Ice Hearts

by GrassAndClouds2

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Lyra, Carrot Top, Trixie, Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Cheerilee
Length: 75287

Ditzy and the other Elements must contend with a windigo who wants to find his child, and a noble of the Court who wants the child for herself

When a windigo appears looking for a child he conceived with a regular pony, the Elements are dispatched to supervise the meeting. But it turns out that the windigo's isn't the coldest heart up in the northern steppes, and the child's adoptive family has some secrets of their own...

Lunaverse story.

Published 2013-09-02 06:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-07 23:30:28 UTC

Prologue: the Vicereine

It had once been said -- by whom the Vicereine could not remember -- that all beauty was a matter of perspective. Suppose one had, for example, two sculptures, one a hundred times larger than the other. In order to enjoy the smaller, to examine it fully and note all its artistic elegance, one must move in closely to examine it -- but then one could never enjoy the larger from that position; one would likely be unable to even see the entire thing. Even if one could, how could it be beautiful, with every detail magnified beyond all recognition? But move further back to enjoy the larger one, and it would be a challenge to even see the smaller, much less note its artistry. No, a sculpture -- or a painting -- or any other work of art could only be enjoyed from just the right perspective.

The same argument had been applied to governance as well. How could any pony understand a city, a province, and a nation all at once? Focus on the city, and one would be too close to understand the national interest. Serve the nation, and one would be too far away to know what is occuring in the city. And so one should pick a realm and stick to it; one could, perhaps, try to rule a city, but then one should forsake national interests, or to rule a nation, but surrender control and possession of the city to another official. Only then could good government be maintained.

It was -- in the Vicereine's opinion -- complete and utter nonsense.

Puissance Noctilucent Optiebeurs-Golo! Vicereine of Equestria, she was the ruler of the provinces Califurlong and Palomino, as well as numerous other sub-provinces located within their borders. She wielded the highest political power imaginable and bowed only to Princess Luna Equestris herself. In terms of ministries, she held key positions on six of the most important, and vast -- albeit unofficial -- influence on many of the rest. Combine that with her vast wealth and her other resources, and her power grew to even more rarified heights. But despite all that, the reason she was walking down the corridor with a purposeful step and a gleam in her eye had nothing to do with the most weighty of national concerns. This was not a matter of national security, or national welfare, or provincial security or welfare, or even a city's safety or welfare.

Rather, she was concerned with a single, tiny, five-acre park.

Puissance walked through the silver-paneled doors of the Ministry of Finance and, as always, allowed herself a slight smile. This Ministry had two departments, both of absolute vital importance to the nation. The Equestrian Revenue Service gathered the government's income, and the Equestrian Budget Office paid the government's bills. Virtually every bit spent by Luna, the Night Court, or any other government entity passed through the Ministry of Finance. And that ministry was hers.

Puissance liked it when things were hers.

She walked through the rows of perfectly silent clerks, noting with approval that none of them looked up or stopped their work for even a moment, even though they all had to know who the old, purple-coated, silver-maned pegasus that walked amongst them was. She had taken great care to impress on all of them the awesomeness of their responsibility as the accountants and bookkeepers of the nation. If they were lazy or sloppy and made a mistake in collecting a tax or overpaying a bill, Puissance had instructed them, they were losing the nation money. In fact, as Puissance ran two provinces and owned various properties all over the nation, they were probably losing her money. Had they perhaps heard of what had happened to other ponies who lost her money? She could give them references and addresses, if they needed it -- although it might take a while to contact them, since their new homes in the Griffin Kingdoms, and the Mild West, and Neighpon took a while to contact by post.

Other nobles sometimes complained that their clerks were sloppy, that they chatted during work or were a few minutes late from lunch or that they occasionally made mistakes. Puissance listened to their complaints and smiled to herself. That was never a problem in her Ministries... but of course, they were hers.

The Vicereine stopped by one of the mid-level employees -- a middle-aged former actuary, with a dull orange coat and mud-colored mane. He was in charge of expenditures in Konetikut, among other things. "I want the file on Sunshine Park in eastern Brayzil," she ordered.

The clerk immediately bent under his desk and retrieved a thick file, which he gently placed on the corner nearest Puissance. In the next moment, he had resumed his work.

Puissance nodded slightly and took the file. Then she went to the only vacant desk in the room, a silver-plated, amethyst-studded thing that looked more like a work of art than a place of work. But she sat at the desk as if it were any other, opened the file, checked to make sure all the relevant forms were there, and got to work.

She knew a few of the other nobles thought it odd that she sometimes personally contributed to the Ministry's efforts, as if she was just a commoner clerk. Her response to such comments was that she liked to audit her clerks from time to time, to verify if they were actually collecting every bit the nation was entitled to, and eliminating any and all forms of waste from government projects. And this was true. But it wasn't the real reason she was there at that moment.

The real reason was that this park was going to be hers. The park was government funded in order to provide a greenspace to a quiet little corner of Equestria that had lost a lot of the surrounding greenery in a bad wildfire, but a private company was going to actually build, and then maintain and operate, the park itself. Puissance owned the company that owned the company that, several steps down the line, was going to build and run the place. It would be her park. And that meant she was certainly going to make sure that it was the best park it could possibly be.

"Total budget," she said to herself, and made a note of the figure. "Line item budget... paths... gravel expenditures, three bits two jangles per unit..."

Aha. She had done her homework before, and she knew of a new, but reliable, vendor in the area that would sell gravel at two bits nine jangles per unit when buying in quantity. She drew a line through the old figure, wrote in the new, and made a note to the side of how much money would be saved over the whole park.

"Fences... signposts... signs... good. Grass... seed..."

The grass seed being purchased was, in Puissance's opinion, an inferior type. It might look cheaper at first glance to a clueless bureaucrat, but it would wilt and die very quickly with a bunch of bratty foals running around and rolling in the stuff. When you factored in maintenance costs and the expenses incurred in replanting the grass so much more frequently, it made more sense to use a hardier variety. Plus, the second variety was a better shade of green in Puissance's opinion.

"Flowers... lilies, daisies, violets, roses, impatients..."

Roses were more expensive than they warranted, and the color schemes of impatients clashed with the others. By buying fewer types of flowers, but in bulk, money could be saved. Puissance recalculated the figures and noted how much money would be saved by sticking to lillies, daisies, and violets.

"Now on to the water feature..."

And so it went. Puissance, who had no committee meetings or other matters that night, went through each and every item on the park budget. By the time she was done, she had saved about five percent of the budget. The Vicereine nodded in approval; she had never met a budget that didn't have at least 3% waste in it, and anything above ten percent usually warranted firing the offending clerk. Five percent was very good, and perhaps merited a word of praise for the clerk with the mud-colored mane. But that could come later. It was time for the fun part.

"Let's see," said Puissance to herself, eyes bright and sparkling, "What that five percent can buy my park."

There was a small plot of land just slightly south of the park's location. Puissance looked through the maps and surveys of the area in the file and noted that they could be purchased cheaply and added on to the -- to her -- park. Then with the rest of the saved money, maybe, could be used to build a small -- but very tasteful -- art area, with three sculptures set up around a small open space. The image formed in her head; her park would have a few sculptures in that little area, and it would look wonderful. Yes, she could use that one sculptor from Hoofington whose work she'd been planning to obtain if only she could find a good place to show it off; this would do very nicely. She'd add the annex and the sculptures to the park, and incidentally acquire a few more works of art that she wanted and display them to the general public... and it wouldn't cost the Equestrian taxpayers a jangle more than they'd already budgeted. Not even Luna could complain about that.

She rewrote the budget incorporating all of her improvements, then left, tossing the file back on the mud-maned clerk's desk as she went. It hadn't taken her as long as she thought, and she smiled as she realized that she had a few hours with no work in them. She could go back through one of her museums in the city, or maybe that little vault she'd had built under her Canterlot estate. She hadn't done that in a while, and it might be nice to look at her famous Fabregallop egg collection again. After ten years she had finally obtained the complete set, and they looked absolutely perfect in the display room she'd had set up. A replica of the treasurey that Princess Platinum had built for her most prized possessions in the ancient Unicorn Kingdom, she could think of no finer place to store her jeweled eggs.

"Vicereine?"

Puissance turned to see a grim-looking Night Guard. "Can I help you?"

"Vicereine Puissance. Princess Luna desires your presence at an emergency meeting in the Guard Captain's meeting room." The Guard bowed his head. "Please allow me to escort you."

Puissance was surprised for a moment, though of course she agreed and began to follow the Guard. But this was still a very unusual event. It had happened before, twice in her long memory, both presaging imminent disasters that could have badly hurt the nation and its provinces. Her provinces.

Puissance began working out how to clear her schedule for the next few days. If this was really a disaster, she might need the spare time to help resolve it. Otherwise, it could hurt her, and her possessions.

That would not be allowed.

***

The meeting room was very full.

Puissance took one of the three chairs just to the side of the head of the table. She nodded at Viceroy Night Light, who was reading a file with a smile on his face. "Good night, Night Light."

"Good night, Puissance." Night Light chuckled as he turned over a page. "How are you?"

"Oh, as well as can be expected for a mare of my age." She smiled. "And yourself?"

"Wonderful. Twilight's been writing me from Ponyville." He nodded at the letter. "And she's been doing very well there. Apparently a pony named Pinkie Pie threw her a big welcoming party, and so Twilight has been trying to host one to repay her the favor." He blinked. "I didn't know they made so many books about hosting parties..."

Vicereine Wallflower, to Night Light's left, seemed about ready to laugh at that, but she checked herself and only smiled politely. Puissance nodded her head and was about to say something else, when another pony interjected:

"I'm glad your daughter is doing well."

The viceroys turned to see Archduke Bobbing Fisher, a brown-ish coated unicorn who ran the province of Rushia. "Also, of course, that she was safely found and returned to society--"

"We know about your opinions on families," said Duchess Fragrant Posey, sitting as far away from Fisher as she could without leaving the table.

"Yes," said Night Light. "We do."

Puissance fought hard and managed to supress her smile. While the Grand Galloping Gala had been an utter disaster -- a blackmailer had been arrested and had spilled all of her secrets, including a few minor trivialities Puissance had committed that Luna still hadn't forgiven her for -- there had been some interesting reprecussions. Apparently, Posey had some younger relative who was a shut-in living around Ponyville, and Fisher -- while under the influence of a poison that had forced him to speak whatever was on his mind -- had loudly wondered how Posey couldn't even make this Fluttering Posey develop into 'somepony with actual worth', but purport to guide the development of a province. That had somewhat spoiled relations between them, as well as between Fisher and Night Light, who of course had his own family problems. Fisher had apparently attempted to apologize at a large public gathering, only for Posey to pointedly wonder how Fisher, who had not seen his son for years due to family tradition and who hated his wife with almost as much passion as she hated him, could possibly run the province of Rushia, according to his own standards. It had been something of a mess for him.

And ponies wondered why Puissance took a... firmer hoof with her family.

There were two other ponies sitting by Fisher. One wore the uniform of a Guard and the insignia of a Commander, while the other looked very awkward in formal clothes and looked like he'd rather be home. The latter fidgeted, while the former leaned back and said something in Rushian to Fisher. Otherwise, everypony was keeping well away from him.

There were a few more nobles after Fisher, including Posey, and then a few castle officials. Wandza Waving, the archivist of the castle's magic library, Ghostly, archivist of the mythology section, and Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guards, were among them. And that brought things all the way back to the only remaining open seat, the one at the very head of the table. Princess Luna's seat.

And then the alicorn walked in, face tight and worried, and Puissance felt her stomach sink a little. I have a bad feeling about this.

