Chapter 1: A Snowy Sky

The snow didn’t so much fall as it whirled around in the air, caught in eddies and powerful wind gusts that howled like an entire army of timberwolves. Freezing rain pounded against the windows, the ice becoming thick enough to have been a second pane of glass. This was more than a blizzard; more than a whiteout.

This was the storm of the century.

It had been like this for days. It snowed. Then, when the snow stopped, the ice fell. When it wasn’t snowing or icing, the freezing rain came in sheets. Then there were times where it all came at once. And the whole time, the wind beat relentlessly against the houses of the small town.

In one house, a raging fire in the fireplace fought a desperate battle against the biting cold to keep the house warm. Over the fire, a kettle hung, a small puff of steam escaping the spout every so often. A pair of mugs sat on a table just in front of the fire. And near the window on the opposite side of the room, there stood a white unicorn, her multi-hued green tail and mane in sharp contrast to both her body and the weather outside. She looked anxiously out the window, desperately trying to catch sight of anypony that might have been crazy enough to try and brave the storm.

She sighed and turned away from the window, blinking her eyes as she tried to readjust to the sudden change in light. She looked sadly to a sleeping black and white cat next to the blazing fire. “I just wish I knew that he was alright, Cuddles,” she said. The cat made no movement to indicate that she had even heard the comment. “No pony should have to be out in that.”

Just then, there was the sound of a light thud at the door. The unicorn spun around in an instant and raced to open the door to see what was outside. Her horn lit up with magic as she pulled on the handle, but the door refused to budge. She continued to pull, grunting with effort. Next to the fire, Cuddles raised her head and looked over with a vague disinterest, then yawned and returned to her sleep.

“The door must be frozen shut!” the unicorn said through gritted teeth. She closed her eyes as she focused all her energy on opening the door. There was a small cracking sound before the door burst open. The wind roared as it blew the ice and snow through the opening, rocking the kettle and nearly blowing the fire out entirely. Cuddles jumped into the air and scampered off into a separate room. And amidst the mass of snowflakes and icicles, a large white object with four legs and a silver and navy tail crashed to the floor.

In an instant it was on its hooves, turning back and pressing up against the door in an effort to close out the ferocious blizzard. The unicorn had been stunned when the door had opened, but having regained her bearings, she focused her magic again on the door, aiding the newcomer in trying to force it shut. The storm was stubborn in giving way, but at last, the duo had the door shut and latched.

The second pony slumped against the door, looking exhausted. He wore a pure white coat with white boots to match. Only his tail wasn’t white, and it had enough snow sticking to it to make it appear as though somepony had built a snowpony, and it had come to life and just entered the house.

The unicorn looked at him for a moment, then smiled cordially. “Welcome to Polarmino,” she said in an apologetic tone.

The coat-bearing pony rose to his hooves and made a bowing gesture. He then pulled back the white hood over his head, revealing a light blue face with a silver and navy mane to match his tail. His bright blue eyes were tired, but jovial. “That’s quite a welcome that this town has. You give that to each newcomer?” he teased. He shook his head for a moment. “You must be the Mare Lily Pond. I’m surprised I got the right house. I could hardly see anything, so I just picked one and tried to get in.”

Lily nodded in agreement. “And you must be Master Sky Streak. I’ve been expecting you.”

Sky’s smile faded as she spoke. “Please…don’t call me ‘master.’ It makes me feel self-conscious.” He looked down as he started to pull off his boots.

“Oh,” Lily said, frowning. “But…aren’t you in the Service?”

“I am, but I don’t feel like I’ve earned any title. Besides, I never really liked the term in the first place.”

Lily’s ears flattened a little, taken aback. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said softly.

Looking up, Sky winced as he saw Lily’s expression. “Don’t be,” he said, trying to add some warmth to his voice. “No harm done. You can just call me Sky. It’s what all my friends call me.”

Seeing Sky’s smile, she felt some of her composure return. “Alright. You can call me Lily.” Her gaze was drawn to a furry black and white mass that had approached from her right. “And this is Cuddles.”

Sky turned his attention to the cat, who analyzed him for a moment before meowing in an apparent greeting. “You have a cat?” Sky asked.

“Mhm,” Lily hummed, stoking the weak fire in an attempt to save it. “She likes to curl up next to me when I’m reading or something like that, and we keep each other warm. Which is nice in a place like this.”

“I can imagine,” Sky said, finally pulling off his coat and hanging it on the coat rack by the door. He took off his saddlebags (which had been underneath his coat) and stretched his wings for a few seconds before rolling his neck from side to side, causing a series of popping sounds. He sighed in relief.

“Speaking of warmth, would you like some hot apple cider? I’ve kept it boiling so it’d be ready for you,” she offered, lifting it from the fireplace and trotting over to the table where the mugs still sat.

“Oh, that sounds wonderful,” Sky responded enthusiastically. “Normally, I would have just flown here, but that storm would have blown me to who knows where. I guess that legs do actually have some value. Even though they’re awfully slow.”

Lily proceeded to pour the cider into both mugs, and the two of them were silent as they sipped the steaming beverages. Around them, the house creaked against the wind’s onslaught. Cuddles wandered over and rubbed up against Sky’s leg, purring so loudly that he nearly mistook the sound for the constant creaking of the rafters and walls.

“I think she likes me,” Sky said, eyebrows raised in suspicion.

“Maybe. But I think she wants some of your cider,” Lily replied. Then, seeing Sky’s confusion, she continued. “I let her have some cider whenever I make some, and she’s become rather accustomed to it. I almost think she likes it better than warm milk.”

“Well, she’ll just have to do without this time, because it’s a bit too good for me to be willing to share.”

There was another pause. Cuddles sat down between the ponies, flicking her tail and meowing every so often, as though she were reminding them that she was still there. Finally, Sky spoke up again.

“So, tell me about this freak storm.”

Lily sighed. “It’s been going on for almost a week now. Of course, this far north, there’s hardly anything significant about a snowstorm, but this one…it’s just unnatural. It’s so strong, and it’s been going like this almost since it started. Most of the ponies here are unwilling to go out for any reason, and we can’t get any new shipments of food or anything, so we’re starting to run out of supplies. This is hardly a thriving metropolis, Sky, so we don’t have the ability to cope with something of this magnitude.”

Sky snorted. “I don’t think even Canterlot would be able to effectively cope with a storm like this one.”

Lily took another sip of her cider and shrugged. “That may be true, but it doesn’t help us at all. We’re still in dire circumstances. If this storm doesn’t clear up soon, we’ll run out of our food stores and other supplies. We’re already effectively cut off from any other Equestrian settlements.” She stamped a hoof and stifled a sob. “Sky, we’re all so scared. We need someone to help us. We’re all hoping that you’re the pony to do it.”

The pegasus lowered his eyes and took another sip of cider. For a moment, he was still as a stone. Then, he quickly raised his head, his ears twitching as he turned them in different directions. He wandered over to the window and looked outside. All Lily could see was the blinding white of the swirling snow, but Sky seemed intently focused on something.

“What is it? Do you see something?” she asked.

“Not really. But I hear it.” He let his head fall as he stared at the floor in concentration.

“Hear it?”

“Lily,” Sky said softly, but he said it in such a way that it grabbed every ounce of her attention. “Your name and cutie mark…you know what the unique feature of a lily pond is?”

She seemed surprised by the question. “Well, it has to be peaceful for the lilies to grow.”

“And that’s your special magic, isn’t it? Calming magic?”

“Yes.” She arched an eyebrow in curiosity. “What does that have to do with this?”

“I think you might find that your magic will have an effect on the weather.” He looked up at her, and there was a grim light in his eyes. “Could I ask that you give it a try? I just need to see something.”

“Um…alright, I’ll see what I can do,” she said, walking over to the window. She closed her eyes in concentration, then her horn began to glow. At last, what looked to be a series of ripples exuded from her horn, passing through the walls of her house as they escaped from view. Almost immediately, the wind seemed to weaken and the storm grew calmer. Lily stepped away from the window in shock.

“What—what just happened?” she stammered, eyes wide with surprise.

Sky looked at her with a grin that could have been described as smug, but the same solemn glow was still in his eyes. “Lily, I think your town has a pest problem.”

“A very big pest problem.”

Author's Notes:

So, here we start the second arc of Sky's story. Just for continuity, it's been about six months since the events of "Roots of Fear." There's a copy of an official timeline on my DeviantArt page, if you're interested. Of course, it's not necessary. Just enjoy the story. ^_^

Chapter 2: Silent Night

Sky sat silently before the crackling fire. The storm outside had persisted, but Lily’s calming spell seemed to be holding it to a manageable level. She had gone off to bed an hour or so earlier, leaving Sky alone in the living room to contemplate his thoughts.

Her cat, though, remained behind, and even now she sat a few feet in front of Sky, flicking her tail and staring at him. Sky snorted in amusement. “If you’re looking for somepony to curl up beside, then Lily is in her room,” he commented to the feline. “But I’m more of a bird person, to be honest, so I’d rather you kept your distance.”

She opened her mouth in a meow, which transformed into a wide yawn, which she followed up by licking her lips. Finally, apparently succumbing to the fact that this pony was irredeemably dull and uninteresting, she turned and headed off to Lily’s room.

Sky turned his gaze to the fire, which was slowly but surely starting to die. He stood and flapped his wings a few times to fan the flames a bit, then nudged another log into the fireplace. Sparks and embers flew into the air as the log fell into place, causing Sky to recoil slightly. He sat back on his haunches and swept a few ashes off his nose with his hooves. As he stared into the dancing flames, his mind fell back to just a day earlier, when he had been given this task…

“Sky Streak, an incident requiring attention has arisen in an Equestrian colony known as Polarmino. A prolonged blizzard has crippled the outpost, and we need somepony to investigate to see if the storm has been magically conjured or is the result of something else that may be hostile to ponykind,” Princess Celestia began.

“Polarmino?” Sky echoed. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It is a fairly new colony,” Princess Luna interjected, “so it is not well-known yet. It is on the very northern border of Equestria, so it is subject to bad weather. But this…this storm is more than severe. It is unnaturally powerful and long-lasting, so it is our belief that there is more to this storm than merely the weather.”

“What do you need me to do?” Sky asked, his adventurous spirit adding a certain eagerness to his voice.

“We need you to travel to Polarmino and investigate the storm. Getting into the village will be difficult enough with the weather, especially for you, since you won’t be able to fly in. The wind is ferocious, from our reports,” Celestia continued. “Several of the royal mages and chemists have been working to prepare some items for you that you may find useful. You will find them, along with some pertinent information and directives, in your saddlebags in your quarters.”

“Your contact in the village is a unicorn by the name of Lily Pond. We have let her know that you are coming, and she has agreed to allow you to stay in her home while your work persists,” Luna added. “So don’t take too long,” she added with a wink.

“A map to Polarmino has also been added to your belongings for the journey,” Shining Armor said. “It’s a bit of a journey, but it shouldn’t be too much trouble. Well, at least, until you encounter the storm.”

“You will have opportunity to look over the information we have provided upon your arrival there,” Celestia said. “We hope for your success on this mission.”

Sky bowed before the members of the Council. “I will do my best,” he said earnestly. As he turned to go, Princess Luna’s voice called out to him.

“Sky Streak, I do not think I need to remind you of this, but I will do so nonetheless. The creature you faced in Everfree Forest has not been located. If what you said is true, that it can command the forces of nature in some degree, then this could be its doing. Please be extremely cautious.”

“Also, let’s not forget that this…thing…is a shapeshifter. You cannot trust your eyes in this matter,” Princess Cadance added.

“Do you believe that the Chimera is behind this?” Sky asked, his mood darkening as he recalled his battle with the beast.

“We cannot know for certain,” Celestia sighed. “It may not have anything to do with the Chimera at all, but the danger of that is always real. Be open-minded and ready for anything, and you can overcome any challenge. Be safe on your journey.”

Sky shuddered involuntarily. The Chimera had been a fearsome foe, and he was in no rush to meet up with it again. But he couldn’t escape the reality that he would have to face it again; possibly again and again and again.

Sky rubbed his eyes. It was starting to get late, and the sheer white glare of the outdoors that had been present when he arrived had turned to a dim grey. He walked over to the coat rack and grabbed his saddlebags, gazing out the window. The storm continued its rampage as the snow swirled and the ice fell. There was a howling on the air as the wind beat against the walls of the house.

Sky locked his gaze outside the window as his eyes fought against the elements to focus on something. About twenty feet from the window, Sky caught the glimmer of a pair of eyes staring back at him. It was a cold, steely gaze; one that held no compassion or empathy. It was a hungry stare, a look of rather disturbing satisfaction. And yet, in spite of all that, Sky was not surprised by the sight. He had rather expected it.

“Yes, I see you,” he said softly, not intending for anyone to hear. “And I know you’re not alone. There must be at least a dozen of you to cause a ruckus this size.” He slowly walked to the window, never turning his gaze from the eyes outside. “But why did you come here? What exactly is it that drew you?”

The moment he reached the window, there was a sharp hiss, and the eyes vanished. Sky drew a quick breath, then sighed as he turned back to the fireplace. He sat down in his spot, the fire casting his long shadow against the rest of the room. He reached into his bags and drew out a pair of books: one was his journal, the same one that he had taken on his quest into Everfree. The other was a decidedly thicker tome with the title “A Complete Guide to Creatures and Monsters of Equestria.”

Sky opened his journal and flipped to the end of his most recent entry: it had been yesterday, when he had left to come to Polarmino. He skipped a few lines, then started a new entry. He then turned to his creature guide and began hoofing through it, chanting the letter “w” over and over. Finally, with an “ah-ha,” he pulled the pages open wide and took a long look at the entry on the page before he began to read aloud to himself.

“Windigo: a spirit of winter that outdates the founding of Equestria by an unknown amount of time. They take the form of ethereal ponies with long manes and glowing blue eyes. They are associated with the winter and the cold, leading many to believe that they still maintain homes, and perhaps entire civilizations, in the extreme regions of Equestria.”

He yawned and turned the page. “Windigoes were known of before the Founders came to Equestria, but they were not wholly investigated until the great famine that drove them to the new land. They are known to feed upon negative feelings, from something as weak as distrust to a powerful emotion like hatred. Along with this, they are able to utilize what is presumed to be a special type of magic to decrease the temperature based upon the emotions of those from which the windigo is feeding. In other words, the greater the anger the host feels, the colder it will become. It has also been hypothesized that the windigoes can control the weather in a limited way, revolving around the winter elements. It is because of this that many believe that the windigoes view the pegasi as their natural enemies.” Sky blinked and read the line again, silently.

He groaned. “Great, and I might be dealing with an entire civilization of them. And to them, I could essentially be public enemy number one.”

In the back of his mind, he heard Celestia’s voice: You can overcome any challenge. Sky snorted and rolled his eyes. “I bet she set me up for this.”

He picked up his quill and began to write in his journal. “Reached Polarmino safely. Made contact with Lily Pond. Windigo presence confirmed. One sighted, larger numbers suspected.” He yawned again as the exhaustion from his journey began to push him to the edge of sleep.

He waved his quill in the air a few times before skipping a line and continuing. “I have yet to determine the reason for the Windigo presence in Polarmino, as the weather and the time of my arrival have made it unadvisable to begin an investigation at this point. Lily’s calming magic seems to have an effect on the weather, so I plan to utilize that in the future. It also indicates that the source of the windigoes’ unrest is somewhere here in Polarmino. If the stall in the weather holds up, I plan to look into that beginning tomorrow.”

He paused, looking over his entry. He had covered pretty much everything, as far as he knew. And yet, he felt compelled to leave one final note at the bottom of the page.

“I miss you, sis. Hope to see you soon.”

He laid his quill in the crease of his journal as a bookmark. He looked towards where Lily had gone for the night. Her room was on the left, while the room that she had prepared for him (quite unnecessarily, in his mind) was on the right. He appreciated the effort she had given to make him feel welcome, but he had the obligation to look after the safety of everypony foremost in his mind.

With windigoes and who knows what else out there, I’d just feel better sleeping out here where I can see the door. With that, Sky closed both books and pulled his legs in tight. He grabbed the blanket next to him and pulled it over his body as his eyes involuntarily began to close.

“See you in the morning,” he said to nopony in particular.

Chapter 3: A Cordial Breakfast

Lily trotted out of her room and almost instantly shielded her eyes from the blinding white of the snowy conditions outside. The curtains had been pulled in her room, so the sudden increase in light stunned her where she stood. She took a few blind steps ahead when her hoof struck something on the floor, causing her to stumble and look down.

Sky Streak was lying on the floor, a cream-colored blanket draped across his back. His front legs were prone in front of him, and he lay sleeping softly on the hardwood floor of the house. Even though the fire under the mantle had died out several hours ago, the room was still warm.

Lily blinked, half in adjustment to the light, half in surprise. She had prepared a room for Sky before he arrived, and she had shown him where it was. So why hadn’t he used it?

Cuddles came up from beside Lily and, seeing an available warm body, sauntered right over and curled up next to the sleeping pegasus, who only twitched and muttered something unintelligible in his sleep. Lily smiled in spite of her confusion. He’s kinda cute when he’s asleep…but aren’t they all?

She softly made her way into the kitchen and began preparing for breakfast: blueberry pancakes. Blueberries, along with most things, thanks to the storm, were hard to come by, but Sky was a guest, and Lily felt a certain obligation to make him feel especially welcome.

She moved about the kitchen, mixing ingredients in her bowl as she grabbed other items from cabinets and the pantry. She had a pot of cold apple cider before long, and she was pouring the pancake batter into a heated pan when she vaguely heard voices coming from the living room. It was only a matter of moments before Sky’s head came into view, blinking in much the same manner as she had done when she came into the living room.

“Ugh, good morning,” he said in a deeper-than-expected gravelly voice.

“Good morning,” Lily returned in a cheerful, sing-songy fashion. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did. Your…um…floor is very comfortable,” he said, and she thought she detected a tinge of regret in his voice.

“So, why didn’t you use the bedroom?” she asked as she flipped a pancake. “Do you prefer the floor?”

Sky made a sound that Lily assumed was a chuckle. “Oh, no. It’s just that…well, I’m here to ensure the safety of the ponies in this village. And I think I’m just able to do that better when I can see the door.”

Lily nearly dropped the batter bowl in shock. “You…you slept on the floor because you were worried about my safety?”

Sky looked genuinely surprised. “Well, yeah.”

Lily’s mouth went dry and her tongue felt it was stuck to the roof of her mouth. Who is this pony? she thought. He’d sacrifice his personal comfort for somepony he’s never met before? In the end, all she found to say was, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” His mouth opened in a wide yawn, which he promptly covered with his hoof. “Whoa, sorry about that.”

“I guess you’re not much of a morning pony,” Lily replied with a smile, finding her voice again.

“Not really. My parents said I was a night owl, and I think they were right. Even now, I still like to go flying on clear nights more than I like to go in the sunshine. The cool breeze, the way the stars flicker in the blackness, the simple serenity…I just love it.” His voice was distant, as if he were recalling some pleasant memory in nostalgia.

“Well, you weren’t flying last night, were you?” she teased.

He laughed. “No, of course not. But it’s easy to stay awake at night now, so I just stayed up and read a bit.”

“What were you reading?”

“Boring stuff.”

She gave him a curious, yet mischievous, look. “I’m sure it was,” she replied, her tone dripping in sarcasm. “The best stuff is always boring.”

“Of course it is.”

Lily just rolled her eyes. “If you’d like, you can start a fire and start warming the cider. The matches are in here,” she said, opening a drawer with magic.

“Oh, the fire’s already going. I’ll just take the cider,” Sky replied, reaching out to take the pot in his mouth.

“Already going? How did you do that without matches? Or magic?”

It was Sky’s turn to flash a smug grin. “I’m just full of tricks. Pay attention; you might see a few more,” he said, taking the pot and retreating from the kitchen.

As she watched him go, Lily happened to catch sight of his cutie mark: it was a pair of clouds, one above, one below, and they were split by a bolt of lightning running horizontally between them. She arched an eyebrow in curiosity, deciding to hold her questions until breakfast was ready.

A short time later, Lily and Sky were seated at a low table, complete with plates stacked with enticing blueberry pancakes. Each plate was accompanied by a mug of steaming cider…and of course, Cuddles sat in a corner, licking up every drop she could out of her own dish.

“Syrup?” Lily asked, holding up a bottle of dark liquid. “It’s straight from the Painted Forest, and they say that’s the best place for it!”

Sky leaned in to read the label. “‘Painted Pony Syrup’,” he read. “Sounds…interesting,” he added hesitantly.

“Oh, it’s better than the name suggests. Here, try some,” she said as she poured a bit onto Sky’s pancake stack, not waiting for him to protest.

