> Where the Heart Calls
>  by Laina_Phoenix
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once upon a time, in a magical land called Equestria, Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi lived in harmony and used their magics to thrive in the land. They were governed by the mighty Alicorns, a race of Pony far more powerful than any other, with the strength of the earth, the speed of the pegasi and the magic of the unicorns.

The alicorns ruled together in five mighty kingdoms at the most magical points of the earth. They were called Solaris Spire, Moon Stone, Everfree, the Crystal Empire, and Canterlot. The alicorns unified the world and all its creatures and brought peace and harmony.

But it was not to last.

The ponies and the other creatures of the world began fighting. They were torn apart by hatred and fear, and when the alicorns tried to stop them, they quickly met their end.

Now the world is divided, and fear keeps us from standing together. The kingdoms still stand, but they are ruled by selfish ponies who think only of themselves.

But legend has it that one day, a child shall be chosen to unite the world once more, and that child will be the one who brings peace and harmony throughout the land.







"But that can't be true!"

Mi Amore Cadenza, a pink alicorn, looked up at the stubborn pegasus in front of her.

"What can't be true, Ally?" She asked patiently.

Allyra, a white pegasus filly, gave a huff. 

"That selfish ponies rule the kingdoms! It's not true, you were a great queen!"

Cadence laughed at her granddaughter's indignant face. "Thank you, Ally. But your mother is a great queen too!" She then leaned down and whispered, "When she's not being a grumpy featherhead, that is…"

Allyra giggled, then stopped as she heard a sigh.

"Mother, Allyra needs to sleep. You're winding her up with that wild Breezie tale of yours."

Cadence and Allyra turned and looked at Allyra's mother- Queen Flurry Heart, a light pink alicorn. Allyra looked severely offended. "Mummy, it's not a Breezie tale! It's true, I know it!"

Flurry shook her head while Cadence laughed and stood up. "If you say so, snowflake." She moved up to Allyra and kissed her on the cheek. The seven-year-old squealed and pushed her mother away, exclaiming, "Mummy, gross!"

"Don't you like my kisses?" Flurry asked, pouting. "Well, then, maybe you'll like the tickle monster more!" She bundled up her daughter with her wings and tickled her stomach, much to her delighted protests. Cadence grinned and raised an eyebrow.

"What did you just say about winding my granddaughter up?"

"I'm her mother, I can wind her up all I want," Flurry said simply, finally letting go of the struggling filly.

Cadence shook her head and kissed Ally on the cheek. "Goodnight, snowflake."

As the door shut behind Cadence, Flurry clucked her tongue. "All right, missy, into bed. A princess needs her sleep, after all."

"But I don't wanna! Can't I stay up with you and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa and Aunty Snow?" She begged but Flurry wasn't swayed. 

"Sorry, love. Not happening. You have school tomorrow, remember?

Allyra's face fell and her ears drooped. Flurry frowned and was about to ask what was wrong before she answered. "I don't wanna go to school… the other kids think I'm weird."

"Is it because you can't fly?" Ally nodded, not looking at her mother.

"They're calling me a dumb weirdo, Mummy," She murmured. "They're saying I'm not good enough to be a queen and I should just give up."

Flurry sighed and wrapped her wings around Allyra. Ally looked up at her mum as she said, "You know, Ally, when I was your age, the kids in my class said the same about me."

The filly's jaw dropped. "Really? But you're an awesome queen!" She exclaimed.

Flurry grinned. "Well, it took a while, but I'd say so!" Ally giggled despite herself. "You shouldn't listen to what they say."

"Mummy, it's hard…"

"And it always will be. But you'll find the strength to ignore it. Okay?"

She nodded uncertainly. Flurry smiled and put her daughter in bed with the blanket tucked up to her chin. Allyra looked out the window at the starry sky.

"What's out there, Mummy? Past that magic bubble, the one the Crystal Heart makes?"

She looked at her mother and felt confused at the frown on Flurry's face. "Mummy?"

Flurry sighed. "The only thing that's out there is a blizzard, Allyra. It's been there since before your grandma was born. And it's not likely to go away."

"But what about Equestria? And the other kingdoms and the other ponies?"

"The Crystal Empire isn't part of Equestria, silly filly. You know how your grandma gets when she's telling stories."

Allyra's eyes widened. "But what about the other ponies? Aren't they out there?"

Flurry grimaced. Allyra always was willing to believe whatever Cadence said. She wasn't quite sure how to go about the answer. "Well, Ally… there probably are other ponies out there." She then smiled reassuringly. "But I'm sure they have wonderful kings and queens looking after them. All you need to worry about is our kingdom since you are the next queen."

She gave a silent sigh of relief when Allyra pouted, now put off from the subject. "Mummy, I don't wanna rule the kingdom yet. I thought you were supposed to die first?"

"Yes, Allyra. I am supposed to die first." Flurry deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

Allyra laughed and Flurry couldn't help but smile. She always loved seeing her snowflake happy. "All right, that's enough questions for one night. Time to go to sleep, okay?"

Sighing, Allyra said, "Yes, Mummy…"

"Goodnight, snowflake. I love you."

"I love you too."

Smiling, Flurry shut the door behind her. Allyra waited until she couldn't hear her hoofsteps anymore, then jumped out from her blankets and crawled to her window, opening the curtains.

Past the beautiful, huge crystal city, there was a plain of snow that was there all year round. Her dad said it was because they were so close to the mountains. Beyond that, she could see the barrier- brilliant blue like the Crystal Heart. But outside that…

It was a haze, hidden by the shield, and the illusion of the night sky covered most of it. But, if she squinted, she could see snow battering against the border like a hammer. 

Sighing, Allyra rested her chin on the windowsill. What was out there? Could she ever see? Would she be able to go?

Probably not. Her mother was extremely strict about not letting her beyond the city's limits, even though the other foals went out to the plain to play all the time. And she didn't want to make her mum angry.

Ears dropping against her head, Allyra got back into bed and continued to stare out the window. The shield was still visible from there.







Allyra was flying through a blizzard, laughing. This was wonderful; she could fly!

Then she looked down and gasped in delight. There was a group of ponies running on the ground. She grinned. There were ponies out here, after all! 

Then she frowned, getting a better look at them, suddenly a lot closer than before. They were all radiating a bright light that felt… weird. Like… she'd felt it before, but it wasn't familiar.

The one at the back was a pink unicorn with a blue-green light. The next was a brown… pegasus? Unicorn? Alicorn? That pony had three horns and was shining a bright green light. Then there was a blue earth pony with a purple light. Next, a light green pegasus with a dark blue light. At the front… a white pegasus with white light, brighter than all the rest.

That pegasus looked familiar…

Allyra started. The pegasus was looked just like her… but a lot older.
> Chapter One: The Calling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"ALLYRA, WAKE UP! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

"No…"

"Allyra Pyxis Cadenza, if you don't wake up right now I'm dragging your tired flank to school myself!"

Allyra groggily opened her eyes to see her mother's sister, Snowstorm Shield, glaring at her.

She groaned. "I don't wanna go to school…"

"Well, honey, you have to, so don't make me force you. Hurry up, now."

Huffing, the pinkish-purple Unicorn trotted around her room, gathering up the homework and stationery that were scattered around the floor. Ally moaned and let her head fall back to the pillow. Snow immediately lit up her horn and lifted the filly into the air despite her protests.

"PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!"

Snow laughed. "Don't you want breakfast?"

"Not if it means school!" Ally protested, glaring at her aunt. Snow rolled her eyes and levitated the filly and her saddlebags to the dining room. There, the rest of the family was waiting for them.

Allyra's grandparents, Shining Armor and Cadence, her mother, Flurry Heart, and her father, Pound Cake. They were talking happily, and Pound had his wing around Flurry as always. 

Pound had been a baker with his parents and sister growing up, but when they died when he was a teenager, he signed up for the royal guard, which was how he met Flurry. Even now, he'd never forgotten how to bake up a storm and would teach Allyra whenever he got the chance.

The four laughed when they saw a smug Snow and a loudly protesting Allyra entering the room. 

Shining called out, "Good morning, snowflake!" She pouted at him, and he rolled his eyes playfully. 

Snowstorm finally put Allyra down between Flurry and Cadence and she stuck her tongue out at her. Snow returned the gesture and Flurry shook her head. 

"Snow, we're meant to be teaching her manners."

Snow shrugged. "She's six, Flur. I don't know what you're expecting me to do- also, you're her mother, so what are you teaching her?" She smirked as Flurry's feathers puffed up and she growled, making the ponies around her laugh.

Pound glanced at Allyra, who hadn't touched her food so far. She was staring at her hooves with a thoughtful look in her eyes. "Ally? Are you okay?"

Allyra jumped and looked at her dad. Then she frowned. "I had… I had a weird dream."

Cadence saw the look in her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "What kind of dream, sweetie?"

"I was-"

DONG! DONG!

The family jumped as the bell tower rang, and Snow yelped. "Oh, shoot! Ally, we gotta get you to school!"

Allyra's face fell. "What?! Already?" She exclaimed, then yelped as Snow lifted her in her magic, teleported her saddlebags onto her and levitated her away. Pound, Shining, and Flurry laughed, waving as Allyra shouted in protest yet again. However, Cadence was frowning. 

Just what kind of dream did her granddaughter have?







Snowstorm sighed in relief, skidding to a stop in front of the schoolhouse.

"We made it, kiddo!" However, when she levitated Allyra down beside her, she saw the despaired look on her face. Snow nuzzled her cheek. "Aw, cheer up. School isn't that bad!"

Allyra glanced at the building and whimpered slightly. "But… I don't wanna…" Snow frowned. "The other kids are mean to me…" 

She nuzzled Allyra again. "Don't worry, snowflake, you'll be fine. I'll talk with your teacher about it, and it'll all be figured out, okay?" 

Sighing, Allyra finally nodded. "Okay, Auntie Snow."

Sure enough, the kindergarten class received a stern lecture about bullying and why it shouldn't be done. During this, the young princess spotted a few foals whispering and glancing her way; she stared down at her desk, trying to ignore it like her family all said to do.

After this, her teacher, an elderly earth mare named Miss Lavender, trotted up to her and asked if she was okay and if she wanted to switch seats. Allyra agreed, and she had her move to the front of the class by her desk. 

"Do you feel better here, sweetheart?" Allyra nodded quietly and Miss Lavender patted her head. "All right, then. Just tell me if you need anything, okay?"

"Yes, Miss Lavender." 

Despite being young, Allyra had picked up a lot from her family- especially her grandma- about how to tell a pony's real intentions. Though she couldn't say for sure, she had a feeling about what was going on in her teacher's mind. Yes, Miss Lavender cared about all her young charges and was a wonderful teacher; but she knew that Allyra was a princess and the heir to the throne. If Allyra were mistreated in school, she'd be responsible for it- and there were plenty of rumours that the filly's mother was not a good pony to make angry.

That was all there was to it. She was a princess, and her mother's temper was feared. None of the other kids would have been getting this much attention if it were happening to them; not only that, but everypony treated her like this. The shopkeepers, the castle staff, the teachers, and her classmates. Everypony but her family walked on eggshells around her.

Long story short, Allyra was a very, very lonely filly.

"All right, fillies and colts!" Snapping out of her reverie, Allyra looked at Miss Lavender. "A lot of you have been asking me about this, so for today's art lesson, we'll be talking about dreams!"

Allyra felt her ears perk up at this and she smiled, now giving her teacher her full attention. Could she find out why she saw herself in her dream?

"Now, hooves up if you've had a dream this week!" Everypony's hooves went into the air, including Allyra's. This was her chance! Miss Lavender laughed. "How wonderful! Now, we all know that some dreams can be very scary-"

"MISS LAVENDER, I HAD A DREAM WHERE I WAS AT HOME AND THERE WAS A GIANT SPIDER AT HOME AND-"

"Thank you, Berry!" The teacher said quickly, shushing the horrified gasps and cries at the mention of the most treacherous, feared enemy of foalkind. "Some dreams can be scary, but a lot of them can be happy and fun!" Shushing the class's excited chatter once more, she continued, "So, today, I want all of you to draw your dreams! You'll have until recess, and I can't wait to see what you draw!"

"Miss Lavender, I had a dream where my papa's sheep turned into flugelhorns!"

Miss Lavender rolled her eyes once more. "Thank you, Berry. Which reminds me, some dreams can also be a bit strange, like Chaos just took over!" Allyra leaned forward at this, drinking up every word. "I had a dream once where I was eating my breakfast in my house, and then I was suddenly eating crystals out in the plains!" The foals cracked up laughing, but Allyra frowned. It was weird but not weird like her dream. Maybe she ought to ask her directly. The teacher allowed the class a few more seconds of mirth before she clapped her hooves. "Now, come and get your paper and crayons, and remember to draw your happiest, funniest, or weirdest dreams!"

"Miss Lavender-"

"Yes, Berry, I'm coming."

Happiest; well, Allyra was flying in that dream, so that counted as happy. The funniest thing was probably that pony with the weird horns. Allyra giggled at the thought, before figuring out her next answer. The weirdest thing was seeing a taller version of herself, but maybe it wasn't her. Maybe it was just a mare who looked like her… though, somehow she didn’t think so.

Regardless, Allyra decided that last night's dream fit her teacher's requirements, so she set out to bring it to life as soon as possible.

Starting with the ponies, Allyra thought hard to remember them. It was a bit vague, but she was sure that the earth pony and the green pegasus were boys, and the other three were girls. So, she drew them all, adding in the eyes she couldn't see from the distance then: a pink unicorn with teal eyes, black hair and glowing teal, the three-horned brown pony with green eyes, white hair and glowing green, the blue earth pony with purple eyes, dark blue and red hair, and glowing purple, the green pegasus with blue eyes, brown and green hair, and glowing blue, then finally, herself, glowing white- though, this didn't show against the paper.

She put the most detail into the pony who looked like her; white coat, her mother's crystal blue eyes, a wavy purple mane with blue stripes, pale purple hooves, blue wing feathers and the royal family's birthmark- a blue heart-shaped marking in her chest fur. 

This was followed by the dark storm clouds along the top of the paper, then the deep blue horizon in the middle. Then, where the ponies were running at the bottom, Allyra decided light blue would work well for the icy ground. But something was still missing… she glanced back at the table with the crayons and saw that all the white ones had been left behind since they were using white paper. Allyra grinned and ran up to grab one, not noticing the weird looks the other foals gave her. She blotted the now blue page with white spots, which were meant to be snowflakes, though made sure to not cover up the ponies. The snow hadn't covered the ponies in her dream, she thought.

Finally, Allyra spat out the crayon and held her picture up so she could see it properly. It was no masterpiece- she was six, after all, but to her eyes, there was no difference between it and her dream.

Nopony noticed that, as she stared at it, her eyes turned white for a brief second as the image she drew seemed to turn into real life. The ponies were running again. But this time, something was chasing them- something black, and shadowy.

She shook her head and her eyes turned back to normal. 

That was weird.

Had that been in the dream? If it was, she probably didn't notice, being a little distracted by flying and seeing herself. Allyra frowned. She didn't know how, but she knew that it’d been there, even though she didn't see it. Rather, she sensed it.

Without thinking, Allyra stood up and trotted to the nearest table, picking up a black crayon and ignoring the colt's whine of protest. Sitting back down, she carefully started tracing the outline of the blob on the far-left side of the page, then coloured it in. It was out of the lines, and she'd missed multiple spots, but she didn't feel compelled to fix it like she usually would have. It felt right to leave it messy this way.

"What have you drawn, Allyra?"

Allyra jumped and whipped her head up to Miss Lavender, who was looking at her drawing with an odd expression that she couldn't make out. Regardless, the filly grinned.

"My dream!" She announced, holding it up to the mare could see it better. "I dreamed it last night! I was flying in a bizzard, and then I saw these ponies running, and one of them was me!" Miss Lavender raised an eyebrow, and then her ears dropped in confusion and slight fear at the filly's next words. "And they were running from the big blob! I didn't see it, but I know it was there, Miss Lavender!"

The teacher was in stunned silence for a full minute before she regained her senses and forced a bright smile. "Oh, how lovely, dear!" She cleared her throat and Allyra cocked her head, confused. "But, um, is it a happy dream? Or funny?" She gave a nervous laugh. "It is weird, though."

Allyra's frown deepened. Why didn't her teacher get it? And why was she acting weird?

"It's happy because I was flying." She said slowly and clearly. Maybe Miss Lavender just didn't understand. She smiled and pointed to the brown and green figure. "She has three horns, so it is funny! And it's weird because the pony at the top looked just like me!" She turned the picture back to herself, smiling thoughtfully. "She looked like me, but not a filly; she looks like a big pony, like Mummy and Aunty Snow." She gazed seriously at her teacher.

"What a… wonderful imagination you have, Allyra," Miss Lavender said, almost patronisingly. Allyra didn't pick it up but felt her stomach sink at the amusement in her eyes. "It's a lovely picture!"

Allyra felt her ears falling. Didn’t she believe her? "But… I did have that dream, Miss Lavender."

"Oh, I know you did, sweetie!" The mare said quickly, patting her shoulder. "And you did very well in drawing it. Maybe you should be an artist instead of a queen!" She let out a bark-like laugh.

“MISS LAVENDER-”

“Settle down, Berry, I’m coming,” she sighed, walking away.

But Allyra didn't even smile and just stared after her. She slowly looked back at her picture, beginning to snivel. It didn't look weird, it looked normal. It was a normal dream, so why didn't she understand it? And why didn't Miss Lavender tell Allyra what it meant?

Sighing, the little pegasus folded her drawing up and put it in her saddlebag, ignoring Miss Lavender's call to bring the drawings to her so she could pin them to the wall.

All she wanted at that moment was to go home.







"Flurry, can we talk?"

Flurry looked up from her paperwork to see Cadence watching her from her office's doorway, a concerned look in her eyes. Flurry frowned and put her papers aside, much to her secretary's confusion. 

"Of course, Mother. Please-"

"B-b-but Your Majesty, we've barely begun the forms for this year's Crystal Faire!" the secretary exclaimed, looking anxiously over his list. "Not to mention the opening of the new Concert Hall, your appearance at the High School's art exhibit, the Construction Sector's request for a higher salary, the approval for genetic modification of the wheat harvest, and-"

"Thank you, Quill," Flurry said firmly, gesturing for her mother to sit down. "But matters with my family come first. I'll look over all that later today. You may leave." 

Quill wasn't happy but resigned to his Queen's orders and left with his list. Cadence giggled at this.

"Even after twenty years on the job, Quill still hasn't changed." Flurry groaned and rubbed her temples.

"He's good but dear lord, he never shuts up!"

Cadence shook her head in amusement before Flurry brought her back to the point. "What's wrong, Mother? Are you okay?"

She was silent for a few seconds before she answered, almost reluctantly. "I'm fine… but… I'm a bit worried about Allyra."

"Allyra? Is she okay? In trouble at school?"

"No, no. Although, Snow did tell me that she had to talk to Ally's teacher about her classmates teasing her."

Flurry frowned. "Yes, Allyra has been a bit upset about that. But Miss Lavender isn't all bad. She'll make sure Allyra is happy." She took a breath and smiled slightly. "That filly is quite strong, Mother. I think she'll learn quickly to ignore it all."

However, unlike Flurry expected, Cadence's frown didn't go away. "Is there something else you're worried about?"

"Well, I…" Cadence paused, looking away. "Flurry, you know how us alicorns have… odd abilities?"

Raising an eyebrow, she answered, "Yes. You're the one who taught me about them, after all."

"It's just a hunch, but I feel like that dream Ally mentioned this morning was more than just a dream, though since she's so young she couldn't possibly understand it. When I was young, after I became an Alicorn, I had moments where I felt disconnected from reality. My dreams became stranger, and I noticed that what I saw in them was reflected shortly after in real life. Not only that, but I always felt this… this strange voice, calling to me."

"And… you think Allyra might be developing an Alicorn's abilities?"

Cadence nodded. "Yes, though probably to a lesser extent than what we have."

Nodding thoughtfully, Flurry replied, "That makes sense; even though she's got Alicorn blood in her, she's still a Pegasus." She looked back to her mother and raised an eyebrow. "And you think this dream she had is part of it?"

"I'd need to know what the dream was, but, possibly, yes."

"All right then, we'll speak with her when Father picks her up from school." Flurry smiled reassuringly at her mother. "I'm sure she's fine, Mother. I doubt Snow's talk didn't scare Miss Lavender into making the kids behave."

Suddenly, a guard burst through the door, making the Alicorns jump. With a fearful look, he said, "Queen Flurry Heart, y-your daughter was spotted heading towards the shield in the plains!"







A little earlier at lunch, Allyra sat in the shade of a rosy-pink crystal tree, vaguely listening to the sounds of her classmates and the older foals as they talked and played. She hadn't touched her food yet, still thinking hard about what Miss Lavender told her and what she'd seen in her dream.

Why didn't Miss Lavender understand? Why didn't she tell her about the dream? Who were those ponies? Why were they running from the black blob? Why couldn't she hear anything but herself in that dream? And why was she starting to get scared every time she thought about it?

Allyra sniffed and curled up on the grass, trying to wrap her wings around herself for comfort, almost like her Mum, Dad or Granny were there with her.

"What are you doing, weirdo?"

Sighing quietly, Allyra raised her head and glared at the colt standing before her, the son of the Crystal Guard's general, and her worst bully. Silver Glamour. He was a few years older than her, and a Unicorn with a greyish-blue coat, sleek white hair, and deep blue eyes. He had an eyebrow raised in suspicion, but she could see a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

Just ignore them, snowflake. They'll get bored and leave.