"There's been an incursion on our northern border, "said Luna, without preamble.

"By Corona?" asked Night Light.

"No. By something we aren't familiar with." Luna nodded at the fidgety colt sitting next to Fisher. "Mr. Widgeteer, could you please repeat your story?"

Widgeteer gulped. "Um... okay. My special talent's mechanized flight, right?" He stood so everypony could see the steel wings emblazoned on his flank. "I wanted to test a new thing I was inventing, but I wasn't sure how safe it was. See, it's like a saddlebag or packroll that contains this kind of magical energy ponies could use to propel themselves places..."

Puissance groaned to herself. If this went on, it would be like when her great-grandcolt Scepter had cornered her and begun recounting the plots of those silly comic books his father let him read instead of the textbooks he should be reading. "What was the incursion like?"

"Oh, right. So I was out in the steppes when I noticed it getting windy and cold -- I mean, moreso than it already was. I saw this... thing... appear in front of me. It looked kind of like a pony, but big, and made of snow. And its teeth were really sharp. And I was just, like, frozen stiff, and it came right up to me, and..." Widgeteer shuddered. "It was really scary."

'Really scary' didn't merit an emergency meeting, though. Puissance frowned.

"And then it... spoke? I think it spoke. I heard words in my head... well, not words, but concepts." Widgeteer paused for a moment. "I had this vision, and it was in my head... and then there was another one of the same creature, but little, standing by him kind of like a kid. And I felt that it really, really wanted that kid. Like it was his child he'd lost or something, you know?"

Puissance felt herself stiffen, though the story was engrossing enough that she doubted anypony else noticed. She knew what was gong on.

"And I asked, 'Are you looking for him?' And he nodded. I asked, "Is he yours?" And he nodded again. And then I saw us -- well, ponies -- bringing him the kid. And..." Widgeteer took a deep breath. "I made like I was going to run away, but then I saw myself running, and nopony coming, and this... thing... going into Equestria to look for the kid. And that seemed... uh, bad, so as soon as I could, I ran off and I telegraphed the local garrison."

The Commander leaned forwards. "We got the message right away," he growled in a thick southern accent. "Sent a note to the Guard, an' got a Shadowbolt out within the day. She went with an escort to talk to the thing, which hadn't moved. Communication's tough, since it's all visions an' head-stuff, but near as we can tell, it's like Widgeteer says. That thing thinks it's got a kid in Equestria, an' if we don't pony it up, it's gonna to start pokin' around."

"What is it?" asked Posey. "Could it just be a regular pony, maybe with a talent towards winter spells?"

"Doubt it. Shadowbolt brought some gizmos the eggheads in Canterlot dreamed up. Said it ain't no pony. Dunno what it is, but the 'Bolt didn't know either."

Ghostly coughed. "If you'll permit me... based on the descriptions by Widgeteer and the Shadowbolt operative, this creature seems most familiar to the 'windigo' of ancient legend. A pony-shaped entity, which feeds on hate and spite, and brings winter wherever it goes."

"But those don't exist!" protested a Marquis. "Those are just stories we tell bad foals. Get along or windigos will eat you."

"They are real," said Luna. "My sister and I have dealt with them."

Puissance said nothing. She already knew that windigos were real. In fact, she knew that this specific windigo was real as well.

Among all of Puissance's possessions was a quiet little village set in a mountain valley of Califurlong and known only as the Vault. Within that valley some very special ponies lived. Some were hybrids, ponies with the magic of more than one tribe. There were null ponies, which were immune to all magic. There was a pegasus with four wings, and a unicorn with a horn that was bent and curved like a spiral, and a descendant of the legendary King Sombra, and other such entities. These were some of the rarest ponies in the world... and they were hers too. They loved her, because she provided for their every need, and all she asked in return was that they be hers -- that they live in her valley and abide by her rules. Could even the finest painting or palace compare to the rarity and splendor of such creatures?

Her most recent addition, though, had been a pony that was rarer than all the rest in her collection. This was a half-pony, half-windigo hybrid foal, a bouncing and bubbly pony named Ice Heart whose body was perpetually half frozen and who liked nothing more than making snow ponies and chasing his friends around to play tag. To Puissance's knowledge, he was the only such hybrid in history. In that sense, he was perhaps her very rarest and most valuable possession.

And now his father wanted him back.

"... we of course don't know if such a child really exists," Luna was saying. "But it seems clear that the windigo believes it does. How long do we have, Commander Storm?"

"The Shadowbolt said he persuaded the beast to wait fer two weeks," said Storm.

Luna nodded. "Alright. I'd like to hear your thoughts on what to do."

"It seems clear to me," said Puissance. Maybe I can head this off. "Just send a military unit up to drive it away. We can't have a monster threatening our nation, child or no child."

Fisher frowned. "I'm normally the first to promote the power of our military, but in this case, it isn't that simple. Commander Thundering Storm prepared a briefing on the matter."

Storm nodded. "The windigo's camped out at our very northern border. Only town anywhere nearby is Noam, an old trading post that used ta be used by ponies heading into the west Griffin Kingdoms or up to the hippogriff lands -- but that town's been declinin' ever since they put up the through railways from Moscolt an' Stalliongrad an' the other big cities. Ain't enough housing or supplies in Noam to use it as a base."

"How many soldiers do you need?" asked Posey.

Storm frowned. "Look, we don't know if weapons'll hurt this thing at all. Now, if Ah field a few thousand troops, Ah can detach some to hold a line of retreat. If we can't crack it an' the windigo sends a snowstorm at us or somethin', we can still get out. But Noam's only got two hotels left, an' both are old an' fancy, not efficient-like... no more'n room for a hundred ponies, max. Maybe two or three hundred if we start quarterin' in the local residents' homes. But with two hundred, if the attack fails, there ain't enough ponies to help any injured retreat through a snowstorm. So Ah'd have to build a base out in the steppes to field enough troops, an' that's gonna take time Ah'm not sure we have."

Luna nodded. "I'm more worried about the first point. I can't support using our troops unless we know that they can actually hurt the windigo, but windigo thrive on hate and spite. It's possible a group of angry soldiers would just make it stronger."

"What about a magic spell?" asked Duchess Posey. "It's been a while since I've attended a Hearth's Warming Pageant, but wasn't there some spell that could drive them off?"

Wandza Waving frowned. "I could take you to the archives right now and show you a thousand spells purporting to do that. Windigo haven't shown up since... what, the nation's founding? No way to know which ones work and which ones don't, and I don't think it'll end well if we send some mages up and their first spell fails. Plus, we're only guessing this thing's a windigo anyway. There's other things it could be."

"Um..." It was Widgeteer, who didn't seem to have noticed, Puissance thought, that he had nothing more to contribute. "Windigo are winter spirits, right? Couldn't we just... make it summer? I mean, we can control the weather, so--"

Posey was already shaking her head. "The environmental effects of trying to warm up the land enough to drive out a windigo could be catastrophic. You're all familiar with the unusually cold winter we just had -- and that was to counteract a mere few hours of Corona moving the sun nearer the earth. Using weather to heat the steppes up more, and over a concentrated area like that... we couldn't compensate. In fact, we could wreck the Rushian ecosystem for years."

Puissance still said nothing. She had a feeling where this was going, and needed to work out her strategy.

"The Elements," suggested Posey. "Let them drive the windigo away."

"No," said Fisher immediately.

"Why? Because you don't like them?" challenged Posey. "They've beaten Corona twice, the ram Grogar--"

"Both entities the Elements fought before!" said Fisher. "As I understand it, Princess Luna used the Elements against her sister. Both princesses used them against Grogar. They have never been used against the windigos; we have no way of knowing if they will work. And if they fail and the windigo kills even one of them, I assure you all, we will have much bigger problems."

"It is my belief," said Luna, "Based on my knowledge of the Elements, that they will indeed work on a hostile windigo."

"But we don't know for sure. As Minister of War, I can't condone the risking of such vital national resources."

"Wait," said Night Light.

Everypony turned to him, and Puissance frowned. He didn't look like the stern, unwavering warrior that he so often appeared in Court events. He looked almost tender.

"The windigo has done nothing hostile thus far," he said. "It did not attack either Widgeteer or the Shadowbolt, and it's ultimatum wasn't that it would attack us, but just that it would start looking for his child. I think we are making a mistake if we treat it as hostile right away."

"But we can't have it just standing there," said Fisher. "And I doubt it will leave if we ask nicely."

"And he's violating border and immigration laws," hazarded a young viscount. "I mean, that's... kind of hostile, right?"

"...maybe this is just because of my own recent experiences, but I think we ought to consider locating the windigo's child, if it exists, and allowing them to meet." Night Light shut his eyes for a moment. "For all we know, he's just worried that his child is lost and wandering around Equestria without its parents. For all we know, he's right. If a pony lost a child, we'd all support reuniting the too. Is this really different?"

"We can't trust a windigo!" said Fisher. "We don't even know the child exists, is alive, or is within our borders!"

"Be that as it may, we should at least look -- either to present the child, or, if necessary, to protect it from the windigo," said Night Light. His voice sounded unusually calm and sincere to Puissance.

And then the other nobles began to all talk at once.

"If we present it we could not guarantee it's safety--"

"Well, then get the Elements involved --"

"Might not even exist--"

"Maybe we could fake it--"

"What if it's working with Corona?"

"What if we could get the windigo to ally with us against her?"

"What if there's more windigos? Diplomatic relations..."

"Maybe it's a hoax?"

Puissance said nothing and thought to herself. If she knew Luna, the soft-hearted monarch would likely take at least some of Night Light's suggestions onboard. If the windigo was safe, she'd want to at least have the child and the adult meet; if not, she'd want to ensure the child's safety. At the moment, Luna likely only knew that Puissance had an 'artist's colony' in the mountains; she did not know of Ice Heart or its other inhabitants. That gave her some latitude -- for the moment. But she'd have to choose soon. Surrender the foal? Hide Ice Heart? What were her options?

Option 1, her first thought, was to say and do nothing. Luna probably had no reason to suspect that Puissance had Ice Heart, and personally, Puissance was quite confident that the Elements could and would be used to send the windigo back to wherever it came from. But there was a chance, albeit a small one, that the windigo could do some damage before it left. And if that happened... well, Puissance might be able to keep Ice Heart secret for the time being, but what if there was a slip-up in five or ten years? Luna would remember, and she would want answers.

Besides, for all Puissance knew, the existance of Ice Heart and the others had been known to the blackmailer, or maybe the Shadowbolts. Luna might in fact know of Ice Heart. Keeping the secret now, with the clear and present danger before them, would... well, it would likely end Puissance's career. And she would not allow that to happen. Her career would not be lost over something like this.

Option 2 was just to present Ice Heart to Luna and wash her hooves of it. But that was a bad option too. What if the windigo wanted to keep Ice Heart? Luna wouldn't like that at first, but maybe she'd be swayed by a claim of actual parenthood. Even if that didn't happen, Puissance didn't want Ice Heart to be out of her control for any significant length of time. What if Ice Heart said something to Luna that made Luna want to investigate the valley? Or what if Luna said something to make Ice Heart want to leave the valley? Or what if Ice Heart just saw something that made him yearn for the outside world? That couldn't be allowed either. She had worked too hard to convince the Vault ponies that their little valley was the best place for them and that they needed nothing else. So, no, no giving up her foal to Luna just like that. Ice Heart was hers and would stay that way.