“Whoa, hey, not so much!” Sky said, tilting the bottle up with his hoof. “What was that for?”

Lily moved the bottle over to her own plate, where she poured a bit onto her own pancakes. “I’m just expanding your horizons,” she said.

Sky looked at her, apparently slightly irritated. “I can usually do that just by taking a quick trip through the sky.”

“Well, since you can’t do that right now, I suppose this will have to do, won’t it?” She smirked at him in triumph.

Sky merely remained silent and cut himself a slice of pancakes. He took a bite and chewed it for a moment before swallowing.

“Well, what do you think?” Lily asked.

“The pancakes are great. The syrup? It’s alright, I guess.”

Lily’s face turned into a pout. “You’re just sore that I made you have some!” she accused.

“You’re right,” Sky agreed, lifting his mug and taking a sip. “Cider’s good again, as well.”

“You’re impossible.”

“You’re probably right.”

Lily groaned and took a few hasty bites. For a minute or two, they were completely silent. Finally, Lily broke the silence. “You’re better at this teasing thing than I am.”

Sky quickly swallowed the mouthful of food he was working on. “Well, I did grow up with a younger sister.”

“Does that make you sarcastic and good at teasing?” she asked.

“It does if you’re a big brother.”

“Oh, of course.” She was silent a moment, then, feeling that the conversation needed to shift gears a bit, changed the subject. “Last night, you asked me about the significance of my cutie mark. What’s the story behind yours?”

A shadow seemed to pass over Sky’s face as she finished her question. For a moment, he looked like a lost little pony, staring into the face of a horrific nightmare. He looked tired; old, even. But the vision was gone in a split second, and Sky looked normal again, if not a little sorrowful.

Supposing that she had touched upon a sensitive subject, Lily decided to retract her question. “Oh, I’m sorry…I didn’t realize that it was a touchy issue. You don’t have to answer.”

Sky gave her a look of compassion and reassurance. “No, it’s alright,” he began. “I got my cutie mark when I was still just a colt in Cloudsdale, before my sister was born. I was flying around the city just before a storm was scheduled to pass through. But the storm arrived a bit ahead of schedule, so I got caught in the middle of it. The drafts in the thunderhead clouds were so strong that I couldn’t fly in a straight line for long, and the lightning made it really dangerous. I was terrified.”

“My goodness!” Lily exclaimed. Her pancakes sat half-eaten and cooling on her plate. “What did you do?”

“Well, I screamed my head off for a minute or two. Then, I gathered my wits and figured out that the drafts in the storm were more of a rotation as they rose, so I just flew with them until I gained enough momentum to propel myself out of the thunderhead cloud I had been in. My parents told me that when they saw me fly out, the cloud lit up with a huge lightning strike. It was after that incident that we discovered my cutie mark on my flank.”

“That’s a good story, Sky,” Lily commented. “But that’s not all there is to it, is there? When I mentioned your mark, you looked so…”

“Stricken?” Sky offered.

“Not the word I was going for, but it’s an appropriate one. Would you tell me the rest of the story?”

Sky closed his eyes as he appeared to try and compose himself. Lily took the opportunity to cast a small calming spell to help him. After an uncomfortable pause, Sky spoke, but his head still hung and his eyes remained closed. “It was six months ago now. I was working to enter the Service, and the Council gave me an assignment to investigate Everfree Forest.”

“Where’s that?” Lily asked.

Sky opened his eyes and looked at Lily, apparently surprised by the question. After a moment, he closed his eyes again and answered, “It’s south of Canterlot, just outside Ponyville.”

Lily tried to envision that in her head. It was vague, but she felt like she had a firm enough grasp on where it was to be able to continue the conversation. “Okay,” she replied.

“Anyways, the Council was concerned about a great deal of fear surrounding the forest, so they sent me to see if I could find the source of it. I met some new friends along the way, and together, we found the source of the darkness of the forest: it was a Chimera. Or at least, that’s what we thought it was.”

A question rose in Lily’s mind, but she suppressed it as Sky continued. “The Chimera and I engaged in a fight, and at one point, I gathered the clouds together and rode a lightning bolt into the Chimera. In the end, the Chimera retreated, and my friends and I survived.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it? You won, and nothing bad came of it, right?” Lily asked, a little confused.

“But the Chimera wasn’t destroyed…only defeated. But it told me that we’d meet again, and I can almost feel it breathing down my neck at times. It’s waiting for the right time to strike.”

“Are you scared of it?” She was suddenly aware that she had become thirsty, and she hastily took a drink of her lukewarm cider.

Sky opened his eyes again, but there was no hint of fear that she could see in his face. “It was a terrible fight. But I’m not really scared for myself; I’m worried about what it could do to Equestria. Every minute that it goes unchecked is another minute that it has to terrorize ponies everywhere.” He looked back to his own cutie mark. “That’s why the story isn’t over yet. This mark on my flank isn’t about what I’ve done in the past; I believe that it’s a sign of what’s still to come.”

Lily contemplated his words silently. “You know, there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye. And I suppose that you’ll probably keep surprising me as long as you’re here. But something tells me that in the end, you’ll win out. And who knows? That may surprise even you.”

“Perhaps so,” Sky nodded. “But for now, I have another task to attend to.” He looked at the unfinished breakfast before them. “Do you want to finish, or are we pretty much done here?”

Lily took a glance around. “Somehow, I suspect that we’d be better off finishing this off. You’ve probably got a lot planned for today.”

“I most certainly do.”

She smiled. “Then let’s start with breakfast and take it one step at a time.”

Author's Notes:

Actually went back and checked to see if blueberries were safe for ponies to have to eat (just because I'm neurotic like that). Turns out, they're perfectly fine! So I feel vindicated for using them here.

Chapter 4: A Race Against Time

Sky, once again donned in his white coat and boots, looked out at the freshly fallen snow. It was several feet thick, rising like a frozen flood up to the step before Lily’s front door. The ferocity of the storm had erased virtually every sign that Sky had fought through that mess to get inside. The snow was piled thick and heavy, and Sky knew that it would be an effort for any normal pony to get anywhere in that mess.

But pegasi were a different story. They grew up in the sky, walking on the clouds. They could take steps lighter than the smallest bird.

And if I can walk on the clouds, then snow will be a piece of cake.

He sprang lightly from the top of the steps leading from the door to the top of the snowdrift and found that he barely made an impression. Smiling, he looked back inside the doorway, where Lily was looking out apprehensively. “Well, that’s one of us,” he said. “Now, we gotta get you up here.”

“You make one joke about my weight, and you’ll be sleeping outside tonight,” Lily called out to him. She was wearing her own beige coat and boots, though her coat seemed to be made with a bit more fashion sense in mind than Sky’s own coat. “Just how were you planning on getting me out there?” she asked, looking out to where he stood.

“Here, drink this,” he replied, tossing her a vial of a milky blue liquid. “That should suffice.”

“What is it?”

“Something that the Canterlot mages gave to me before I set out. It’s a concoction that makes you weigh a lot less for a time. You should be able to walk on top of the snow once you’ve had some.”

“I told you not to make any jokes about my weight,” she reminded him.

“I didn’t. But how did you expect me to explain the potion without mentioning the weight aspect?”

“I’m just teasing,” she said, pulling the cork off the top and taking a sip. “Ugh, they couldn’t make it at least taste a little better, could they?”

“I’ll mention it to them when I see them again.”

“I suggest you do.” With that, she stuffed the vial into her pocket and leapt up onto the snowdrift, sinking into the snow only slightly as she landed. “How long will this last?”

“I dunno,” Sky said, shrugging. “But the effect wears off gradually, so if you notice that you’re starting to sink, then you’ll know that it’s running out.”

“Got it,” she said, looking up and down the rows of houses along the snow-covered road through the middle of the town. The snow was still falling, but the wind seemed to have settled considerably. The clouds appeared to be breaking up just a bit, and for a moment, the sun broke through a gap, causing the snow and ice to glimmer brilliantly. Sky and Lily quickly shielded their eyes as the town glistened like a diamond. “So, what’s the plan, exactly?” Lily asked, squinting and trying to hide behind her hoof.

“Well,” Sky began, wincing in the light, “we need to make sure that everypony is alright. And I need to determine what might have caused the storm to come in the first place, so I’ll need to talk to everypony to do that.”

The sun crawled back behind a cloud, offering relief from the luminous assault on their eyes. “So we’re going to visit every home in Polarmino?” Lily asked, blinking as she tried to force her eyes to readjust.

“You are,” Sky corrected. “You’re going to tell them to go to town hall, which is where I’m going.”

“Town hall?” Lily asked. “We really don’t have one, to be honest.”

Sky grimaced. Of course not, flank brain. This is a colony, not a well-established metropolis. “Well, is there a building everypony could fit into that could be used as a meeting hall?”

Lily pointed across the stretch of snow to a building on the opposite side of the street. “That’s the audience hall. It was the first building in Polarmino. We used it for the dedication of the colony.”

“That’ll work. Now, you go get eve—”

Sky’s train of thought was abruptly cut off as Lily’s scream echoed off every nearby surface. She had been looking up in the sky when her eyes grew wide in alarm. She darted to Sky’s left before he had time to even ask what was going on. Suddenly, he felt a spray of snow rise from his right. Turning, he saw a pair of glowing blue eyes, cold as steel, followed by a misty, almost ethereal, body. The temperature seemed to drop dramatically in a split second. The creature snorted as it approached, casting a sinister gaze towards the pair of ponies.

“W-w-what is it?” Lily stammered, hiding behind Sky.

Sky’s wings burst open in a flash from flaps in his coat as he turned to face the intruder, shielding Lily from view. He lowered his head, stamped, and flapped his wings a few times, causing the loose snow beneath his hooves to swirl around him. The creature stopped for a moment, sizing up the white-garmented pony before it.

“It’s a windigo,” Sky replied, his voice low.

“A windigo?!” Lily replied in a hushed voice. “I thought they were just an old mare’s tale!”

“Well, why don’t you ask this one if he’s real or just a mirage?”

The windigo snorted again. Its eyes were fixed on Sky, but it made no sign of attacking. Finally, Sky spoke up again. “I’m not here to pick a fight. I’m only here to find out what the deal is with the blizzard.” He paused, but the windigo didn’t move at all. “But perhaps you can tell me. Why did the windigoes start a storm here in Polarmino?”

There was a curious sound, like the wind hissing through the trees, but broken, not continuous. Sky arched his eyebrow for a moment before he realized what it was: the windigo was laughing.

“Oh, how little you understand, little pegasus! Do you know nothing of the windigoes?” came its voice, colder than even the snow.

“I know about the windigoes. They feed on negative feelings, like anger and hatred, turning them into winter conditions, like cold temperatures and blizzards,” Sky answered. Even as he spoke, Sky felt an unexpected rush of hostility as the windigo tried to pry at his emotions.

“Then why do you ask me for answers? Go to your own ponies for that. We only came because of the storm amongst themselves.”

“I’ll do that,” Sky said, relaxing a little. He made a mental note of the windigo’s words about the ‘storm amongst themselves.’ “But what do you want? You didn’t approach us just so we could ask you questions.”

The windigo’s shining blue eyes became narrow slits as it spoke. “I bring a warning to you, pegasus. Begone from this land! The lord of the windigoes does not look kindly upon those that contest the domination of the sky and weather.”

Sky looked confused for a moment as a thought occurred to him. “Wait…am I the only pegasus here?” he asked.

The windigo ignored him. “I have delivered my message. If you have any wisdom at all, then you will leave as quickly as you can. King Icevein is not known for his patience.” And in a gust of wind and a shower of snowflakes, the windigo was gone.

Lily peeked out from where she had been cowering behind Sky’s leg. “Is it gone?” she asked, voice quivering.

“Yeah, it’s gone,” Sky replied, straightening up and pulling his wings back inside his coat flaps. The temperature had returned to normal, but Sky had the feeling that the storm was starting to worsen again. “Lily…am I the only pegasus here?”

She came up beside him. He turned to face her, but her eyes did not meet his. A quick gust of wind caused her mane to wave gently for a moment. “Yes,” she said at last. “None of the pegasi wanted to come here with us. They were content in their homes, and I think that they were all…unwilling...to come and try and face the untamed weather of the northern edge of Equestria.”

“Like they were scared?”

“I’m not trying to judge them, Sky, but yes, I think they were scared.” She shook off a few snowflakes that had settled on the end of her nose.

He pondered that for a moment. “Perhaps they knew more than most of the ponies that came here did. I wonder…” His voice trailed off.

“Sky?”

“We need to hurry,” he said, convinced that the storm was indeed getting strong again. “Get everypony to the audience hall as quick as you can. I’ll meet you there.” He pulled another vial of the milky potion from his saddlebag. “If you give each pony just a little of this, that should be enough for them to get to the audience hall. But there has to be enough for everypony, so use it sparingly. You know all the ponies in Polarmino, so you should be able to figure out how much each one can receive, right?”

“Right. I’ll meet you there as quick as I can.” She turned and galloped off, snowflakes flying into the air in her wake. Sky, on the other hand, spread his wings and made a quick aerial dash to the top of the audience hall, perching on its roof for a moment as the wind picked up and the sleet began to fall again. There was no sign of any windigoes nearby, but he knew that they weren’t far. And now he knew that they were watching him.

He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it only made him more nervous. He didn’t know how much time he had before “King Icevein” would decide to take action against him, but he knew it wasn’t much. Whatever he was going to do, he would have to do it now.

That’s the problem, he thought. I don’t even know what the source of the storm is yet, so how can I start doing anything? He let his head fall for a moment. But the entire colony is depending on me to save them. I can’t let them down.

He took off into the air again and headed for the front door. It was covered by an overhang, but the snow had been blown so fiercely that it had piled up in front of the doors nonetheless. Thankfully, Sky found that the door was not only unlocked, but that it also opened inward. As he stepped inside, he found that the hall was largely unfurnished, but it would serve nicely for his needs. He immediately gathered up some logs and piled them in the fireplace. He then pulled a small red marble out of his saddlebag and tossed it on top of the logs, where it broke apart. Almost instantaneously, a fire was roaring beneath the mantle, and the room began to warm up. Fire spell orbs. Those royal mages think of everything.

He looked around the room and saw little else he could do. It was surprisingly spacious (It’s bigger on the inside, he thought), and every sound seemed amplified. It made for a good, if not quite ideal, meeting space.

He sat down in front of the fire and, realizing that his hood was still up, pulled it back down and shook his mane. Behind him, he heard a door open. Turning, he saw a trio of ponies (Parents and their foal, I’d wager) enter. They looked slightly cold, but unharmed. As he approached, he took note of the fear in their faces. But when they saw him, their expressions changed to a look of hope and expectation.

“Oh, you must be Sky Streak!” said one pony in a distinct northern accent, the one Sky assumed must be the father. “We’re so glad that somepony came to help! We’re counting on you, son!”

Sky found himself uncertain of what to say. He looked at the three of them, but as his eyes wandered to the foal, he saw that she was almost too scared to speak. Her lip quivered, her knees shook, and her eyes were filled with tears. She couldn’t have been more than a year old, and Sky’s heart ached when he saw her. He kneeled down in front of her and looked her in the eye.

“Hey,” he said softly, “I’m Sky Streak. Does the storm scare you? Do you want it to go away?”

The foal simply nodded as she sniffed her nose. Sky forced a smile. “Then I’ll gather up all the clouds and take them far away!” he said, trying to brighten up the filly before him.

“Will you take the monsters away, too?”

Sky couldn’t hide his surprise. “Monsters?” he asked, trying to disguise the fact that he knew what she was talking about.

“Yeah…the scary ghost ponies. They make all sorts of scary noises.”

“Well, I’ll just tell them to go home and leave the good ponies here alone.” He looked up and winked at her parents, who looked confused, but smiled sympathetically nonetheless.

“And the big black cloud? Will you tell that to go home, too?”

Sky’s mouth went dry in an instant. “The big black cloud?” he echoed, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“Yes. It’s scarier than the ghost ponies. Will you tell it to leave us alone?”

Sky blinked vacantly. His heart raced. Was it true? Had his worst fears been realized? Had he really followed it here?

Sweet Celestia, what have I gotten myself into?

Chapter 5: The Storm Amongst Themselves

Lily galloped as fast as she could, racing from house to house, passing along her message to every pony she encountered. The weight reduction potion that Sky had given her was holding strong, and it had worked (as far as she knew) for every other pony that she had given some to. However, she had already gone through the entire first vial of potion that Sky had given her. She would have to use the second container much more sparingly.

“The Cobbler family, Mr. and Mrs. Carrot, Crocus, Star Spray, the Vine family…” she said breathlessly as she ran. She looked back for just a moment. The storm had indeed begun to pick up again, and she could barely make out the shapes of ponies as they headed down the street towards the audience hall. Looking ahead, she saw her next stop. The Grain family. I hope they’re alright.

The Grain family was, for all intents and purposes, the foundation upon which the settlement depended. It was a large family of three generations and nine ponies, all of which were renowned for their work in harvesting crops. The patriarch of the family, Great Grain (or Grandpa Grain, as the rest of the town knew him), had taken a massive chance by coming to Polarmino. It was for that reason that he and all his family were so beloved and respected by the townsfolk.

Lily stepped off the snowdrift to the red front door of the house. She tapped a few times with the door knocker as she caught her breath. The frigid air stung her lungs as she breathed, and she winced in response. It had been quite a while since she had run that fast, and she still had about half the settlement to reach.

After a few moments, the door opened and a cute auburn filly stood in the doorway. A look of joyful surprise burst onto her face as she saw Lily. “Miss Pond!” she squealed. “You’re alright! Hurry and come in!”

“There’s no time, Amber,” Lily replied, forcing her aching lungs to work. “There’s going to be a town meeting at the audience hall shortly, and I’m letting everypony know. A messenger from Princess Celestia is here, and he’s trying to see what he can do to help us.”

The filly’s eyes lit up at the mention of the princess. “The princess sent someone to help us? All the way out here?”

“She sure did,” Lily nodded. The wonder in young Amber’s eyes made Lily feel warm again, and the ache in her chest seemed to subside. “Now, run along and get your family. We need to hurry and get you to the hall. The storm’s starting to get worse, so time is of the essence.”

“But Miss Pond—”

“No time for buts,” Lily interrupted. “Once you get to the meeting, then you can ask me all the questions you want to.”

“But Miss Pond, you don’t understand!” Amber insisted.

“Amber, if this storm gets much worse, then you might not be able to make it to the meeting. Now,” she used her magic to turn the filly around, “get moving!”

“But Grandpa isn’t here!” Amber shouted, stubbornly fighting to face the unicorn.

“What?!” Lily exclaimed. “What do you mean, ‘he’s not here’? He has to be here. No pony is crazy enough to head out into this storm.”

“But he isn’t,” Amber insisted. “We’ve checked every room and closet. He just isn’t here! He was here yesterday, though. He must have left sometime during the night.”

“I’ll bet those miserable clockmakers had something to do with this,” another pony, a yellow colt, said as he emerged into the doorway.

“Hayseed, that’s a terrible thing to say!” Lily said, taken aback by the colt’s brusque attitude. “Why would you ever say such a thing?”

“Old Grandfather Clock accused Grandpa Grain of intentionally overcharging for the price of our products!” Hayseed snorted. “Grandpa Grain denied it and tried to reason with him, but the old mule was so stubborn and convinced about it…”

“Now that’s just silly,” Lily said, shaking her head. “You and the Clock family have always gotten along…”

“Looks like those days are gone,” said a third pony as he emerged, a dark brown one. “Our families haven’t been speaking since before the storm began.”

“Exactly how long ago did this happen, Barley?” Lily asked, still skeptical.

“I guess it was a little over a week ago,” the brown colt replied. “It was right before the storm came, now that I think about it.”

Lily paused in contemplation. If this is true, then it’s probably no coincidence that the storm came right after the argument. “Alright, then, we can work this out at the meeting. We’ll try and figure out where Grandpa Grain is, but we all need to gather at the audience hall so we can put our heads together.”

“Are the Clocks going to be there? Because you’re not likely to get a lot done if they show up,” Hayseed replied in a contemptuous tone.

He suddenly lurched forward as Lily’s magic dragged him to within inches of her face. “I’m not getting anything done with you stubbornly standing around and making rude comments about the ponies in this town,” she said forcefully. “Now, go get your family.” She turned to look back at Amber, who had recoiled against the door. “Amber, get me a glass.”

