Chapter 29- Chosen
Seeing the first glimpse of light was like awakening from a dream. Compared to the previous darkness, this thin stream of brightness was blinding, like a solid white gas pouring into the depths, promising an end to the crawling inside these tunnels.
“We’re here!” Honeydew shouted with glee. Our resolve renewed, we practically ran through the final stretch, even as our eyes hurt from the sudden adjustment to daylight, despite the weary exhaustion that had set in during our long trek.
Finally, at the outskirt of the tunnel, we broke down. Cold air swept into our hole, making the ground mildly uncomfortable to sit on, but that couldn't stop us from grinning as we looked straight out the side of a steep slope. Only our exit seemed to be in a nearly vertical, rocky outcrop, which had prevented the snow from completely blocking the tunnel.
Taking a deep breath of the fresh, cold air, I started stretching my hooves- and howled in pain as my limbs cramped up, causing me to roll up on the ground.
Honeydew and Kalypso immediately rushed to make sure I was okay. To my endless dismay, neither of them even seemed very stiff in their movements!
“Hurts?” Honeydew whispered, wearing a gentle smile.
How dare you not share in my suffering?! “Y-yes…” I gasped, breathing through my teeth as pain flared through my legs. Stupid able-bodied forest-dwellers...
If Honeydew was aware of my brain’s lashing out, he didn’t show a sign as he set his bags down on the ground. A moment later, a delicious smell reached my nose as he uncorked one of the ant-skulls he used as containers. He raised the skull to his lips, drinking from it like one would from a bowl. As he pulled away, his mouth was stained in a blue-ish substance, which he eagerly lapped up. “Drink.” he offered, holding the skull out for me.
Somewhat reluctant to touch the body part after the battle we’d witnesses… sorta, I instead opted to pick it up in my magic, eliciting a surprised yelp from Honeydew as it was snatched from his hooves and raised to my lips.
A sweet taste of mulberry rolled onto my tongue as a thick, almost goopy mass, more like cupcake batter than a fluid. My surprise was easily beaten by my hunger though, as I practically shoveled the food down my gullet, moaning as delicious calories began to fill up the cavern that had opened in my stomach. I breathed a relieved sigh as I set the empty skull down, my hunger sated for the moment. Only then did I notice the giggling coming from Honeydew and Kalypso.
“You eat like you thought it was going to run away if you gave it a chance.” he chuckled. “Just like the first time we met, remember?”
I just nodded, not trusting my voice enough to attempt to speak. I already felt heat growing in my cheeks as I remembered back to how I’d devoured the food he’d offered, the glimpse of shame as I’d been certain I’d eaten more than he’d intended to share- did I really have a habit of tossing all dignity aside if I went even just a day without food?
And with hayburgers. A voice in my head pointed out.
Oh, hey, snarky brain! I almost missed you. I thought back, rolling my eyes. I could almost ignore the raised eyebrows of my friends. Instead, I simply leaned against the wall, content to just rest my legs, allowing my overtaxed muscles to untense. “I’m gonna be so sore tomorrow…” I sighed, levitating a bit of snow over and letting it melt in my mouth. Drinking like this made my gums ache, but it was certainly better than having to carry all our water with us. To my left, I saw Kalypso chewing on a sizeable chunk of walnut, her eyes closed, making her look half-asleep. “Should we really eat this much of our supplies?” I wondered.
“You’re one to ask, you glutton.” Kalypso replied dryly.
“We all need to regain our strength if we want to find the pond.” Honeydew interjected diplomatically. “Especially Twilight, she’ll need to be as fit as she can possibly be.” he added with a pointed look to Kalypso.
“But what if we don’t find it?” I argued, a bit louder than intended. “What if we run out of food first?”
Honeydew glanced out into the snowy landscape before shaking his head. “I can’t believe the gods would set us on the wrong path.” he replied, a steely undercurrent of conviction ringing is his voice.
“Though sometimes it is hard for us to determine which path they are meaning for us to take.” Kalypso said as she drew herself up. “But we are close. I can feel it.”
“Then we’ll be on our way soon.” Honeydew grinned. “We’ll just give Twilight a bit more rest and then we’re off!”
Excuse me? A part of me wanted to call him out on that remark, but it was massively overshadowed by the realization that the others were already good to go after just those few minutes! I’d thought that I’d somewhat acclimated to the physical requirements of breezie life. Now was another reminder that I was still not even keeping up.
Though, I supposed if I was feeling generous in my interpretation, he could have meant that I needed to be in full possession of all my strength, while the others just needed to endure the march to our goal. Yes, that had to be what he really meant. After all, they weren’t looking forward to the possibility of battling a powerful spirit… A shudder went down my back as I remembered the deathly cold of the windigo’s magic as it surged against my shield, taking every ounce of my strength just to not falter. I must have taken it by surprise back then, being able to resist its attack. I swallowed, feeling a lump in my throat that I just couldn't swallow down. I wouldn’t have the element of surprise this time. If it came to a fight, I’d have to match myself directly against it!
“Hey, Twilight.” I could hear Honeydew say, his tone entirely casual. “I wondered what you were planning to do after all this.”
After-? This question came so out of left field that I spent a moment just staring at him dumbfounded. “I- I suppose it wouldn’t be too hard travelling back without the magical winter, right?”
