//------------------------------// // We're here! Welcome to the Capital! // Story: Snow and Wind // by Princess OtakuGeek //------------------------------// Cadence walked near the front alongside an older stallion called Storm Wing, who'd assumed a leadership role amongst his fellow villagers. Storm Wing was quiet and a little blunt, but he was also very kind, thoughtful and protective of his fellow villagers. Naturally, Storm was a pegasus with a dark and light grey coat and a black mane, tail and hooves. The fur on his wings were light grey while his feathers were a dark grey with yellow at the tips. His eyes, which were a mix of black, grey and the odd streak of lightning-like yellow, scanned the path in front with growing trepidation. And Cadence had no clue why. When they'd first started traveling together, she'd gotten to know him as a very calm, collected pony. Now he was acting as though something was about to happen and he wasn't the only one. As they'd gone along, Cadence noticed that more and more of the windigoes were on edge as well. To the point where Twilight, her friends and even the Crusaders and Spike noticed. Before anyone could ask however, they reached a pass and the windigoes halted so fast, Cadence expected them to get whiplash. In addition, those who were near one of the ponies, including Storm Wings, stuck out a leg to stop them. "Hey! What's with the sudden stop?" Rainbow demanded around Cliff Rumble's leg, which also blocked Applejack's path. "It's Frost Fang Pass." Cliff rumbled in reply. Pinkie Pie climbed onto Hill Song's leg to better see the pass in question. "Hmmm. Well its very frosty, but not very fangy." The pink earthpony observed. "That's not why its called Frost Fang Pass." Midnight Aurora said with more than a hint of fear in her voice. "So why is it called Frost Fang Pass?" Applebloom asked, peering around Rose Step's legs alongside the other Crusaders. "Because of Ice Wraiths." Flower Dance was the one to answer. "W-w-what's an Ice Wraith?" Fluttershy stuttered fearfully. "One of the creatures who lives in these mountains." Storm Wing said as he turned around. "Here in these mountains, you'll find many dangerous and ferocious creature. And the fiercest of all these creatures, is the Ice Wraith. They make their dens at the tallest peaks and are fiercely territorial and vicious towards anything that isn't an Ice Wraith. And the peaks of Frost Fang Pass are riddled with these dens." Suddenly, the seemingly innocent pass became much more menacing. "So why don't we go around it?" Cadence asked a little nervously. Storm Wing however, shook his head. "The safest path for miles is this pass and we don't have the supplies to make it to another path." Storm Wing said. "It may be dangerous, but with a little caution, its traversable. And once we cross it, we're less than half a day's trip to the Capital." Cadence took a moment to weigh their options. Storm was right. They didn't have enough supplies for a longer journey and if the Capital was that close and there really wasn't any other option, then it was worth the risk. She turned her gaze to the six mares and they immediately understood what she was conveying. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity each grabbed their sisters and pulled them close. Twilight pulled Spike closer to her and Rose Step brought Flower Dance closer to her. Cadence then turned back to Storm Wing. "Well alright then. Let's go through the pass." ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ Over the past three days of travel with the village, one constant had been the buzz of friendly conversation. They second they stepped into the pass, that buzz died. It'd already been dying since they were approaching the pass. Actually entering the pass had simply been the dying breath of any sound or conversation between anyone. As they went deeper and deeper into the pass, everyone started glancing up at the sky above them regularly and if you listened closely, there were the sounds of ghostly movements. Twilight's inner scholar was squealing like a schoolfilly at the thought of another species to learn about and study. However the practical mare inside of her knew that this was neither the time nor the place and she kept right on walking. Glancing up at the towering peaks above, she caught a glimmer of movement in her peripheral. Turning towards the movement, Twilight barely caught a glimpse of something moving amongst the highest rocks. Unease settled into her stomach as she suddenly felt like they were being stalked. "Midnight." Twilight whispered as quietly as she could to get the attention of the mare beside her. "Suddenly, I feel like we're being watched." Midnight paused and moment and scanned the peaks above them, her ears twitching at every little sound. "They know we're here." She said. Though she spoke it in a whispered tone, the other