How Trixie (Somehow) Saved Hearth's Warming
Chapter 2
By Godzillawolf
“Trixie is very surprised that Yakyakistan was so easy to get through,” Trixie remarked, the two now moving past it, the mare riding a bit high on her defeat of the Rat King. They'd gone through the kingdom of the Yaks in a surprisingly uneventful visit (so uneventful in fact it will not be addressed by the story).
“Tell me about it, Santa always had to be careful giving them gifts because they tend to smash anything they don't like. Good thing they made peace with Equestria,” Venus remarked. “Though they were happy to learn that those two yaks are safe now.”
The azure showmare gave a proud, content look. “Trixie is sure, Trixie appreciated the praise.”
Vixen chuckled. “You deserved it...and Trixie?”
“Yes?”
The reindeer's confident exterior lowered for a moment. “Thanks for getting us out of that.”
The unicorn blinked, then gave a smug, but friendly smirk. “You are quite welcome! Was there ever any doubt Trixie would pull through?”
Vixen gave a smile. “No...there wasn't...” she said, looking up to her. She then gasped and pointed a hoof. “There it is!”
Trixie followed her companion's hoof to find a mountain towering above the landscape. At it's top was a massive palace, four towers extending high into the sky, which was fittingly stormy and ominous for a holiday ruining villain lair. Trixie noted that the clouds above the palace were swirling like a vortex or eye of a storm, snow and ice radiating out from it. She didn't know why, but she felt a cold chill (well a colder chill given the situation) looking at it.
“...That's Leidr's lair?”
Vixen nodded. “Yeah...it's bigger than I thought.”
“And we're certain that's not the lair of some other evil ice themed villain?...Or Jack Frost?”
Vixen shook her head. “No, Santa said he lived around here in a castle made of ice with the eye of the storm above it...And Jack Frost lives with Father Winter.”
Trixie looked back to Vixen. A part of her was screaming for her to call it quits and run for it...but the fact Vixen's face was one of admiration and respect shut that part of her up. She steeled herself and gave a sigh. “Okay, let's get this over with! We don't have all night!”
The azure mare still hung onto the hope that Leidr was simply a rogue pegasus. Besides, after defeating the Rat King, how could this get any worse?
+++
“It's really windy, Pinkie Pie!” exclaimed Minty, the two of them trying to keep the balloon in the air. Both of them were now wearing warm cozy socks, Opal having one on like it was a scarf.
“I know, Minty! We must have flown into another pony's Hearth's Warming saving adventure!” Pinkie exclaimed.
Minty managed to pull the rope to right the balloon. “There...” she said, giving a sigh of relief...then carefully moving the rope slightly to be aligned where it was supposed to be. “Perfect!” However, as she turned, she slipped on some snow that made it into the basket, grabbing the rope as she fell, sending the balloon out of control. “Oops!”
Pinkie and Minty tried to right the balloon with a yell, Opal giving a yowl.
“Minty Minty Minty...” Pinkie Pie muttered, not so much angry but as if this was a regular occurrence she accepted about her friend...surprising given they were currently in an out of control balloon.
“Sorry...”
“It's okay, Minty! We'll still make it to Santa!”
+++
“This...is a very tall mountain!” Trixie exclaimed, the two climbing up the very large mountain the ice palace was perched on top of.
Vixen nodded. “Yeah...and still too windy to fly. This reminds me of how Rudolph said he had to climb up to save Baby New Year from an evil vulture! I guess holiday villains just like really tall mountains with bad storms around them!”
“Annoying how being a flying Reindeer doesn't come more in handy...” Trixie muttered...then perked up. “Wait, you can't fly straight up...”
The unicorn pulled off her hat and performed a spell, pulling out a long tightly woven rope of scarves and throwing one down to Vixen. “Can you tie this to you and fly up as far as you can SAFELY go?”
Vixen gave a blink. “Uh, sure, why?”
“Then Trixie can use the rope to climb up faster,” the azure mare explained. “We can cover more ground that way!”
“Alright, let's give it a shot!” The reindeer launched herself up and while the wind was too strong to stay up long, she was able to land a good ways up the mount and secured herself. “Okay Trixie! Come on up!”
The azure mare nodded, wrapping her hooves around the scarf rope and pulled herself up. Much easier and faster than having to find a billion little hoof holds in the (rather icy) rock before moving up a foot.
Trixie's confidence quickly took a nose dive when she looked down and realized how high up she was. She barely managed to contain her internal screaming as she continued to scale up the cliff. 'Don't-look-down-don't-look-down-don't-look-down! Sweet-Celestia-don't-look-down!'
+++
“Alright...” Trixie panted as Vixen helped her climb over the ledge of the cliff at the very top of the mountain. “We're up here...”
Vixen gave a nod. “Yeah, now all we need to do is stop Leidr and save Hearth's Warming!”
The azure mare couldn't help but smirk at how happy that thought seemed to make Vixen. “Indeed. Now given we're dealing with an evil villain in a giant, imposing castle in the sky, he will probably have evil minions, so prepare for a fight.” She'd seen enough fiction to be savvy to that.
Vixen looked around. “Don't see any minions...”
Trixie blinked, looking around. “Hmm...you're right...”
No guards protecting the gates, none lining the walls. In fact the rather massive castle seemed to be very desolate. The Rat King's palace had been big for him, but it'd at least been filled with slaves and rats. This just seemed...desolate and empty...
Trixie trotted over to one of the walls and put a hoof on it. “Ice?”
