JTHW: Journey To Hearth's Warming

by Lighttone GryphonStar

S1 Episode 3: A Dream Gate

The sunlight shone through a window, tracing over some partially opened drawers, some leftover clothing, and books laying on the floor, quickly to a purple bed with dark lavender covers, and over a lavender face. Twilight raised her face ever so slowly at the light. Her horn lit up, and the blinds closed... with no magic covering them. After which she laid back down and tried to return to sleep.

“Wake up, Twilight.”

Twilight turned away from the voice, not even realizing its unfamiliarity of it. Her hand fell off the bed and onto the fine flat and almost slick floor. Twilight’s eye shot open upon the icy touch of the surface that was void of any tears and even small indents that were very common on a wooden floor. She slowly emerged from her dark lavender blanket and looked around. To her shock, there were hues of purple crystals on every surface and wall, even on the floor. She raised her hand to her head and scratched it. Instantly, she pulled her hand away at the feeling of her long hair.

“Are you going to hide in there all day?” the voice returned.

Twilight spun around again, looking for the owner of the voice. The source couldn't even be identified, nor could she tell if the voice was from out of the room or right next to her. She jumped out of her bed and tried to get a hold of her bearings. She looked under her bed once she stopped wobbling. There was nothing about but books; such things that were all too common to her. However, what caught her eye was something else. She reached over to one book and pulled it out. She rubbed her fingers over every part. There were no wrinkles or smudges of dirt. This book looked too far new and even... modern.

She narrowed her sight and threw down the book. "I might be a little too tired." Stretching her arms outward, waiting for the satisfying pop. Swinging her arms about as she noticed something strange as her sight hovered over her shoulders. “What? Not possible!” The eventual pop never came. She clutched at her shoulder and scanned it intensely.

"My scars... they're gone." Her fingers quickly raced over certain spots all over her body, her movement growing more and more frantic after checking each spot. "All of them... are gone."

Her movement stopped, and her breathing became heavy. After a moment or two, she wrapped her arms around herself and fell back onto the bed. Small tears were forming in her sight, and she could feel a grin grow on her cheeks. She twirled back and forth on the bed several times in joy as laughter consumed her.

"Hold on?" She questioned aloud as she jumped up. She reached her hand over her left eye. Feeling every single part as her smile slowly turned into a frown. Her cheerful tears faded and her other hand trembled uncontrollably. Slamming the hand down, she screamed, "Damn it! Damn it!! Why is that one still there?!" Her teeth gritted and her fingers clenched down on the icy cold cobalt blue wound.

“Are you done yet?” The voice returned louder, yet not a single word was spoken in anger.

“Who are you?” Twilight dropped her hand and scanned the room. She gritted her teeth at the sight of nothing. "Where are you?!"

“Really? A better question is where are you?!”

Twilight’s eye widened, and she jumped out of the bed and finally ran to the door. Opening, she found multiple seemingly endless hallways beyond it. Concern grew on her face as she hesitantly took each step.

“I was right. I’m not in the tavern. Wait, am I in...” She turned into one hallway and went down it. Her movement gave a sense of familiarity as if she had been here before.

“Oh, finally. But you are only half right,” the voice seemed to be annoyed. “He warned me your reaction would be like this. Keep running and you will figure it out.”

“What are you talking about--” Without warning, Twilight crashed into a new door. She grabbed her head and rubbed it. “Ouch, what was that--” she stopped as she caught sight of the door. Her mouth fell ajar. “Wait, I’ve seen this door before.”

“Wow, this Flash Sentry must be a pretty fine stallion to get a blush out of you.” A fresh voice spoke from behind the door.

“Wait, that Starlight’s voice?” Twilight’s eyebrow raised as she stood up and reached for the door.

“Starlight, so I did see you. What are you doing here?”

Twilight was stopped again, this time for another reason altogether. “Wait, that’s my voice…" Her hand trembled and her breathing became frantic. "No, no, not this.” She covered her ears from hearing the rest. Yet the sounds of a portal opening on the other side filled her with great fear. Soon, though, everything went silent. Her breathing softened, and she dropped to her knees, placing her head on the door as tears fell her face. "Why show me this? And not give me a way to stop it!"