windigoes picked up on what she'd said and instantly, the tension shot up. They continued walking, but at a quicker pace and the younger fillies and colts were pulled closer to the older ponies. It wasn't for a few minutes before something happened. There was a sudden screech that rang through the air like a battle cry and then something jumped out and flew right towards Twilight. It what right then that Twilight got her first look of an Ice Wraith. It was big and shaped like a snake with a draconic head and made of ice that flew without wings. It's eyes were two points of blazing blue light and its teeth were jagged and sharp. At the thought of that thing's teeth, Twilight snapped out of her momentary, fear-induced stupor and did the first thing that came to mind. She fired off an attack spell. The spell hit the creature in the face and for a split second it stopped its advance and screeched in fury before resuming its approach with some added speed. "A heat spell!" Midnight screamed. "Fire a heat spell!" Twilight heard her and in the heat of the moment, fired the first heat spell that came to mind. A stream of fire poured from her horn and toward the Wraith. Her aim was off, so she only hit along one side. But it was enough for the icey entity. It let out another screech, one of fury and pain, and it retreated back up to the peaks. Leaving Twilight on the ground panting and trying to slow her hammering heartbeats. Almost immediately, her friends converged on her. "Twilight! Are you alright?" Applejack asked. Twilight didn't respond immediately. It took a few seconds before she slowly nodded. "Yeah. I-I'm fine." She said a little numbly. With a couple flaps, Rainbow was up in the air and scanning the air above with her hoof shielding her eyes. "So that's an Ice Wraith huh?" She commented. "Reminds of the Timberwolves back home. And you totally beat it back to its den! Bet you that showed it not to mess with us." "Ice Wraiths hate heat and fire." Midnight Aurora explained as she helped Twilight to her hooves. "That's why they live in the highest peaks. Higher it is, the colder it gets. Its also why they aren't seen during the Warm Season. Anyways, that isn't the last of that. That Wraith will come back. And it'll bring the rest of the pack." Chills ran down everypony's spine. "Which is why we need to get moving, NOW." Storm Wing added, with emphasis on the word 'now'. Without hesitation, the group began trotting down the pass. Midnight quickly pulled Twilight to her hooves and ushered the Equestrians forward. Within twenty minutes, the air was filled with bone chilling shrieks and screams. And just as quickly, Ice Wraiths. The unicorns that were in the group, Twilight, Cadence and Rarity included, lit up their horns in preparation for what was coming. Everyone else braced themselves as well and Spike was psyching himself up as well. The Ice Wraiths circled in the air, hissing threateningly at the ones who would enter their territory. One swooped down low to attack, but was driven away by a small stream of fire, courtesy of Spike. The second that swooped down aimed straight for Twilight and when it got closer, she could see along one side of the wraith was a trail of recently melted then frozen ice. It then clicked in her mind that this was the same wraith that had attacked her earlier and so she readied her heat spell once again. But before it could get close enough, a familiar, rainbow colored blur flew at the wraith and rammed into it with enough force that it halted its descent and hissed at this new opponent. "You wanna go, frost breath? Then lets go." Rainbow Dash growled challengingly. "Because nobody and nothing attacks my friends while I'm around." And with that declaration, Rainbow Dash charged forward for a second tackle. By this point, dozens of Ice Wraiths were descending. Some were driven off by the flame and heat spells that the unicorns were casting. Others, like Rainbow Dash, were fighting them off with bucks, punches and wings. Of course the Equestrians were helping were they could. Applejack was bucking any wraiths she could and Pinkie was using her party cannon to blast them. Cadence was throwing heat spells of her own and while Rarity wasn't as proficient or strong with magic like the two alicorns, she was still using what she had to telekineticly throw what she could at the wraiths. Mostly rocks, but also gems and even another wraith were all ammo that she used against them. Those that weren't fighting, like Fluttershy and Rose Step, were using their bodies to shield the children. Soon enough, the wraiths were driven off. Rainbow finished her fight with the wraith that had dared to mess with her friend by throwing it after its retreating comrades. "Yeah! You all keep running!" Rainbow shouted after them before folding her forelegs in front of her with a proud smirk. "Well we certainly showed them. I'll