Snow's words from a while back when the teasing first started. Allyra grimaced, doubting it would do much, but decided to lay her head back down and look away from him.

Then, a sudden blow to the back of her head made her shriek and jump up, whimpering in pain. Silver was snarling at her.

"I asked you a question, so answer me!" He exclaimed, stepping forward and shoving her to the ground before she could do anything. "Well?!"

Allyra growled. "Go away, Silver! Stop being so mean!" This, unfortunately, rewarded her with another shove that sent her into the tree, scratching her knee and making it bleed. Allyra felt her head become dizzy as she stared at the blood, and she started hyperventilating.

Meanwhile, Silver, and many other foals, started laughing at her reaction, openly teasing her. "What? Can't handle a little blood? You know there's a lot of it in your body, right?"

Allyra's eyes filled with tears, and she started shaking. Their laughter turned round and round in her head like a broken record that she couldn't stop. Her vision grew misty with tears, and she finally snapped. With a frustrated scream, Allyra started running, pushing past the foals, just desperate to get away. She barely noticed as she left the school grounds and some adults started and yelled in shock as she ran under their legs, but she wouldn't- couldn't- stop.

Then, the crystal beneath her hooves turned to grass, then snow, and she finally looked up, skidding to a stop several meters away from the city and into the icy plains. The fear in her heart turned to confusion, then to panic. She'd gone beyond the city's limits.

"Oh no, oh no, Miss Lavender is gonna be so mad-" Allyra gasped, eyes wide with horror. "Mummy's gonna be so mad! I need to go back-"

"Ah-ah, ah-ooh…"

Her voice choked to a stop as she heard the beautiful song. Allyra looked around, but even though she must've run into dozens of ponies, she was the only one around. No citizens, no guards, no one. She knew plenty of the ponies around the city edges were stay-at-home parents or worked from or around their homes, so where was everypony?

A breeze picked up and she looked around, raising an eyebrow. There was a hedge nearby, but no leaves were moving. It was like she was the only one who felt the breeze.

"Come to us."

Jumping, Allyra whipped her head around so she could see the border. Her eyes widened.

"Come to us, Princess… come to us, Chosen One."

"Huh?" She whispered, taking a few tentative steps further into the plain. "Who are you?"

"Come to me, Chosen One… I have waited for many moons for you to come."

"You… want… me?"

"You are the Chosen One, Princess… come…"

Allyra found herself continuing forward. She frowned as she realised the breeze was pushing her, but at the same time curiosity got the better of her, and she let herself be led by the wind.

Before she knew it, Allyra was barely a few hooves from the shining blue shield. She gazed at it in awe, as the gorgeous voice grew louder the closer she got.

"Ah-ah, ah-ah… ah-ah, ah-ooooh…"

Suddenly shivering, Allyra's eyes widened as she felt something strange pull at her heart and something in her mind was calling to her. The cries were only growing louder, and she almost felt her heart crying with them.

With a tender hoof, Allyra reached forward and touched the barrier- almost immediately, a sparkling purple and white ripple erupted and flew across the entire shield, making her gasp in delight. She did it again and laughed, grinning as the sparkles landed at the tip of her muzzle. 

Then, where her hoof grazed the shield, a few snowflakes the size of her eyes floated gently through, wafting around her with the odd breeze. She gasped again and leaned closer to one.

"Ou mata e matagi."

Allyra yelped and jumped back as the voice sang to her… it was a strange language, yet she found herself understanding it. Your eyes are so full of wonder.

"Ou loto mamaina toa…"

Your heart, an innocent warrior.

"Manatu atu… taku pelepele."

My dearest one… there's a task for you.

"A… task?" She whispered, stepping closer to the shield, her eyes only on the snowflakes.

"Pa mai to mafanafanaga. Saolotoga, tenei…"

Without realising, Allyra had stepped through the border as the shield glowed white and purple. It felt a bit like walking through misty rain. Her eyes widened. She was in the blizzard her mother warned her of; yet she felt nothing but a gentle breeze as the snow swirled around her. 

Then she saw it. A great black shadow stood before her, high as a mountain, and was glowing white. It could have been a pony, a dragon from Granny’s stories, maybe something else entirely, but Allyra felt no fear. 

"Manatunatu… ki tamafine."

This was what was singing; what was calling to her. It lowered its head to her level so it could look at her properly, and she gasped joyfully, trotting up to it.

"Who are you?" She breathed, unable to stop smiling. She could've sworn it smiled back.

"Maua ai te lumanai… ki tamafine."

Have you come, our young girl?

She leaned her forehead against it and felt it vibrating happily beneath her hair. 

"I'm here, Lurante," she whispered.

Lurante… what did it mean?

"Ou mata e matagi."

Your eyes are so full of wonder.

Allyra looked up at the shadowy being called Lurante. It looked similar to the shadow in her dream, but at the same time, she knew it was something completely different. Lurante softly nudged her, and she giggled, nuzzling up against it.

Then something happened. 

A horrific, high-pitched whinny cut through Allyra's wonder, and she screamed as the blizzard suddenly hit her full force, almost knocking her off her hooves. Allyra looked up as some of the wind died back; Lurante had curled itself around her and was gazing at the sky, snarling. She whimpered and leaned against it.

"Lurante, what's happening?" The filly whispered, fluffing up her chest and wing feathers on instinct to keep warm. Lurante didn't look away from the clouds above. 

Allyra looked up at it and screamed, seeing what Lurante was protecting her from.

Great skeleton-thin horse-like figures were circling the sky; a deep, see-through aqua with deadly white eyes and its back legs morphing into clouds of mist at the hooves. They galloped full throttle, and she could see white steam rising from their mouths every time they breathed or gave that terrible cry.

One snapped its head toward her and huffed, its eyes glowing briefly white. Allyra fell back onto her rear with another scream as her eyes glowed with it; visions flashed before her eyes, so fast she barely had enough time to make them out. But one was the most prominent- she saw herself yet again. Older, wearing thick clothes with many rips and tears, wings fading from blue to pink, a sword strapped at her side and many scars, one over a determined crystal blue eye. She shook her head, back to reality, whimpering as it whinnied and Lurante roared. 

"ALLYRA!"

Allyra barely had time to look around before she was suddenly scooped up into her father's hooves and flown away, back through the shield.

"What were you thinking?! You know you're not meant to leave the city! Why did you leave school? Are you okay? Did that monster hurt you? What did we tell you about the border and the plains?"

Her parents' anxious shouting danced wildly around her head like the snow in the wind. She could barely tell one sentence apart from another, and she had no idea where Lurante was. Tears filled her eyes, and she started crying, trying to explain, calling for the great shadow…

"Pound, Flurry, I know you've been worried but you're overwhelming her."

Cadence's calm voice cut through Allyra's panic, and she looked at her grandmother with teary eyes. Her parents sighed and Flurry bundled Allyra up in her wings, kissing her forehead.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but you know you're not meant to be out this far."

Allyra glared up at her mother, much to Flurry's surprise. "Yeah, I am! Lurante told me I have to come, and it told me I have to do a task-thing, and Lurante was protecting me from the snow horses! Where's Lurante, Mummy? I need to do Lurante's job!"

The three of them were frozen in shock- none more so than Cadence, who had turned pale. Flurry and Pound didn't see this, however. Pound cleared his throat. "Allyra, who's Larant?"

Allyra huffed irritably. "Daddy, it's not Larant, it's Lurante! Loo-rahn-tay!" 

"Lurante, then. Who is it?"

"It's the big shadow thing out there! Lurante was protecting me from the snow horses!"

Flurry growled slightly. "Well, this Lurante wouldn't have needed to protect you if you'd never gone out there in the first place!" Allyra's angry look faded, and she shrunk before her mother's glare, ears falling against her head. "You disobeyed me! You left school without telling anyone, you went out to the plain, you went past the border- and now, you think this thing has given you a job to do!"

Allyra's eyes filled with tears again. "B-but it did-"

"No buts!" Flurry yelled. Then, she took a deep breath and stood up, putting Allyra on her hooves with her magic. "I'm taking you home, and you're grounded for a month."

"But-"

"Do you want to make it two months?"

Allyra's protests died away, and she lowered her head. Pound brushed his wing against her side. "Your mother is right, snowflake. Let's go home."

Nodding slightly, she kept her eyes on her hooves and started following her parents. Then something made her ears perk up and she stopped in her tracks, wings twitching as she frowned. Cadence stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Ally, what's wrong?"

She didn't answer right away, listening for a few seconds longer as a sharp pain stabbed her chest, making her flinch and stumble. Her eyes widened as she felt a horrid rumble moving through the ground. Cadence easily caught her, grimacing at the worried look in Allyra's eyes. "Granny, something's coming!"

Her parents heard this and all four whipped their heads around to the border, which rippled and glowed slightly before two ponies emerged. Shining Armor and Snowstorm were emerging from through the barrier, Snow leaning heavily against her father. On her chest, there was a small but deep-looking cut. Cadence and Allyra's parents gasped and ran towards them, unintentionally leaving the filly on her own. Allyra grimaced and ran back to them.

"Snow, are you okay? What happened?"

Snow blew her mane out of her eyes and gave her signature confident grin. "Just a little scratched, that's all, I'm fine!" She stood up straight and frowned. "Now, where's that reckless imp?"

All eyes turned on Allyra and she shrivelled beneath the disapproving and anxious looks.







"You're sure you're okay, Snowy?"

"I'm fine, Dad. Nothing I can't shake off in a few days."

"In any case, Princess, you should stay off work for at least a week until you're fully recovered. Understand?"

"Ugh, fine. If it'll make ponies stop fussing."

Allyra sat quietly outside the infirmary, staring at the ground, waiting for her parents to come back out and tell her what her punishment entailed. It'd been a few hours of checkups on all those who’d left, then waiting for the doctor's analysis of Snow's injury, so school was over now.

She frowned. What she'd done was wrong, and she had disobeyed them. But she couldn't bring herself to regret it. Not after what she'd seen. What were those snow horses? What was Lurante? Why was there a blizzard? What did Lurante want her to do?

"Allyra."

She snapped her head up to see her mother glaring. She levitated Allyra's saddlebags to her and pointed to her right. "Your grandfather picked these up for you. Say thank you, then go to your room and stay there until dinner."

Silently, Allyra nodded and walked off, immediately forgetting about Shining. She reached her room, shut her door behind her, sat down, and pulled her dream drawing out to look at. Somehow, seeing the ponies there brought her comfort. 

A light tapping brought her back to reality for perhaps the hundredth time that day, and she looked up to see Cadence entering the room, a soft smile on her face.

Despite this, Allyra's face scrunched into a glare, and she looked away.

"Mummy and Daddy already got mad at me, I don't wanna have you get mad at me!" She exclaimed, subconsciously wrapping her wings around herself. 

"I'm not mad at you, blizzard."

Allyra looked at her grandmother in surprise; not only was this a new nickname, but she was more surprised that Cadence wasn't angry. Cadence sat beside her and wrapped a wing around her. "I'm just worried. Why did you run away from school?"

It was the same question her parents had asked, yet Allyra drew comfort from the quiet, loving feeling in Cadence's words. "Silver Glamour was being mean to me again, and he hurt me, too, Granny."

Cadence nodded, then frowned. "Didn't Aunty Snow talk to Miss Lavender?"

Allyra growled. "Silver isn't in my class, Granny. Miss Lavender moved my chair and yelled at the other kids, but it didn't do anything. But Silver isn't in my class and none of the teachers was looking when he pushed me, and my knee got hurt and all the other fillies and the colts were laughing at me. Silver was laughing too."

Cadence gently took Allyra's hoof, lifting it. Only now did Allyra see the dried blood matted in the fur; her face turned green, and she started feeling dizzy again when her granny lit up her horn, healing the cut and cleaning the fur with her magic. Cadence nuzzled Allyra affectionately. "All better."

"But… they were laughing when I got sick when I saw my blood."

"It's okay, Ally, some ponies do get sick if they see blood." She winked. "Your daddy faints as soon as he sees it." Allyra giggled at this. Cadence looked at the picture by the foal's hooves and asked, "What's this, sweetie? Did you draw it at school?"

"Yuh-huh!" Allyra said, now grinning as she held it up for Cadence to see. "Miss Lavender said we have to draw our dreams, so I drew the dream I had last night!" Cadence's eyes widened slightly.

"And this is the dream you had?"

Nodding, the filly continued, "Yeah! I think that the pony at the front is me, but a big pony, not a little pony like me. I dunno who those other ponies are, but one of them has three horns!”

Cadence nodded slowly, taking in the picture. "You think that pony at the front is you?"

"Yep!" Then Allyra frowned. “I think me is missing something." She dug through her saddlebags where she kept some coloured pencils, and drew out a red one, tracing a small line over the Mini Allyra's eye. "Now it's done! When one of the snow horses in the blizzard looked at me, I saw me again, but a big pony and I had lines over my face and my hooves!"

She didn't see the sudden anxiety cross her grandmother's face as she said this, but Cadence continued cooly, "I see. Where do you think you are?"

"Out in the blizzard, probebably!"

"And what's this shadow? It looks a little messy."

Allyra nodded seriously and pointed to the shadow. "Yeah, it's meant to be like that!" She frowned. "I mean, I didn't see it in my dream, but it was there, I know it was. And when I was looking at my drawing after I drew it, I saw it like I was dreaming again, and they were running! That time I did see the blob, but I didn't see it when I dreamed it."

Cadence then frowned as she said the next detail. "I didn't see it from the big me, I saw it from the air, and I was flying." She shrugged. "I dunno why I saw me, and that's the weird part about it, which Miss Lavender said we had to draw." Allyra grimaced and Cadence felt her tense up under her wing. "Miss Lavender didn't like it. She said it was good, but she sounded weird, and she didn't believe me." Cadence's worried face softened as the filly sniffed. "Sh-she wouldn't tell me why I dreamed it or what my dream was about. She thought I was lying."

"No, that won't be the reason." Allyra looked up at her, instinctively relaxing at the loving smile. "Not many ponies can tell what dreams mean, and I don't know anyone in the castle who can."

"But… she still didn't believe me. She said I should be an art pony and not a queen."

"I think she was joking then, sweetie."

"She didn't sound like it. She doesn't like me, Granny. No one does."

Cadence sighed and pulled Allyra closer to her. "Not everypony will, Ally. Did you know, that when I was a Princess, there were lots of ponies who didn't like me?" The filly's jaw dropped, and Cadence giggled. "It's true. Even now, some ponies don't like me. And some ponies don't like Grandpa, Aunty Snow, and your Mummy and Daddy."

"Really?"

"Yes. Some ponies find it hard to trust royals, which is normal."

Allyra nodded, smiling, but then frowned as she looked back at her picture. Cadence stayed silent as Allyra thought. "Granny, I don't think I dreamed a normal dream. It felt weird, and Lurante was weirder, but I wanna see it again."

"Ally?" She looked at Cadence, who suddenly had a serious look in her eyes. "I want you to tell me everything that happened after you left school. Okay?"

Though she was confused, Allyra didn't question it and told her granny everything. She told her about the singing and the voice, then how the wind took her to the border, and she made the shield change colour. Then she told her about the snowflakes, and how she found what was singing when she found Lurante. She talked about how she didn't know Lurante's name, or what it was, but it seemed to love her, and it spoke to her through her mind in another language that she understood. After being prompted, Allyra told Cadence what was said, surprised that she could remember it word for word. Cadence didn't understand it, but Allyra was able to translate it. After this, she told her about the snow horses, how she saw a bunch of things, then herself again after it looked at her, and how Lurante protected her. 

This took a few hours since to be fair, Allyra is only six so her ability to express a story such as this was a bit difficult. But, Cadence was endlessly patient, gently prompting her to continue and letting her talk without much interruption. By the time they were done, the bell for six o'clock had rung and it was time for dinner. 

Flurry entered the room, surprised to see Cadence and to see Allyra so much happier. Though it made sense; Allyra and Cadence had a powerful bond and Cadence understood Flurry's daughter better than anypony. Though, she wouldn't be happy if she found out Cadence was encouraging Allyra's fantasies. 

"Mother, Allyra, it's dinnertime." She sighed as Allyra simply looked away.

"Thank you, dear. We'll be there soon," Cadence said, smiling. Flurry nodded and left, leaving the door open. She looked to Allyra, unsurprised to see a sour look on her face. "Ally, you know she was just worried about you."

"But she and Daddy ruined it! Lurante could've beaten the snow horses, I know it!"

Cadence picked Allyra up and placed her on her back, nuzzling her as they walked. "Honey, I know you wanted to know more, but you're still very little. I don't think you're ready for that kind of adventure." This made her ears perk up.

"So, you think I can find Lurante again, Granny?"

"I have no doubt." Allyra's eyes lit up, and then she huffed as Cadence added sternly, "But not until you're much older. You're still my little grandbaby, after all!"

She couldn't help but giggle and hug Cadence's neck. Cadence then added, "Now, let's talk about this again after dinner. I don't think the others will want to talk about it."

"But- but it's cool, Granny!"

Cadence said patiently, "It is to us, but not to them. So, let's wait until later." She shot a grin at Allyra. "Besides, if you wait, I have a very cool story to tell you at bedtime!" She gasped in delight and nodded eagerly, making the aging alicorn laugh before they entered the dining hall.







It was safe to say dinner was rather a tense affair that evening. Allyra left as soon as she was done eating but stopped to listen when Cadence spoke to her parents.

"Flurry, Pound, I know that what happened today with Ally was frightening. But please remember that she's still a child and doesn't know any better."

Pound sighed. "I know, Mum. I'm just worried that she'll get in over her head."

"Of course, she will, son, she's six," Shining answered, smiling encouragingly. "Flurry and Snow were the same when they were her age."

"Dad!"

"It's true, honey."

Cadence looked directly at Flurry, who still hadn't spoken. "Flurry, what we talked about earlier … I think that might have to do with why she went out there."

Allyra tilted her head. She'd told Granny why she went out there, so what did that have to do with anything? And just what had they talked about? But her ears fell when her mother huffed.

"Mother, she's not an Alicorn, she's a Pegasus and a child. I believe you about that dream, but what Allyra did today was pure disobedience!"

Snow spoke up now. "Flur, you're being too hard on her. I'm fine, and Ally is fine too. She's learnt her lesson and she won't go out there again. Okay? Let's just put this behind us now and focus on raising the filly right."

Allyra looked curiously at her mother, who finally sighed. "Yes, you're right. I'll apologise to her when I tuck her in tonight, but she's still in trouble."

Pound laughed at this and nuzzled her cheek. "Still as stubborn as ever, love."

Flurry blushed and the others snickered, but Allyra felt she'd heard enough and left. She didn't hear Snow's next words. 

"One more thing. No matter what Allyra said, whatever's out there is too dangerous to let the citizens near, especially the children."

"Are you proposing we ban going out to the fields?"

"Aside from the workers, yes. Plus… I don't like this. Allyra hearing voices telling her to leave the Empire is pretty suspicious. We should keep a closer eye on her."

While the others agreed, no one saw the look of discomfort Cadence wore.







"Do you understand, snowflake?"

"Yes, Mummy. Yes, Daddy." 

Pound and Flurry nodded and nuzzled Allyra, making her laugh before they left. "Love you, sweetheart!"

"Night-night!"

Allyra's smile faded as they left the room and Cadence entered. She looked pleadingly at her. "Granny, what did you and Mummy talk about earlier?"

Cadence raised an eyebrow as she sat by Allyra's bed. "So, you were listening." Allyra smiled sheepishly and Cadence shook her head in amusement. "No surprise there. But, as for what we were talking about, I think that since your mother and I are Alicorns, you might have some of our special skills."

The filly's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yep, though we'll have to wait and see what they are."

Allyra grinned but frowned quickly after. "Is my dream one of them?"

She stayed silent, trying to think of a good answer. "Well… maybe. I think so, but we can't be completely sure."

"Do you know why I had that dream?"

Cadence frowned, before smiling reassuringly. "You're a little bit young for that, sweetheart. I promise I'll explain when you're older. Okay?"

Allyra huffed, very annoyed, but accepted Cadence's nuzzle anyway. "Okay, Granny." She then eagerly looked up. "What's the story? You said you'd tell me a good story!"

"I did say that; didn't I?" Cadence giggled as Allyra bounced her head up and down, grinning. "Well, this story is continuing from the one last night. Do you remember?"

"Yuh-huh! There were the five kingdoms with the Alicorns, but then they died when they tried to stop the ponies and dragons and all of them from fighting, and somepony will be chosen to untie the world and bring harmony!"

"Unite, sweetie, not untie."

"Oh, right." 

Cadence nodded anyway. "Well, you're right. But there is a part of it that hasn't been told yet."

"What is it, what is it?"

Cadence gave a far-off smile that Allyra didn't understand. "It's about those snow-horses you saw and the creature that fights them."

"Fights them?" She asked, tilting her head. "What are they called? What's the creature?"

"We don't know what the creature is, but the horses are known as Windigos."

As soon as she said the name, Allyra felt a horrid shiver running down her spine, and she whimpered. "That sounds scary, Granny."

Cadence nuzzled her. "Windigos are rather scary, dear. But that creature was born to fight them and stop the blizzard. The Windigos were the ones who created it."

"Woah! Really?"