But... Puissance was, technically, Ice Heart's adoptive mother. What if she brought Ice Heart up north herself, going with Luna and whatever other forces she took? Luna couldn't deny her that; of course a mother would want to be with their foal on such an important mission. And that would give Puissance control over what was going on. She could spin it to Ice Heart as she, Puissance, giving him just what he wanted -- a chance to meet his real father -- which would further cement his loyalty and love to Puissance, the mare who could fulfil all his desires. At the same time, Puissance could make sure that Ice Heart didn't say anything stupid to Luna or anypony else who was brought along.

Besides, windigos were allergic to friendship. If Puissance were involved, she could bring some of Ice Heart's Vault friends -- ostensibly to help keep him at ease during the potentially-frightening encounter, but in reality so that the windigo would be less likely to be able to even approach Ice Heart safely. If Ice Heart himself wound up driving away the windigo, that would solve the problem, and solidify Puissance's control over Ice Heart.

Your father literally can't bear to be near you? I'm so sorry. But Puissance will always be there for you, and she'll give you anything your heart could ever desire, and all she wants is your love...

Yes. That would work. Puissance would get to keep her pony-windigo hybrid, and she'd do it without risking her entire political career. It was the best plan.

Luna called for a recess so the ponies could continue to discuss things. Puissance immediately approached her. "Princess," murmured Puissance. "I would like to invoke my Right of Approach to speak with you on this matter... privately."

Puissance wielded vast power in the nation. But she did not believe this should preclude her from work at smaller scales as well. She was Vicereine Puissance Noctilurne Optiebeurs-Golo. And she was going to manage each and every one of her possessions, from her provinces to a little foal in one of her many, many, many properties.

Because they were hers. And that was what mattered.

Author's Note

Puissance would be a tough pony to clerk for, despite her getting results. She's totally the kind to just stand over some junior employee, watching them and micromanaging them. And Luna help you if you add something wrong and short the government, or her provincial accounts, a few bits.

(There is a deleted scene here about her running the clerks as a kind of competition; the ponies who can legally cut down on fraud and waste the most stick around; those who fall behind get sacked and replaced. Kind of like the manga offices in Bakuman. But it didn't really fit).

Widgeteer is fun. He'll be showing up more in Siege of Stalliongrad, but I wanted to introduce my favorite Rushian inventor/flyboy now. Honestly, at that meeting, I think someone should have asked if his jetpack actually worked. Sure, there's a windigo, but... jetpack. It's more important. Besides, they can probably get rid of the windigo by giving it a jetpack. Who doesn't want a jetpack?

Storm sounds like the kind of guy who would be making comments about Precious Bodily Fluids, but I see him as more of a sensible Patton type. He won't be much in this story, but I thought it'd be good to introduce him here as well.

A few people commented that Fisher is probably not great husband material, and now it's confirmed. Svelte, his wife, will likely also be showing up in SoS. There's a lot of things about him she doesn't like anymore. You know, like the whole 'burned down a factory for the greater good' and 'willing to hurt innocents for ostensibly important political goals' things. She has these crazy ideas that nobles should be actually trying to help ponies and treat them justly and fairly. I know, weird, right?

Also, apparently Fisher's not a fan of Fluttershy. Shame on him!

Noam

"... Ditzy? Are you awake?"

The mailmare's eyes fluttered open to reveal a blue-coated unicorn wearing a big purple hat. Ditzy blinked a few more times as the rest of the train car swam into focus. "I am now. How long was I out?"

"A few hours." Trixie giggled. "I guess we shouldn't have stayed up so late with the marshmallows and hot chocolate, huh?"

"No, it was fine. It's nice to be able to stay up late now and then." Ditzy rolled over and got to her hooves, then looked around the well-appointed train car. "Especially in an environment like this. We should travel as knights more often!"

Trixie grinsned as she followed Ditzy's gaze, which moved past the well-stocked pantry and liquor cabinet, the couches and beds, and the little library, before settling on the card table at the other end of the car. "When the others get back I'll show you all some card tricks that I've been prepping for Hearth's Warming Eve. You won't believe your eyes!"

"I don't doubt it." Ditzy looked around the car. "Actually, where are the others?"

"I think they went to find the conductor to see how far out we are. We--"

The train car door opened and Cheerilee and Lyra entered. "We'll be in Moscolt really soon," said Cheerilee. "I hope you've been studying those Rushian phrasebooks I got you, because it's time to put them to use!"

Trixie grinned winningly.

Cheerilee met her gaze with a calm, pleasant smile.

Trixie's grin slipped. Cheerilee kept smiling.

"Let's just say I'm not really a study kind of pony..." said Trixie at last.

Cheerilee chuckled. "I can translate, but it shouldn't be a big problem. Most Rushians speak Equestrian too. I--"

The traincar door burst open and Carrot Top ran in. "Girls!" she said, a huge grin on her face. "Girls, guess what's in the last car on the train? Come on, guess!"

"Uh... a year's supply of Weekly Carrot magazines?" guessed Trixie.

"Plants! Apparently they're doing botanical research in Stalliongrad, trying to grow hardier and more nutritious vegetables and stuff, and they've got all kinds of magical herbs and flowers that they're going to be researching!" Carrot Top laughed. "And guess what? The pony in charge of the plant shipment is the cousin of one of the guards we rescued when the salamanders attacked Canterlot last spring. She's so grateful she said I could look through the plants!" She was almost bouncing from hoof to hoof. "They've got poison joke, and heart's desire, and longneck daffodils..."

"What's the big deal about tall weeds?" asked Trixie.

"No, they're daffodils that magically lengthen your neck if you eat them."

Trixie blanched, and Ditzy, Lyra, and Cheerilee giggled. "Please don't try them," said the showmare at last.

"Don't worry. I... hey, where's Raindrops?" Carrot Top looked around. "There were a few bugs there too, and I figured maybe Raindrops could have a fun story to tell Snails. I caught him looking through my carrots the other day hunting for carrot worms. Had to explain there wasn't any such thing..."

"Raindrops said she was going to find some fun," said Cheerilee.

"Granted, I doubt she's had more fun than you," said Trixie.

At that point, the exterior door of the car opened and Raindrops flew in. She was covered in snow and dripped water into the entranceway. With a contented sigh she whipped her wings a few times, splashing the others, then jumped onto the carpet and rolled around like a contented cat. "I love it here," she murmured.

"Snowstorm outside?" asked Trixie, who looked torn between complaining about being splashed with snow and giggling at Raindrops' silly behavior.

"Even better! The snow melts to rain a few hundred feet above the train, so it's a nice big rainstorm and there's no weather patrol for miles around!" Raindrops grinned. "It's a huge rainstorm that makes that one Rainbow Dash let through from the Everfree look like a summer drizzle -- and it's completely uncontrolled! And because it's from melted snow, all the raindrops are just the right size!" She splayed her wings out. "We need more storms like this in Ponyville."

Ditzy looked out the window and into the huge rainstorm. "Um..."

"Hey, we're knights, right? We have the Right of Approach. We should ask Luna to send us a really big rainstorm as a thank-you for all the times we've saved the world!" Raindrops thumped her wings into the carpet a few more times. "Who's with me?"

There was silence.

"Maybe we'll just ask her to send you a raincloud," said Trixie. "How's that?"

Raindrops sighed melodramatically. "I suppose it'll do."

Ditzy laughed, and soon the others joined in. It was cold and wet outside, the mailmare reflected, but the warmth and cheer from her friends inside made it all worth it.

***

A few minutes later, once Raindrops was dried off and Cheerilee had put on a big pot of tea, Trixie took a few papers out of her saddlebag.

"So, after Moscolt the train stops in Neighsky Nogood," the showmare said, "and after that we stop in Stalliongrad. We turn there, head east for a few hours, and make... I think three more stops, first in Omsk, then Saint Ponysburg, and then some small town. Then we're in Noam."

"Can we get off the train anywhere?" asked Lyra. "There's so many historical sites in Rushia. The Moscolt palaces and statues, Castle Stalliongrad, the Omsk ossuary--"

"No time. The train stops aren't long enough for anything more than buying a bowl of borscht in the train station, and Luna said this was urgent, so we can't stop somewhere and wait for a later train. That's why we got the express and are only stopping in six cities, not sixty." Trixie shrugged. "But no reason we can't dawdle a bit on the way back." She paused. "Unless... Ditzy, how long is Dinky staying at Sparkler's? Do you need to hurry back?"

"An extra day or two shouldn't be a problem. Especially with that new spell you worked out."

"Great! Then it's settled. On the way back, we sightsee for a day!"

Raindrops blinked. "Just a day to sightsee? How long is it supposed to take us to kick the big bad windigo -- which apparently exists and isn't some story parents use to scare foals --in the flank? We zap it with the Elements and it goes away. Shouldn't take more than, like, an hour. We'll have time to spare."

"We're not just..." Trixie paused. "Oh right. You missed Agent Haymaker's briefing."

"Hey," said Raindrops, blushing. "Not my fault. I had a... family thing."

***

Raindrops looked at the mass of bees. She looked at her little brother. She looked at the mass of bees coating her little brother.

"Snails. What are you doing?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh, he challenged me for the title of Daringest Pony in Ponyville!" chirped Rainbow Dash. She was standing next to Snails and was also covered with bees. "We're tied, so we're at the final test -- the test of bees! Whoever has bees on them for the longest wins!" She paused. "Well, technically, the winner faces Applejack later, since she's got the title right now. But whoever has bees on them for the longest wins the right to challenge her!"

"Yeah!" Snails grinned. "I'm gonna be the bravest pony around, big sis! Just you watch!"

"And you're... using protective clothing, right?"

Rainbow Dash said, "Of course!"

Snails blinked. "Oh. I knew I'd forgotten something."

For a moment, there was nothing but silence.

"Snails? I'm getting the beekeeper and de-beeing you."

"But... but Raindrops! I think they might give me honey if I give them a pony-back ride!"

And thus began Raindrops' attempts to negotiate with a swarm of bees.

***

"...anyways, I got that sorted. And I caught the tail end of the meeting, remember? We just need to go buck a windigo in its face and we're good."

Trixie sighed. "Does somepony who was paying attention want to fill Raindrops in?"

Cheerilee giggled, then adopted a prim look. "The windigo has claimed to have had a child with a pony, which it is now demanding to see. After deliberation, Luna, her Courtiers, and her military officers have decided that they are willing to extend trust to the windigo, and the child's guardian ad litem -- Vicereine Puissance, of Califurlong and Palomino -- has agreed to go along with this as well. As such, we are going to Noam in order to guard Ice Heart -- that's the child -- the Vicereine, and other Equestrians during the meeting, as well as hopefully help to establish communication with the windigo if at all possible."

Raindrops stared. "Wait, a windigo had a child with a pony?"

"Apparently," said Carrot Top.

"How?"

"Try not to think about it," deadpanned Lyra. Raindrops blanched. "Seriously, nopony knows. The child's mother died nine months ago. Without her, your guess is as good as mine how that worked."

Cheerilee turned back to Raindrops. "Basically, our job is to make sure the windigo doesn't attack Ice Heart, Puissance, or anypony else while we're there."

"Do we know how to fight a windigo?" asked Carrot Top.

Lyra nodded. "The legends say they were driven off when ponies first abandoned their tribalist bigotry and formed real friendships. As long as we stay friends, it shouldn't be able to touch us."

"...can we do better than 'shouldn't'?" asked Raindrops.

Trixie said, "Luna never used the Elements on a windigo directly, but from what she understands of them, she is certain they will work. They're some of the most primal magic in all the world. If they can beat the tyrant sun, they can beat a chilly horse who feeds on meanness."

Raindrops smiled at that.

Ditzy held up a hoof. "How exactly did Puissance wind up as this child's guardian? I don't know much about her, but from how you described her she's not exactly... motherly."