betcha they won't come within a hundred yards of us." "If you actually placed that bet, you'd lose your money in an instant." Storm Wing interrupted the celebration as he glided down. "What makes the Ice Wraith the most dangerous isn't just its aggression or viciousness. It's persistence. Even when you drive them off, they come back repeatedly until either you leave or they get you. So let's move before they get their second wind." After that, there wasn't any more discussion. The group pressed forward as fast as they could. Thankfully, they hadn't been too far from the end of the pass and they were leaving just when the screeches filled the air once more. When Twilight turned around to look, she saw the exit to Frost Fang Pass swarming with Ice Wraiths who were shooting them glares and hissing threateningly. Eventually, the wraiths left and retreated back to their dens, leaving the pass to look as peaceful and innocent as though nothing had happened. ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ The sun had begun to set they started hiking up a hill. After facing down Ice Wraiths followed by walking for the rest of the day, the Equestrians were understandably tired. The windigoes were a bit better in the regard since they were built for this and had grown up in these mountains. But even they were showing signs of exhaustion. By this point, the fillies and colts were riding the backs of the older windigoes. The Crusaders and Spike were no exception. Applebloom was riding Applejack, Sweetie Belle on Rarity, Scootaloo was leaning against Rainbow Dash's neck, Spike was struggling to stay awake on Twilight and Flower Dance was hugging Rose Step. "Mmmm. Are we there yet?" Scootaloo mumbled tiredly. "I'm kinda tired and cold." "It's *yawn* not far now." Flower Dance replied. "Just up this hill and we'll be able to see it." "Yay." Rainbow said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Her pace then picked up a little. "Oh I can't wait to take a proper bath." Rarity exclaimed as she quickened her pace. "My mane looks absolutely horrible." "An Ah can't wait ta sleep in a proper bed." Applejack added as she speed up a little. The others followed their friend's example. "I know you're all tired, but the view from here is well worth the effort." Rose Step said as they approached the top of the hill. The front half of the village had already reached the crest of the hill and had vanished from sight. When Equestrians reached the top, they halted at the the sight before them, exhaustion completely forgotten. The hill the were on, was actually the crest of a small cliff on the south side of a valley that gave them a perfect view of the city before them. All the buildings, homes, businesses and even what looked the be a stadium, were all made of crystal similar to the Crystal Empire. Unlike the Empire however, they didn't look like they'd been carved out of a large crystal, rather they were built out of bricks and blocks of crystal and on closer inspection, the crystal had a frosted appearance like colored ice. All aglow in the light of sunset. And at the center of it all, a huge crystal palace. Like all the other buildings, it was made of frosted crystal with a vibrant pink and gold color scheme. It's design was also beautiful. There was one large tower in the center, surrounded by an array of towers of varying sizes but not as tall as the central one and all had a curved twisted form that, from where they were standing, made it look like a huge pink and gold fire. And at the top of the tallest tower was something that shone like a star. For a moment as Twilight stared at that point of light, she thought it pulsed subtly. But then again, it could've been a trick of the fading light. "Whoa." Was all that seven mares, three fillies and one dragon could say when they could speak. Rose Step nodded as she took in the view as well. "It's quite a view isn't it?" She asked the slack jawed Equestrians rhetorically. "You should see it at night though. In the dark, the buildings shine like multicolored stars." "It's amazing." Cadence said. "It looks a lot like the Crystal Empire, but I've never seen those types of crystal before." "That's ice crystal." Midnight Aurora said. "It's a special type of crystal that we can make in abundance. It has multiple uses. From decoration to building material. Especially building material. In the mountains, we don't get very large supplies of wood. So larger villages and the Capital use this crystal instead of wood." "Yeah, and my sister makes the best ice crystal ever!" Flower Dance declared with no small amount of sisterly pride. Rose Step smiled. "She's right you know." The older windigo mare said. "Crystal Flake can make high quality ice crystal. That's why she moved to the Capital. She even gets orders from the palace and Keeper herself." "So the Keeper lives in that glorious palace?" Rarity