Luna Wants a Windigo

by Lazauya

Interlude: Convoy

"Princess Cadance, the preparations for your... trek are nearly complete," said my assistant.

"Okay. I take it you all have proper rations and everything," I replied in question.

"That is correct. Enough food for two weeks. We will get there without issue. We are also bringing the mages, as requested."

"Good. Good. I like to hear it...."

It was another few days before we all set out from The Empire. I had tried my best to keep it a secret from Auntie Celestia. Auntie Luna was right about her. She had changed so much since I was a foal. Sometimes, recently, she would just become overwhelmingly enraged at the smallest stuff. I know that's common for some mares but I'd assumed she already gone through menopause, seeing as she's so old and whatnot. In any case, I didn't want to tell her because her state was a little worrying and I didn't want to throw any fuel onto the fire. Looking back on it now, it started just before we went to go capture a windigo.... I don't know. I won't talk about Auntie anymore, I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate it.

I wasn't entirely sure what the purpose of the mission was; whether it was to make peace or take vengeance was unclear. I only wanted to confront the awful things that took my Shiny away.

It took so long to walk through the snow. And the whole time, we were freezing cold. Every time, just before we would stop for the night, it felt like my blood was starting to curdle from the frigid air. How anything could live there was beyond me.

Days and days of gruelingly dredging through the snow was beginning to wear me down, and it made me uncertain. Was I really right to confront the windigos? Would it be worth anything? Auntie Luna said that they could understand ponies, but the ones we saw didn't seem anything like that. After all, why didn't they try and contact us? But they must have been at least a little smart, because that pony made it sound like he was... working for someone. I wondered if there was a windigo queen. I just wasn't sure. I didn't know what I could possibly say. I didn't know if there was anything to say: if I should just attack them blindly or not. I didn't know and it was terrifying.

One night, I looked to the ceiling of my tent, laying awake when I heard a strange noise. It was a howl like that of a wolf—except that there were no wolves north of the Crystal Empire to my knowledge—and for some reason, it made me want to cry. So I did. The sound was so sad, like a cry for help—like a cry for a lost loved one. I never discovered what made the saddening shriek, but I think that everyone in the camp heard it. I would ask whenever I got the chance, but no one ever figured out what it was. All I knew is that it reminded me of why I went on this mission. And then an insidious thought crept into my mind. Would he have wanted this? He would have done the same thing in a heartbeat for me, no doubt. I know that's a fact. But I didn't know what he would have wanted me to do. He was always so chivalrous, so it seemed out of character for him to want me to do something as barbaric as taking revenge.

Luckily, or unluckily, I found myself with no time to contemplate further. It was the guard in front of our caravan that pointed it out first: a knoll judging out from the wasteland, seemingly out of place. It matched the description that I got from the assassin perfectly, and my heart began to race. What do I say, what do I say? I kept asking myself. But no one would give me an answer.

---

"Boy, I need you to hide. It seems as though we have a most fortunate visitor." The windigo told Astatine.

Astatine made up the courage to ask, "Wh-who is it?"

"It is the Princess of the Crystal Empire, Mi Amore Cadenza," the king replied frankly. "And bring the small one with you. She will be problematic in dealing with the Princess."

"I-I see! I'll go get her."

---

We kept our pace, and eventually, it was upon us. The end of the hole was not in sight, and an eerie hum echoed from the cave. The walls were made of a dull blue ice that seemed to suck up the minute amount of light that made it through the cloudy sky. The mages lit their horns.

And so we pressed on, down into the cave, bracing for our expected clash with the wintry beasts. The howling of the wind above grew quieter and quieter until another sound came into earshot: the sound of snorts and whinnying. It's them, I thought. And then, we turned the corner to discover the swirling mass of windigos. It was a writhing mass of beasts, and they looked just like the ones we had tried to capture before.

It made me want to get my nets out. Nets, I thought.

After only a few moments, they settled down, forming a half circle. Two moved aside, and the largest pony I had ever seen walked past them. How he managed to hide in the crowd befuddled me. Except, he wasn't a pony, he was a windigo. My heart began to race. A cold sweat developed under my coat. I was terrified of that regal beast.

The guards all made defensive positions, moving directly in front of me. This made the widigos nervous, and they let out a series of disgruntled snorts and whinnies.

And then the king spoke—or rather thought—in a thunderous boom, "Greetings, Mi Amore Cadenza."

"And my I ask who you are?" I asked, faking confidence.

Our minds seemed to shake again from his roar, "I do not have a name. I am simply known as king among windigos."

"I see..." I said without direction. I sat silence for only a moment before he spoke again.