Seemingly unbeknownst to Twilight, smoke moved through the hallway and slowly approached her. The closer it got, the more the color of the smoke turned to a maroon red.

Twilight slowly released her ears, and her fear withdrew as she stood up, "Of course, you can't change time, that's not your area." She turned to the distinct chill behind her. "Isn't that right, damn goat?"

The smoke stopped at those words and wavered back and forth. "Sorry, but I'm only his messenger." On that, a hand shot out of the smoke and pushed her into the door. The smoke hardened into an almost solid-liquid figure of a maroon color.

She fought and twisted in the figure’s grip. The figure was too blurry to see its face accurately. But one thing was obvious... it stank of blood.

“Enough of this.” Twilight punched at it. Yet its grip only tightened. “Who.. are you?” Her voice weakened as her throat squeezed.

“You have forgotten me, but I will never forget.” The figure pushed harder as the door behind Twilight slowly covered with cracks. With enough force, the door shattered, yet the pieces didn’t fall. Instead, they floated around Twilight and the figure as it walked her through the room.

She looked to her surroundings, seeing her past self follow the past Starlight frozen still falling through a swirling vortex of magic. It was as she thought. This was a memory of how her journey started so many years ago.

“Who are you?” Feeling the grip loosen slightly, she questioned the figure once more.

“That does not matter. What does?” The figure stopped at the crystal table and punched her into it. She coughed hard as it crawled over the table, pulling her along until they reached the center. It stood above her and leaned downward. She twitched and squirmed around as it got closer. It put its mouth by her ear and stopped moving. “The first of the Alathar has been found. You must find the one who has it and take it before he discovers its true purpose.”

Suddenly the figure’s hand twitched, and pulse as flesh folded over itself. All of its flesh was folding downward over Twilight, almost like it was melting. It moved like ooze over her and descended to the table below her. The ooze spread over the table and the chairs. Leaving a thick, bony alicorn skeleton in its wake, echoing venomous laughter.

The room swayed left and right as everything around her followed the flesh. The table was melting; the chairs were melting and even the walls were melting into a maroon-red liquid. The room was quickly filled with it. Twilight twisted back and forth as the ooze built up around her.

She was now sinking into the liquid. She closed her eye and took a deep breath. The room seemed to vanish around her. She sank in lower and lower until a small voice broke through it all.

“Twilight… time… to… get… up.”

******

Twilight jumped up and knocked the brown covers off. As her breathing calmed, her sight scanned over the room. Old-style books and clothes litter the wooden floor. She sighed relief and leaned back down. She rubbed her head as Silver Pear opened the door.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty.”

“Ahh!" Twilight screamed and grabbed her cover to hide once she remembered she was only wearing a nightgown. “Why didn't you knock?”

“I did, buzzkill. Come on, I know the rules." Silver Pear winked at her and handed over an apple. "Here my Lovely said to bring you some breakfast.”

“Where is Starlight then?” Twilight took the apple from her magic and placed it beside the bed.

“She is waiting for you outside in the back.” Silver Pear turned away and walked to the door. He stopped, "Oh yeah, I can still see your rear."

Twilight's face went bright red, and she pulled the cover over every part of her. Laughing at her reaction, Silver Pear quickly took his leave.

The door shut softly. Twilight stared at the door for several seconds. Her heated face quickly vanished, being replaced by a cold sweat as her sight retraced the room once more. She looked at the books again and the clothes and especially the wooden floor. Taking a deep breath, she moved the covers and dropped her bare feet onto the floor. She felt over every prick and even splinter of the wood until she was sure, “Hmm, maybe it was a dream.” Finally, she turned to the apple. “Thanks, Starlight.” A brief smile crept onto her face as she grabbed it. She brought it to her face but stopped.

The light from outside shone the reflection of the apple into her sight. Her vision narrowed on the display of the cobalt blue scar over her left eyelid. Her smile dropped and her teeth gritted. She attempted to open her left eyelid but stopped as the attempt brought nothing but extreme pain.

