The Meaning of Harmony

by KatonRyu

Off to Meet the Blizzard

Author's Note:

Finally, it’s here. It’s been far longer than I intended it to be, and for that I’m sorry. Anyway, this chapter’s title is shamelessly stolen from the PC Gamer blog ‘the Elder Strolls’, which was itself a reference to the Wizard of Oz. It just suited the chapter too well not to use it, though. In any case, please Read and Review!

Sunset leaned back in her seat as the train sped towards the Crystal Empire in the orangey light of the climbing sun. Somehow, it felt a bit odd to be going back there. In a way, the entire adventure she was now on had begun there. It had been the Crystal Empire where she’d stolen the Element of Magic from Twilight in order to conquer Equestria, and now she was headed there on a mission to prevent Equestria from falling to darkness. Or, at least, that was what she assumed. The events in the Forge of Kindness had shaken her confidence in what they were doing.

After recovering from their narrow escape, Twilight had used her resonance spell to determine that the Forge had indeed been activated properly, but that it was probably beyond repair now. That meant that the choice Sunset had been unwilling to make, the choice of whether or not to continue their quest to activate the Forges, was now one with serious repercussions. Even in the Forge of Kindness, Sunset had assumed that, if they would choose not to continue their mission now, they would still be able to do it later if it turned out to be necessary after all. With the Forge of Kindness destroyed, that wasn’t an option. If the magical resonance ended, the Forges would be out of commission forever. That notion made the group’s upcoming meeting with Princess Celestia even more vital.

After establishing that the Forge was active, Twilight had sent word to the Princess explaining their findings in the Forge, and asking for advice. Princess Celestia had replied that she would meet them in the Crystal Empire to further discuss the matter, but from the tone of her letter Sunset had guessed that the Princess’s mind was already made up. Even so, she felt she had to make her old mentor understand that perhaps the ancient wizards had been wrong to do what they did in creating the Elements. But even if they were, what difference did it really make? Equestrian society was built around the roles each race had been accorded by the wizards when they brought nature under ponykind’s control. Going back to the way things were before that was unthinkable. She wasn’t even sure if they could, given the extensive changes to the nature of magic itself the wizards must have made to create their utopia. She sighed and wondered what Princess Celestia would have to say. Perhaps she could shed some new light on the situation.

---

“…so it would appear that the fundamental nature of magic was altered by…”

Twilight, as usual, had derailed from her explanation of the events in the Forge into a massive lecture on the repercussions and implications of what they had seen in their vision of the past.

Princess Celestia had thus far listened to it with a patient expression, one she had probably perfected over the more than one thousand years she had been Equestria’s monarch, but now she held up her hoof to silence her former star pupil.

“I understand what the wizards did, Twilight. I am quite well versed in magical theory, you know.”

Twilight blushed and fell silent, but Princess Celestia smiled at her to show that she wasn’t being rebuked.

With her eyes still on Twilight, Princess Celestia’s look grew thoughtful. “Star Swirl used to be just like you. He wasn’t very good with ponies, but he could talk for hours on end about magical theory. I wonder what he would think of everything you have just told me.”

Princess Celestia walked over to a window and looked outside, at the gleaming houses of the Crystal Empire. They were in one of the towers of the Crystal Castle while Princess Cadance held court in the main throne room downstairs.

Still looking out the window, Princess Celestia continued talking. “The event of which you speak, where nature was tamed by ponies, is one that predates even me by many centuries. I have, however, heard stories about it. Unlike most ponies, probably even Star Swirl, I did know there was a time where the world at large was much more like the Everfree Forest is today. It always intrigued me that ponies had been able to do it, but nopony knew just how it was done.

“That said, even in the stories I knew, the changes had always been seen as logical. Pegasi had always been able to manipulate clouds, just to a far lesser degree and not nearly enough to govern the weather like they do today. Earth ponies had always been better at growing crops and been physically stronger than any of the other tribes, just not as much as they are now.

“Yet the unicorns haven’t really changed in any way. That, I think, is even what persuaded Star Swirl to ask my sister and me to govern Equestria. The unicorns lacked the magical ability to properly govern the sun and the moon in the new world they had created. For generations, chosen unicorns accepted the calling to bring forth day and night, knowing that it would eventually cost them their magic forever. But Star Swirl had discovered that alicorn magic was different. We could perform the task without the associated risks.”