“The snow might not melt away entirely, but if it ends the ant’s problems, they might be willing to restock our supplies for our way home.” he paused, his feelers drooping a bit. “But what I wanted to ask… after all this, would you like to stay with us?”
My eyes widened. “I-” I began, but my voice broke. I’d always taken it for granted that I’d be coming back to Equestria. Sure, I had also considered how it would be to spend my life in this world, but only as a worst case scenario in which I couldn't return. But now… I pictured myself as part of the clan. Spending days of bad weather with Kalypso, discussing theories of magic and how it could pertain to her talents. Bringing small pieces of knowledge and technology to the clan and seeing it advance. Spending the nights with Honeydew, drinking fermented berry-juice with him as we made each other laugh over the silliest things… not having to leave him behind. For one brief moment, I wondered if this was the sort of life I could have here.
But then, I remembered those I would be leaving behind. My duty to the ponies of Equestria, who believed in their princess. My family, which was certainly worried sick about me and who couldn't bear if I just disappeared. And my friends, who I dearly missed, whose advise I’d craved so many times in this world.
Breathing a long sigh, I felt my antennae hanging close to my cheeks as I met his eyes. “I’m… sorry, Honeydew.” I said, feeling every word ache inside me. “But I have a life in Equestria. It’s too much to leave behind.”
“I understand.” he whispered, yet his voice rang hollow. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to expect this from you.”
We both stared at the ground in awkward silence.
“What if you come with her?” Kalypso offered.
“I can’t just go away.” he shook his head, giving me a sad glance. “I have duties to the clan. My sisters need me-”
“And that’s already like trying to steal honey from an angry bee-swarm.” she interjected. “You know Skylla isn’t going to forgive you, even if you stopped being a scout and took care of Harpy all the time.”
“That doesn’t mean it would be right to abandon them!”
“Well, you can keep trying the impossible and do both those things, or you could go with her.” Kalypso crossed her hooves.
“I- uhm…” I began, biting my lip as I tried to think of the right words. My heart yearned for him to agree, but I couldn't, wouldn’t allow myself to push him into a situation he would regret. “I would be glad to have you with me.”
Honeydew sat back, his eyes quickly darting to me before he fixated his glance on Kalypso. “Did the gods tell you what my future was going to be?”
At that, Kalypso jumped up, snarling as her voice rose heatedly. “Even if they did, I wouldn’t tell you. This is not their decision, it’s yours!”
“I-” he looked impossibly conflicted as he once again met my eyes. “I would be lying if I claimed that the thought of a world with things as big as you are… where that is normal, doesn’t scare me.” he swallowed. “And the clan needs a scout, especially once the snow melts. I’m needed here.”
“Maybe if we can find some sort of regularity in the portal…” I muttered. But I was acutely aware that this kind of study might take years, and that was if there even was an order to it.
Kalypso turned from one to the other, impatiently tapping her hoof. Eventually, she cleared her throat. “You know, I had a vision that you two were going to kiss now.”
Raising an eyebrow, I gave her a sceptical look. “I highly doubt that you did.” I claimed. The way she’d always explained it, her visions were usually strange and wrapped in metaphor, not something as clear as that!
Then I met Honeydew’s eyes as he drew closer, and my argument melted like a slice of butter in the dragonlands.
“We shouldn’t keep the gods waiting.” he whispered amusedly, his hoof reaching out for mine.
As I sank into his embrace, I saw Kalypso’s smug wink. Damn charlatan.
----
Eventually, our rest came to an end, when Kalypso poked me out of a tired stupor. With a gasp, I shook my head, trying to clear my mind.
“It’s too early to sleep yet.” Honeydew chuckled as he put on his bag once more.
“And we’re too close.” Kalypso whispered before leading the way out into the snow. The sun shone through small gaps in a gloomy sky, bathing us in a short-lived beam of light. Heaving a sigh, I began spreading my wings, feeling the muscles complain after such a long time of disuse. A small breeze tried to blow us off-track. It was gentle, yet delivering a freezing bite as it forced me to copy Kalypso’s motions in order to correctly ride the air currents. The seer was now leading, her feelers occasionally twitching in the air as he head spun around, like she was desperately seeking something she’d lost.
Unintelligible, even over such a soft breeze, I could nonetheless make out that she was mumbling to herself, at a rapid pace too. Like when I stood infront of a classroom before an exam, repeating all my notes to myself at nauseam. At least that had clear right and wrong answers. The wind slowly picked up, forcing us to correct our course, as our breath became thick fog, yet containing little warmth as I blew against my hoof.
After the slope, we had to glide around a stony hill, before we finally got inside the blessed windshield of surrounding trees, allowing us to steer more freely. And yet, the wind wasn’t just weaker…. It was like it had disappeared completely, which didn’t make sense considering how far apart the trees were, I probably could have flown through them as a pony without even paying much attention, and I was not a great flier.
“They’re old…” Honeydew said as he caught up, now flying next to me as he stared up at the trees, which I new realized were also much larger than any of the ones I’d seen before in the breezie world, their bark looking so thick and gnarly that I had no trouble imagining that they had been here for millenia, before the rest of the forest had even begun to take root. “We call them guardians.” he whispered, awestruck. “Their memories go so far back, they could have witnessed the gods themselves as they walked the same ground we do now.”
