Snowblind

by CrowMagnon

Fear Not the Winter (pt. 2/2)

Snowblind
by crowmagnon

Fear Not the Winter, pt. 2

The unicorn is proving herself to be more helpful than I could have imagined. It is more than simply her willingness to give me what I need in order to save her own family. I feel as though she understands. The bearer of Laughter did not... could not appreciate her situation, and chose to act as though she would blithely skip away unscathed.

Likewise, the armored one outside is so busy making her plans, struggling to determine how she might save everypony without suffering loss. That sense of loyalty and duty may seem to shine like the Summer sun in better days, but I know better. I know how swiftly it can be snuffed out in the cold of Winter.

The unicorn before me knows better. I look into her eyes and I see myself mirrored in them. She understands. I listen to her voice and I hear a life of dreams deferred and baseless hopes set aside so that she can face the truth of things.

She understands that the life she has is a fragile thing. She is not stalling, waiting for the warmth of Spring. She stares into the face of Winter and chooses to do what must be done to protect those that she deems precious. She is willing to make sacrifices for their sake, because she understands that they could be lost to her in an instant.

I know how hope can wither until everyone around you begins fighting over scraps, and those who have the most use their position to take even more from those who only have little. Such is the way of those like the wealthy one who, at this very moment, is likely trying to bribe the others into ensuring her own safety.

How one such as that wretched earth pony could become a bearer of the Elements of Harmony only serves to show how far the Elements must have degraded since the Sun and Moon claimed sole ownership of them. I cannot even imagine which Element she supposedly represents, but neither do I care. I know her ilk all too well. She will doubtless attempt to convince me that her riches make her more valuable than the others.

As if wealth makes one life more worthy than another. The only thing that it proves is an advanced ability to hoard and gather for oneself. I saw so many like her in the times both before the Element of Generosity was bestowed upon me. Dark days when such greed would drive clans to set upon one another. Lords growing fat within their castle walls while their subjects killed and died over scraps.

The Sun and Moon were even worse, though. When the world was breaking apart, they came to the griffon clans preaching Harmony and friendship, and I was the first to believe their lies. I spoke out for them. Travelled with them. Fought for them. Together with the others, I gave my all to repair what was broken, and give every creature throughout the world the one gift that mattered most: A chance to live their lives.

And it was for nothing. Everything, every ambition and ideal, were nothing more than stepping stones on the Sun and Moon's path toward seizing ultimate power. When their own subjects deliver the Elements into my talons, I will--

"I'm sorry... Did I say something that offended you?"

I am brought back out of my thoughts and into the present as the farmer looks up at me. Every so often, she glances down at my talons. When I look down to see what has drawn her attention, I find that I have unconsciously been gouging deep furrows into the floor.

"Ah. No, I simply allowed my mind to wander. Everything is fine," I explain.

The very next moment, a shrill screaming assaults my mind.

-----

Rarity had been starting to tell the griffon about Pinkamena's bizarre intuition when she noticed Gertrude digging at the floor with her talons. Having seen Twilight's reaction to the poet's uncanny insight, Rarity feared for a moment that she had triggered something similar in her captor. "I'm sorry... did I say something that offended you?"

Gertrude's turned slightly to once more fix her blank eyes upon Rarity. "Ah. No, I simply allowed my mind to wander. Everything is fine," she replied.

The instant that she finished saying so, however, Gertrude twitched and her wings flared, baring thousands of dagger-like feathers at the unicorn. Rarity reflexively froze where she was, her body tensed as her primal instincts told her to be ready to flee. It was an instinct that grew increasingly difficult to fight back as a dangerous growl rumbled in the Gertrude's throat.

Rarity slowly took a step to the side in order to get closer to the door, but Gertrude's blank eyes didn't follow her.

"Monsters..." Gertrude muttered, stopping Rarity in her tracks. "What do those monsters downstairs think they are doing...?"

Practically launching herself from where she sat, Gertrude was on her feet and rushing toward the door. Rarity had to jump back just to avoid an accidental swipe of the griffon's wings across her body. Thankfully, Gertrude's movements had no malicious intent toward her, but it was only the young rock farmer's own reflexes which saved her from being cut regardless.

Gertrude reached for the door, talons outstretched in order to simply slice through it... but then stopped. She simply froze in place for several seconds, and in that long drawn-out moment, seemed to be nothing more than a terrifying ice sculpture.

Then she began to turn her head. Slowly, as if she were just then remembering how to move at all, she shifted her gaze back upon the unicorn.

