The Windego reared above the warm firelight and bellowed to the night sky with a neigh that had been pulled from the deepest, darkest, and coldest Northern glacier.

Ṋ̴̛̫̑E̶͔͌͐I̸̼͒-̴͙͠ͅË̸̻́I̷̐̚ͅ-̴̣̚Ẽ̷͇Ị̵̅-̸̰͆͋E̴̲̱͂I̶̮͒G̵͙̳̿̚Ḩ̸̫͊̈́!̴͇͇̂͐

It was an awful sound. As if something from the time of creation had dredged up so much hate and malice that it had personally decided to wage war on all of existance.

Pandemonium reigned as Ponies panicked. Many rushed towards the overlapping walls in the windbreak in an effort to get away. The reality however, was that the openings were too small and too few for the mass of Equinity pressing in. So intense was this pressure to get out, that I could see several Ponies jumping over and spilling the still burning cinders in their effort to escape.

In their panic, there were even a few Ponies who could do nothing but run in circles as they looked for a way out of the rushing crowd.

There were only two Ponies I could keep track of. Tia, who kept nearby, and the Crown Unicorn mare, who cowered with her hooves over hear head.

The memories of the Queensford Unicorn's encounter with the Hydra swam in my vision...

The similarities were unsettling.

The beast let loose another chilling bellow that I could feel in my chest.

N̸͕̻̩͑̂̅́̕Ḛ̴̝͇͙̑̑͌I̷͓̍-̴̨̱̑Ẹ̸̻̩͓͌̈I̴̧̩͎̺͐̐-̸̻̫̦̔̕E̸͖̦̥͑̓̆͑I̵̅̕ͅ-̷̘̜̿̋͜É̸̝̦̹̱̀́͒I̷̦̦͒̆̊̀G̴̥͈͎̽̚ͅH̷̢̼͖̀̀!̴̥͔̙͑̆̔̈

The very real Windego then turned its face downwards towards the central bonfire, a great stream of a gale blizzard emanating from its mouth, all but killing the warming glow.

By now, the crowd of Ponies was pressing itself against the walls, climbing over or breaking through in their effort to get away from the windy beast.

I felt the blood drain from my face.

Windego or not, it was a death sentence to run out into the woods in this weather. I wouldn't have bet a roasted acorn that most wouldn't last until morning.

But the Windego was here.

Chasing all of these Ponies away.

Where was-?

Buck!

I left my spear in the wagon!

Of all the times to leave it behind!

I inwardly kicked myself for my foolishness.

But then my eyes fell on the hilt of the Crown Unicorn's sword, still in her scabbard.

"It's not happening... It's not happening... It's not happening..." she muttered madly to herself, her whole body shaking from fright.

She- She had said we could have her weapons right?

My horn glowed, and cerulean magic wrapped itself around the sword's hilt.

"Lu?" Tia asked. "What are you-?"

"Doing what nopony else will." I grunted, pulling the sword from the mare's scabbard. If the mare cared, or if she even noticed, she gave no indication.

I turned back towards the Windego, holding the sword out.

"Lu! Don't be stupid!" Tia called. "That thing beat all three of the armies!"

"I'm sorry Tia... But somepony must." I stated, testing the sword's weight.

I had never held a sword before. Perhaps as a small filly I had waved a stick around and pretended, but never the real thing. But something... Something about the sword felt... Right. I was used to a spear of course, fighting against the wild during our exodus South on top of the semi-formal training I had received at the hooves of the wandering Pegasus band and the militia of Ùllahdmaiden made me proficient. But this sword? Or at least a sword?

My place in the world was next to such a weapon.

I twirled the sword in my levitation to get a proper feel of the weapon.

It would work.

Satisfied, I turned my gaze back up to the Windego. For a moment, I saw the Hydra of my youth looming above the trees, like royalty looking down from its throne. The Windego turned to meet my gaze, as if it too sat on an unassailable throne.

I charged.

"For Queensford! For Ùllahdmaiden! For Ponies everywhere!" I screamed as I held the sword aloft.

The beast nickered and did a sort of acrobatic twirl in the air as it fully turned to face me. Its chest bulged as breath was drawn in and-

FREEEEEEM!

A ray of sunlight hit the beast's forehead! Knocking its blast of frigid air off to the side!

"Damnit Luna!" Tia's voice called out behind me. "Just because you did it once as a filly does not mean you can do it again!"

... She was right... Charging at this thing wasn't going to work.

I had to be clever.

But I wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

I dashed to the side, away from Tia, hoping to split the monsters attention.

It worked, the beast's eyes flickered in their sockets.

"Keep it distracted!" I shouted as I skirted around the remains of the central fire, the cold already seeping into formerly warm air.

"Luna! That's not- ! Gah!" Tia exclaimed, before lighting her horn again with her sunlit magic, and launching another attack at the beast.

FREEEEEEM!

The Windego's head snapped towards Tia, drawn towards the more immediate threat.

N̶̗̮̉Ę̵̲̂͝I̸̲̭̓-̸̬͑̈́E̶̯̥͗I̴̱͑́-̵̀̂ͅE̸͉͂̚Ì̸͈͊-̷͈̙̽Ḙ̷̈́̀Ì̴̧͎G̶̝̩͆͑H̸̏́͜!̶̱͌

The monster reared up again, and lunged towards Tia.

"L-Luna?!" Tia cried out.

I jumped over the chilled embers of the fire, the sword in my grasp flashing.

The Windego clearly wasn't expecting me to go through the dying fire, and was knocked aside as I collided with it.

The sword sang and sunk into the thing's neck, slicing with disturbing ease.

The creature let loose a howling, pained whiney as its head disconnected from the rest of its body. Wisps of ether trailed from its wound as the spectral demon slowly faded away.

I landed with a thud, too shocked at how... Easy that had been.

"Lu! Are you okay Lu?!" Tia cried, clambering towards me.

"I... I thought that would've been harder..." I admitted.

Tia looked like she was about to respond, but the Crown Unicorn Mare interuppted with a shout.

"Y-You killed it!" she exclaimed shakily, pointing a hoof.

"I guess?" I responded cautiously.

"H-h-h-h-how?! N-n-nothing we did could h-hurt them!" The mare hysterically stated.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you." I informed. "I swung the sword and it died. Surprisingly easi-"

N̸͕̟̟̳̥̾̚̚Ễ̷̥̃͝I̴̢̠̽̇͊̈͜͠-̷̧̟̟̙̌̈́E̶̡̯̥͚͉̓͗͐̇Ī̵͇-̷͂̈̈́͜E̸̻̺̦̖̿̃̏̒͘I̵̧͉̎̉-̶̡͕̻̪̤̽̒̋͐͠E̵̩̩̤͛I̴̤͋̅̄̌͜-̵͉͋́E̷̻͕̘͌ͅI̸͍͉͂͑̍̉̽G̴̡̫͇͈̅͐̕͠H̸̤̀̐̓̃̕!̶̱͇̮̫͇̽̄

... Me and my big stupid mouth.

Hmm... I wonder why Luna was able to kill it...

The vibe
https://youtu.be/tG7fk_DUz5g