The filly scampered off hurriedly as Barley took off to get the rest of the family prepared. Lily removed the vial of milky blue…stuff…from her pocket and held it where Hayseed could see it. “When you come, each of you needs to drink some of this before you head out. It will let you walk on top of the snow long enough to get to the hall.” She released him from her magic, and he toppled backwards onto his haunches. She eyed him threateningly. “And if you have the same attitude when you get to the hall, I will personally lock you in a closet and leave you there until you’re able to at least display some civility.”

Hayseed looked at her, a look of stunned disbelief etched on his face, as Amber re-entered the room with the glass Lily had requested. Lifting the vial, Lily poured out some of the liquid into the glass. “That should be enough for all of you. Now, I have to go inform the rest of the town before the storm gets too bad.” Pulling the door shut behind her, she turned and leapt back atop the snowdrift. Looking down, she noticed that her hoofprints were starting to make a bit more of an impression than they had been. I took too long in there. I need to get moving.

She hazarded a quick look inside the window as she passed by. She saw moving bodies, and she thought she could make out Barley’s distinct brown blur darting back and forth in a panicked motion. They’ll be there. But if the Clocks behave anything like the Grains did, it’ll be a miracle if I can get them to the meeting.

She quickly ran ahead to the next few houses, warning the ponies in each to go the meeting as quickly as they could. She was pleasantly surprised to find that they were all perfectly willing and eager to go, and she was not delayed again.

Until she arrived at the Clock home.

By this time, the wind had begun to howl again, so much that she had to turn her head away from it to try and walk into it. She hopped from the snowdrift to the front door of the home and knocked desperately. The storm was pretty bad now, but it was only going to get worse. Thankfully, the Clocks were the last family she had to visit. But she couldn’t afford to debate with them. They had to get to the meeting. Now.

She stood and waited. One minute. She knocked again. Two minutes. She knocked again, now more frantically. Three minutes.

This was crazy. She didn’t have time for this. Feeling compelled to take matters into her own hooves, she used her magic and opened the lock from the inside. The door slid open. Immediately, she was aware of a raucous coming from a far room.

“Hello? Mr. Clock? It’s Lily Pond!” she called from the doorway.

“What? Who let you in? You can’t just go breaking into somepony’s home because you have magic, you know!” said a grey unicorn with a deep black mane as he rounded the corner into the foyer. “We’ve been in the midst of a family crisis all morning, and we’d very much like to resolve it!”

“Mr. Clock, we’re in the midst of a town crisis, and we need every pony to get to the audience hall immediately. You’re the last—”

“Miss Pond, Grandfather Clock is missing, and we simply refuse to go anywhere or do anything until he is found and returned to us safely,” Mr. Clock said defiantly as the rest of the family began to assemble around him. Their faces were etched with worry, but some held a distinct mark of resentment.

“WHAT?!” Lily exclaimed. “I just came from the Grains’, and they told me that Grandpa Grain has gone missing, as well!”

“Serves them right; dirty, selfish, inconsiderate ponies that they are,” said a young royal blue unicorn.

Lily placed a hoof against her face in disbelief. “Look, we all need to gather together. If we all band together, we can get through this and everypony will be fine. We just need to get to the meeting hall right now!”

“If we all band together?” said Mr. Clock coldly. “If that Grain family is with you, then you’ll simply fall flat on your faces in whatever you hope to do. All they think about is themselves. And we, as a group, refuse to work with any pony that would behave in such a way.”

Lily could feel her face flush as her anger began to rise. “And what do you think you’re doing to help that by staying here and refusing to get involved with all the other ponies that might find your help useful?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“It’s their choice to be involved. It’s our choice to not be,” Mr. Clock replied in an even tone.

Something inside Lily snapped. She looked at them in disgust and bitterness. “FINE!” she shouted loud enough to make every pony recoil in response. “We’re all trying to survive this, but all you can think about is your ego! If you’re unwilling to at least try and help, then you can stay here and be buried alive! It’s no less than you deserve!” She turned with a huff and, grabbing the door with her magic, swung it wide open and slammed it shut with enough force to shake the walls.

She stood upon the front step of the house, watching the ever-growing layer of snow before her and tried to cool off. But the air was freezing, and the sting in her lungs had returned, so every breath caused pain, which only made her angrier. She prepared to head back to the hall when she heard the door behind her open.

“Miss Lily?”

She turned to see the three youngest of the Clock foals: Countdown, Second Hand, and Silent Moment. Each one was donned in their winter coats and boots. She swallowed her anger as she faced them. “Yes?” she asked.

“Well,” Countdown began, “our family hasn’t been getting along with the Grains for a while. And we don’t think that they really want to be friends with them again.”

“But we do,” Silent Moment picked up where her brother left off. “So we want to come with you. We want to help the colony.”

Lily felt her frustration melt away as she looked at the trio of foals before her. They were so sincere, so honest…so eager to help. It was refreshing.

“Did you parents say you could come along?”

“They didn’t want us to, but they said we could if we didn’t talk to anyone in the Grain family,” Countdown said with a frown.

Lily squinted against the snow and thought for a moment. “I think we can do that. Here,” she said, pulling out the vial. It was mostly empty, but she had spared enough for each member of the Clock family. And now, since only three of them were going with her, she could afford to give each of them a little more. “Each of you needs to drink a bit of this. It doesn’t taste very good, but it will let you walk on the snow. Hurry up, now, we need to get there as fast as we can.”

She passed the vial around, and each of the young unicorns took their share of the remaining fluid (with each one displaying similar looks of disgust after tasting it). As soon as the potion was gone, she pocketed the vial and hoisted the foals onto the snowdrift with her magic. “There you go! Now be careful! Get to the audience hall as quick as you can!”

“Hey, cool!” she heard Second Hand shout as he ran into the snow-covered street. “Never thought I would walk on top of the snow!”

“No time for silliness!” Lily called out. “Get to the hall!” With that, she stepped off the landing in time to see the three of them dashing off into the storm. But to her surprise, her own legs sunk considerably into the drift, past her knees, to where it was touching the bottom of her coat. Uh-oh, better get going!

She tried to break into a gallop, but as she fought the snow with every step, she felt herself sinking further and further. Soon, she was neck-deep in the drift, and she could barely move ahead. She pushed desperately as the wind howled around her. She took another step and fell an entire foot as the last magic of the potion was spent.

She looked up into the gray sky in desperation. “No, no!” she called. “Countdown! Second Hand! Can you hear me?” But the only answer she received was the roar of the wind and the oppressive driving sheets of sleet and snow.

She tried to scramble up the sides of the hole she was in, but the walls of her prison only caved in more with each effort. She pulled the vial out of her pocket, hoping against hope that there was still some tiny amount left, but she found that it, too, was unable to help her.

The snow had already begun to accumulate on her back, slowly beginning the process to bury her alive in an icy tomb. She called out to anyone that might hear, but she knew that her cries were lost in the gusts of the wind. A shrill cry pierced the air, and Lily’s hair stood on end as she remembered the windigo she had seen earlier. Was it waiting for her to become an easy snack?

She cowered down and covered her head with her legs, shivering with cold and trembling with fear. She shut her eyes tightly, wishing that she had never left her house that morning. She longed for the smell of hot cider, the warmth of fire under the hearth, the sound of Cuddles purring next to her.

Suddenly, a solid object bounced off her nose and landed in the snow in front of where she lay. Opening her eyes, she looked in disbelief at a clear glass vial of milky blue liquid, settling as the sleet clinked against it.

She stared at it for a moment, then, as a wave of realization rushed over her, she looked up and saw a familiar blue face inside a white hood. “Sky!” she gasped. Quickly, she pulled the vial up to her lips and took a slightly-more-than-necessary gulp of the potion. Popping the cork back on, she ambled up the walls of the snowy canyon and landed next to the waiting pegasus.

“Oh, Sky, I’ve never been so happy to see you!” she said, throwing her front legs around his neck.

“You know, that’s not really saying much, considering you haven’t known me for twenty-four hours yet,” he replied. But in spite of his sarcasm, there was a softness in his voice as he spoke. “You’re welcome.”

Lily loosened her hold on Sky’s neck and pulled back to look him in the face. “You may not think of yourself as a hero, Sky, but right now, to me, you’re as much of one as you’ll ever be.”

She couldn’t tell, but she thought that he was blushing slightly. “I’ll remember that,” he said with a smile. “Now come on; everypony’s waiting for you to get back. They were all worried sick.”

They both turned and galloped with the wind at their backs, the snow whipping past them as they headed back to the audience hall. And as they ran, Lily cast another look at Sky. His face was a study in focus and determination. It’s almost like you can feel the strength of his will when you’re near him, she thought. He doesn’t give up.

Her heart fluttered for a moment as the thought passed through her mind. And I, for one, am grateful for that.

Chapter 6: Unmasking the Monster

Sky sat patiently to the side of the group of ponies huddled around Lily, all eager to see her after her close shave with a frosty end. She looked very overwhelmed, but very grateful for all the love and support. She had a couple of young foals playfully hugging her legs, while the rest of the adult ponies stood around, all trying to make sure that she was alright.

He smiled. He knew that he wasn’t a “knight,” so to speak, rescuing fair damsels from untimely villains and all manner of perils, but the whole situation made him feel strong and confident inside. It was almost too cliché…how he had braved the fiercest elements to rescue a mare, who would certainly have been lost had somepony not come to her aid; how she had called him a hero; how they had returned to a warm welcome back at the audience hall. Just like in a fairy tale.

He looked out the window again. The storm didn’t seem nearly as strong as it had just a few minutes ago. He could hardly detect the wind, and the snow seemed to be letting up. But strangely, up the street, the homes toward the edge of town were lost from view behind a wall of swirling snow.

“Mister Sky Streak, sir?”

He turned his eyes from the window to see a light golden unicorn with an auburn mane and tail standing in front of him, gazing up at him inquisitively. “Oh, it’s you, Countdown,” Sky said, recognizing the little foal. He had been the one to inform Sky that Lily had been following right behind them when she had failed to show up at the meeting hall. “What can I do for you?”

“Thanks for rescuing Miss Lily. Everyone’s been making sure that she’s okay, but I don’t think anyone’s told you how thankful they are that you rescued her. She means a lot to all the ponies here.”

Sky couldn’t help but be impressed by the colt’s genuineness and sincerity. “Well, you’re certainly welcome, Countdown. But I only did what any other pony would have done.”

“But you’re the only pony that could,” Countdown replied. “No other pony could walk on the snow to go find her.”

“I guess you’re right there. But if it hadn’t been for you, then I wouldn’t have known to go out and look for her. So I owe that to you,” Sky said with a wink.

Countdown blushed ever-so-slightly. “Aw, well…it was nothing,” he said, looking rather embarrassed. There was a pause for a moment, then he spoke up again. “I think she likes you.”

Sky’s eyebrows rose as his brain registered the statement. “What makes you think that?” he asked.

“Oh, I saw the way that she was looking at you when you two came in. My big brother’s girlfriend looks at him that way, too. And she keeps looking over here at you, but you’re never looking when she is.”

“Oh, so you think we’re boyfriend and girlfriend, is that it?” Sky asked calmly, though he could feel his heart rate picking up.

Countdown shook his head. “I don’t think you are, but I think that maybe you want to be. Mom told me that when ponies like each other, things can get ‘complicated.’”

Sky blinked vacantly in response for a moment. “Do you seriously ask your mom this stuff?”

“Yeah. She says I have amazing timing. She says it’s my special talent.”

“I’d have to agree with that,” Sky muttered.

“She’s looking at you again.”

Sky’s eyes involuntarily drifted to where Lily stood, and, sure enough, their eyes met and locked for a moment. Sky was suddenly aware that his face felt very warm. Even the smallest hint of a blush would be painfully obvious on his blue face, so he gave her a quick flash of a smile and turned back to the foal in front of him.

“You’re blushing,” Countdown observed.

“Thanks for noticing,” Sky replied shortly. “Why don’t you get back with your brother and sister? I think it’s about time I started the meeting.” Trotting off towards the raised platform at the front of the room, he tried to calm his nerves. Countdown had been right on the mark: sure, he liked Lily. She was cute, smart, funny, and always willing to help. But he hadn’t even known her a full day. How could he be so attracted to somepony in such a short period of time?

He shook his head, trying to refocus. He moved his feelings and emotions to another corner of his mind and brought the task at hand to the forefront of his thoughts. The storm was still out there, along with the windigoes, and the distinct possibility of something even worse sent an involuntary shiver down his spine.

He stepped up onto the platform and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, everypony, but if you could all find a seat, we can get underway,” he said clearly. His voice carried well in the chamber, and the crowd organized to form a semicircle around him where they could all both see and hear him.

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. My name is Sky Streak, and I’ve been sent here from Princesses Celestia and Luna to discover the source of this freak storm you’re dealing with…and, if I can, bring it to an end.” He paused as this brought a small burst of chatter from the audience. The voices were indistinguishable, but there was a certain excitement in the air as they spoke. They sounded…hopeful.

“First, I will tell you what I know up to this point. It probably isn’t much, and I’m sure that each of you already knows much of it. But I want everypony to be on the same page. After I’m done, I’d like to see if I can piece together an accurate rendition of events leading up to the storm. So,” Sky said as he sat back on his haunches, “let me start at the beginning. I arrived yesterday evening in the midst of the storm. I spent the night with Miss Lily Pond,” he nodded in her direction, and she, along with many of the ponies seated nearby, smiled in response, “who has managed to give me some information regarding the circumstances in the town.”

“Thanks to Lily, I have been able to determine that the storm is connected to some visitors to your town.” The chatter rose again, but this time, it was more curious and uncertain than before. “Lily and I both encountered one of these visitors just a short while ago. Now, don’t be alarmed, but the visitors I’m referring to are windigoes.”

The hall nearly erupted at the mention of the windigoes. Half the crowd was on their hooves, while the other half just sat with dumbfounded looks on their faces. Sky sat patiently and quietly as all sorts of questions were shouted in his direction. His face was expressionless, and after a few minutes of disorder, the ponies finally took the hint and grew quiet.

“Yes, windigoes,” he began again, “but as I told you, there’s no need for alarm. In case you hadn’t noticed, the storm is hardly even affecting this area of the town.” Many ponies looked to the windows, and several of the foals trotted over to have a look outside. “Each and every pony in this room trusts every other one. The love and friendship between each of you is keeping the windigoes away. And as long as that remains true, you’ll be safe here.” He saw several of the ponies relax as he said those words.

“As all of you have no doubt noticed, I am a pegasus. And it has arisen to my attention that I am the only pegasus in Polarmino. The windigo that I met earlier passed on a warning to me that the leader of the windigoes does not want any pegasus being here, and has given me an ultimatum to leave as quickly as possible.” The chatter was soft, but filled with concern. “I do not believe it is in the best interests of the colony to start a conflict with the windigoes, but I also know that I cannot simply leave the town in its current state of affairs. So, I will stay until I believe I know what the source of the storm is, and then I will leave.”

“Leave?” asked one pony. “Without doing anything about it?”

“I didn’t say that,” Sky responded. “When I leave, it will be to go to the source of the problem. And I plan to go alone.”

The room became perfectly silent. No pony spoke. Not a cough, not a sneeze…not even the wind blew hard enough to make a sound. Finally, a lone voice spoke up. “Alone?” asked a mare’s voice.

Sky followed the sound to its source…which turned out to be none other than Lily. Her mouth was turned in a sorrowful frown, and eyes were filled with worry. Sky’s breath became short as he looked at her. Almost as if she had said it, he understood the visage etched on her face.

Please…don’t go.

“If the windigoes are waiting for me to leave, then the last thing I want to do is to put anypony in harm’s way. So, when I go, I will go alone. I may end up having to walk straight into their home, or fortress, or whatever it is. And that’s certainly not going to make them happy.” The silence persisted, and no pony spoke up in argument. “Now, then…I’d like to figure out exactly how this started. When did the storm actually come?” Sky asked, pulling a quill and notepad out of his saddlebags, which had been lying on the floor next to him.

“Well, if I remember correctly,” began one deep indigo stallion, “it was about a week ago. It came up rather suddenly, without any warning. No clouds or wind one minute, and the next, it was so blustery you could hardly walk.”

There were murmurs of agreement, and Sky jotted a few notes onto his paper. “Go on,” he prodded.

“The storm only got worse and worse,” continued a lavender mare to Sky’s right. “At first, it was just the wind, but then the clouds rolled in, bringing the snow, sleet, and ice. No pony even dared to go out in that. We’ve mostly been holed up in our own homes since then.”

Sky continued writing. “I see. Now, just before the storm came, did anything significant happen? Anything major, or out of the ordinary?”

No pony spoke, though Sky followed the eyes of many of the ponies to two particular groups of ponies: a large family seated off to his left, and the other, a trio of young unicorns (including Countdown) sitting around Lily in the center. “I can see that you all know something, but I can’t read minds. What happened?” Sky asked again.

Finally, one of the unicorns, a light grey filly, stood up. Her mane and tail appeared silver at first glance, but as Sky looked more closely, he saw that they seemed to reflect colors back, like a mirror. “It was about that time that our families stopped speaking to each other,” she said in a small voice.

“And who are ‘our families,’ miss…” Sky asked.

“Silent Moment,” she finished in the same gentle tone. “And the three of us,” she gestured to the other two foals beside her, “are from the Clock family. And the Grains are the other family.” She waved her hoof in their direction, casting a sorrowful look towards them as she did.

Sky looked at the two groups for a moment. “I’m assuming that there’s more to your family than just the three of you, Silent Moment?”

“I can answer that,” Lily said suddenly. “Only these three from the Clock family were willing to come here. The rest of them were too blinded by their feud with the Grain family to be in the same building with them.”

“That must be quite a disagreement you’re having,” Sky commented.

“Not really, sir,” spoke up a brown colt from the Grain family. “My name’s Barley. My grandfather, Grandpa Grain, was accused by Grandfather Clock of overcharging ponies for the products we sell from our harvest. Grandpa Grain tried to calm him down, but nothing he said did any good. That’s what started all this.”

“What?” asked the third of the Clock foals. “That’s not right at all. Grandfather Clock told us that Great Grain told Grandfather Clock that he was just a second-rate clockmaker, and his family couldn’t make a decent clock if their lives depended on it. That’s what started all this!”

“That’s a lie, Second Hand!” countered a yellow colt from the Grain family. “But even if it were true, Grandpa Grain would have gotten one thing right: you all are just second-rate!”

Countdown leapt to his hooves and turned to face the accuser of his family. “You take that back, Hayseed!”

“You gonna make me, half-bit?” By this point, most of the ponies in the room were focused in on the unfolding argument.

Suddenly, there was a flash, followed by a loud crack that split the air. In one synchronized motion, every pony’s head whipped towards the sound. Sky Streak was there, wings spread, legs splayed, head lowered and eyes leveled. The faint yet distinct smell of electricity wafted through the air. “That’s enough,” he said shortly. “If you ponies want to argue, then I suggest you take it outside. But if you’re going to be in here, you’re going to be civil. I told you that you could trust every pony here. And if you don’t, that means you don’t trust me, either. And if that’s the case, then you have no reason to be here. So, if you want to argue, then leave.” Once again, silence fell upon the room. Only now, the wind could be heard howling.

“Do you hear that? That’s the wind. Just like before the storm came. The wind came first. It’s the warning of the windigoes’ approach. They’re coming here to feed off your mistrust and anger. And I will NOT let you place other ponies in danger with your petty arguments. So, you can either shut up, or you can get out.” Sky caught a glimpse of Lily as he spoke, and he felt a pang of regret as he saw the shock on her face.

The ponies returned to their seats, thoroughly reprimanded. As Second Hand and Countdown sat back down, they offered up an apology in unison: “Sorry, Sky Streak.”

He nodded to them as he straightened up. “It’s alright, but we need to stay in control of our emotions. We can’t fly off the handle at the slightest word. That’s what the windigoes are hoping for.”

Then what was that little outburst you had just now, brilliant?

He reached down for his quill and notepad again. “But that does bring up an interesting point: two different stories as to what happened. I wonder which one is true?”

“I don’t think either one is true,” Lily said softly. “The Grain and Clock families have been friends for so long; I can’t imagine why they would become enemies for apparently no reason.”

Sky frowned. He turned to the Grain family. “Which one of you is Grandpa Grain?”

“He’s not here,” Barley answered.

“But I thought—”

“All the family that we could find is here,” a light green mare said. “We discovered that Grandpa was missing this morning.”

“Hey…that’s just like Grandfather Clock!” Countdown said, looking at the Grains. “He was missing this morning, too!” He swung back around to face Sky. “Do you think it means something?”

A knot was beginning to form in Sky’s stomach, but he couldn’t figure out what it meant. “Where have they been during the storm?”

“Oh, well, Grandpa got some sort of cold right before the storm came, so he usually stayed in his room. We brought him his meals, but he didn’t eat much. He mostly just stayed in bed all day and slept,” a small amber filly answered.