“Yes.” Cadence lit up her horn, and Allyra’s eyes widened in wonder as little figures of magic appeared, acting out her story. “The creatures of the world were once best friends, and we helped each other to thrive. Then, they started fighting. The ponies started hating creatures that were different to them and drove them out of Equestria.” Allyra gasped in horror as the dragons and other creatures she didn’t recognise were pushed away. “Then, the Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies started fighting amongst themselves. That’s when the Windigos came.” The filly shivered again at the sight of the snow horses. “Windigos feed off the power that fighting brings, and there was so much of it that they were able to create the blizzard.”

“How long has the blizzard been there?”

Cadence shrugged apologetically. “I don’t know, sweetie. But the Empire has always been protected from it by the Crystal Heart, so we’ve never felt it.”

“What happened then? Who was the creature?”

“I don’t know who it was. However, it’s said that a creature made of Alicorn’s magic, and the magic of other creatures were created to destroy the Windigos.” The magic showed a shapeless creature fighting the Windigos, followed by the creature fading away. “However, all the fighting made the Windigos too strong for the creature to defeat, so the creature was forced to hide.”

“And the Windigos are still there?”

“Yes… as you saw today.”

Allyra grimaced and leaned against Cadence. “They were scary, Granny. I think they hate me.”

Cadence wrapped her wings around Allie and nuzzled her, frowning. “I know they are, honey. I know.” She then smiled. “But I think that you’ll find the creature. Lurante found you, after all.”

Eyes widening, Allyra grinned. “Really? Granny, you think I can find it?”

“Of course, I do. You heard that voice for a reason, Allyra, and I believe you’ll grow up to do great things.”

“But how will I know where to look? It could be anywhere!”

Stroking her hair to calm her, Cadence replied, “Well, Snowflake, there’s a special song that my mother used to sing to me. She told me that it told you how to find the creature- that she would be the key to stopping the Windigos.”

Allyra gasped in delight. “Sing it, Granny, sing it!”

Cadence nodded and bundled Allyra up in her hooves. “Of course.”

She started singing in her gorgeous voice, leaving Allyra stunned. “Where the north wind meets the sea… there's a river full of memory.” She nuzzled Allyra, smiling. “Sleep, my darling, safe, and sound.
For in this river, all is found.”

Standing up and still holding the filly, Cadence walked out of the room, singing quietly. “In her waters, deep and true, lie the answers and a path for you. Dive down deep into her sound, but not too far… or you'll be drowned.”

Allyra’s eyes widened. “Really? Granny, is that true?”

Cadence merely smiled, before opening a window and taking off into the air, making Allyra laugh delightedly, but still hanging on to her every word.

“Yes, she will sing to those who'll hear! And in her song, all magic flows… but can you brave what you most fear? Can you face what the river knows?”

Cadence hovered high in the air, showing Allyra the border. A strange breeze rustled around them, affecting only Allie, and making her eyes widen further. Cadence smiled. This child- her precious granddaughter- was the chosen one. “Where the north wind meets the sea, there's a mother full of memory! Come, my darling, homeward bound…”

A bright flash appeared on the filly’s flank as Cadence finished her song, making them both grin. “When all is lost… then all is found.”

Allyra quickly moved her wing out of the way so she and Cadence could see her brand-new cutie mark. It was a series of blue, purple, and pink lines- the wind- surrounded by pale purple sparkles, and behind it was a bright blue heart with a dark shadow.

She had decided her destiny- she would find this creature and help it stop the Windigos.
> Chapter Two: Frozen Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had barely been a moon since Allyra had decided her destiny- to find the creature in her grandmother’s stories and help it defeat the Windigos. She was determined, and nothing could stop her.

Unfortunately, life rarely goes as we hope.

Snowstorm Shield’s health had declined drastically.

Allyra hadn’t really noticed at first, so wrapped up in the delight of her new cutie mark and constantly thinking about Lurante. Then she saw that the skin beneath Snow’s pale fur- where she had been stabbed- was turning a sickly blue. But when she mentioned it, her aunt laughed it off and told her not to worry. After that, she lost her appetite and her entire body had paled in colour, except her eyes, but the pupils seemed slightly shrunken. Then Snow started having trouble breathing and staying awake. Now, she couldn’t even get out of bed.

The entire kingdom was nervous. Their beloved princess was bedridden from an unknown disease, and from the rumours they heard, not a single doctor knew what was going on. But none was more worried than Snowstorm’s elder sister, Flurry Heart.

Allyra could sense it. The pent-up fear and sadness in her mother were all she could feel, and she hadn’t seen Flurry smile since the incident. Yet, something kept Allyra from asking her mother if she was okay. She could feel something else beneath all of it but couldn’t quite tell what; not only that but Allyra wasn’t allowed to see her aunt, despite all the begging she did. The guards by the infirmary had even been given strict orders to not allow her anywhere near Snow.

Then, one night, exactly a month after the incident beyond the border, Allyra had another strange dream.

Opening her eyes, the filly gasped in shock at the sight before her. She saw herself from the past; the cutie mark-less Allyra was curled up against Lurante as it snarled at the Windigos above. Then she frowned as she watched the rest of the events play out; the things she hadn’t seen. 

Her father, followed by Shining Armor and Snowstorm, ran through the border, sending sparkling ripples throughout the blue bubble. This was the first thing that confused her; it turned purple and white when she touched it. It didn’t change colours for them.

Then she watched them stop and cry out in horror as they spotted Allyra and Lurante. Dream Allyra was scooped up by her father and carried away, but the Allyra watching frowned hard. They hadn’t looked up; hadn’t seen the Windigos. She glanced through the shield, then away again as she saw her dream mother yelling at Dream Allyra. She looked back at Lurante.

It suddenly let out a fierce roar; furious that Allyra had been taken away. It made Shining, Snow and even the Allyra watching flinch and cover her ears; yet, when she saw her aunt and grandpa letting go of a fierce battle cry, she heard nothing. All she could hear was her breathing and Lurante’s wail.

She was just thinking that it was a strange dream when she gasped in surprise.

Lurante had suddenly disappeared, and the other two in the storm started in shock. Shining got to his senses first and shouted something unknown to Snow before the two turned and started running back to the border.

Then Allyra looked back at the Windigos and screamed in terror. They were rushing towards Snow and Shining, letting out a piercing whinny that rattled her to the bone.

Snow started to turn around, only to let out a cry of pain and fall to the ground. Allyra shrieked; there was a thin blade of ice sticking from her chest- but then with a flash of light, it was gone, leaving her aunt with a wound that didn’t bleed.

Shining helped Snow to her hooves and the two once again started for the border.

Then, everything went dark.







“NO!” Allyra screamed, sitting up in bed, shaking all over. She tried to breathe, but then suddenly remembered watching her aunt being stabbed, and everything in her little stomach was retched up onto her blankets. 

Paler than usual, eyes wide and shivering, Allyra quickly stumbled out of bed away from her vomit and opened the door. The guards outside her room jumped in surprise, then settled as they saw her.

“Princess, are you okay?”

Allyra shook her head, starting to feel sick again. The guards started whispering, wondering whom they should get or what they should do before she was overcome with a strange urge. She’d had another dream. She had to tell Cadence, right away.

“Granny…” Allyra croaked, making the guards stop and look at her. She looked back at them, trying to speak properly. “I-I need m-my Granny.”

An odd look came over their eyes; one she didn’t recognise at all. Sadness, fear, and regret were mixing through them, and though Allyra felt it, she didn’t understand it. It made her scared.

“Where’s Granny?” She asked, much more forcefully than intended. Still, the guards didn’t say anything, making her growl in frustration. “What about my Mummy or Daddy or Grandpa or Aunty Snow?”

Allyra blinked in surprise when they suddenly flinched at Snow’s name. A horrible cold feeling clenched her heart tight. Snow… 

“Chosen one…”

Allyra jumped and looked around, suddenly hopeful. Lurante? She asked in her head. Where’s Granny? Can you take me to her?

A breeze picked up and swished her mane to her left. Frowning, she followed it, ignoring the guard’s protests. 

“Princess, you’re not meant to leave your room tonight!” One exclaimed, jumping in front of her. Allyra paused, but then the wind blew her mane to the right so off she took, continuing to ignore the guards’ protests. It wasn’t like they could drag her back; unless she was in a life-or-death situation they were forbidden from touching her or using magic on her.

Before long, she’d reached the family’s sitting area. The doors were shut tight, and the guards there looked just as uncomfortable as the ones that had continued to follow her.

“Wait, Princess.” Allyra glared at the stallion, but he held her gaze evenly. She saw sadness in his eyes. “You… might not be ready for what you’ll find out. It’s not going to be easy.”

Allyra grimaced, and the pit of fear in her stomach suddenly deepened. 

“Chosen one…”

Lurante… what happened to Aunty Snow?”

Lurante didn’t reply.

Regardless, Allyra gulped and nodded shakily. The guard opened the door slightly with his magic, and Allyra nudged her way in before it was fully open. She grimaced at the sight before her.

Her parents and her grandparents were crying on the lounges, silent and not looking anywhere but down at their hooves. She gulped again and started shaking, starting to back away as their despair washed over her like a wave.

She didn’t wanna know.

She didn’t wanna be here.

She had to leave.

Unfortunately, she backed into a small, rickety table, and before she could react a large crystal vase full of flowers fell and smashed. Water and shards exploded on the ground behind her, flowers laying limp on the floor. 

This made all but Flurry look around in shock, and all of them grimaced at the sight of the scared, still sick-looking filly. 

She didn’t wanna know where Snow was.

“Where’s Aunty Snow?” 

The words escaped her lips without even meaning to; yet they seemed to come from a strange, distant voice that sounded nothing like her own.

None of them said anything at first. Cadence finally broke the ice and weakly beckoned for her with a purple wing. Much to her dismay, Allyra started walking forward, even though she silently screamed at her body to stop, to turn and run away to the safety of her bedroom.

She didn’t sit beside Cadence- just stood by the lounge, looking from teary face to teary face. Yet her mother didn’t look up. Her face was well hidden by her mane, and though Allyra could see tears dripping onto her hooves, she barely made a sound. This send a horrid shiver running down her spine and she quickly looked back to her grandmother.

“Granny?” She whispered hoarsely. “Where’s Aunty Snow? What happened to her?”

Cadence opened her mouth to speak, and no sound came for a second before she replied. A single sentence, just two words; one that would ingrain this night in her memory for the rest of her night and cause more pain than she ever should have felt at such a young age.

“She died.”

Everything seemed to stop. Allyra was frozen, eyes wide in horror as tears started welling up. 

No.

No, no, no.

It wasn’t true. She was still dreaming.

Not Snowstorm.

Not her aunty; not her, anypony but her.

Allyra started shaking and instinctively backed away. Her father and grandparents started speaking to her; words that danced inside her head, just out of reach or comprehension, almost mocking her.

“She was very sick…”

“I’m sorry, sweetie…”

“It was earlier tonight…”

“It’s going to be okay…”

No, no, no, no, she’s not gone, she’s not gone, they’re lying, just like Silver!

Then Pound said something that made her snap.

“Just breathe, snowflake-”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” She suddenly screamed. 

It was too close. Too similar.

“YOU’RE LYING! YOU’RE ALL LYING! SHE’S NOT GONE! WHERE IS SHE?”

Not… not Aunty Snow… 

Allyra fell on her flank, now sobbing, wrapping her wings around herself in a desperate attempt to block the truth. It couldn’t be real…

“Allyra, stop this right now.”

The filly froze and looked up, not seeing the surprise in the rest of her family’s eyes. As her eyes met with her mother’s, the same chill overcame Allyra once more, and she felt all of her instincts screaming at her to run. There was a dangerous look in Flurry Heart’s eyes, and she barely blinked as she stared at her daughter.

Taking in a shuddering breath, Allyra whispered, “M-Mummy?”

“Stop it.”

Her calm tone never changed, yet the terror in her heart almost made Allyra scream. Something was wrong; something was very, very wrong with her mother. Yet desperation for Snowstorm somehow overpowered this.

“Mummy, she’s not g-gone, r-right? She’s s-still o-okay?” 

She felt it before she saw it. Flurry snapped, her eyes full of grief and anger as she shouted, “SHE’S DEAD, ALLYRA, AND IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!”

Gasps rang out around them. but Flurry wasn’t done. “IF YOU’D NEVER BEEN SO BLOODY DAMN FOOLISH, SHE’D STILL BE ALIVE! SNOWSTORM IS DEAD BECAUSE YOU DRAGGED US ALL OUT THERE!” She screeched, almost knocking Allyra down with the force in her voice.

“FLURRY, STOP IT!”

“She knew what she was getting into!”

“Ally, honey, look at me. It’s not your fault, okay?”

Cadence’s soothing words were ignored. Allyra’s heart started racing as more tears escaped, an endless waterfall of sadness.

Flurry stopped shouting and stepped back from her daughter, yet the anger in her eyes only grew. With only a brief snarl, she teleported away, leaving the four in their shock.

Shining bundled Allyra up in his hooves and hugged her tight, whispering apologies and assuring her it had nothing to do with her. Cadence and Pound quickly joined, and the family stayed cuddled together until the sun began rising behind a dark cloudy sky. Yet Allyra felt… nothing.

She felt numb; devoid of all emotions, which almost scared her. Yet she couldn’t bring herself even to feel that fear. 

Only one thing was for certain; nothing would ever be the same again.







The funeral took place a week later. Snow had been a beloved princess; everypony knew and adored her, some even from when she had been born. There wasn’t a pony in the kingdom who didn’t come.

Allyra stood at the front of the precession, between her father and mother, only half listening to what Cadence said through her tears. Since that horrible night, Flurry hadn’t spoken a word to Ally, and honestly, she decided she preferred it that way.

Flurry had become scary, and Allyra now understood why everypony was frightened of her temper. When angry, Flurry was vicious, and cruel, and held no sympathy for others. 

The reality came to Allyra just the day before, and she’d been unable to look Flurry in the eyes since.

She feared her mother.







The ceremony was over, and now the guests mingled in the courtyard below and around the castle. Allyra sat to the side, hidden from view, unable to shed any more tears.

“Princess Allyra?”

She vaguely looked up to see Silver Glamour standing in front of her, looking awkward. 

“What?” She said, sensing the apathy in her voice.

“I… just wanted to say sorry. For punching you.”

“Right.”

“Can we be friends?”

Disgust welled up in her gut and she shot the colt a glare. “Get lost.”

He looked hurt for a moment then sneered right back. “Whatever, snob. Have fun being alone for the rest of your life.”

Allyra watched him leave then curled up on the cold crystal, shutting her eyes and only one thought on her mind. She wanted Snow back.

“Come here, sweetheart.” She looked up again to see Cadence sitting close by, holding her wings open. Allyra didn’t hesitate and almost dove into her grandmother’s embrace. 

“I want you to listen to me, sno- blizzard.”

Again, with that nickname. She vaguely looked up at Cadence who kissed her forehead. “This… this is, unfortunately, part of life. Ponies pass away, and… it was Snowstorm’s time to go.” Allyra scrunched up her eyes. “But never forget that she loved you, Allyra. She loved you to the ends of the earth and back, and she did everything she believed was necessary to keep you safe.”

Allyra sniffed and stared at Cadence’s wings. “G-Granny… she got hurt helping me.”

“Aunty Snow knew what she was doing, baby. You meant the world to her.” She smiled softly, stroking Allyra’s mane out of her eyes. “And do you think she’d be happy if she saw us sad all the time?”

She was silent for a second, before she answered softly, “No.” She couldn’t help it; a small smile escaped her lips as she thought about her tough, goofy aunty. “She liked smiling. She made me laugh.” 

“And she’ll want us to keep smiling, won’t she?”

“But… she’s…” Allyra took a shuddering breath at the pain in her heart and clutched Cadence tighter. “I don’t wanna think about her, Granny… my heart hurts.”

Cadence seemed to waver for a second but hugged Allyra tighter. “I know, baby. I know. I feel it too.” She lifted her chin. “But we’re still together. The rest of our family is still here, and we’ll work through it together. I know remembering her hurts, and it will for a long time. But don’t forget all the happy times, okay? Hold them close when you feel sad. Even though she’s gone, we’ll always remember her in our hearts. It’s okay to feel sad, but never forget what a wonderful pony your aunty was. Okay?”

Allyra finally smiled and nodded softly. “O-okay, Granny.”

She nuzzled her head under Cadence’s chin but frowned as she caught sight of her mother. “Granny, why is Mummy angry at me?”

This made the alicorn sigh deeply. “Sometimes, when we’re sad, we feel angry too, because we don’t want to think about what makes us sad. But we do, and the hurt makes us angry.”

Allyra shrunk closer to Cadence, trying to look away from Flurry.

“Granny, I think Mummy hates me.”

“She doesn’t,” Cadence said firmly, making Allyra look at her in surprise. “You’re her little filly, Allyra, and she loves you. Right now, she’s sad and she’s angry, but eventually, she’ll feel better. Just give her time. Okay?”

“Okay, Granny.”







A year had passed since Snowstorm’s death, and though everypony missed her dearly, the pain turned to memory, allowing them to move on.

Allyra, for her part, was back to her happy self. However, her aunt’s absence left a hole in her heart that never really healed, and she never went anywhere near the edge of the city again.

Even though Lurante and the wind called her stronger than ever.

Regardless of the incessant nagging, Allyra drew comfort from Lurante’s voice, as it would reassure her and advise her when she was being bullied, feeling sad… or being ignored by her mother.

Flurry Heart had changed drastically. She barely ever left her office in the castle and precious few citizens had seen her since Snow’s funeral. She would only speak to her husband or parents, had little patience with anypony, and never smiled. She acted like Allyra was infected with some deadly disease, and if she were forced to be in the same room as her daughter she would simply avoid looking at her.

This hurt the poor filly badly, and she felt like Flurry had been replaced with some monster. Though she had her father and grandparents, it was never the same, and she missed her mum. Yet, despite it all, she never gave up hope that her mother would come back to her, and maybe she’d get better.

Three weeks after her seventh birthday, when snow was falling softly outside the window, Allyra skipped cheerfully up to Flurry’s office door. She knocked rapidly, unable to keep from grinning. 

“Mummy, Mummy, it’s the start of winter! Let’s go make a snowpony!” She called. 

No response came and Allyra huffed in frustration. “Mummy? Do you wanna build a snowpony?” She sang, pouting harder at the silence. “Come on, let’s go and play! I never see you anymore; come out the door. It’s like you’ve gone away!” She couldn’t help but sigh sadly. “We used to be best buddies; and now, we’re not. I wish you would tell me why!

“Do you wanna build a snowpony? It doesn’t have to be a snow-”

“Allyra, go to your room, now.”

Ally flinched at Flurry’s cold tone, and tears welled up in her eyes. “Okay, bye…”







“Daddy, why doesn’t Mummy like playing with me anymore?”

Pound grimaced at the question before wiping his forehead and putting the practice sword on the ground. “Well, sweetie… she’s the Queen. She’s very busy, and there’s a lot more work to do than there used to be.”

“Since Aunty Snow died?”

She noticed him flinch before reluctantly answering. “Yes… Snow and your Granny helped with most of the work, so there’s a lot more without Snow to help.”

“Can’t you or Grandpa help her?”

“We try, but me and Grandpa don’t know much about that stuff,” he said, patting her mane, “And Granny’s already got a lot on her plate.”

Allyra grimaced and looked away from her father, trying to ignore the discomfort and sympathy in his eyes. But she could also feel he was guilty, and he wasn’t telling her everything.

Then Pound said something that surprised her. “Hey, Ally, why don’t I teach you how to fight?”

Eyes widening in surprise, she asked, “But, Daddy, I thought I was gonna be a queen, not a guard!”

Pound chuckled and nuzzled her mane. “That’s no reason to not know how to protect yourself! I’ll even teach you to learn any kind of weapon you want.”

She gasped in delight and started bouncing on the spot, making Pound laugh. She’d always been curious about what guards do. Making up her mind in seconds, she pointed to the wooden sword by his side and announced, “I wanna use a sword, Daddy! I wanna be like you!”

“And so, you shall, my little warrior,” he told her lovingly, kissing her cheek and making her laugh.







Four years passed.

Eleven-year-old Allyra ran up to Flurry’s office once again. She grinned and knocked just as eagerly as always.

“Mum! Come on, it’s great outside!” No response came and Allyra shook her head, smirking before she sang, “Do you wanna build a snowpony? Or ride a bike around the hall?”

“I’m busy, Allyra.”

The preteen groaned and walked away. She looked up as she passed by paintings of her ancestors, singing, “I think some company is overdue, I’ve started talking to the pictures on the walls!” She giggled and waved to a painting. “Hang in there, Amore!”

Sadness washed over her, and she sighed softly as a maid looked away from her as soon as their gazes met. “It gets a little lonely… all these empty rooms. Just watching the hours tick by…”

The clocktower’s bell rang out suddenly and she jumped, before grinning as she saw the time and racing off to the castle arena.







An hour later, Allyra was sparring with her father while her grandpa carefully assessed her.

“Keep your guard up, Allyra! Don’t keep watching his front hooves, keep an eye on every limb. All four legs, wings, even his head. Tell me again- why watch an opponent’s head?”

She recited, grinning as she blocked another punch, “If it’s a unicorn, they could try using their horn against you, or any opponent could try to headbutt you!”

Shining nodded approvingly. “Excellent, sweetie. I see you’ve been studying.”

Allyra looked at him, delight in her eyes, only for Pound to knock her off her hooves with a sweep to her legs. She yelped as she landed hard on the ground. Pound laughed and helped her up. “Lost focus again, Ally.”

She groaned, rubbing her shoulder. “That’s gonna be another bruise.”

As Shining started explaining more about focus, a guard ran into the training arena and whispered something to Pound, who sighed. 