She placed the apple down and looked at her closet. Getting up, she stretched her limbs out and smiled at the popping sounds that followed. Meanwhile, a voice flew through her head. This voice differed from the one in the dream. It was far nicer.

"Yeah, I know the five creeds first." She straightened her body and grabbed a cloth with her magic. She wrapped the cloth tightly around her chest to ensure restrictive movement. Next, she grabbed a few books with her magic and brought them over, opening them and flipping to marked areas. "First, Pinkie Pie, 50 jumping-jacks." She did that while reading.

Once finished, another voice flew by her head, this one far more loyal, "Second, Rainbow Dash, 50 push-ups." She dropped to the ground for push-ups while continuing to read.

Finishing that exercise, a distinct small voice flew by, this one far more kind. "Third, Fluttershy, 50 pilates." Rolling on her back to do those, she hardly lost any grip on her books.

Once finished with that, another voice followed. This one was far more honest. "Fourth, Applejack, 50 squats." She jumped up to her feet.

A smile grew on her face as she got into one book she was reading. "Wow, Dr. H. P. Bloodcraft has made some compelling scientific research on telepath--"

A fresh voice passed through her mind, stopping her words. She realized she had already finished the correct amount of squats a while ago and was now wasting time. The same voice bugged her once again, the voice repeated itself: it was still filled with so much generosity "Fine..." Putting down the books for a single moment she took a grumbled-filled breath. "Fifth, Rarity, shower, followed by... above average... I mean... beautification," she mumbled the last word as her magic grabbed some clothes and her dark blue eyepatch. "And, no Spike, I am not doing seven hours of it!"

She removed her gown and unveiled many scars over her body. Each one was of varying age and size. In particular, the oldest was the scar over her throat, which looked a lot like an old rope burning, only far sharper. The biggest were two massive gashes along her stomach and reappearing on her back, and the newest one was the scar over her eye.

The sounds of running water were followed by the door to the bathroom opening and then closing seconds later. The blanket rumbled around for a moment before a certain brown spider crawled out and over to the stand where the apple was. It stopped at the sight of the apple and stared... at the claw marks that tore all over the surface.

The brown spider crawled closer and touched the apple before pulling back in pain. It looked at its leg and glared at the ice particles on it. "She's getting stronger," the spider whispered. "Best to not tempt that ice queen's venomous laughter again."

******

Outside the tavern, the Sun continued to move its light over the village. Ponies were strolling through the roads, cleaning up the snow as they went about their daily lives. The Wolf’s Apple was silent and had nopony in to drink today. In the back, Starlight was walking back and forth, almost creating a rut in the ground.

“What is wrong, deary?” Granny Apple rocked in her chair as she moved the cloth over a double-barrel rifle mirroring of Starlight's movements.

“Oh, nothing much Granny. I’m hoping to get all the work done today and tomorrow before the big day arrives.” Starlight stopped and looked at the old mare.

“I’m sure she’ll like it.”

“But what if she doesn’t? What if that teacher of mine is still mad about it all? What if?” Starlight stuttered her words as she waved her hands about. “What if… she still hates me for all of this?”

Granny Apple stopped cleaning and got up from her chair. She walked over and placed her hand on Starlight’s shoulder. “You are far too young to worry about so many things." She moved her hand to Starlight's mane. "You'll get gray hairs at this rate."

"Oh, come on, you know the time-traveling has stopped mine and her ability to age properly."

"Yes, I do, as much as I’m sure she forgave you long ago.”

Starlight’s face tilted down. “I hope you're right?”

“Right about what?”

Starlight’s face jumped up upon hearing Twilight's voice. She turned to Twilight with a fake smile. “Nothing teacher, I wanted your help with some grocery shopping today?”

“Why can’t Granny Apple or Silver Pear go with you?” Twilight moved her book out of the way so she could see Starlight.

“Because we are going hunting today.” Granny Apple turned to Twilight and held her gun over her shoulder.

“Oh, did Lighttone ask for a specialty order again?”