"Rarity... my apologies for cutting our conversation short. There is a matter which I must attend to downstairs, so follow me. Allow me to show you the gratitude which comes to those who have earned it." With that, she brought her talons down, gently grasping the doorknob instead of shearing it away, and calmly made her way through the opened door.

Rarity shivered and blinked a few times in surprise, her eyes fading back to blue as she tried to make sense of what she just saw before they returned to their blank, milky white. Once they did, she followed the griffon down the stairs, careful to mind the new gouges cut into each step.

-----

You sow. You stupid, SELFISH sow!

You think that you are so clever, don't you? You think that simply damaging your jewelry and giving your coat to a shivering foal will make you look more sympathetic? You are ruining everything! But the child is unharmed, at least.

The sow is using her sibling as a rallying point to keep the morale of the others strong enough to stand against me. I must squash this before it can become a problem. I only need the Ranger outside to believe that her fellow bearers are alive in order to make her bring the Elements to me. If I were to gut this one as an example... No! No... I cannot do that yet. The Ranger will not bring the Elements into play unless she believes that she can use them, and I may need to provide proof of the bearers' well-being. As distasteful as I find it, she remains more valuable to me alive.

But I can still make her suffer. And I will see to it that she understands why she must suffer. I will break her completely. I will make her realize what a worthless, pathetic waste of life that she is, and then...

Then...

-----

Outside the bakery, Twilight sighed and shook her head as she rolled up the architectural plans for Sugarcube Corner that Blossomforth had brought her from Town Hall. Looking up at the sky, she shot up a small flare of magic, signalling Nocturne Striker to come back down from her sonic scouting.

The thestral Ranger set down next to Twilight and rubbed her throat. "Sorry, Lieutenant," Nocturne said, her voice quite a bit raspier than it had been earlier that morning. "I've been trying, but I just can't find it."

Twilight nodded and put a hoof on Nocturne's shoulder. "It's alright, Sergeant, we'll figure something out. You take a few minutes to rest your voice." Nocturne nodded and took a seat nearby, just as Rainbow Dash and Pinkamena joined them. The thestral stiffened as Rainbow Dash drew near, but said nothing. Twilight, by contrast, smiled faintly and nodded to the two of them. "Something I can help you with, girls?"

"I was gonna ask you that, Twi," Dash replied while Pinkamena sat down next to Nocturne. "You've been having Sarge here flying around the place since we got here, so have you figured out a plan yet?"

Twilight frowned, shaking her head. "I'm close... I think... but I'm still missing a few pieces. I'm sure there must be a weak point, but so far Sergeant Striker hasn't been able to find it."

"Sorry, Lieutenant," Nocturne croaked out. Hearing it, Pinkamena reached up under her beret, then pulled out a flask of cider and a small sample-sized jar of honey, which she poured into the flask. As the mixture was offered to her, Nocturne blinked in surprise. "How long were you...?"

"Drink up. It'll help with your throat," Pinkamena replied. Deciding to simply accept the gift from the strange poet, Nocturne shrugged and nodded gratefully, then took a pull from the flask.

Rainbow Dash watched Nocturne out of the corner of her eye, then turned to look Sugarcube Corner over. "You sure, Twilight? It looks pretty solid to me."

"Mostly sure," Twilight replied. "If it's completely solid, that means it's air-tight. I don't know exactly how many ponies she has trapped in there, but if she wants to keep the air in there fresh, that means vents. Vents offer us a weak point we can exploit, especially if Private Pierce gets here."

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant Sparkle!"

Twilight's head jerked up to the sky, where she could make out the outline of a pegasus carrying another pony. She recognized the voice as Cloud Kicker's, which brought a smile of relief to the unicorn's face. One which was not shared by the other unicorn, who was being carried through the freezing air toward her.

Moments later, the weathermare set her passenger down, then landed herself down next to him. Offering a somewhat shaky salute to his boss, the young stallion said, "Private Pierce reporting for duty, ma'am."

Twilight tried, but ultimately failed to keep an expression of authoritative stoicism on her face. Instead, she gave the two new arrivals a relieved grin and nodded to Pokey in acknowledgement. "Good to see you, Private. Cloud Kicker explain the situation on the way here?"

"I gave him the basic run-down," the weathermare replied. "Crazy griffon, windigoes, iced-over bakery... It wasn't the best conversation I've ever had with a stallion under me, but at least it was nice to be able to hold a warm body close in this weather." She finished with a seductive flutter of her eyelashes at Pokey, which caused the young unicorn's face to turn bright red, and his knees to tremble in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.