Vixen joined her and touched the wall. “The whole palace is made out of ice?”
“Trixie has a bad feeling about this...”
The two jumped as a pair of unearthly howls ripped through the air. “And I have a bad feeling about that!” Vixen exclaimed.
The two looked up to see the vortex above the castle...and noticed four glowing blue eyes staring back a them.
With a howl, a duo of spectral, icy blue horses with ghostly tails where their hindquarters would be descended from the vortex, howling like the winter wind.
“WINDIGOS?!” Vixen and Trixie asked in shock, having to hit the deck as the two winter beasts dove past them.
“You didn't tell Trixie Leidr had WINDIGOS!” Trixie yelled, ducking again as one of the Windigos made another dive at them.
“I didn't know!” Vixen yelled. “I'm sorry!”
The azure unicorn looked up at the pair of Windigos, who seemed to be moving around them like guard dogs circling a thief. “...Aren't those Windigos smaller than the myths typically portray them as being?”
Vixen nodded nervously. “Yeah, I don't know why, but those three were a lot bigger and stronger than the normal kind.”
“Normal kind?!”
“Normal Windigos are kinda really dangerous animals, it's only when they get super strong that they become a world threatening thing.”
Trixie nodded, then eeping as she had to use a fire spell (specifically one intended for use in fire breathing) to block a wave of icy wind from the Windigos by melting them. “Trixie sees...Okay, new plan, we get away from these guard dogs and take out however Leidr is controlling them.”
Vixen nodded in agreement, then jumped away from a surge of icy wind. She then flew up (the wind near the castle being less severe) and kicked one of the Windigos in the face...then got bashed back by it's tail and barely dodged another surge of ice. “Okay, this won't be easy.”
“Come at Trixie, beasts!” Trixie exclaimed, feeling a thug in her heart when she saw Vixen knocked away. She sat off several fireworks in front of the beasts, which seemed to startle them with a howl of surprise, but only managed to distract them long enough for Vixen to give them another flying kick before a shockwave of icy wind blew them both back.
The azure mare got up, but was sent tumbling back head over hooves by a tail smack. Trixie got back up and blasted one of the beasts' in the back with a beam of magic that did little more than annoy it. Vixen grabbed Trixie by the shoulders and flew her friend out of the way of another icy blast.
“Okay, not to self, Windigos are tough!” Vixen lamented.
Trixie focused and summoned a thunder cloud and brought down a lightning bolt on one of the Windigos. It gave a howl of pain from the heat of the lightning more so than the voltage...then sent a wave of ice their way and forced Vixen to dive down to avoid it. “Okay, that at least hurt it, but Trixie thinks it just made it mad...”
Vixen dove down and few back up, giving a mule kick to the jaw of one of the Windigos while Trixie blasted the beast with a beam to the face...resulting in them being tail whipped back into the ground.
Trixie gasped as she noticed the two Windigos fire another blast of ice at them. She used as strong of a fire spell as she could manage. Despite blocking the brunt of the assault, she and Vixen still ended up with some ice forming on their body.
The azure mare used a couple fire spells to melt the ice off but was left shivering. “Trixie is beginning to miss her hot coco and warm blanket!”
The two had to scramble out of the way of another blast of icy that made a small ice formation where they'd just been standing.
'Okay, Trixie is facing two mythological beasts...this situation can't get much worse,' Trixie lamented, trying another lightning bolt again, but only succeeded in enraging the Windigo she shot with it and getting the end of her tail frozen solid causing her to give a yelp when the weight pulled the hair.
Vixen flew up and headbutted one of the Windigos as hard as she could but did little more than annoy it. It sent off a blast of frigid wind, freezing her hind legs solid and blasting her away.
Trixie gasped as Vixen hit the ground and bounced, nearly going over the cliff. She grabbed onto the edge and tried desperately not to fall, but it was a losing battle.
The azure unicorn saw the two Windigos give a howl and prepare to attack...and felt something grip her heart she wasn't very familiar. A tug similar to fear, but quite distinct.
Trixie galloped over and skidded to a stop between Vixen and the Windigos without even thinking. “Hear me foul beasts! You shall not harm the Great and Powerful Trixie's friend!”
She charged up her magic for a fire spell...and for a brief moment, a pink flame flickered around her horn before she unleashed the fire spell, there being a slight rose tint to it.
The twin horrors howled in pain as the flames licked them. They turned tail and fled back into the eye of the storm, giving panicked winnies.
Trixie quickly pulled Vixen back up and used a quick fire spell to melt the ice around her hindquarters. “Vixen, are you alright?!”
Vixen nodded. “Y-Yeah...Trixie...you scared off the Windigos!”
“Yes, Trixie drove off the Windigos...wait...” the Azure mare's mind finally caught up to her body and she stared up in absolute shock. “Trixie...Trixie just drove off two Windigos...”
Trixie wracked her brain for two answers: one, what had happened to her self preservation in that instant, and two, how the buck she'd done that?!
Oh, and why she felt an immense feeling of relief right now seeing Vixen in front of her and okay. That was a new emotion.
“Trixie, you okay?” Vixen questioned.
“Oh! Yes...Trixie is fine...She's just basking in the moment for a bit...hey wait,” the showmare asked. “Why didn't you just fly back up?”
“Oh, flying reindeer need to be able to run to fly, you know how we gallop through the sky and stuff?” the doe explained.
“Right...Trixie supposes that makes sense,” Trixie replied, then turned back to the entrance to the castle. “Well let's take care of Leidr and save the holiday, shall we!”
