//------------------------------//
// Chapter 34 
// Story: Crown of Winter 
// by CartoonNerd12 
//------------------------------//

Snow Pea opened her eyes and found that she was floating in a misty abyss. It was unlike the void the Windigos had created; rather, this one was calm, serene, and dotted with stars against an ethereal sky. Surprisingly, she could stand amidst the hazy nebula as if there was ground beneath her hooves.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice giving out an echo. "Where am I? Is this heaven?"

A voice then echoed out, "In a way."

Snow Pea turned to her left and saw blurred figures emerging from the horizon. She gasped when the mysterious figures soon focused into a gentle army of alicorns!

"Alicorns!" she breathed in surprise.

She then heard chuckling and looked up to see draconequui lounging in the mist above.

A female draconequus with fluffy pink hair like cotton candy remarked, "You know, if she didn't have certain relatives, this would've been her first time seeing alicorns."

Snow Pea said, "And draconequui…" She was about to faint until a pillow flashed before her.

The female draconequus said, "Careful, dear. You wouldn't want to hit your head, now would you?"

A male draconequus with a zebra mane that was black, white, and maroon said, "Oh, come now, Pandora. This is starry space. You can't possibly hit your head here."

Pandora remarked with her wrists on her hips, "Yeah, but we're dead."

Snow Pea asked, "But aren't I dead, too?"

A golden alicorn with curved-up wings and a flowing mane colored like a sunrise came up to her. She explained, "Technically, yes. But this sort of death can be remedied."

A deep indigo stallion alicorn with a flowing mane colored like midnight then walked up to Snowy. He said, "You see, you only erased the day you were born. Like the mirror you fixed back in the other timeline, so too can we fix the one you deliberately broke."

Snowy shook her head, "But I don't want to go back! I'll just ruin everything! If the time I was supposed to destroy was mine, then so be it!" Her eyes filled with tears as she said that.

Loki, Pandora's husband, said, "And are the Windigos destroyed, too?"

He pulled down a ring attached to a string and a screen was revealed. Snow Pea gasped when she saw the Windigos surrounding a prison cell made of icicles. Inside the cell were her cousins, sister, and Rock Salt!

The unicorn breathed, "No…That can't be…"

Astronomy, the male indigo alicorn, said, "So the prophecy still needs to be fulfilled."

Snow Pea protested. "No! NO! I'm not going to go back and doom Equestria! I might as well stay here and be dead for all eternity!" She sat down and began to cry uncontrollably. She sobbed, "I'm a monster. They don't need the likes of me still waltzing around."

Aurora, the golden alicorn, wrapped her arm around Snowy to comfort her.

Loki said, "Discord thought the same thing, too."

Snowy sniffled, "Wait, what?"

Pandora explained, "Ever since the blizzard wiped us out, we've been watching those who escaped our fate. Discord wasn't like other ponies, so he felt like an outcast and eventually turned rotten."

"But he turned good when he was freed from being stone."

Aurora said, "That's because he had gained the one thing both of our races didn't feel for the other: love."

Astronomy elucidated, "The reason the Windigos were able to destroy us was because the alicorns and draconequui hated each other."

A deep red alicorn with violet eyes stepped forth and said, "The grudge was fueled some more when I fell in love with a draconequus. After we secretly married, we had a son named Mischief. Both sides were enraged when he was born. The hatred escalated and the Windigos took the chance to deliver the final blow."

Astronomy said, "The only ones to escape were some of the children, and they have succeeded where we have failed."

Snow Pea asked, "Who were they?"

"Mischief and our daughters, Celestia and Luna."

Loki added, "And our son, Discord."

Snow Pea was surprised to learn this. These were her great-grandparents and her uncle's parents right in front of her.

Aurora said, "We've watched them, their children, and now you and your cousins since we've been sent here."

Astronomy said, "Snow Pea, we know you're scared to go back, but you must save your family."

Snowy said, "But what if I endanger them instead?"