asked. "Yeah, but don't let the fancy place intimidate you." Rose Step said with a smile. "Crystal says that she's as humble as they come. I've heard that she chose the title Keeper because she thought that any other title would keep her aloof from her people." "Wow. She sounds like an amazing person." Fluttershy said. Rose Step, Midnight Aurora and any nearby windigoes all nodded. "She is." Hill Song said in confirmation. The windigo pegasus had a pale green and spring green coat with a light brown and dark brown mane and tail. Her feathers also had a brown tint and her cutiemark was musical notes surrounding a brown clay instrument that she'd told them was an ocarina. "She's very kind and gentle and wise." Hill Song continued. "I've heard that she can a little playful, but she's still a good leader and we all love and respect her. And I have no doubt that she'll see you. But its getting a little late so we should get going so we can be well rested for tomorrow." And just like that, the exhaustion returned and they all nodded agreement. Rest sounded really good right about now. ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ Within the walls of the palace, a filly and her family were enjoying a family meal. She had been talking about how her day gone with her mother's rapt attention, when suddenly the older mare's ears perked up and she stood slightly from the table to look out the window. "Mommy?" The filly asked, surprised. Her father looked up at his wife and frowned. "Is there something wrong honey?" He asked. The taller mare smiled gently and settled back into her seat. "No no, nothing to be overly concerned about." She said. "But it seems as though you were right Star." The mare addressed the younger mare across the table, who only smiled knowingly and gave a soft nod. "We must make preparations to greet our new guests tomorrow but first..." She then turned back to the little filly at the table. "...I believe we were talking about something." ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ They all took the path that led down to the valley and through the large, terraced fields on the city outskirts. Upon entering the city, they all went their separate ways to see the friends and family that lived here. Some went on their own of with groups, depending on who lived where. Since they had helped Flower Dance come home and they were friends, the Equestrians had been invited to stay with their family. With how exhausted they were, how could they say no to their generosity. By the time they arrived at the two story, blue and green crystal house with window frames and a few other things made of a metal Twilight recognized as bronze, it was just Rose Step, Flower Dance, the Equestrians and Hill Song. "Looks like this is your stop." Hill Song said as she began to walk away. "Anyways, it was great meeting you all. Take care and see you later! Oh and Pinks, if you wanna start another party while you're in town, I'll be just down the street at my friend's house so come look me up!" "Okay! You take care too Songy!" Pinkie called out and waved as the mare continued down the street. With goodbyes done, the group turned back to the crystal house and Rose Step walked forward and knocked loudly. They only had to wait a few minutes for the door to open. The mare on the other side was an earthpony as well. Her coat was crystal blue with curls of white and her mane and tail were a coppery gold with brown and put up in a messy bun. Rose Step grinned and waved. "Hey Crystal. How've you been?" She greeted casually. The mare, whom they could safely assume was Crystal Flake, blinked before answering. "Rose, you're here." She said before her face fell into a sad frown. "I suppose this means you're homeless too, huh?" "Yeah, pretty much." Rose Step said. "And I brought some guests." She then gestured to the group. The Crystal's eyes scanned across the assembled ponies. "Equestrians. That's a surprise." She said with a calm but surprised tone. Then her gaze settled downwards. At some point during the walk to the house, Flower Dance had jumped down from Rose Step, so it wasn't until the Crystal's eyes trailed down that she noticed her little sister. For about twenty seconds, everything was silent as the mare processed the fact that Rose Step wasn't the only sister return home. "Oh thank goodness!" Crystal cried out as she scooped the filly up into a close hug. "Thank the Great Hearth you're alright! You've had all of us so worried!" "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Flower apologized as she hugged her sister back. There was a slight tremble in her voice. Crystal caught it. "Hey now, we aren't mad." She said comfortingly. "We're just really really worried." She set the filly down and stood up. "Now, let's not keep this moment to ourselves. Not to mention the doorstep isn't the best place for this. So come