“All right, then. Allyra!” He called. Allyra looked around in confusion. “Training’s done for the day; I’m heading out. There’s been a gang uprising in the western sector.”

Allyra’s eyes widened, then almost fell out of her head when Shining said, “I’ll take care of it, son. You keep on training our little soldier here, okay?”

Pound frowned. “Are you sure, Dad? No offence, but you aren’t as young as you used to be.”

Letting out a bark-like laugh, Shining told him, “You youngsters underestimate me too much! I’ll be fine.” Without waiting for an answer, he kissed Allyra on the forehead and called as he left, “I’ll be back soon, sweetie! Keep training!”

She barely had a moment to say goodbye before he was gone. Pound softly nudged her. “He’ll be okay, Ally. Time for sword practice, okay?”

She frowned and didn’t look away from the doors where he disappeared. An odd feeling of fear clutched at her chest; the way Shining had spoken was almost asking for something bad to happen. She should tell her dad; he’d believe her and convince Grandpa to come back. Send somepony else. Keep him safe.

“Okay, dad.”







Tragedy struck the family again that night. 

Unbeknownst to any of them, the gang had acquired a magical artefact from the Frozen Tundra that could cut off a pony’s magic. As ponies’ bodies require magic to survive, to have it stopped working, even momentarily, would be deadly.

Shining Armor had leapt in front of a comrade to take the hit from this artefact. His magic was cut off for barely a second, but it was more than enough. Despite their efforts to revive him, Shining lost his life that night.

Flurry Heart sentenced the entire gang- even those not involved- to a lifetime sentence the very next day. The artefact was hidden away, and the pony who used it on her father was executed.







Six years went by. 

Though grieving, the kingdom once again managed to move on from the significant loss.

Allyra, seventeen and five years into her training as the heir to the throne, barely took her eyes from the target she was practising on. With just a few expert sweeps from her sword, the wooden figure was sliced into hundreds of pieces.

She’d taken her grandfather’s last words to heart. She rarely stopped training.

“Allyra?”

The pegasus turned around to see her grandmother standing by her. As always, her face broke into a smile to see the elderly alicorn. She dropped the steel sword and ran up to Cadence, nuzzling her head under her chin, smiling wider as Cadence wrapped her wings around her.

“Hi, Granny!” She chirped, wings flapping happily. “How am I doing?”

Cadence laughed and playfully nudged the pegasus. “I’m worried for the next pony who tries to insult you!” Allyra smirked, making Cadence laugh some more. Unfortunately, this didn’t last long before she frowned. 

Allyra raised an eyebrow. “Granny, what’s wrong?”

Cadence sighed. “They found the den. It’s time.”

Eyes widening in horror, Allyra took to the air and flew as fast as she could towards the Heart Plaza. No. No, please, no, it was too soon.

She finally arrived and saw her parents speaking quietly; Pound was in his armour, a crystal sword at his side and a shield on his back. Allyra ran up to him, and Pound smiled sadly as he saw her. She threw her hooves around him, hugging him as tight as possible. 

“Don’t go…” she whispered, a couple of tears leaking from her eyes. Pound sighed and hugged his daughter tighter.

“You know I have to, sweetheart,” he said, nuzzling her mane. “The Frost Wolves are getting closer to the border, and now that we’ve found the den, we have to destroy them.”

Allyra growled and let go, glaring at him. “Dad, this is stupid! You can’t go, you can’t, you can’t!” Her voice cracked at this, and she took in a shuddering breath. “P-please, Daddy… I can’t lose you, too…”

Pound’s eyes softened and he softly kissed her forehead. “As a king and a royal guard, it’s my job to protect the Empire, including you.” He took her hoof and smiled a little. “You’ve grown so strong, baby. I’m proud of you, and I’m sure Snow and Grandpa would be too.” 

Allyra tried to speak but couldn’t think of anything to say. 

“Whatever happens out there, I will always be thinking of you, and I will always love you. Okay, Ally?”

Looking at him, she saw slight tears in his eyes too. Sniffing, she murmured, “I… I love you too, Daddy.”

He hugged her tight and Allyra desperately wished he’d never let go, but it ended too quickly. Soon enough, she was watching Pound farewelling Cadence, then Flurry. She heard what he said to her.

“Whatever happens, you have to be there for Allyra, Flurry. She loves Cadence, but she needs her mother. Okay?”

Flurry grimaced but didn’t look away from him. “I’ll… try.” She then sighed and leaned her forehead against his. “Stay safe, love. You need to come back.”

Pound kissed her and smiled. “I love you.”

He then turned, and, waving, started heading towards the border with the rest of the battalion as the kingdom cheered and called good luck to them. Allyra stood there watching and continued to do so even after they had disappeared.

A soft breeze rustled her feathers as Lurante’s voice sounded in her mind for the first time in over a year.

“Chosen one…”

She glared and whispered, “No, Lurante. I’m staying and I’m going to wait for him.” She then grimaced. “He’s going to be okay, right?”

“Only time will tell, my princess…”

“Can… can you protect him?”

“I am weak… but, for you, I shall do what I can…”

Allyra relaxed slightly. “Okay… thank you,” she whispered, before finally tearing her eyes away from the hazy blue shield and walking back inside.







Whatever Lurante had tried, it didn’t work. 

Pound Cake lost his life in the battle; they destroyed the Frost Wolves, but only three of the original thirty soldiers returned.

When they found out a week after he left, Allyra was having dinner with Cadence and Flurry. It was the first time in a while that Flurry had come for a meal, so it was rather awkward, but Cadence kept up a decent conversation between the three of them.

A guard entered, giving the news. Flurry screamed. Cadence cried. Allyra was silent; numb to the bone.

She’d lost her father. He was gone. He was never coming back.

She cried silently at the funeral, and because she was nearly an adult and the crown princess, she was expected to speak. All she managed to say through the dryness of her throat and the emptiness in her heart was that he was a good king and a loving father.

After the fact, one of the soldiers who’d been there came up to Allyra and handed her Pound’s sword. Her eyes widened as the mare explained that her father had asked for his sword to be given to the young princess.

It brought tears to her eyes. It was a perfect weapon; one he’d crafted himself. She watched him make the blade from a pure sky-blue crystal when she was thirteen, and it was as strong and beautiful as a diamond. Almost nothing could stand against it. Allyra quietly thanked the mare, and Cadence approached her, hugging and crying with her.







Flurry had left almost as soon as the service was over, and locked herself in her room, leaving her mother and daughter to speak to the ponies.

That night, when the mares returned, the first thing Allyra did was go to her mother’s bedroom. With Cadence’s wing over her back, she shakily knocked on the door.

“Mother?” She called softly, rubbing her nose. “Please… I know you’re in there.” She took a shuddering breath. “Ponies are asking where you’ve been… they say, ‘have courage’ and I’m trying to!” A few tears slipped down her cheeks, and she softly placed a hoof on the door. “I’m right out here for you; just let me in!”

She looked at Cadence and leaned against her. “We only have each other… it’s just us, and you… what are we gonna do?”

Allyra finally broke, sobbing quietly. Cadence held her tighter, tears sliding down her cheeks.

“Do you wanna build a snowpony?”

On the other side of the door, Flurry cried with her remaining family but couldn’t bring herself to open the door. 

She doubted she could ever look at her child again.
> Chapter Three: An Aging Evil
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two years had passed since the death of King Pound Cake. The kingdom was forced to move on with their lives for the third time, even while their queen had become more closed off and temperamental than ever.

Allyra Pyxis Cadenza, Flurry’s daughter, the Crown Princess of the Crystal Empire, was exactly nineteen years and two months old.

And right now, was practising her sword fighting with another guard.

Parry to the right. Do an uppercut- damn, he blocked it. Okay, fake strike from the left, now- SHOOT, BLOCK, BLOCK-

A cold bead of sweat ran down her forehead, but Allyra never broke her focus, never letting the other guard’s cheers and jeers get to her.

Thrust forward, jump back then dive right. Block his sword from above, thrust forward, swing up, cut down- oh. Whoops.

Allyra’s crystal sword had sliced right through her opponent’s iron one… for the third time that week. Both of them froze for a second and she blushed as her audience started laughing. She smiled nervously at the stallion who was now scowling at her.

“Er… sorry about that,” she said lightly. “Maybe I’ll use a different sword next time. It was a good practice, though, thanks!”

The stallion scoffed and threw the halved weapon at her hooves, making her flinch. “Yeah, maybe use a sword that isn’t a bloody diamond.”

He stalked off, head held high while Allyra facehoofed in frustration. Yeesh, it was an accident. What does he want from me? Also, it’s not made of diamonds. Get it right.

“Your technique is improving, Princess.” Ally looked up and smiled gratefully at the aging general, Bronze Arrow. He nodded to her sword; a stern look was in his eyes that she didn’t like. “As impressive as your father’s sword is, I recommend that you use one of the training weapons. The blacksmith is getting a little tired of our weekly orders.”

Allyra frowned and clutched it tighter. “I know, but… it’s…”

“Special?” 

She nodded softly.

Bronze sighed. “Perhaps save it for real fights. Okay?” She sighed and nodded. 

“Yes, sir.”

He nodded, then raised an eyebrow as a guard ran into the room, panting heavily.

“General, sir, there’s been a robbery on Agate Avenue’s bank, and they’re holding hostages!” She said between breaths. 

Allyra’s eyes widened and she grinned, only for Bronze to look back at her and say firmly, “Princess, I highly recommend that you go back to the castle whilst I handle this.”

She growled. “But I’m the princess, it’s my job to help the kingdom!”

“It’s the job of the guards, not you. Go home, where it’s safe,” he ordered, before running off with the messenger.

Allyra cried out in frustration, kicking the broken sword away. Stupid, stupid, stupid rules! I’m supposed to help the kingdom! Doesn’t this count as helping? Saving lives?

At that thought, she automatically looked around at her cutie mark, grimacing at the sight. When she got it, she vowed that she’d find the creature from Cadence’s stories and help it defeat the Windigos. Even now, thirteen years later, the name sent shivers down her spine. But if she weren’t even allowed to help stop a robbery, how could she possibly stop creatures like the Windigos?

“I’m not allowed to do anything anymore,” she scoffed, sheathing her sword, and storming off. 

Regrettably, it was true. Since she’d turned eighteen, Flurry Heart had cracked down on the rules and if Allyra stepped out of line even a little she’d be in huge trouble. Allyra spent almost all her days now with her mother, learning about the history of the empire, politics, battles strategies, finances, taxes, etiquette…

Boring as all hell combined, and her mother’s attitude was colder than the blizzard outside.

Admittedly, the history lessons, battle techniques and even some of the politics had been slightly interesting, but the way Flurry taught them almost made her fall asleep.

Allyra was only allowed one free day a week; so, every Saturday the young princess would work on sword fighting, her self-defence lessons with the General, reading legends and fairy tales in the library, or spending time with her grandmother.

Cadence was the one who was always there for her. She comforted her, let her vent all her frustrations, took her out for some girl time, and told her all the stories and legends the library didn’t have.

Cadence loved her, and Allyra loved her more than anypony else in the world.

This was the main reason she hadn’t considered leaving to look for the Windigo-fighting creature. Allyra wasn’t ready to leave her Granny yet, and she doubted she ever would be. Besides, it wasn’t like she’d want to leave Cadence alone with forever-angry Flurry. Not only that, but Allyra still didn’t have any real friends. Due to her battling prowess, she’d gained respect from plenty of ponies, and gotten to know some of the guards she trained with. But even after all this time, ponies acted like being around her was walking on thin ice, however much she tried to be friendly with them. Her former classmates didn’t help in matters, though knowledge of her almost master swordsmareship kept them from saying anything to her face.

Even now, as an adult, Allyra was lonely.

Allyra poked her head into Cadence’s room, raising an eyebrow as she saw it was empty. She looked to the guards standing close by. “Hey, you guys know where Cadence is?” She asked, rolling her eyes slightly as they immediately stiffened and stood up straight. 

One of them said, “Y-yes, ma’am- Princess- Your Highness!”

She groaned and trotted up to them, glaring. “For goodness’ sake, chill out! It’s not like I’m gonna banish you if you can’t tell me!” She then frowned. “At least, I don’t think I can. Not that I would!” she added quickly, trying to ignore how red her face probably was from embarrassment. “Can you just tell me where she went?”

“She went to the library, Your Highness,” the other guard said, looking a little more relaxed than his companion. 

“Finally, a straight answer. Thanks, bud!” She chirped, grinning, and waving before flying off. 

It felt so, so good to fly, especially after so long of being unable to. With extensive training from her father and grandmother, Allyra’s wings had finally grown strong enough to support her weight, as they had been unable to do for the first fourteen years of her life. It was a little embarrassing practising the basics of flight at fourteen when a five-year-old could do it, but now she was grateful she’d paid attention.

Landing in front of the library, Allyra stopped in front of a mirror by the door. She’d never known why it was there, but looking at her reflection now, she frowned. 

She looked about the same height as she’d been in the dream she had when she was six and was remarkably similar. But there were a few key differences. Her wing feathers were pale blue at the moment, and in her dream, she’d had feathers fading from blue to purple to pink. It was similar to her mane and legs; right now, she just had a pure white coat and plain purple and blue hair, but before her legs faded from white to pink and her hair turned a lighter purple and seemed to sparkle. Not to mention the lack of a scar. Since beginning her training, Allyra had always been careful to keep swords and anything else that could’ve given that scar away from her face. She’d been successful so far but had to wonder how it happened to Dream Allyra.

After a few more seconds, Allyra shook her head and trotted into the library.

“Granny! You here?” She called, only to jump as an elderly stallion poked his head around a bookcase.

“Shh! You’re in a library!” he hissed, glaring at her. 

She gave him a deadpan stare. “Yes, I’m quite aware that I’m in a -”

“SHHHH!”

Allyra hissed at him irritably then trotted away, mocking him under her breath. “What, does he think I’m stupid or some- OW!”

Allyra had jabbed her hoof hard on the edge of a ladder and leapt into the air, nursing it, and growling at the object. Then she accidentally flew backwards into the bookshelf behind her, hitting her head. “YOW!”

“SHHHHH!”

“I get it!” She exclaimed, rubbing her head, and not looking at the librarian. Allyra looked at the mess she’d made; several books had been knocked to the floor, and she groaned as she started picking them up. “I just can’t catch a break today-” Allyra suddenly stopped as she caught sight of one word.

Equestria.

Putting the other books down, the pegasus picked this one up, raising an eyebrow. She’d never seen it before. It was a small, thin book with a ragged fabric cover, deep purple in colour, and, despite the age, the pages felt brand new. In bright silver writing, embroidered into the fabric, was the title: Creatures of Equestria and Beyond, by Twilight Sparkle.

“So, it is real,” she whispered to herself, slowly walking out of the library, ignoring the librarian’s hypocritically loud calls for her to return.

Barely seeing where she was walking, Allyra opened a random page and started reading.

Dragons

The dragons are an ancient, noble race of Elemental Magic. They are born connected to one of the four main Elements: fire, water, earth, or air. Fire Dragons are the most common, and water dragons are the least. They are proud, competitive, and brutal when angered, most living in the Volcanic Wastes close to Equestria’s eastern borders. 

The second page contained information on diets, habitats, habits, and other information of the sort. But she looked instead at the picture above the original inscription. There were indeed four types of dragons; the Fire dragons were bipedal with long tails and huge wings, Earth dragons walked like a pony, and though they had no wings, they seemed huge and muscular. Air dragons looked like snakes; long, thin, and agile with leathery wings, while water dragons seemed to be simple, huge serpents. 

It was only now that she looked up; Allyra was back in her room. Suddenly remembering that she was looking for her grandmother, she quickly threw the book onto her bed and was about to turn back to the library when something strange happened… strange, and familiar.

“Ah-ah, ah-oh…”

A breeze picked up around her and wafted her hair around her face. Allyra’s eyes widened in shock, and she looked out the window to the border beyond.

“Lurante?”

“Ah-ah, ah-ah… ah-ah, ah-ooh…”

Allyra hadn’t heard her voice since her father… since he…

“Where have you been?” She whispered, starting to scowl. “You told me you’d keep him safe. You didn’t.”

“Come to me, Princess…”

“No! You lied! You said you’d keep my dad safe, and now-” She forced herself to choke back her tears and continued to glare out the window. “I don’t wanna come to you. It’s too crazy; I’m training to be the queen, and I can’t leave my Granny!”

“Chosen one…”

“Well, maybe I don’t wanna be ‘the chosen one’ anymore!”

The wind picked up force and something flew into the side of her face, making Allyra sputter irritably. She ripped the paper off, then gasped. It was the drawing she made in kindergarten.

Allyra’s face softened and she softly drew a hoof over it. Even now, seeing it brought her comfort. But everything in her head was telling her to stop; no matter what, Allyra always felt a desperate need to please her mother. She could only do that by doing what she said.

“I… can’t… go.”

The wind picked up again and she growled before gently placing it into one of her drawers and shutting it. “I can’t just leave the kingdom, I’m the heir to the throne! I need to prepare to rule! I can’t let Mother down!” She sniffed and looked at the floor. “Not… not again.”

Allyra sighed heavily and sat by the window, trying to ignore the breeze. 

She sang softly, “I’ve been staring at the edge of the border; long as I can remember… never really knowing why.” Allyra looked at a family picture she had from when she was five. They were all so happy… even her mother was grinning. It was her that she had her eyes trained on. “I wish I could be the perfect daughter.” Then her gaze was drawn back to the edge of the kingdom. “But I come back to the border, no matter how hard I try.”

Growling, she stood up and walked away firmly. “Every turn I take, every trail I track, every path I make, every road leads back to the place I know where I cannot go…” She’d hardly realised she was outside the castle, facing the plains. No one seemed to notice her. 

“Where I long to be…” Despite the fear she felt, a desperate feeling overcame her, and she grinned, singing, “See the line where the earth meets the sky? It calls me! And no one knows, how far it goes…” She started walking forward, the wind rushing through her feathers, making her feel like she was flying. “If the wind in my wings in the air stays behind me… one day I’ll know-” 

She suddenly stopped in her tracks as a pair of foals ran by her, and she came back to her senses, realising how far she’d strayed from the castle. “If I go, there’s just no telling how far I’ll go.”

Allyra grimly turned herself around, taking in the sights of the city around her. “I know everypony in the kingdom, seems so happy in this kingdom…” She watched as new houses were being built of crystal, each builder fully focused on every facet. “Everything is by design.”

Sighing, she kept walking, forcing herself to smile and wave to some foals and their parents. “I know everypony in this kingdom, has a role in this kingdom.” She looked up at the castle, then back down at the Crystal Heart. “So maybe I can roll with mine.”

Her grandmother had told her as a child that when she was ready to be queen, she had to touch the Heart, and it would decide if it was her time to rule.

Allyra had spent years trying not to think about it.

If only to stop the voices…

“I can lead with pride; I can make us strong! I’ll be satisfied if I play along!” Allyra circled the heart, reluctantly reaching out a hoof to touch it. However, everything in her body seemed determined to keep her from doing this. “But the voice inside sings a different song. What is wrong with me?!”

She gave a frustrated cry and tore herself away from the Heart. She looked back to the border. 

“Ah-ah, ah-oh…”

A grin spread across her face, and euphoria overtook her mind. What could she do out there? Could she find Lurante? The creature?

She began to walk, then run. 

“See the light as it shines through the shield? It’s blinding! But no one knows how high it goes! And it seems like it’s calling out to me, so come find me! And let me know… what’s beyond that line, will I cross that line?”

She was out of the kingdom, on the snowy plains. It was getting closer; the urge was too strong to resist.

“See the line where the earth meets the sky? It calls me! And no one knows how far it goes!” 

So close… just like she was a child again… 

Lurante, I’m coming!

“If the wind in my wings in the air stays behind me; one day I’ll know how far I’ll go!”

Without even a moment of hesitation, Allyra leapt through the border, laughing as chills ran through her body and the shield rippled purple and white. However, almost immediately, she was buffered by the blizzard and flinched as icy cold air bit through her fur and under her skin. 

Allyra let out a shriek as the powerful wind blew her over and for a second she lost sight of the border, panicking. 

“LURANTE! LURANTE, WHERE ARE YOU?!” Shouting did nothing over the fearsome roar of the wind. She barely even heard herself.

Then, before she could process what was happening, there was a flash of blue light, the storm was gone, and she was wrapped in an embrace of pink and purple feathers. 

“Oh, you brave, foolish child, why would you do that?”

Allyra’s eyes widened and she looked up to see her anxious grandmother gazing at her. “Honestly, you didn’t think to even bring a scarf. It’s called a blizzard for a reason.”

She tried to respond, but as soon as Allyra opened her mouth her teeth started chattering and she wrapped her wings around her body to try and warm up. Cadence started laughing and she shot her an irritated glare. “Come now, dear. Let’s get you warmed up.” Allyra rolled her eyes but nodded shakily, and Cadence teleported the two of them away.







“Granny, how did you know I was out there?”

Allyra was now inside the family’s sitting area, wrapped in three blankets and holding a hot coffee. Cadence sipped her drink and raised an eyebrow at the young mare.

“Sweetheart, have you not noticed how the shield changes colours when you touch it?” Ally smiled sheepishly and Cadence laughed. “The guards mentioned you were looking for me. Is something wrong, dear?”

The pegasus rolled her eyes and gulped down a large portion of her cup. “Nothing. I mean, I broke another sword.”

“How many is that?”

“Three this week, fifty-seven this year.”

“Well, your father’s sword is notorious for being unbeatable.”