Aurora said, "When you have love by your side, you will succeed."

The unicorn said sarcastically, "Yeah. Succeed in stomping my hoof three times and ending time."

Pandora said, "'Stomp'? Snow Pea, the prophecy said that you would strike your hoof three times, not stomp."

"Yeah? So what's the difference?"

Astronomy clarified, "Actually, a lot. 'Strike' would mean 'stomp', but what if you were damaging something in the process?"

Snow Pea asked, "Like time?"

Loki said, "Well, yeah, something like that. But think about it. Time is intangible. Something that influences time, however…"

Suddenly, it came to Snowy. She gasped, "The gem on the tiara!"

Pandora shouted as bells rang behind her, "Ding-ding-ding! The girl wins a prize!"

"But how exactly is that going to get rid of the Windigos?"

Aurora told Snow Pea, "Remember what your mother said: love will thaw a frozen heart."

Snow Pea said as she put two and two together, "So even though friendship can only stop the Windigos, acting out of love can finally destroy them?"

The draconequui all shouted in glee, "YES!"

Astronomy smiled at Aurora and said, "I believe it is time, Aurora."

Snowy asked in confusion, "'Time'? Time for what?"

Loki asked his wife playfully, "Do you know what this calls for, Pandy?"

Pandora said slyly, "Say it."

Both shouted, "Slideshow!"

The draconequui then summoned up images that played before Snow Pea's eyes. Her great-grandparents walked with her past each image that showed Snowy and her cousins.

Aurora sang, "You've come such a long, long way…and we've watched you from that very first day…To see how you might grow…To see what you might do…To see what you've been through…And all the ways you've made us proud of you…" 

After the images faded, Astronomy sang, "It's time now for a new change to come…You've grown up and a new start has begun…To go where you will go…To see what you will see…To find what you will be…" 

All of the alicorns and draconequui then sang, "For it's time for you to fulfill your destiny…"

When the alicorns surrounded Snow Pea in a circle, they flew up and activated their horns. Just then, a white orb of light encased Snowy and lifted her into the air. The draconequui flew in rows of circles above her and used their magic as well. At that moment, white lights like stars came shooting towards the orb and dissolved into it. Snow Pea knew that they were the shards from her birthday mirror.

Astronomy told Snow Pea, "When you get back to the living world, tell Celie and Luna about the Bottoms-Upward Moonshine as proof that you met us."

Pandora shouted from above, "And tell Discord that we said 'hi'! Oh, and tell him about the Humzinnia prank he pulled on the alicorns when he was little."

Aurora said, "Tell the girls we love them and their family very much!"

Loki said, "Ditto for us, but only for Discord and his family!"

Teardrop, the red alicorn, said, "Find our son and tell him we love him very much!"

Snow Pea smiled, "I'll do everything for you all! Thank you for helping me! I'll never forget you!"

Then, in that instant, there was a white flash.




Back in the cave, the despaired ponies were trapped behind icicle stalactites and stalagmites. Some of them, including LB, were lost in a sorrowful daze. Outside the makeshift cell, the Windigos were frustrated that they had lost another chance at domination.

A Windigo named Hail shouted in anger, "Aaaarrrgggh! Come on! We were so close! Why do ponies have to be so good-hearted?!"

Cotton lightheartedly pointed out, "It is our nature."

"Shut up! We came close before with Snowfall Frost, but then she had to go all noble!"

Cold Front said, "We tripped at the finish line before. It will not happen this time."

Rock Salt said with a scowl, "You've lost your snow princess. Now what are you going to do?"

The leader came up to the cell and said menacingly, "Then I suppose we'll have to take another pawn instead."

Suddenly, a Windigo sentry burst into the cave, shouting, "Cold Front! We're all in trouble!" Before he could say anything else, the sentry was blasted by a powerful surge of snow.

Rock Salt remarked, "Wow. That's one strong blizzard."

