickly."
“Let's go get our friends back.” said Rainbow Dash before flying out of the room with her friends in tow. The alicorns followed as well and even a certain airbender.
"I'm coming with you guys!"
Bolin turned around to face her, "No, Opal it's too dangerous."
"So? Asami's my friend too. Besides, I won't feel right if I didn't do something to help her."
Bolin knew he couldn't protest with the stubborn young woman, and so he allowed her to join. Korra ceased her running and turned around when Shinning Armor call out to her.
“Korra…Bring back my sister safely.”
“I promise.”
(~)
Team Avatar, along with Opal and the alicorns arrived at Canterlot Castle and Celestia lead them to the library. “I've kept the prophesy book here in the Canterlot Library for safe keeping.” she said as she opened the doors and they all entered the large library filled with books and a large hour glass in the very center.
"Jinora would have loved this" said Fluttershy.
Celestia walked towards a shelf and began looking for the book, but then her eyes widened in shock, “What?”
“What? Why did she say "what"?” Spike asked nervously.
“What?” Pinkie Pie said.
“Exactly!” Spike replied.
"Celestia, what is it?" Leilani asked with worry.
"The book…it's not here!”
“What?!” Korra was also shocked by this.
“Is this a game?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean is the whole saying "what" over and over a game or--No wait, you were asking Celestia weren't you?”
Korra walked on over to the shelf where Celestia was standing and looked for the book herself in hopes of having better luck. Sadly, she did not. “How is it not there?”
Luna then walked up to them with a worried face, “Mother, sister, I cannot seem to find some of our history books in any shelf either.”
Leilani gasped, “What? How is that possible?”
Korra turned towards the others, her voice sounding firm and authoritative, but calm, “Everybody, look around the library. The book has to be around here somewhere.” She spread her wings and flew from shelf to shelf to begin her search.
“You heard her!” Flash said as he flew to the next shelf to start searching as well.
Bolin blinked, “Wow. It's always surprising to see Korra take charge like this.”
Mako was equally impressed, “I know….how hot is that?”
“Guys! Less yapping more looking!” Korra shouted firmly.
Mako's smile only grew, “Yep, definitely hot!”
Rainbow Dash slapped the back of his head, “Get your tongue back in your mouth, lover boy.”
The girls rolled their eyes before proceeding to help Korra in searching for the book. They went though every shelf in the library, not missing a single one. But despite their efforts, there was no sign of the Prophesy book. “How hard can it be to find a book with a big blue heart on the cover and foreign writing on it?” Applejack asked as she kept tossing the books aside.
Pinkie's head suddenly popped out of a pile of books, "I haven't found squat! But I did find this seashell necklace…." she said as she pulled out a glowing yellow seashell neckless from The Little Mermaid before tossing it aside and picking something else up. "This magic lamp…" she said before throwing away the genie lamp from Aladdin. "This pretty comb…" she held out Mulan's comb before throwing it away, "And this chipped teacup!" she pulled out a teacup with a chip on it, which looked remarkably like Chip from Beauty and the Beast, minus the mouth and eyes.
*So Pinkie Pie, breaking the forth wall XD*
Rainbow Dash took out a brown book and groaned in frustration, "ERRR! This is hopeless!" she said and tossed the book away and winced once she heard it made contact with someone's head.
"OW!" Mako cried out in pain.
"Sorry!"
Mako rubbed his sore head, only to notice something on the floor near one of the shelves he was looking in. He squatted down to inspect what it was. "Hey guys, I think I found something." Everyone gathered around him as he stood up with something within his hand.
Leilani examined it up close, "It looks like…hair?"
"Not just any hair, that's fox hair!" said Fluttershy, "I recognize it anywhere."
"That's odd, what would foxes be doing in the royal library?" Celestia asked.
"More importantly how would they get in?" Luna asked.
"Especially since all of the doors and windows were locked when we got here." Mako pointed out.
Korra took the piece of fur from Mako and started putting the pieces all together, "Wait a minute. Missing books. Fox hair. No way in or out…I think I have a pretty good idea on where the book might be."
"Where?" Flash asked.
"Wan Shi Tong's spirit library."
Everybody in the room gasped at the mention of that name which was as old as time itself. Fluttershy began to shutter, "W---W---W----WAN SHI TONG?!?!?!" the pegasus pony froze in mid air and landed on the floor, literally paralyzed with fear.
"Wan Shi Tong has these fox spirits that find all sorts of information from around the world to add to his collection." Korra explained.
"And since they're spirits they can easily sneak their way through anything." said Flash.
Korra snapped her singers, "Bingo!"
Rainbow hoof palmed herself, "Great! As if we didn't have enough problems." she had heard a great deal about this spirit, and his dislike towards pretty much everyone.
Bolin smiled in relief, "Great, so we go into the spirit world, get the book, find the spell or whatever that will bring Asami back, save Twilight and BAM! Happy ending for everyone!"
Applejack raised her hoof, “Hold on, last time we checked, Wan Shi Tong aint exactly a "big fan" of the Avatar. You sure he'll just hand over the book to ya?”
Korra shrugged her shoulders, “It's worth a shot.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?" said Spike as he pointed his claw to the sky, "To the southern spirit portal!”
(~)