She fell silent and turned around to face the group once more.

“Forgive me, I digress. You wanted to know my opinion on the situation with the Forges, did you not?”

Twilight nodded silently, although Sunset could see that Princess Celestia’s little tangent had raised a lot of questions in her. She wasn’t surprised; Sunset herself had plenty of questions for Princess Celestia, but they would have to wait for now.

“I think that Parallax Dream’s intentions were noble, but that he was mistaken,” Princess Celestia said.

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but one look from the Princess made her hold her tongue. “I know, Sunset Shimmer. You fear that Parallax Dream was right and that the Elements are incomplete. It is not an unreasonable fear, given what I presume you have read in the scrolls I sent you. Despite this, I remain convinced that the creation of the Elements has been for the better, and that they have always functioned exactly how they were meant to. Had the Elements not existed, we would never have been able to defeat Discord. I would not have been able to…restrain…my sister when the darkness inside of her overtook her. The Rainbow Power could never have been used to stop Tirek…and you would never have been brought back to us.”

Sunset looked at the floor. She wasn’t really sure how to respond to what Princess Celestia said. After all, it was all true. She remembered the moment where the power of the Elements had hit her in her demon form. It had felt like all the lust for power and glory she possessed were being held in front of her face, and she was being forced to see just how petty and insignificant it all was, and that it would ultimately be meaningless if she ruled her empire through fear alone, forever hated and shunned by everypony instead of loved like she wanted to be.

It had left her with a burning desire to renounce her old ways and begin anew, exactly as intended, and Sunset knew that the Elements probably could not have done such a thing if they were incomplete. She wanted to bring up her hopes that Atonement was real, but she feared that if she did, Princess Celestia might decide that she hadn’t learned from her past at all and so she remained quiet.

Twilight, however, didn’t. “So in your opinion, Atonement is not an aspect of Harmony?”

Sunset looked at her friend with wide eyes. Twilight noticed and gave Sunset a subtle smile.

Princess Celestia considered the question. “I believe atonement, as a concept, is very much a part of harmony. However, I do not think it fits in with the Elements themselves in the way Parallax Dream claims it does. The notion contradicts many magical theories about the importance of the number six in magical spells and rituals; theories which have been tried and tested for millennia, even as far back as Parallax Dream’s time. In the time from the creation of the Elements up until now, no discoveries have been made that indicate he may have been right, and several millennia is a very long time. In summary, no, I do not think that atonement is an aspect of Harmony. I still believe that activating the Forges will be crucial in defeating the darkness that threatens Equestria, and that the creation of the Elements has been to the betterment of the world.”

Sunset sighed and lowered her head. She had expected this answer, but it still disappointed her to hear it. No matter what her friends may have told her, or how little evidence there was to find of Parallax Dream’s claims, a part of her still felt like she was somehow less important than her friends because she lacked an Element. Even now, doubting if the Elements themselves were as wonderful as everypony believed them to be, Sunset had hoped against all hope she did in fact embody a true Aspect of Harmony like her friends did. It was probably irrational and selfish of her to feel that way, but she couldn’t deny that she did.

Sunset noticed that Princess Celestia was giving her an expressionless look, and she felt nerves rushing through her body. Had Celestia guessed what she was thinking? Was she disappointed? Angry? Or was Sunset just seeing things she feared to see? Princess Celestia looked away from Sunset and faced Twilight once more. Sunset noticed that the Princess’s expression relaxed a bit as she did so. A shiver went down her spine, and it had nothing to do with the temperature in the room.

---

“I’m sure you’re just imagining things,” Twilight said after Sunset had told her about Princess Celestia’s expression. “The Princess wouldn’t judge you for hoping a seventh Element exists.”

“This coming from the pony who magically caused a village-wide riot over the imagined crime of being late on a friendship report,” Spike said dryly.

Twilight gave an embarrassed cough and Sunset and the others laughed. The group had set out into the city proper to buy equipment for their expedition into the frozen wastelands, after which they would meet up with an instructor who had faced the magical blizzards and freezing temperatures before.

“Twilight’s right, sugar cube. Princess Celestia forgave you for everything that happened. If she looked upset to you, it’s probably because we’re doing something really dangerous and she’s worried about us,” Applejack said.