“Nope,” Silver Pear walked over past Twilight and Starlight, “But a certain pony did and we can’t let them down.”

“Okay?” Twilight raised her eyebrow. “I’m guessing that I’m helping my student today--”

“Great.” Starlight grabbed Twilight’s arm, dragging her off.

As the four went their separate ways, the brown spider crawled out from Twilight’s window and watched them all leave. It crawled up to the roof of the tavern and looked out to the front. It breathed slowly and looked over the ponies on the roads.

"What is Starlight up to on this lovely Sunday?” A voice came from the spider as it stared at the two mares. “She should calm down. Twilight needs to worry about the warnings from Elisus.”

******

In the far north, commotion tore through the silence of a crystal plaza surrounded by glorious alicorn statues. Ponies scrambled around at the sounds of footsteps.

The sources of the echoes were aimed at Clover and Rex. Many of the ponies whispered back and forth at the sight of Rex's bloody hands. He closed his eyes and kept walking.

Meanwhile, Clover looked at them all with a glaring force that made even the stallions tremble. The ponies quieted down as Rex and Clover slowly exited the plaza. They headed to the brilliant emerald-covered cathedral.

Rex stopped at the entrance and observed his bloody hands. The hands trembled as he stared between them and a fountain of flowing water by the door.

Clover answered his distress. "You didn’t have to clean up the remains. I’m the one who failed him..."

Air pushed out of his nostrils, "No... I had to. I am as much responsible for Mon’s death." He walked over to the fountain. He placed his hand into the cold water and pulled some out, wiping it over his other hand. He scrubbed as hard as he could, but the images of the icy chunks still dripped through his mind. “Damn it..." He stopped and looked away from Clover as she stepped inside. Eventually, he stopped scrubbing and pulled his hands away from the water. He shifted to the door and opened it.

Inside were beautiful turquoise walls taped with the merit of the white tapestry. The ceiling had many white and gold chandeliers with an almost eerie seafoam green glow to the flames of lighted candles upon them. The ground was covered in a green carpet with many rows of long brigandine chairs.

The merit of the species was sitting or kneeling near the chairs and praying in silence. Rex walked past many, including Clover, who was now praying. Soon he came by a lineup of the confessionals that surrounded a statue of a giant centipede.

He scanned over all of them until he came upon a gold-lined one in the center of the lineup. He peered around it and then frowned at the sight of a crystal white mane floating out of one side.

He hesitated for a second before walking into the opening on the other side. He sat down in the chair and exhale heavily again before finally spoke, "Forgive me, Holy Mare, for I have sinned--"

"Yes, I know. You are very good at that," the priestess spoke in an eloquent tone from the other side. The panel was covered with silver magic and opened, revealing the priestess to be a yellow alicorn mare in a platinum robe. "Plus, you have terrible cleaning habits."

Rex looked at his palms, and he winced. He wiped his hands on his scarves, "I’m sorry, but these aren’t from the damn enemy!"

The alicorn grabbed Rex's mouth shut in her magic. "First you destroy Cassandra's window and now you curse. Blasphemy against our great God."

Rex glared at her, but then let go of the glare and turned his head sideways, pulling free from the magical grip. "That damn centipede..." He stopped his voice before finishing. "I'm sorry... besides it was Annity that did the shattering."

The alicorn put her hand up to her head. "Sometimes I wonder if you should be sent on for more time in Tartarus."

Rex smirked as he brought his head back to normal levels, "Maybe that would rather be nice."

The alicorn let loose a small giggle and glared at him. "Do not be mistaken. Your results are unquestionable, but your methods leave a lot of anger in your wake."

Rex huffed and threw his hands around. "Well, I’m sorry that I’m not as perfect as the great Holy Mare Topaz Silk Shining Tower Chandra. A mare who is so god-like that she has to send a lowly devil like me to go do her dirty work.”

The alicorn's grin twitched, and she kept her eye forward as a small frown broke through her flawless face. “I’m sorry about Mon. I thought for sure Golden Williams' intel was good.”