"I understand why you have come here. Recently, one of my Windigos returned baring news from the Crystal Empire about your husband."

Recently? I thought, That happened nearly a year ago!

"I have a proposal for you, Cadenza. I can bring your husband back from the dead"

I was so caught off guard that I nearly choked. "How can you even think of saying something like that, as if I could trust you anyway!? What's wrong with you!?"

"I understand that we have our differences. But I did not kill your husband. It was one of my disciples. Perhaps my bitterness over the slaying of my kin influenced him; no, rather it certainly did. I am ashamed that I could not stop him from disgracing our race, but that is irrelevant to your own sorrows. I do not wish for my kind to be hunted. I do not wish for us to be held up as trophies. Nor did that pony who we shall not speak of."

I stared at him, contemplating what he was saying. Was it true, was he really not responsible for the death of Shiny? And could he bring him back? What could I trust? Could I determine his lies with my bad magic? Would it work on windigos? I had no way of telling. I wanted to believe him, to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it was just too difficult. "I don't trust you. I want to use my magic to know if you're telling the truth. If you do, I mean, if you let me use my magic... and if I find that you're not lying, then... then we will leave here without incident. I swear. I want to believe you. I don't want anymore troubles, especially if life is lost."

"Very well. Then I shall permit it. You may use your magic on me."

The windigo's expression did not change, and his blank eyes still stared deep into each of us. I could tell that the rest of my party was unnerved just like I was. But the king was alone in this, as the rest of the windigos started whinnying and snorting in despair. I'm sure they didn't want me using my pony magic on their leader. I was still worried myself.

"O-Ok."

I fired up my horn, and the sickly green aura trickled out again. Using my magic was the only way that I could be sure—that I could get peace. If that's what it took, I supposed I was ready to face the consequences.

The king bowed, and I touched my horn to the back of his head. He was encompassed in my aura, but his own was so foreign that it felt like I was using my magic on a rock. Anyway, I began with the interrogation.

"Do you harbor ill will toward ponies?" I asked bluntly.

"Yes," he started. This made one of the guards audibly gasp. "But I wish only for our species to make amends. I want no more strife. No more violence. It is as simple as that."

"Did you order the assassin to kill my husband?" I pressed on.

"No. I did not. He did that by his own accord, and I do wish he had not done so."

I gave one final prod. "Can I trust you? Are you prone to lying?"

"Yes, you can trust me. I have lied in the past, but I do not do so to those whom I wish to garner trust from."

My aura faded with his last words, and it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders; and then like someone was hitting me in the chest. I wanted to break down in tears. All the feelings of anger I had were sapped out of me, simply replaced with a sadness and longing to see my husband.

The king only raised his head and looked at me in pity as I scrunched my eyes. There were already hot tears running down my cheeks, but I didn't sob. I didn't want to show that deep of a weakness.

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, I regret waiting to share this, but there may be hope for your husband. He was buried, correct?"

My eyes shot open in shock, and deep inward pressure on my bosom was replaced with a strong outward punch as my heart began to race in hope. What did he mean? I remembered what he had opened with a moment ago, but I didn't want to get my hopes up, so I only waited for him to elaborate.

"Was he?"

"Yes...."

"And was he magically embalmed?"

"...Yes...."

"Then a cure for his ailment may yet be found."

"What? What game are you playing? My husband is dead," I chided.

"I am playing no game. Your husband is, for all intents and purposes, dead. But I believe I know the poison he was... administered."

"Huh? But the doctors said it was—"

"I'm sure," he cut me off in an uncharacteristic manner, "That pony doctors are unaware of this poison. It is... unique to the Far North. The blistering cold has imbued the nectar of the Frost Flower with the ability to induce a sort of cryostasis."

"Wh-what do you mean? I'm not sure I understand...."

"Your husband's body and mind have been preserved, not destroyed. My knowledge of the poison can help us find a way to undo the stasis he was put it. We can wake him up from his deep slumber."

"B-but that doesn't make sense! He died!" I was on the verge of tears again, this time of sadness.

"Yes. But it is highly likely that we can bring him back with an antidote. If I am correct, then said antidote should be rather simple to produce."

"But he was... stabbed. He can't come back from that...."

"The poison, as I stated, does not induce a coma, but instead freezes someone. Once we undo the magic kept up by the poison, we will have to take care of his wound. But he can still live."

"...I-I..." I stuttered, "I don't know how this is possible. I...."