“I know,” Sunset said. Then, fearing she might have been a bit curt, she smiled and added, “But thanks for listening.”

For the next few hours, Sunset didn’t get much time to think about her worries as she and the others went from shop to shop obtain the best possible gear for their trip, something that wasn’t made easier by Twilight’s presence. Being royalty, many store owners sought to sell her far more equipment than she could possibly need, and if it hadn’t been for Rarity’s skillful interjections at the right moments Sunset was sure Twilight would’ve put Equestria deep into debt with how much stuff the crystal ponies assured her she’d need.

Late in the afternoon, however, they had finally all managed to get their hooves on proper coats, sunglasses, boots, and auxiliary gear like ropes. In good spirits they made their way to the outskirts of the city, where they were greeted by Shining Armor and a stern earth pony stallion whose physique was even more impressive than Shining’s, although that was probably in part due to the thick bright red coat he wore, which clashed magnificently with his own shade of orange. After exchanging a hug with Twilight, Shining Armor introduced the stern-looking pony.

“This is Gruff Veneer. He’s an expert at surviving in extreme conditions and he has led several expeditions into the frozen wastes even before the Crystal Empire reemerged. He’ll be teaching you everything you need to know. Just a warning, though: make sure you do what he says. He’s not one to tolerate any slacking.”

Everypony nodded. Shining Armor seemed satisfied by this, and turned to Gruff Veneer. “Well, Gruff, I’ll leave them to you.”

Gruff Veneer inclined his head ever so slightly and Shining Armor smiled awkwardly at his sister and her friends. “He’s not much for small talk. Well, have fun, and good luck.”

Shining Armor began to walk back to the city, while Gruff Veneer took a step forward. He hadn’t even spoken yet, and already Sunset could feel a change in the atmosphere. Had it gotten colder?

“Follow me,” Gruff said.

He turned around and began to walk. Sunset and the others silently followed him, and Sunset wondered why she suddenly had such an ominous feeling. She’d read books about expeditions to the north before, so she knew, more or less, what to expect. Surely this preparation would pass without any problems, right? As they walked further away from the town, the temperature began to drop, and soon enough the group was walking over a layer of snow. Sunset frowned. Shouldn’t the Crystal Heart keep out the frozen wastes? They were still within the Empire’s limits, after all.

Without warning, Gruff Veneer stopped walking, causing Twilight to almost bump into him. She smiled sheepishly at him, but her smile quickly vanished when she saw his expressionless face.

“Shining Armor has temporarily weakened the Empire’s shield spell to allow you a safe practice environment. I personally believe he is too soft on you, but since he is my superior officer I elected not to confront him over it.”

He stepped aside, and now Sunset could see that they had arrived at what appeared to be an unmade campsite. Two Pegasi, like Gruff Veneer dressed in cold weather gear but with their wings exposed, were standing between the masses of dull green canvas. Gruff Veneer continued talking.

“The first mistake you made was coming here unprepared. None of you are wearing the proper gear.”

“We have it with us, it’s…” Twilight began, before Gruff Veneer cut her off.

“It doesn’t matter where it is. You aren’t wearing it, so it’s not where it should be. You were aware you’d be receiving training, correct?”

Twilight was taken aback. “Well…I…”

“Yes or no?”

“Yes!”

Gruff Veneer gave a single nod. “Then why did you come here not wearing your cold weather gear?”

“Hey, lay off her. It’s not like we had any idea you were going to take us out into the snow right away,” Rainbow Dash said in Twilight’s defense.

Gruff Veneer regarded her coldly. “What exactly did you assume ‘cold weather training’ was going to be? Did you expect me to be a school teacher? Do you think that books of any sort can prepare you for the reality of blizzards and freezing temperatures caused by vengeful spirits?”

Rainbow Dash tried to find a reply for a moment, but when she came up with nothing she resigned herself to looking angry.

Gruff Veneer was not impressed. “You will put up these tents. When the blizzards become too powerful, it’s often better to set up camp and stay where you are until the storm subsides. Speed is of the essence, therefore you will have no more than ten minutes. Your time starts now,” he said.

He gestured at his assistants, who immediately flew up and began whipping up a fierce blizzard.

When Gruff Veneer noticed that nopony had begun to move yet, he shouted, “Well?! What are you waiting for, a written invitation?! Put on your gear and start working! Move!”