Allyra smiled softly and ran her hoof over the padded hilt. “General Arrow said to save it for actual battles since he doesn’t want to keep asking the blacksmith for new ones.” She sighed heavily. “Although what are the chances I’ll get into a real fight with all of Mother’s rules?”

Cadence sighed and put her cup down. “Darling, you know she’s just trying to protect you.”

Allyra scowled but muttered, “I know, Granny.” She then remembered something and said, “Oh, Granny, when I was looking for you in the library I found this weird book I’ve never seen before.”

Raising an eyebrow at this, Cadence asked, “What was it called?”

“Creatures of Equestria and Beyond.” Much to her confusion, Cadence started laughing. “What?”

“Oh, my, I’d forgotten all about that old thing!” She chortled. “I am getting on in years, aren’t I?” Allyra raised an eyebrow at her, and she giggled. “That book has been in the library since before my grandmother was born. I used to read it all the time.”

“Which explains how you know so much about Equestria.”

An odd wistful look came over the old mare’s eyes. “Well… that, and a few other reasons.”

Allyra opened her mouth to ask but then Cadence started coughing, almost spilling her drink. Allyra frowned in concern. “Are you okay, Granny? Maybe you should go to the infirmary.”

Cadence shook off her concerns with a smile, getting herself under control. “Oh, it’s just a cold, dear. I’m more surprised that you don’t have one.”

She was about to protest further when the door was flung wide open, making her yelp and drop her cup. As she groaned over the loss of her coffee, a page entered the room and announced, “Princess Allyra Cadenza, your mother, the Queen, has requested an audience with you immediately!”

She shot him an irritated look. “Hey, you made me drop my coffee! Also, I’m aware that my mother is the queen, thanks.”

The page shifted nervously. “Er, the Queen has an announcement for you, Princess.”

This made her stop and look at her grandmother, who seemed just as confused as she did. “What’s this all about?”

Cadence shrugged and stood up. “Best go and see.”







“ANNOUNCING THE ARRIVAL OF LADY MI AMORE CADENZA AND CROWN PRINCESS A-”

“Yeah, yeah, we all know who we are. Can we come in yet?”

The guard faltered at Allyra’s bluntness, while Cadence snickered and Flurry Heart, sitting on her throne, facehoofed. 

“Well- uh-”

“It’s fine,” Flurry sighed, shaking her head before sitting up straight. “Allyra, please come this way.”

Shooting one last concerned look at Cadence, Allyra trotted forward until she was standing in front of the throne. Based on Flurry’s annoyed look, Ally guessed that she’d broken about a million protocols, but her curiosity over her mother’s announcement overcame the anxiety that was welling up.

“What’s up?” Flurry opened her mouth to speak, and Allyra cut her off, quickly saying, “Okay, if this is about the swords, in my defence I did not mean to break them! If anything, the blacksmith isn’t making a good call always using that type of steel; you know how malleable that is under pressure, and a stronger metal or even crystal would-”

“Well, I wasn’t going to mention the swords, but I suppose that’s now a topic for later.”

Allyra stopped talking and smiled sheepishly at Flurry. 

The alicorn shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths before looking back at Allyra. “Are you going to listen to me?” The mare gave a slight nod. “Good. You are now of age and, as you seem to not have met any suitable stallions, it’s been decided that you must marry a noble by your twenty-first birthday.”

There was a shocked silence, and everypony’s jaw dropped. Allyra felt something in her brain break.

Then she started laughing, the sound reverberating creepily throughout the hall. Ally wiped at her eyes and chuckled, “Good one, Mother! And here I was thinking you had no sense of humour left in you! All right, what’s the real announcement?”

“That was the announcement,” Flurry answered, staring hard at her daughter. Allyra felt a chill going down her spine, and her disbelief grew.

“I… you’re not serious, right? Like, you’re not gonna put me into an arranged marriage for real? Cuz that would be crazy; I mean, you and Granny got to at least fall in love with Dad and Grandpa, right?” This made her flinch and Allyra felt a sick sense of satisfaction. Flurry then pulled herself together and glared down at the pegasus.

“I am perfectly serious right now, Allyra.” Ally’s eyes widened and her smile faded completely. “You will be married to a noble stallion of my choosing within the next two years.”

For a moment, she couldn’t speak and unconsciously stepped away from her mother.

“The royal line needs to be passed on, and when you become queen, you will need an heir. Unless you somehow have a partner, I will choose one for you, as I do not fully trust your judgement. It would also be preferable for you to marry somepony of some noble status.”

She doesn’t trust me. Why am I even surprised… Allyra growled, her feathers fluffing up. Like HELL I’m going to just agree like a good little filly.

“Yeah, no. Not happening.” Flurry’s eyes turned to chips of ice as Allyra crossed her hooves, glaring at her mother. “I don’t wanna get married yet, and I don’t wanna marry somepony I don’t love- much less somepony you think is good.” She let out a humorous laugh. “I mean, if you don’t trust my judgement, why should I trust yours? It’s not like you know me or anything.”

Flurry stood up and teleported in front of her daughter, wings spread wide. Allyra jumped back in surprise. “I am your mother and your queen. You will obey me.”

“So, I’m not even getting a choice in the matter?!”

“Oh, relax. You’ll have plenty of time to get to know Silver Glamour better-”

“Wait, WHAT?!” Allyra shrieked, making everypony flinch. “SILVER GLAMOUR? YOU WANT ME TO MARRY THE PONY WHO’S BEEN HARRASSING ME SINCE I WAS A FILLY?” She snarled, “I am not marrying him, even if my life depended on it!”

Before Flurry could start shouting back, Cadence teleported in between them and exclaimed, “Both of you, stop it!” Allyra and Flurry stepped back from the alicorn, who took a deep breath and said calmly, “Thank you.”

Allyra looked pleadingly at her grandmother. “Please, please, please tell me you don’t agree with this!”

Cadence held up a wing for silence and looked at Flurry, who was growling softly. “Flurry Heart, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I agree with Allyra. This is ridiculous; the marriage law was revoked over a century ago. Even if it were still around, Silver Glamour is a terrible choice. He’s selfish and rude, and he’s treated your daughter lower than dirt as long as I’ve known him. Just how well do you believe he could rule a kingdom?”

“He’s Bronze Arrow’s son, and I trust the General. He has assured me that Silver will be a good match for Allyra.” She shot Allyra a deadly glare. “And I can quite easily bring back the old laws.”

“Then you’re a hypocrite.” This made Flurry flinch. “You married for love, so forcing your child into an arranged marriage- with an awful excuse for a stallion, might I remind you again- will put you under that reputation even after your death.”

Allyra sighed gratefully. Cadence would stop Flurry’s senseless-

“I don’t care.”

The mare’s eyes widened, and Flurry growled at Allyra. “You will marry Silver Glamour by the end of the year, and if you try to talk your way out of it, I’ll take everything you hold dear.” Her eyes briefly darted to the sword still strapped at Allyra’s side. The mare’s eyes widened in horror, and she looked back at her mother.

No, not her mother. Some stranger stared at her with eyes full of hatred as if she were the one who killed Snowstorm, Shining Armor, and Pound.

“I HATE YOU!” The scream escaped her before she could stop herself, and tears ran down her cheeks like a pair of waterfalls. “I HATE YOU, FLURRY HEART! I HATE YOU!”

“I AM YOUR MOTHER, AND YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT!” Flurry roared.

“NO, YOU’RE NOT MY MOTHER! YOU’RE A MONSTER!” 

Allyra let out a sharp sob and turned to fly away as fast as possible.







She had no idea how long she’d been crying in her room. Several guards and other staff- even the cook at one point- tried to make her come out, but she always sent them away with the threat of slicing their ears off. 

I can’t marry him.

I won’t marry him.

I hate her.

I hate her, I hate her, I hate her…

The dark thoughts plagued Allyra’s mind like a parasite, but she didn’t try to stop them. Why should she? Flurry hated her too.

After all, it’d been Allyra’s fault she’d lost her family.

Snowstorm wouldn’t have been stabbed if Allyra hadn’t left the kingdom. That stupid artefact wouldn’t have hit Shining if she’d told somepony about her bad feeling. Pound wouldn’t have been killed if she’d only tried harder to keep him from leaving.

Trying to ignore these thoughts, Allyra stood up with a sigh and wiped away her tears before flying out the window. Some fresh air would help. It had to, right?

She landed on the ground by one of the castle’s pillars and folded up her wings to walk. 

Unfortunately, she wasn’t there for long before the most punchable face in the world trotted up to her.

Silver Glamour sneered at her and said irritably, “Good evening, Princess.”

Allyra gave a very forced smile and said, “Silver! Just the pony I didn’t want to see!” She let her smile fade and glared at the unicorn. “Now go to hell where you belong.”

He scoffed, “Please. As if I like this any more than you do.” Allyra scowled at him as he continued, “Look, Princess Airhead. We’re only getting married because I don’t feel like being executed by the Queen, and this will be good for my family.” 

“Well, guess what, Snake. You’re not gonna be king, because I am not going to marry somepony like you!” She poked him in the chest, growling. “You can go up there and tell my lovely, self-centred mother how you feel about me, but I will not stand by and let myself become a bloody figurehead!” She shouted, before running off as fast as she could, ignoring Silver’s angered shouts.

“Ugh, can you even imagine?!” She exclaimed to herself, ignoring the ponies’ anxious looks as she stormed past them. “Me, the bloody wife of that selfish, brainless brat?!” 

She started singing, almost mockingly. “Princess Silver? Can’t you just see it? Princess Silver… his little wife, UGH!” She kicked a barrel over, ignoring the shop owner’s protests. “No sir! Not me! I guarantee it… I want much more than this royal life!”

Allyra took off into the air, flying almost instinctively towards the border. She stopped about halfway, hovering in the air, tears beginning to run down her cheeks once more. 

“I want adventure in the great wide somewhere! I want it more than I can tell…” She looked back at the castle, wiping her muzzle and sighing sadly. “And for once, it might be grand… to have her understand… I want so much more than she’s got planned.”

She stayed there for a bit, watching the border, and secretly wishing Lurante would call to her again.

“Ally?” It was Cadence. She flew up to Allyra, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “I tried to talk to her, but… well…”

Allyra choked back a sob and started flapping down, her grandmother soon following. They landed in the grass close to the snow and Cadence wrapped her hooves and wings around the mare, letting her cry.

“Granny, why does she hate me so much?” She whispered. 

Her grandmother sighed. “Look, Ally. I know I always told you that she loves you, but I can’t tell you she’s not angry at you.” Allyra looked at her, not surprised. “She still blames you for Snowstorm’s death, and as hard as losing Shining and Pound was for us…” She paused for a second after saying her lost husband and son-in-law’s names. “It only made the pain worse for her. There’s quite a difference between love and hate; Flurry still loves you- you’re her daughter- but I think it’s being clouded over by her grief.”

The pair stayed silent for a while before Cadence looked out to the border and murmured, “It’s getting worse out there.”

Allyra looked up at her in surprise. “You mean the blizzard?”

Nodding, she replied, “Yes. The blizzard out there is getting stronger, because the ponies and other creatures can’t get along, and the hatred is only growing.” 

Cadence looked at Allyra, a sudden seriousness in her gaze. “The Windigos are growing more powerful because of this. The kingdoms are protected for now and have adapted to such environments, but not for much longer. The creature has lost her strength to fight them, and something needs to be done now to save the world.”

Allyra’s eyes widened, and then she gasped as she realised what her grandmother was saying. “You mean I have to go out there?!”

Cadence nodded and pointed to her cutie mark. “It’s your destiny, after all. You’re the chosen one.” 

Before she could protest, a breeze picked up, affecting only Allyra. Sparks of magic surrounded her, and for a moment, Allyra saw Lurante again. She stared at her grandmother in disbelief. “How… how do you even know all this?”

She frowned. “I’ve seen it all. Visions… ever since I was a filly.” Allyra gaped at her as she said, “Darling, that dream you had as a child was a vision of the future; one of an alicorn’s powers. You saw yourself, and if the darkness you saw meant anything, then you are the one to fight it.” She stood up and looked the young pegasus in the eyes. “My vision showed me what you have to do… and how to win.” 

From under her wing, she pulled out a necklace that had a large gold pendant hanging from it. Allyra raised an eyebrow and reached out to take it. As soon as her hoof grazed the surface, strange markings in the metal lit up and five triangles that formed a little trapdoor in the middle opened, revealing five slots- four of them empty, and one with a tiny, bright blue heart-shaped crystal inside it. The other four slots were in the shape of a sun, a moon, a six-pointed star, and a shield.

“What… is it?” Allyra breathed, almost entranced. The thing radiated with power, and the heart-shaped jewel was glowing white. 

Cadence smiled. “The Antumbra Amulet.” Allyra looked at her in surprise. “The story I told when you were young only spoke of the ponies’ perspective. When the races began fighting- races, not just the ponies- the Alicorns forged this and five special jewels that embodied the essence of what destroys the Windigos: Love, Joy, Hope, Friendship, and Courage. They then took the egg of the Dragon Lord and poured their magic, along with magics from the other creatures of the world, into it, allowing Lurante to be born.”

“Lurante?!” Allyra yelped. “But- I thought-”

“I believe that the Lurante which called to you is the very creature born to fight the Windigos.”

“No way…”

Cadence nodded and gestured to the amulet. “They gave her the Amulet, allowing her to battle them, but creating Lurante took all of the alicorns’ magic, and destroyed them. She kept the Windigos at bay for an exceptionally long time with this magic. Until, unfortunately, an unknown force got a hold of the Amulet. It spread the five jewels between the five pony kingdoms, knowing that the hatred between them was too strong for them to bring the jewels together.” Allyra’s eyes widened in shock. “Lurante saved what she could, and sent the Amulet here to the Empire, the most protected of all the kingdoms. Then she continued to fight them, each battle sapping her strength further by the day.

“To defeat the Windigos, you must travel to the other four kingdoms and collect the jewels to return them to her. Only a creature with her power is capable of defeating them, and only a pony connected to the weather itself can safely traverse the storm.” Cadence put a hoof on Allyra’s chest. “That pony is you, Allyra. The amulet has never opened before until you touched it. You’re a pegasus born from Alicorns; though you haven’t had much of a chance to embrace it, your natural weather magic is far stronger than any pegasus- and perhaps, any alicorn.”

“Stronger than you?” She whispered, almost in disbelief. Her grandmother chuckled. 

“Maybe, my darling. I believe Lurante chose you, and I know that you’re more than capable of helping her win.”

At that moment, the breeze returned and lifted the Antumbra Amulet into the air, blowing Allyra’s hair and feathers with it.

“Ah-ah, ah-ah…”

“Her song…” Allyra whispered, a wide smile spreading across her face. She took the Amulet in her hooves, and it immediately glowed white, before disappearing and reappearing around her neck, surprisingly light. Then she frowned and looked at her proud grandmother. “Granny, I don’t know anything about Equestria. How will I even find the kingdoms?”

“The Amulet will lead you to them.” She said confidently, and Allyra smiled again. “My ancestors have passed this ancient artefact from father to son and mother to daughter for generations. And now… I give it to you.”

Allyra smiled. “Thank you, Granny.” She took a deep breath and looked at the castle. “Better get ready to go.”

Cadence nodded and made to follow before she was suddenly overcome with another coughing fit. 

“Granny?”

“I’m okay, dear-” This was interrupted as she suddenly started struggling to breathe, then collapsed to the ground, eyes shutting.

“GRANNY!”







Wings twitching and twiddling the pulsing Amulet in her hooves, Allyra sat outside the infirmary with a horrible feeling of déjà vu. Her mother was sitting beside her, glancing her way every so often. Allyra kept her gaze away from Flurry, stubbornly not saying a word. Luckily, Flurry didn’t speak either.

The head doctor opened the door and they leapt to their hooves. 

“Is she okay?”

“What happened?”

“When will she get better?”

He held up a hoof to silence their questions, then said sadly, “Cadence… isn’t going to get better.” The mares gasped in horror, and Allyra felt tears coming to her eyes. “She’s had issues with her lungs for several years now, and as of the last month, it’s been getting worse. We’re doing what we can, but I’m afraid she doesn’t have much longer.”

Flurry gulped and asked softly. “Then… how long?”

“It’s hard to say. She could have a week or an hour.” He sighed and looked at Allyra, who was now crying silently. “Princess, she wishes to speak with you. Urgently.”

Allyra nodded and took a step forward before Flurry suddenly crossed her path, frowning. She couldn’t tell what her mother was thinking or feeling. 

“Allyra, we need to talk-”

“No,” the pegasus said, still looking far from her. “I need to talk to Granny. Not you.”

Flurry grimaced. “Allyra, I’m serious. I’m your mother, you need to -”

She looked at Flurry for the first time, and past her grief she vaguely noticed her mother stepping back in surprise. But now, she couldn’t feel anything as she gazed at the alicorn. 

“I don’t have a mother. I lost her thirteen years ago.”

With that, she walked silently into the infirmary, ignoring Flurry’s shocked and hurt expression. Other ponies were in there; doctors, nurses, and a few guards who’d been injured, but she walked past them all and into the royals’ private room.

Cadence was laying there, eyes shut and her breathing coming heavy and raspy. She had a mask connected to an oxygen tank over her muzzle, and on instinct Allyra backed away, ears falling against her head. 

She’d never been allowed in here while Snowstorm was hurt, and though Shining and Pound’s bodies had been brought back for their funerals, she wasn’t allowed to see them either. So, seeing her grandmother like this… hurt, and it scared her. She was scared to go near her; what if she did something to make it worse, or what if she… what if… 

Cadence’s lavender eyes slowly opened, and she smiled softly to see her granddaughter standing close. 

“Ally…” she croaked, and Allyra’s heart clenched at the weak sound. 

Come on, you can do it. She’s just Granny.

Allyra shakily walked up to Cadence and stopped by her bed. Gulping down the lump in her throat, she whispered, putting a hoof on the bed, “I-I’m here, Granny… I’m not going anywhere.”

Her eyes widened in surprise as Cadence immediately shook her head. 

“No, Allyra. You have to go!” she coughed, suddenly clutching Allyra’s hoof. “The darkness and the Windigos are getting stronger. If you stay any longer, Equestria is lost!” Allyra shook her head, tears running down her cheeks again. Cadence smiled. “Allyra, if you’re out there, Lurante will continue to fight. She’ll wait for you, and she’ll keep the Windigos at bay for longer.”

Allyra’s face crumpled and she leaned her head against Cadence’s, whispering, “No, no, no, Granny… I can’t leave you! I can’t do this without you…”

“Oh, darling…” The alicorn took Allyra’s cheek and said softly, “Out there, the stars are hidden by the storm, but that doesn’t mean they don’t shine bright.” She made Allyra look her in the eyes. “I will be like the stars. You will not see me, but I will always, always be with you. I love you, my precious snowflake.”

The nickname hurt like it always did, but Allyra realised that if she wanted anypony to call her that, it was Cadence. She took a deep, shuddering breath and held Cadence’s hoof tighter, determination washing through her. 

“I promise, Granny. I’ll find Lurante, and I’ll help her stop the Windigos. I’ll save Equestria.”

Cadence smiled. “Then go.”

She went into another coughing fit and doctors ran in while Allyra backed away. She gazed upon her grandmother for what she knew would be the last time, then turned and ran out of the infirmary, flying as soon as there was room.

“There’s a line where the earth meets the sky, and it calls me… but no one knows how far it goes.”

Allyra knew there was little time. She packed only two things from her room- the book on Equestrian creatures, and her special drawing- before racing away to the kitchens and grabbing as much preservable food as she could. 

This was when the guards entered and saw what she was doing, General Arrow at the lead. She grimaced and opened her mouth to try and explain, but before she could, he gave orders to the other two to gather provisions for her.

“I don’t know what you’re doing, Princess, but I trust you,” he said, handing her a large bundle of clothes with goggles and earmuffs on top. “You’ll need these to even survive the blizzard.”

She gazed at him and smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Bronze.”

The guards handed her saddlebags over, along with her father’s sword which she’d placed down. 

“All that time wondering where I need to be is behind me. I’m on my own, to worlds unknown!”

Allyra saluted to them and flew out a window and away towards the border, stopping just short of the snowy plains and putting everything down to organise herself. Glaring at the shield, she started pulling the clothes on.

“Every turn I take, every trail I track, is a choice I make, now I can’t turn back, from the great unknown where I go alone, where I long to be…”

Taking in a shuddering breath, she tightened up her sword sheath and saddlebags, retied the pendant around her neck and swung the cloak over herself- covering her wings- and looked back one last time at the kingdom. The castle glowed brightly against the dark sky and Allyra could vaguely hear the citizens emerging from their homes, sensing something was amiss with the Crystal Heart.

Cadence had been born connected to it, and it gave her the power to become an alicorn. So, when she died…

Allyra sucked in a sharp breath as she saw it briefly flash in the distance. The light then disappeared and shot up through the castle’s four legs, and all the way along until it reached the spire. The light exploded into the night sky, becoming millions of orbs…

Just like stars.

Tears came to her eyes once more, but a new sense of purpose washed over the young adventurer. 

“See her lie with the night in the stars? She calls me! And yes, I know, that I can go!”

Grinning determinedly, Allyra took off on hoof towards the shield, the wind rushing around her, almost in excitement.

“There’s a moon in the sky and the wind is behind me… soon I’ll know how far I’ll go!”

With that, Allyra crashed through the border, turning to look at it as it sent purple and white ripples throughout. Once again, the blizzard hit like a wave, but this time she was prepared. As she pulled her scarf over her muzzle and goggles over her eyes, the wind formed a dome around her, shielding her from the worst of the storm. 