Trixie snorted. "Yeah, she's a bit domineering. She claims she stumbled across the kid -- who looks, um, half-frozen, so he's not hard to pick out of a crowd -- and was concerned he would be bullied for his appearance, so she found a pony in this artist's colony she runs to adopt him. She also became his legal guardian ad litem. I don't really know more than that. Hopefully we'll be able to stay out of her way while we're all in Noam."

"Wait, is she going to be there?" asked Carrot Top. "Doesn't she have better things to do?"

Trixie shook her head. "She's his guardian. She has a legal -- and moral -- responsibility to be with her ward in this kind of situation. Besides Luna needs somepony high up in the government that's empowered to make deals, like letting the windigo stay in a certain place on Equestrian soil, to be present for this. She can't go herself because of war stuff, so Puissance is one of the other choices. She's been around long enough that she knows how to handle herself in negotiations."

Cheerilee snorted. "Ah, yes. She might be inept at running her provinces' education systems, but I'm sure she can negotiate with a mythological monster just fine."

Trixie frowned. "Puissance, like the rest of the Court, was not thrown off of it, and so needs to be treated with the deference and respect due her station." She paused. "Girls, come on. Ponyville was almost destroyed because I got Night Light mad at me. I'd like for us to go at least six months before getting on the bad side of another Viceroy."

"Trixie, you didn't hear how she spoke to her great-grandcolt. She was enraged that his life deviated from her script by the tiniest degree. A pony like that isn't worthy of respect. Remember Night Light? He's proof that just because you're a Viceroy doesn't make you a good pony."

"Yes, and I remember what Night Light did when he got mad at us." Trixie held her gaze. "Cheerilee, please promise me you won't antagonize Puissance for no reason. Okay?"

"...fine." Cheerilee shut her eyes, but nodded. "I promise."

Ditzy put a wing on Cheerilee's shoulder. "Maybe she was just stressed because of the Gala," she said. "I've made a few mistakes with Dinky... like with the Sharpwhinny admissions letter." She chuckled. "I mean, after the way I reacted about sending Dinky to a certain school, I can't really criticize Puissance for having a similar reaction, right?"

Cheerilee looked at her for a moment before smiling slightly. "You see the good in everypony, Ditzy."

"I'm a mother," the mailmare replied. "I know how hard it is to raise a foal... and I can only imagine how hard it must be to take in another one at her age. But as far as we know, she's been doing a good job. I can't imagine Luna letting her keep Ice Heart otherwise."

Trixie nodded. "As soon as Puissance told Luna about Ice Heart, Luna went to meet him -- she was concerned that she might not know how to take care of a half-windigo hybrid. But her message to me said that Ice Heart is not only being raised by loving parents, provided with everything he needs for school, physical activity, etcetera, but Puissance is going to substantial expense to modify his home to make him as comfortable as a pony who's half ice can be. I mean, he's part windigo, so even Puissance is kind of in left field here, but Luna didn't think there were any problems in how she's having him raised."

"Then I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt." Ditzy smiled at the others. "Agreed?"

"I'll be as nice as I can," said Cheerilee.

"Ditto," said Raindrops. "Long as she doesn't pull a Greengrass and try to force us to move to Palomino, I won't buck her out a window."

"Deal," declared Trixie in a faux-formal voice, and the others laughed.

Lyra settled back on a cushion. "So, make sure the windigo doesn't ice anypony, and don't make the Vicereine mad at us. Anything else?"

"That's about it. Shouldn't be too tough. And hey, everything's on Equestria's dime while we're in Noam!" Trixie grinned. "Now, who wants a celebratory bourbon to mark our arrival in Rushia?"

Ditzy glanced at the clock. "Actually, it's just about five... could we use the crystal ball first? My little Muffin should be about ready."

"Of course!" Trixie levitated a crystal ball from her saddlebag. "Just remember to be careful with it. The spell only works because these balls Luna loaned us have a little chip from the Crystal Heart in them, and they don't just give that stuff away. They're pretty much irreplaceable."

"I'll be careful, Trixie."

"Alright. I'll send energy through, and once Twilight sends some on the other end, the communication link should be established." Her horn glowed as she shot energy into the ball. "There we go, and..."

In moments, the ball's cloudy surface faded and was replaced with the head of a brightly smiling purple-coated, blond-maned foal.

"My little Muffin!" Ditzy flew to the crystal ball and pressed it up against her muzzle. "I'm so glad to see you! How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Momma! I'm having loads of fun! Sparkler's showing me how to put necklaces together!" Dinky levitated up a necklace consisting of several glass beads on a string. "She said that when you get home I can give you the best one! You like gray and yellow, right?"

"Dear, anything you make for me is beautiful."

Trixie chuckled. "Aww."

"Tell me all about your day," Ditzy said. "What did you learn in school? Was the substitute alright? Was--" She paused. "Dinky, could you lower your head a little? I think something's on your head."

Dinky lowered her head to reveal a potato impaled on her little horn.

"Dear... why do you have a potato on your head?"

"It's not just a potato!" protested Dinky. "It's a sweet potato! Because you always tell me how sweet I am!"

Ditzy couldn't help but smile. "And, the reason you have a sweet potato on your head is..."

"Well, Apple Bloom came in to school balancing an apple on her head, and Snails said he could do better than that and so put one on his horn, and now everypony's putting fruits and vegetables on their horns and heads!" Dinky giggled. "Alula put a banana, but it mushed, so I helped her find a sturdier fruit. And then Diamond Tiara tried to stud an orange with rubies, but..."

Ditzy grinned as she listened to the story. Distantly, she observed that the train car was slowing down as the train reached Moscolt, but she didn't care. She was talking to her daughter; that was what mattered.

"How is everypony?" Dinky asked after a few minutes of chatter. "How's Miss Trixie? Is she having fun?"

"Hah!" Ditzy looked up to see Trixie out on the platform, in the midst of a bunch of ponies with big furry hats and even bigger smiles. They were on their hind legs, hopping from one to the other in a squat position. "Of course I can do a traditional Rushian squat dance! I'm a knight, after all!"

"Hurray!" the ponies cheered. They gave her a spot in the formation and began to sing:

Moscolt... land of the lovely snow...
Land where the best rye grows...
Land of our dreams!

Trixie tried to imitate them as best she could.

"Moscolt, Moscolt, I don't really know the words.
I don't know these words at all.
Ha ha ha ha ha -- augh!" And she slipped and fell on her flank.

"Want help?" called Carrot Top.

"No, I've got this!" Trixie managed to get back to her hooves. "Moscolt, Moscolt, now my stupid hooves are cold..."

Ditzy turned back to the crystal ball with Dinky's image inside. "She's fine, dear."

"So are you really going to be meeting Vicereine Puissance in Noam?"

"Yes. She's setting up the hotels so that we'll have rooms when we arrive."

Dinky blinked. "But Ponyville is closer to Noam than Palomino and Califurlong, right? And she had to go back there to find this ice pony first, and you left right away. So how come she'll be there first?"

Ditzy realized that she hadn't thought about it. "Well... I'm sure she has some way of getting there. She's a Vicereine, after all. She has a lot of money, so she can buy fast transportation."

Dinky cocked her head. "Silver Spoon said that her daddy's wine collection is worth twice as much as I am. How many of me is Vicereine Puissance's wine collection worth?"

I think I need to talk to Sterling again, thought Ditzy. "You're worth more than her entire wine collection. Even if she's drinking from a one-thousand bit bottle now, and has a thousand more just like it back home. You're priceless, my little Muffin."

Dinky blushed. "Do you think she's really drinking from a one-thousand bit bottle of wine right now?"

"It wouldn't surprise me..."

***

"Auntie Puissance?"

The Vicereine looked away from the bottle of wine, priced at one thousand bits retail, that had been set before her to accompany her late lunch. "Yes, Ice Heart?" she said, turning to look at her ward. The pegasus-windigo hybrid was smiling at Puissance with pure adoration. "How are you doing today?" the Vicereine asked.

"Oh, I'm doing great!" was the immediate, enthusiastic response. Ice Heart tensed like he was going to flap his wings and jump up and down, but then seemed to catch himself and just smiled brightly at the Vicereine. "I've had an amazing day! I swam with Stream Dreams, and she made a water sculpture of a shark to chase me around! And then I went into the cold jacuzzi you made for me and it was really really fun -- it was like I was inside a whirlpool!" His wings began to spread as excitement overtook him. "And then I played with those walking, dancing toys you gave me, and I chased them all over the ship! And--"

When Ice Heart's wings opened a fraction more, breaching the invisible line that no well-bred foal of the house of Optiebeurs-Golo would ever breech in public, Puissance held up a hoof and flicked her wings by the slightest amount. Ice Heart immediate blushed, even the ice portions of his body taking on a slightly reddish tinge, but he snapped his wings shut. "This is a wonderful ship," he said,with more control in his voice. "Thank you for letting me ride it, Auntie Puissance."

"Of course, dear." Puissance waved a hoof around the dining room, which had more silver and platinum in the walls and furnishings than some mines. "I had it specially commissioned. It's the fastest airship in Equestria... and the most luxurious too. After all, I could hardly take you and your friends anywhere in a second-rate airship."

Ice Heart approached Puissance's table, and Puissance nodded slightly as he waited for the servant, an old camel who had once worked for a Niqah prince, to pull out his chair, then climbed into it without flapping his wings around like a silly commoner. "How is your airship so fast, Auntie?" he asked. "Does it have really really big engines?"

"No." Puissance swept out a wing at the northern end of the room. "It has magic. The front of the ship has many spells that thin the air in front of it, and the back of the ship has spells that thicken the air, so the ship is pushed forwards by the pressure difference. It's much more efficient than a bag of gas and a pilot light."

Ice Heart remained silent through her explanation, listening attentively and not even fidgeting. Puissance was again cheered. She couldn't help but compare the perfectly-obedient Ice Heart -- a commoner foal, with no noble blood that she knew of -- to her own family, who constantly resisted her guidance. It seemed every other week she had to stop one of them from embarking on a short-sighted career, or marrying a pony that wasn't right for them, or trying to take some of her power before they were ready for it, and yet they struggled against her at every turn -- even when she was obviously right. Even Scepter, her great-grandcolt, avoided associating with the friends that Puissance had hoof-selected for him with such great care, preferring to run around with undignified, mud-slinging foals from a public school. It was nice sometimes to see her Vault ponies -- especially Ice Heart -- and finally be treated with the respect she deserved.

And respect, of course, deserved respect in kind. "By the way, Ice Heart, it's your snack time, isn't it? You must be starving. What would you like for lunch?"

"A big bowl of ice cream!" was Ice Heart's immediate response. "And... a big bowl of cereal, with some cold milk!"

Puissance turned to the camel servant. "One large bowl of Premium Honey-Roasted Oats," she ordered, with the same formality that she had displayed when ordering exquisite caviar three nights prior. "With a large glass of Top-Cow Grade-AAA milk, and two scoops of Top-Cow vanilla ice cream in a separate bowl."

The servant bowed and left without comment.

Puissance turned back to Ice Heart, smiling gently at him. "How have your studies been going? Has Mr. Yang been teaching you well?"

"Uh huh! I'm up through fractions in math!" Ice Heart paused. "Although, before we left, he did ask me a riddle that I couldn't figure out." He smiled winningly. "Could you please help me, Auntie?"

Puissance grinned to herself. Yang Chew was a kirin scholar who had fled the western continent after he had shown up the warlord he served too many times. He had been running for his life after having once again solved a riddle before his lord when he happened to pass through a port city, where one of Puissance's agents -- who knew how badly she wanted a couple of kirin and perhaps a few longma to add to her Vault -- arranged for him to slip out to sea. Chew was a brilliant scholar and a master of riddles and wordplay, and so Puissance had asked him to handle the education of the Vault foals. "What's the riddle, dear?"