Sunset felt like she’d touched a live wire, and she quickly shrugged off her saddle bags to pull out her new equipment. Half of their time had already passed by the time everypony had their coats and boots on, and by then the tents themselves had long vanished beneath a thick blanket of snow. When their time was up, not one of the tents had been put up properly.

Gruff Veneer inspected each of the attempts, and with every tent his expression darkened, while Sunset and the others just looked a bit sheepish.

“Every single one of you would have died, had this been the real thing,” he said.

Unlike before, this time he didn’t raise his voice. Despite that, he still had everypony’s full attention.

“If you think this storm was bad, you don’t have a hope in Tartarus against the real thing. Do you have any idea just how dangerous it is to go beyond the borders of the Empire into the wasteland?”

When nopony spoke up, Sunset stepped forward and said, “We do. It’s exactly because we know how dangerous this place is that we came here last. We know that there are Windigos out there. We know what the cold can do to ponies. Please don’t think we’re not taking this seriously just because we failed this test.”

She looked at her friends, and then back to Gruff Veneer.

“Give us another shot at it, and we’ll show you what we can do once we know what’s expected of us.”

Another moment of silence passed, during which Sunset and Gruff Veneer maintained eye contact. Eventually, Gruff Veneer inclined his head the tiniest bit.

“Very well. You have one more chance. Your time starts now.”

By the time Gruff had pronounced the word ‘now’, the group had already leapt into action. The storm made it difficult to see, but Sunset, prepared this time, had an idea to deal with it. She called up her magic and began casting a less powerful and non-inverted version of the shield spell she and Twilight used to protect their environment from their nightmares. She expanded the shield around all of the tents, and almost immediately the whirling storm was reduced to only a few snowflakes. When Twilight realized what Sunset was doing, she immediately cast the shield spell as well, so that the group was completely protected from the storm. Keeping up the shield meant that they wouldn’t be able to use their magic to erect the tent, but because of the nights where they’d been magically exhausted after activating a Forge, they’d learned to pitch a tent rather quickly.

With the storm out of the picture, all the tents were now pitched when Gruff Veneer announced that the time was up. Sunset and Twilight dropped the shield, and the group exchanged wide grins. Sunset was still grinning when she looked at Gruff Veneer, but the stallion’s still dark expression quickly brought her back to being serious.

Gruff Veneer looked at each of them in turn, still with that inscrutable look, and Sunset felt herself getting nervous. Why wasn’t he saying anything? At long last, Gruff spoke up again.

“I’m impressed. You actually pulled it off on your second attempt. Usually it takes a lot longer for ponies to get good at this.”

Sunset relaxed a bit at the praise, but Gruff Veneer still had a grave look, and that bothered her.

“But while you may have succeeded now through the use of magic, the real thing is far stronger. Do not think that a simple shield spell, even a combined one like you just cast, can hold back the power of the Windigos. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Hearth’s Warming Eve story?”

“We starred in the Canterlot play on it, actually,” Rainbow Dash said with an arrogant smirk.

Gruff Veneer glared at her for a moment, and then went on, “Then you also know that even the unicorns with their magic were no match for the snow. It’s hard to explain when you haven’t experienced it for yourself, but the cold from the Windigos goes much deeper than regular cold. It begins to freeze you to your core from the very moment you first feel it. It deadens your senses. It robs you of hope. It fosters hatred and anger.

“The blizzard itself will be endless. You won’t be able to see where you’re going, and even when the storm abates temporarily you will always just find yourself back where you started, because the only reason the storm disappears at all is that the Windigos want to make you despair. Every shred of negativity they can get from you, they’ll take. And once they have you at your lowest, if you haven’t succumbed to hypothermia or frostbitten limbs yet, they’ll encase you in magical ice, in which you will only feel hatred and pain, until eventually, after more than a week, you finally die.”

Sunset swallowed hard. She had known that Windigos were powerful, but this description of just what they could do hit home far harder than any description she’d seen of them in books.

“Even so, we have to go into the wastes,” Twilight said. “If we don’t all of Equestria could be in danger. If that means we’ll have to risk our lives...so be it.”