“I’m coming for you, Lurante,” she whispered, before running away from the Crystal Empire.
> Chapter Four: A Kingdom Turned to Bloodshed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“My child is coming. Send orders to Ilanga, Noctis, Amicitia, and Clipeum; worry not for Amor, for she is where she needs to be. The Amulet will guide the Princess; be still, Mystica. My champion is more than capable.”







Allyra quickly lost track of the days within the blizzard, quietly wishing she’d brought a pocket watch. Though, that wasn’t the only thing she’d forgotten in her haste- and, she realised, had taken for granted back home.

A pillow, a spare blanket, a hairbrush, or even a toothbrush. 

On the bright side, Allyra didn’t have to worry about the cold. The wind protected her from the worst of it and all the running kept her nice and active. Plus, Bronze Arrow had given her clothes that were thick, warm, and cosy, so it also wasn’t too bad to sleep in.

Hmm, I wonder how he knew I was leaving in the first place. Like, I know I was packing food when he tracked me down, but it’s pretty suspicious that he already knew. Allyra shook her head and gulped down a tiny amount of water. Whatever, it’s not like I’ll find out anytime soon. 

Once again, Allyra thanked her father for teaching her about rationing. As she got older, she’d wanted to learn as much as possible about what being a guard was like since it did sound more appealing than being the queen- so, he taught her virtually everything, including how to live off the land and ration out supplies between a group. 

Sighing softly, she whispered to herself, “I miss you, Dad…”

Again, she shook her head. “Stop thinking about that, Allyra. You have a mission.”

So, she pulled the necklace out from between her jacket and shirt and took a closer look at it. “Granny said you’d lead me to the gems… so where’s the nearest one, eh?” 

No response. “And I’m talking to an Amulet.” Allyra groaned and slapped her face. “Good job, Allyra. You’re going crazy.” The wind rushed against her, and she huffed. “Whelp, I guess talking to myself doesn’t help my case.”

Then, she yelped as the pendant suddenly pulled her to her right, making her fall to her side and almost strangling her. “OI, WHAT GIVES?!” Ally exclaimed, pulling back at it until it was resting in her hooves again. She frowned and turned it over to open the slots. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the artistic sun-shaped hole glowing yellow. The Amulet began tugging at her again, gently this time, and Allyra smirked. “Huh, I guess you do know what you’re doing, don’t you?”

She squawked as it suddenly leapt out of her hooves and hit her muzzle, making her growl. “All right, all right, fine! I get it! You don’t like being insulted!”

Allyra huffed and stood up, stretching her muscles to get moving again. 

“Geez, you’d think it was alive or something- OW! OKAY, SORRY!”







Allyra kept up an inconsistent rhythm of running, walking, and resting throughout the next few weeks, doing what she could to keep track of time.

She managed to make her supplies last during that period but knew it wouldn’t be much longer and feared what would happen when she ran out. Especially water. It was lasting far less than the food, and she was starting to get a bit weak from the lack of adequate nutrition. 

This was the first realisation that she’d had it rather good at the castle. She’d never had to worry about food, water or even her health before because there was always a consistent stock and ponies who could help if she got sick.

Allyra could tell her ability to consistently run was getting rather staggered, and she was pretty tired since her internal clock was messed up by the blizzard. What she couldn’t tell was that she was starting to get malnourished, pushing too hard for too long and not having enough rest, and because of this she was starting to get sick. It’s not like she was a doctor, though.

It wasn’t until the fourth or fifth week away that her situation both improved and got a lot worse.

Part of the bad situation is Allyra ran out of water. This panicked her and for a second she couldn’t figure out what to do- then, her Amulet started pulling her much harder than previously. 

So, after walking for a few more hours, Ally spotted it through the snowy haze- a shield; bright yellow in colour, as big as the Crystal Empire. This was the good part.

The other bad part was that Allyra had no idea what she was about to be faced with.

Sighing in relief, a smile broke across Allyra’s face. This is it- one of the kingdoms. It has to be! She watched it for a second, trying to think. Granny said the other kingdoms were Solaris Spire, Moonstone, Everfree, and Canterlot. I think she said later that Canterlot was on a mountain and Everfree was in a forest so it can’t be one of them. I think this is Solaris Spire; sounds like it has to do with the sun, and the shield is yellow.

A sharp pain tore through her heart at the thought of Cadence, and if it weren’t for the cold she’d probably have started crying. Then Allyra shook her head and started forward determinedly.

No time. I need to get food and water, find the gem, and then get to the next kingdom. Easy.

It took a few hours more, and anxiety started overwhelming her as she saw the shield only get bigger as she got closer. Her original guess on its size was way off- Solaris Spire had to be at least double the size of the Crystal Empire. Allyra gulped and kept moving. She was close to the shield, now able to see a huge wall, and was about to touch it when the wind suddenly started pushing her away.

“Wha- hey! I thought you wanted me to come here?” She protested, gesturing to the amulet which was still tugging in the seemingly right direction. However, the wind made her keep moving and she growled. “Come on, at least give me an explanation!”

It blew up and she looked with it; through the hazy magic, she could see guards standing at a gate. Allyra raised an eyebrow. “They’re just guards. What’s so bad about it?”

“Trust, Princess…”

Lurante’s sudden voice made her jump, but as the wind kept pushing and she kept staring at the soldiers, she decided it must be for a good reason. “All right, then. Where’s a safe place to enter?”

It pushed her for what seemed like an entire day, and by the time it stopped, she was completely exhausted. 

“This better be it, Lurante…” Allyra huffed, finally pushing through the shield.

Almost immediately, she could tell something was different. The Empire’s border was soft and easy to walk through, like misty rain. Here, it was almost like a balloon- every time she tried to walk through, it just extended and made it harder. Allyra eventually decided back up and charge, which worked and send blue and white ripples throughout.

That’s when the sounds bombarded her from all sides.

Screaming, swords clashing, a foal’s scream, ponies shouting incessantly, even roaring. 

A kingdom turned to bloodshed.

Allyra shuddered as an unfamiliar voice spoke in her mind, and the urge to turn and run was almost overwhelming. After a moment, she managed to get control of herself and took a deep breath in, surveying her surroundings. 

There was indeed a large wall surrounding the city, and if she looked far enough, she could see a castle’s towers in the distance. Now she saw what the wind was leading her to; hidden on the other side by some fabric, there was a hole in the stone big enough for her to crawl through. Allyra frowned. She didn’t know where that could lead, and for all she knew, it might be better to just fly over. 

“IT CAME FROM THE WESTERN SECTOR!”

“GO, GO, GO!”

Allyra yelped and without thinking, ran to the hole and dove through it, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily. She could hear the voices on the other side.

“What made that happen?”

“Whatever it was, it was magic. We need to tell Lord Terra.”

There were murmurs of agreement and hoofsteps muffled by the snow. Allyra sighed in relief and sat down, frowning. She appeared to be in some kind of tent; it was covered on all sides by thick, red cloth, and the floor was simply dirt covered with a rug. There were large wooden tables that looked like a ten-year-old made them, and on them were boxes and sacks of fruits and nuts that were foreign to her.

Huh… this is weird.

Unfortunately, the sounds were even louder now, and Ally clutched her hood, hat, and earmuffs tighter over her ears, glaring at the faint strip of light coming from the entrance.

Wherever she was, all Allyra knew was that she shouldn’t be found here.

Allyra lifted one of the walls with some difficulty and glanced around to see more tents and to her left, hundreds of ponies in front of them. She frowned and pulled herself out before cautiously stepping forward. Her eyes widened at the sight before her.

“FRESH FRUITS AND NUTS! GET THEM HERE NOW, HALF PRICE TODAY ONLY!”

“NECKLACES, BRACELETS, ANYTHING FOR YOUR LOVELY WIFE!”

“HERBS AND SPICES! HERBS AND SPICES!”

It was a marketplace; but the more she saw, the more worried she got. Not a single unicorn or pegasus in sight- the place was full to the brim with earth ponies. Every stall had at least one guard watching them, and at one point she saw a particularly vicious-looking guard dragging away a screaming, kicking, stick-thin stallion. Nopony did anything to stop it; maybe shot them a glance, but quickly went on with their business. Marketers were haggling over prices, and foals who barely looked to be in their teens were rushing around at their bosses’ will, and in the centre, there was a huge prism of stone being chipped away at by ponies with ropes around their legs and necks, wearing scratches and bruises all over. Allyra’s eyes widened as a guard came up to one of them and lifted a whip. She was forced to look away as it cracked down and the stallion’s screams filled the air; then she nearly gagged as she caught sight of a small pool of blood not far from where she was standing.

Allyra backed away into the wall, breathing heavily. 

What the bloody hell is this?! How could any ruler let this happen? This is crazy!

However, Allyra swallowed hard and pushed the images of what she’d just seen out of her mind.

Whatever kind of ruler they have here, I don’t wanna be found out. Let’s just find water and the gem and get the hell out of here.

Taking another breath to steady herself, she carefully made sure her wings and sword were fully covered by the cloak before picking her way behind the tents.







What she never realised was that she’d already been seen. A pony, wearing similar clothing to her, watched her every move from the walls above, frowning.

“Huh… never seen them before. Where’d that pony come from?”







Allyra sighed in relief as she spotted a fountain close to the wall, and after checking both ways, sprinted up to it and refilled her bottles in a flash before returning behind a tent.

All right, that’s the most important thing down, she thought, gratefully drinking. Now for the gem.

She frowned as she returned her bottles to her bag. The markets had ended and all that was left were streets upon streets of stone buildings; not a single one had a window or even a decent door, and stairs led to different levels that seemed to have different families living in them. All the rooves looked perfectly flat, and nopony was in sight.

Not a brilliant situation, but she could work with it.

After re-checking that her wings and sword were covered, Allyra trotted up to a building and began climbing as her father’s lessons surfaced in her memory.







Allyra was fifteen, climbing the castle walls above the balcony with her father carefully watching.

“Remember, Ally, no wall is impassable.”

“Yeah,” she grunted, “Because we have bloody wings, Dad!”

“Watch your language, young lady,” he lightly scolded, then smiled. “One of the most important things to remember is that guards don’t always have access to their strong points. Pegasi mightn’t be able to fly, a unicorn mightn’t be able to use magic, or an earth pony mightn’t be able to connect to the earth. It’s important to be ready for all situations.”

Allyra shot him an annoyed stare, trying not to smile. “Dad, do you seriously think I’ll have to climb the castle without my wings?”

He laughed. “There’s every chance! Besides, it mightn’t be a castle you have to climb. Could be something else entirely. And, in any case, it’s good for building muscle, and good if you have to hide.”

“Hide?”

“It doesn’t work all the time- especially when other pegasi are around- but ponies don’t look up very often. They’ll see what they expect to see, and most of the time, they don’t expect to see somepony climbing a wall.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Good. Now, keep moving.”

Allyra laughed and did as he said.







Your crazy lessons came in handy, Dad.

Allyra felt her stomach tighten but kept going. Luckily for her, there were plenty of notches and jagged edges she could hold on to. When she finally reached the top, she took a deep breath and looked out over the city. 

It was… huge. Easily twice as big as the Empire, maybe more so. But at least a quarter of that space was taken up by a castle, which looked like those from storybooks she read as a foal. Huge walls surrounded the actual palace, and dozens of spiring towers soared through the air, wooden bridges connecting them. Like the rest of the city, there were no windows, and Allyra frowned as she looked closer. It seemed… rickety. That was the best word she could think of. The castle was crumbling all over and the towers were barely supported. The inner section of the palace had completely caved in, except for the back, which was in better shape than the whole city combined.

Looking back at the city, Allyra’s frown deepened. It seemed overpopulated, but in between the jagged buildings were plenty of clearings with tall, colourful tents like the one she’d just escaped from, and judging by the noise she could hear from the nearest, they were markets too. When she looked to her left, Allyra saw a large section of the city that wasn’t even a city, and it was littered with dead-looking trees and crops.

The sky was no better. Even with the shield, the blizzard raged inside, though admittedly it was a lot better than out there.

It was nothing like the Crystal Empire. Even if it wasn’t her favourite place to be, it was protected and the ponies there were friendly. The markets had foals playing, entertainers, and always new and exciting things to try. The Crystal ponies at least maintained a good city, and the castle was always kept in top condition. 

But, here, Allyra had the overwhelming sense that the air was filled with death. 

She shuddered and grimaced. After a second, she breathed deeply and took out the Amulet once more. Opening it, she could now see the sun-shaped slot glowing faintly, and it tugged her in the direction of the ruined castle.

“Guess we’re going there, then,” she murmured, before suddenly yawning heavily, making her mind up for her. “Better find a safe place to sleep… if there even is one.”

She poked her head over the side of the building, where there was a small gap between the city walls and the second story. There were plenty of barrels and tapestries too, so she jumped down and crawled behind them before curling up and trying to make herself comfortable.

Allyra chuckled to herself. “What a princess I must look like now.”

Then, she fell into a fitful rest.







Allyra opened her eyes and immediately gasped at what she saw. She was still in Solaris Spire, but now flying above it, and there was no shield- no blizzard. Instead, the sun burned bright overhead, and she could see the ground covered in sand, rather than snow. The castle was in perfect shape, almost as if it had just been built, and the air was completely silent.

She frowned and started soaring towards the castle. Maybe the gem was there.

Touching down in a courtyard, Allyra’s frown deepened. There were ponies of all three types as glimmering orange apparitions, and not one was moving. She waved a hoof in front of a stallion’s face and got no response. Allyra reached out further to touch him and gaped as her hoof went straight through his shoulder. She quickly pulled away.

“This is… weird,” she murmured, then gasped as one of the ponies started walking; this one glowing blue rather than orange. Curious, Allyra started following the unicorn mare and eventually made it into the throne room with a large, empty seat, and more paused ponies. 

The blue mare suddenly bowed and said in a voice that echoed throughout the room, “My king, Lord Murandel and Duchess Aurora have arrived. They demand an audience with you.”

“King?” Allyra said to herself, looking back at the throne. She jumped again as she saw that it now had a glowing white stallion, and her eyes widened further. He had a horn and a pair of large wings.

An alicorn.

“Send them in,” he called, the baritone voice sending shivers of apprehension down her spine. 

Allyra raised an eyebrow as everypony suddenly paused; then, they glitched for a moment before the door was slammed open.

“PONIES, YAKS DEMAND THE ABUSE UPON THE YAKS’ MOUNTAIN KINGDOM BE CEASED!”

It was… something. Allyra had never seen such a creature before; more than twice her size and covered in long, shaggy hair, was what looked like a very odd sheep to her. It had giant horns above its ears that curved up, and it took a second for Allyra to realise that the creature did indeed have eyes, covered by lots of thick hair.

The alicorn merely raised an eyebrow. “Lord Murandel, my subjects have nothing to do with the blizzard your kingdom has been experiencing.” Allyra gasped. A blizzard? “Are you certain that it is not a late spring storm?”

The… yak growled and made to yell before another creature stepped forward, halting its tirade, and Allyra raised an eyebrow. It looked vaguely like a pony but was taller with thin legs and cloven hooves, a short furry tail, a big red nose that glowed through the blue light, and huge branch-like horns on either side of its head. It glared up at the king, eyes glowing.

“We know you ponies possess magic over nature,” she said, her voice surprisingly deep. “Not only this, but we are aware of the alliance your kingdom has made with Dragon Lord Aquila. The dragons, especially those of the sky, are not to be trusted; you must know this, King Eclipse.”

Dragon Lord Aquila? Sky dragons couldn’t be trusted… what did that mean? These questions and a million more whirled around Allyra’s head, and she grimaced.

Looking back at the king, she saw that his name made sense. Beneath the white glow, he had a sun-yellow coat with fire-red hooves and wings, his eyes were a deep purple, and his hair was black and edged with white. 

“Papa?” Allyra looked around and saw another alicorn; a filly, likely no more than five years old. The filly had a pale pink coat- almost white-, yellow feathers and hooves and a rose-pink mane. Her eyes were a lighter version of her father’s. And, like him, Allyra could see her colours beneath the white glow. She trotted up to the king, gazing cautiously at their visitors. “What’s going on?”

“Go back to your mother, Celestia,” he said simply, still watching the yak and the other creature. Without waiting for her to leave, Eclipse said, “While my subjects and I can control certain aspects of nature, we have never- nor will we ever- had the ability to bring about a storm such as yours.” He spread his wings wide and glared down at them. “As for my alliance with Dragon Lord Aquila, that is none of your concern. I shall make my own decisions, and I refuse to be influenced by other rulers.”

The female horned creature growled at him, and he sighed. “Duchess Aurora, I cannot ask that you understand my judgement. But our kingdoms have never fought over a trivial matter such as this; please, do not allow yourself to be clouded by hatred as the Hippogriffs and Kirin were.”

Hippogriffs and Kirin? Who were they?

“We have lost too many allies already.”

Allyra frowned deeply. Lost allies… could this be when the fighting began? Were the yaks and reindeer the first to be affected by the Windigos?

“Well, king, you’ve lost another.” Allyra’s eyes widened at the female’s harsh tone. “The Yaks and Reindeer are noble creatures, and we will never be seen with the likes of Lord Aquila- nor, any of his allies.”

“Stop being mean!” Celestia suddenly exclaimed, ignoring her father’s warning. “Why can’t we just be friends?”

Duchess Aurora- she said something about reindeer, maybe she was one? - sighed and shook her head at the alicorn filly. When she opened her eyes, they were white- no pupils or irises in sight. “Your heart is pure, young one, and if the future were not set you would become a great warrior for peace.” Celestia’s eyes widened in horror, and Allyra unwittingly growled at the reindeer. “Unfortunately-”

“ENOUGH!” Eclipse roared, his voice reverberating throughout the hall. Allyra gulped and shrunk back at the fury in the alicorn’s dark eyes. “I will not tolerate my child being spoken to like this. Either you and the young lord leave by yourselves, or I shall force you to!”

The king and duchess stared each other down while Celestia cried quietly behind her father and the yak snarled, lowering his head as if he were about to charge. Then, the reindeer scoffed, and both her horns lit up before the visitors were teleported out of the hall, and likely out of the castle.

Immediately, Eclipse kneeled by his daughter and said soothingly, “Listen close, Celestia. Do not listen to them, for the future is never set in stone.” She stopped crying and looked at him with hope in her eyes. “You will grow up and become a beautiful, magnificent queen of the sun. Do you understand, my darling?”

Celestia nodded and nuzzled up against him, grinning. “Okay, papa! I understand!”

She didn’t see the sad look in his eyes, but Allyra did.

Then, a voice spoke up beside her.

“It’s terrible, isn’t it? The reindeer were honest to a fault; never stopping to consider other’s feelings.”

She jumped and looked to her right. Standing next to her was another alicorn, glowing white and sparkling in the dimming light. She had a lavender coat with midnight-blue hair striped with pink, yellow and purple. Her wing feathers and hooves were white, the wings tipped with a pretty pink. But her deep amethyst eyes were filled with the same sadness as King Eclipse’s. 

“Yeah…” Allyra replied carefully, grimacing as she gazed at the now still filly. “Does she… grow up?”

The mare shook her head and sighed sadly. “She barely reached her fifteenth, but luckily, she never had to see her father die.”

Allyra’s eyes filled with tears. “Why? It’s not fair; she should’ve had the chance to grow up!”

The alicorn shook her head again and put a shimmering hoof on Allyra’s shoulder, shocking her. “But there’s nothing to be done. It’s been a millennium.” Then her eyes turned serious. “Keep fighting, Chosen One. Your first trial is about to begin.”







As soon as Allyra woke up in a cold sweat, she dug the book out of her saddlebags and began rifling through the pages.

“C’mon, yaks, reindeer, anything?” she muttered, glaring hard. The wind picked up around her and she smiled gratefully. “Hey. Do you know where stuff about yaks or reindeer is?”

The pages suddenly flipped to the last quarter of the book, and Allyra grinned. A picture of a reindeer, similar to the one in her dream, was shown. She read the inscription.

Reindeer are a species connected to magics of the mind. They have the power to read the minds, hearts, and all intentions of those around them, so lying to them is impossible to achieve. They also have a mysterious ability to fly without wings; as they are so rare, little is confirmed, but witnesses speak of them galloping through the night sky. They are also well known as being seers; they have visions of the future and are often sought after for this. They have powerful magic connected to the seasons, winter in particular.

Allyra frowned. If they had magic connected to winter, then why were they blaming the ponies? 

Her heart suddenly hurt as she thought of the poor filly, Celestia. This must have been around the time the wars started, and Princess Aurora had seen Celestia’s future. She wouldn’t survive. 

For perhaps the hundredth time, Allyra pushed the sad thoughts out of her head and let the wind turn a few pages before another familiar creature came into sight.

Yaks are peaceful creatures who are known amongst the kingdoms as ‘The Lords of the Mountains’ and prefer to keep to themselves. However, it’s a well-known fact that when angered, they become violent and destructive. As they are proud, extreme caution must be taken to prevent damaging their ego. The reindeer rule yaks and are rarely seen without a yak by their side. They have powerful magic connected to the earth and have the strength of ten stallions combined. Their vocabulary in Modern Equestrian is rather limited and they often speak in third ponish. This, combined with their extreme volume in all situations, makes it difficult to hold a conversation, much to my disappointment.

So, yaks and reindeer were once allied with the ponies, but after the ponies made peace with the dragons, they chose to become their enemies as Duchess Aurora didn’t trust them.