"'When you need me, you don't have me; when you have me, you don't need me. What am I?'"

Puissance thought for a moment. "Hmm... well, I suppose I could give you a little hint..."

Ice Heart grinned.

"The answer has something to do with money."

"Money?" Ice Heart blinked. "When you have money, you don't need it; when you need money, you don't have it?" He looked confused. "What does that mean?"

Puissance looked back at the bottle of wine in front of her, a top-shelf brand called Imperial Wine, and thought back to when she had purchased it. She had seen eight bottles of it at a prestigious wine shop, each priced at 1000 bits even. But, as it happened, she had seen each of them be sold -- and she had noted how each pony paid a very different price for each bottle.

The first bottle went to a scruffy-looking family. A middle-aged couple, an elder stallion, and a younger mare, they entered and hurried to the center of the largest open space in the store as if terrified of bumping into and damaging the other bottles. Puissance noted their outfits; they wore formal suits and dresses that had been patched and sewn up many times, the younger mare's dress in particular looked faded from overuse, and the elder stallion couldn't quite hide that his jacket was missing two buttons. They looked as if this environment was as foreign to them as a distant continent. But they had come nonetheless, and Puissance heard -- to her great surprise -- the father asking for one of the bottles of the Imperial Wine.

Puissance had gone to talk with them, and after a few moments they yielded to her authority -- it was her special talent, after all -- and told them their story. They were a lower middle-class family called the Bonnets, merchants and factory workers who did well enough to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, with perhaps the occasional bit left over for an ice cream cone or a toy. They had toiled for years, expecting to remain as they were forever, until opportunity struck -- Suzerain Blueblood, the Baron of a small subprovince of Hyasanguia, had bumped into the mare on the street and had been smitten. Now marriage was a possibility, and marriage to a noble would elevate the family from a life of toil to a life of comfort. But the marriage wasn't finalized yet, and Suzerain's family was understandably concerned about him marrying a commoner of minimal means. Suzerain had thus invited Bluebelle Bonnet to meet his family, a sort of audition for the marriage. A gift, of course, was compulsory -- and not just any gift, but one that would convince the family that they were cultured, they were refined, and above all, they weren't dirt-poor commoners. And so they scrimped, and saved, and sacrificed, and put away money, and after all this, in the one month they had before the dinner, they had managed to accumulate one thousand bits. With that they would buy the finest wine they could afford, and hopefully secure the marriage that would mean their salvation.

But the wine, Puissance thought as the family was rung up, cost them much more than one thousand bits. There were the obvious costs, of course: the family had pawned a two-hundred bit chest for sixty bits; they had pawned some jewelry and taken fifty bits for three pieces that Puissance would have valued at one-fifty; they had even sold a little campground they used to rent out over the summer, depriving them of hundreds of bits of future income. Then there were the little, incremental costs; the nights when they were exhausted from working double shifts and so took a cab home; when they tried to cook with unfamiliar dirt-cheap foods like millet, ruined them, and had to buy more; when they put off repairing a wagon until it collapsed and needed to be replaced. And then there was the big one; a fifth member of the family, a quiet and hardworking uncle, had fallen ill from overwork. His medicine, his doctors, even his lost productivity, that was all a big cost. In the end, Puissance estimated that the family had actually spent almost three thousand bits to get that one thousand bit bottle of wine.

The next group wore suits and dresses that were crisp and clean -- so crisp, Puissance noted, that they looked rented. They moved with more ease around the wine, clearly not scared of breaking anything, but didn't seem to know much about it -- she heard their comments about how this wine or that was too fruity or acidic, and almost rolled her eyes at their bluffing babble. They acted like a middle class pony's idea of what a rich pony would act like, and it showed.

When Puissance spoke to them, they admitted that they didn't shop here as much as they had hoped to imply. A collection of tradesponies, they included was a doctor, a lawyer, two engineers, and a 'consultant'. The latter chattered a mile a minute, complained about technical aspects of the wine he tasted as though he had some idea of what he was talking about, and explained to Puissance that they were five longtime friends who had all recently achieved some sort of professional success and wished to celebrate with a fine bottle of wine. They had taken an hour or two off from their practices to go wine shopping, they said, because they had no servants with which to entrust the task; they had rented suits because they wanted to be taken seriously; they had hired a carriage because this was the kind of wine store where ponies arrived in carriages. Between the suits, the carriage, and the lost productivity, Puissance estimated that their bottle of wine cost them fifteen hundred bits. And, she thought as they left, Add in another hundred, because the consultant just annoyed the staff so much with his chatter and condescension that he'll probably get a little surcharge if he ever shows up here again.

The third bottle went to a suited pony who made no conversation. He simply approached the staff, mentioned that 'the Countess' was expecting company, paid for his purchase, and left without further ado. The fourth, fifth, and sixth bottles went to another suited servant who said that Archduchess Nobility was hosting a party for some top generals. The store included a discount on the bulk purchase, such that she only paid two thousand, seven hundred bits for the three bottles, or nine hundred per. The seventh was even cheaper; a chef hurried in and complained that his shipment of Imperial wine was short one bottle. A check of the records revealed the truth of this statement and he took the replacement bottle; when he mentioned the total price he'd paid and the total quantity, Puissance calculated that he was only paying about five hundred bits per bottle -- and that he sold a lot of the stuff. I suppose, then, it isn't as rare as they would like to imply.

Finally, Puissance had stepped up to the counter and introduced herself. The store's manager hurried out, levitating the last bottle in front of him. "We would love to become your wine supplier in Canterlot," he simpered. "And, as a token of our appreciation of your many, many qualities and talents, please enjoy this bottle of Imperial Wine. On the house."

Puissance debated telling this story to Ice Heart, but decided not to. She had told it to Scepter, but the foal had derailed things early on with questions about whether or not she helped out the family that was trying to marry into the nobility. He hadn't seemed to understand that the family wasn't from her provinces, and so was not her problem, and eventually she'd had to make up some excuse to leave the conversation before she lost her patience. So instead she just said, "I couldn't give you the whole answer, dear. I'm sure that if you think about it, you'll figure it out."

"I'll do my best!"

Ice Heart's food came, and the foal tucked in. Puissance smiled to herself and settled back on her cushion, feeling the airship trembling slightly as it moved through the snowstorm. We should arrive in two hours... and beat the Elements by at least three. That should be enough time to prepare the hotel. If I can set up before they arrive, I can make sure they don't do anything troublesome like try to take Ice Heart from me.

She nodded to herself. Ice Heart is mine, knights. He's not yours, and he's not some absent windigo's, and he's not Luna's. He is mine. And I will not lose him to you.

***

"We're here," said Trixie. "I think."

Noam Station was a tiny little platform at the edge of town, a hasty addition to a village that looked like it had been built centuries ago and promptly frozen in time. The train had shrunk to a tiny three cars after the last stop, and even then, only a few passenges disembarked. Night had almost fallen, but there were very few lights from inside the town, and the bright skylines of Moscolt, Stalliongrad, and even Omsk seemed continents away. Snow was falling at a moderate rate.

"This is kind of... small." Ditzy looked around. "I think this town might be smaller than Ponyville. Why are we staging here?"

"Closest to where the windigo is," said Trixie.

"I thought," said Raindrops, as they moved into the town itself, "That this place was supposed to have a great hotel. The Northern Gate or something."

"It does," said Cheerilee. "I've been there before. It's huge, and it's really nice."

"How does a little town like this have enough people for a big hotel?" asked Carrot Top.

Cheerilee raised her head and adopted the tone of a schoolteacher. "Before the train system was put up, there was no easy way to get to Equestria's northern border. Most of the land in the northernmost part of Rushia is uninhabitable steppes, snowbound ten months a year. But ponies still wanted to get into the Elkheim and Hippogriff nations for trade and diplomacy, so a road was constructed. Noam was the northernmost city on that road, the last stop before leaving the country."

"So everypony who wanted to travel north stopped through here," said Ditzy.

"Here, and all the other towns south of here on the way. Used to be a lot of inns and small towns to make the journey more comfortable. They were actually relatively well-off." Cheerilee shrugged. "When the province and the rail companies finally got the trains running, the road became obsolete. Now you can take a train from Canterlot to the Elkheim capital without ever leaving a warm train car, and you can do it in a fraction of the time. So nopony comes here anymore, and a lot of the locals moved out. Two of the hotels, though, are still open. The Northern Gate's the better one of the two, and if it's anything like the last time I stayed here, it's actually one of the best hotels you'll ever stay in."

They had reached the center of Noam, an open and empty square surrounded by shops on four sides. Most of the shops were closed and dark; only a bar, a small diner, and a laundry were lit. In the distance, at the far edge of town, Ditzy saw a large structure through the fading light.

"This is creepy," whispered Carrot Top. "I don't like this place."

"Afraid of the dark?" teased Trixie.

"It's not just dark. It's cold." Raindrops hitched up her coat. "I mean, really cold. Are we sure the windigo isn't here already?"

Ditzy looked around uneasily. From the snowbound houses to the cracked, crumbling streets, the entire town felt like the ponies had just given up. Is this what a world overrun by windigos would look like? Nopony cares about their town, or anypony but themselves, and just huddles inside -- or runs away -- while things crumble around them? "Yeah... it feels like windigos already run this place."

"Agent Haymaker said that an agent would meet us if the windigo left it's current position. Nopony did, so it's still five miles away or so." Trixie chuckled. "Relax. This town's only got ponies, okay? No monsters here."

As they walked, the Northern Gate building slowly came into view. Ditzy couldn't help but gulp when she saw it. It was a huge structure, covering the entire block, and had been designed in the art-deco style. Vividly colored, geometric components were combined in symmetrical patterns to make up the building's structure. The outer windows were all made of stained glass, and aluminum and steel lines ran up the building in parallel strokes. They terminated at the top of the building... where Ditzy could dimly see a sunburst lacquer stretching across the wall.

"This place is how old?" asked Raindrops.

"Old," said Cheerilee. Even she seemed somewhat awed. Ditzy understood the feeling. It was an imposing building, tall enough to tower over them, with such angular lines that it looked painful to touch. "It, um. Looks better on the inside."

"Does it predate Corona's banishment?" asked Carrot Top.

"Nopony knows," said Trixie. "And, more importantly, nopony cares. Can we get inside before we freeze to death?"

Ditzy gave the building one more long, uneasy look. I'm glad Dinky stayed home for this one, she thought. But Trixie was right; if they stayed outside, they'd only get colder. So she took a deep breath and followed Trixie in.

The interior of the building was nice enough, Ditzy had to admit; the lobby had plenty of cushions and three roaring fireplaces to keep the chill out. She walked with the other Elements towards the reception desk, where a brightly-smiling pony grinned at them. "Hello!" said the receptionist. "Can I help you?"

"We should have reservations," said Trixie. "We're the knights--"

"Wait." Cheerilee held up a hoof. "You don't have a Rushian accent." She narrowed her eyes. "I should know; I married a Rushian pony once. Are you from around here?"

"Er..." The receptionist blushed. "Um, no. My name is Pageturner! I work for Vicereine Puissance."

"So why are you checking guests in?" asked Trixie.

"The Vicereine didn't want the locals to gossip about Ice Heart -- I'm sure you're familiar with his conditiion, and she was concerned they might tease him about it. So she paid for the hotel's staff to take a vacation in Palomino for the duration of our stay, and brought her own staff to do the cooking and cleaning." Pageturner smiled brightly. "Don't worry. We're just as hospitable as the locals. And Chef makes a delicious carrot stew." She beamed. "Shall I show you to your rooms?"

