Winter Storm

by Snake Staff

Sun and Moon and Ice

Celestia

Our journey north across Equestria is, from my perspective, simultaneously very rapid and very slow. Of course, my rational mind informs me that we are making very good time, pressing ourselves to our best speeds and unburdened by a baggage train of mortal followers. More subjectively the flight feels as though it is taking an eternity, my mind constantly occupied with increasingly-frightening images of what tortures Sombra might be inflicting on the mare that may as well be my daughter. Righteous anger fuels my speed and gives me strength, but even I have limits on how fast I can travel from one place to another.

As the miles rush past at a breakneck pace, I try to at least keep my focus on the plan. I don’t need to be emotionally compromised for this – nothing good comes from a ruler allowing her heart to override her head. Below us, the army is already undergoing mobilization. Per our instructions, those units close enough to do so will be assisting in the evacuation of any outlying communities of the Crystal Empire that have yet to be overtaken.

I do not intend that the remainder of our forces should just sit passively by. Our air corps – the combined airship fleet and pegasi legions – will soon be moving northwards in our wake. The aerial transports will be carrying a considerable detachment of unicorn magicians skilled in both fire and light magic. They will begin by creating a rough perimeter around the edge of supernatural winter’s grip. Their initial orders are simply to hold it back as best they can and await our return. If all goes well, Luna and I will liberate the Crystal Empire from Sombra and his allies, and all will be well.

But I am not such a fool as to blithely assume our victory is inevitable. There is a possibility, however remote, that my sister and I will fail here. I pray to all the gods that that does not happen, but it is not impossible. We are dealing with a known alicorn-killer in the heart of his resurrected domain. Add to that the fact that this is almost certainly a trap, and there must be a contingency plan in place should we fall. And so there is.

If Luna and I do not return, or the spell on the empire does not break, within twenty-four hours of our entry into the snowy domain, the armed forces are to move in. Ideally, they should be able to retake the Imperial City on their own. If this proves impossible and we have still not reported back, the army is under orders to forget about us and destroy the city from afar. There are more than a few spells in their arsenal suitable for such a feat.

For no matter what, Sombra’s evil cannot be allowed to spread.

I hope and pray it will not come to that. There would be countless thousands of innocent casualties, not the least of which would most probably be myself and all whom I love. But I cannot discount the possibility. My last will and testament has been in existence for millennia, updated every few years, with emergency instructions on how to move the sun and moon, who is to take the reins of power, and a good deal of my personal secrets inscribed within. If need be, it will show itself to my designated successor upon my death.

Let us hope that it will not be necessary.

---

Observing a windigo infestation through a scrying bowl is one thing. Actually beholding their work in person is a completely different matter. I have much more experience with the vile ice spirits than most and a direct connection to the sun itself, and even I am left shivering by the sheer soul-sucking cold coming out of the Imperial City. It’s not just the physical side of the weather they generate that gets to a pony. More than anything else, it’s the fact that the cold seems to be actively searching for a way to get inside of your soul, to suck out the life and happiness until nothing but a frozen shell of bitterness and hate remains. If these hell-spawned fiends had their way, the entire world would be consumed by the whirling blizzard that has now overtaken the Crystal Empire.

Staring down at the frozen cityscape from a perch atop one of the nearby Crystal Mountains, Luna and I are discussing our approach vectors.

“Perhaps from the northeast?” Luna suggests, pointing a hoof. Enhanced by a spell, my eyes zoom in on the indicated angle. “There seem to be fewer windigoes in that direction.”

“But if we only destroy a few on our way in, will they follow us?” I muse. “If they do, we could be pinned in between Sombra’s trap and a windigo army.”

“I thought you wanted to get to Twilight as quickly as possible, Tia?” Luna sounds puzzled.

“I do,” I answer. “But not at the cost our overall success. It pains me to admit it, but it will do her no good if we burst in heroically only to get struck down ourselves.”

“So what do you propose, then?”

“We need to take out the greater bulk of the ice spirits before we face Sombra.”

“Will not that alert him to our coming?” my sister looks up at me. “Should we not seek to break through them as quickly as possible?”

“Oh, he already knows we’re coming, Lulu,” I remind her. “And I expect he already knows we’re here.”

“You think so?”

“Definitely,” I nod. “So I think we need to destroy his demon servants first. We both know they’re a cowardly lot, used to preying on the divided, the weak, and the defenseless. They won’t stick around for too long if we can send enough of them screaming into the abyss.”

“That is true, but will not we be worn down? Be left more vulnerable to whatever else he has planned?”

“Only if we do a poor job of it, sister. Together, we are strong enough to see these monsters off.”

She sighs. “I suppose that makes sense. I just worry that we’ll be giving him too much time to prepare. Or that he will…”

It doesn’t really need to be said what he might do.