Gruff Veneer nodded. “I know. My warning wasn’t meant to keep you from your mission, merely to inform you of the dangers. I will teach you a number of techniques that will maximize your chances of getting out alive…and then it’s up to you. Now, when you’re walking through the blizzard…”

---

When the group set out into the snowy expanse beyond the Crystal Empire’s borders, the sky was a clear blue. The cold, while harsh, didn’t bother Sunset or the others much because they were properly equipped, and Twilight’s resonance spell had picked up a faint signal directly to the north. All of those things combined made that everypony was in good spirits when they began their journey to the final Forge before the one beneath the Tree of Harmony. But while every pony was quite happy, the same couldn’t be said for Spike. Twilight had decided that he should stay in the Crystal Empire, something that hadn’t sat well with her loyal assistant.

“What if you need to contact the Princess?” he’d asked in a bid to get Twilight to change her mind.

Twilight, however, remained steadfast. “I’ll figure something out. Spike, you heard what Gruff Veneer told us. The Windigos are easily the most dangerous obstacle we’ve faced thus far, and I don’t want to put you in any more danger than I have to.”

“This entire trip is dangerous,” Spike pointed out. “I hate the idea of everypony going out there to save Equestria while I just sit here waiting.”

“You’ll come along when we head for the Forge of Magic,” Twilight promised. “But you have to stay here now. If something happened to you because I couldn’t keep you safe I’d never forgive myself.”

Upon seeing the anguish in Twilight’s eyes, Spike had relented, and reluctantly promised he’d stay in the Crystal Empire under the condition that Twilight and the others would come back safely.

And, for the first few hours of the trip, it looked like Twilight would easily be able to keep her promise. The sky remained clear, and while the temperature was getting lower the further they got, there was nothing suggesting the activity of any Windigos, or, for that matter, any other signs of life.

Despite this, however, everypony began to feel and more and more uncomfortable as they walked on, guided by Twilight’s resonance spell. The emptiness around them felt paradoxically claustrophobic and pressing, as if it was nothing more than a thin layer of paint over something unspeakably horrible.

Sunset’s mouth was dry as she nervously looked around. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for, but she felt as if something was watching her every move. She was scanning the ground around her so intently that she didn’t even notice the sky was slowly getting cloudier.

The clouds were nothing like the ones the Pegasi would place over the cities for rainstorms or even winter blizzards. These ones swirled ominously around a single point in the sky, as if caught in some invisible vortex. Their strange movement was subtle and slow at first, but as the ponies kept walking it became more and more apparent, as did the fact that the eye of the invisible vortex appeared to be hovering directly above them, almost like it was tied to them with a rope.

Rainbow Dash was the first one to notice it. “Uh, clouds aren’t supposed to move like that,” she said.

The others looked up as well now, and Sunset felt nervousness wash over her like a wave of pinpricks. Trying to sound calm, she asked, “Twilight, how much farther is the Forge?”

Twilight grimaced. “It’s still at least an hour off.” Everypony was silent for a moment, each of them contemplating what their next move ought to be.

“Do you think we’ll be able to make it if we keep walking?” Applejack asked, keeping one eye on the swirling clouds.

More clouds were joining the vortex, and a cold wind was beginning to blow.

“I don’t think we have a lot of other options,” Sunset replied.

Twilight agreed with her. “If we stay here, we’ll only end up trapped. If we can reach the Forge, hopefully its magical dome can keep out the power of the Windigos,” she said.

“I thought unicorn magic wasn’t powerful enough to keep out Windigo frost,” Rainbow Dash said dubiously.

Twilight shrugged helplessly. “If you have a better idea, I’d love to hear it,” she said.

Tentatively they began to move again. With each passing step, the temperature seemed to drop a bit, and Sunset began to realize what exactly Gruff Veneer had meant when he talked about the cold from Windigos freezing somepony to their core. Somehow the biting chill in the air seemed to grow inside of her, instead of creeping in through her skin. Her magic, noticing the foreign power taking hold, flared up and tried to contain the cold, much like the immune system fighting off a disease.

The sky darkened further and further, and the wind kept picking up. The snow on the ground began to whirl around the group now, and Twilight cast the shield spell, with Sunset quickly joining in like they had done in training.

For the time being, the shield stopped the whirling snow. In spite of this the unnatural cold kept spreading through Sunset’s body, still emanating from somewhere within her. Sunset could feel that the shield she and Twilight were casting was not as powerful as it would normally be, because their magic was still trying to protect them from the cold.