Rex raised his hand upward. One of his chains followed and slowly flowed around his hand with the help of his dark blue magic as he remained silent upon the memories of yesterday's events. The scenes of him being forced to gather up the remains and transport them flowed through his mind.

Once the scene ended, he grabbed the chain in his hand. “Do you think I enjoy being the most hated creature in the entire Crystal Empire? Topaz Silk... why can't you and the rest of the Alicorn Order do something about this?"

Topaz Silk turned and finally faced him and dropped her frown to keep her original smile. "We can't Rex. Most of the alicorn race are very hesitant about you and your kindness."

"Maybe if your brother hadn’t left…” Rex’s raised voice dropped as he realized he was squeezing the chain too tight. Releasing his grip, he calmed his breathing until the chain slipped out of his hand before finishing. “I mean..." He turned away. “Speaking of the order, where are those nieces and nephews of yours?” he questioned, to change the subject.

Topaz Silk raised her hand to her chin, “Celestia is meeting with the hippogriffs, apparently the youngest princess there has gotten a shine to her, I think the filly’s name is Novo.”

“She always enjoys helping children.”

“Often does. I sometimes think her calling would be a teacher if she had never had the life of a princess. Luna, meanwhile, is meeting with the Yaks again. She wants another attempt at a peace treaty with them. She also asked about you again.”

Rex’s eyes strained. “Of course she did. Princess Luna always seems like she wants to tell me something, but she never does.”

“Golden Williams in the southwest, his search for the buffalos’ homeland continues to bring up no leads. And finally Blood Diamond is currently heading to Zebrica, something about beating his father’s record.”

"Okay, I’m assuming my old rival is with Blood Diamond.”

“No, it’s the time of Cold Blue's month-long annual break.”

“Hmm, right?” You would think knowing a siren for over two thousand years would make it easier to predict when he takes these breaks.” Rex crossed his legs and scratched the fuzz on his chin lightly. “I guess we have to keep this mission going without their help.”

“Speaking of the mission, what did you find out about Indigo Frost?"

"I don't think he is who he claims to be." Rex leaned back and waited. He felt a burn on his neck as a dim glow shined. He grabbed the Dark Alicorn Amulet. "He couldn’t seem to recall that the real Indigo Frost was the last owner of this magical trinket."

"But..." Topaz Silk posed as her hand dropped while a notepad and an inked feather floated up with her magic.

"But when I tried playing a few bluffs, he saw right through them."

"So, he's not its original owner. Yet, he knows of its powers." Topaz Silk waved the inked feather around before writing some notes.

"Not all the powers..." Rex dropped the Dark Alicorn Amulet back down to his chest. "Let me rephrase, I don't think he knows all of its abilities." His eyebrow raised. "Hmm, he mentioned somepony had told him some things."

"This creature is a curious thing. Are we sure he is even a wendigo? If we assume he is lying about being the former king, then what if he is also lying about being a wendigo as well?”

Rex’s eyes flared up. “Whoever he claims to be, one thing is for sure, he is a wendigo. No other beast could manipulate ice like them.” Rex’s eyes widened, and he stood up.

“What is it?” Topaz Silk straightened herself and stopped writing.

Rex whispered some words before walking out, “We need to talk somewhere more private.” He looked at the backdoor. Clover stopped her praying as the two made their way to the door. She got up and walked over to them.

A short, tan earth pony colt with a brown mane ran past Clover and to the alicorn. “Holy Mare, Holy Mare. Bless the Lord and his goodness.”

Topaz Silk stopped and padded the child on the head, “No, child, bless your joyous kindness for he is always with you.”

Clover walked over to Rex as Topaz Silk talked to the child more. She stood by Rex’s shoulder and looked at the child as he ran through his words with little thought. She turned her face to Rex and moved to grab his hand.

Rex pulled his hand away from her inadvertently. He reached over and pulled the alicorn away from her work. Feeling the hand slip away from her, Clover’s eyes fell timidly and blinked twice. She stood straight and tapped her feet while waiting for Rex to get done.

“Enough, we have work to do. You can talk to the child later.” Rex pulled at Topaz Silk's shoulder harder.