Trixie allowed her confidence to rise. After all, how could Leidr possibly be tougher than two Windigos?
+++
The two trotted through the massive ice palace. The place was gigantic and seemed well decorated (though all decorations were composed of snow and ice), with even finally crafted ice sculptures in every room. In fact the ice sculptures were so large Other than being made of ice, one might mistake it for a royal palace.
“Trixie wishes she had a castle like this,” Trixie stated. “Well you know except for being frozen and on top of a mountain of death...okay, Trixie would accept the those conditions if it meant she got a castle.”
Vixen nodded, then looked confused. “I wonder though...why would he have this big castle with nodeer in it?”
“Trixie doesn't see why he needs a reason. It's a gigantic palace.”
“Guess I'd just be lonely in this big place with nodeer to share it with.”
Trixie frowned, turning and looking around the empty palace of ice. Room upon room of empty space without a soul to speak to or interact with. Just statues of finely crafted ice. “Trixie...supposes that's a good point...”
The reindeer flew up, looking at an ice chandelier hanging overhead. It even had candles slotted in them, though they were made of snow. “Maybe he stole it from somepony else?” she flew back down and looked at the statues. “Hope these aren't the guys that had it before...”
Hearing that, Trixie gave a shudder. “Yes, let's! Now come on! We have a holiday to save!” she said with barely concealed evasiveness.
Finally coming up to a massive pair of throne room doors, Trixie took a deep breath and steeled herself. The two threw open the gigantic doors and charged in. “Leidr! We have come to save Hearth's Warming! Stop your evil plans this instant!”
Trixie blinked, looking around the room. The only thing there was an icy throne with a Windigo sitting upon it and ice sculptures lining the room. A Windigo a good bit larger than the two they'd fought outside, and that was disconcerting, but that wasn't what surprised her. Only mildly terrified her.
“Where's Leidr?” Vixen questioned, looking concerned.
“Right here,” said a deep voice with a winter wind-like echo. The Windigo rose from his throne and flew into the center of the room where light came through the windows and illuminated him. He wore regal looking ice armor that seemed much less translucent than his actual body. His helmet had what looked like a white crown molded into it and Trixie couldn't help shuddering when she looked in his eyes. They were the same glowing blue as the rest...but in their center were two dark blue pupils with light blue irises. Trixie couldn't help feeling something else different from them. Like they were the eyes of a thinking creature, not of a simple animal. Just the look of them on that massive spectral form sent a shiver down her spine and her legs quiver. “I am Leidr. The Windigo King.”
Trixie and Vixen took a few steps back in shock. “But...But Windigos can't talk...” Vixen muttered.
Leidr's eyes narrowed. Trixie swore for a moment she saw something in them...something she couldn't put her hoof on. “I'm not your run of the mill Windigo...”
Trixie looked to Vixen. “Leidr is a Windigo?!”
“I didn't know!” Vixen replied.
The massive Windigo slithered through the air and looked down on them. “So, Vixen, you survived. But it is for nothing. Hearth's Warming is over and there's nothing you can do about it.”
“Why are you even doing this?!” Vixen asked while Trixie was still internally screaming at the fact they were fighting a sapient Windigo.
“I'm a Windigo, what exactly did you expect?” Leidr asked, his tone not angry or mocking...Trixie recognized bitterness when she heard it. Then again she was kind of internally freaking out hearing any complex emotion from a Windigo in the first place. “When Hearth's Warming is ruined, the happiness of the holiday is ruined with it. Ponies will be angry they didn't get what they wanted, foals will be angry with their parents, and everypony will be angry with Santa Hooves. Anger and hatred, the lifeblood of my species, will become much more abundant.”
Trixie sighed. “So Trixie takes it you're not simply going to come quietly?” she asked externally.
'Trixie is going to die! And before she could even brag to Twilight Sparkle about defeating the Rat King and discovering a sapient Windigo!' she screamed in her head.
“No,” Leidr stated. “Tonight is the last Hearth's Warming!”
[=Blizzeta Battle Second Half Extended - Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess=]
Trixie and Vixen had to jump out of the way as Leidr formed ice icicles in the air around him and launched them down at the group.
“Since when can Windigos do that?!” Vixen asked, flying to the side to dodge another barrage.
“I told you, I'm not your typical Windigo,” Leidr replied, holding up his hooves and forming a condensed sphere of icy energy between them. “Cold Front.” Trixie grabbed Vixen in her telekinesis and pulled her behind a statue as Leidr threw it down at the ground, sending a wave of ice across it and causing ice spires to erupt from all over, the two barely being guarded by their cover or they would've been flash frozen.
“Wow, he even got to naming his attacks, he really is clever,” Trixie remarked as she poked her head out from cover and fired several magic beams at Leidr, but he simply shrugged them off and nearly impaled the two with icicles.
Vixen flew up and kicked Leidr repeatedly in the face before having to dodge a blast of frigid air condensed into a concentrated stream that left spires of ice in it's wake. Trixie looked over her surroundings and galloped up one of the spires, leaping off it and blasting Leidr point blank in the face with her fire spell...he simply sent a surge of icy wind through it, buffeting her and resulting in Vixen having to pull her out of the way of another barrage of icicles.
Trixie quickly melted the ice the attack put on her and Vixen flew around Leidr with the azure unicorn on her back. Trixie opened fire with beams of various types but did little damage until a shock wave of icy wind blew both to the throne room ground. The duo then had to scramble to dodge more icicles raining down and easily piercing the floor.