Make an alliance with one kingdom but lose another in the process.

I wonder if that roaring I heard earlier was a dragon. I mean, the book said they live in the Volcanic Wastes, but maybe some live here after becoming allies? Then a slightly concerning thought occurred to her. What if the pony kingdoms weren’t friends at all? The alicorns had to be since they made Lurante, but what about before that?

And who was that purple alicorn? She could see me; she could talk to me and touch me. And what did she mean, ‘my first trial’?

She groaned and rubbed her head. Too many questions, and not enough answers.

Then, the sound of screaming jolted her out of her reverie. Allyra flinched and put the book away, then cautiously crawled out of her hiding place. It wasn’t safe to stay in one spot for long.

Allyra spent many more hours darting through the city to get closer to the castle, and when she finally stopped for a break, the castle gates were within sight. 

Watching it closely, she saw many guards posted by the gates and around the walls. For a kingdom as brutal and ruined as this, she wasn’t expecting to see so many soldiers. The amulet was pulling stronger than ever, but she stood her ground and kept watching. 

“Calm down,” she hissed at one point, glaring at the pendant. “I can’t just blindly rush in. The gem is probably as guarded as the Crystal Heart is.” The Heart had often been in danger of being stolen or destroyed, so even though ponies were allowed to go near it, it was heavily guarded at all hours, and there were multiple alarm spells set. Only an alicorn could use its power, in any case. The amulet yanked at her neck again, and she growled. “Fine, then, I’ll just rush in only to get executed and have you stolen or destroyed! Do you want that on your conscience?”

It finally stopped and she sighed heavily, before facehoofing. I think I’ve been alone for too long.

After a second she shook her head and decided to watch the gates for a while. Learn the guards’ shifts and figure out where any weak points might be. Stealth would be key here.

Allyra moved in a little closer and find a decent hiding place- an alley between two buildings that lead to a dead end and had plenty of barrels to hide behind. Just as she started taking off her goggles as she rounded the corner, a sniveling noise caught her attention.

She frowned and looked around, only to hear a voice. “Mama, I’m hungry.”

Stepping to the entrance, she spotted a ragged-looking mare standing close with a colt by her side. They were thin as twigs. Allyra felt her heart hurt at the sight, especially as the mare sighed and stroked her son’s head.

“I know, but we’ll get food soon. Okay?”

She didn’t believe it. Allyra could feel her despair and her fear for her son, even while the colt smiled hopefully.

Unable to take it, Allyra quietly trotted up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. The mare jumped and the colt made to scream but Allyra quickly shoved a hoof over his mouth. Both stared at her in fright, before confusion as she reached under her cloak and pulled out a tin of dried fruit. She knew she really shouldn’t; she was low on supplies herself, but if it kept them alive for another day, then it was worth it.

“Take it and make it last. I won’t be around to help for long,” she murmured, pushing it into the mother’s hooves and walking away. She didn’t enter the alley again; couldn’t risk being seen going to a new hiding place. But, under her mask, she smiled as the mare laughed and the colt exclaimed in delight.

Then she realised she was in trouble again. She’d unknowingly walked straight into the large marketplace close to the gates, and a few guards were watching her suspiciously. 

Oh, diamonds. Better get out of here and move around to the other side of the castle. 

“Hey, you!”

Allyra jumped and whipped her head around to see a stallion standing over her, glaring daggers. Not a guard, but likely a shopkeeper. “You better pay for that food!”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “What are you talking about?”

She saw a flash of anger in his eyes as he exclaimed, “Pay for what you took, mare! You stole my stuff and gave it to those ponies!”

Mare?! 

“Hey, that’s just rude!” she exclaimed irritably, standing up straighter and raising an eyebrow as he started in surprise. Allyra felt the eyes of everypony on her and paused for a second but took a breath. No point panicking: she’d started it, so she’d better finish it. “And that food I gave them was mine. I’m no thief.”

The stallion growled and started lifting a hoof, and Allyra instinctively lowered into a defensive position, making him pause again. “Leave. Me. Alone.”

Before he could respond a guard suddenly appeared, glaring at her. “Is this pony bothering you?”

“She stole from me, and she’s disrespecting me!” he shouted, and Allyra frowned. Disrespecting? She was telling him the truth! Stars above, he sounded like her mother.

“Apologise, mare,” the guard snarled, and Allyra glared at him. 

“I’m not apologising for something I didn’t do!” She exclaimed, beginning to growl. “What the heck is wrong with you? I’m just walking!”

“YOU WILL RESPECT YOUR BETTERS, MARE!” The guard roared, grabbing her hoof, and raising his other to hit her. 

Allyra barely thought. In one fluid motion, she’d pulled her sword from its scabbard, swung the flat side into the shopkeeper’s head and knocked him to the ground, and kicked the guard away, now holding the weapon to his throat.

Gasps and cries of shock and fear rang out around her, and Allyra snarled at the stallion, who was staring at her in anger and shock.

“How did you-”

“I’m really sick of ponies like you,” she growled, only vaguely aware that the tip was touching his neck. “And I swear to whomever your damn ruler is, I’ll-”

“WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!”

The sound hit Allyra’s ears and she yelped as she was suddenly yanked back, and her sword was ripped from her grasp. She snarled and made to tackle whoever took it, only to have it suddenly handed back to her when she was away from the guard.

“I’m so sorry about my sister, please accept my humblest apologies.”

Allyra looked at her… saviour? He wasn’t much taller than her and was dressed similarly; ready for the blizzard, and his hood, goggles and mask covered most of his face. Allyra spotted a few strands of brown hair sticking out under the hood, and his coat was jade green. Beneath the goggles, his eyes appeared to be a deep ocean blue. She frowned. He looked familiar…

The guard growled as he scrambled to his hooves. “Where the bloody hell did she get that sword?!”

“Took it from our father; I’m afraid she’s been rather sick lately, and we’re still working out what’s happening.”

Allyra made to protest but then the stallion looked back at her and grabbed her hoof, a warning clear in his narrowed eyes.

Play along or we’re both dead.

She paused for a second before she smiled, then started laughing maniacally, making everypony look at her in surprise. “Brother, you’ll never guess what I saw yesterday! There was this snake and a bird and-”

“Yes, yes, a wonderful dream, I’m sure!” He cut in, faking a quick laugh. He said, “Well, now, let’s get you home and safe. Mother’s getting anxious.”

The guard growled at her. “Teach her to control herself or we’ll do it for you.”

The stallion laughed and put a hoof over Allyra’s shoulder, leading her away. “Will do, captain!”

The two walked away and the stallion muttered, “I don’t know where you got that thing, but that was a real stupid move, mare.”

Allyra kept a straight face as she murmured back, “Somepony ought to teach them respect, or next time I will take his head off.”

He laughed. “I’m sure you will, sweetheart.”

She caught the sarcasm in his voice and glared at him. “Call me that again and it’ll be your stupid noggin on a spear.”

He rolled his eyes to the heavens. “Yeah, yeah. Now let’s move faster before they figure out I’m-”

“GET BACK HERE, STREET RAT!” 

Galloping hooves started gaining on them and the stallion sighed heavily while Allyra jumped. “A wanted criminal.”

“Wait, what?!” Allyra exclaimed, instinctively backing away from him. He growled and grabbed her hoof, dragging her along as he started running. 

“Do you wanna get caught? Hurry up!” he shouted, ducking as an arrow flew over his head.

Allyra groaned but ran faster, following the stallion. Looks like she had no choice now.

The two were suddenly cut off at the end of the street by a small battalion that send the civilians running and screaming. Allyra skidded to a stop beside him as he growled, pulling out a sword of his own. She clutched hers tighter as one of the guards called, “Blaze, under orders from Lord Terra, you are under arrest and will be executed!”

“Wow, not even a fair trial!” Blaze laughed. 

“Mate, we’re surrounded. What are you expecting to do?” Allyra hissed, shooting him another glare.

He smirked at her as the guards started charging forward. “Gotta keep one jump ahead of the breadline; one swing ahead of the sword!” He grabbed Allyra’s hoof and leapt easily over the charging earth ponies, and she yelped as she landed on one’s face. Blaze continued to lead her, running on top of the shocked stallions. “I steal only what I can’t afford!” She raised an eyebrow as they landed on the ground, and he shrugged. “And that’s everything.”

“Is now really the time for a song?!”

“Absolutely.”

He laughed at her bemused face and started running again, the pair weaving between buildings. “One jump ahead of the lawmen; that’s all, and that’s no joke. These guys don’t appreciate I’m broke!”

The guards shouted behind them, “RIFF RAFF! STREET RAT! SCOUNDREL!”

Allyra yelped as they were suddenly cornered off by more guards, but Blaze shouted, “Take that!” and sliced a rope connected to a tarp and releasing many heavy sacks on top of them. “Try a different tact, guys!”

The pair jumped over them and Allyra accidentally bucked one guard in the face, unable to keep herself from snickering. “This way, mare!”

“Stop calling me that!”

Behind her, Allyra heard the guards singing, “Rip him open! Round the back, guys!”

Blaze shoved her inside a building suddenly. “Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat. Otherwise, we’d get along-”

He had run in after her, only to suddenly be surrounded by a group of mares who, in Allyra’s opinion, were dressed in rather… questionable outfits.

They sang, almost gleefully, “Who? Oh, it’s sad that Blaze has hit the bottom-” He glared at them and shoved his way through, pulling Allyra by the hoof and making his way to the window. “He’s become a one-colt rise in crime!”

Allyra yelped again as they were cut off by a large Earth mare who wielded a heavy wooden spoon. 

“I’d blame parents, except he hasn’t got them!”

Blaze laughed as he ducked the mare’s attempted attack, shoving Allyra to the window. “Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat! Tell you all about it when I got the time!”

Allyra leapt from the window and onto some of the fabric canvasses in the next alley, landing with a loud thud on the ground, shocking her nerves and making her cry out in pain. Blaze, on the other hoof, easily bounced down with a few somersaults and landed in a flourish, smirking. Allyra raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Was all that necessary?” 

“Hey, you only live once, so why not have some fun?”

She couldn’t stop a small smile from forming on her lips and was grateful for the scarf covering her face. Blaze shoved a hoof in front of her before she could walk out and a pair of guards raced by, not even glancing in their direction. He put a hoof over her shoulders and began leading her through the crowd, keeping his head low.

“One jump ahead of the slowpokes, one skip ahead of my doom. Next time, gonna use a non-de-plume!”

Several guards had run by them and not noticed, making Blaze chuckle. “I’d like to see them try and notice us.”

“THEY’RE OVER HERE!”

Allyra shot him a deadpan stare. “You just had to open your big, fat mouth, didn’t you?”

He raised an eyebrow at her but started running again with Ally following.

“One jump ahead of the hitmen, one hit ahead of the flock! I think I’ll take a stroll around the block!”

“You call this a bloody stroll?!”

Blaze laughed and quickly shoved her left, looking behind him as the stallions started catching up.

“STOP, THIEF!”

“VANDAL!”

“COME ON!”

“SCANDAL!”

Allyra noticed him grimace as he led the way up a flight of stairs, to the top of the roof. He quickly moved for her to go first, and she watched as he gestured to a mare, who stood there in shock for a moment. 

“Let’s not be too hasty!”

The mare nodded and stood in the way of the guards, making them yell at her. “Still, I think he’s rather tasty!”

“Hurry up!” Allyra called, and the pair started jumping between rooves.

“Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat! Otherwise, we’d get along-”

“WRONG!”

Allyra glared at the guards, then yelped as Blaze suddenly lost his hoofing and stumbled, one of his boots coming off. She caught sight of a plain green hoof and her eyes widened. Blaze growled at her. 

“You know, mare, if you weren’t here I’d have escaped by now!” He exclaimed, shoving the boot back on and running again.

“Then why did you even bother helping me?!”

The pair glared at each other only for Allyra to see that the buildings were coming to an end, and the biggest marketing area she’d seen so far loomed in front of them. She skidded to a stop and Blaze followed, growling. 

“Dammit! We need to head east, it’s the best way to lose them!”

Allyra looked back at the guards and snarled. “You go. I’ll follow,” she told him, taking out her sword. 

Blaze shrugged. “Your funeral!”

Before he could run, Allyra raced up to the guards and eagerly met their swords with hers. Adrenaline rushed through her, and she laughed as she took down one guard after another, destroying their weak iron swords with her crystal one. 

“HEY, BEHIND YOU!”

Blaze’s cry caught her attention, and she looked around just in time to see a stallion standing over her, sword posed to pierce her heart. 

Without even thinking, Allyra leapt into the air and spread out her wings, grinning at the wind blowing through her liberated feathers. She barely registered shouts of fear and shock around her, and easily divebombed her would-be attacker, sending him off the roof, sword clattering to the ground. 

She landed and grinned only for it to vanish as Blaze ran up to her and shouted, pure disbelief in his eyes, “YOU’RE A PEGASUS?!”

“Uh…” 

“IT’S A PEGASUS! KILL IT, KILL IT!”

She jumped in surprise and Blaze grabbed her hoof again, dragging her along the buildings with more guards than ever following. Though she wasn’t sure why, there was a new sense of urgency in him, and fear began washing over her.

“One jump ahead of the hoofbeats; one hop ahead of the hump! One trick ahead of disaster; they’re quick, but I’m much faster!”

Blaze had led them up to the top of a building that towered over all the others and stopped to take something out from under his cloak. Allyra raised an eyebrow at the black cube now in his hoof and the anxiety in his eyes.

“Here goes! Better throw my hoof in, wish me ‘happy landing’, all I gotta do is JUMP!”

He threw the thing to the ground beneath their hooves, and it shattered, surrounding them in black smoke. Allyra screamed, feeling as though she was being dragged away. She shut her eyes tight and crouched down as shouts and screams from both guards and civilians surrounded them.

Then, somehow, everything was silent. Blaze let out a huge groan and Allyra reluctantly opened her eyes; then, they widened to the size of dinner plates when she saw where they were.

The pair appeared to be in a wrecked loft, similar to the one they just escaped from, but Allyra knew it was different right away. One wall of the building had been completely torn away and a huge blue cloth was hung over it. Multiple other blankets and tarps were strung around the place, covering almost all openings, and making the limited light multi-coloured, with one pile at the very back which she assumed was a bed. Opposite the bed was a trio of chests; one was completely shut, another was full to the brim with food and what she assumed were water skins, and another was half full of jewellry, gold, and various knickknacks.

Blaze took a deep breath to steady himself and Allyra tensed up on instinct, frowning.

“That was my last teleportation bomb, so you’d better be grateful I wasted it saving your coat as well as mine, mare.”

Allyra glared at him. “For the last time, stop calling me ‘mare’.”

He glared right back. “Then what should I call you? Pegasus?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’m a pegasus. What’s so upsetting about that?” His jaw dropped as she continued, “And I’d say we’re even. I fought off the guards so we could use your smoke-bomb thingy in the first place.”

The stallion gaped at her for a bit before he let out a bark-like laugh, making her eyebrow go even higher up her forehead. 

“What’s so upsetting about being a pegasus, she asks!” He laughed, almost doubling over, but Allyra knew the sarcasm was strong in this one. “Gee, I wonder why everypony wants to kill you now!”

Allyra growled slightly and barked, “Hey! Either give me answers or I’ll-”

“Okay, mare, look. I’ll admit you have some fighting prowess, and the way you use that sword is pretty nifty.”

“But?”

“But you’ve attacked and insulted guards, you haven’t respected ‘those above you’ or however those jerks put it, you’re a stranger to these parts, and not only that but you’re a bloody pegasus in a city full of earth ponies. I’m surprised you weren’t caught while you were doing all that sneaking around yesterday.”

Allyra’s eyes widened and she took a step back. “You’ve been watching me?!”

“Well, yeah. Don’t have a lot else to do right now, and you’re quite the amateur,” he said, stretching his legs. “Plus, I wanted to see how long you’d last before you got discovered. You kinda threw all secrecy away when you gave that mare food.”

Growling, she said, trying to stay calm, “I couldn’t just leave her and her son to starve.”

“Sweetheart, over half of these regular folk are starving. You can’t save everyone.” He sighed as she bristled angrily. 

“Then I suppose you’re starving, too?” She asked, gesturing to the crate of food. Then she paused at the flash of fury in his eyes… and promptly realised she’d crossed a line. 

“I need to survive, and this is how I do it!” he shouted, storming right up to her, barely noticing her reaching for her sword again. “I don’t know where you’re from, mare, but this is real life! And you’re being a stupid fool by acting like you’re on top of the food chain!”

Allyra rolled her eyes. “Oh, and where exactly am I on this food chain of yours?”

Blaze sighed and sat down, taking an oblong green fruit from the chest, and tossing it to her, much to her surprise. “You’re a pegasus and a mare. That puts you at the very bottom.” 

Frowning as he took a bite of his own, she asked, “What’s the deal with everypony hating pegasi? What, is the dictator here a pegasus?”

He was silent for a moment before he muttered, “My dad used to tell me stories of how pegasi in ancient times could control the weather.” She raised an eyebrow at him, now sitting down. “When the blizzards started, the superstitious creatures began blaming them. Now, being a pegasus is punishable by exile if the authorities are nice, and death if they’re not. Most of them aren’t.”

Allyra’s jaw dropped. Pegasi were blamed for the blizzard? “That’s crazy! No pegasus has the power to create something like this!”

Blaze rolled his eyes at her. “Tell that to everypony else. I’m surprised you haven’t been killed yet. I’m even more surprised that you seem to be from a place where that’s not a big deal.”

Shrugging, she said carefully, “Let’s just say I’m from a place that’s a little more like Ancient Equestria, where pegasi aren’t hated.” She then gestured to him. “You seem to be from a similar place.”

Blaze scoffed. “Really? And how do you gather that?”

“Well, for one, you didn’t try to kill me when you saw what I am. And two, you’re a pegasus like me.”
> Chapter Five: Rewrapped Mysteries
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“She has arrived, and she’s found him. Her next step has begun: our princess is about to begin unlocking her true potential. Amor, be ready.”







Blaze’s jaw dropped and Allyra raised an eyebrow at him. It hadn’t been that hard to figure it out.

Then, before she could process it, Blaze’s sword was at her neck, and he was snarling at her. She yelped and tried to back up, only to get her hoof tangled in one of the tarps.

“How the hell do you know that?! Have you been watching me?”

“That’s harsh coming from the pony who’d done the spying!” She retorted, freeing her hoof, and loosening her weapon. 

“Then how the bloody hell do you know what I am?!” He shouted. Allyra rolled her eyes.

“It wasn’t that hard to recognise. As I said, you didn’t try to kill me when you found out what I am.” He continued to snarl but she spoke calmly. “That just confirmed it. I figured it out when you lost your boot in the chase. Earth ponies have different coloured hooves and Pegasi’s hooves are the same colour as their coat. Plus, you’re not a unicorn, since one, they have super long fur around their hooves, and two, even with an illusion spell you can’t hide a horn with a hood like that, since it would just be caught over or behind the horn. You have plain hooves with no fetlocks, meaning you’re a pegasus. That, and your tail feathers are making your cloak stick up a bit at the back, and I can see the lumps at your sides where your wings are. You say I’m lucky, but you’re lucky that nopony here knows what a pegasus looks like outside wings.”

There was a stunned silence for a short while, and Allyra kept it to let him process. Then he shook his head, tightening his grip on his sword, and glared harder at her. 

“I still don’t trust you. Whoever you are, you’re not like other ponies, and I’m not risking exposing myself for your smart-ass flank.” She rolled her eyes.

“Well, since we don’t know each other, that’s fair enough.” Then she got an idea. It mightn’t be smart, but since she didn’t know anything about this city, she’d need help. Allyra took her sword out of her scabbard and dropped it to the ground, much to Blaze’s surprise. “Look, I need help while I’m here. And, since you’re the only pony here who doesn’t want to kill me for being alive, you’re my best shot.”

He frowned, but she noticed his weapon dropping a little. “What would I gain from it? What’s the point in me helping you?”

“Stopping the blizzard altogether.” He started and she smiled slightly. “The blizzard is caused by creatures called Windigos, and if I can get a magical gem that I think is in the castle, then I’ll be one step closer to beating them.” She saw consideration in his eyes. “I just need you to get me in and out of the castle without being seen.”

He opened his mouth to retort but she cut him off, saying, “Look, I get it. I don’t trust you; you don’t trust me. But I’m willing to risk it.”

Blaze stared at her for a moment before he put his sword down too, but still frowned. “We show each other our faces and tell our names. I won’t fight you if you really can stop this nightmare.”

She smiled at him. “I can. Trust me.”

At least, I hope so. Oh, well, he doesn’t need to know that part.

The pair stared for a moment longer before Blaze removed his hood, goggles and hat, Allyra following, sighing in relief as her long mane finally spilled out. She’d probably have to do something about that later. 

“Allyra Cadenza.”

“Swift Blaze.”

Allyra had to force herself not to start in surprise when she finally saw his face. She was right; she had recognised him… 

He was one of the ponies from her dream.

She’d only seen him from a distance but knew without a doubt that it was him. Blaze had been the pegasus behind her in her dream, though it was only now that she noticed a trio of long scars running down the side of his head and his neck. 

Blaze, on his part, was staring at her in a way that made her slightly uncomfortable. When she saw the slightly red tinge on his cheeks, she groaned loudly and turned away, saying, “I don’t have time to deal with some love-struck colt, so either buck up and get moving or I’ll do it by myself!”

She snickered as he started sputtering, clearly embarrassed. “What- no, I- you-”

“So, what’s the safest way into the castle, mate?”