"She... touched me... in places," Pokey whispered.

Twilight's eye twitched before her hoof met her face. "Ugh... Cloud Kicker, this isn't an appropriate time to be molesting my subordinates!" After a brief pause, as the weather manager started to open her mouth to speak, Twilight quickly added, "And neither is any other time!"

"As I was going to say, that part was completely accidental. He started slipping out of my grip halfway here, and I had to grab any part of him I could reach. And I realize, saying it out loud, that actually doesn't sound any better," Cloud Kicker hastily exclaimed as Twilight leveled a glare that could petrify a cockatrice at her. In response to the look, the sultry smirk that was her default expression shifted into one of absolute seriousness. "I mean it, though, there were patches where it felt like the Windigoes were in overdrive. I think if we hadn't been keeping each other warm, either of us could've ended up... y'know... like Raindrops..."

Twilight's expression softened a bit at the mention of the mare who had been brought into the Ranger outpost, frozen from head to tail in magical ice. "Well... I'm glad you both made it back. Private, we don't have the luxury of getting you your armor, so I need you go join Iron Will over there until--"

Suddenly, the sound of ice being sliced through once again reached her ears. All eyes immediately went to the bakery, and Pokey's face turned several shades paler as he saw the enormous talons cut through the frozen wall, allowing the huge griffon to once again stand out in the open, but this time the hole did not freeze over behind her.

"She wasn't supposed to come out for seventeen more minutes," Twilight muttered under her breath before hurrying to meet the griffon.

For her part, Gertrude simply waited patiently for Twilight to meet her, casually scanning the group which remained. Odd. I can understand why she would keep her friends and underlings nearby, Gertrude silently mused, but why are the musicians still here?

Ultimately, the griffon decided that her meeting with Twilight Sparkle was of greater importance. She sat down as she looked imperiously down on the approaching unicorn, waiting for Twilight to stand before her. Once she was close enough, Gertrude asked, "Well, then, have you brought what I require?"

This took Twilight by surprise. After blinking up at Gertrude several times, she pointed out, "You never asked for anything."

"And what sort of excuse is that?" Gertrude scoffed at Twilight, shaking her head in disappointment. "Obviously, I will need two wagons. Wagons with four wheels, if you please; not one of those two-wheeled monstrosities that you ponies hitch yourselves to like animals. One of these wagons will be loaded with the finest cheeses your town has to offer; at least five varieties, and no two of the same kind are allowed to touch. The other is to carry bottles of wine whose grapes were crushed only by virgin stallions. And do not attempt to deceive me about their origin, little unicorn. I will know."

Outwardly, Gertrude seemed to look down on Twilight with an air of detached seriousness. Inside, however, she was smirking as the unicorn's face twisted into an expression of barely-masked confusion. "You want... cheese... and wine...?"

"Yes, and remember. Virgin stallions. That is very important."

Twilight awkwardly cleared her throat. "A-alright," she stammered, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of the griffon's request. Her best hope was to send somepony to Berry Punch's vineyard and hope that she had hired help to stomp the grapes. But why was the gender and... purity so important? Gertrude had to be bluffing about that, but what if she wasn't, and she got angry as a result of a bad bottle? How would the pony she sent even find out that sort of information? Would she have to ask Cloud Kicker to go check Berry's employee ledgers and cross-reference it with her own little black book? And that was to say nothing of the cheese-based logic puzzle running through her brain at the same time.

Twilight shook her head and did her best to suppress a frustrated groan. She would have to work out the details later! She was in the middle of a negotiation, and had to present a strong front to ensure the safety of the hostages. "Okay. I'll work it out," she said, doing her best to focus solely on the problem right in front of her instead. "In exchange, I'll need you to rel--"

"Ah, one moment," Gertrude said, holding up a talon as she interrupted the Ranger. Glancing back over her shoulder, she asked, "What are you waiting for? You are allowing the freezing air to blow in. Come out so that I can close up the hole."

Twilight looked past Gertrude and gaped as she saw several ponies filing out into the open. Sweetie Belle was the first to emerge, carrying little Spike on her back. They were followed by Mrs. Cake, who was in turn followed by her husband. All of them moved solemnly and silently, their faces conveying a mixture of hope and dread as they walked past Twilight. Carrot Cake was looking especially haggard, looking as if he was on the edge of a panic attack, his baker's hat off-kilter and requiring quick adjustments every few steps to keep it on his head.