“Trixie needs to think of something, this isn't going well...” the mare muttered, looking around while a part of her mind kept telling her she was going to die.
Leidr charged ice magic in front of his mouth. “Frost Cannon.”
Trixie attempted to use a burst of fire to counter the incoming focused burst of ice and wind, but it ripped through her fire spell like it was nothing and she barely dodged in the nick of time. And also had to break off a section of her tail that was flash frozen to the ground. Then had Vixen tail whipped into her, sending both sliding across the ice floor into the wall.
“Okay, we're getting our flanks handed to us...” Vixen whimpered, Trixie noticing that old insecurity from the Rat King's palace coming back to her face.
“We're not finished yet...” Trixie said, though internally admitted as much. She looked around...then remembered what ice was made of.
“Cold Front.”
Trixie and Vixen dove behind a statue as Leidr charged up another sphere of ice magic between his hooves and drove it into the throne room ground. “Vixen, listen carefully...”
A few moments later, Trixie came out of hiding. “You're a difficult foe, but the Great and Powerful Trixie shall not be defeated by a mere beast such as yourself!”
Leidr glared and formed icicles around him, hurling them down at her. “I am more than a mere beast, little pony.”
Trixie did a jump and slid on the ice to dodge the icicles before using her own telekinesis to dislodge them from the ground and send them right back at him. The Windigo merely swung his tail around and smashed them to bits. “Frost Cannon.”
Trixie leapt and slid out of the way of another blast of pressurized, freezing cold air, landing against another of the pillars his attacks had formed and firing a beam at him.
'Trixie can't believe she's actually doing this!' Trixie screamed in her own head, wondering if she'd gone insane to even be trying this.
Leidr dove down, strafing her with icicles as she slid towards one of the statues...then blasted it with the biggest blast of fire she could possibly manage, melting it into water. She was surprised at how enraged of a roar that resulted in. “Vixen! Now!”
The winter spirit's eyes went wide as he turned just in time for Vixen to slam into him as fast as she could and send him crashing into the water.
Trixie formed as many thunder clouds as her magic could possibly do and brought them down, the water conducting it and sending the voltage (and more importantly the heat the electricity generated) through Leidr and filling the room with steam as he let out a howl of pain.
The heroic duo panted, looking at the steam around the Windigo, on guard for any attack. “Did that do it?” Vixen questioned.
A blast of freezing wind blasted away the steam to reveal Leidr rising up, snarling in anger, his icy armor partially melted off. He looked down at the melted statue and let out a roar of fury. “ Perhaps it's time to show you what you are truly up against...”
Leidr snaked out the window and into the sky, emitting a long, echoing howl as his eyes glowed brightly. “Sinne! Raseri!”
The two other Windigos descended from the vortex high above and looked up to Leidr. Trixie couldn't help but think of a zoo animal looking to it's trainer rather than friends looking to another one.
“This is so not fair...” Trixie muttered as she was now facing down a trio of Windigos.
“Fusion,” Leidr said simply.
The other two gave a howl as did Leidr, the three howls harmonizing as one. The trio of Windigos shattered into snow and ice and swirled around, forming a gigantic cyclone of snow, ice, and wind. Trixie and Vixen covered their faces against the roaring wind and stinging snow as the six eyes in the twister overlapped and became one set, still with Leidr's pupils and irises.
The cyclone finally dissipated to reveal a single Windigo, one so massive that it had to smash through the window to make room for it to enter the room. “Behold. The true power of the Windigos.”
Trixie and Vixen stared up in horror before Leidr swung his hoof around and launched them across the room in a single motion.
“Ugh...you...what did you do?!” Trixie asked in shock as she and Vixen got back to their hooves.
“Windigos are beings of snow and ice, and like the snow we can group together into something bigger. Thousands of years ago when our kind were at their peak, you ponies' hatred spawned hundreds if not thousands,” Leidr explained, his movements and voice seeming a tiny bit more feral. “And from those thousands, were formed three fusion Windigos of such power they threatened to plunge the world into eternal frost. I am the mind but this body is all three of us!”
Trixie and Vixen had to dodge a lot further as even more icicles rained down on them, then had to duck or fly above a swipe from Leidr's hoof. The gigantic Windigo swam through the air around the palace and finally stopped above one of the windows. “Frost Cannon.”
The two heroes dove out of the way and slid as the blast of cold left a wall of ice in it's wake and the sheer wind coming off it launched the duo across the room.
Trixie tried to use her clouds to fire lightning bolts at the behemoth, but Leidr barely seemed to feel it and simply used a shockwave to freeze the clouds solid, causing them to fall to the icy floor and shatter to bits.
Vixen attempted to fly up and kick Leidr in the face...but cringed, it felt like she'd just kicked a brick wall!
Leidr snarled and blasted her back into the room with a burst of frigid air, Trixie catching her and sending both crashing to the ground and sliding half way across the room.
Trixie got to her feet, she gasped, noticing all four of Vixen's legs had been frozen. She focused her horn and formed lightning clouds all around Leidr and let them loose all at once...only for her heart to sink as he flash froze them solid.
“May this place be your tomb. Ice Age.”
Leidr opened his mouth and held his hooves out, icy energy sparking between the three points and forming a spell seal with a snow flake in the center.
Trixie shuddered, able to feel the sheer cold radiating from whatever it was Leidr was about to let loose. “Vixen...we...we had a good run, right?”
Vixen nodded slowly. “Yeah...yeah we did...Thanks for coming all this way, Trixie.”