“We will not allow it, Lulu,” I declare firmly, though I share her concerns. A leader must never appear weak.

“You really think we can? Without the Elements?”

I put a comforting hoof around her shoulder. “Of course we can. We are the sun and moon, the last and greatest of our kind. We will destroy this villain, rescue our friends, and avenge the dead.”

I give Luna my best confident smile. After a moment’s hesitation, she returns it.

“Let’s do this.”

---

My sun burns brightly overhead as close as I dare place it to the planet, giving us the most blinding glare and intense heat that can be safely managed. Many of the outer storm clouds are burned away before we even begin, their dark magic withering under the star’s gaze. The ice spirits themselves are creatures of the cold and dark, so the sudden waves of light and warmth are disorienting. And then Luna and I strike with all the suddenness and fury of an Everfree lightning storm.

Our entrance is heralded with a whirling torrent of blue and gold fire that incinerates more than one windigo on the outskirts of the Imperial City before they even have the chance to look up at us. We two descend from the skies with the sun at our backs, flinging orbs and streams of fire at any of the demons that catch our eyes. Their initial response, as anticipated, is to scatter and flee. They aren’t used to creatures that fight them. We show those that we see no mercy, outright vaporizing any that aren’t fast enough. The cleverer ones weave between buildings and frozen crystal ponies as they go, correctly guessing that we don’t wish to harm them.

Still, it doesn’t take long for the demons of the north to rally themselves. They are many, and we only two. The whirling winter storm surges out to reclaim lost ground, and the windigoes come with it. The blizzard engulfs my sister and myself within seconds, the runes on our armor blazing with light as they strive to counter the attempts to freeze us in place. Visibility, even with enchantment to improve our eyesight, drops dramatically. Howls echo, and then they’re on us.

The first I see of them is when Luna takes a sudden dive, a blue-white cone nicking her tail as she does. Frost immediately starts to form on it, but I have no time to worry about it. No less than five of the creatures come at me simultaneously. All of them open their mouths to unleash a wild spray of blue and white magic. I do what they least expect and take it head on, relying entirely on my armor’s enchantments to protect me. I power straight through the closest cone, directly to the creature at the other end. Before it has time to do anything at all, I impale its semisolid form through the chest and pump the demon full of light magic. It has just enough time to howl mournfully before shattering into so many shards of dead ice.

There is a thin coat of frost on my armor, but it’s already melting off as I turn about to deal with the others. Like the cowards they are, they immediately start to scatter into the winds. Semi-transparent, with only their glowing blue eyes to pick them out, they stand a good chance of doing so. I lob a ball of fire at one as it retreats, and its burning form plummets shrieking to the ground below.

But even as the first wave vanishes, a larger number appear. Perhaps fifteen of the monstrous creatures can be seen on the edge of vision, closing with-

Ooph!

One windigo, braver or more foolhardy than the rest of its kind, gets the drop on me from directly above. It wraps its semisolid tail around my midsection, front hooves trying to grasp my neck. Its mouth breathes a flashing stream of magic directly onto my unprotected horn. The cold wracks my wings, neck, and head, sending shivers through my body.

The other spirits press their attack, firing their magic indiscriminately at myself and their intertwined compatriot. Most is absorbed or burned away by my golden armor, but some of it appears to be getting through. My fur stands on end, and far more importantly my feathers are starting to feel heavy.

This will not do at all.

Abruptly, I simply stop flapping and allow myself to fall. I whirl around onto back during the brief seconds of the drop. The windigo on my back has no chance to disentangle itself before we smash onto a frozen-over mailbox. The abused metal shatters easily underneath my weight, driving sharp chunks of steel against my armor and flesh. It would easily slice through an ordinary pony, but I am far from that.

The windigo’s grip slackens briefly, and I seize it with telekinesis before its friends can descend to give aid. Throwing it to the ground before me, I crush the squirming demon’s head with one armored hoof. I allow myself a brief snort of disdain for the wretched creature, and then shoot up to meet the rest.

Horn and body alike surrounded by a trailing golden glow, I speed upwards like some meteor and simply punch straight through one of the monsters, magic and all. It outright explodes behind me, even as I can feel the others readjusting their aim and firing upwards. For my part, I take a deep breath and conjure flames in my mouth.

In a manner reminiscent of the dragons – indeed, I learned this from them – I expel a vast cone of red-orange fire from my mouth. It meets the oncoming windigo magic… and then subverts it. My lethal cocktail travels up their frozen beams and directly into their mouths to ravage their insides. I take more than a few hits myself, but that’s a price I’m more than willing to pay for the burning demons surrounding me. I can endure it. They cannot.

Shortly, I am alone.