“And Grandfather Clock was usually in his workshop with the door closed. He only came out to grab a quick apple or something to eat. We hardly saw him at all,” Silent Moment answered.

The knot grew tighter. “So neither Grandpa Grain nor Grandfather Clock was seen much at all once the storm started?” Sky asked.

“Well…I guess not. Which is pretty unusual, because they were some of the most social ponies in the town,” Hayseed answered, looking contemplative.

That has to mean something. There’s something I’m missing here. “So, the two of them have some sort of argument, but there are two different stories of what happened. That causes a rift to open between two previously friendly families, causing the windigoes to come. They start a storm in Polarmino, feeding off the anger between the two families. Neither grandfather has been seen much during the week since the storm started. And now, each one is missing.” He paced across the platform, trying to tie all the pieces together in his head. “It’s staring me in the face; I can feel it. It’s looking right—”

He heard the wind roar outside. In his mind, he heard the little voice of a trembling filly begging for him to take the monsters and the dark cloud away. He saw a black mist change from one nightmarish form to another monstrous terror. And then he saw it change into a pony…with glowing red eyes.

You cannot trust your eyes in this matter.

“—at me.” He fell back onto his haunches as the horrifying reality washed over him. He felt the blood begin to drain from his face. The knot in his stomach felt like it had grown to the size of a watermelon. He stared past the group of ponies who were all gazing at him, wondering what had suddenly come over him. I…I can’t believe it. How could it have come to this?

Lily’s voice snapped him back to reality. “Sky? What is it? Do you know what’s going on?”

He shook his head. Every pony was looking at him expectedly. It was obvious that he had come to some sort of conclusion, good or bad, and they were all anxious to hear it. “I know enough,” he said at last. “I know what I have to do.” He stood up again as he steeled his resolve. His face was set in a look of defiant determination. “I will be leaving tomorrow to go find the windigo colony.”

A collective gasp rose from the crowd, followed by a cacophonous outburst of indistinguishable questions. Sky stood silent, patiently waiting for the group to allow him to speak again. Finally, when the outburst had died down, he spoke: “The source of the storm is there, and I have to confront it. It has to be me, for special reasons.” He caught Lily looking at him, and he suddenly realized that she was aware of the precise reason that it had to be him. And, for the second time that day, he read her expression like words on a page.

No way am I letting you go alone.

“I’ll leave some supplies for you, including some more of the weight-reduction potion, in case you want to go back to your homes for food or whatever you may need. But I strongly advise that you stay here while we’re away. You’ll be safer that way.”

“‘We?’” Lily asked, though there was a sense of relief in her question.

“We.” He smiled as he walked down beside her.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” she said, nudging him gently.

“Let’s face it,” he said, trying to appear cheerful, “You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Chapter 7: Sky and Lily

The next day:

“So, this is it? We’re really doing this?”

“Of course we are. I’m going on, and you’re not going to let me go alone, are you?”

Lily and Sky stood at the edge of the town, waving back to the crowd gathered in front of the meeting hall. It was still plenty cold, but the storm had subsided, letting the townsponies assemble to see the pair off.

“Do you think they’ll be alright? I mean, you didn’t really tell them anything. They’re just trusting that you know what you’re doing, and that when you get back, all their problems will be solved,” Lily said, sounding slightly concerned. She shrugged her shoulders, adjusting her supply-laden saddlebags.

“They trust each other. They’ve seen enough to know that their own attitudes can keep the storm away. And even if they don’t trust me entirely, you’re coming with me, and they most definitely trust you,” Sky responded. “And so do I,” he added after a pause.

Lily blushed slightly as she finished waving and turned her back on her home. Each step felt reluctant and heavier than normal, as though her body was trying to resist her mind’s desire to follow Sky Streak to…whatever he had in mind. She watched him as they slowly left Polarmino fading in the distance behind them. He still looked like the same pony that had burst into her home a few nights earlier, but now…now he seemed like so much more than just another pony. He had a story. He had motivations, ambitions, emotions…he meant something now.

And, she realized, maybe he meant even more to her than that.

They had spent most of last night preparing for their journey. Lily had been amazed at the items that Sky had in his pack: they were mostly magic-imbued items made to help him cope with the harsh environment of the frosty northern reaches of Equestria. She had already seen the weight-reduction potion (of which he had a surprisingly gratuitous amount), but he also had fire-spell orbs, which he had used to light the fires in her house and at the town meeting. There was a wide-range thermal kit, which would provide a heat source which would cover a spacious area, much like a campfire, but in addition, it was portable. There were various other items that he had simply not mentioned, though Lily figured that they each would be put to use on sometime on their journey. She had packed mostly food, like carrots, celery, and apples, which would hopefully stay fresh in the cool temperature. She only hoped she had packed enough.

They had walked several miles without speaking before Lily finally decided to break the silence. “So, where exactly is it we’re going?”

“To the windigo colony. I thought I mentioned that,” Sky said, looking over his shoulder at her.

“Oh, I meant which direction.”

“Ah, that’d be north.”

“And how do you know it’s that way?” Lily asked, eager to hear his answer.

“Because no pegasi came with you to Polarmino.”

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “And how does that tell you where the windigo colony is?”

“The pegasi must have known that there were windigoes still living in the extreme northern reaches of Equestria. The windigoes view the pegasi as their natural enemies, since they both control the weather, to an extent. There are towns to the south of here that have a pegasus or two living in them, which tells me that they aren’t afraid of what’s south of here, but what’s north of here,” Sky explained.

Lily’s eyebrows rose, impressed by Sky’s deduction. “You’re awfully observant to pick up on this stuff,” she commented. “Where’d you learn to be that way?”

“Some of my training in the Service,” Sky admitted. “They drill it into your head to be constantly aware of your surroundings and to take note of everything. Nothing is unimportant.”

“Wow.” She could think of nothing else to way in response. “So, do you know where the colony is, then?”

“Nope.”

“What?!” Lily exclaimed. “Then how will we ever find it? Are you expecting us to get lucky?”

“No, I’m expecting the windigoes to help us out.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m supposed to be leaving. But obviously, I’m headed the wrong direction. We’re headed towards their colony, which should serve as an indication to them that we want their attention. I’m hoping to get a windigo to come to us, so he can lead us to their colony.”

“But the windigoes won’t trust a pegasus,” Lily countered. “How do you plan to convince them to take their enemy into their home?”

Sky sighed, his breath floating as a visible puff of cloud for a few moments before dissipating. “Well, I’ve got two things in mind. First, I plan to tell them the truth.”

“And the truth is…?”

“That they’re harboring an impostor, whether they mean to or not, and that the impostor is posing a threat to both the ponies and the windigoes.”

Lily furrowed her brow, obviously not satisfied with that answer. “And the second thing?”

“I hope to get lucky.”

Lily snorted involuntarily in response. “So it’s not all skill? You really don’t have a plan for everything, do you?”

Sky’s voice grew a bit softer. “It’s always good to have a plan, but things rarely go exactly as we may hope or intend. Sometimes, you just have to play it by ear and hope things pan out well.”

“How lucky are you feeling right now?”

An awkward silence followed. Lily hadn’t thought that the question was that hard. In fact, she had actually been expecting a quick, witty, sarcastic response almost immediately. She walked up beside Sky and took a look into his face, but he turned his eyes away. Clearly, he was having some sort of internal struggle.

“Sky? Did I say something wrong?” she asked, becoming concerned.

He stopped walking and turned to face her. “No. In fact, I’m glad that you asked that.” He seemed to take a moment to bite his lip before speaking again. “Lily, can I ask you something?”

She was bewildered. What was he going on about? Had the cold finally started to mess with his mind? But in spite of her concerns, she replied with a cheerful “Certainly.”

He looked about as nervous as she had seen him in the two days she had known him. “When we get back to Polarmino, would you go out with me? To dinner? Or whatever you have in town?”

Lily blinked. Had…had he really just asked her out on a date? In the middle of a barren, frozen landscape, on a mission that neither were certain to return from? “I’m sorry?” she managed.

“I know, I know, it’s a totally weird thing to be asking at the moment. But I think it’s best that I ask now. When we get back, will you go out with me?” Sky persisted.

“Um, well…” she stammered. She could feel her face blushing more and more with each passing moment. Her stomach had turned to butterflies, and she knew that not even the most powerful calming spell she could summon would help her now. But finally, after what seemed to be an agonizing eternity of trying to untie her tongue and avoid Sky’s persistent gaze, she mustered her response.

“Yes, Sky, I’d love to go out with you.”

The smile that erupted on the pegasus’ face was so wide that it was almost startling. With a call of “woohoo!” that turned into a fit of laughter, Sky leapt into the air and did a full back flip as he hovered above the ground. “Haha, awesome!” he shouted. “And you know, I feel really, really lucky.” He winked at her.

She smiled up at him. I do, too.

They continued traveling for hours, their conversation filled with thoughts of fun things to do in town and good places to enjoy an evening together (of which there was one). Sky reminisced about his days as a young colt, moving from town to town before taking up the calling from Princess Luna that fateful night in Canterlot. He told her about his family and the friends he had made, starting with Twilight and the gang in Ponyville.

“What about you?” Sky asked after he had finished. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Oh, no, I’m an only-foal,” Lily responded. “My parents are living in Fillydelphia. I was living with them when I decided to join the expedition to establish Polarmino.”

“Do you ever go back to visit them? I mean, it’s a long way to go to get to Fillydelphia.”

“It’s been about nine months since I saw them,” Lily said, bringing the memory back to mind. “It was only for a few days. It was early summer, and the weather was cooperating, so I could afford to be away for a short time. It was great to see them again. They were doing fine, but I could tell that they really missed having somepony else in the home.”

“That’s a sign that they love you,” Sky commented.

“Yeah, but that also makes it that much harder when you have to leave again,” Lily sighed.

“Well, maybe once we take care of the storm, you can go back to visit them. I think it would probably do the three of you good to spend some time together.”

Lily didn’t respond immediately. She knew that Sky was right, but she also knew that there was more to his statement than just that. “What about you? Do you ever get to visit your family?”

Sky smiled, but Lily thought that there was a hint of sorrow in his eyes. “It’s been over half a year since I saw them, and I really do miss them. But since I joined the Service, I haven’t been able to get back. I’ve been busy studying and training, so I’ve spent nearly every moment in Canterlot.”

“Well, maybe you can ask Princess Celestia for some time off when this is all over,” Lily suggested.

“Maybe I’ll do that,” Sky said, though she took note that he was looking closely at her as he spoke.

They made camp right at sundown, in a small grove of trees that provided at least a small amount of shelter, and Sky activated his thermal kit, which shielded their site from the dropping temperatures and rising winds.

“Why is the wind starting up? We haven’t been disagreeing, so the windigoes have no reason to come here,” Lily asked, looking around worriedly.

Sky finished swallowing his bite of carrot. “I’d bet that it’s because we’re in windigo territory. They’re not being drawn to us; they’re just moving around their own lands.”

Lily quickly turned to face him as a thought suddenly occurred to her. “Wait; are we even in Equestria anymore?”

Sky shrugged. “The northern boundary of Equestria isn’t very well-defined, so I can’t say one way or another. But I figure that sometime during the night, we’ll have a visitor or two come to tell us to get lost.”

“And will you politely ask him to reconsider and instead take us to his home?” Lily asked, though there was a playful gleam in her eye.

“Something like that,” Sky admitted. He took another bite of his carrot. “I figgur vat if he hurs vat his collny is in dayjur, he whill take stoo it.”

“Ugh, where are your manners?” Lily asked, turning her face away in disgust. “Swallow your food before talking.”

There was a pause. “Sorry, old habits die hard,” Sky apologized. “I said, ‘I figure that if he hears that his colony is in danger, he will take us to it.’”

“I understood you the first time…somehow,” she teased. “But we can only hope that he doesn’t go get a bunch of his friends to come back and play.”

“Yeah. That’s got me concerned, too. But I have my lucky charm here with me, so I’m feeling confident.” He nodded at her with a wink.

“And what lucky charm is that?” she asked. Then, before he could respond, she realized what he meant. She blinked her eyes back at him flirtatiously. “Oh, of course.”

The wind sighed softly into Lily’s ear, drawing her from her blissful sleep. She grunted and rolled over, unwilling to open her eyes. The breeze persisted, and the cold bite of the air only served to jumpstart her senses even more. With an irritated groan, she rolled onto her back and raised her eyelids.

The sky was a sea of glittering diamonds set against the bottomless pit of the night sky. Streaks of color waved across the sky like streamers as the auroras danced above the cold earth. Lily’s breath was stolen away as she looked on. How had she been living here and not have noticed something this beautiful?

She resituated herself and rolled flat onto her stomach. Sky’s blanket was laid flat and empty on the ground, which startled her for a moment before she remembered how he had been that first night. He’s probably out somewhere, making sure that there’s nothing dangerous nearby.

She inspected the nearby area. The trees swayed rhythmically in the breeze. Sky had set up his heating kit between them to keep them both sufficiently warm throughout the frosty night. And, to Lily’s surprise, it was still active. Then what was that cold breeze that I felt just a moment ago?

Then she saw the strangest sight she had ever seen. Slowly approaching from a point just inside the horizon, a swarm of glowing blue lights floated back and forth like waves in the sea. As she looked on, she wondered if they were some sort of strange blue firefly, or if she was really still asleep, and the stars had come down from the sky to meet her in her dream.

Then a sudden screech pierced the air, and Lily’s heart froze in terror.

Windigoes. A whole army of them.

She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. She was frozen on the spot, unable to do anything. One windigo was bad enough, but there were dozens of them out there, all headed right toward her. She trembled as they approached, unsure of whether they knew she was even there at all. Mustering the remnants of her will, she slowly laid as flat as she could against the ground, hoping that they would simply pass her by.

“Lily, don’t panic,” said a whisper from above her.

Reacting out of instinct, her head looked straight up, where she saw Sky Streak, perched on a branch, looking intently towards the approaching wave of lights.

“Sky! Windigoes!” she whispered back.

“Yup,” he acknowledged in a low voice. “And they’re coming here. They must have seen us earlier today.”

“There’s so many of them…”

“Yeah, there are,” he admitted as he slowly dropped down beside her. He looked out towards the approaching phantasms. “But we can’t turn back now. It’s the moment of truth. You ready?” he asked, directing his gaze back at her.

She looked into his eyes and saw the concern there, but she heard the confidence in his voice. Slowly, she rose to her hooves and let her blanket fall to the ground. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

“Then let’s go say hi.”

Chapter 8: The Frozen North

“Either you are extremely directionally challenged, or you are an immense fool.”

“I came in search of the windigo colony.”

“That would make you the latter.”

Sky stood beside the shivering Lily, facing the windigo that was apparently the leader of the group. The remainder of the windigoes had surrounded the pair of ponies, and their collective breath was an assault of ice shards and snowflakes against his body. Their eyes glittered like stars in the darkness. Sky could barely feel his legs, and a quick glance down confirmed his fears: ice had formed around his hooves, rooting him to the ground. Lily was apparently in the same predicament, as she was struggling and fidgeting against her frozen restraints.

Sky tried to look as neutral as possible as he addressed the obviously perturbed windigo. “King Icevein was kind enough to send me a warning once before. I simply wish to return that favor.”

The windigo’s surprise was perceptible as a shift in the breeze, a warming of the frigid air. Sky could hardly see its body, but one of its eyes grew brighter than the other, indicating an arched eyebrow. Sky smiled inwardly. Got your attention now, don’t I?

“Explain yourself,” the windigo said, its voice devoid of any surprise it felt.

Sky leveled his eyes and straightened himself as much as he could with his hooves fastened to the ground. “My message is for King Icevein. I will deliver it when I am brought to him.”

The windigo raised its head and snorted indignantly. “You may not have the opportunity to see His Majesty if you do not give me a good reason to take you to him.” Several of the other windigoes neighed in agreement. “And it would take something very significant to cause me to let a…pegasus…into His realm.” It spat the word “pegasus” as though it left a bad taste in its mouth.

“I came looking for you. That alone should convince you of the importance of my message,” Sky replied. He was adding a little force to his speech in hopes of making his argument seem all the more urgent. As it was, his case was completely true, but he knew that no windigo would take a pegasus simply at his word. It was imperative that the windigo at least considered his story worth listening to.

The windigo was silent for what seemed several minutes. Sky hazarded a look over at Lily, who was doing an admirable job of appearing unafraid in the face of such mortal danger. She was motionless now, probably scared stiff, but her determination to be strong helped put Sky’s own mind at ease. She had grown a great deal since her last encounter with a windigo back in Polarmino.

Finally, the windigo responded. “And why would a pegasus care to help the windigoes?”

“Because this is a threat to both the windigoes of the north and the ponies of Equestria. But right now, the windigoes are the only ones that can do anything about it.” Again, it was the truth, but Sky made sure to put some extra emphasis into his words.

Silence fell again. Sky felt Lily’s eyes on him, and he quickly shot her a reassuring smile. Her eyes fell to her frozen hooves for a moment, then returned to him. He nodded in comprehension. They were effectively prisoners of the windigoes. The situation would likely get them to the windigo colony, but beyond that, the situation failed to yield any positive possibilities.

He turned back to the windigo, who was eyeing him intently. Sky matched his gaze and tried to simply will the windigo into believing his story. “If your tale turns out to be untrue, your life will end, pegasus.” The name was wrung with disgust, and Sky began to get annoyed by it.

“Oh, like I’d risk my neck for a lie?”

“We shall see.” He looked past the duo to the group of his comrades. “Release them, but if they try anything, freeze them solid.” A disgruntled murmur rose from the group, but Sky felt the ice release from his hooves. He stretched his legs in relief and spun in circles a few times before addressing the ethereal equine before him.

“Thanks, um…what’s your name?”

The windigo scoffed. “You should consider yourself extremely lucky to even still be alive. Do not push your luck. You will simply refer to me as ‘commander.’”

You’re lucky I don’t bake you like a muffin and serve you to the Chimera on a platter, he thought, though he simply said, “Sure.”

“You will go with us back to the colony. There, His Majesty King Icevein will make his decision concerning you.” He turned sharply to his left and made a high-pitched wail that caught the wind and flew away, echoing as it went. The company of windigoes tightened in around the two ponies.

“Move out!” came the command, and the group began to move.

Sky never even considered flying. His wings were partly what caused the windigoes to hate the pegasi as much as they did, and displaying them in the midst of an entire company of them just seemed to be a bad idea. As it was, the group was moving at a quick, but not hard, pace. He kept his hooffalls light, uncertain how far their journey would lead them. It wasn’t long before he found Lily right beside him.

“Well, seems to be working so far,” she said, sounding hopeful.

“For the moment,” Sky admitted. “But what could be the hardest part is going to come when we get to the colony.”

“You mean convincing this ‘King Icevein’ that you’re telling the truth?”

He nimbly leapt over a fallen tree trunk. “Well, yes, that’s part of it,” Sky replied. “But what has me really concerned is trying to convince him that one of his own subjects is the problem.”

Lily’s pace slackened for just a moment. She pulled even with him within a few seconds, but her brow was furrowed in confusion. “You mean a windigo really is the cause for all this?”

“No, it’s something that’s disguised as a windigo. But the King doesn’t know that. It’s just my word at the moment. I need to be able to find a way to convince him to let me search the colony for the impostor.”

“Oh,” Lily said softly. “But how is that a problem?”

“Because what King wants to admit (to someone that they consider an enemy, no less) that they’ve allowed an impostor to penetrate their kingdom on their watch?” Sky asked, though the question was rhetorical.

He literally saw the light go on as Lily finally understood. “And you think he’ll be too stubborn and proud to even consider it?”

“That’s my fear,” Sky nodded in agreement. “So I’m trying to think of a way to expose the Chimera quickly, so that I can convince the King without having to get into a debate with him.”

“Because there’s really no way you’d win that, right?”

“Not in windigo country.”

The horizon had begun to change into a faint red hue, indicating the coming of the imminent sunrise. Sky’s body was wide awake, but after several mostly-sleepless nights, his brain was starting to suffer. But he had to focus. Can’t lose it now, he thought. I should have gotten more sleep, but that’s in the past. Right now, I need to focus.

They ran for what seemed to be hours. The sky continued to grow brighter, and the stars were slowly engulfed in the light of the oncoming day. Still they ran. Sky looked from windigo to windigo, and each one returned his gaze with a cold stare and a snarl that sent a shiver down his spine.

Sky watched Lily run beside him. She had been doing great, but he could see the weariness on her face as the night dragged on. Finally, she began to fall back in the group. Sky slowed his pace to stay with her, but a screeching cry from behind them warned them to speed up. Sky twisted his head backwards for a moment, then broke into a hasty gallop to the front of the pack.