Trixie gave a dignified smile. “You're welcome...thanks for letting Trixie be a hero, just once...”
'Trixie is going to die!...But at least she'll make a fabulous ice sculpture...But she is still going to die!' Trixie yelled in her head, but managed to keep a straight look on her face. She still had pride.
“AHHHHHHH!”
“Huh?” Trixie asked, the two turning to see an out of control balloon flying towards the window. Trixie realized it was going to pass closely by the palace. “On second thought, Trixie doesn't feel like dying today!”
The azure mare grabbed Vixen in her telekinesis and did a running leap into the balloon basket. The wind carried the balloon and its occupants past the castle. Trixie was tempted to question the odds of this, but the fact it'd saved her from death prevented her from caring much.
Leidr finally unleashed his attack, a massive blast of blue energy stuck where Trixie and Vixen had been standing, triggering a massive blinding flash of blue light that forced Trixie and company to cover their eyes. When the light faded, Leidr's throne room had been reduced to a glacier of solid ice and even the rock on which the castle stood seemed to have frozen over several meters down.
Trixie and Vixen stared in horror at where they'd been a few seconds prior, then hugged each other, glad to be alive. The two then realized that they were still in an out of control balloon and Trixie used fire to free Vixen, allowing the doe to use her flying ability to stop the balloon's out of control flight, though still had to return to the basket due to the wind.
“Hi Trixie!”
Trixie blinked as she was hugged by a pink party pony. She then gasped and hugged her friend. “Pinkie!” The mare then realized what she'd just done in her glee that she was not dead and cleared her throat. “Trixie is glad to see you, Pinkie...This is Vixen...”
“Oh! Hey Vixen!”
“Hey Pinkie! Hey Minty!” Vixen replied, giving a smile.
Trixie blinked and looked to Vixen. “You know her?”
“Of course, they've visited the North Pole every Hearth's Warming for the last ten years.”
Pinkie and Minty nodded. “Yeah, it's our tradition!”
The azure mare just stared for a moment. “...But...how did you get here?!”
“We flew in a balloon!” Minty explained.
“How?! Vixen can't fly in this weather and neither can Santa!”
Pinkie Pie shrugged. “We just did!”
Trixie's eye twitched. 'What did Twilight say about this?'
+++
“Trixie, there's something VERY important to know when dealing with Pinkie Pie: if anything about her doesn't make sense to you, DON'T try to figure it out. Trust me, it's NOT worth it!”
+++
Trixie took a deep breath. “Trixie understands...”
“Oh, and this is my friend Minty!” Pinkie introduced. “Minty, this is my friend Trixie!”
Minty gave a smile. “Good to meet ya!” she then dug into her saddle bags and handed them both socks. “You look cold, want some socks?”
“Thank you...” Trixie said awkwardly, but gladly slipped them on, she'd been trudging through the snow for a long time, so naturally warmth was a welcome thing. She also blinked, noting their shade of blue and night theme seemed a good match for her.
“You're welcome!”
“So, Trixie, what are you doing in the frozen north?” Pinkie Pie asked as if she was asking what she was doing at the grocery store.
“Saving Hearth's Warming,” Trixie said with a proud flare.
“Wow! From what?”
“Found you.”
The group suddenly felt a cold chill as the massive Leidr rose up above them, his head alone larger than the balloon, the blizzard swirling around him and making the Windigo King all the more imposingly.
“Oh boy...” Minty said, staring up at him and pinning her ears in fear.
“Him...Pinkie, you don't happen to have the Elements of Harmony on you, do you?” Trixie asked, admittedly gasping at straws. While having her moment in the spotlight being taken by Pinkie Pie was far from ideal, Trixie had to admit the Elements defeating Leidr in her stead was preferable to death.
“Sorry! I'm kinda fused with mine, but I can't really do the 'beat the world threatening baddie rainbow wave motion gun' on my own!” Pinkie admitted as Vixen had to pull the balloon out of the way of a barrage of icicles.
“Drat...” Trixie sighed, looking up at the frozen terror looming above them. Trixie wracked her brain for a way to stop Leidr. Anything she could do...she'd come this far...was she really going to fail at the final lap?
'Just like always I suppose...Always have the glory stolen from me at the last second.'
Trixie pinned her ears, looking down at her hooves.
'More than that...I was so close...I was so close to saving the entire holiday...and now I can't stop one lousy Windigo...Vixen believed in me and I couldn't do it...I guess the founders were just better than-'
Trixie blinked, looking up at the Windigos. “The founders...” she muttered, looking up at Leidr as Vixen kept doing her best to move the basket out of his line of fire, Pinkie Pie and Minty kept pulling the rope this way and that to assist with that. Pinkie somehow found time to use a hind leg to fire a party cannon she'd produced from nowhere at the behemoth at the same time, but they seemed to be distracting him at best.
She remembered the Hearth's Warming Eve story. How the Windigos were originally defeated all those years ago...She remembered how she'd driven off the other two Windigos before. “It wasn't fighting that stopped the Windigos...But how can...”
+++
Trixie, trying to distract from her own slip, gave a raised eyebrow. “Where exactly did THAT come from? You don't strike Trixie as the Hearth's Warming Carol sort.”
The reindeer looked defensive. “I'm from the North Pole! We all have a weakness for Hearth's Warming Carols! It's in our genes! What about you? You joined in!”
Now it was Trixie's turn to look defensive. “Well...Trixie is a pony! We all have a weakness for musical numbers, it's in our genes.”