I simply nodded. While I wasn’t sure of that sentiment, I knew that trees could grow thousands of years old. If they could talk, what could they tell us about our history? What did they witness that even Celestia and Luna might have missed? Shelving those questions to the back of my mind, I simply looked over the barren trees, feeling an odd sense of peacefulness. Maybe the breezies were starting to turn me into a nature-lover. Heh… Fluttershy would be overjoyed if she knew. And yet, there was something else in the air, something that made my skin tingle-
My eyes widened as I noticed the sudden shift, like entering a snowstorm from an unheated home. The others had caught up a moment later, as we all stemmed our wings against the wind as best as we could, slowing ourselves into a controlled descent, nervously glancing in all directions, expecting that ethereal hollering to start at any moment. Yet all we heard as we landed was eerie silence, dampened by the fluttering of gently falling snowflakes.
The snow crept up to my knees as I stumbled forward in my somewhat clumsy landing. Honeydew was quickly at my side to stabilize me, but he didn’t chuckle as he usually would. His eyes were darting from tree-top to tree-top, his breath strained as he went to check up on Kalypso. “Where do we have to go now?” he quietly asked, brushing a bit of snow from her back.
“T-this way…” she whispered, her hoof jutting out at a mighty, old tree, with bark so deeply wrinkled that entire clumps of snow and ice had gotten stuck in the chasms. Meanwhile, it's branches grew so thick, they blocked out the sky, even without a single leaf adorning them.
And then, nearly causing us all to bury ourselves in the snow, we heard it, an echoing nicker, just as the windigo flew above the treetops, its empty eyesockets scanning the ground. I couldn't breathe, it was as if I’d lost all feeling in my throat. Then, the moment passed, as the spirit took seat atop the very tree Kalypso had pointed out…
Kalypso whimpered. “D-does it know?” her voice was subdued, terrified that the smallest sound could attract the adversary to come down upon us. “I-I can feel the source of my vision, it’s by that tree, but how can we get to it when it is watching?!” Even as quiet as she was, she managed to sound hysterical.
“At least it doesn’t seem like it knows we’re here.” Honeydew pointed out. His eyes hadn’t left the spirit for a moment, while it slowly drifted around the tree, sometimes passing right through a branch, sometimes snapping off another, like it was somehow both incorporeal and… not! The effect it had on the weather was clear, however. What had just been a gentle, if cold breeze had now grown into a more aggressive wind sweeping through the trees, blowing up snow into our sides, where it stung like small, sharp needles. Shivering, he turned glance at each of us. “We have to sneak past it.”
“It’s gonna kill us…”
“One way or the other, Kalypso.” he lowered his head. “We don’t have what we need to survive an eternal winter. Maybe the earth spirits will awaken and fight it off as you said, but who knows what kind of damage that could cause? Those spirits wouldn’t care if we got caught in the middle of their battle. Like it or not, your vision is our best hope.”
“My vision could be wrong… or- or I could have misread it!”
“Kalyspo!” I met her eyes, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “I believe in you, okay, and- and…” I ran out of words. The whole speech I had prepared seemed to fall apart in my hooves. Taking a long breath, I grimaced as the icy air stung in my throat. “And let’s just go already, I’m freezing my hooves off!”
Despite the freezing temperature, despite our situation, Kalypso’s eyebrow rose in faint amusement. “That was terrible.” she said, a faint smirk twisting her lips. “Good to see you’re the same old Twilight!” Suddenly, she threw her hooves around my chest. Surprised by the sudden hug and the tight squeeze that followed, I tried my best to give it a dignified response. It went something along the lines of ‘hurk!’
It wasn’t easy, plodding through the snow, especially when you had to do it while evading the watchful eyes of a spirit both able and willing to turn you into a living icicle… which would then rapidly become a dead one. Thank the gods (and Celestia) that we were so small. Still, we’d first skirted below the branches of another tree, getting us out of the direct line-of-sight of the spirit. Nor did we leave any unnecessary tracks, allowing our tails to sweep the snow back into our hoofprints, helping to at least somewhat cover them. But this also made us slow, and every passing minute had our nerves laid even more bare. The temperature did the rest. Being so directly in its sphere of influence meant that there was no place the cold couldn't get to. My ears ached horribly, surging with pain each time the wind blew against us once more. My feelers were so numb that at one point, I actually checked if they hadn’t fallen off already, and my hooves felt like bloody stumps with shards of ice sticking out of them. My companions didn’t seem much better. Honeydew still trudged on bravely, but even he sometimes stopped to rub his hooves together or mutter a breezie-curse I wasn’t familiar with. Kalypso meanwhile had stuck the tip of her antennae inside her own mouth in a desperate attempt to suckle out the numbness.
Yet despite all that, we’d barely crossed half the distance. And to top it all off, the windigo had made no sign of wanting to leave anytime soon. Maybe I could… make it easier? Squinting, I could just about make out the top of my horn, adorned by snowflakes. I couldn't exactly summon a fire, that would alert the spirit for with its light, but… maybe if I cast it onto the ground, the fire would be hidden, and we would have warm vapour welling against us from below. It was hidden, subtle and, as long as I didnt overdo it, not very taxing either. Shivering, I waited until we were once more hidden behind the thick, low-hanging branches of another tree. “Don’t be startled.” I quietly told the others. With my horn lighting up, I smirked as a soft hiss reached my ears. Warmth rolled over my frozen limbs, so strong in the sudden contrast that it was on the border of being painful, like jumping into a hot tub after a visit to Yakyakistan.