Allyra walked up to the torn-down wall of the tower and moved the tarp out of the way, frowning. It gave her a direct view of the ruined regal structure, though nowhere near close enough to see any weak points. Blaze trotted up beside her, shooting her one last glance before frowning.

“There isn’t any safe way.”

“Secret passages, hidden entrances, anything?”

“Nope, everything’s covered and heavily guarded. I’ve scoured every part of it in the past year I’ve been here; unless the guards or I have missed something, we’ll need to cause some distraction to get in.”

Allyra frowned and rubbed her chin. She looked up at the shield, glowing yellow against the grey and black storm clouds. Then she remembered something.







Allyra was nine. Shining Armor was walking her around the edge of the city, smiling as she gleefully swung her little wooden sword around.

“What’d you wanna show me, Grandpa?” She asked, gazing curiously at him. 

“Well, I wanted to tell you a little about the shield.” 

Her eyes widened in delight, and she asked eagerly, “Are we gonna go past it, Grandpa? Can we, can we?!”

Shining’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “Not happening, Ally! I’m just going to tell you about it.” He chuckled as she huffed irritably. “Anyway, do you remember what makes the shield?”

Allyra frowned. “The Crystal Heart does, right?”

“Exactly, honey!” He said, smiling at her. “The Crystal Heart uses the light and love of the ponies in the kingdom to power the shield, blocking out the blizzard outside. It used to keep it away entirely, but the storm grew too strong to do that, so it created a shield to protect us.”

“What if the Heart wasn’t there?”

“Then the blizzard would enter the Empire and would freeze everything.” Her eyes widened in horror. “That’s why we protect it. If it was stolen, it wouldn’t be able to generate enough power to protect us, and if it broke, the shield would be destroyed entirely.”

“What do you mean, enough power?”

“The Heart uses the love we- the Crystal Ponies- feel to power itself.”

“Like, just love?”

“Yes, though love comes in many forms. The kind of love that powers the heart is love between families, friends, and partners.”

“Like you and Granny?”

“Just like me and Granny.”

 





“The shield…” Allyra breathed, an idea forming in her mind. She ignored Blaze’s confused look and frowned. One pony couldn’t generate the power for a shield as big as this one, and if there were no unicorns here, then something had to be powering it.

Allyra frowned. The barrier in the Empire was powered by the Crystal Heart. Granny said the kingdoms were protected, which meant there must be a heart in Solaris Spire.

Love, joy, hope, friendship, and courage.

She took her amulet out from under her shirt and opened it up, seeing the sun-shaped slot still glowing. Granny told her once that the sun represented joy… no wonder the shield here wasn’t properly working. If this was the Sun Kingdom, then it needed joy to protect, and there was little of it here.

“Mind telling me what you’re thinking?”

Allyra smiled. “The kingdom has a special crystal that protects it from the blizzard, right?” Without waiting for an answer, she said, “If it were destroyed, the entire kingdom would be run over by the snow. But, if it was taken away from its direct source of power, then it would provide a distraction. The blizzard wouldn’t come in, but the shield wouldn’t be as powerful so there’ll be a big rush to find it and get it back to where it can take in the magic it needs.” Blaze looked pretty confused, but she continued, “That’ll give me enough time to track down the gem I need. So, where is this shield-making thing?”

Blaze frowned, thinking. “Solaris Spire’s heart is in the centre of the city, and it’s well guarded. I always try to avoid it since nopony can go through there without being watched like a Frost Wolf.”

“Then we’ll grab it, hide it, and get into the castle while the guards are on a wild goose chase.”

“What’s a goose?”

Ignoring this, Allyra looked back at the castle. “Have you ever been in?”

Blaze shook his head, laughing. “Ha, no! I only tried once, and I nearly died thanks to Lord Terra and those crazy defences of his!”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Who is this Lord Terra?”

“He’s the dictator here. Never seen him- don’t think anypony has- but whoever he is, he made this weird yellow snowstorm that almost suffocated me.”

Sounds like sand… looks like we’re up against something with earth magic. Allyra frowned, and took the creature book out of her saddlebags, flipping through it.

Back at the section with the dragons, she now saw references for the four different types and turned the page to see fire dragons, then again for earth dragons. It said that they could indeed control certain aspects of the earth, and unlike other earth magic wielders, summon a sandstorm. From what Blaze described…

“This is gonna be rough,” she muttered, frowning. 

Blaze looked at the picture and poked it. “That thing looks like what they’re making statues of around the walls of the kingdom. What is it?”

“An earth dragon.” His eyes widened. “I dunno if Terra is one, but either way, I have a bad feeling this is what we’ll be up against.”







“This isn’t gonna work, Allura.”

“Ah-LEE-rah! Not Allura, for goodness’ sake!”

“Whatever! It’s a stupid plan!”

Allyra rolled her eyes at him. “Do you have any other ideas?”

Blaze scoffed at her, pulling his goggles over his eyes yet again. “Shut it. I’m only doing this because I’m sick of the blizzard, and I want you out of my mane. Remember, stay out of sight until… something happens.”

He ran out of the alley and behind a market stall; one of the few allowed near the Heart, according to him. She huffed and rolled her eyes again, but then frowned. Swift Blaze was definitely the pegasus from her dream, and wherever the dream had taken place it was far from here. So, that meant two things: one, he had to come with her when she left, and two, she’d meet the other three ponies as well.

But Blaze was… annoying. That was the best way she could describe him. He was frustrating and reminded her of Silver Glamour, who was somepony she was determined to forget while away. He’d threatened her, he was rude and acted like she was a child, and he never seemed to stop complaining.

But… he’d saved her, even though he could’ve run.

Allyra sighed and rubbed her temples. Whatever the reason she’d met him, she knew she couldn’t force him to join her. It would mean risking a lot for him; his life, his freedom, who knew. She’d feel terrible if she guilted him into it.

The wind blew against her, and she smiled slightly, then went back to frowning. Lurante, I don’t get it. Why did you show me Blaze and those other ponies in my dream? Are they going to help me only when I meet them, or do they have to come with me to help?

Regardless of his slightly vulgar behaviour- and the fact that he was a criminal- Allyra couldn’t help but like Blaze. He was smart, resourceful and knew how to have a laugh, which was more than she could say for some of the Crystal ponies back home. 

Suddenly, there was a crash of thunder as lightning struck the place where the Heart was. Allyra whipped her head around and gaped at the sight; fire now flickered across a weak wooden base, and the snow started hitting the ponies quite a lot harder than before, making them cry out in fear as they ran for cover.

How… she hadn’t even seen him or the heart!

Wait, why didn’t she see it?

“THE HEART! THE HEART’S GONE!”

That was her queue. Snapping herself back into gear, Allyra took off through the buildings and ran for a while, trying her hardest to avoid all the guards. She finally reached the alley that faced the castle gates and watched the guards carefully. More earth ponies ran up to them and gave orders she couldn’t hear, and then all those at the entrance ran towards the centre, many even emerging from the castle. 

Allyra smirked. She’d been right; it caused a massive panic. Unfortunately, a pang of guilt hit her, and she grimaced. Ponies could get hurt because of this… am I doing the right thing?

The gates had been left slightly open; the guards had forgotten to shut them, and it wasn’t like anypony would try to go in. Except her.

Taking a deep breath, Allyra pushed her shame down and stepped out into the cold, feeling the wind making a barrier around her once more. As soon as it was fully formed she started running, making it to the gate with little difficulty. Barely looking at the ruined structures she ran straight to the doorway of a small storage room Blaze told her about and slammed the heavy oak door behind her, breathing heavily.

“Took you long enough.”

Allyra jumped and looked around, reaching for her sword, but relaxed when she saw Blaze smirking at her, leaning against a wall. She rolled her eyes. “Sorry for making sure nopony was around.” He shrugged and she asked, “Where’d you hide it?”

“Got the Heart right here!” He announced, pulling something out from under his wing. Her eyes widened. It was the same shape as the twirling sun slot in her amulet and was a mixture of orange and yellow, about the size of her head. Allyra reached out and touched it, only to frown heavily. 

Something felt wrong.

Blaze raised an eyebrow at her. “Y’know, for something that has magic, it just feels like a rock.”

Allyra sighed. “It’s a crystal, Blaze.” But her frown didn’t go away. Why couldn’t she feel anything? 

An idea came to her, and she then said softly, “I think the Heart of Solaris Spire is meant to represent joy; one of the things that drive Windigos away. Joy powers it. But with how things are in the kingdom, I’m surprised it’s managed to last so long.”

Blaze frowned at her. “How do you know so much about this?”

Allyra hesitated then said slowly, “Back home, there’s a Heart that does something similar, except it’s powered by love. My grandmother was the Heart’s Keeper; if it doesn’t have any love to power it, the Heart will die.” She softly stroked it and murmured, “Maybe that’s why I can’t feel any magic… it’s barely got any joy to power it.”

“Meh, some things do make ponies happy,” Blaze answered, shrugging. “Money mostly, and in the guards’ cases putting ponies in jail.”

Scowling, Allyra growled slightly. No wonder the poor thing is so weak. All the happiness ponies feel here comes from stupid, sick causes! She looked back at him, only to raise an eyebrow as Blaze chuckled. “Ah, things aren’t all bad here, Allura! You get used to it after a while.”

“Allyra. Not Allura.” He laughed and Allyra sighed and shook her head, gently pushing the Heart back to him. “Just put it somewhere safe for now. It’s too bulky to carry around like this.”

He shrugged again, looked around briefly then trotted up to an old tapestry that had long since fallen. Blaze gently put the Heart down and dragged the cloth over it, nodding briefly. Regardless of the logic, Allyra found herself still feeling as if something wasn’t right. It was an ancient magical artefact; surely she was just paranoid?

“They’ll find it eventually, so it’s safe for now.” He frowned at the blizzard outside. “Though I’m not sure how long they’ll hold the fort with the storm like this.”

Allyra briefly patted his shoulder. “As long as it doesn’t leave the kingdom or break it’ll be fine. I promise.” 

Blaze snorted and shook her hoof off, saying, “If you say so, Lulu. Now let’s track down this gem of yours, eh?”

Groaning at the new nickname, Allyra took the Amulet out and opened it. The light was glowing brighter than ever, and it began pulling her back outside. “This way.”

The pair cautiously stepped outside, paused, and looked around until Blaze waved a hoof and they darted from the ruined building to piles of stones, for quite a while. Allyra now was able to get a better look around; they seemed to be in an ancient courtyard and were surrounded on all four sides by towers, buildings, stairs, and piles of rocks and- much to her horror- giant piles of sand mixed in with snow. Allyra gulped as they dove behind one. She did not want to face a dragon; Breezie tales from her grandparents told her more than she needed to know.

Allyra looked up at the building ahead and frowned. There was a small section that was caved in, and through this, she could see a pair of huge wooden double doors that were rotten and shut tight. Above and behind this small chamber was a much bigger and more ornate section of the castle; flanked by a pair of spiralling towers, there were crumbling statues of ponies standing on the roof with a large dome in the centre. The dome had multiple openings in it, which Allyra decided wouldn’t do much good against any storm.

Must be the throne room, she thought. 

Blaze muttered in her ear, “The thing attacked me when I went into that ruin. We’ll probably need to fight it off when we go in.”

“Not a good idea,” she replied, trying to ignore the anxious twitching of her wings. “It won’t be worth it if we get hurt before I find the gem. Our best bet is the element of surprise; Terra won’t be expecting us so we can’t just barge in like we own the place and hope he’ll surrender.” Allyra looked back up at the roof and smirked. “But… he’s not expecting to see a pegasus, so he won’t see where a pegasus might come from.”

Blaze raised an eyebrow and looked where she was and grimaced. “I dunno if that’s a good idea either. The wind could blow us off course and give away our position.” He shot her a glare. “And again, I’m not risking revealing myself for you.”

Allyra was about to retort but then paused as she felt the turmoil of emotions in his head. He was annoyed at her, he was excited to face Terra and wanted to do it his way, he was embarrassed that she’d taken charge of the mission, but most of all, he was scared. And it made sense now that she thought about it. Living amongst superstitious earth ponies for a whole year, not flying, barely even spreading his wings wouldn’t do a pegasus much good.

Deciding, she pulled her mask down again and smiled at him. “That’s okay, I’ll fly by myself.” He started in surprise as she continued, “You’re more than welcome to leave if you’re not comfortable staying. I won’t ask you to risk anything else for me.”

Allyra saw a brief flash of anger in his eyes. He must think I’m mocking him. Then, he frowned, now understanding. After a bit, he sighed and chuckled. 

“Yeah, no. Sorry, Lulu, but I said I’d help you, so you’re stuck with me for now.” She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help a sigh of relief. For the first time, he spread his wings and Allyra noticed right away that they were far larger than the average stallion, and the feathers at the tips were tinged with white. “Haven’t flown in a while but it shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

Thank goodness, I didn’t wanna do it alone. “Well, then, just stick close to me, ‘kay?” She grinned at him and pulled her scarf back up over her muzzle, while he gave her a puzzled look.

Spreading her wings, Allyra flapped into the air, looking down and grinning as the wind formed another shield around her. Blaze’s jaw dropped, but he shook it off and shakily flew up, yelping as the wind suddenly extended its protection.

“What the heck?! What’s happening? Are you using magic?!” He exclaimed fearfully, making Allyra laugh.

“Well, it’s not my magic!” She chirped, then flapped down and nudged him playfully. “Come on, we don’t wanna be shot down, do we?”

Without waiting for an answer, Allyra started flying higher, sensing Blaze following unsteadily.

It has been a while since he’s flown, she thought, frowning as she studied his uneven movements. Then she spotted the problem and called out to him, “Move your wings in sync! Forget what walking feels like and flap them at the same time! Only use your hooves to guide you!”

He raised an eyebrow at her but did as she said, and Allyra grinned at the sudden difference it made. He grinned with her, and the pair flew higher until they were level with the giant dome upon the building. Upon closer inspection, she frowned, seeing that it was much, much bigger than she anticipated. The openings in it were twice her height and five times her width and getting closer, she could also see how much of the throne room was exposed. There was a good chance the roof could be seen as well.

Then again, this was likely designed when flying creatures weren’t taboo, so the alicorns who built it were smart about its defences. 

The thought of the alicorn from her dream, Celestia, came to her mind unbidden and she felt a wave of sadness wash over her. The poor filly… what if she’d died in this very room? 

A shiver ran down Allyra’s spine and she forced herself to focus. No time for lamenting the past, especially a past she’d never been part of.

She and Blaze landed on the roof and Allyra motioned for him to duck down and began to crawl, peering over the window’s edge. Her guess had been right; the throne was visible from her position, so she had to be visible too.

Blaze looked at her. “I don’t see anypony. Do you?”

Allyra shook her head as she carefully swept her gaze over every obvious part of the room, trying to ignore the memories. “What are the chances that Lord Terra’s not an actual pony? They might have made him up.”

“Then what attacked me?”

“I dunno…” Allyra glared at the throne. “Either way, we have to be super careful.”

Blaze nodded. “Okay, what’s the plan?” He shot her a deadpan look as she quickly looked away. “You don’t have a plan, do you?”

“Uh… don’t die?” She smiled sheepishly and he gave her a pained look.

“Wow.”

“Hey, I’m trying my best!”

She snickered as he rolled his eyes to the heavens, then took the Amulet out.

All right, Antumbra, where’s the gem at?

It immediately glowed bright yellow, making both of them jump in surprise. Allyra then yelped as it tugged at her neck. She would’ve fallen over the edge if Blaze hadn’t grabbed her and pulled her back- only for the Amulet to pull so hard the chain snapped right off her neck, sending them both tumbling into the castle with cries.

Allyra extended her wings just in time and was able to slow her fall, landing with a small thud, though Blaze wasn’t nearly as lucky and faceplanted onto the stone, groaning.

“Blaze!” She exclaimed, running up to him and nudging him. “Are you okay?”

“I think I broke my everything…” he moaned, lifting his head slightly. Allyra couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation.

“Hurry and get up or we’ll be sitting ducks.”

“First a goose, now a duck? What the heck are these things?” He asked, taking her hoof to help stand up.

Allyra shook her head. “Later, mate. C’mon, we don’t wanna get caught.” She frowned and looked around. “Do you see the Amulet anywhere?”

After a second of searching, Blaze tapped her shoulder and pointed at the empty throne. She looked around and her eyes widened.

The Amulet was floating in front of the elaborate jewel-encrusted golden seat, twirling around in almost a joyful fashion, and flashing between a white glow and a yellow one. And, before it, in between all the dusty gems, a tiny, golden sun-shaped crystal was pulsing with white lights. Yet though it tried, the Amulet couldn’t get any closer to it, and the jewel seemed to be tugging against its confines. 

“What’s going on?” Blaze whispered, and Allyra caught sight of anxiety in his eyes. She smiled at him before responding.

“The Amulet found the jewel, but I don’t think it can get it on its own.”

With this, she spread her wings once more and flew up to it, and the Amulet returned to her when she was within a meter of it. As the chain reformed itself around her neck, Allyra looked back to the jewel. Power simply poured from each carefully cut edge, and as she reached out a hoof to take it, she felt its heat, like a cloudless midsummer’s day. 

However, just as she was about to touch it, a shiver ran down her spine and everything in her gut told her one thing: danger.

“ALLYRA, BEHIND YOU!”

Allyra whipped her head around and threw herself to the side just as a huge rock blasted into the throne where she’d been hovering. Dust and pebbles scattered everywhere, and her jaw dropped in horror.

“GET BACK, GET BACK!”

Barely thinking, Allyra followed Blaze’s orders and zipped away from her spot, expertly weaving between rocks that were thrown at her. 

“What the heck?!” she whispered, trying to find the source of the projectiles. But aside from Blaze, who’d flapped into the air with a frightened look, there was nopony in sight. That’s when she felt the ground trembling beneath her hooves and leapt into the air as the ground exploded beneath her, then went back into place as if nothing happened. 

“Blaze, what’s happening?!” She shouted, dodging yet another boulder. Then, she spotted where they were coming from- they were being ripped out of the walls with a brief orange glow and thrown around.

Blaze shouted, shoving her out of the way again, “It’s what happened last time! I can’t see anypony!”

Growling, Allyra took out her sword and ignored Blaze’s cry as another boulder was thrown at her. This time, she swung her weapon in a wide arc, neatly slicing the rock in half and sending it to the ground with a crash. She threw off her hood and goggles so she could see better and repeated the motions with every projectile, carefully listening to Blaze’s shouts and the whoosh of rocks as they gained on her.

Finally, it ended, and Allyra landed on the ground, panting heavily. Blaze landed beside her, close to panicking.

“That was so stupid!” He exclaimed, whacking her over the head and she gave an indignant cry. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

“Nope, just trying to prove that we’re not gonna go down that easily,” she replied cooly, then held up a wing for silence. “It’s not over yet, listen for anything.”

Planting all four hooves firmly on the ground, Allyra shut her eyes and perked her ears up. At first, she heard nothing, then a soft growl caught her attention, and she whipped her head to the left, spotting a pair of shocked, brilliant green eyes with cat-like pupils gazing right back at her. Allyra glared at it and raised her sword. 

“Show yourself, or I’ll come for you where you stand!” She shouted, snarling right back at it.

The eyes disappeared and Allyra made to run after it before she was suddenly blasted back with a yell as sand hit her. She replanted herself to the ground and folded her wings, remembering one of her father’s lessons.

“If you’re being pushed back by a blizzard, keep your wings tight against your body. That’ll prevent them from getting damaged, and if you try to spread them, they’ll just catch the wind and you’ll be blown away.”

“HOLD YOUR GROUND, BLAZE!” She shouted, pulling her goggles back over her eyes with some struggle. She thought Blaze responded, but the sandstorm was whirling around them like a tornado, and both barely heard anything over the wind.

Then a strange voice appeared in her head, a male’s. It was deep and raspy and was angry- no, furious.

You DARE invade my territory and steal MY treasure?! You will pay, Sky Devil!

Sky Devil? She thought, raising an eyebrow. That’s a new one. I knew pegasi were hated, but I didn’t think we were called that.

Oh, you know NOTHING, filly!

Allyra yelped as the voice spoke. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t for them to respond. She shuddered, grimacing. What the heck was in her head now?!

Neither of you is backing down… fine. We shall do this the hard way.

The sandstorm suddenly came to a halt and a final gust of wind blew Allyra off her hooves and into Blaze, making them both fall. She groaned and lifted her head, only to gasp sharply and instinctively back away. Blaze looked up and yelped, backing away and flaring a wing in front of her.

A deep laugh echoed around the room, and Allyra couldn’t help but shrink down as something stomped into the room.

It was an earth dragon.

The dragon was more than twice the size of the yak from her dream, with teeth like daggers and its sharp green eyes pierced through her soul. Its scales were a deep oak-tree brown with curved black claws at all four feet- paws- whatever, and its tail was as long as her wingspan with a huge boulder-shaped ball at the tip, covered with pale green spikes. Along the top of its head, spine, and back of its legs, spines of the same light green shivered as it growled. It had no wings, but a pair of ram-like horns on either side of its eyes, and another curved horn at the tip of its nose. Across his chest and shoulders, he wore a huge, battered silver breastplate that was beginning to rust.

Then it spoke. 

“WHO DARES ENTER THE TERRITORY OF THE ALMIGHTY LORD TERRANIS?!” It roared, making the ponies flinch and cover their ears.

Allyra’s eyes then widened in realisation as she gazed at the furious being before her.

The dragon was Lord Terra.