Both paused a moment...then laughed a little. “Well...it helped pass the time at least, didn't it?” Vixen inquired.
+++
Trixie's eyes went wide, she then looked up at Leidr. “...Fine...Trixie will do this the Hearth's Warming Eve way.”
Leidr managed to grab the basket in his hooves. “Time to end your annoyance.” He then blinked as Trixie began humming a song.
[=That's What I Love About Christmas – A Very Minty Christmas=]
“The fireplace light, growing warm on snowy nights
Our spirits do fly and soar!” Trixie began to sing.
Leidr snarled in annoyance. “Pathetic. What is singing going to do?”
“Drifting through the air is the friendship that we share
With our dearest friends once more!”
The massive Windigo began to form icicles around the group, ready to drive them into them.
“That's what I love about Hearth's Warming!” sang Vixen.
“That's what I love about Hearth's Warming!” Minty joined in.
“Have a merry one this year!” Pinkie Pie continued.
“Laughing ourselves silly, every colt and every filly
Lights shimmering in every sheen.
Tinsel on the tree, every year we all agree
It's the grandest one we've seen!” the quartet sang as one, Leidr recoiling from them like they were on fire, his icicles melting.
“What?!” Leidr shrieked, hooves smoking.
The three ponies and one deer linked hooves, looking to one another rather than the abomination facing them.
“That's what we love about Hearth's Warming!
Hard to believe that it's almost here!
That's what we love about Hearth's Warming!
Have a very merry one this year!”
Leidr's eyes went wide as the trio began to glow with a pink light. He shivered in terror at the sight of the force that'd slain the three strongest of his kind to ever live. “No...”
He attempted to charge forwards and strike them, but howled in pain as if the pink glow burned him and had to retreat back.
“The Santa Hooves sleigh will be heading our ways!
Through Luna's stary night, he'll fly!
Donner and Dancer, and Dash and Prancer...” Pinkie sang happily.
“And Vixen!” Trixie added, pulling the Reindeer close, earning a smile from her friend.
“Will eagerly pull the sky!” Trixie and Vixen continued.
Leidr covered his ears in pain, as if each verse was the sound of a thunder clap going off in his ears. “Stop!” he yelled, his form seeming to begin to crack apart as the pink glow grew into a beacon glowing across the entire area.
“Cold Front!” he called, trying to launch the sphere of icy energy at them but it dissolved like melting ice when it came close.
“A thousand bells ringing, the silver song singing,
Hope you hear us far and wide!
The happiest face, the warmest embrace
Is the feeling of joy inside!” Minty continued, pulling the group into a hug, even Opal joining in now.
Leidr gave a howl of agony as his form broke apart and reformed into his original form and his herd mates. The two others winnied in terror at the pink, painful light and fled into the night as far as they could go. “Sinne! Raseri! Come back!” he bellowed...but they didn't. Like frightened animals they scattered and fled at the light of Hearth's Warming spirit. “Come back...please...” he pleaded, reaching out a hoof towards them...his voice almost heart broken. He then gasped, noticing his hoof, and indeed MOST of him, was MELTING!
“That's what we love about Hearth's Warming!
Can you believe that it's almost here?
That's what I love about Hearth's Warming!
Have a merry one this year!” the four sang together.
Leidr let out a howl of anger and rage as his body began to shrink down and melt like ice before an open flame.
“Happy as a lark, on my heart you've left a mark,
No lonely night, only good cheer!
Memories all a-glow, friends I met not long ago!
That I will always hold deer!” Trixie sang, not CARING what she let out in the moment anymore.
“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” bellowed Leidr as he continued to melt down, shrinking more and more with each passing second. He attempted to flee from the painful glow of the Hearth's Warming magic.
“That's what we love about Hearth's Warming every year!” the quartet finished, the pink glow radiating outwards and engulfing Leidr.
When the light faded, the storm that had buried the area and raged for hours was reduced to nothing more than a gentle, pleasant snow storm.
Leidr, now no bigger than a mortal pony stallion, fell unconscious and powerless. Pinkie Pie threw a rope around him and tied him to the balloon, preventing him from falling to his doom.
Trixie looked around the entire area in shock. “That...that actually worked?” she asked, stunned. “TRIXIE MEANS OF COURSE IT WORKED!” she exclaimed, 'correcting' herself.
The balloon cheered and Trixie received a collective hug.
And she returned it. She was too happy to defy it at the moment.
+++
The balloon (now pulled by Vixen that should could actually fly properly) landed outside a small cottage with a large, but traditionally built workshop and a set of buildings that seemed to be there for the many elves (who seemed to be a much smaller type of reindeer with lighter fur and looked a bit shorter legged in general, but Trixie wasn't sure what species) to live in. It seemed that with the blizzard stopped, everydeer were able to start cleaning up the massive amounts of snow that had dropped been dropped on it (the outskirts of the compound still being buried many feet in snow showed that).
Pinkie made sure to gently lower Leidr to the ground. Trixie didn't question rather or not he deserved such kindness, she was too busy enjoying the fact she'd saved Hearth's Warming and that nothing else was going to try and kill her.
“And that is how the Great and Power Trixie and Vixen defeated the Rat King!” Trixie explained with her typical dramatic flourish.
“Wow! Good job saving Hearth Warming!” Pinkie said cheerfully.
Trixie gave a bow. “Was there ever any doubt?”
Vixen quickly took off the ropes tying her to the balloon and galloped towards the house. “Santa!”