But whatever enjoyment I could have had was brutally whisked away by a long, hollering shout from above. The windigo had launched itself from the treetops, surging toward our position like an eagle to its prey. With a stifled scream, I threw myself into the snow, hoping it would hide my from the spirits wrath. A moment later, I felt my back’s nerves cry out in pain as something unbelievably frigid lanced through the air, just a few inches above me.
“Twilight!” I heard Honeydew’s panicked voice. Tearing my head out of the snow, I spotted him and Kalypso wildly gesturing near a tree-stem, they’d chosen flight instead of hiding. Suddenly, a thick branch rammed into the snow beside me, entirely encompassed in ice. Rolling out of my hole, I felt my eyes widen. The windigo’s attack had torn through the tree’s branches, tearing many right off. But those at the periphery had instead frozen solid, turned into icicles more than living wood, some of them long enough to injure a pony if one landed on them. Then I heard a loud crack. Driven entirely by instinct, I was on my hooves before I knew it, running from a barrage of frozen wood plunging down, narrowly missing me as I dashed towards Kalypso’s shouts. My heart hammering, I launched myself the final few steps into the relative safe zone below the stem. They caught me, pulling my to the stem where I told my thundering heart to calm down. Then, looking up through the breach in the branches, I came eye to eye with the windigo. Its eye sockets glew in a deep blue, encompassing me in their deathly cold, freezing the blood in my veins as I felt my sweat crystallize on my skin. A scream tore it's way out of my throat as the beast’s jaw opened, an icy glow in its throat foretelling the next attack.
My horn sparked as I grabbed Honeydew’s and Kalypso’s hooves, the breezies only staring in horror as the spirit unleashed its attack.
Gasping the icy air, we popped into existence at the base of the large tree, my heart about to suffocate in adrenaline as I jumped to my hooves. This was now the second time I’d escaped the spirit by a hair’s breath. I heard the windigo’s angered scream, but I wasn’t planning to give it time to find us again. “KALYPSO!” I shouted, slapping the stunned breezie awake. “Where’s your pond?”
“I-” she turned around, fearful confusion on her face as she tried to process our teleportation. “Over there!” With that, she took off, climbing over the tree’s roots, just as I heard branches snapping and I was sure the spirit was back in the air once again.
“In that hole!” Kalypso pointed down at a tiny fissure in a large ball of roots almost hidden in the snow. With a quick look to confirm Honeydew was behind us, I followed her through the slit. Instantly, my hooves lost purchase, sending me tumbling down a steep wall of moist earth, before coming to a sudden stop. I could hear the spirit’s enraged snarl, the crackle of its magic freezing the very air, but it didn’t seem to know where he’d gone. If I wasn’t nursing a good dozen new sores from my fall, I would have sighed in relief. Instead, I had to suppress a yelp as Honeydew came to a sudden halt by smacking into my side. Able to recover first, I helped him get to his hooves before we took a look at our new surroundings.
Steep muddy walls ran below the knot of roots, creating a crater, possibly large enough for a pony foal to fit into. Rays of sunshine fell through various tiny cracks in the wooden covering. One fell right upon Kalypso, her dark green locks shimmering as she raised her head slightly to catch more of the light. The brightness and amount of this light didn’t quite seem feasible considering how dark the sky had been. Nor did these roots make much sense, since they hung above the hole as if they had grown specifically to keep this place protected. And at the very center bottom of the hole was a pool of water, just wide enough for one breezie to fit inside, twinkling in a ray of sunshine. “This is it!” I felt a smile grow on my lips as I stopped just at the edge of the pond, marvelling at the darkness of the water, there was no telling how deep it was. “Kalypso, we’re at the place you’ve seen!”
But the seer didn’t cheer. Instead, her lips trembled as she stared at the water, her expression a mixture of confusion and disbelief. “It- it’s supposed to be frozen.” she whispered quietly.
I blinked, my face falling. “Then- this isn’t the place?!”
She shook her head. “No, This is the right place, it’s just how I’ve seen it, except that this water-” her hoof shot out, plunging into the water, causing it to splash over both our hooves. “-should be frozen!” shouting that last word, she stamped her hoof, causing more mud to splash around as she twisted her head, inspecting every inch of the cavern. “So is this what I dragged you all out for? Are we too late? Too early? THIS IS JUST WATER!”
“Kalypso,” Honeydew reached out for her, but she shrugged his hoof off. “Maybe it just wasn’t what you thought it meant-”
At that, the seer whirled around, her red and yellow eyes ripped wide open. “I didn’t know what it meant! That’s why we came here, because I thought this place would have answers! W-we took a huge risk to even come here, we almost died! Numerous times, and-” a shiver went through her body, and with a shock, I realized there were tears forming in her eyes. “Don’t you get it? You followed me here because I believed this was going to help us, based on nothing! And you believed me, everyone believes me.” her voice grew hysterical as she turned back toward the pond, her feelers glowing in angry light. “INSTEAD, WE CAME HERE FOR A PUDDLE!” With a final cry, she broke down to the ground.
“Kalypso…” I began, feeling the dread begin to settle in my heart. “There must have been a reason you saw this place in your vision.”
“You are chosen by the gods.” Honeydew added sincerely. “They would never mislead you.”