The Elements looked at each other, and Raindrops frowned. "That's... strange."

Ditzy caught Pageturner's gaze, and noted with some surprise that the mare didn't seem even slightly surprised to see her wandering eyes. That was unusual, though Ditzy of course didn't mind it. Did she train these ponies to not react to unusual-looking strangers?

"Not really," argued Pageturner. "The Vicereine has impressed upon every pony in her service the importance of respecting even the most unusual-appearing of ponies. She does not want to risk offending her ward."

Trixie, Raindrops, and Cheerilee exchanged glances. "We've had some bad experiences," said Raindrops in her usual blunt manner. "With nobles when there weren't other ponies around to check them. You're sure that everypony in the hospitality industry in this town here works for her?"

Pageturner frowned. "Well... there is another hotel in Noam. It's not as good as this one, but if you really want it, the Vicereine has authorized me to set you up over there. Would you like that?"

Ditzy bit her lip. She was tempted, she had to admit. The hotel was beyond creepy, and given what the nobles had done to them, she had no desire to live in an environment where she was completely surrounded by the staff and servants of one of the most powerful nobles of all. Part of her just wanted to run away.

But. The knights were there to protect a foal, and they couldn't do that from across town. Besides, she had promised to give Puissance the benefit of the doubt. Her motives could well be genuine, and she wouldn't challenge her parenting by insisting that she must have malicious motives. It was possible Puissance only wanted the best for Ice Heart, and as long as that was possible, Ditzy wasn't going to attack her. That would be monumentally unjust.

And so she said, "No. We're in town to protect Ice Heart and the Vicereine, right? We have to be near them to do that."

"Yeah," said Trixie a moment later. "We're staying."

"Wonderful!" said Pageturner. "The Vicereine has asked you to meet her for dinner tonight at seven in the southern ballroom. Tomorrow, you leave to meet the windigo at eight AM. Follow me!"

And so she led the Elements deeper into the hotel.

Author's Note

It's been a while, so I helpfully included a few brief recaps re: the plot, and who Ice Heart is. Hope that helped.

I wonder how long Ditzy's resolve to give Puissance the benefit of the doubt on the basis of her raising Ice Heart will last. I give it about five minutes into the first conversation they have, but I could be wrong. Might last for ten.

Yay! Trixie has a the crystal ball! As long as you have two skilled unicorns, you can get two-way communication! I'm sure this will be great comfort to Dinky as her mom continues going hither and yon on wacky adventures.

SIlver Spoon is a mean jerk. I move that she be sent to summer camp to learn how to be a nice pony. Pinkie and Scootaloo are the teachers.

That is a nice airship. I mean, it's got a jacuzzi. That's pretty spiffy.

Chew's real-life analogue, Yang Xiu, got killed by his warlord (whom he served as secretary) for his temerity. In real life, this happened when Xiu intervened in the succession of his warlord's children, helping the third son to cheat and look like he was better than the first. In the novelization that included him, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he correctly interpreted an obscure comment by his lord to withdraw and told his men to pack up (his warlord, Cao, muttered "chicken ribs" in earshot of Yang; Yang deduced that this was a metaphor for retreat). He was right, but Cao, who was tired of his smart-alecky nature, had him killed for 'lowering morale' and 'instigating a false retreat' anyway.

I could swear I've heard the "When you have money, you don't need it; when you need money, you don't have it" riddle elsewhere, but I can't recall where. Ah well. It seems like a very Puissance-y thing to think.

If you're wondering where the airship went, it's flying the hotel staff to their all-expenses paid vacation in Palomino. Busy airship, that one.

Nothing like a really creepy crumbling town and a hotel that looks like it belongs in Bioshock to set the mood. :-)

Ponies of the Vault (1)

Ditzy hadn’t planned to freeze in place when she entered the hotel’s great dining hall, but her body made the decision for her.

The flickering torches set in the walls only provided a dim illumination, but it was enough to make out the ornate moldings that ran along the walls, rising up at least to the point where they vanished in shadow. The table was an ancient thing with clawed feet on its legs and gems inset at various points; they gave the impression, not of a friendly display of wealth, but of some creature peaking through the darkness. When the torchlight writhed and Ditzy saw a few pieces of silverware, she realized that no two were alike, all seemed to be plated with precious metals, and none looked like they were quite the right size for her hooves. The room’s combination of sheer luxury and pointed unwelcomeness was unnerving, Ditzy thought, as if a king and his entourage were the real intended guests, and the Elements just interlopers.

She had only a few moments to think about this before her gaze was drawn to the far end of the table, the only place in the room where the torches blazed brightly, to fall upon the faint smile of the second most powerful mare in Equestria. Vicereine Puissance sat at the table as if it were her own, her poise relaxed just enough to demonstrate comfort, yet not so much as to even hint at impropriety. She wore a long flowing dress that was studded with emeralds, and a large ruby dangled from a silver chain around her neck. “Elements,” she said, picking up a jeweled goblet without looking at it, and tilting her head so that her silvering hair seemed to glimmer in the torchlight. “Welcome.”

Ditzy realized that most of the other Elements had stopped with her, though Trixie and Cheerilee had gotten into the room before pausing to look around. Trixie recovered first. “Vicereine,” she said, bowing low. Belatedly, Ditzy followed suit along with the others, only rising after several seconds had passed. “You honor us with your presence.”

“The honor is mine, Dame Trixie,” said Puissance. “It is not everyday that one gets to meet genuine national heroes, even one of my… position.” She nodded at the torches. “Do forgive the limited lighting. This hotel was built, as I’m sure you know, to host trade delegations and merchant caravans traveling between Equestria and our northern neighbors. The common rooms were built quite large… but with so few of us, I felt that perhaps a more intimate setting would be appropriate. However, if you’d prefer more torches, that could be arranged.”

Trixie glanced at the others before saying, “It’s fine.” She wasn’t thrilled with it, Ditzy could tell, but presumably asking for Puissance to change the lighting conditions would be some kind of faux pas. “We don’t mind it.”

“Excellent.” Puissance nodded, her smile expanding slightly. “Now. Please introduce me to your friends, Dame Trixie.”

“Of course.” Trixie swept a hoof back at the others. “Vicereine, these are my fellow Knights of the Realm. This is Dame Lyra Heartstrings--” Lyra trotted forwards, smiling brightly, and almost threw herself down into another bow, “She was the first graduate of Luna’s Magic Academy to dual-major in both magic and music, and she studied under the mare who is now Luna’s Court Musician. Dame Carrot Top--” Carrot Top shuffled a few steps and bowed again, with substantially less poise than Lyra, “Who placed third in the Trottingham Farm Competition, and had the unparalleled honor of serving you personally last year. Dame Cheerilee--”

“We’ve met,” said Cheerilee, lowering her head just barely enough to qualify as a bow.

Trixie shot her a glare. “Ahem. This is Dame Raindrops, Ponyville’s strongest weathermare, and Dame Ditzy Doo, Ponyville’s most reliable mailmare.” Ditzy bowed again, wishing she knew how long was supposed to remain kneeling before a Vicereine. The etiquette lesson Cheerilee had drilled into them hadn’t quite covered such minutia. When she finally chanced getting up, she saw that Trixie had half-turned so that she was facing her friends without quite presenting her back to the older pegasus. “My fellow Knights,” she intoned, “Please allow me to introduce to you to our host. Vicereine Puissance Noctilucent Optibieurs-Golo--”

Ditzy took a step forwards towards the table.

But then Trixie kept going. “By the Grace of Luna Vicereine of Califurlong and Palomino and of Her other Realms and Fiefdoms,” she started, before adding, “Protostratorissa of the Air Forces of Her Royal Majesty, Dame Grand Cross of the Auspicious Order of Firefly and Medley, Honorary Companion of Honor with Collar of the National Order of Merit, Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Pferdreich, Honorary Condottiera of the Order of Sirocco of Cavallia..."

The speech continued for close to ten full minutes, moving from major titles and awards to those less significant. Ditzy glanced at Puissance to see if this was some kind of joke, but instead Puissance was sitting still, her face in a pensive expression, as if she was evaluating every word. Trixie, meanwhile, spoke in a clear and rehearsed tone, as if this was an expected ritual--which, for all Ditzy knew, it was. To her side, she heard Raindrops’ stomach rumble, but she managed to keep the smile off her face. She doubted that either Trixie or Puissance would appreciate an interruption.

“...and Bearer of thirty-seven Platinum Wand Awards for financial contributions towards Princess Luna’s Academy of Magic,” finished Trixie. She sounded faintly out of breath, and Ditzy was impressed that she had managed to memorize Puissance’s long list of titles. After a long moment, Trixie managed to get herself turned around again and bowed one last time to Puissance. “Vicereine--may my companions and I be seated?”

“Of course,” said Puissance, beckoning them forwards. “And thank you for making such a thorough introduction, Dame. Although I do see that news of my being awarded the title of Honorary Lady of Quedleapburg hasn’t quite made it to all of Equestria yet.” She smiled bemusedly. “It’s really a lovely little town in Pferdreich, just a few miles north of the Equestrian border, and when I heard they had a financial shortfall I decided to lend a hoof. Well, they were very grateful, and…” She waved a wing. “Oh, do listen to me prattle on. I wouldn’t want to bore you with an old mare’s stories.”

Trixie had blushed a faint red. “I apologize, Vicereine. I had not yet heard of your latest title.”

“Quedleapburg?” mused Cheerilee. “Doesn’t that town have less than a thousand ponies?”

“It may be small,” said Puissance, her voice now holding a slight edge, “But it holds beauty of its own, all the same.”

Cheerilee nodded. “Of course. But what I meant, actually, was that in Pferdreich, towns and cities don’t have a Lord or Lady leading them unless they have at least 2,500 residents.” She smiled innocently. “But I’m sure it was very nice of them to make up a new position for you.”

Puissance opened her mouth to say something, but Ditzy quickly interjected, “Thank you for dining with us, Vicereine,” she said, adopting the calming tone that she sometimes used when Dinky was getting upset. “We all appreciate it.” She caught Cheerilee’s eye. “Don’t we?”

Though she seemed like she wanted to press the point, Cheerilee backed down under Ditzy’s gaze. “Yes,” she said. “We are.”

Ditzy turned back to Puissance, and was relieved to see that her faint smile had returned. “Thank you, Dame Ditzy,” she said. “I appreciate that.” She flicked a wing slightly, and one of the shadows in the back of the wall detached itself from the wall and approached. Ditzy blinked in astonishment to see that it was a camel; she had never before met one in her entire life. As he approached, Puissance said, “And speaking of dining, I believe supper should be arriving in just a few minutes.”

“Wait,” said Trixie, stopping the camel. “Isn’t Ice Heart supposed to be joining us?”

Puissance settled back in her stool. “Ice Heart is… shy around strangers,” she said at last. “He opted to eat early tonight. I remonstrated with him at length, but I’m sure you know how foals are. So willful.” She smiled wistfully. “In any event, I see no reason to push him, and I’m sure you won’t mind if I introduce you later during our stay.”

Ditzy had bent over to sip at her jeweled goblet full of mineral water, but at that comment she looked up and caught the gaze of the other Knights. They all had the same expression--a wary one. “But Vicereine,” Ditzy began, “I was under the impression that we would be protecting this foal. If we don’t know what he looks like--”

“You will,” said Puissance. “Long before any meeting between him and his long-absent father. But for tonight, he indicated that he would prefer to remain with his current friends, and as he was so very well-behaved on the flight here, I decided to let him.” She smiled. “Contrary to popular belief, I do try to allow my children and wards some freedom.”