“Commander! Commander!”

The lead windigo turned his head slightly, as if he wanted to make the least effort possible to acknowledge that someone was calling him. “Commander, we need to stop. My friend is too tired to keep up at this pace for much longer.”

“Then she is unfit for this region.” The windigo did not turn to face Sky, nor did his pace lessen in the least.

“It would only be a few minutes. Please,” Sky pleaded, glancing back to where Lily was running at almost the tail end of the group, where a trio of windigoes watched her with malicious concentration. Her face was set in a permanent grimace, and every breath looked painful.

“Why did you bring her with you?” the windigo asked.

Sky turned back to the commander, the question taking him by surprise. “Why? Well, because she wanted to come. But please, let her rest, if just for a few minutes.”

“You could have told her that you didn’t want her to come.”

Sky’s blood was beginning to boil. “I rather wanted her to come. I appreciate the company. Now stop!”

The windigo continued on, though his voice seemed cruelly cheerful, as if he were enjoying the conversation. “But is it any company you enjoy, or is it hers specifically?”

Sky felt a tingle in his wings as his frustration began to overpower his patience. “What does it matter? Just give her a chance to catch her breath!” he shouted.

The commander finally turned around to face the pegasus, but he continued to move in the same direction at the same speed. “Ah, you do care for her, don’t you? You would demand the same thing of me for hours on end for her, wouldn’t you? Don’t deny it. It’s almost painfully obvious.” His mouth turned up in a sneer. “But what do these affections do for you? Hm? At least we can feed off your negative feelings of anger and hatred. But care and love? Pah, they’re useless! If love had any real power, then you could at least use it to help her!”

Sky swallowed his rage and looked straight into the eyes of the windigo. “That love is what brought me up here in the first place…to help her,” Sky countered.

“Then that love is subject to me? Some power that is,” the commander mocked.

“It’s not something I expect a windigo to understand,” Sky retorted. “Anger and hatred only cause disunion and rifts between ponies. But love and friendship grow stronger as more ponies are involved. And maybe,” Sky said as he felt the hair on his mane and tail begin to stand on end, “you’ll get to see its power before all this is all said and done.” Finally, drawing all the courage and compassion he could find, he spoke again. “Now STOP!”

His command came out with such force and authority that the entire company halted where they were. Lily came panting up beside him, looking wobbly on her legs. The commander looked at Sky curiously: equally disdainful and impressed at the same time. “You may rest for a few minutes,” he said at last. “We will reach the colony shortly.” With that, he turned away and hovered back to his position in the group.

Sky breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to Lily, who collapsed onto her haunches and tried to catch her breath. “Thhh…anks. W-what did…you say to make him…stop?” she asked between gasps.

“Slow breaths, Lily. Don’t hyperventilate.” He looked around at the windigoes that still surrounded them. They all seemed to be staring at him intently, though the maliciousness from earlier was not as apparent. Still, it was disconcerting. He returned his attention to the unicorn at his side. “And he wasn’t listening very well, so I kinda subverted his authority and told all the others to stop.”

Lily’s eyes grew wide as she gazed at him. “Sky, what are you thinking?! He could—”

Before she could continue, Sky raised his hoof gently to her mouth. “No getting excited; just breathe.” She glared at him, but he didn’t flinch away. “I was joking. I basically shouted at him, but I guess all the others thought it was a command from the way I said it. Does that make me the first pegasus to be able to make a group of windigoes obey me?” he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Lily’s breath was becoming more and more steady. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?” he asked, confused.

“It’s like you have a switch that you can just turn on, and you can start joking and being playful, even in the midst of very dangerous circumstances. Have you always been like that?” she asked.

Sky’s mind was suddenly filled with pale images of his colthood; faded memories that were a bittersweet reminder of his life before his chance meeting with Princess Luna. “Well, sort of,” he said. “I’ve always loved to be on the lighter side of things, so I am kind of a natural jokester.”

“I’ve noticed,” Lily commented, her face deadpan.

Sky continued. “I told you about how I moved around a lot when I was younger. I didn’t think it affected me that much, but now that I look back on it, I realize that the constant moving from place really made me feel especially lonely inside. I had no real friends wherever I went, and all the friends I had from my past had moved on without me. I was still the jokester, but it was just an illusion. I was only fooling myself. I wanted ponies to be able to laugh at my jokes so that I could feel accepted and believe that they were really my friends. And maybe they would have been, if I hadn’t been so shallow as to believe that a few jokes make a strong bond between ponies.”

“They can be a start,” Lily admonished.

Sky nodded. “You’re right. And that’s the big thing that Twilight and the others taught me: a simple start can lead to a lasting commitment. She and Spike just wanted to travel with me into the forest, and now, we’re all friends for life. And I really believe that I’m a better pony because of that. Of course, the jokes and sarcasm still come, but now, they come from a heart that really feels what it shows. I feel happy now. I have lots of friends to thank for that. Yourself included,” he added with a compassionate smile.

“Is that what you didn’t think the commander would understand?”

Sky’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You heard that?”

“You were pretty loud about it.”

“Oh.” He shot a quick glance back at the aforementioned windigo and shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think any windigo will fully comprehend the true nature of love and friendship. They’re too concerned with being strong and controlling each other. They try to sow discontent and start uprisings so they can rise to the top. Every pony for himself, basically.”

He sighed. “The real power of friendship isn’t how strong it makes you, though it certainly does do that.”

Lily gave him a knowing look. “And what do you think the real power of friendship is?”

Sky looked her straight in the eye. “The windigoes use their powers to try and get ahead in life during the time they have. But the ponies that value friendship…they try to get more life into the time they have.”

Lily smirked at his comment. “That’s an interesting way of putting it. But I have to agree with you. And I must say, I’m certainly thankful for every moment that I’ve spent with my friends.”

“You say that like you won’t have any more time with them.”

Her eyes fell. “I…I might not. We might not.”

Sky’s heart dropped like a stone. How had he not seen it? Here she was, facing what may be her last few hours alive, and completely unnecessarily! His eyes darted back and forth, looking at nothing in particular, but frantically searching for the right thing to say in response.

“We’re moving again,” the commander said suddenly. Sky looked up to see the windigo looming over them, looking more menacing than ever. “We will arrive at the colony in half an hour, if we suffer no more…delays.” With that, he turned, wailed again in a high-pitched voice, and started for a line of mountains ahead of them. Sky and Lily began to run again. Sky noticed wet streams running from her eyes. His stomach clenched like a dragon’s claw. Finally, mainly because he could think of nothing else to say, he caught her eye and held it as he spoke.

“You will see your friends again. We both will. I promise.”

Chapter 9: Ice and Shadow

It was little more than a short, wide crack in the side of the mountain. Quite unassuming by all appearances. And yet, the company of windigoes had brought Lily and Sky to this point and halted before it.

“And this is…?” Sky asked, his voice a mix of expectancy and disbelief.

“This is where we shall enter the realm of His Majesty King Icevein,” answered the commander.

“Seriously?” came Sky’s response in a higher pitch. “You’re gonna tell me that the entrance to the kingdom of your glorious king is just a crack in the base of a cliff?”

The commander’s eyes drew into narrow slits. “You expect me to forget the look of my home?” came his cold response.

Lily looked over at Sky. He was eyeing the commander suspiciously, as if he were trying to determine the truth behind the windigo’s actions. Lily already knew what Sky was contemplating. He may not forget, but he just might lie about it.

Lily’s subtlety was lost on Sky. “It’s no secret that you guys don’t like me much. And keeping that in mind, this sure looks like it could be a trap to me.”

“You dare to accuse us of lying?!” the windigo shouted. “We may be enemies, but we have our honor!”

Sky didn’t back down. He leaned forward and raised his own voice. “Then prove it!”

“How dare you demand something of us! I could end your life before your next breath, pegasus!”

Lily cringed at the thought. Even Sky seemed slightly taken back by the sudden blast of reality. “Look,” he said, apparently trying to calm himself, “I’m sorry about the outburst. You guys have a way of…getting under others’ skin, if you catch my drift.”

The commander lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing. Sky continued. “If I could ask just this: if you would go first, commander, the two of us will follow without question.” He glanced over towards Lily. She smiled and nodded back to him. I understand that the windigoes are constantly prying at our defenses, but he’s got to keep a cap on his emotions. She quickly cast a small calming spell in the surrounding area. Several of the windigoes perked up and looked around as she did, but none of them, from what she saw, looked her way.

The commander floated down before them to the cavern entrance. “I will go first, then. And you will see that the windigoes keep their word, even to a pegasus.” Lily couldn’t help but notice that he had ceased saying “pegasus” with such an emphasis on his distaste for them. She wondered what it meant.

The commander floated inside the opening, and Lily and Sky were quick to follow. They walked side by side for a while, before the cavern narrowed and forced them to fall into single file. “I’ll go first, Lily,” Sky said. “I wanna see this 'king' for myself.” But she knew enough about Sky to realize what he really meant. If things turned ugly, he wanted her to have a shot for the exit. Granted, there were dozens of windigoes following behind them, but at least she’d have one less body to have to get past.

The commander led them steadily on through a winding passage that extended further than Lily had expected. There were openings to side caverns (or at least, what she assumed were side caverns) all along the tunnel, but their guide never deviated from the main path.

Suddenly, a blast of cold air blew past Lily’s face. She shut her eyes and turned her face away but kept up her steady pace of walking. As the wind ceased, she opened her eyes to see Sky standing a short distance ahead of her with his head back, gazing upwards. He was standing in what seemed to be an opening into a much wider space. Looks like this is the end of the tunnel, she surmised.

She straightened up, trying to peer over Sky’s head, but there was little she could see for certain. “Hey, Sky, can you move forward? You’re kinda blocking the tunnel.”

He jumped a bit when she called his name, then turned to face her, his eyes wide in shock. “Uh…sure. But you might wanna brace yourself for this.”

Her eyes grew a little bit. Sky had shown almost no sign of being surprised since she first met him. Seeing him in this state of shock was…disconcerting. Cautiously, she approached as he vacated the cavern mouth.

She entered into a very spacious opening. She stopped dead in her tracks, suddenly understanding what had caught Sky so off-guard. It had done the same to her.

It was a vast audience chamber, with balconies upon balconies extending up and around the entirety of the cavern. In the middle of the chamber, four thick pillars of ice rose from the floor and extended straight up and out of view. The walls, pillars, floors…everything was hewn from immense blocks of ice into the perfectly crafted and immaculately smooth fixtures she saw. On the opposite side of the chamber, raised perhaps fifty feet into the air and stationed to the wall by a single immense pillar that ran up the wall to meet it, stood a wide platform, intricately designed with etchings and carvings that gave it a cold, silent splendor. And in the center of the platform rested a tall, equally grand seat.

No…a THRONE.

The hall seemed to shimmer in a light all its own, casting blue-hued shadows in all directions from the pair of ponies that had just entered, but nothing else. Then, with a sudden realization, Lily’s jaw dropped as she saw the source of the ambient light.

Windigoes. Their eyes glowed like thousands of shimmering sapphires that extended up and up, further and further into the darkness of the roof of the cavern. They were above her, around her…they were everywhere.

She turned to Sky, who was apparently just as stunned as she was. “Sky…there must be hundreds of them. Maybe thousands,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

Sky nodded vacantly. “Wouldn’t surprise me.”

The commander had floated to the center of the hall, hovering just in front of the large platform. “Your Majesty, my patrol found these ponies trespassing upon your lands. We were prepared to eliminate them, but they claimed to have a message for you. I determined that their demands were worthy of your attention, and have brought them before you.” With that, he floated back to the ground, returning to Sky’s side, but never turning his back on the throne.

For a few moments, nothing happened. Suddenly, a pair of bright windigo eyes flashed into view before the throne. The ethereal form of a windigo became visible, its mass twice that of any other windigo Lily had seen up to that point. Its eyes were so bright that they seemed to leave streaks of light (or perhaps steam, though that didn’t make much sense) behind them as they moved back and forth.

A voice so deep and strong that it seemed to shake the entire hall boomed forth. “So, ponies, you have come to my realm. What is this message you have for me?”

Lily winced as the King’s voice echoed off every surface. Sky stood erect, but unmoving, beside her. His eyes were glossed over, as though his brain had shut down and simply refused to function.

One moment passed. Then another. The silence was agonizingly painful. Finally, gathering her wits (and what courage she could find), Lily cast a small calming spell on both she and Sky.

A light murmur passed through the chamber, like many hushed voices talking at once. Sky blinked once, then again, and seemed to be awake after being drawn from a trance.

A deep chuckle filled the air, followed by the King’s deep, bellowing voice. “Are you impressed, my dear ponies? My halls are the splendor of the north, as I’m sure you’ve no doubt determined by now.”

Sky looked up towards the throne, his familiar look of smug determination having returned. “Your Majesty, I have seen many wondrous things, but it is no exaggeration that this chamber of your realm has taken my breath away in a manner that I had not experienced before.” His voice was strong, but it seemed little more than a squeak compared to the mighty voice of the King.

The delay in the King’s response was short, but noticeable. “I see that you are a pegasus, which My people look on in enmity,” he said, though his voice was deeper and softer than before. “It must be a thing of great importance to drive you to the halls of your enemies.”

Sky shook his head. “I do not look on the windigoes as enemies, even if they see me as such,” he began, a hint of sadness seeping into his voice. “It is my desire that the ponies of Equestria and the windigoes be able to live in peace. Perhaps that will be achieved one day,” he continued, casting a quick glance back at Lily, “but that is not why I came here.”

The King seemed to lean forward, looking genuinely interested in Sky’s message. “Say on, pegasus.”

Lily swallowed the lump that had been forming in her throat. This was it. Sky was about to tell the king of a colony of hundreds of windigoes that somewhere within his realm, a very dangerous impostor had taken refuge, plotting its revenge and conquest of not only Equestria, but also of anyone else that stood against it. The King had seemed surprisingly cordial and reasonable enough up to this moment, but such a charge could change the situation dramatically in no time.

She felt Sky’s apprehension and nervousness as small tremor in the air. She used her magic to exude a soothing feeling around him, when suddenly, it hit her.

I can feel his emotions?

She had barely any time to entertain the thought. “Your Majesty, I will not act as though I know how you maintain your realm. But I will tell you this: it is my firm belief that a very dangerous impostor has infiltrated your realm and is taking refuge here from those that seek it,” Sky explained.

The silence that followed was even tenser than before. “I assume that you would be one of those that would seek to find this…impostor…for whatever reason?” King Icevein asked at length.

Sky nodded. “I am.”

“And does this creature pose a threat to both your land and mine?”

“It does. And I also believe that it is here among us as we speak.”

A ripple of hushed whispers made its way around the chamber. The thought of an impostor in the windigoes’ own realm was apparently not a popular idea.

“Here? Among us in this room? Can this thing become invisible? I see no other way it could elude detection for so long,” the King replied, a chuckle accompanying his deep voice.

Sky shook his head. “It found something better. It’s a shapeshifter.”

The King’s laughter stopped dead in the air. The squadron of windigoes that had followed Lily and Sky into the hall neighed loudly and moved to block every exit out of the chamber. The gathering of windigoes filling the balconies no longer tried to hide their discomfort as they began to cry out loudly. Finally, the King’s shouted in a voice so strong that the entire cavern shook.

“SILENCE!” He glared down at Sky with fury burning in his eyes. “Are you trying to tell me that a changeling has entered this realm?”

Lily was shaken from the King’s outburst, but she found that she was still standing on her own four hooves. She was suddenly aware that her tail and mane felt like they were standing on end. Looking up at Sky, she noticed that as he stood his ground, a light seemed to be glowing from beneath the wing flaps in his coat.

“No, Your Majesty.” Sky’s voice was calm but strong. “This is something far more dangerous than a changeling. I have fought it before, and I barely survived. But more than its combat prowess, I fear what it could do with its ability to change bodies.”

The King’s voice was level again as he spoke. “You refer to the possibility of a misguided conflict?”

“That, and perhaps more,” Sky replied, looking alertly around the room. The windigoes had calmed down again, but the tension in the air remained. “I believe it has used the form of not only a windigo, but also of certain ponies in the nearby village to cause dissent and anger to rise among its residents. This, of course, brought your subjects to the village to feed on those negative emotions. But the ponies of the village were bound to become suspicious of these occurrences, and it would only be natural to pin the blame for such strange happenings on those that have never really been on friendly terms with Equestria.”

The King lifted an eyebrow as he began to piece together the puzzle. “Tensions would rise between the colonies, perhaps leading to a breakout of a conflict, which would escalate into a full-scale war. I see. But how would that benefit this impostor?”

“This creature feels a strong hatred for the ponies of Equestria, and I think that it will use whatever means necessary to exact its desire for…‘revenge,’ I suppose. And even if the ponies were to emerge victorious from such a struggle, it would undoubtedly leave them weakened, and ripe for the picking, so to speak.”

“Quite an elaborate scheme,” the King admitted. “And yet, you have no proof: simply a guess that this impostor is here among us. Can you prove that?”

Lily’s chest tightened. She saw Sky bite his lip. They both knew that they didn’t have any proof, and that they only way that they were going to get it was to ask if the King would let them search for it. And Lily had heard and seen enough to convince her that it wasn’t going to happen like that.

“Or perhaps the better question: what are you asking me to do about it?” the King asked, an unpleasant chill creeping into his voice.

“Your Majesty, if I could simply have permission to search this room, I’m sure that I would—”

“No,” the King replied shortly. “You make a fine case, but in the end, it all weighs upon one very big ‘IF’: is the creature really here? And I should like to think that if you could have proven this, you would already have done so.”

“But King Icevein…”

“Enough. You will stay here for the night, under guard. Tomorrow, I will make my decision concerning you.”

Lily felt deflated. After having come so far and trying so hard, this was how it was going to end? In failure?

She looked over to Sky, whom she expected to look as dejected and defeated as she felt. Instead, she found that he was intently gazing at a point off to his right.

“Water…the water’s coming from…” he muttered, slowly lifting his head, as though he was following line of some sort from the ground up.

Lily looked at the floor where Sky had been looking, and, to her surprise, she noticed a small puddle of water. She cocked her head in confusion. It’s too cold for the ice to melt, so why…?

The guard that had come up from behind her moved in front of her and gestured for her to make for a corridor on the far side of the chamber. She glanced up to the throne, where King Icevein was seated again, looking only slightly disturbed by their message. She was about to call out to him when a lightning-fast blur shot in front of her, stealing her breath away.

The guards wailed in their high-pitched voices and took off in pursuit, leaving Lily alone on the floor. The blur (which was Sky, of course) was flying perpendicular to the ground, leaving the guards in his wake, skimming the edges of the balconies as he shot towards the roof of the cavern. Suddenly, he stopped at one platform and landed with so much force that she heard the balcony creak as he struck it.

“You!” she heard Sky shout. “It’s you!”

The guards were not far from the stage by now. Sky’s form was barely visible, but his voice rose clear over the outraged shouts of the windigoes. “You know, you almost got away with it, but you made one little mistake. Windigoes base their entire existence on the cold.” The guards were nearly on him. “And here you are, breathing fire-heated air in a cavern made of ice? Did you expect it to not melt at all?” Lily saw Sky turn back to where the King hovered above his throne as the advancing guards blocked his path. “Your Majesty, I’ll stake my life on this! This is the impostor!”

Lily held her breath. Please, please, please…

And then, all of Tartarus broke loose.

A mass of black mist erupted from the balcony as Sky took off before he was engulfed. Streams of yellow and orange flames burst from the cloud of impenetrable darkness, melting entire platforms and shattering pillars and decorations. Windigoes were tossed in all directions, and many of the others took to the air in panic. And after all that, a wave of dread unlike Lily had ever felt before slammed into her, literally knocking her flat onto her stomach as her mind reeled.

Daring to look back up, she saw that the black cloud had dispersed, but it had only revealed a monster more terrible than the blackness. It was a four-legged creature with a lion’s head at the front, what appeared to be a goat’s head rising from its back, and a snake’s head at the tip of its tail. All three heads wagged back and forth, snarling as the creature walked forward upon the remains of the balcony toward the place where Sky Streak hovered in the air.

“Congratulations,” the Chimera hissed in a strange compilation of voices. “You found us.”

Chapter 10: Shattered

Sky looked his foe squarely in the eyes. Or one pair of eyes, at the least. It was almost exactly as he remembered: three fearsome heads that could spew flame; a large, muscular body; razor-sharp teeth and claws. Even the voice (or voices) was the same, but the one thing Sky had dreaded the most was absent.

Those eyes.

“Miss me?” Sky asked in a mocking voice as the Chimera approached at a leisurely pace.