“I am chosen?” Kalypso whispered, drawing herself, her face twisting into a snarl as she glared at Honeydew. “I AM CHOSEN? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! That I constantly have strange things in my head that I have to make sense of? Does it mean that I always have to be right, or that you will keep believing no matter how much i’m wrong?! LOOK AROUND YOU! IT’S A PUDDLE!”
“M-maybe-” he admitted, taking a step back, before giving me a help-seeking glance. But I couldn't bring out a word. After all, she was right! We’d all followed her because we believed in her dream, that it would somehow help us, and now we were stuck! Stuck in a hole with a puddle and a powerful spirit outside that would attack us the moment we left… maybe we would be able to sneak out at night or something, but then what? We’d try to outlast an eternal winter? There was no way I was going to leave these breezies behind by going through the portal by myself! Maybe if I took them with me- But no! More mud splashed under my hooves as I let out an angry whinny. This was their home, they shouldn’t have to abandon it! Even if I could come back with help to drive off the spirits, who knew what it could have done to this place in the meantime? If the rock spirits or whatever rose up and their fight destroyed the landscape? And what of the other clans? We couldn't evacuate them all, not with how sporadically the portal opened! If it opened in time at all!
I bit my lips, glancing to Kalypso, crying on the ground. Honeydew, trying desperately to comfort her, even as open fear was written in his face. Both dreading their future, the future of their clan. A clan that has taken me in, even if some had been skeptical. A clan that included Kalypso and Honeydew, who had become my friends! Pressing air through my teeth, I began to ascend the muddy walls, garnering surprised looks from the others.
“W-where are you going?” Honeydew stammered. “It could still be out there!”
“I’m banking on it.” I replied, huffing as my hooves finally found a good halt on the walls.
Kalypso’s head shot up, realization dawning on her face as she scrambled to her hooves. “T-Twilight, no! You said that it was stronger than you are, we went here to look for something that could help you!”
“Well, there isn’t anything here, is there?” After a glance to my friends, I shot my glare at the roots above. “I am not letting it destroy our clan, not if I have any chance to stop it!”
Suddenly, Honeydew came into view next to me, his wings wide open to catch any wind that would help him climb. “T-then I’m coming with you.”
“We both are.” Kalypso said, climbing just behind him.
“No!” I protested. “You’ll be putting yourselves at risk for no reason!”
“No reason?! If you’re out there, that is reason enough, I am not letting my elska go out there alone.”
“It is our clan.” Kalypso whispered, even as a shudder went through her body. “We all have the right to defend it.”
I opened and closed my mouth, desperately wanting to point out how stupid the decision was, that there was nothing they could do to help me, but one look at Honeydew told me there was nothing I could say that would convince them. They would rather drag me back into the hole than allow me to go alone. As would I, for any of my friends. “Climb in my ears, and hold on tight.” I told them instead, trying to fight the queasy feeling in my stomach.
“We won’t be a liability.” Honeydew whispered the promise as his hoof briefly touched over mine.
“No, you won’t.” I replied, feeling my eyes narrow as I dragged my body out into the open. “Wait a second before you come outside.” I told him, quickly scanning our surroundings. The windigo was once again patrolling above the treetops, searching for us. Gritting my teeth, I inwardly reached for the knot of magic keeping my transformation together. Then, with a mighty yank, it was torn to shreds. Immediately, I felt energy surging into my limbs as I grew, glaring up at the surprised spirit, which stopped in mid-air, taken aback by my sudden appearance.
“Honeydew, Kalypso, hold on!” I shouted as I levitated them into my mane. Their replies were drowned out by an elongated, bone-chilling howl as the windigo shot toward us, Icy magic whirling around its body. With a gasp, I threw myself into the air, narrowly avoiding the unleashed beam of ice-magic that froze the roots below. Ignoring the complaints of my rusty wings, I soared through the trees, intent on getting more distance between us. But the spirit gave close chase, weaving through the forest just as nimbly. Breathing heavily, I summoned a shield infront of my face and straightened my body like an arrow, bursting through the branches of an oak tree.
“Dodge!” Kalypso suddenly shouted in my ear. Instantly, I beat my wings the other way, using the momentum to roll upside down, facing the windigo as another beam shot right above my head, giving me the moment I needed to summon my own spell. A line of magic shot forth from my horn, attaching itself to the windigo’s hoof, before spreading out in runic lines across its form like chains of glowing letters. The spirit hollered, an icy aura appearing over its body, threatening to overtake the seal. Feeling my eye twitch from the exertion, I poured more magic into the spell, grimacing as it began to push back against the spirit’s magic. But then, with a headache-inducing scream, it kicked out, shattering the bonds, sending me tumbling down into the thicket.
I caught myself a good metre above the ground, then spun around to face my enemy. The seal hadn’t worked. It had simply overpowered my magic! It seemed I had to weaken it first.
I spotted the windigo just above the treetops, it’s roar furthering itself in a sudden rumbling, as a squall full of whirled up snow came surging towards me like a tidal wave. Unable to dodge such a widespread attack, I summoned a purple bubble around my body, but what the attack gained in area, it lacked in punch, allowing my shield to easily weather the storm, barely causing a flinch.