in, come in." Everyone thanked Crystal Flake as she needed everyone inside from the cold. After she shut the door, and older female voice called out from further in the house. "Crystal, who is it?" Crystal Flake smiled mischievously. "It's Rose mom!" She called back. "And she brought some guests! Come and say hi!" The only response she got was the sound of hoofsteps getting closer and closer. When the older mare entered the entry hall, the first thing that popped into the Equestrians' mind was the family resemblance between Rose Step and her mother. Her mane and tail were red and pink, but more in favor of the pink with the red thin lines in the pink. Her coat also was spring green in color, but paler than her daughter's and with curls of dark emerald in it. Upon entering, she paused and took in the group. And when her eyes landed on Flower Dance, she began to tear up. "Oh......FLOWER!!!" She cried out as she surged forward to sweep her daughter up into a hug as tears streamed down her face. "Oh oh.... you're alright. You're safe. Thank the Hearth." She cried into her daughter's coat as the filly hugged her back with tears in her own eyes. The scene was heartwarming enough that the observing Equestrians were wiping tears from their eyes. Even Rainbow Dash, in an effort to keep her tough look, was fighting against tears of her own. "Wait, did she just say 'Flower'?" Another voice asked from the direction the mother came. Male, from the sound of it. "As in Flower Dance? Does that mean she's here?!" A second voice asked, female this time. Then, a head poked around the corner. A filly exactly Flower Dance's age with a white mane and thin stripes of slightly dark mint green. When her gaze landed on her mother and her sister, her mint and emerald eyes lit up. "It's her!" The filly called excitedly. "She's here! And she's alright!" In an instant, the entryway was flooded by windigoes all clamoring to see their sister. There were mares and stallions of varying ages and colors. Some were earthponies and some were pegasi. The oldest stallion, the last to enter, was a large, brown pegasus with a grey and white mane and tail. And bundled in cloth and fastened to his chest was a small bundle that, when he moved closer, was revealed to be a yound earthpony foal that was fast asleep. "Daddy!" Flower Dance cried cheerfully as she detached herself from her mother and lept onto his neck, being careful of the snoozing bundle. The stallion chuckled, his voice sounding like a rumble as he wrapped a leg around her. "It's a relief to see you safe." He said kindly. "Yeah, same here little sis." A grey and white pegasus with a spiky, icey blue and yellow mane said. "Don't go scaring us like that again. You know that's my job." At that everyone burst into laughter. "Sorry Wind Sheer." Flower apologized a little playfully. Wind Sheer laughed and grabbed her off their father. "Oh don't worry, I forgive you." He said, a malicious grin was spreading across his face. "But you still need to be punished." He finished in a sing-song tone. Flower Dance's eyes widened in horror. "No! Wai-" her protests were cut off by a squeal when the stallion began tickling her. Everybody began to laugh again and the Equestrians, who were observing from behind, found themselves forgotten by everyone but Rose Step and Crystal Flake. And they all didn't feel right for intruding in on family time. Someone else however, did. By loudly clearing his throat to get everyone's attention. The newcomer was standing in the doorway at the end of the entryway hall. His coat was green with some brown mixed in and his man and tail were gold and yellow. A horn poking through his mane denoted him as a unicorn. "I'm sorry for ruining this beautiful family moment, but if we don't eat soon, dinner will get cold." He spoke with a kind twinkle in his eye. "And I think our guests would like to join us after coming such a long way." ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ After a bit of rearranging, everyone sat down to enjoy the meal. Chairs had to be hunted down and seating arrangements rearranged to seat everyone at the already crowded table. In the end, the younger children had to sit on the older ones laps and Crystal Flake promised that she'd put together another table for the younger ones. Flower Dance had been seated on her mother's lap, much to her embarrassment, but she didn't complain as much as she normally would. With everyone settling into the meal, she decided introductions were in order. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my family." She announced. "This is my mother, Rose Storm." She said gesturing to the mare who's lap she was sitting on. The mare nodded politely. "A pleasure to meet you." She said. "And this is my dad, Eagle Flight." Flower Dance continued. The stallion in question only nodded his head with a welcoming smile. "And you've met Crystal Flake," the mare in question waved "and this is her husband, Gold Wood." The unicorn stallion from before waved in greeting with a smile. "You've already met Rose Step." Flower Dance continued as Rose nodded. "These are her siblings, Wind Sheer and Heart Whisperer." The grey and white pegasus stallion from earlier nodded his head. "What's up?" He said casually in greeting. "Hey there." Another pegasus, this time a mare, greeted. Her coat was light blue in color with swirls of purple and her mane and tail were darker purple with white in it. "And here's Wind Runner." Flower Dance gestured to an earthpony with a light grey coat and a wind swept white and darker grey mane. "Yo." He said with a raised hoof. For a competitive racer, he seemed a little laid back. "And that's Sweet Step and Sky Rider." Flower gestured to another pair of windigoes. Sweet Step was a petite earthpony with a snow white coat and a red and pink mane and pink hooves. Sky Rider was, as promised, huge. Most definitely the biggest pegasus they'd seen. And he seemed like he was still and adolescent. His coat was sky blue and his mane and tail were white as a cloud with tinges of blue at the tips of his locks. There was also white on the tips of his wings and his hooves. "Hey there!" Sweet Step greeted. "It's great to meet you all!" "Hey." Was all that Sky Rider rumbled out. "And this is my twin, Mountain Mint." Flower Dance introduced the filly who'd peeked into the entryway first. Her coat was a deep emerald green with some swirls of lighter green and her hooves were mint green in color. "Hey!" Mountain Mint greeted enthusiastically. "It's great to meet my sister's friends! Welcome to our home. Which is technically Crystal's home, but still, welcome!" "Heehee. I like you!" Pinkie declared. "I like you too!" Mint answered. "Don't forget me!" A younger filly called out as she lept from her seat on Sky Rider's lap. Her mane and tail were white and pale grey and in bouncy curls. Her coat was aa light brown with darker brown swirled together. "My name's Snow Bunny!" She cried out like it was a cheer. "Nice to meet you!" "Nice to meet you too!" Pinkie Pie cheered then turned to Eagle, who still had a green colt bundled to his chest. "Which can only mean that this little one is Green Leaf." She finished in a quiet voice. Eagle Flight nodded. "That's right." He said softly. "And I appreciate your efforts to be quiet. He's still very young and is very hard to get to sleep, so I'd like him when we do get him to sleep I'd like him to sleep for as long as possible." "You're very welcome." Pinkie whispered cheerfully. "The Cakes back home have their own set of twins and sometimes help foalsit so I know how you feel. Now, enough of the chit chat, I'm famished. Let's eat!" Amazingly, the baby didn't wake up at her shout. But those who knew her, chalked it up to Pinkie being Pinkie. She did have a point though. After hours of hiking and fighting of the ice equivalent of Timberwolves, they were starving and couldn't wait to dig in. So without further ado, they began eating. It wasn't until later in the meal that anyone spoke. "So, what brings Equestrians to our mountains?" Rose Storm asked. Twilight swallowed her food and dabbed sauce off her lips before answering. "Well, we're here on a diplomatic mission from Celestia and Luna to meet and speak with your leader." She said. "I was under the impression that Equestrians didn't know of our existence." Eagle Flight said. "Much less the princesses. How did they know that we were here?" "Well, up until recently we didn't know." Twilight admitted. "And then we met your daughter. Or to be more specific, the Crusaders met your daughter." As she mentioned the Crusaders, she gestured to the fillies in question, who were all sitting on their sister's laps. "Yeah! We were trying to get our cutiemarks in ghost hunting by going into the Everfree forest and that's where we met Flower." Scootaloo explained. "I've heard of the Everfree forest." Sweet Step said. "It's definitely not a place for fillies and colts to enter unaccompanied. But the Everfree forest is also long ways away from here. Did the winds blow Flower that far away?" "Not technically." Flower spoke up. "I kinda ended up out of the mountains and the winds were to strong for me to fly back alone. And I was unprepared to return to the mountains on hoof. So I went to Celestia and Luna to see if they could help us. I got as far as the Everfree before I balked and hung around the abandoned castle until I could pluck up my courage. That was when the Crusaders ran into me. The first time we met, they thought I was a ghost." At that, everyone grinned and chuckled. "Ta be fair, yer Snow Form looks very ghostly." Applebloom defended, but in all honesty, none of the Crusaders felt like they were being mocked so they added a few chuckles of their own. "Yeah, an when we didn't