Then, the final ray of sunlight was blocked by a dark cloud. Almost immediately the wind picked up immensely and Sunset could feel the strain this put on the shield. The temperature plummeted, and now the regular effects of the cold began to creep through her thick winter gear, quickening the speed at which the magical cold was spreading through her body. It was now beginning to creep up her neck, slowly beginning to touch the base of her skull.

A strong gust of wind penetrated the shield and made everypony shiver in their coats. “Can’t you strengthen the shield some more?” Rainbow Dash asked irritably.

“I’m doing what I can,” Twilight snapped back.

Sunset growled in agreement. It wasn’t as if keeping a shield up in a storm like this was easy. The cold crept further through her head, and she felt it beginning to hurt.

Well, that’s just wonderful, she thought as she took some magic away from the shield to try and warm up her head. Snowflakes began to come through now.

“Darlings, do try to keep out the snow, at least. It’s terrible for my mane,” Rarity said haughtily.

“You’re welcome to join in anytime, you know,” Sunset said through gritted teeth.

“I’m afraid shield spells really aren’t my forte,” Rarity replied. The disdain in her voice did very little to improve Sunset’s mood and she glowered at Rarity without saying anything.

“Are we there yet?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“No,” Twilight replied curtly.

“Oh, okay. How about now?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes; she knew exactly where this was going.

“No.”

“And now?”

“No! And we won’t be for some time yet, so stop asking!” Twilight yelled.

Pinkie was unimpressed. “You don’t have to get all shouty about it,” she said with an offended look.

Twilight just grumbled something and then turned away from Pinkie.

“Maybe we shouldn’t fight,” Fluttershy said softly.

“We’re not,” Pinkie Pie said. “Twilight is just being a bit annoying, that’s all.”

“She’s annoying?!” Sunset exploded before Twilight herself could react with indignation. “You are literally acting like a foal by asking if we’re there yet repeatedly, but Twilight is being annoying?! How the hay did you come to that conclusion?”

“Twilight has the magical divining rod thingy, she’s the only one who would know if we’re there. It’s not like I can see anything with this snow all around us, which your shield is supposed to be keeping out!” Pinkie replied.

“Please stop fighting,” Fluttershy pleaded again before Sunset could say anything. “Don’t you see that’s what the Windigos want?”

Sunset’s eyes widened. Of course! Now her sudden feelings of anger and annoyance made sense. She hadn’t even realized she’d begun to feel like this until now. By the looks on everypony’s faces, they all had the same realization.

“You’re right, Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie, I’m sorry,” Sunset said.

Pinkie shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m sorry too.”

Sunset felt a pinprick of warmth in her body then, like a small ember. At the same time, though, an ominous screech rang out clearly through the wind howling around them. The storm began to intensify and Sunset felt the shield beginning to crack, and the small ember in her chest dimmed a little bit.

“Sorry I have to ask this, Twi, but just how much farther is it?” Applejack asked.

This time, Twilight didn’t get angry. “We should be getting close soon. I can still feel the Forge getting closer. Everypony, get closer together. We’ll make the shield smaller and hopefully a bit stronger,” she said.

They all complied, packing closely together, and Twilight shrank the shield around them. Sunset allowed her to take control of her magic as well, taking it back once Twilight had shrunk the shield to the appropriate size. Sunset’s side now touched Applejack’s, and she felt the presence of Pinkie Pie right behind her.

On and on the group went. Soon, Sunset began to feel irritation again, this time at the constant jostling that was inevitable when walking so close to one another. Knowing the Windigos were the prime cause of her annoyance did absolutely nothing to lessen it any, but she still held her tongue for now.

Just when she thought she would snap, Twilight suddenly said, “We’re here!”

Sunset leaned to her left, trying to see past Twilight. She saw a formation of icy crystals ahead, which seemed to form a tunnel down into the ground.

“The Forge is down there. Let’s get this over with,” Twilight said wearily.

They entered the tunnel and began walking down a gently sloped path. The sides of the walls were lit with luminous crystals, each the same shade of blue as the entry crystals of the Forges. To her dismay, Sunset noticed that getting closer to the Forge didn’t alleviate the cold or the effects of the Windigos much. Only the absence of the whirling snow was a welcome relief. Soon, the tunnel opened up into the now familiar dome-shaped room of the Forge. The cave was lit only by the six crystals spaced evenly around the Forge, mounted in the walls like they had been in the Forge of Generosity.