Yet that was enough for the windigo, which had used to cover of the storm to close in, it’s eye sockets glinting with cold hatred as it unleashed its icy beam from a hoof’s length away. Taken by surprise and unable to flee, I could only redirect my shield, screaming as the spirit’s magic splashed against it, like an avalanche against a house. Tiny, icy particles bounced off my shield like sparks, delivering nasty bites on whatever part of my body they managed to hit. Another panicked scream burst out of my throat as I felt my horn fizzling, my skull seemingly ready to crack under the pressure. I poured every scrap of magic into my defense until finally, the pressure ceased, as the windigo’s attack ended. Glaring right into its skull-face, unable to summon even the most basic of spells in this moment, I instead struck out my hoof against its cheek.
My blow went right through its ethereal body, feeling like it had just passed through a cold shower. With a sound that almost seemed like a cackle, it struck back, hitting my ribcage like the stomp of a buffalo. I tumbled downwards, getting so low that I could use my hooves to kick myself off the ground once more, beginning to rapidly weave through the trees, constantly changing direction.
“TWILIGHT!” Honeydew shouted in my ear. “ARE YOU OKAY?!”
“I’m fine!” I gasped, heavy on breath, noting how numb my chest felt. Daring a brief look, I was horrified to see red and dark spots in my fur and skin, like an advanced case of frostbite. One thing was clear, a punching match with this creature wouldn’t turn out well for me!
Behind me, I could hear the windigo’s approach. If only I could tire it out somehow, but who knew if these things tired at all! Heaving breath for my rapidly beating heart, I could only just about hear Kalypso’s prayers in my ear, accompanied by the growling of the sky above. My horn ached, but my magic was not completely exhausted yet, though I was sure I had only one or two big attacks left in me. What I needed was an opening, a better one than last time!
“Y-you need to get close to it!” Honeydew announced, moving somewhat inside my ear.
“WHAT?” I exclaimed. “ARE YOU IN-”
Before I could finish the sentence, the windigo suddenly burst through the impossibly thick branches from the tree, it must have flown over the treetops so it wouldn’t have to weave at all! Clenching my teeth, I halted myself as it swooped right at me, magic gathering infront of its mouth for another beam. Kalypso’s whispered prayers rose in my ear.
“CLOSE YOUR EYES!” Honeydew screeched.
I had barely enough time to follow his order as an intense light threatened to lance through even my closed eyelids, leaving an intense afterglow as I opened them. But what I’d suffered, the windigo had it ten times worse, screeching in pain as its magic dissipated into nothing. Seeing my moment, I once more summoned the seal from my horn, watching as it slowly closed around the spirit. But even blinded, disoriented, it fought against the hold, driving sweat out on my forehead as it rammed it’s hooves on the seal, threatening to break it once more!
“S-stay! In! THERE!” I screamed, but it only struggled harder, frazzling the seams of my spell.
Then, I heard it even over our fighting magic, the surrounding storm and my frantic heartbeat. Kalypso sang, a prayer of I didn’t catch, yet each word thundered like a thousand war cries. The next moment, lightning lanced out of the sky, striking the windigo, which reared it’s skeletal face in the sky, it’s resistance momentarily crumbling. Another lightning lance struck the monster, followed by a relentless barrage, as if the heaven itself unleashed its fury upon the icy spirit, which could only tremble before the might of nature. Rearing its head, a scream of agony lost in the booming thunder, it offered no more resistance as the runic cage closed around it, compressing the creature into an ever-shrinking ball, before it surged downward, disappearing into the ground.
Barely able to believe what just happened, I slowly sank to the ground. The clouds above dissipated swiftly, as though they had fulfilled a purpose. Meanwhile. My eyes still ached, afterimages of the sudden thunderstorm dug into my irises, while every sound seemed muted, like the one time I’d been at a club, just worse.
“Did… did we win?” Kalypso’s voice finally pierced through the thunder-induced deafness. Anticipation and disbelief swung in her voice in equal measure.
“I think so.” I muttered as my hooves touched the snowy ground. “What was that?”
Kalypso bit her lip as she climbed down onto my muzzle, where I could squint my eyes to see her. Even now, her antennae sparked with electricity. “I-I don’t know.” she muttered, raising her hoof toward a feeler, then lowering it, as if she was afraid to touch it. “I was so afraid and I wished the gods would help us… and it felt like they did!”
“So the gods do favour you after all.” Honeydew’s voice answered, possibly from atop my horn.
“But- but why?” she exclaimed. “I’m not complaining, but why send me a nonsensical vision?”
“It brought us here.” Honeydew pointed out.
“Yes, but-”
“I think you’re looking at this the wrong way, Kalypso.” I said, feeling a soft smirk on my face as I landed near a hole in the ground, one that had once been hidden by now broken and frozen roots.
her eyes widened. I didn’t see it, but I did not need to as she flew down from my nose into the hole, the bottom of which was covered in blue-ish ice. “It’s frozen…” she muttered. “Just like I saw…”
“Then what you saw wasn’t something to help us win.” I grinned as rached down, allowing her to cling to my hoof as I pulled her back up. “It was our victory.”
“I-” Kalypso muttered, staring back at the ice. “I suppose that makes sense.” After a pause, she added: “I still don’t like my job.”
“Who would?” I chuckled. Then, all of a sudden, pain lanced through my body and I dropped forward into the snow, just slowly enough that Kalypso had a chance to jump off my hoof and safely float down
“TWILIGHT!” Honeydew shouted, shaking off the sudden drop to the ground before climbing off of my head. “Are you okay?!”