Topaz Silk ignored him and kept to her holy duties, telling the child all that was needed until the child calmly walked away. She watched the child quickly get back to his parents. She waved at them as they went to a spot and sat down. “Such a delicate child. He will make a fine follower.”

“Right, lead him straight into that beast’s--” Rex stopped his words and dropped his arm. He looked back to see Clover tugging on one of his scarves. “I mean, we need to get back… back to work.” His fist tightened.

A twitch twisted in Topaz Silk’s pure form, but with a deep breath she calmed herself into a smile and turned around, “I told you before manners are everything.” She looked at the giant centipede statue before walking to the backdoor. “We must always keep the appearance of a peaceful belief.”

“Fine...” Rex tried his best to keep his eyes from ever looking at the giant centipede statue as he walked. Clover spoke words under her breath while keeping one eye on the statue.

The three went through the back door and entered a small hallway with two paths. One led to the back exit, the other led to a dead end with a picture on it. Topaz Silk walked down the other hallway to the dead end and the others followed slowly behind her.

“I see you fix the passage, Holy Mare.” Clover scanned over the wall.

“Why thank you, dear.” Topaz Silk tipped her head as she stopped at a picture of a giant gem. “I had to make sure no random pony found the place. And even if they did, without my magic, they could never enter.”

She placed her hand over the picture and the gem in the picture glowed brightly, a symbol on her hand followed. The glow revealed a centipede symbol on both the picture and her hand. The hallway shook and twisted around, revealing a new opening.

******

Back in the village, ponies walked around and explored through the thinning remaining snow under the glorious afternoon Sun. Starlight practically was pulling Twilight around to many shops as they gathered up supplies. The teacher didn’t mind all of this walking and she could still get plenty of reading done.

The problem lay in the boxes. “Starlight, don’t we have enough already?” Twilight twisted the massive amount the laughter of a few fillies.

Starlight turned to her with more boxes. She stopped and moved her head upward, tracing over the height of the current amount in Twilight’s magical grasp. “Sorry, is it too much for you?”

“Not really... it's getting a little hard to keep up with my book.”

“Really? How many times are you going to read that book?”

“Oh, come on, Dr. H. P. Bloodcraft is the only talented writer of this time. Besides, the only other thing I brought to read is history books from our time.”

“You mean future books. But wouldn’t that be dangerous?” Starlight winked at her.

“Yeah, I know, but I enjoy comparing facts too.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow at those words. “Fine, give me some of them. I could make it my training for today.”

Twilight pulsed some magic around and moved a few of the boxes over to her student. “You are not getting off that easily.” Starlight didn’t catch them in time and they slipped from her magic.

“Wow, look out.” A red magic aura grasped the boxes before they fell onto Twilight's left side. The magic belonged to a dark lavender unicorn stallion of thin build with winter blue eyes and a crimson red mane sliding on one side wearing an unkempt white dress shirt, pants, and a loose green bowtie. He had rushed over at the sight of the fall.

Starlight stepped to one side, watching as he slipped into the snow. Both of them stopped to stare at the thin stallion for a second. Starlight let loose a little laugh, “Sorry Twilight. I guess I shouldn’t have been standing in your blind spot.”

“No, it’s okay Starlight, I should have been paying more attention.” Twilight put one hand on her left eye and rubbed it while dropping her other hand down to help the thin stallion. “You okay, Crimson?”

“Yes… Yes.” The stallion stood up and smiled while giving the boxes to Starlight. “Here.”

“Oh Crimson C. Magic, what are you doing here?” Starlight raised her hands to her face as if she had a delayed reaction.

“Well, it wasn’t like I was stalking… I mean, I was walking behind you… I mean, walking in the same direction… I mean,” he corrected himself multiple times in quick succession.

“It’s okay, hey you mind staying here with my teacher while I go drop these off.”

“Sure” He straightened himself.

“What?…” Twilight turned to Starlight with confusion, only to find that she had vanished with all the boxes.