It sounded like a joke, thought Ditzy, but not one that Puissance expected anyone to laugh at.

Puissance waved her wing, and the camel approached. “Now. Would any of you like wine with your amuse-bouche?”

***

The meal was one of the best Ditzy had ever eaten--superb ingredients, sublime cooking technique, and each dish paired with the most delicious wines to be found anywhere--but she found it difficult to focus on the food. It wasn’t just the dinner talk, which mostly resolved to Puissance asking Trixie her opinion on various political matters, in a tone indicating that Luna had somewhat emphatically put her up to it. Rather, it was the absent Ice Heart, and also the presence of his mysterious friends who had decided to travel with him as he approached a monstrous terror of pony legend. Ditzy knew that her friends would accompany her if she were for some reason bound to meet a windigo, but they were a special case. Puissance wasn’t telling them something.

When the dessert course, slices of a chocolate baumkuchen cake, had been cleared away, Puissance rose. “We’ll leave for the windigo two hours after sunrise tomorrow,” she said. “It should take us no more than forty-five minutes to reach it. As far as the Shadowbolts were able to determine, the windigo can only communicate to us via images. We’re not sure if it can understand our own language in response, so Dame Trixie, you will be responsible for creating illusions and images to convey our messages to the windigo. Additionally, should the windigo turn hostile, I trust you are all ready to use your Elements.” She paused. “Princess Luna has allotted us two days within which to attempt to negotiate with the windigo. If at the end of that period, in my sole determination, it is not safe for Ice Heart to see his father, we will leave--and if the windigo pursues, you will drive it off. Otherwise, when we bring Ice Heart to see the windigo, you will protect him. Do you have any questions?”

Ditzy raised a hoof. “In your sole determination?” she repeated.

“Yes. As the highest-ranking representative of Luna’s will in the region, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of her citizens as far as I am able. And furthermore, as Ice Heart’s guardian, I will not permit my child to be put into a situation which I feel is dangerous.” She let her gaze track over all of them. Ditzy, recalling that Puissance’s special talent was wielding authority, had to admit that she was good at using it; she could almost feel her head drooping in acquiescence to the Vicereine’s wishes. “Is that clear?”

“Yes, Vicereine,” said Trixie.

“Very well. You have the run of the hotel, except for the west wing; Ice Heart and his friends are staying there, and they do not wish to be disturbed tonight. My servants are at your beck and call should you need anything.” She inclined her head. “Have a good night, Elements.”

When she had walked down the hall and around a corner, the Elements looked at each other for a silent moment. Then Raindrops said, “So, when’re we breaking into the west wing?”

Cheerilee grinned. She brushed a hoof under her barrel and withdrew what looked to Ditzy like an intricate lockpicking kit. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Carrot Top held up a hoof. “Um, should we really be doing this? Puissance might get mad--”

“We’re supposed to guard Ice Heart,” said Trixie. “We can’t do that if we don’t know where he is. Besides, given all our other dealings with the Court, if something weird is going on up here, I’d like to know sooner rather than later.”

Lyra grinned. “Come on, Carrot Top. It’ll be an adventure!”

Carrot Top looked uncertain, but nodded. ‘Alright…”

"Great," said Trixie. "In that case--let's go!"

They soon reached a large, ornate door, and Cheerilee began to work at the lock while the others stood guard. “I wonder why she doesn’t want us to meet Ice Heart,” mused Carrot Top. “Maybe something happened to him?”

“Doubt it,” said Raindrops. “She’s got to know we’ll be seeing him eventually. What’re we going to do, protect him from the windigo while blindfolded?” The Elements snickered at the image, and Raindrops herself cracked a smile before moving on. “We’ll see him, and we’ll know if something’s up.”

“What if she just doesn’t let him get close to the windigo?” asked Lyra. “Puissance could say she doesn’t feel it’s safe. Then we’d never have to guard him from anything.”

Trixie shook her head. “I’m not exactly her biggest fan, but she didn’t get to where she is by being stupid. We’re watching Puissance’s every move and she knows it--along with the fact that we have the right to petition Luna directly. If she throws the negotiations on purpose, she knows we could report her, and then it’s bye-bye to all those titles she’s so fond of.” The illusionist scowled. “Seriously. I got ninety-six of her ninety-seven titles correct! Who cares that I missed one?”

“Well, to be fair, it’s a completely meaningless title that she probably only bought by dumping a train full of money into Pferdreich,” said Cheerilee. “If you forget it, it’s like you’re saying she shouldn’t have spent all those bits on a vanity title.”

“Perish the thought,” drawled Raindrops.

Ditzy rubbed her chin with a hoof. Keeping Ice Heart hidden from them didn’t make sense, for the reasons Trixie and Raindrops had enumerated, but that wasn’t true for everyone Puissance had brought. “What if it’s not Ice Heart she doesn’t want us to see? What if it’s the friends? We didn’t know they’d be here, right? Maybe she wanted to keep them secret.”

“Then why did she bring them?” asked Trixie.

“And why did she tell us?” added Raindrops.

“I don’t know,” said Cheerilee. “But I think we should find out.” The lock clicked open and the door swung back with a loud creak. “Shall we?”

***

The hallway in the west wing was better lit than the others the Elements had walked through and Ditzy could feel herself relaxing at the brighter atmosphere. Even the moldings on the wall, which were low, tightly packed against each other, and seemed almost to be brooding, felt a little more pleasant. She was about to tell her friends how much nicer things felt when she heard a loud splash from down the hall. She hurried towards it, her friends by her side, and they hurried in--

To a large indoor pool.

The room itself had just as many little designs as the banquet hall, with even the patterns on the floor tiles flowing into each other in vaguely geometric shapes, but the roaring fire in the hearth to one side, plus the clean, unadorned nature of the pool, helped to alleviate the cloying weight of the intricate artistry along the walls. Furthermore, while three of the walls were covered in moldings similar to those they had already seen, the fourth was a large sheet of glass which looked out over the steppes. The hotel was built at the very edge of town, with nothing but miles and miles of driving snow between them and the Equestrian border. It was one of the purest, most beautiful scenes of untouched nature Ditzy had ever seen--and she lived in a town next to the Everfree forest.

She heard another splash, and looked down to see two ponies in the pool. Neither seemed to have noticed them. The first was a mare with an emerald-green coat who sat in what looked like a throne made entirely out of water. Her back was to them, but based on her regal stature as she reclined in her throne, and the sharp, confident tone of her voice as she talked to her companion, she reminded Ditzy of Rarity. The other pony had a yellow coat and a thick, muscular build; perhaps not quite as much as Big Macintosh, but close to it. He seemed content to massage one of the other pony’s forelegs with his hooves, avoiding the throne itself, and listen.

The Elements looked at each other for a moment, and then Trixie shrugged and walked forwards. “Excuse me,” she called. “We’re the Elements of Harmony. Are you Ice Heart’s friends?”

Both ponies swiveled, the green one almost falling out of her throne before the yellow dashed forwards and caught her. As she recovered, her bottom half left the water, and Ditzy’s eyes widened. She didn’t have back legs at all, but rather, a tail. Like those seaponies we saw at Andalantis, she thought. I didn’t know any lived within Equestria’s borders.

“What are you doing here?” asked the green pony, naked suspicion in her voice. Behind her, the throne began to dissolve. “This is a private conversation.”

“No, but--” Trixie took another step forwards, but the yellow pony moved between them and held up a hoof in the universal gesture of ‘stop.’ “Look, we just wanted to say hello. My name is Trixie Lulamoon, Element of Magic, and these are my friends, the other Elements of Harmony. We’re all up here facing a windigo together, so we thought we might want to introduce ourselves.”

“I see no reason for that,” sniffed the pony. “I used to be a princess, you know, and--”

“And we’re honored to meet you,” interjected Ditzy. She fixed a kind smile on her face and added, “We’d just like to say hello for a few minutes. Would that be alright?”

The earth pony glanced at Ditzy, blinked, and then leaned closer to the seapony and whispered into her ear. She paused and then seated herself on a bit of water which she levitated until she could see the whole group. “I see,” she said, her gaze locking onto Ditzy’s. “Of course. You there, in the gray coat. Who are you?”

“Ditzy Doo, mailmare.”

“Very nice to meet you, Ditzy,” said the seapony. “And these other ponies are friends of yours?”

Ditzy nodded. “My best friends,” she said.

“Well…” the seapony glanced at the earth pony and nodded. “That’s all right then. Vicereine Puissance really did find the perfect bodyguards for little Ice Heart, didn’t she?”

“Yup,” said the earth pony.

The green mare turned back to the knights. “Please, come in. The water is excellent. Vicereine Puissance had one of her mages enchant it to the absolute perfect temperature.”

Trixie, Carrot Top, and Raindrops stared in confusion, but Ditzy smiled. Kindness always works. “Thank you. What are your names?”

“You may call me Stream Dreams; this is Bones,” said the seapony. She lowered her water spout down as the Elements approached so that she was sitting just slightly above the water, at their eye level. “And if you don’t mind me saying so, Miss Doo…”

“Yes?” asked Ditzy,

“You have beautiful eyes.”

Ditzy froze for a moment, gaping at Stream Dreams, as she had once gaped at the various other ponies who had openly mocked her strabismus. But the seapony didn’t sound malicious or cruel. She sounded sincere. And when she met Ditzy’s wall-eyed gaze, she did it without flinching, and with the kind of look that other ponies cast upon runway models. She meant it.

While Ditzy was working out her reaction to that, Trixie interjected. “We don't mean to disturb you. We were just wondering where Ice Heart is?”

“Oh, he’s around somewhere in the wing. You might try the kitchen; he has quite the sweet tooth.” Stream Dream smiled. “Like many foals, I suppose.”

“How did you meet him?” asked Cheerilee.

“You could say we all live in the same neighborhood--Bones, Ice Heart, myself, some others.”

Bones nodded. “Yup.”

Raindrops frowned. “How did that happen?”

“Vicereine Puissance has a… knack, you could say, for helping certain ponies find friends,” said Stream Dream. “When I first came to Equestria by myself, I didn’t know anypony. But the Vicereine, she found me and helped me find some great ponies to live with. Like little Ice Heart. Or my big strong stallion.” She leaned over and smooched Bones, and the yellow pony blushed red. “One of her many gifts.”

Trixie was kneeling to look closer at the water. Ditzy, meanwhile, said, “Many gifts?”

“She’s one of the most generous mares I know. For example, do you see how big this swimming pool is? Well, the Vicereine knew I wasn’t happy on dry land, so she arranged to have one even larger than this installed at my residence. And then she provided the finest seaweed and kelp, harvested every day, and all the fresh sushi I could want…” Stream Dream licked her lips. “An excellent mare.”

“Yup,” added Bones.

Ditzy frowned and made a mental note to ask Cheerilee what ‘sushi’ was later. “She sounds very kind,” she said aloud.

“She is.” Stream Dream reached up a wave to caress under Bones’ neck. He gave a deep sigh, though the wave fell apart after a few moments. Stream Dream shook her head and turned to the Elements. “Actually, Trixie, if you're the Element of Magic, perhaps you have some advice for me. I would love to use my magic to make Bones as happy as he makes me, but since he’s immune, that is… difficult. Do you know of a solution?”

“Immune?” Trixie’s eyes widened. “Oh! You mean, he’s a null pony!”

“Null pony?” asked Carrot Top.

“Earth ponies who are immune to magic,” said Cheerilee. “Very rare, but not unheard of.”