Sky saw, in a rather unnerving display, each of the Chimera’s faces changed into a different expression. The snake’s head scowled at him angrily, while the goat smiled innocently. The lion’s face was neutral, but Sky could sense the rage underneath the mask. “We’ve all missed you,” the heads said in conjunction as the Chimera stalked closer and closer.

“Whoa. Now that’s creepy,” Sky replied, backing away as his wings kept him afloat. All around him, the windigoes were dashing back and forth, panic in their voices and terror on their faces. As ironic as it was that creatures that fed off negativity should be subject to such fear, Sky took no pleasure in it. He had other things on his mind.

“We’ve been waiting for you to appear again. We owe you,” the heads said again.

“Hey, when’d you start referring to yourself as ‘we’?” Sky asked mischievously. “I must have hit you pretty hard to turn you into a schizophrenic.”

A bolt of flame erupted from the snake’s head, sending Sky into an evasive nosedive. He broke out of it and shot away from the platform in an instant as a second stream of fire scorched the air where he had been heading. Sky watched helplessly as the flames crashed into the walls of the cavern, shattering the ice sculptures and decorations and dropping them to the floor as little more than melting shards.

To add to the chaos, the fire had come close to many of the windigoes, who were ill-prepared for the sudden heat. They dropped to the floor unconscious as a shower of razor-sharp ice fragments rained down on them.

Sky skidded to a stop on an adjacent balcony. The Chimera was still facing him with two heads, while the snake head was still spewing flames in all directions, amplifying the sense of chaos in the chamber. “What, am I boring you so much that you think you only need two heads to deal with me?” he taunted, trying to force the Chimera to focus on him so the windigoes could regroup.

The lion smiled so widely that Sky thought its face would split. “We were not able to give you an appropriate display of our power last time,” it said by itself. “But here, in the heart of the mountain, perhaps you will better understand.” The Chimera lifted its front paws and slammed them into the platform dramatically. Almost immediately, the entire mountain seemed to shake as though it were about to collapse in upon itself.

“Oh, no…” Sky said as the terrible reality struck him. “EARTHQUAKE!”

Huge chunks of stone and ice began to fall all around him. The platform beneath him rocked dramatically before it broke cleanly from the wall and plummeted to the floor of the cavern where it exploded in a cloud of frozen mist. Sky caught himself and managed to take to the air as it began its descent. He thought he was safe for the moment when a crash from across the chamber drew his attention to where one platform had crashed into another as it had dropped from its place.

Which meant that more were probably on their way.

Sky barely had a chance to look up before the corner of one platform went whizzing past him, missing him by mere feet. He ducked through a cluster of platform fragments and nimbly bounced from surface to surface as three more balconies went spiraling by.

Suddenly, a deafening crack flooded the chamber, overwhelming all other sounds. Sky instinctively turned towards the source of the noise and was stunned to see one of the four massive central pillars give way at one point, causing it to burst, sending fragments of frozen shrapnel in all directions. He could only watch in awe as the column collapsed and crashed towards the debris-ridden floor. The roar of the column’s passing was like a tornado in Sky’s ears.

As he watched, he could distantly hear the voices of the Chimera, laughing hysterically as it wrought destruction upon the once-beautiful chamber. His chest swelled and his heart began to pound in his head. OK, I’ve had enough of this thing!

But before he could make a move, another sound caught his ear. It was barely audible against the deafening roar of the column’s collapse, but he heard it. He knew it too well. It was not the wail of a windigo, but the panicked scream of a pony.

Lily!

He spotted her, running frantically between the deadly shower of shards and spikes that came as the column hurtled towards the cavern floor. In a flash, Sky was streaking like a meteor, outpacing the doomed column to the ground. Not waiting for an invitation, Sky caught Lily in his outstretched legs and pulled upwards, racing to get to a platform before—

Too late!

The column collided with the ground with a crash that Sky thought would certainly cause his eardrums to burst. All around the chamber, most of the remaining balconies exploded as the cacophonous sound shattered them to pieces. The etchings and carvings in the walls of ice disintegrated into the air, creating a veritable airfield of dangerous floating debris.

The shockwave of the crash knocked Sky straight out of his trajectory, sending both he and Lily careening through the air. They made a rough landing on a mercifully mostly-intact platform that had been on one of the lower rings of balconies. They bounced wildly for a few meters before sliding to a stop. Sky felt sore all over, and he didn’t need to take a look to know that his coat was probably in tatters and his face was scratched and nicked all over. A thick frozen mist veiled his view, so he figured he was safe from the Chimera’s sight for the moment. He quickly scanned the platform for Lily, who had landed about twenty feet away. He scampered over to her, dodging the still-falling debris.

“Lily! Lily, talk to me! Are you alright?” he asked hurriedly.

He heard a groan as she lifted her head and shook it for a moment. Her eyes opened slightly before they grew wide again. “Sky, this is terrible! Look at this! This is...” She stopped short. With a quick gasp, she said in a hushed voice that Sky barely heard over the lingering sounds of the unfolding disaster, “Where is it? Where’s the…the Chimera?”

Sky never got a chance to answer. A deep, rumbling voice broke through the wails of the windigoes and the maniacal laughter of the Chimera. “Prepare yourself, creature! For none may come to my home unbidden and live to walk out again!” the King said.

The Chimera’s laughter stopped. “We seem to have thoroughly destroyed this place. What home is it that you are defending?” it sneered.

“Fool! You will perish here! For I am King Icevein of the windigoes, and here, my word is law!” the King bellowed. A bright blue flash pierced the mist where Sky and Lily were waiting.

A brilliant burst of yellow answered in return. “Hahaha! Our flame burns brighter than any ice can extinguish! It is you who are the fool, King Icevein, for there are none now that can stand against us!” The yellow glow grew painfully intense, and Sky could feel the heat radiating against his body. He clambered to his feet just as a deep roar echoed throughout the chamber.

“How…how can you be…this powerful?” The King’s voice was weak now, as though it took an effort to talk.

“Enough!” Sky shouted. His voice came out strong again, and it filled the chamber. “Your quarrel is with me, and I’m eager to see it done!”

There was a pause. “Ah, so he lives still? Good. We had hoped that you would still give us some entertainment.”

“Oh, I will.”

“But tell us…how will you summon the storm? We are underground now, pegasus.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that.”

The mist around Sky began to swirl around him, tightening up into a whirlwind. He turned to Lily, who was looking at him with concerned eyes, and he felt his heart beat within his chest as each breath made him feel like he was going to burst with energy. He felt his courage and determination rise as he stared into Lily’s ever-widening eyes. He spread his wings, causing electricity to arc from them to the icy platform beneath his hooves. “I am the living lightning. The Chimera’s Bane. I am the pegasus Sky Streak, and I am the storm.”

The Chimera’s silhouette appeared as the mist dissipated. “You talk big, pony. But what’s the rush? It’s been so long…why don’t you tell us how you’ve been?” it mocked with a trio of cruel grins.

Sky snarled. But then, a thought occurred to him. There are still a few things I don’t know. Let’s just see what I can get this thing to tell me. “Alright, fine. Why’d you come to Polarmino?” he asked, lowering his wings, but not his guard.

The Chimera sat down and looked at Sky with three pairs of disinterested eyes. “We believe we asked you a question first.”

Seriously?

“I’ve…been alright,” he said in an irritated tone. “You?”

“Splendid!” the Chimera shouted with glee. “Now, to answer your question, we thought that would be obvious. We sought to utilize the windigoes, of course.”

“And you took the form of one of them to be able to hide away in their colony?” Sky asked.

“Hide? We think not. We were biding our time.”

“Sorry, I misspoke,” Sky replied coolly. “And of course you tried to create strife between the ponies and the windigoes by imponiating two of the leading figures of the town.” He decided to change the conversation’s direction for a minute. “So tell me, what exactly happens when you copy a creature? What happens to them?”

The Chimera reared back with a howl of laughter. “You still haven’t figured that out? Why, it’s so simple! They simply become a part of us.”

“What?!”

“That’s right. That windigo that we copied, the shattered remains of Night Mare Moon, and even those two old geezers from your precious village are all part of our existence now.”

Sky’s vision went red with rage. “You MONSTER!!!” His wings extended instantly as he prepared to charge.

The Chimera seemed to ignore him. “It was a perfect scheme. It would ignite a war between the windigoes and ponies that would weaken both kingdoms to the brink of collapse. Who knows, maybe we could have gotten more lands involved, leaving them perfectly vulnerable to our plans for their demise.”

The beast rose back to its four paws. “But the only thing that could have gone wrong—the only possible weakness—did go wrong. You came.”

“Of course,” Sky realized. “I would see the evidence and piece it all together. I was the only pony that knew about you and your ability to change form. I could see the evidence properly because I was the only one who had all the facts. I was the only pony that would understand everything and come to the proper conclusion.” He gazed at the Chimera as he began to realize how infuriating it must feel to have been foiled—twice—by the same pony.

“Which reminds us…how did you know where to find us?” the Chimera asked.

“Because the windigoes were there, duh,” Sky mocked, enjoying the chance to turn the tables on his enemy. “The windigoes had never been known to bother the colony before, so they essentially had no reason to travel to it now. They had to have some way of knowing that there was a conflict worth travelling there for. And the only way they would know that is if something told them about it. And the only creature worth listening to would be a windigo. Which meant that you would need to take the form of a windigo to get them to travel to Polarmino. And there’s hardly a better place to hide out than in the home of your enemies, am I right?”

“We told you, we were not hiding,” the Chimera hissed.

“Oh, right. I keep forgetting that. Must be the look of fear in your eyes.”

The Chimera looked like it was about to foam at the mouth after Sky’s final remark. “You will die, pegasus,” it growled. “But not before we have caused you as much pain as we possibly can.”

Sky smiled smugly. “I accept that challenge.” He quickly glanced around the chamber. “So, I guess that means it’s time for me to do my thing and beat you again.”

“We know as well as you do that you were nothing more than lucky to survive last time. You will not be so fortunate again.”

“Said the loser,” Sky replied as he shot across the chamber, leaving streams of electricity in his wake.

He closed the distance to his foe in a split second. The Chimera had barely had a chance to raise a single claw before Sky slammed into it, discharging a surge of magic as he made contact. The Chimera reeled backwards from the force of the blow, roaring in pain. Sky brought his hind legs forward and kicked, simultaneously sending the beast crashing onto its side and launching himself high into the air. He twisted into a somersault, then, calling upon his determination and will, shot towards the platform like a thunderbolt, hoping to smash the Chimera right into it.

But the monster surprised him by rolling away with startling speed, sending Sky right into the platform. It whined and cracked upon impact, opening a hole in the middle. Sky tore through the hole at an alarming speed. He barely managed to pull out of the dangerous nosedive before he crashed into the ground, then turned upwards to re-engage his foe.

He nimbly dodged a blast of searing flame that greeted him as he approached. The Chimera spewed its deadly breath in all directions, effectively creating a nigh-impenetrable grid of flame to shield it from attacks. Wow…it HAS gotten better.

Sky shifted positions in the air, searching for some way to get past the wall of flame that held him at bay. He watched every move, looking for a window to make a pass. Finally, after waiting several tense moments, he saw his chance. Gathering his wits and power, he shot straight for the Chimera, moving like he had been fired out of a cannon.

As expected, all three heads moved to intercept him as he approached. He twisted his body away from the fire just long enough to reach the Chimera’s body. Instantly, he flattened himself as much as he could as his hooves made contact with the icy surface. He skidded along beneath the Chimera, popping up behind it and planting a hoof into the face of the serpent head.

By the time the goat head had managed to turn around, Sky had already gotten above it. As the inevitable inferno erupted from its mouth, Sky fixed his hooves on both sides of its head and twisted it forward, where the third head had now turned to give chase to the pegasus. In a blinding blaze, the lion’s head was engulfed in the fires of its own making.

“Now THAT’S giving you a piece of your own medicine!” Sky shouted triumphantly, releasing the goat head and rising into the air. But his ecstasy gave way to disbelief as the goat ceased its flaming assault and the lion’s head reappeared, looking completely unharmed (and a little peeved). Well…that was disappointing.

“Did you truly think that we could be harmed by our own flames?” the three voices said in unison, though they spoke with a threatening chill that caused Sky’s stomach to clench like a fist.

He dodged to the ground as more flames erupted past him. He narrowly avoided a vicious kick when he felt something coil around his rear right leg. Looking back, he saw a serpentine body wrapped around his leg, with its head drawing in breath for what Sky could only imagine as a burst of flaming death.

Sky twisted back and smashed the head into the platform with a free hoof, causing it to release his leg. He hesitated for just a moment, trying to calm his nerves as he got over just how close he had been to an unpleasant fate.

And he realized, too late, what a mistake that had been.

Something solid and powerful slammed into his body, sending him careening through the air and sending his senses reeling. His sense of direction evaporated as the only sensation his brain registered was the pain of the sudden impact of the Chimera’s paw. His trajectory came to a sudden stop when he crashed into something, but in his barely conscious state, he wasn’t sure if it was the floor or a wall…or the ceiling, for that matter.

He was dimly aware of a shrill ringing in his ears. He could feel something pressing up against his stomach, so he assumed that he was lying face-first on the ground, though that hardly mattered. His mind was spinning like a top, and whenever he opened his eyes, all he could see was one big blur.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt an impending sense of danger, as though something was urging him to get up and move. He tried to bring his world into focus, though the most he could do was make out a mixture of ugly colors in the center of his field of vision that seemed to slowly grow bigger with each passing moment.

Somewhere amidst that incessant ringing in his ears, he heard a voice—no, a group of voices. “And so it ends, pegasus.”

I…I know that sound.

The warning in his head burst into color as about a million red flags rose at the sudden recollection of his situation. But no matter what he did, Sky’s brain simply could not make his body respond. He was totally vulnerable. The Chimera had him.

“You fought well, but it could end no other way. Farewell.”

Sky saw the Chimera’s blurry form rear back for a moment before a blast of yellow and orange engulfed his vision. He could feel the heat from the fire as it hurtled towards him. He closed his eyes and let his head fall.

I’m sorry, everypony.

Chapter 11: It's Not Over Yet

Sky felt a cool breeze blow across his neck. He opened his eyes and beheld a brilliant dazzling light ahead of him. All the colors of the rainbow danced across his field of vision as he looked on. Sky smiled sadly as the realization finally washed over him.

So, this is what it’s like to be dead, huh?

He tried to rise to his hooves and approach the light (as he figured he should), but found that his legs were still not responding as he’d like. He found that a bit odd, considering that he really shouldn’t be constrained by his body anymore. He down at his legs and noticed that he was still donned in his worn and torn white coat along with his white boots. He was suddenly also aware that the breeze was not only coming from behind him, but that it wasn’t really cool at all: it was straight-up freezing. Sky sighed.

Okay, so apparently, I’m not dead.

Sky shook his head and tried to refocus. The light ahead of him was most certainly the death-bringing flames of the Chimera, but from what he could tell, they weren’t getting any closer. As his vision cleared, he saw that a wall of ice had risen up and was holding the flames at bay. Curious, Sky twisted his head around to see a great congregation of windigoes gathered behind him, all blowing in unison to where the ice wall stood, constantly renewing it against the infernal assault of the Chimera.

Sky rubbed his eyes. Are the windigoes…protecting me?

He scanned the rest of the chamber. More windigoes were coming from all over the cavern, joining their comrades in their effort to defy the Chimera. The chamber was cast in a strangely-ambient array of colors as the light of the flames was broken by the ice and scattered against every surface. And far across the cavern, a pure white light shone like a star. He strained to see what it was, but as his vision finally returned to normal he saw the small outline of a unicorn standing regally like a queen, her horn glowing with power. With a sudden burst of comprehension, Sky smiled and chuckled.

Lily. I should have known.

Streams of light passed from her horn throughout the cavern. Even Sky felt its calming effect on him, in spite of the very real danger he was still in. She had used her power to break the panic on the windigoes, giving them a chance to regroup and rally against the Chimera. And not a moment too soon, it would seem. Just a second or two more, and Sky would have been the main course at a Chimera barbecue.

He was still trying to shake his mind free of the cobwebs when he became aware of a body beside him. Looking up, he saw the intense face of a familiar windigo looking down at him. “Well, are you just going to lie there all day? You came to find this thing; I suggest you go get it,” the commander said shortly.

Sky grunted as he worked to get his legs to support him. He stretched his wings and found that they were unharmed. “What, don’t you want a shot at it?” Sky said through clenched teeth.

The windigo’s eyes narrowed, but Sky thought that there was a glimmer of respect hidden within them. “You have your power. Use it.”

Sky’s legs whined for a few moments as the feeling returned to them. The windigoes were managing to build the ice wall even larger now that there were more of them, though Sky wondered why the Chimera wasn’t trying to move around it. Finally, he began to move his legs rhythmically, and he felt like his old self again.

He scanned the chamber again. Beside him, there was the gruff commander of the windigoes. Behind him, a veritable army of windigoes hovered, their icy breath constructing a shield against the deadly flames of the Chimera. And across the chamber, there was Lily, using her own magic to defy the dread of their foe, bringing them all together in a single effort. Everyone was supporting him.

He felt a tingle in his wings. Every breath sent a shiver down his spine. His legs began to itch with excitement as he felt an unmistakable energy course through his veins.

And Sky felt his power return.

He was in the air in a heartbeat, streaking like a comet over the wall. He caught sight of the Chimera, who was only using two heads to blast away at the icy barrier, while the goat head kept a lookout for anything that might dare approach. It saw Sky almost as soon as he was over the wall.

Not today, ugly.

He changed direction before the Chimera’s other two heads could turn to face him. He closed the distance deliberately, giving the goat head a chance to target him and take a shot. Smiling, he made his approach. I may not be able to hurt you with your own flames, but I’m willing to bet that you can’t see past them.

He passed on the outside of the fiery streak, cutting off his vision of the Chimera. With a desperate push of his wings, he sped up as he reached the tail end of the beast, where the snake head was stretching out to try and intercept him.

“Oh, hi there,” Sky said as he threw everything he had into his momentum, stretched out, and caught the tail in his mouth. He felt the Chimera strain as the sudden jerk pulled its body taut. Sky summoned all the energy he had and released it in a surge of magic that sent him rocketing forward, dragging the Chimera unwillingly behind him. With a quick whip of his head, he sent the monster head over heels through the air, crashing into the bare stone wall, engulfed in a cloud of fallen dust and debris.

Sky coughed as he landed. “Ugh, you know you taste terrible?” he taunted.

The Chimera made no response. Sky waited patiently for it to reappear, but after several tense moments, there was still no sound. Still he waited.

“Come on out. I don’t have all day to finish you off, you know.”

As the dust cloud settled, Sky was surprised to find that the Chimera wasn’t there. Well…it was, and it wasn’t. The great hulk of a beast that he had been fighting before was gone. It was replaced by the all-too-familiar body of a windigo.

It stood upon the platform, legs splayed outward, looking battle-weary and exhausted. Its head was cast downward, and it was taking deep breaths to try and recover.

Sky raised an eyebrow. He knew he couldn’t trust the Chimera, but how bad had he actually hurt it? “I don’t care what form you take. You’re still a menace to Equestria, and it’s my job to see you eliminated.”

Slowly, the Chimera-windigo raised its head towards the pegasus. Its eyes were closed, and as it spoke, Sky noticed that its speech was no longer made up of the blend of voices that he was used to hearing. “You can try all you want, but no pony can eliminate me. Not even you.”

“Back to referencing yourself in the singular again? Man, I really need to start taking it easy on you.”

The Chimera-windigo actually smiled and began to laugh. It was a cruel, thin laugh that seemed to linger in the air. It made Sky’s skin crawl. “Well, you have done an admirable job here today. But do not doubt me: your day of reckoning is coming. And you cannot hide from that.”

Sky snorted. “The only day of reckoning that’s coming is yours.”

“Oh, yours will come. You will see. There is no lasting victory.” With that, its eyelids pulled back to reveal a pair of glowing crimson eyes that Sky knew all too well. He recoiled as the eyes brought back haunting memories of his first encounter with the beast. “THERE IS ONLY ME!!!”

Sky planted his hooves as the Chimera-windigo took off and headed for the exit. He could feel Lily’s calming spell as it quieted his fear. He launched himself into the air and began his pursuit of his quarry as it headed for the exit. The windigoes turned and prepared to seal the exit with a wall of ice.

“No, wait! It’s too—”

The Chimera-windigo was into the tunnel just before the barrier sealed the cavern exit. Sky rammed into it, hoping break through, but the seal held fast. Smiling, the fake windigo turned and sneered.