believe them, these here troublemakers figured that the only solution was ta go an hunt down the ghost again." Applejack continued as she ruffled her sister's hair. "An' when we came lookin' fer them, that's when we met yer daughter. We took her to see Celestia and she told them about what's been going on here. An' just like that, we're on this expedition ta talk with her leader, help out an' bring yer filly home." The windigo family were quiet for a time to digest this information. "So basically, you found my daughter and then came all this way to bring her back safely and help the rest of our kind?" Rose Storm asked. "If ya want it in a nutshell, then yeah." Applejack said with a nod. "That's pretty much how it is." There was another moment of silence. The next moment however, each of the Equestrians found themselves enfolded into a hug from the nearest windigo. For Twilight, it was Gold Wood. Applejack was embraced by Crystal Flake. Wind Sheer pulled Rainbow Dash into a one legged hug and Fluttershy was almost completely engulfed in Sky Rider's bulk. Pinkie Pie was tackled by Snow Bunny and Rarity was embraced by Sweet Step while Mountain Mint gathered Spike and the Crusaders into a group hug. And pulling Cadence close to her was Heart Whisperer. "With how things have been going, folks have been getting scared." Gold Wood said into Twilight's mane. "Thank you for coming to help us." "And thank you for bringing home our little girl." Eagle Flight continued. "From now on, you can consider yourselves a part of the family. Our doors shall always be open to you and you shall always have a place at our tables." "Well shucks, that's mighty kind of ya." Applejack said with a slight tilt of her hat. "We're just glad ta see the little one back with her family. Now Ah do believe that there's a meal that needs eatin'." ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ With the meal finished and the table cleared, everyone went off to do their own thing. Green Leaf had woken up, so Rose Storm took him to get him cleaned and fed. When she was finished, she passed him on to her husband and began preparing places for their guests to sleep. Flower Dance, Mountain Mint and Snow Bunny were showing the Crusaders around the house before playing together in the main room under the supervision of Sweet Step and the Crusaders older siblings. Cadence and Heart Whisperer were talking together since they'd both found out that they each had similar abilities. Heart, as it turned out, was a romance guru that folks would come to talk to about relationship issues. That was her special talent. She could tell how much a heart yearned for another and would help couples get together. Pinkie Pie was enjoying exploring every nook and cranny in the new house. Same could be said about Twilight. The alicorn was exploring the house as well and noting everything she could about the interior and its architecture. Every once in a while, she'd ask someone about something that caught her attention. The design of the interior had a very warm and cozy feel. The furniture was mostly carved from crystal, but there were some wooden pieces and bronze pieces as well. And the walls were covered in gorgeous tapestries. Some were simply decoration, there were a few that definitely told stories. The main room was the largest room in the house and was circular in shape with, of course, a dish shaped, bronze brazier. The bottom of the brazier was slightly blackened, yet otherwise it was clean without one stick or bit of ash. Clearly, a well maintained brazier. The room was also furnish with some curved couches that were the softest, most cozy couches Twilight had had ever felt. The next biggest rooms were the dining room and kitchen. The dinning room was more rectangular and was furnished with a crystal table and chairs. There were more tapestries and a door that led to the kitchen. There were counters for cutting, stirring and putting together food items. There was an iron brazier designed for cooking. There was a bar with a slight bend in it to hang pots on and a grate fixed over the top for grilling or putting pans on. And there was also a tall rectangular box made of frosted crystal. When Twilight opened the box, she was treated to a blast of cool air and saw various, refrigeratable items inside of it. Moving out of the kitchen, Twilight had just trotted into the hallway when Rose Storm trotted downstairs with an announcement that sleeping arrangements were currently in order. Wind Sheer and Heart Whisperer already had homes of their own here in the Capital so that made things easier. Crystal still had the bigger house while those two had apartments, but it was still a load off their sister's shoulders. Rose Step went with Heart Whisperer while Wind Runner was with Wind Sheer. All the rest slept in Crystal's guest room beds or floors and the couches in the main room.