******

The sounds of Starlight reappearance filled the tavern as she placed the boxes down. She lifted her nose to the air and took in the smells of lemons and pine. There was also a minor smell of purple grapes in the air as well, but this was distinctly different from the smell of everything else.

Granny Apple walked back from the kitchen as the wave of wind from the teleport exited the building, knocking her mane around. “Well. I have Twilight’s favorite snack cleaned up and sitting in the back. I assume the plan went perfectly?” She pulled the net out of her mane and over to the sink.

Starlight was quick to walk over to a chair and sit down. “It went perfectly. he could have shown up a little faster.”

“Crimson is a nice stallion, but he is often too shy to do such reckless things.” Granny Apple emptied the sink and turned to the cabinets behind it.

“Well, hopefully, he can keep calm enough to distract her. That teacher of mine has made it very clear to me she did not have a relationship with anypony while we are here, it would be rather nice for her to have somepony to talk to that isn’t me.” Starlight nodded her head in a steady motion as she used her magic to move a box full of new cups over to the bar.

“Of course, besides you need to have more time with my son.”

Starlight’s face broke at that comment as red flooded her face. “Granny Apple, that is not what I said at all. You know very well Silver Pear hits on every mare… and stallion… and even trees.”

“Yes, but you are the only one that he calls Lovely.” Granny Apple quickly caught the box in her hand. She gave little care to its enormous weight and sat it on the countertop.

“Enough with that nickname.” Starlight gave a small giggle as her face fell forward and her mane dragged over her eyes as magic gripped more boxes. “He’s nice, but frankly not my type… Now let's get the stuff ready.”

Granny Apple walked over to the window and smiled. “Don’t rush too much. It’s only the afternoon.”

“Yeah, I guess you are right.” Starlight stared at the Sun shining over the village. “And it is a beautiful afternoon.”

Suddenly, a streak of light went over her eyes for only a moment. “Wait, what is that?” She put the boxes down and walked closer. She opened the window and pointed to a shiny object moving through the sky.

“What do you mean? Do you see something?” The object moved out of sight before Granny Apple could see it.

“I’m not sure. It’s too far to see now, but it looked like a gem… in the middle of the sky.”

"First moving statues, now flying gems. Things certainly sound strange nowadays.” Granny Apple went back to what she was doing.

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Starlight leaned her arms onto the rim of the window and gazed at the Sun and sky. “Things are changing in this world in a way.” Her voice lowered to a whisper, “Maybe this world will one day be like the Equestria we… used to live in.” Her eyes lowered, and she gripped her elbows tightly.

*****

The Sunlight flew over the village and into the Cerberus Plains. Tracing beyond the plains, the light cracked through the Pegasus Isles above the Batpony Canyons and finally crashed into the mighty Celestial Ocean.

On the other side of the ocean lay two powerful civilizations. On the outskirts of them laid a large gray prison covered in writing, very unfamiliar to any equine of this time. Its windows were covered in thick black bars and the walls were even thicker.

The Sun’s light wanted to shine on this building, yet whatever light got through seemed almost tented in color.

This did little to deter a group of storm clouds as they swarmed over. Despite the dark color of the clouds, no rain was falling out. The storm clouds seemed strangely calm… that is, until they were completely over the prison. The clouds rumbled and churned until finally a single snowflake broke and fell to the building. The snowflake's familiar red hue shined bright against the dark backdrop.

The red snowflake descended to the building quickly but was stopped in midair. Nothing was holding it up, yet there it lay as if it was on some sort of surface. It stayed there for a few moments, looking down upon the building.

Down below, two griffins in armor walked out of the building’s bolted door entrance. “Damn it, something is standing on the invisible wall again.” The younger griffin pulled out his wings and flew upward.

“It’s probably a bird.” The older griffin pulled out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth before taking it to the sky as well. Annoyance grew over the two as they reached the top, yet their faces turned to confusion as they saw the red snowflake lying on the wall.

“How did a snowflake get this far into warm weather?” The older one questioned as he lit his cigarette.

“I don’t know. But it’s red. I’ve never seen a red snowflake before.” The younger one looked up and saw the clouds quickly dispersed.