When they drew near, Spike looked back mournfully and started to open his mouth to call out behind him. Cup Cake saw him inhale and prepare to speak, however, and quickly lunged forward to clap a hoof over his mouth and muffle the little dragon before he could say a word. Spike whimpered at first, but then sighed and relented, keeping his silence.

Only confused further by this strange behavior, Twilight's mouth moved soundlessly as she rolled the questions she had around in her head before settling on one that she felt comfortable speaking aloud. "Is that everypony...?"

Gertrude merely waved off the question. "Oh, of course not. One of your friends was simply being very cooperative, so I thought to ease her mind by allowing her loved ones to make their way home. You will take good care of them, I trust?"

"I... um... of course," Twilight stammered, her earlier attempts at the composure expected of a Ranger officer having evaporated into uncertainty. One of my friends? What does she mean by that? Did somepony in there buy their freedom? Who? With what? Why did Mrs. Cake hush Spike like that?! "But... I would like some confirmation that everypony inside is unharmed."

Instead of answering, Gertrude simply stared at her for several seconds with an utterly inscrutable expression before turning and stepping back into the bakery. Once more, the hole froze over, sealing those inside away from the outside world.

-----

It serves me well that the crimes of my former comrades have stolen my ability to experience true laughter. If it were otherwise, I would have surely given myself away.

My new friend had such high esteem for the purple one's tactical genius. Perhaps she is every bit as cunning a strategist as Rarity believes. Perhaps she is more intelligent than me. Perhaps she is not a pony that I would ever wish to challenge at Chess. What she may or may not possess in intellect, however, she clearly lacks in experience.

I have known war. The sort of war which would shatter the sanity of any of these placid ponies. I have known strategists like her before. Being able to solve any problem set before them leads to a certain urgency to do so. As such, her plans matter not so long as she is led toward other, meaningless problems. I have known many geniuses, and so many of them ultimately broke under the pressures of their own minds.

Who is the traitor among her friends? How can she appease an insane griffon making such ludicrous demands? Why would I release prisoners without reaching a negotiated agreement? What information are the silent hostages withholding from her? All mere distractions to keep her mind searching for answers that are not there, so that the stress placed upon her will keep her moving at my pace, not hers.

'If you speak a single word--any word at all--I will hurt every pony who remains inside,' I told them before opening the way out. 'I will hurt them so badly that when you are old and grey, you will still wake up screaming from the nightmares of their mangled bodies displayed before you.'

I trust that they will not force me to make good on my promise. I hope that I do not have to. But if I do, then it will only be justice for what their rulers did to me.

If only I had not lost my Gunther...

-----

"Please... please, you have to give me something. Who else is left in there? What's been going on? Did you notice any possible weaknesses from the inside?" Twilight implored the recently freed hostages to share any sliver of information they might have.

Not only had they kept their silence, though, but they could hardly look her in the eye as they were clearly struggling not to speak. It was particularly bad with the children, as tears welled up in their eyes, but little Spike held his claws over his mouth and Sweetie Belle stubbornly held her teeth clenched shut. Carrot Cake simply kept clearing his throat, but gave no answers when she tried to question him.

I don't have the data I need. They're holding back vital information! I can't put together the whole picture without knowing what they can tell me, but they don't trust me... and why should they? I wasn't able to do anything to help them or their families. I'm useless here. I need to do something!

Finding no answers from the ponies and baby dragon, her mind switched gears to the demands that the griffon had made. With a rather unsettling grimace and a twitch in her eye, she turned to Pokey and desperately asked, "Pierce, I heard you did some part-time work last summer for Berry Punch, right? For the love of Celestia, please tell me you're a virgin!"

Pokey's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as the young unicorn looked like he was either paralyzed by the demand or having a heart attack. Cloud Kicker started choking, though it was unclear whether it was to hold back laughter or because even her lax standards regarding sexual harassment were offended.

"Twilight, settle down. They've obviously been coerced," Rainbow Dash chastised the Ranger. "We need you with a clear head, or it's just gonna get worse."

It's no use, Twilight screamed inside her own head. She doesn't understand, I don't have the data! it doesn't matter if I'm close if I don't have the last bit of data I need!

"Back up, Rainbow Dash," Nocturne said, interjecting herself between the two friends. "The Lieutenant needs a moment to think, and she doesn't need you or Zecora deciding it's a good idea to mess with her head 'for her own good' again."

The rainbow witch stepped back. "That's not what I... Look, Teach and I already said we were sorry about that. I'm just trying to help my friend."