"I understand you are shocked, Princess. I was shocked myself when I had heard the news that the Prince of the Crystal empire had been slain nearly a year ago. The time it takes for news to reach us is unfortunate. But I remembered that follower who had left that day had been scouring the land for Frost Flowers. I used that fact to surmise the poison. My only wish was that I had known sooner, so that all the heart-ache could be avoided."

Meanwhile, I was just barely beginning to process what he was saying. I understood that he believed he could bring my husband back, but I did not understand why he, the complete enigma, would want to do something like that. It felt too warm a thing to do. And so I had to ask. "But why? I'm... thrilled at the idea of having my Shiny back, but... we hurt your kind. I was an accomplice to Princess Celestia when she... slew so many...."

"Yes, I have not forgotten. And I will not pretend that my cure is for purely altruistic purposes. You ponies have displayed your new might against my brethren. This much is undeniable. If you wished, it would be possible for you to wipe us out. That much is certain. So instead, I wish to amend the already too strained relationship before I or my kind makes another mistake. It is that simple."

His explanation made a lot of sense, and I had no reason to distrust him given my earlier analysis of his mind. Or, at least, what I thought was an analysis. "I understand. Then... how can we cure my husband?"

"First, samples of the flower must be procured. This will take some time. Then, I will try and manufacture an antidote. I am not certain on the duration of this process, but I expect it will not take long. After the antidote is formed, we can administer it to your husband."

"I see," I said in contemplation. "And you are confident about this? That we can bring my husband back?"

"Very much so."

"Then I suppose... we should discuss this further."

---

It was another day of discussing before we were able to work everything out. I needed to go back to the Empire and... dig up Shiny. It was very disturbing to think about, but if what the king said was true, then... well, you know already. He said that the flowers were rare, but since his Windigos knew the land well, they would be able to find the flowers in a "relatively fast manner" as he called it. I still find his way of "speaking" amusing. In any case, after he had the antidote, he said he would visit the Empire personally to deliver the goods.

It was exactly like he said: in two weeks time, he had the antidote prepared, and we had Shiny's... we had Shiny ready. It was startling to see how little he changed with the magic preserving him. I had always heard stories of bodies becoming yellow and bloated and distorted after a long time, but he was just like I remembered him. It really is so morbid to think about. I really can't bear to say anymore.

When the king reached the gates, it was a fast track for him to the castle. We sped along to the special room where Shiny was being stored. It was just so difficult for me to think about it as waking up after we had already buried him. I was so concerned what he would think... how I would look at him; I didn't want to look at him like a zombie, I wanted to look at him like my husband, and I just wanted to forget that all the dying stuff had even happened in the first place.

The first step in breaking the curse was to break the preservation spell placed on him. It was unknown what the effects would be on a living pony, but no one wanted to find out. It didn't seem like a spell conducive to living, anyway.

The second step was to administer the antidote. In this case, the doctor had opted to inject it into an artery close to the heart, so his heart would be started back up again and then it would be pushed through the rest of his body. At least, that's the theory that I was told.

The doctor inserted the needle, and slowly pushed in the deep blue liquid.

And the results were astounding. As the syringe pressed in, his body had an immediate reaction, jerking enough to create some clatter. My heart beat fast for the next few moments as I waited for the doctor to finish. Finally, he removed his instrument and we all waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And then it happened. The loudest and most desperate gasp I had ever heard shook me out of my anxiety daze as the stallion on the table came back to life. Back from the dead. He had crossed the River Styx, returned, and laid on the table in front of me. I was at a loss for words.

The nurses and doctors on hand were also astounded at the recovery, and I could see the king standing by, with a stoic and confident expression. I turned to him.

"Thank you, thank you!" I cried. I ran up to him and wrapped myself around him, letting his coolness seep into me. I was ecstatic.

The doctors were still rushing around my husband, checking vital signs, and most importantly opening up the wound again to make sure it was safe. It had been sewed up for the... funeral, but it was never properly treated.

I walked over to see my husband through the circle of doctors, and all I could see was the uneven rise and fall of his chest. His breaths were terse, but I knew he was alive. I knew that he was back. And it meant so much to me.

---

"Princess, I have one request for you."

"Yes, anything, I swear on my word."

"There is no need. I only wish for you to deliver a letter for me. Directly to Princess Celestia herself."

"I can do that! Of course!"

"But, I must ask one thing of you beforehand. Do not read this letter. I would like this to be between her and me. She personally has wronged my people. I know that you were there on the the day of the... hunt, but I do not hold you responsible. It was utlimately her whims that caused my kind so much strife."

"I understand. I will get this to her, personally. Thank you, King."

Author's Note:

Y'all probably thought I had given up. Well guess what? I hadn't!
I think we are approaching the end game now. The final, epic battle approaches!