Unlike every previous time, Sunset had absolutely no interest in admiring the crystal focusing formations or the spiral patterns on the floor, here inlaid with bright red gems. Instead, she immediately stood under one of the entry crystals. She had no desire whatsoever to spend a single second longer here than she absolutely had to. The others seemed to be feeling the same way, as they all spread around the Forge, while Rainbow Dash assumed her place in the center.

“Okay, I’m ready. Fire this thing up so we can go back,” she said.

Twilight complied. She closed her eyes and began to cast the spell. Sunset tried to relax as well, but she opened her eyes with a start when she felt Twilight’s magic violently yank on hers.

“What the hay was that for?!” she said.

Twilight just made a frustrated noise. “Sorry,” she said in a tone so insincere it just made Sunset even angrier.

Even so, she still closed her eyes when Twilight began to cast the spell again. Again, her magic was far more forceful than it had been in the past. Sunset’s own magic, reacting to her absolute refusal to be anything less than an equal to Twilight, didn’t go along quietly and resisted being pulled forward.

Twilight’s magic withdrew and she angrily opened her eyes. “And you ask me what I’m doing? Why are you resisting the spell?” she demanded. “You do know this is of vital importance, right?”

Sunset rolled her eyes, “Well excuse me, Princess. I just don’t like it when ponies start thinking they can suddenly just command my magic to do something.”

Twilight groaned impatiently. “You have had no problems with this before,” she said.

“Because you’ve never tried to forcibly pull me along before,” Sunset countered.

“Look, you two lovebirds can fight all you want later, can we just get this done, please?” Rainbow Dash cut in from the center of the room.

Sunset and Twilight glared at each other for a moment, then looked away and at the same time said, “Fine.”

Sunset tried to calm her breathing and relax her magic, but when the inevitable pull came again she still resisted for a moment, before grudgingly giving up ground as Twilight drew out everypony’s magic to activate the Forge.

Now, for the first time, Sunset could really feel the undercurrent of raw power in Twilight’s usually exquisitely controlled and refined magic. In response, she flared up her own power a bit more. Nopony could intimidate her with raw power, not even Twilight.

A small strand of warmth flitted through her then, a tiny sliver that amounted to nearly nothing, but it somehow reached the ember in her chest, which had almost died out. As it flared up briefly, a single thought shot through her head.

Twilight means the world to you.

It was just a small moment, something that would under any normal circumstances be insignificant. And yet now, that one thought caused Sunset to fully relax her magic again, letting Twilight take control and finally make actual progress with the spell.

In response, Twilight’s magic seemed to lose its aggression and became much friendlier, almost apologetic, if that even made any sense at all.

Sunset opened her eyes and looked at Twilight. She was surprised to see that Twilight had her eyes open as well. She smiled faintly at Sunset, and Sunset returned the smile.

The magical glow moved closer and closer to Rainbow Dash, and when it reached her the red glow began to overtake the magenta and expand outward. When it filled the entire dome, Sunset felt a stab of shocking cold through her body, which had nothing to do with the Windigos. She gasped and heard her friends cry out. She opened her eyes and looked at the others, who all looked bewildered.

“What was that? It was never that bad before,” Applejack said shakily.

Twilight shook her head. “I have no idea, but I don’t like it. Let’s get back to the Crystal Empire as soon as we can,” she said.

A bit unwillingly the seven ponies bunched up close together again when they prepared to step into the tunnel, but their desire to be out of the frozen wastes trumped their feelings of annoyance with each other. Sunset and Twilight cast the shield spell around the group, and they began to head up the tunnel.

Almost as soon as they left the tunnel and small shelter of the ice crystals, the full force of the Windigos’ blizzard hit them. The shield shattered, and the tight formation the group had assumed was almost pressed into the ground. Sunset felt colder than she ever had in her life. Her hooves were getting numb already, and it had only been a few seconds since the shield broke. The small ember in her chest dimmed once more.

A sudden gust of wind pushed Applejack into her side. “Watch it,” Sunset snarled.

“You watch it. If you hadn’t been standing in my way I wouldn’t have hit you,” Applejack replied.

“Less talking, more walking,” Rainbow Dash said from behind Applejack.