Trixie and company followed soon after, with Pinkie grabbing Leidr and carrying him with her.
Standing at the door was a large, pudgy reindeer with a white beard, in a red and white outfit on. “Vixen! Good to see you!”
Vixen gave Santa Hooves a hug and nodded. “Good to see you, Santa!”
“And you stopped Leidr, I know you could do it,” Santa said, voice warm and full of kindness.
Vixen smiled, particularly when the other Reindeer ran over (Trixie made out a certain red nosed one) and hugged her, telling her she did a good job.
“We also beat the Rat King, oh! His prisoners need someone to go pick him up!”
Opal gave a grin, little crown still on her head.
Santa gave a proud laugh. “Well done! Elves! Send a search and rescue squad if you will!”
The Elves gave a happy salute and ran off to mount a rescue mission.
Trixie was pretty sure that she saw a couple tears in Vixen's eyes.
“Thanks...” Vixen said, blushing a little bit and giving a smile. “But I couldn't have done it without Trixie, she did most of the work.”
[=Ever Ever After – Carrie Underwood=]
Trixie gave a showmare's bow. “The Great and Powerful Trixie...couldn't have done it without Vixen either. And Pinkie and her friend Minty assisted us in defeating Leidr as well.”
Pinkie's jaw dropped as Trixie gave credit to somepony else. “Wow...”
Santa trotted over to Trixie and gave a smile. “My my Trixie, you've certainly come a very long way! I started this year thinking you'd be on the naughty list again for sure! Well done my little pony!”
Trixie gave a happy and proud pose. She was being praised by Santa Hooves himself after all. “Thank you, Mr. Hooves. It is an honor.”
“Ho ho ho! Call me Santa!” the jolly old deer replied. “And I hear you also bested the Rat King! This deserves a reward!”
“Does Trixie get on the Permanent Nice Plaque?” Trixie question.
“Ho ho ho! Sorry, Trixie, no,” Santa replied. “I don't take that, or the Permanent Naughty Plaque, but I DO have a big honor for you.” He then touched his hoof to his nose and the group were teleported in a flurry of snow. They found themselves in a long hallway with the same styling as the rest of the place, only this one with stained glass windows. The nearest one depicted the familiar scene of the three assistants vanquishing the Windigos originally. “Welcome to the Hall of Hearth's Warming Saviors.”
Trixie's eyes went wide. “Hearth's Warming Saviors?”
“Every being in history who has ever saved the holiday is given their fair recognition for their deeds,” Santa Hooves explained, leading the group down the hall way. “To be honest, it's not as often as you'd think, but why not keep plenty of room available?”
“Cool!” Pinkie exclaimed, looking at a window depicting three fillies in red, blue, and green outfits stopping another in a yellow one.
“Yeah!” Minty exclaimed, looking at the easily identifiable window representing Rudolph's iconic flight that foggy Hearth's Warming Eve.
Santa came to the end of the hall way and turned to a placeholder window. He put a hoof to his nose and in a swirl of snow formed a stained glass window of Trixie, Vixen, Minty, and Pinkie blasting Leidr with a pink energy, Trixie naturally front and center.
Trixie gasped. “That's...”
The saintly deer produced a medal in the shape of the star atop of a Hearth's Warming tree. “Trixie Lulamoon. For your courage and bravery in saving Hearth's Warming and those enslaved by the Rat King, I present to you the North Pole Medal of Honor.”
Trixie watched him put it around her neck.
“And if anypony thinks it's fake,” Santa stated, giving a smile as he flipped the medal over and revealed a golden signature of Santa's name that glowed with magic that couldn't be denied as his. “And if anypony steals it, just let me know!”
Santa put his hoof to his nose and they were teleported back outside where the elves, reindeer, and Mrs. Hooves (a kind looking doe) all clopped their hooves for Trixie, Vixen, Pinkie, and Minty.
“Go ahead, Trixie! Say something! It's your story!” Pinkie said happily.
Vixen nodded in agreement. “Go ahead, Trixie, you deserve it.”
Trixie stepped up and looked to the crowd of magical reindeer. She felt she was on top of the world...she waited for something to swoop in and steal it from her. For her to wake up in her bed and realize none of this actually happened. But none of it did. It was her moment and she'd do as Trixie always did: accept it in style. “The Great and Powerful Trixie proudly accepts this award! And the praise!...And the fact the holiday happens this year because of her...and for...her friends...” she admitted, looking back and giving a smile. “...After all, isn't that what Hearth's Warming is all about?”
Trixie did an elaborate and dramatic bow to another clop of hooves, basking in the moment.
As things began to settle down and prepare for launch, another thing became apparent. Leidr hadn't said a word sense he regained consciousness.
“The weird part is I thought Windigos were just animals...” Vixen admitted. “I wonder why he's different...”
“...I've always been different...”
The group turned and looked to the bound and severely weakened Windigo. “What?” Trixie asked.
Leidr looked off in the distance longingly. “...I don't know why. I was just born like this. I'm a mutant, a freak...And now the others have left me...wild animals don't have much loyalty I suppose...” he explained, his voice having lost the echo of the wind it once had.
'Unless they're Fluttershy,' Trixie added mentally.
“...Wow...who did you talk to?” Minty asked curiously.
“...No one...animals don't talk...I only learned to speak watching ponies do it...” Leidr explained, his face a picture of heartbreak and bitterness. “...What we are, eating hatred, and spreading ice and frost...it was the only thing I had in common with them...so it's what we did...”