When LB saw a familiar silhouette in the tunnel, she said, "That's no blizzard." When she realized who it was, she shrieked happily, "That's my SISTER!"

Everypony leaned through the icicles and exclaimed in shock, "SNOW PEA?!"

Cold Front turned towards Snow Pea and shot out in anger and surprise, "You?! I thought you perished!"

The unicorn stepped forward and said with confidence, "Yes, I did. But I met very powerful friends who helped me get back here so I can fulfill my destiny."

At first, the other ponies were alarmed to hear this, but after a few moments, they realized that she wouldn't be doing this if she wasn't confident it would be for the better.

Whirl Wind kicked away some of the icicles with his hind legs as he said, "And she's not alone!"

Screwball said as she followed him out of the cell, "We're with her!"

Cold Front whinnied/laughed, "You two? How touching. You're a wimp, snow princess. I surely thought you could defeat us on your own, but instead you chose to enlist the help of your cousins. What good can they do? Are they going to just create a Fire of Friendship all of a sudden?"

Cold Front then scoffed, "These two aren't unicorns and you can only make ice and snow. Stop pretending, snow princess. We know who you are meant to be. We made you what you are."

Snow Pea chuckled, "No, you haven't." She then sang, "I am Snow Pea…queen of winter…And I'm never going down at the hooves of the likes of you…Because I'm still standing tall…and every part of me is saying 'Get them all'…"

Whirl sang, "The three of us ain't gonna follow your rules…"

Screwball sang, "Come at us without any of your fancy tools…."

Snow Pea sang, "You'll see it's not just me…"

All three sang, "Let's see you take all three…"

When the Windigos lunged at them, the trio started attacking them in their own ways. Whirl sang as he dodged some of the ghouls, "Go ahead and try to hit me if you're able…"

Snow Pea sang as she shot her magic at a few more Windigos, "Can't you see that our relationship is stable?"

A boxing glove popped out of a box and hit a couple of Windigos as Screwball sang, "I can see you hate the way we fight the snowstorm…"

The trio sang, "But we think you're just mad 'cause you're not warm…"

Screwball sang, "You're not gonna stop what we've made together…"

Whirl sang, "We are gonna stay like this forever…"

Snow Pea sang, "If you break us apart, we'll just come back newer…"

All three then sang, "And we'll always have twice the heart that you do…We are made o-o-o-o-of…lo-o-o-o-ove…O-o-o-o-of…lo-o-o-o-ove…Lo-o-o-o-ove…Lo-o-o-o-ove…"

Roller said, "We gotta help them!"

Apple Butter asked, "But how?"

Just then, Snow Pea fell near the cell from a hard blow by a Windigo. She whispered to her cousins and friend, "I'm fine. Get the tiara."

After her sister went back to fighting the ghouls, LB pointed to the tiara sitting on a stalagmite, "There! I see it!"

Starling said with confidence, "Then let's do it."

Meanwhile, Cold Front snarled, "We will not be defeated so easily!"

He and two other Windigos blew at the trio with all their might and created snow to blind them. When the snow cleared, they were surprised to see that Snow Pea had created a half-dome to protect her and her cousins.

Snow Pea appeared from behind the half-dome and sang, "This is who we are…This is who I am…And if you think you can stop me, then you need to think again…'Cause I have a feeling…that love will never end…and I won't let you hurt my country, and I won't let you hurt my friends…"

When the Windigos attacked again, the trio joined the fight. Whirl Wind sang, "Go ahead and try to hit me if you're able…"

Snow Pea sang, "Can't you see that our relationship is stable?"

Screwball sang, "We know you think we're not somethin' you're afraid of..."

All three sang as the Windigos began to create a whirlwind around them, "'Cause you think that you've seen what we're made of…But we are even more than the folks of ours…Everything they care about is what we are…"

Screwy sang, "I am the chaos..."

Whirl sang, "I am the lightspeed..."

Snowy sang as she used her magic to hold the Windigos in mid-air, "I am the heart of winter..."