“Hmm, looks more like apple red rather than plain red.” The older one pulled out his cigarette to puff.

“Nah, closer to a scarlet red, or maybe cranberry red--” the younger one stopped himself and facepalmed. “Wait, why are we arguing over the hue? You know the rules of the prison. Nothing, but the light of the heavens gets in here.” On that, he grabbed a strange glove and pulled it over his claw. He then reached outward as his gloved claw went through the invisible wall.

He grabbed the red snowflake and tried to crush it. “What the beak?”

“What is it?” The older one pulled his cigarette away and puffed once more, then he flew closer. “Why isn’t it crushing?”

“I don’t know. It feels like I’m trying to break iron.” The younger one struggled.

“Try harder.”

“I am!”

The loudness of the younger one’s voice echoed down to the prison’s nearest window. Inside, the sounds woke a prisoner. It was a dark blue hippogriff with green eyes and purple wings in a black and white shirt and pants. He stretched outward as he stood. However, as soon as he saw the red snowflake, his eyes went wide.

“Hmp, about time. I was thinking this punk had declined our offer.” He reached his arm out of the window and smiled. “Yo griffs, you can stop,” he spoke in a terrible attempt at a gangster-like style that gave little sign of respect or care to anypony. “That thing won’t be crushed. You best stop before my new boss stallion gets annoyed.”

The older one looked over to the window. “Quiet you!” He yelled to the hippogriff.

“Puh, I warned you.”

“I said shut it--” The older one stopped at the sounds of wails of the younger griffin filling the area. He looked at his friend. “What’s wrong…?” His words stopped again at what he saw.

The younger griffin’s hand was freezing at a fast rate, right to the bone. In pure reaction, he pulled his claw through the wall, pulling the red snowflake with it. He held his claw close as it twisted in agony. “Ah!! Make it stop!”

“Yo Frosty, go ahead, make it stop,” the hippogriff fell onto the floor laughing his head off. At those words, the red snowflake pulled free from the griffin’s hand.

Once back in the sky, the red snowflake spun around faster than the eye could keep up with. The ice over the griffin’s arm quickly filled with cracks. “No, please don’t!!” The last scream was quickly halted as the griffin’s arm shattered.

Filled with shock, the young one fell to the ground. The older one dropped his cigarette and flew down after him, not even watching where the red snowflake was at.

The red snowflake flew into the room with the hippogriff and across the room. “Yo, out of all the creatures you have brought under your icy breath, it is an honor that you would choose me.”

“If you knew what honor even was, I would consider letting you have a quicker death. Now silence yourself, Night Sting.” The red snowflake flew right up to the hippogriff's throat. “And what makes you think I’m here for you?” Indigo Frost’s annoyance reverberated from the red snowflake.

“Because I’m one of the most dastardly killers in here.” Night Sting jumped back.

“How droll, but very true. I’m here for your brother, Night Fiend. But you two are a packaged deal from what words tell.”

“That’s true. My big bro and I don’t go anywhere alone.”

“Fine, but where is your brother?”

“Five miles down below. They didn’t want a creature like him near any bodies.”

“Damn, here.” On that, the red snowflake transformed into a strange round sphere and flew right into the wall behind Night Sting.

Night Sting looked at the object in confusion until a big grin formed. “Oh I see, you’re not even here.”

“Indeed. This is simply one of my many snowflakes. Think of it as literally a piece of me. I can use them to see nearly everything within the right range.”

“Why would you need to use such a thing?”

“Because I’m currently on the other side of the map talking with an old ally. Now use this to go get your brother free.” On that, the sphere went silent and transformed into a dagger.

The sounds of loud banging filled the room as the guard knocked on the door. “Stand back, prisoner, we are coming in.”

Night Sting stood up and pulled the dagger out of the wall. “Hmm, I guess that means it is finally time... for the Night Brothers to be free.”

******

Author's Note:

A lot of things are moving, aren't they? I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was probably the hardest one to get out so far since life problems kept getting the way of my fine-tuning this chapter.

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