//------------------------------// // Goodbye // Story: I'm a Lich and I know it! // by Dream Seeker //------------------------------// Winter frowned. Her initial plan had been to disguise herself as an ordinary filly and walk into Shining Armor's camp, pretending to have escaped Calypsion. Then, she remembered that her disguise didn't work so well in her skeletal state. What could she do to save Twilight and Celestia... "I wish there was an easier way to hide," Winter muttered. Her staff's crystal flashed. "Oh, joy," she deadpanned, rather literally. "I wonder what it did this time." Winter waited patiently for a minute, to look for results of the change. She began tapping her hooves by the second minute. Just then, a guard came around the corner. "Winter! I've been looking for you. We need you to help conduct maintenance on the Ice portion of the wall." "Oh, heck no," Winter muttered. She wasn't about to give up on her friends and fix the wall! "I'm not going," Winter said, preparing to put up a fight. The guard blinked twice, strangely, before repeating, "You are not going." Winter stopped, confused. "I have more important things to do than fix the wall," she began explaining. "You have more important things to do than fix the wall," the guard repeated, flatly. There was no uncertainty in his voice, nor even the barest trace of sarcasm. "Are you just going to let me off without asking me what I have to do that's so important?" Winter questioned, put off that she didn't get to use the excuse she'd concocted within the last few seconds. "I am just going to let you off without asking you what you have to do that's so important," the guard replied in a dull monotone. Thoroughly creeped out at this point, Winter shivered. "You can go now, then." The guard walked away, swaying slightly in a dazed manner. It was then that everything clicked into place in Winter's mind. The staff. Her most recent wish. "The best place to hide is in plain sight..." Winter whispered, aghast. Mind control. All she had to do was tell whoever came across her that they had never seen her, and she would disappear. Winter choked back a sob. Mind control! She had never wanted this power, but here it was. She had gained the one power she was most feared for. Winter gritted her teeth, and carried on. She had this power, now she had to make use of it. It's worth it to save my friends, she told herself. I'll do anything for them. Even if I have to use this power to save them... I will. Winter trotted along, headed directly for Shining Armor's camp. Getting past the guards of Calypsion had been a breeze, they wouldn't even remember that she'd ever been there. When she reached shooting distance of the camp, she was immediately bombarded by a swarm of ice spears. Winter hardly bothered to block, letting the occasional well-aimed spear to collide with her skeletal body. It hurt, but at least it meant she could still feel. One particularly expert shot cracked against a rib, breaking it off. Winter stopped for a moment to watch it, lying in the ground. It was a part of her, gone forever as a gentle gust of wind covered it in fresh snow. When she could no longer see it, she continued walking. She was within earshot now, and yelled for everypony to stop shooting. They did as she asked. Winter choked back a sob, and continued walking. Within Shining Armor's base now, Winter stopped for a moment, and stared into the sky, and the storm coming from the cold north. A blizzard. It would arrive within an hour. She spared a glance at the sun, burning with a memorable orange glow. She closed her eyes, and cast a spell. Her phylactery detached from her neck, and fell to the snow. "Take it away..." Winter whispered. "I wish you would take it all away." The staff blinked. The phylactery vanished. The staff disappeared as well. Winter continued on. Twilight and Celestia were close now. Winter hadn't the Staff or her Phylactery to cast a tracking spell with, but she could feel it in her bones. They were all she had left. She glanced down once more, at the place where the rib had broken off of her earlier. It fizzled with arcane energy, leaking sparks every few seconds. Every time, she felt the bond linking her bones together grow weaker. She had to hurry. Winter knew she had to save Twilight and Celestia, even if it was the very last thing she did. Winter entered through the door, and gazed at Shining Armor, who was sleeping just outside of the cell in which Twilight was kept. With only a few words, the warden, who was preparing to bash her skull in, instead politely opened the doors. Winter withdrew Twilight and Celestia and pulled them outside, before waking them. She glanced at the sky one more time. The blizzard was almost upon them, blotting out the mighty sun with its cold darkness. Winter shook Twilight and Celestia gently, falling to her knees as she did so. She didn't have enough arcane energy left in her body to keep her hooves attached. Both of them awoke gently, blinking awake. "Winter?" Twilight said softly. Winter wished she could cry. "I'm here," she said softly. "You're safe. Nopony here will try to stop you when you leave." "What have you done?" Celestia asked, gazing at her legs, and her neck, where she was missing her phylactery. "I have done too much. I have made too many mistakes. I have hurt too many ponies, and other creatures." "W-winter... What do you mean?" Twilight asked, fear in her eyes. "I messed up, and we lost Cadence. I wasn't careful, and I let the Staff hurt Ice Storm. I made a mistake, and I've mind controlled every pony in Shining Armor's camp, and most of Calypsion's guard. I'm a horrible pony," Winter felt her upper legs falter, and she fell once more. "No! You're not evil! Everypony makes mistakes," Twilight was crying now. "I'm sorry. My mistakes were too great. Even now... I feel I have made yet another mistake," Winter felt herself weaken further. It wouldn't be long now. "Winter..." Celestia was crying as well. "I... I fell like this is my fault. My failure. If I had tried harder to help you learn to control-" "No. Don't blame yourself. It was always me. It was only ever me..." Winter whispered softly. Her vision began to fade, and the arcane force holding the last of her bones together flickered. Twilight sobbed. "Winter... I..." A hoof pressed against Winter's skull, comfortingly, as Twlight touched her. Celestia joined her, holding the other side of her head. "Goodbye," Winter whispered, and as the last sparks of her arcane power left, the first winds of the blizzard took her away...