Trixie felt a twinge of...the same thing she'd felt when Vixen revealed her hidden feelings. “...Sounds lonely...”
“...”
“Why not try to talk to ponies? There's lots of us!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully replied.
Leidr scoffed. “I'm a Windigo...We EAT hatred and negative emotions...how can a monster like that be anything else?”
“Well the changelings eat love and most of them are bad guys,” Minty replied. “Well except that nice one in Ponyville and some others we know. But that just kinda proves the point doesn't it?”
“Yeah! And if you really were what you ate, I'd be cake!” Pinkie exclaimed, then licked her lips. “Mmm, cake!”
“Leidr...”
The group looked to see Rudolph trot up, red nose plain to see even when he didn't light it up. “...If it helps, I know how it feels to be born different from everydeer else...” the reindeer focused and his nose lit up red, basking the area in it's glow. “...But I made that a good thing and saved the holiday...it's alright to be a misfit, if you turn it into something good. I know an elf dentist and an island full of misfit toys who will agree with that,” he explained with a smile. “You're different...but being different isn't bad.”
The Windigo, a beast who'd spent his entire life surrounded by beings incapable of compassion and empathy, could only stare as it was freely given to him. “I...”
Minty reached into her bag and produced a pair of socks. “Here you go, Mr. Leidr! Some socks!” she said, helping him put them on his front (and only) legs (even if they were restricted by his bindings).
“Why?”
“Because it's Hearth's Warming! Everypony deserves a present!” Minty said with a bright smile. “And they're my favorite kind of presents to give!”
Leidr looked at the two pieces of clothing on his legs like they were beyond his comprehension. “I...I've never gotten a present before...”
Trixie simply looked at the defeated Windigo as he understandably looked like the world had been turned upside down. “...That castle...you built that didn't you? And all the ice sculptures?”
Leidr nodded. “...Yes...I...I guess I just wanted a home...The ice sculptures...making them made me feel...warm...In a...good way...it was the only thing that did...Until...” he looked at them and at the socks in deep thought.
“...Your ice sculptures were quite good. It's a shame that you never got to show them to anypony...if there's one thing Trixie can appreciate it's a misunderstood artist.”
Leidr looked over to her with wide eyes. “...I tried to kill you...”
“Yes, yes you did. And Trixie is still mad about it...but Trixie hasn't always been a saint,” the azure unicorn admitted. “...Everypony, or Windigo, deserves a second chance.”
Rudolph gave a knowing nod. “I know a giant vulture who'd agree with that.”
Leidr looked stunned. “I...”
“Oh! We can ask the Princesses! I'm sure Canterlot could use an ice sculptor!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Then everypony can see it!”
Leidr looked almost dizzy. “...I...I will...consider that...” He then gave the one genuine, happy smile they'd seen on him. Windigos looked surprisingly less terrifying when they were happy.
Santa said afterward that they could leave Leidr there and he'd help him through it, as the North Pole was so full of good will he wouldn't be regaining his full power any time soon.
“Now, Trixie, I have one more reward for you! And Vixen too!” the jolly old reindeer finally said.
Vixen's ears perked. “Huh?”
“Rudolph, I know normally you get to lead, but just for tonight, would you mind if Vixen was lead deer?” Santa Hooves explained.
Rudolph gave a smile. “I'd be glad to!”
Vixen's eyes went wide. “Lead...lead deer?”
Rudolph handed her the harness. “You earned it, Vixen. You really did.”
Vixen blushed. “...Thank you...and thank you Trixie.”
Trixie smirked and gave a bow. “You are most welcome...friend...”
“Trixie,” Santa interjected. “How would you like to ride along with me on my sleigh tonight? After all, it wouldn't be flying without you!”
Trixie paused for a moment. She looked to Minty and Pinkie.
“Don't worry, we get to meet Santa every year! And I've got a party to get too!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Enjoy your ride with Santa! We've still got the balloon!”
Trixie didn't care, she hugged Pinkie Pie, her friend. “Trixie...would very much enjoy that, Santa.”
“Ho ho ho! Very well! Now come along! We're already running late! But it's never too late to make our holiday deadline!”
Trixie basked in the moment...then realized something. “One moment!” she exclaimed, rushing to the workshop...and coming back with several cards. She addressed eight, levitating one to Pinkie Pie and one to Minty (and getting hugs for it). Then signed a last one to Babs Seed. “Can we deliver these as well?”
Santa Hooves gave a sincere, warm smile. “Ho ho ho! Certainly! And we can also stop by the Rat King's old castle and hand out presents to those poor ponies, I'm sure they'll be happy to see you again!”
As Trixie stepped aboard Santa's sleigh and Vixen took the lead, Trixie reflected on one thing:
In the morning she'd probably collapse on the bed and sleep for the day...or several (she had gone through multiple life or death situations, fought two immensely powerful villains, and saved the holiday all after walking through the snow for hours) and probably be unbelievably sore (in fact she was fairly certain it was the adrenaline doing most of her movement right now)...
But she was a hero...ponies saved from slavery were grateful to her (and likely always would be). She had the medal. She had the stained glass window.
And of course she also had her friends.
Trixie smiled. “...This is the best Hearth's Warming Trixie has ever had.”
Santa Hooves grabbed the reigns with a whistle. “Now, Vixen! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner! On Blitzen! On Rudolph! Dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
“Here we go!” called Vixen, smiling wide and happy as she lead the way, up and into the sky.
“Ho ho ho! Merry Hearth's Warming!”
The End.