“Not gonna die…” I groaned, conscious enough to roll around so my frostbite wouldn’t touch the snow. “Ow… everything hurts.” Despite the pain, and the feeling that something had torn a chunk of flesh out of my chest, I strained my aching hooves to get up.
Honeydew’s jaw dropped open as he looked way up at the raw-looking, hoof-shaped frostbite on my chest. “This looks really bad-”
“I know.” I gasped, still short on breath as I lit my horn, gritting my teeth as I felt my magic fizzle out nearly instantly. This fight had taken nearly everything out of me, so much so that even basic levitation became a chore. At least the battle supplied me with ample supplies of broken twigs and branches I could form into a pyre. Immediately, Honeydew stepped forth, a teeny tiny wooden splinter in his hooves that he obviously intended to light the fire with. Feeling my lips form a smile, I nonetheless blocked his path with my hoof. “Thanks for your effort,” I giggled. “But allow me.”
Closing my eyes, I scrounged up a few remaining pieces of magic within me. Instantly, the pyre went ablaze, basking us all in oh-so welcome warmth and eliciting startled shouts from my tiny companions. Meanwhile, I quietly turned my frostbitten side toward the fire, gritting my teeth as intense pain surged through the frozen flesh. “I think we’re gonna stay here for a while…” I muttered, resisting the urge to touch the spot. Nothing good would come of that. “And I’ll eat the rest of our supplies once I can turn back if you don’t mind…”
“Of course not.” Honeydew said,climbing up to my head, which rested on a branch not needed for the fire yet. “I-I wish there was more I could do for you. You defeated a spirit for us!” he shook his head, amazement clear in his voice. “A spirit! Y-you are amazing, you know that?”
“We fought it together.” I whispered, knowing that my regular voice would be unbearably loud to him. “I could not have done it without you two and your bravery. Do not think you are powerless in this world. I’ve often learned that when you work together, you can defeat anything the world throws at you.” With a nervous swallow, I met his tiny eyes, my voice breathless. “If we worked together, we could defeat anything… that my world threw at us.”
The moment the words were out, I felt myself cringe, wanting to take them back, anything to prevent the possibility of those toothpick-sized hooves utterly crushing my hopes. “I-I love you, Honeydew.”
He blinked, and I briefly realized how absurd it must be for him to hear these words from such a mind-warpingly large creature. But then, wondrously, he came closer, until he disappeared from my view. Yet a moment later, I felt something tickle on my lips, and I subtly pursed them, something fluttery exploding in my chest as we shared the first kiss in our real bodies. Even if I couldn't quite tell when it began or ended.
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This was lovely tho the fight did feel kinda rushed it was still a very good story
9800119
the entire fight or just the ending to it?
I know that I personally cant stand long slogfest where people throw endless punches at one another, I prefer my fights over in ten or less moves
Been waiting 2 weeks for this and was about to go to bed when I checked one last time if there's something new. Woo. A thought came to me when I was reading this. If Honeydew was to go to Equestria, he'd have to learn a new language. After all Twilight is not speaking her native, nor do Breezies here.
Either way, I wonder where things will go from here. The final victory felt a bit... abrupt. A bit of a deus ex machina in there, and somewhat literally, too. :P Not sure how permanently sealed the thing is inside that thimble of a "pool", but I guess that's a future Breezies' problem. Can't wait for the epilogue and also hoping for some sort of a sequel, though at the same time not hyping myself.
Have some possible typos and such:
Her?
I believe the phrase is ad nauseam.
Unless you wanted to say it is or it has, I'd rather go with its.
I might just be missing something at this late hour, but what is the purpose of for in this sentence exactly? Also hey, you used its. :D
Capital I please.
Same as before.
If I got anything wrong, then
burn me at a stakefeel free to point it out. As for me, bed time. It's late. Work in the morning. Good night.9800125
Just the fight it it kinda felt cheep in a way. A breezie just kinda put it to sleep yes twilight did put the sealing spell on it but you can see my point
9800131
thanks for your help, I'm gonna fix this after work tomorrow. I was a bit worn out during the editing phase, and it was bound to happen that something would slip by me. I just didn't want to postpone again ^^
for some reason, the tool im writing with constantly changes my "its" to "it's" when I first type it out. It always stays when I fix it, but they tend to slip through, those mean little buggers
9800136
9800131
What about the part after the fight? I was a bit exhausted when I wrote this, nor did I have a clear plan for the part, so I'm pretty worried how that turned out
9800151
Well I liked it the size diffrence kiss was nice and the vision of victory was clever
Thank for the chapter and yes please I love I finisher chapter
This story was amazing. Purely and simply AMAZING.
Can't wait to read the Epilogue.
Interesting climax, curious for the epilogue - and the legends that shall be born this day. Twilight might not realize it but what she did is almost textbook Divine mythos. A being of unfathomable size and power assumes the form of a mere tiny mortal and appears to them weak and in need of help. It does so in a time of need, testing the worth of their hearts (willingly or not). It proceeds then to learn the ways of the small folk and reward their kindness, ending by defeating the Apocalyptic threat with the help of mortal exemplars.
No matter how much she tries, to the breezies she has set her Divinity in stone and shaped their society for centuries to come. Specially if she marries the hero of legend and has him sire a line of demigods such as breezies with even a sliver of Pegasus, unicorn or Earth pony magic.