“And so we part again, pegasus,” it said in a mocking voice that was muffled by the icy covering on the exit. “It was nice catching up with you.”

Sky snarled and beat his hooves relentlessly against the ice. “This isn’t over!” he screamed defiantly, his voice wrought with fury. He had been so close…he couldn’t let it get away now.

“Oh, of course it isn’t. I certainly hope to see you again very soon.” A black mist suddenly wrapped itself around the body of the impostor. In a moment, the cloud was pulled back, and the windigo’s body had been replaced by another. It was the body of an aged tawny pony with a white mane and tail. A head of wheat formed the cutie mark on its flank. Its eyes glowed red as its wicked smile widened across its face.

Sky could feel his teeth grinding as he watched the scene play out before him. The body changed again into another pony, looking just as old, but this one was a deep gray stallion with a light grey mane. A tall grandfather clock graced its flank as the cutie mark. Finally, the body of the windigo returned. It pressed itself right against the ice with a syrupy sweet smile that made Sky’s stomach turn.

“Very, very soon,” it said softly.

Sky hurled the fire-spell orb he had fished out of his saddlebags against the ice and watched as the frozen seal disintegrated. The Chimera-windigo turned and fled, laughing maniacally as it moved down the corridor outside. Sky squeezed into the tunnel, deaf to the cries of the windigoes (and Lily) behind him. All he knew was the red fury in his brain and an image of the Chimera laughing over the fallen bodies of Grandpa Grain and Grandfather Clock.

He tore down the tunnel, frantically looking for the Chimera. He raced along at a breakneck pace until he arrived at the mouth of the tunnel. The sun was high in the sky, and its reflection off the snow blinded Sky where he stood. Shielding his eyes, he squinted and strained to see anything, but all he detected was the sound of a cruel laughter as the wind carried it. He prepared to take off into the daylight when a voice spoke from behind him.

“No.”

Sky whipped around to see the commander coming up beside him. “But it’s getting away! And I can stop it!”

“Can you?” the commander asked. “Were you able to stop it on your own today?”

Sky bit his lip. He knew the answer, of course, but he wouldn’t admit it. To concede the point was to allow the Chimera to get away scot-free.

“Perhaps one day you will stop it,” the commander continued. “But if what you told me earlier is true, then your only chance to defeat it will come when you are surrounded by those that you love and care about.”

The windigo’s words surprised Sky. For a moment, he forgot about the Chimera. “Wait, what?”

The windigo looked down at Sky. There was no disdain in his eyes. In fact, if he had considered it to be possible, Sky could have sworn that he saw…sympathy. “Every creature has its strength. For the windigoes, we ride upon the chaos of our enemies. But the ponies of Equestria find their greatest strength in their reliance upon each other. It is what drove the windigoes away and allowed them to claim the land of Equestria as their own.”

Sky remained silent. If the commander felt any bitterness over the legend of the Founders of Equestria, he didn’t show it. “We have thrived here for ages. And in that time, the windigoes’ hatred of the ponies has been allowed to fester. And yet, in the midst of a danger we were unaware of, two ponies come to warn us about it. And in the end, we ended up working together to drive the creature off.” He hesitated as he stared off into the distance. “You are truly unique. Both of you. Your courage led you into the heart of those that considered you their enemies, and your compassion brought us together in a common cause. And you have forced at least one windigo to reconsider what he thought he knew.” He turned back to Sky. The commander did not smile, but there was an unmistakable look of respect on his face. “Never lose that. I believe that it is a source of strength for you that will see you through many trials.”

Sky found himself surprised by the windigo’s honesty. “Thank you, sir,” Sky managed. “And I really mean that. It means a lot to hear such words come from someone that basically hated my guts when we first met.”

Sky gazed out the opening again. There was silence for a while before Sky spoke again. “So now what? The Chimera essentially destroyed your home here.”

The commander shook his head. “No. It decimated our main chamber, but that is hardly the entirety of our home. We will stay and rebuild. We have not moved for hundreds of years, and I do not believe that we will move now.”

“What about your King? Is he alright?”

The commander snorted. “You know little about King Icevein. Even with all its power, the Chimera could not hope to eliminate our King so easily. He will be fine with some rest.”

“Ah, good,” Sky replied. He was silent for another moment. “Well…what about Lily and myself? What will happen to us?”

The commander sighed. “The King will make a judgment on that. But I believe that he will release you back to your homes.”

“Really? Even though so much damage was caused?”

“Are you asking to be kept a prisoner?” he replied. Sky grimaced and looked away. “But do not worry. Eventually, the beast would have destroyed our home. But it would have done it entirely. Nothing would have been left. You saved both our home and our lives. The King will not fail to see that.”

“Hm.” Sky looked out over the snow-covered plain for a moment, then turned around and began to head back to the main chamber. “I just wish I had one more chance to destroy that thing. I wouldn’t fail.”

“That chance will come,” the windigo advised. “Just not today.”

Chapter 12: Hollow Victory

The sky was a backdrop of pristine blue against which the sun sat, casting its radiance across a snow-covered landscape. No clouds could be seen in any direction. Far to the north, on the very edge of eyesight, a familiar mountain range peeked its top over the horizon, as if it were bidding a final farewell to its recent visitors.

To the south, at the base of a shallow drop-off from the snowy plain, the small colony of Polarmino sat lazily, basking in the sunlight. It was much the same as it had been just a few days before, only now, the storm that had plagued it for an entire week had vanished. It was refreshing to see.

Lily sat upon the edge of the frozen plateau that overlooked her home. Beside her, Sky and the windigo commander stood, silently inspecting the town below. Lily had been surprised by the windigo’s offer to escort the pair of ponies back to their home, but Sky had quickly accepted. Lily figured that Sky must have known something that she didn’t, so she hadn’t argued the point. As it turned out, the commander had been quite helpful on their journey back. He had guided them quickly (yet not too quickly) from the mountains back to the edge of Equestria. And in spite of Lily’s concern, he had assured both of them that the windigoes would be fine.

“It would take something much greater than that to drive us from our dwelling,” he had said. “We would rather die in defense of our home than leave it.”

And so, here they were. A unicorn, a pegasus, and a windigo, all gathered at the edge of the place where it had all begun.

It was Sky’s voice that broke the silence. “Commander, thank you again for your help. You didn’t have to do any of this.”

“We are creatures of honor, pegasus. We show respect to those that have earned it, and try to repay our debts in the same way,” the windigo replied.

“What debt?” Lily asked. “We all worked together to drive off the Chimera. All we did was warn you about it. It took all of our strength together to beat it.”

“Your warning saved countless lives. And we can repay you at least for that much.”

Sky shrugged and sighed. “Hey, whatever works for you.”

Lily noticed the windigo looking coyly out of the corner of his glowing blue eye. “Before we part, I should let you know: it is still unsafe to travel into the realm of the windigoes, even for the two of you, who have done so much.”

Sky didn’t seem deterred by the commander’s words. “Heh. Well, I don’t think we expected to—”

“However,” he continued, “if I should ever find you in our lands, I will speak no word of it to any other windigo. I hope you take advantage of that.”

Lily couldn’t help but smile. “We certainly shall, commander. Thank you again for everything.”

He bowed before them, and with a shrill cry, he took off into the air and was gone. They looked back towards the mountains far in the distance for a moment, then, sensing that the time had come, they turned in unison and walked down the incline towards the town.

“So, that was fun, right?” Sky said.

“Fun?” Lily said incredulously. “Let’s see: I nearly died at least four times, you nearly died at least once, an entire colony was practically annihilated, a creature of immense power is lurking out there somewhere with a really big grudge…oh, sure, that was exactly what I think of when I hear the word ‘fun’.” She cast a disapproving look in his direction.

“Hey, it’s all a matter of perspective. I see it this way: we saved an Equestrian colony from being frozen over, averted a potential war, successfully drove off that same powerful creature, protected another colony from mass destruction, and possibly opened the door to friendlier relations with the windigoes. I’d say that we didn’t do too badly.” Sky flashed a charming smile back at her.

Lily sighed. “Still…we both nearly died.”

Sky rolled his eyes. “Admit it…you had fun. And you’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

She looked him straight in the face. And on the surface, his eyes matched his jovial, almost excessively cheerful demeanor. But behind the façade, Lily could see and feel a deep sorrow that caused her own heart to ache. “I don’t know about that,” she said softly.

“Sure you would. Especially if I was asking you to go with me.”

Lily eyed him suspiciously. “Now you’re just flirting with me.”

“Of course I am,” Sky admitted. “I haven’t forgotten about our date.”

To be fair, neither had Lily. It had been pushed to a far corner of her mind over the past few days, but she hadn’t forgotten. And now that the blizzard was gone and the ordeal with the windigoes was over, she was actually looking forward to it. “Did you have a certain day in mind?”

“How about tonight?” Sky offered.

“Tonight!? But that’s hardly enough time for me to get ready or anything!” Lily protested.

Sky stopped in his tracks and held her gaze. “Lily, I’d be fine going out with you even if you looked like you had just rolled out of bed (which you actually kinda do). But you don’t need to try and look pretty; you always look beautiful to me.”

Lily felt her face turn red. “I bet you say that to all the pretty mares,” she replied.

Sky gave her his all-too-familiar smug grin as he started towards the village again. “I’ll never tell.”

They arrived on the edge of town walking side by side. The ponies of the colony were out and about, mostly working on cleaning up the town and repairing whatever damage had been caused by the storm. The snowdrifts across the main road through town were slowly beginning to disappear, and Lily could even see the ground in certain spots. A group of unicorns was working together on repairing holes in the roofs of several buildings. And many of the younger ponies in the town were scampering about, gathering small pieces of debris and placing them into buckets to be disposed of.

Lily’s heart grew lighter as they approached. “Just look at them, Sky. This is how the colony is supposed to be.”

They went unnoticed until a familiar light golden colt saw them approach. His eyes grew wide with recognition as Lily and Sky walked through the center of the road towards him.

“Miss Lily! Mister Sky Streak!” Countdown shouted excitedly as he dropped the bucket he had been carrying and raced towards the pair of approaching ponies.

“Countdown!” Lily called, feeling her heart jump in her chest as she finally saw a familiar face again. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you!”

The colt ran headlong into Sky, tackling him to the ground. “Oof!” Sky’s breath rushed out as he hit the ground beneath the force of the colt.

“Haha, I knew you’d come back! I just knew it!” Countdown said, clambering to his hooves and jumping around excitedly. By this time, most of the rest of the ponies had dropped their own items and were beginning to congregate around Sky and Lily. The cheers and shouts made quite the ruckus as they welcomed back their heroes.

Sky quickly stood up again as the townsponies gathered around. He looked around with wide eyes for a moment. Lily thought that he seemed rather bewildered, so she decided to take charge of the situation. As her horn lit up, the crowd grew quieter. “Everypony, if you’ll head to the meeting hall with us, we’ll tell you what we know.”

A short time later, the entire population of the town was gathered into the meeting hall. Every pony from every family was packed inside to see the return of Sky and Lily. Even the Clock family (whom Lily believed was still unwilling to reconcile with the Grain family) was there. Their curiosity was apparently stronger than their resentment.

“Well, as I’m sure you’ve noticed,” Sky began, “the storm is gone.” This drew another tremendous cheer from the group, which involuntarily brought a smile to Lily’s face. When she had left Polarmino, the town was nearly devoid of any kind of joy or happiness. Now it was everywhere.

“We came to the windigo colony, where we confronted the creature that had started this whole ordeal,” Sky continued. “It was a hard and terrible fight, and extremely dangerous, but in the end, we managed to drive off the creature.”

“What was the creature?” a stallion in the back of the room asked.

Lily looked at Sky. He had that “I’d-really-rather-not-answer” look on his face, but she knew that he felt compelled to give the honest response.

“I’m afraid I can’t give you an exact answer, because I don’t know exactly what it is. But I’ll tell you what I do know. The creature is a shapeshifter, stealing the forms of other creatures and claiming them as its own. I had seen it change forms before, when I fought it the first time. It had utilized part of the guise of Night Mare Moon that had fallen from Princess Luna, thereby enabling it to take on that shape. This time, it had stolen the form of a windigo so that it could hide away in the windigo colony undetected.”

“But how did it start the storm if it was disguised as a windigo?” another mare asked.

“Because it took more shapes than just that of a windigo,” Sky answered. Lily noticed that his lip was quivering, and his legs seemed tense and taut, like a rubber band stretched to its limit.

He’s still upset, Lily thought to herself. He can hide it for a while, but deep down, he’s still holding on to that anger and rage. She recalled the emotion in his voice as he had argued with the Chimera as it transformed into the bodies of the two missing ponies. It drives him.

“It…it took the bodies of Grandpa Grain and Grandfather Clock to cause the two largest families in the town to become hostile towards one another. It tricked you by telling each of you a different story, so that each group would think that the other was lying.” He paused as a hushed murmur floated around the room. “It had planned to let the division spread and fester. That would bring the windigoes there to feed. And as the animosity grew, the bad weather would do the same. Polarmino would have been frozen and buried, and the Equestrian leadership would naturally pin the blame on the obvious culprits: the windigoes. A war would break out. And that’s exactly what the shapeshifter wanted: chaos. It wants destruction. Destruction to its—”

Sky’s eyes suddenly glazed over. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for a moment, drawn to another place, or reliving a memory that took on a sudden importance. “Sky?” she asked, nudging him with her hoof.

Instantly, Sky shook his head and seemed back to normal, but he seemed deeper in contemplation now. “Sorry, just something I remembered.” Turning to Lily, he whispered, “I’ll tell you later.”

“So what about Grandpa Grain and Grandfather Clock?” Barley asked from Lily’s right. “Did you rescue them?”

Every pony sat up in anticipation, hoping to hear an affirmative response from the blue pegasus. But Sky simply sagged where he sat and let his head droop. “No,” he managed. “The Chi—er, shapeshifter stole their bodies. And as long as it lives, those bodies will remain a part of it. I’m sorry.”

The excitement in the room deflated like a popped balloon. Every pony’s face faded into a look of stunned disbelief at the news. Lily discreetly cast a calming spell over the group, though she didn’t think it had much of an effect.

“You mean…they’re gone?” Silent Moment asked, tears welling up in the filly’s eyes. “Forever?”

Sky’s head rose to gaze out across the crowd. For a moment, he sat perfectly still as his eyes scanned the audience.

Suddenly, Lily felt a change in the room. It was like a charge in the air before the coming of a thunderstorm. It sent a chill down her spine. “No,” Sky said at last, but his voice carried a tone of steely determination. “Not forever.” He stood up on all four hooves and stamped. “It got away from me this time, but I’m not going to let it get away again. You’ll see Grandpa Grain and Grandfather Clock one day soon.” He looked past the assembled group of townsponies and out the window. “I promise you that.”

Chapter 13: Moving Forward

Sky felt his mind ease and his body relax as soon as he saw it. He hadn’t thought that his time away would affect him as much as it had. But one look at the towering spires and gently glowing lights of the royal city perched on the mountainside was enough to cause the stress to melt from his shoulders.

Canterlot. I’m back.

He circled the pinnacle of the mountain before beginning his descent onto the radiant city. The starry night sky served as a beautiful canvas for the city to silhouette itself against, as though Canterlot itself was the centerpiece of a vast collection of diamonds. Far in the distance, Sky saw the warm glow of Ponyville beside the shadowy edge of Everfree Forest. The darkness persists in that forest, but I’m not afraid of it anymore.

Sky landed smoothly on the walkway leading up to the royal palace. Several of the guards on duty stiffened as they saw Sky approach, only to raise their hooves in a salute as soon as they recognized him.

Sky sighed inwardly. “Good evening, gentlecolts,” he said in greeting. He hated the feeling that everypony owed him some sign of recognition. He had been far more comfortable in Polarmino, where nopony knew him or knew what he had done.

Until now, of course.

A second pairing of guards, donned in the traditional royal golden armor, flanked the main doors into the palace. On the left stood a white unicorn with a red and silver mane. The image of a shield with a spear graced his flank. On his right, a dark green pony with a tawny brown mane stood at perfect attention. A pair of binoculars formed his own cutie mark. They snapped a hasty salute in unison as Sky’s form came into view. Sky merely raised his eyebrows and nodded in greeting. It feels like I’ve seen those two somewhere before…

The immense doors opened, and as Sky stepped inside, he staggered as he saw a familiar trio before him, engaged in conversation.

“Twilight? Applejack? Spike? Wh…what are you doing here?” Sky stammered.

Three heads turned simultaneously in Sky’s direction. Almost instantly, there were shouts and cries of greetings as they rushed up to the stunned pegasus.

“Well, howdy-do, Sky!” Applejack said in her normal enthusiastic manner. “Ain’t this a surprise!”

“Sky, it’s so good to see you again!” Twilight said, beaming in excitement. “Did you just get back from an assignment?”

“Uh, yeah,” Sky said, trying to compose himself. He scratched the back of his neck nervously. “It’s a small colony in the far north of Equestria. Polarmino, that’s its name. You’ve probably never even heard of it.”

“I have,” Twilight said, her know-it-all mannerisms coming to the forefront. “It was founded two years ago right on the northernmost border of Equestria. The colony, which had a population of less than thirty at last check, was founded primarily by two families, the…”

“The Grains and the Clocks,” Sky finished. His forehead wrinkled as he spoke. I’ll never forget those names. And I won’t stop thinking about them until I’ve done everything I can to help them.

“Right,” Twilight nodded. “So, they were having trouble of some sort?”

“Whatever it was, I’m sure that Sky’s fixed it all up by now,” Spike said confidently. “Right, Sky?” He elbowed the pegasus in the ribs playfully.

Inwardly, Sky winced at the remark, but he merely smiled as he said, “Ask me again later.”

Their smiles seemed to fade as his words reached their ears. “Sky…is something wrong?” Twilight asked in a concerned voice.

Sky hesitated. He had no reason to disclose any information to them. They weren’t part of his mission, anyways.

But they were his friends. And Sky felt a certain obligation to share his thoughts and concerns with them.

Sky’s head felt like it was going to split as the dueling opinions battled for supremacy. Finally, when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore, Applejack’s voice cut through the silence. “Now, let’s not be nosy. I’m sure Sky’s got his reasons for not wantin’ to say too much.” She gave him a reassuring smile.

Sky released an internal sigh of relief. He hadn’t wanted to divulge anything, but he hadn’t wanted to just say “no” to them without an explanation. “So, really, what are you doing here?” he asked quickly, attempting to redirect the conversation.

“Applejack needed to make a special trip here to gather some things for the coming apple harvest at Sweet Apple Acres,” Twilight explained. “There are just some things that you can’t get in Ponyville, and Spike and I decided to come along for company.”

“And they’re great company, let me tell you,” Applejack agreed. “Showin’ me all around the city. I’d been here before, but I ain’t ever seen anything like what they’ve been showin’ me.”

“Yeah, Canterlot’s certainly a special place,” Sky replied. “I guess it’s home for me now. And to be honest, I really don’t mind.”

“I remember when we lived here before moving to Ponyville,” said Spike, who was gazing off into the distance, apparently lost in his memories. “Too bad Twilight was too caught up in her books to actually go do anything.”

Sky and Applejack covered their mouths, trying to hide their laughter, much to Twilight’s exasperation. “That’s enough from you,” she said, lifting the baby dragon onto her back with her magic.

“So, what are you doing in the palace?” Sky continued.

“Oh, well, we were just going to drop in and see the Princess before heading back to our rooms.”

Sky caught sight of a door opening at the far end of the hall. “I think you’re about to see her.”

The entire group turned towards the opening doors, where not only Princess Celestia, but also Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor had emerged. As they approached, the group of friends bowed collectively.

“Ah, Sky, you’ve returned. I’m glad to see you safe again,” Celestia said as Sky raised his head. “And Twilight, Spike, and Applejack. What brings you to the palace?”

“Just a friendly visit, Yer’ Highness,” Applejack said cheerfully.

“Well, I suppose we can do more than that. If all four of you would come with us to the throne room, then Sky can give us his report on his latest mission. I’m sure you’ll be interested to hear all about it.”

Sky nearly swallowed his tongue as Celestia spoke. He felt a cold sweat start to break out on his forehead. Reluctantly, he followed behind the group as they headed for the throne room.

Looks like I’ll have to tell them anyway.

“Now then,” Princess Celestia began as she took her place among the other members of the Council, “how did the mission go? Did you manage to deal with the storm?”

“I did, Princess,” Sky replied. “The storm is gone, and the colony is safe for the moment.”

“Wait…Sky went to this colony to deal with a storm?” Spike interrupted, a look of confusion on his face.

“Spike! Shush!” Twilight chided.