The trio sang as Snowy pushed them back against the wall, "We are made o-o-o-o-of…lo-o-o-o-ove…O-o-o-o-of…And it's stronger than you…Lo-o-o-o-ove…O-o-o-o-of…lo-o-o-o-ove…And it's stronger than you…" 

On the other side of the cave, the rest of the unicorns were shooting their magic at the Windigos while the others tried to get to the tiara. Roller then saw an opportunity to get the headpiece, so he said to his twin sister, "Skater! Catch and Slide!"

Skater responded with a smirk, "You got it, bro!"

Roller held his sister by the midsection and threw her into the air. Skater dodged the Windigos and grabbed the tiara. She then slid down the ice wall and turned to slide towards Snow Pea.

When a Windigo got in front of her path, Skater shouted, "Snow Pea, catch!"

She then threw the tiara and let it slide across the floor at a fast pace. Cold Front tried to catch it, but it zipped past him and stopped under Snow Pea's hoof with the gem to the floor.

Cold Front shouted, "What are you doing?!"

Snow Pea said with determination, "What I should've done from the beginning."

She concentrated on the love she had for her family and friends and pressed down on the tiara. A few cracks began to appear on the gem as it turned magenta.

The Windigos shrieked and rushed towards her. Fortunately, Snow Pea stopped them by creating a force field around herself.

Cold Front ordered, "Stop! If you do not yield, it will cost you the lives of your family!"

Some of the Windigos blew on the kids and began encasing them in ice. This worried Snow Pea and she considered stopping until she reminded herself that she had to do this. Determination and love replaced fear and doubt in her heart as she said, "This is for Equestria!"

She lifted her hoof and smashed down at the tiara. The force of the blow created more cracks in the gem and some cracks emitted a magenta light that turned the inside of the force field mulberry.

The Windigos shrieked and whinnied more as they frantically tried to breach the force field. It grew harder for Snow Pea to hold on much longer, but her strength continued to aid her.

She shouted again, "This is for my family!"

SMASH! More light emanated from the numerous cracks the gem now held, darkening the mulberry lighting within the force field to violet.

Fire Spark shouted, "Snow Pea, hurry up!"

He was cut off when the Windigos succeeded to encase the ponies in solid ice. It horrified Snow Pea to see that, but if her hunch was correct, she had to strike her hoof for the third time.

She grunted at the Windigos while holding the force field, "And this – this is for you!"

Cold Front shrieked in terror, "No!"

"See you never!"

SMASH!

With that final blow, the gem gave off a bright magenta glow before an explosion drove back Snow Pea and the Windigos. When Snow Pea looked up, a large beam of magenta rose from where the gem had been and formed itself to look like silhouettes of alicorns and draconequui. The Windigos whinnied in fright as the magenta fire flew towards the ghouls.

Cold Front lunged towards Snow Pea and shouted, "Snow…Pea!"

Snowy retaliated by blasting her magic at him and it drove him into the burning fire. As soon as he disappeared within the flames, the magic fire twirled up to the ceiling and created a bright flash. When Snowy opened her eyes again, she found that she was out in the snow and the cave had vanished. She looked back to see her cousins and Rock Salt groaning from being freed of their ice blocks.

As soon as the ponies regained their senses, Starling turned to Snow Pea and smiled, "You did it, Snow Pea. The Windigos are gone for good."

Snowy responded, "And I couldn't have done it without love." When she realized that LB was nowhere to be seen, she worriedly asked, "Where's Lil?"

At that moment, a trail of lifted snow headed towards Snow Pea. Suddenly, LB pounced up from the snow and shouted, "Gotcha!"

After she landed on Snow Pea, both sisters laughed. Snow Pea embraced Lil and said, "Oh, sis, it's good to be back."

"We thought you were gone for good."

"I was for a bit, but I met some people where I was."

The cousins asked, "Who?"

Snowy said, "Well, let's get back to Marendelle first."