That's not even mentioning how the gods in the heavens listened to Kalypso's plea and smote the spirit of winter. One amazing way to show how a seemingly small adventure can be immortalized as one of the greatest sagas of a people, if you're so inclined
9800151
The part after was fine as far as I can tell. Nothing jumped out at me at the very least. The kiss was indeed interesting. I am curious though as to how all of this will end (or continue). There is still quite a bit to wrap up.
9800817
Yeah, a cool idea would be if these breezes are the ancestors of the breezes in the show. Imagine if twilight came to the shows breezie world to find them worshipping her!
I do hope their might be a sequel of Honeydews adventures in equestria I could see it being very interesting
Whoo! Windigo Down! A wonderfully exciting chapter from this wonderfully written story.
Well, I didn't "like it the least", but I think once she came clean, I got the sense Twilight was selling herself and her skills short. This mare faced down Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Lord Tirek, you name it! Be more confident in yourself, filly!
...Understandably, she's out of her element in the Breezie-world, but still, I think Honeydew deserves to see more of Twilight's confident side.
. . .
I'm just now realizing that some of the lack of confidence might stem from an inner conflict not wishing to belittle the Breezie's efforts? So, she's... downplaying herself out of a sense of guilt?
What I liked best ... the world building, the characters, hard to nail that down! It sure is an interesting concept, and you executed it well.
I do hope to see more of it in a sequel, maybe?
...There was something I wanted to bring up for, like, the last three chapters, and I somehow kept forgetting about it:
I don't recall Twilight ever telling Honeydew about her friends. She's told him about some of her world's customs and achievements, but she hasn't told him anything about anypony who lives there, which seemed odd to me.
I truly hope this has a sequel. I could so seeing Rarity and Fluttershy being all over Honeydew.
I could see Pinkie ... uhm ... probably not being the best suited to dealing with tiny creatures.
Honeydew would be pretty floored by her pastries, though.
AJ would respect the hard work of Breezies, and could probably have an interesting conversation with Honeydew about the value of what it means to accomplish things on your own, even when someone else could do it effortlessly in the snap of a claw.
I could see Dash ... trying to wrap her head around how the hero from Twilight's retelling is... well... so tiny and weak, experiencing a sort of "cognitive dissonance" trying to reconcile the mental image with what, to her, looks like a "pretty butterfly".
I could definitely see her trying to overcome her bias, though. Maybe ask Twilight to temporarily turn her into a Breezie to "meet him on his level"?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/4/1/590099.png
I could see other ponies having similar difficulties, though being less receptive to overcome their biases, likely mistaking Honeydew as little more than an exotic pet of Twilight's initially, especially if they either can't hear his tiny voice or don't understand his language.
It's kinda silly and cute if a bunny falls in love with a pony. It's less expected to hear that the pony loves the "bunny" back.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/4/30/1143420.gif
That'd throw them for a loop. Just imagine the Equestrian nobility finding out. Or the newspapers.
"I can't believe it - Princess Twilight, is... is.. seeing a little butterfly as her date? Surely, this must be a joke!"
So... totally a source for potential drama / conflict!
......Alternatively, bring (some of) the Mane 6 in Breezie-form to Honeydew's clan for a visit, that might work too.
...Oh, and there's the tiny detail that Twilight never told him she was a princess.
"No more secrets", I guess that one didn't come up?
I wonder how Honeydew would react to hearing about Princess Celestia, the ruler of all the land who has the power to raise the sun, and Twilight being her former star-pupil.
They'd pretty much assume her a goddess. ...Celestia, I mean. And the concept of being able to just... go up to a "god" and talk to them, and have the conversation be only mildly cryptic... well, I imagine they'd have their own cognitive dissonance trying to reconcile these ideas.
One small correction, the bold underlined word in the above paragraph ought to be ad nauseum.
Hope this helps.
Your friend/fan,
Birdsbooksbrownies
I just nodded, not trusting my voice enough to attempt to speak. I already felt heat growing in my cheeks as I remembered back to how I’d devoured the food he’d offered, the glimpse of shame as I’d been certain I’d eaten more than he’d intended to share- did I really have a habit of tossing all dignity aside if I went even just a day without food?
And with hayburgers. A voice in my head pointed out.
Oh yeah I remember how much you dive into those hey burgers like there's no tomorrow lol
Yeah you kind of forgot Twilight not only you are the princess of friendship but what about your friends and family back home they will miss you so much and you just disappear without a Trace will make it worse for them I know it hurts to leave everybody and seen them sad
Whoa holy mackerel that was pretty epic I have to say so after Twilight in the others finally are out of the ant cave so far they had to rest up first before they keep moving they even talk about what's going to happen after they're done with the mission I must be sad for Twilight to choose when she has to make that choice but it looks like the windigo found them so they had to make it to the frozen pond before the wendigo gets to them it took them a while to get there but then kalypso was in the Panic that this is not how the vision told her because the pond is not Frozen that basically said they just follow a pile of water for nothing despite that they're in a very bad situation Twilight feels like she has to do something to fight this Wendigo but honeydew and kalypso wants to help her no matter how much you protest so Twilight transform back into her Pony self once more to battle the windigo it was a pretty epic battle between these two but somehow despite how powerful the cold is she finally defeated the Wendigo but she doesn't have enough energy to go back home so they had to seek shelter until she recover way to go Twilight you did it