“Don’t you start with me,” Applejack said warningly.

“Or else what?”

“Girls! Stop arguing! There’ll be plenty of time for that when we get back to the city,” Twilight said.

“Oh, give me a break. Do you even know where the city is? Your little tracking spell led you to the Forge, but there isn’t one of those in the city, now is there?” Rainbow Dash replied.

If it was possible for Sunset’s blood to run even colder, it would have. Much as she found Rainbow Dash insufferable at that moment, she had to admit her friend had a point.

Twilight, though, didn’t see much of a problem. “We’ll just head south. Once we’re out of the wastes I’ll get my bearings and then we’ll make our way to the city.”

“Except that won’t work,” Rainbow Dash said. “Ever tried navigating a blizzard? Good luck finding any directions at all when you can’t even see.”

Twilight sighed and said, “You know what? If you think you know the way so well, why don’t you lead us out of here?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged and switched places with Twilight, both giving each other dark looks as they did so.

Slowly, they began to walk. Sunset’s legs hurt from the cold, and somehow it still seemed to be getting colder. Normally she’d be happy to have her friends close by her side at a time like this, but right now she just wished they’d give her a little more space.

With every step, somepony would bump into her and it was driving her nuts. When Pinkie Pie stepped on her sore hind hooves one time too many, she turned around to give her the scolding of a lifetime, but right then a massive gust of wind scattered the ponies apart, sending them rolling through the snow in different places.

Sunset knew they couldn’t have landed far away from her, but she was in no hurry to get back to them. Sure, it was much, much colder now than it had been when they’d been close together, but at least she wouldn’t be getting jostled anymore with every step she took. This was much better.

She took a step. Had the cold in her chest been this biting before?

She took another step. The swirling snow was almost impossible to see through. She tried to call up her magic to burn away the clouds, wondering vaguely why she hadn’t tried that before. Her horn glowed, but nothing else happened.

She angrily shook her head and took one more step. Everything in her body hurt. Anger washed over her. There was no way the Windigos were going to take her down. Not after everything she’d faced before.

Another step. It was like hitting a wall made out of sheer cold. Her vision swam and she blinked a couple of times to clear it. No! She wouldn’t give up. Her friends might, but there was no way she would.

Step. The air seemed to solidify around her. It was getting hard to breathe. She felt irrationally angry that her friends weren’t there to help her. Why would they abandon her now?!

Step. Why wasn’t she moving forward? Step. Step! As much as she tried to will her body into moving, it just wouldn’t respond. It was like her body had frozen to the very ground she stood on. She looked down. Her eyesight was blurry, but she could swear she could see ice creeping up her legs. She focused her magic, forcing heat to her legs to melt the ice, but it kept climbing. She got even angrier and tried to gather every last shred of magic she had…but nothing happened.

“No…” she said softly, as the realization that she wasn’t going to get out of this one began to dawn on her.

Her anger was now joined by another emotion, a sudden longing to not be alone, to have one specific pony there with her at the end.

The ice crept upwards…and then, right ahead of her, a bright light pierced the clouds. It was a cone of brilliant, blazing golden light, which spread outward and melted every last speck of snow it touched. The wall of light hit Sunset, and all the ice and snow around her instantly vaporized.

In the brilliant light, Sunset could make out a tall shape, wings flared out wide and horn glowing gold. Her own solar magic told her that the temperature around her had skyrocketed, and that this temperature wasn’t something she should be surviving even for a moment, and yet she didn’t feel hot at all.

She could see that the rocky ground she was now standing on was actually beginning to glow faintly. She could see her friends, who were all close to her position, but who had been invisible in the raging storm.

Above her, there was a roar of fury, and she turned her eyes upward. She saw a great number of horse-like spirits galloping around, their eyes glowing a frosty blue. Their hateful gaze was locked on Sunset’s rescuer, who merely flicked her horn.

Sunset could feel the heat building. The ground glowed red, and a golden light, too bright to look at, engulfed the flying spirits.

Sunset closed her eyes, but she heard the sounds. Horrible shrieks of anguish, pain and hatred. They filled her mind, seemed to resonate in her very soul. Then, suddenly it all just stopped. The sounds. The heat. Sunset was swallowed up in a blanket of darkness.

Comments

[EchoWing]

...I sincerely hope that was a big damn heroes moment from Celestia at the end.