Nocturne narrowed her eyes and asked, "The same way you helped Iron Will just a few minutes ago?" She pointed a hoof at one of her tufted ears. "I've got pretty good hearing, remember? I saw and heard everything you did while I was flying around up there. Taking advantage of his emotions like that, right after what you did back at the station? It doesn't matter how quick you are to apologize if you keep pulling the same stuff over and over again."

Inside Sergeant Striker's mind, however, she was playing a specific memory that the pegasus had dredged up. A memory of herself, throwing clods of dirt to drive away the apprentice witch from the Everfree. At the time, 'everyone knew' that the filly had joined forces with the sorceress Zecora in order to get revenge on Equestria for her deformed wing. 'Everyone knew' that she would bring curses down on anypony who crossed her path, so the young, awkward thestral was in the right to run Rainbow Dash out of town before she brought harm to anypony.

It wasn't my fault! I didn't know that she was just a kid trying to make something of her messed-up situation, a voice in her head protested. Nopony knew that! I was just a kid myself! It wasn't my fault! It wasn't my fault! It... it was hers! She didn't even try to make anypony believe she wasn't evil! I'm not a bully! I'm not! I'm... I'm not...

Both Nocturne and Twilight shivered as chill wind howled through the street, its chill seeming to cut through them worse than anypony else. Pinkamena, who had been standing quietly in the background, cleared away a patch of snow at her hooves and stomped on the cobbles loudly enough to get everypony's attention. "That's enough," she said bluntly, her dull, atonal voice somehow conveying the sort of commanding presence that Twilight often wished that she could produce at will.

"I believe Mr. Cake has something he needs to say," the poet said, having noticed the blatant attempts to get Twilight's attention which had gone unnoticed in the Ranger's frazzled state. Carrot Cake went pale and shook his head vehemently, prompting Pinkamena to say, "My apologies. I don't mean that you have anything to say with words, but I believe you have something to share?"

To that, Carrot nodded and reached up to remove the hat from his head, holding it out toward Twilight. Confused and desperate, Twilight reached out with her magic to levitate the hat toward herself for a closer look.

Once she got a look inside, Twilight gasped in surprise. "No, that can't be right."

Both Nocturne and Rainbow Dash turned to look at the unicorn. "What? What is it?"

Twilight looked around at everyone, then gave them a faint, hopeful smile. "It's... data. I think... I think I've finally got it. Now we just need to wait for her to send a message."

Nocturne came up for a closer look, peering down into the hat. "'Her?' Who are you talking about, Lieutenant? You aren't talking about the griffon, are you?"

Twilight smiled and shook her head, using her magic to pull a small metal object out for all to see. A familiar compass on a chain meant to be worn around a pony's neck. "Derpy."

Author's Note:

Confused? I probably would be. Nevertheless, the pieces of the puzzle have finally fallen into place, and Twilight's plan to assault Gertrude's ice fortress of deliciousness has all the elements she needs to put it into motion, so if you want to find out how it all comes together, please keep reading!

The next couple of chapters should be pretty exciting.

Comments

[Super_Big_Mac]

woot!

[CrowMagnon]

3077707 Well thanks, but can I ask what you're specifically wooting about?

[Super_Big_Mac]

3077827 Derpy is making herself known, even in the face of adversity. Not to mention that AJ and Bloom are beating the Windigoes!

[Inferno demon Dash]

Shit, this is going to be good, I was hoping Derpy would come to accept her role of being a traitor and become empowered by it but I'm guessing for this story that's not how she is, plus she's doing it against her will....damn But I find the Warden of Winter's tactic very impressive, I can't wait to read more, sad it's coming to a close, you really do have a way with words my brother.

[aceotaku]

Wait a second. If this is the same captain twilight who apepared in crisis of infinite twilights, isn't Celestia suppsoed to be dead or soemthing? or is that later? or am I completely misremembering?

Also, I highly suspect as of thsi moment that the element of honesty that getrude keeps mentioning but not name dropping is discord, cause why not? Of course I could be wrong XD

[ZealousChristian24]

4798411 She is apparently going to be promoted later, and Celestia of the Eclipse appears, from context, to only have been mostly dead.

Huh, Gertrude is clever.... but she fails to remember just how powerful Friendship can be...

[PoisonJoker09]

O-O

Uh... I know its for a distraction element, but kind of a weird thing to demand... I mean, when I think about it the female-male ratio is the oppisite in Equestria so I suppose Colts are a rarer variety...

Yeah, I'm moving on now.