“No, it’s alright,” Celestia said, smiling sympathetically. “I had forgotten that not everypony here was fully aware of the circumstances of Sky’s mission. The colony had been dealing with a powerful blizzard that had crippled the town and endangered its existence. We believed that there was more to it than that, so we sent Sky to investigate.”

“But the town’s safe now, right?” Twilight asked, glancing at Sky.

He hesitated. “It’s safe from the blizzard.”

The gazes of the members of the Council were like massive spears pointing at him, making him feel terribly guilty. He looked at Princess Luna, who raised an eyebrow as she spoke. “Is there something else that threatens the colony now, Sky Streak?”

His jaw locked. Somewhere in his mind, he could feel his body trembling. Before he had returned to Canterlot, whenever he had thought about his battle in the windigoes’ realm, it filled him with anger. But now, surrounded by his friends and superiors, his rage was overcome by a distinct feeling of failure and replaced with sorrow. A knot formed in his throat as his eyes began to sting. He dropped his head, unable to meet the gazes of the Council.

There was an awkward pause before Luna asked the inevitable question. “It was there, wasn’t it?”

For a moment, Sky felt a wave of hatred wash over him as he saw the image of his foe in his mind. “Yes,” he said at last. His voice was clearer than he had expected, but it was wrought with the pain he felt.

“‘It’? What’s ‘it’? What was there?” Spike asked from Sky’s right. He heard the little dragon’s feet hit the ground as he jumped from his perch on Twilight’s back.

Sky looked over and caught Spike’s eyes. He noticed that both Twilight and Applejack were also looking at him with similar looks of confusion on their faces.

He didn’t speak. He couldn’t. He simply looked at them for what seemed an eternity, where each moment was more unbearable than the last. Suddenly, Twilight gasped and brought a hoof to her mouth.

“You mean…the Chimera? You saw it again?” she said in a hushed voice.

“Did you fight it again?” Spike asked after the shock of Twilight’s revelation passed.

“Yes, I fought it. And just like last time, I barely survived. And, also like last time, I managed to drive it off.”

“Well, I fer one don’t understand what the problem is,” Applejack spoke up. “If you managed to shoo it off and save the colony, then everything should be A-OK.”

“I agree,” Princess Cadance said. “Perhaps you should start at the beginning and explain everything, Sky.”

Sky took a deep breath to try and calm himself. “Shortly after my arrival in Polarmino, I discovered that there were windigoes in the colony.”

“Windigoes?!” Twilight, Applejack, and Spike all shouted together.

“Yes, windigoes. It turns out that they have maintained a bit of a kingdom not far beyond the northern edge of Equestria. And they had come to Polarmino to feed on the negative feelings of some of the ponies in the village. That led me to assemble the entire town to try and discover the source of the negative feelings. I had hoped that by resolving the issue, it would cause the windigoes to leave, taking the storm with them.”

“A solid plan,” Shining Armor commented.

“As it turned out,” Sky continued, “the culprits of the argument were the town’s founders, the Clock and Grain families. Apparently, the patriarchs of each family had gotten into some sort of argument that had caused a rift between the two clans. The conflict escalated until it drew the attention of the windigoes, who brought the storm. Unfortunately, when I confronted the families about it, they each gave two separate stories about what had actually happened. And to make matters worse, both Gr—” Sky coughed abruptly, cutting off his speech. The names of the settlement’s founders stuck in his throat as he thought of his inability to save either of them from a grisly fate.

“Mm. Sorry,” he said, rubbing his throat. “As I was saying,” he paused to make sure he could say the names, “Grandpa Grain and Grandfather Clock had gone missing that morning. Rather inexplicably.”

Princess Luna narrowed her eyes as Sky spoke. “That’s rather suspicious,” Cadance commented.

“I thought so, too. And on top of all that, one of the little fillies in town had told me that she had seen a ‘scary black cloud’ in the town. Considering all the information I had, I believed that I knew what was going on. So Lily and I left the next day to head to the windigo kingdom.”

“Lily?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, right, sorry. Lily Pond. She’s a unicorn in Polarmino. She was my contact when I arrived, and she volunteered to travel with me to go find the windigoes.” Sky felt a little embarrassed to be talking about her in front of a pair of lovely mares like Twilight and Applejack, but he didn’t let it show.

“Oh, I see,” Twilight said, nodding in understanding. “Please continue.”

“We managed to arrive at the windigo colony. The leader of the windigoes, King Icevein, was initially unwilling to listen to us, but I managed to find the Chimera on my own. It had been hiding there, using the disguise of a windigo to remain undetected. After I confronted it, however, it went on a rampage, essentially destroying a large portion of the windigoes’ homes before fleeing.”

“But what was its connection to the storm in Polarmino?” Celestia asked.

The fury once again rose in Sky’s mind as he saw the scene play out for him again. There was the windigo, then it was the body of Grandpa Grain, and then it was Grandfather Clock. But each time, it was still the Chimera—simply hidden in a shell of a victim.

“The Chimera had disguised itself as”—he cleared his throat—“Grandpa Grain and Grandfather Clock. It had used those disguises to perpetrate rumors within the individual families so that neither side knew the truth. All it had to do then was to wait for the windigoes to come and eventually wipe out the colony. It was hoping that the destruction of an Equestrian town at the hooves of the windigoes would fuel a conflict, possibly all-out war, between the windigoes and Equestria.”

“I’m beginning to believe that this creature simply desires destruction to its fullest extent,” Shining Armor said, a glint in his eye.

“But wait,” Cadance spoke up. “You told us that the Chimera could only take the form of something if it had possession of its body. By eating it, you said. Then how did it…” Her voice trailed off.

Sky winced and turned away as if he had just been kicked in the face. The horrific truth fell like an avalanche on the ponies in the room. A dead silence engulfed the chamber as each one of them reeled from the sudden realization.

“Oh my,” Luna said softly.

Sky felt a pair of bodies come up beside him, one on either side. Looking up, he saw Twilight, with Spike having returned to her back, on his right, and Applejack on his left. All three of them had looks of stunned horror on their faces, but it was mingled with empathy and sorrow. “Sky…I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” Spike apologized as best he could.

Sky found looking at his friends even more distressing than facing the Council, so he turned back to them. He found their eyes trained on him, but he saw his own pain reflected in their faces. He wondered if they truly understood the terror he had faced and the tragedy he had been subjected to.

Princess Celestia spoke again, but her voice betrayed just how shaken she was. “Is there anything we can do to rescue them?”

Sky shook his head. “Not that I know of, Your Highness. The only possibility I can think of is that if we can vanquish the creature, we might be able to release the victims.” He paused. “Or, it might destroy them along with the Chimera.”

The silence fell again. Sky could feel the tension in the air as everypony came to grips with the truth that had been presented to them. Finally, Celestia spoke up, a steely determination in her voice.

“This has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Not only can we not be certain where this enemy is, but it may be one of us. Shining Armor,” she said, turning to face her captain of the guard, “I must ask that you once again place the protective shield around Canterlot. We must take immediate action to protect ourselves. Let the citizens of the city know that a threat has arisen, but do not give them any more details than necessary. I do not think we want to deal with a panicked population at this time.”

Shining Armor nodded and galloped off, Princess Cadance right behind him. “Sister, we must tighten our watch upon the land. We must locate this thing before it can cause any more harm to Equestria,” Celestia continued, facing Princess Luna.

“Princesses,” Sky interjected, “there is…one more thing.”

Celestia and Luna both turned to face him. “The Chimera mentioned something else during our battle. It had already told me that it had wanted to start a war between the ponies and the windigoes, but it also said that it had considered trying to get more lands involved in the war. I think it has a vendetta against everything.”

“Did it mention any realms specifically?” Luna asked.

“Not that I can remember,” Sky replied, playing the moment over in his head. “No, it didn’t.”

“Very well,” Celestia said. Her face was a study in concentration and deep thought. “Your room is prepared for you, Sky. I suggest you get your rest. I believe we will have much need of your assistance in the days to come.”

Sky nodded. He had expected no less. “Of course, Princess.”

Without any further words directed towards Sky, Celestia and Luna turned and walked away, speaking softly to each other. Sky’s ears flattened as he thought of the sudden distress and worry that his news would place on everypony.

“Sky, you know what you need?” Applejack’s voice rose from beside him.

“To wake up from this nightmare,” he replied without hesitation.

“You need somethin’ to cheer you up,” the orange mare said, ignoring Sky’s remark. “How about you come down to the farm later this week, and we’ll have us a good ol’-fashioned get-together? You, me, Twi, and all the gang from Ponyville can be there. We’ve hardly seen ya’ for a few months, so I think it’d be good to see each other again.”

“Yeah, that sounds great!” Twilight chimed in. “I know that everypony would love to be able to catch up with you.”

“A ‘get-together’?” Sky asked, his mood lightening as he talked with his friends. “I think Pinkie Pie would call that a ‘party’.”

“Call it what you will, but we’re gonna have one,” Applejack responded. “You better be there. Two days from now; we’ll all have lunch together.” She eyed Sky accusingly.

“Alright, alright, I’ll come!” Sky said innocently. “You sure you’re not becoming more like Pinkie Pie?”

“If she was, then the party would be going on already, and you’d be standing in it,” Spike replied.

“That’s the truth,” Twilight giggled.

Sky looked out a nearby window just in time to see a large pink wave rise up around the entire city, encasing it in an immense protective bubble. “Looks like things are gonna be really different around here.”

“For now, but I don’t think it’ll last long,” Twilight said encouragingly. “We’ll find a way to stop the Chimera and save everypony.”

“It’s becoming a bit of a routine with us,” Applejack smirked.

Sky smiled in response, but his mind was still sober. “I sure hope you’re right.”

“We can’t afford to be wrong.”

Sky and Lily: The Date

Location: Confidential
Time: 5:23 PM, March 24

The following is a reproduction of the transcripts of a meeting between the unicorn Lily Pond (LP) and the pegasus Sky Streak (SS) one afternoon outside the town of ---------. The names have not been changed for the furtherance of potentially embarrassing rumors about said ponies.

SS and LP approach a secluded location in a small grove of trees. The sky is beginning to redden as the sun falls towards the horizon.

SS: Feeling better?
LP: Better?
SS: Well…less tired, at least?
LP: Oh, yes. (pause) So, this is the spot.
SS: Pretty. Come here often?
LP: No, not really. It’s just a place that I’ve seen from the edge of town before, and I thought it looked kinda secluded and lonely, but still pretty.
SS: That it is.
LP: And sorta romantic.
SS: (laughs)
LP: What’s so funny?
SS: You. You make me laugh. It’s nice to be the one laughing instead of being the one trying to make others do it.
LP: Oh, well, alright. (sets down a basket and begins to rummage through it) Feel like eating something?
SS: Heh. I wouldn’t mind an apple. Or whatever you have.
LP: Good, I brought a few. (gives an apple to SS, who begins to eat it immediately) They’re the freshest I had, considering we haven’t gotten any new shipments since the storm started.
SS: It’s fine. It’s not moldy or rotten, so that makes it fine by me.
LP: (bites into her own apple and swallows) You know, I’ve never actually been on a date with anypony before.
SS: Really? Me neither, actually.
LP: So this the first time for both of us? (takes another bite)
SS: Seems like it. So I guess if we’re doing it wrong, nopony will know, huh?
LP: (coughs as she laughs and swallows at the same time) I guess not.
SS: Well, let’s just talk, then. When you’re not saving Equestria, what do you like to do?
LP: What? I didn’t save Equestria.
SS: Oh, you’re right. Well, it sounded good in my head.
LP: (chuckles. Takes another bite of her apple)
SS: So, what do you like to do normally? Like, what did you do before you moved to Polarmino?
LP: You mean back in Fillydelphia? Well, I helped my parents run their business.
SS: Which was? (takes a large bite of his apple)
LP: They owned a jewelry store there in town. I remember that most of the items they made had a gemstone right in the middle of them. I seem to recall seeing a lot of emeralds. It was nice.
SS: How did you help?
LP: Oh, just in little ways. I would run errands for them, hold things steady while they worked on them…you know, stuff like that.
SS: OK, I gotcha.
LP: What about you? What did you do before you joined the Service?
SS: Well, I did a lot of different things. But usually I helped out with delivery services. Ones that had a certain requirement for speedy work.
LP: Is that your special talent? Being fast?
SS: Well, I’ve been told that I’m quick. And the special abilities I got from fighting the Chimera the first time haven’t hurt that at all.
LP: I should say not. I’ve never seen any pony move as fast as you did back in the battle. Wings or no.
SS: Thanks.
LP: And asking a mare out on a date after knowing her for only two days indicates speed of another kind.
SS: (snorts) See, that’s not fair.
LP: Oh? You just told me that this is the first date that you’ve ever been on. So I have nothing else to work off of.
SS: OK, now you’re just being hard to live with.
LP: Consider it payback for all the teasing you did to me.
SS: Whatever.
LP: You know, you’re pretty fun to tease, too.
SS: Har har. (takes another big bite of apple and places the rind on the ground)
LP: No sarcastic comebacks tonight? You must be tired.
SS: (releases a long sigh) Sorry. Got a lot on my mind right now, you know?
LP: …Still thinking about the Clocks and Grains?
SS: Yeah. I just can’t help thinking that I could have done more. That I failed to do everything that I could.
LP: Sky, it’s like this is the one thing that you just can’t bring yourself to understand. No pony can do everything all by themselves. It’s just not possible. You can’t be so hard on yourself.
SS: My head says that it agrees, but my heart just can’t accept that.
LP: I think that the sooner you come to grips with that, the sooner you can put an end to the Chimera.
SS: I just wish it was that easy. But I tend to be pretty thick-headed.
LP: I thought you just told me that it was your heart that was the problem.
SS: (sighs and smiles) You know, I wondered why I found myself so attracted to you after such a short time. And I think I know why now.
LP: (smiles softly) Why’s that?
SS: Because you make up for my weaknesses. Like my temper and hot-headedness. And I don’t mean just your magic. You always look for a peaceful way to resolve things. And you don’t let circumstances determine your outlook on life. You’re really good at rising above your surroundings to maintain that steady nature of yours. And I really, really like that about you.
LP: Sky, everypony has weaknesses. You do. I do. Even Princess Celestia has weaknesses. That’s why cherish friendships so much. Our friends fill those parts of our lives that we just can’t do on our own.
SS: But you know, there are some ponies that don’t merely help fill areas of your life. There are the ponies that make you feel more complete. And you make me feel that way. Like I’m more complete with you.
LP: (blushes and is visibly embarrassed) Oh, um…
SS: Oh…too soon?
LP: That’s one thing about you, Sky. You just tell it like it is. No mincing of words with you.
SS: Straight and to the point. Guess I really am fast in more ways than one, huh?
LP: Told you. (gives SS a gentle nudge)
SS: That you did.
LP: So, what was it you were going to tell me later?
SS: Hm?
LP: At the meeting earlier, when you were talking and suddenly stopped. You told me that you’d tell me what it was later. And it’s later.
SS: Oh, that. Right. (momentary pause) Well, it just struck me that when I was talking about the destruction the Chimera was trying to achieve. When I was talking to it before we fought, it told me that it might have been able to get other kingdoms and realms involved in the war it had tried to start. Which made me curious.
LP: How so?
SS: Well, mainly because I wonder if it has a specific reason to get other lands into a war. Is it just because it wants that much chaos and devastation, or is it something personal? It’s just something that’s bugging me a bit now.
LP: I can’t help you there, Sky. I guess you’ll have to ask the Council when you see them.
SS: I guess I will.
(A long pause ensues. For several minutes, they sit in silence and look into the distance as the sky continues to redden. The sun sinks steadily towards the horizon. The only sound that can be heard is the soft chewing of carrots and apples. LP leans over and places her head against SS.)
LP: They sent the right pony.
SS: I’m glad you think so. But he’ll need to be sent to more places than just Polarmino in the future.
LP: Oh, I know. But if he hadn’t come at all, none of this would have happened. And I would have missed out on so much.
SS: So would he.
(They look at each other. LP begins to lean in closer, but SS raises a hoof to her mouth.)
SS: Not on the first date. Not even I’m that fast.
LP: (leans back and smiles) Fine. But you need to promise to come back, then. It’s not polite to keep a mare waiting.
SS: I promise. (winks)
(A sudden, soft noise arises from a nearby patch of bushes. LP and SS turn their heads toward the sound.)
LP: What was that?
SS: (smiles smugly) I don’t know. I sure hope there’s nopony around here. That might be embarrassing.
LP: Sky…
SS: (stands and begins walking over to the bushes) You know, that sounded a lot like a cough or sneeze.
LP: Or a snort.
SS: Could be. And somehow, I don’t think it would be very much like the windigoes to be spying on us so close to town.
LP: (seemingly understanding SS’s thoughts) Then what do you think it is?
SS: (slowly checking the bushes) I wonder if it’s a pony that followed us out here. Maybe they were curious. Or maybe... (lowers voice) …it was three of them.
LP: (with mock surprise) Three of them? Oh my…
SS: I’d bet it’s a trio of little unicorn fillies that were just too curious to let the two of us go off alone without an explanation. And I’d be willing to bet that they followed us out of town. And that they’re hiding right… (pauses) HERE!
(His head plunges into the bush. Squeals of surprise and laughter are heard as three small unicorns escape from the bush and run off. SS and LP can be heard laughing.)

---End of Transcripts---

Author's Notes:

Just to be clear, this happens BEFORE chapter 13. I just put it here because it was such a different style from the rest of the chapters. It's more of an afterthought than an actual chapter.

Epilogue

Journal entry, dated March 26:

“Let me start off by saying “whew.” I should have been prepared for times like this, but I wasn’t. Not even close.

“First off, there’s Lily. After our date, she stayed in Polarmino, and I came back to Canterlot. I promised that I’d come see her again, as soon as I could. It’s funny; I’m making all sorts of promises to go see my friends and family as soon as possible. I’m not sure who I’ll end up visiting first.

“Anyways, she really is an amazing pony. And not just because she saved my life and the lives of all of King Icevein’s windigoes. She just has a calm, pleasant, and charming personality. I tend to believe that it’s not mere chance that took her to Polarmino. Her calming magic will certainly help protect the colony from any aggression by the windigoes. She may not think so, but I believe that she’s one of the most important ponies in that town. Without her, Polarmino might not be there anymore.

“But she’s just as important to me, too. I mean, sure, I like her. And I guess it’s not unfair to say that we’re a couple now. But she keeps me in check. When my temper gets out of hand and my aggression becomes overbearing, she’s there to pull me back from the brink. I don’t always appreciate it in the heat of the moment, but I see now that her level-headedness is her strength. And it’s good that she has that, because I sure don’t have much self-control. I guess it just goes to show that what everyone’s been telling me is true: no one pony can do everything.

“Then there’s the issue of the Grains and the Clocks. Even thinking about them makes my hoof shake. Sorry if this becomes unreadable. But I just can’t get their faces out of my head. When I had to tell them that we couldn’t save their grandfathers...it was gut-wrenching. I had to rip hope from them and replace it with sorrow. I’ve never hated myself more than I did right then. I’m a member of the Service of the Equestrian Crown! I’m not supposed to fail! So why did I?

“Sorry. Lost my head for a moment. Normally, Lily would have taken care of that for me. But it doesn’t change the truth. Those two families have been robbed of their leaders, and to me, that is unacceptable. The Chimera will pay for that. And if I can’t save Grandpa Grain and Grandfather Clock, I’ll make sure that the Chimera hears their names as it takes its last breath.

“The Chimera. I can’t help but believe that its fate and mine are connected. I’ve met it twice, it’s got a grudge against me, and now, I’ve got a personal reason to hunt it. It seems that every time I meet it, I learn something new about it. And I also get a new reason to hate it even more. And if it believes that it’s battled me at my best, it’s got another thing coming.

“The meeting with the Council wasn’t too pleasant. Twilight, Spike, and Applejack were there, so now they know all about how my mission went. They all tried to be supportive and kind. Applejack even invited me to a get-together of sorts later this week. And I’ll go, because I haven’t seen the girls in a few months, and I’d like to catch up. But I think even they will have a hard time getting me to think about something other than that ugly beast and the atrocities it’s done.

“The Council has taken measures to protect Canterlot from the Chimera, and Captain Shining Armor has mobilized various divisions of the royal guards to be on the lookout for the monster throughout Equestria. The members of the Council were all…distraught, maybe…when I told them about how the Chimera had taken the bodies of ponies. They were concerned before, of course, but I think they’re really worried now. Which makes me worried, too.

“Wow…this became quite a long entry, didn’t it? Guess I had a lot on my mind. I’ll take it easy on the next few.

“I miss you, Cinnamint. Tell mom and dad that I love them, too. Hopefully, I’ll see you soon.”

~ Sky Streak