Panting slightly, I spy a small spark of familiar dark blue below, and immediately I vanish from the spot. I reappear atop what appears to be an iced-over domicile, and am immediately beset. No less than three dozen ice spirits are circling around the building, unleashing their magic against my sister. I’m caught in the frigid cones as well, and for a moment I can feel my temper boiling up, urging me to lash out… to destroy this place… kill all who oppose me… how much trouble has this land and its royalty been for me and mine… so easy… just bring the sun close enough and…

No!

I shake my head hurriedly. I will not succumb to others, my will is my own! I will not permit myself to be used as an implement of genocide!

When I blink, I realize half of my legs are frozen solid, in spite of the burning, smoking rune on my armor. I conjure a shield of life and light immediately, focusing on happy memories and ponies I have loved. A golden sphere envelopes me. Very quickly I can feel it make contact with a similar barrier of Luna’s. Through instinct and long practice, the two merge into something greater than themselves.

Around us the ice demons are pressing in by the score, drawn to us like sharks to freshly-spilled blood. Each and every one of them is spraying us with its blue-white magic, striving to drown our barrier in dark magic and consume us utterly, body and soul. There are almost fifty of them now, against our two. Enough to overcome even a small army without effort.

They don’t stand a chance.

In our little safe place, Luna glances at me. “On three?”

I nod.

“One…”

“Two…”

“THREE!” we shout together.

Fire. Together, our shield becomes an orb of pure, harmonious white flame. The burning white orb crashed outward like a tsunami, overpowering the demons and pressing through their hasty attempts at defense.

The windigoes shriek in voices so piteous one might even mistake them for equine. The lucky ones, those closest to our epicenter, are simply incinerated on the spot, their dark spirits sent hurdling into the next world before they even know what hit them. Those further away are washed over by our fires and set alight. They scream and howl and whinny, plunging themselves into ice or else flying frantically from one direction to another, desperate to halt their agony. But it does them no good – that spell is nothing less than then holy cleansing fire of the heavens. It will burn and burn and burn until our enemies are naught but ash on the wind or our powers give out. And the latter will take far longer than the former.

Deliberately hardened as I am, as evil as I know these monsters to be, it is hard not to feel a smidgeon of pity for them as they scream their last. It sounds like a torturous way to die, and for those on the edge of the burst it takes some seconds for the flames to utterly consume their bodies.

I quickly suppress the feeling. I remember who they are in league with, what they have helped to do here.

They deserve this.

When the last of the winter demons that assailed us are slain, Luna and I take a moment to catch our breath. The blizzard continues to coat us, but for the moment nothing more happens. I eye our surroundings warily, wondering if that was all. But, when nearly a minute passes without another of the windigoes showing its wretched face, I am forced to suppose that the survivors have learned their lesson. Or they’re planning an ambush. Either way, the path is the same.

“Well, Tia?” Luna asks, gesturing toward the vague outline of the Imperial Palace. “Shall we?”

I take a final, careful look around through the driving snow. “I think so.”

Sombra, you’re next.

Comments

[Jake The Army Guy]

So bad ass... and yet, they still don't know about Chrysalis and her army being in the game...

Glad you're back on track, brother.

[RadicalDishonesty]

Seeing the Windigoes effect on Celestia (or, possibly, her natural reaction to this level of conflict) is interesting. Of course... we don't know if the Windigoes create resentment/motivations that don't normally exist, or just bring it out or amplify problems that already exist, and which is happening in Celestia.

Could be, though, that there is a ball of resentment her.

Oh... and hey, it's the titular Winter Storm, what with the Windigoes and ice magic.

[Warwolf]

Is it wrong I wanted to see them have a far more Dementor-like effect on Celestia? To make her see the wrongness of what she's forced on Cadance and her plan in general?

[Mix-up]

Great to see a new chapter of this story, it is deliciously vengeful dish that you have created

[SageBrony07]

I hope Shinning can be saved, but I really don't think it is possible at this point.

[FancyFan]

Panting slightly, I spy a small spark of familiar dark blue below, and immediately I vanish from the spot. I reappear atop what appears to be an iced-over domicile, and am immediately beset. No less than three dozen ice spirits are circling around the building, unleashing their magic against my sister. I’m caught in the frigid cones as well, and for a moment I can feel my temper boiling up, urging me to lash out… to destroy this place… kill all who oppose me… how much trouble has this land and its royalty been for me and mine… so easy… just bring the sun close enough and…
No!
I shake my head hurriedly. I will not succumb to others, my will is my own! I will not permit myself to be used as an implement of genocide!

Ironic given that genocide is your backup plan if you fall here.

[Luckyfanisaac]

But not at the cost of our overall success.

I whirl around onto my back during the brief seconds of the drop.