“Exactly,” said Stream Dream. “If I wanted to warm him up on a cold night, for example, I couldn’t simply heat the water in his body, as I could do with anypony else. I can’t even bring him along with me when I move about; my water structures collapse as soon as they touch him.” She looked at Ditzy. “It’s not the kind of thing we talk about often, but… well, you’re obviously trustworthy, Trixie. If you come up with any ideas, you’ll let us know, won’t you?”

Trixie looked at the other Elements and mouthed the word ‘trustworthy?’ but neither Ditzy nor the others seemed to have an answer for her. “I’ll think about it tonight,” the illusionist said at last. “But, um, in the meantime, we should go find Ice Heart. Kitchen, you said?”

"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse us..."

She turned back to Bones. Ditzy opened her mouth to ask why Stream Dream had looked at her before declaring Trixie trustworthy, but then closed it, unsure of what to say. She just turned and followed her friends as they continued into Puissance's wing of the hotel.

Author's Note

Thanks to RainbowDoubleDash for providing Puissance's list of titles.

Ponies of the Vault (2)

At least the kitchen, Ditzy thought, was refreshingly free of creepy architecture.

The walls and floor were white tile, interspersed with gleaming silver racks of dishes and cooking equipment. Tall lights blazed at regular intervals around the room and chased away the lingering shadows which seemed to have taken over the rest of the hotel. More fires burned in each of three massive ovens, and Ditzy could see a wide array of pans, trays, and tins baking at various positions within them.

"If Ice Heart and his friends ate before us, and we just ate with Puissance, who's this for?" wondered Cheerilee.

"The servants?" ventured Raindrops.

A door in the back of the room opened and a brown-coated pegasus flew out. Without even glancing towards the Elements, he swooped down to one of the counters and set down the large bag of flour he was holding. He picked up a lump of dough with his forehooves and began to knead it with strong, steady motions. Meanwhile, with his left wing he carefully poured flour into yet another pan, whisking in sugar and salt with his second left wing--

Second left wing?

Ditzy gawked as the pony extended his two right wings to grab more containers, smoothly passing them to the left side of his body even as his hooves kept kneading and his left wings continued to mix the flour with the other basic ingredients. It was such a strange image that she didn't know how to react. She just watched as he worked with an almost ethereal grace, his four wings in constant motion as they manipulated ingredients and passed items from side to side. At any given time, he was doing four or five different things--kneading, scraping the zest from a lemon, measuring out a teaspoon of vanilla, reaching for a fruit mixture--but his motions were so graceful and controlled that he seemed almost to be standing still. Ditzy thought she was a decent baker, good enough at least to keep her little muffin happy, but she knew her talents were nothing compared with this--especially when he had two extra limbs to work with.

Trixie looked at the others. "Alright," she murmured. "I'm going to say hi. This time, let's--"

"Is that a croquembouche?"

The Elements turned to Lyra, who was extending a hoof towards what looked like a cone made up of little pastry balls in one of the ovens. The pegasus looked up too. "I'm sorry?" he asked.

"That's a croquembouche!" said Lyra, hopping up and down. "Oh, I love croquembouche, but they're so hard to make! Bonbon's only made it once, during Hearth's Warming last year, and it took her hours and hours to do it!" She crossed to the ovens in moments and peered inside. "But it was sooo good." A big grin seemed to fill out her entire face. "And is that real demerara sugar?"

"Yes," said the pegasus slowly. "However--while I appreciate your interest, I cannot interrupt my baking--"

"Right, right, of course. Just one more question." Lyra put her forehooves together in a pleading gesture. "Can I have a little bite?"

"All of the Vicereine's servants are welcome to anything I bake unless I designate it for myself, my friends, or the Vicereine..." The pegasus' voice trailed off. "And all of her servants authorized to be here would know that. You don't work for the Vicereine." He froze for a moment before slamming his wings against his side, tucking his lower two wings under his upper two. "Who are you?" he demanded at Lyra. "What do you want?"

Trixie hurried forwards and held up a hoof, moving between Lyra and the baker. "You don't need to be afraid of us," she said. "We're the Elements of Harmony. We're here to protect everypony from the windigo in case anything happens. Princess Luna herself requested us."

The pegasus did not seem mollified. "Does Vicereine Puissance know you're here?"

The Elements exchanged looks before Ditzy said, "Yes. We just ate dinner with her, in fact." She thought that he might not believe they had really met the Vicereine--he looked very nervous--so, recalling that she was said to never wear the same outfit twice, she added, "At dinner, the Vicereine was wearing an emerald-studded dress and a silver necklace with a red ruby at its base."

"The ruby was cut in a pattern commonly found in Caballerian gemstones," added Cheerilee.

At that, the pegasus did relax slightly. "Then you did meet her today. Well, if she vouches for you, I have no objections. You can stay." He lowered his head back to his work, his hooves and wings already beginning to move between the bowls in front of him. "If you would like something to eat, that table there has my finished goods." He pointed at a long table set under a warming rack. "Just don't touch anything in the black-and-red platter. Those are for TIM, and he hates when others take his sweets."

The Elements approached the table. Even though she had just eaten--and was in fact quite stuffed--Ditzy's mouth began to water as the scents of the baked goods wafted towards her muzzle. "They smell delicious," she said, picking up a banana-nut muffin. It was so light and fluffy that its crumbs seemed to hang in the air as they fell. "Thank you."

"So!" said Trixie. "Who are you?"

"My name is Bounty Beaux Baker."

"And who is Tim?" asked Cheerilee.

"TIM is--oh." Bounty glanced to one side and let out a soft sigh. "You'll see in a moment. Like I said, he doesn’t like when ponies eat his sweets."

Confused, Ditzy turned to look at Trixie, only to see her friend munching one of the slices of cake on the platter that was glazed with black and red stripes. The illusionist blushed. "Okay, in fairness to me, this one has bourbon in it. How could I resist?"

The Elements laughed, but before Ditzy could say anything, a flash of darkness crossed the corner of her eye. She turned--and gasped. "Girls, look! Under that door!"

A mixture of what looked like smoke and shadow was pouring into the room, spreading out under the crack in the door and moving through the keyhole as well. Part of the shadow formed into a giant hand which turned the knob and opened the door, releasing a huge mass of the black substance into the room. It paused for a moment, then charged directly at Trixie.

"Uh," said Raindrops. "Bounty? What's going on?"

"WHAT'S GOING ON, YOU ASK?" boomed the smoke. A head formed within it, looking like a black-coated stallion with red highlight in his mane and very sharp teeth. "YOU HAVE DEVOURED SUCCOR AND SUSTENANCE THAT IS NOT YOURS!" A thundering boom echoed from within his body. "NOW YOU MUST FACE THE WRATH OF TITAN! INVINCIBLEUS! MONARCH!"

Ditzy froze, but Cheerilee and Raindrops had already run to her on either side, and the latter put a hoof out to steady her. "Don't worry," growled Raindrops. "Whatever this is, we've got this."

"Girls!" said Trixie as Monarch continued to approach. "Get ready to fight!"

"FIGHT?" laughed Monarch. "YOU WON'T HAVE A CHANCE! FIRST, YOU'LL SUFFER MY WRATH! YOU'LL FALL BEFORE MY POWER! YOU'LL... YOU'LL..."

And then the smoke coalesced into the form of a solid black stallion, who immediately fell over laughing.

"You’ll get really funny looks on your faces!" He was guffawing so hard that tears were coming from his eyes. "You should see yourselves! You’re all so tense you look like you’re going to explode!" He waved a hoof weakly in the air. "Name's Titan Invincibleus Monarch, but you can just call me TIM. Nice to meet ya." He let out a few more giggles before relaxing on the ground. "Hey Bounty. Are these some new recruits Puissance found for us?"

"No. They're here to guard us from the windigo," said Bounty.

"What, even the gray one with the pretty eyes?"

Ditzy blinked. "Um--"

"Hang on," said Raindrops. "That whole smoke-and-thunder thing was a joke?"

"You got it!"

Raindrops growled. "It wasn't very funny."

TIM looked at her for a moment before rolling back to his hooves and prostrating himself in a bow. "Alright. I'm sorry. I was merely trying to add a touch of excitement to an otherwise dull evening. But if I have offended, I humbly beg your pardon." He winked roguishly at Raindrops. "Will you ever forgive me?"

"It's not personal," Bounty chimed in. "He does that to everyone when he first meets them. We're not sure why."

"Just trying to brighten up the place, Triple-B."

"If you want it brighter, maybe you should ask for those permanent rainclouds to be moved away from your house," said Bounty.

“Ah, but my muse, she is a fickle beast. She won’t come out unless the gloom is so thick you can practically taste it.”

Trixie held up a hoof. "Wait. Titan Invincibleus Monarch... TIM, right?"

"At your service, milady," said TIM. "Prankster, jokester, and occasional novelist. Want an autograph?"

"No." Trixie looked at the others, then said, "Your magic. I can 'see' it with a spell, and it only matches one other type of magic I've ever known. In the castle, Princess Luna has a few artifacts enchanted by Sombra... the despot of the Crystal Kingdom. And the magic on those artifacts looks just like the spell you used." She took a breath. "You studied forbidden magic, didn’t you?"

Ditzy and the other Elements moved closer together.

TIM shrugged cheekily. "Guess you caught me. Knew I shouldn't have sacrificed a gross of carrots to Tirek in exchange for..." His muzzle twitched, and then he burst into laughter again. "Naw, it's nothing like that. I've always been able to go all smokey, ever since I was a little foal. I was a right handful to my parents, let me tell you. Always turning to mist and drifting out the windows..."

Ditzy tilted her head, not knowing what to say. She did observe that Carrot Top looked rather put out, probably thanks to the bit about sacrificing a gross of carrots.

"TIM is a descendant of King Sombra," said Bounty in the resigned tone of one who knew his kitchen would be filled with chatter for several more minutes. "And inherited his powers of turning to smoke and shadow."

"Hey, at least I got one of the good powers. All my cousin DOTTIE can do is make stairways four times as long." He paused. “You really don’t want to know what that stands for.”

Trixie opened her mouth to say something, but Cheerilee hurried forwards. "TIM," she said, "It was very nice of you to introduce yourself, but I have a question for Mr. Baker." Her tone was pleasant, but Ditzy knew her well enough to know that Cheerilee had an ulterior purpose in mind. "Bounty, you said this food was for Vicereine Puissance's servants?"

"Yes." Bounty had moved back to the oven and was using two hooves and all four wings to shuffle the pans, pushing some closer towards the fire and pulling others back. "Why?"

"Well, I noticed there was an awful lot of it," said Cheerilee. "And when we really began to examine it, Mr. TIM showed up and we learned his delightful story. It was so interesting that I almost forgot that you cooked four or five times as much food as you would need for the staff here." Her voice grew syrupy-sweet. "Is there somepony else here with us, Mr. Baker? Is somepony perhaps expected?"

"No," said Bounty. "Not at all."

"Then why all the extra food?"

"Practice."

Cheerilee paused. “‘Practice?’”

“Yes.” Bounty looked up, and Ditzy saw a frown creasing his features. "I am an artist," he said. "I create with food, just as others create with paint, or marble, or text on a page. To reach the epitome of my craft, I must continuously train myself. I endeavor to bake for at least twelve hours a day. What does it matter if nopony can eat it? I practice, I taste, and I improve."

"You must be rich," Carrot Top said. "To be able to bake so many goods nopony can eat. I mean, I've done some cooking, but I could never train like that."

"The Vicereine pays for everything," said Bounty. "Just like she pays for all of TIM's writing equipment."

TIM nodded. "When I'm not scaring ponies, I'm a novelist. Got my fifteenth book coming out next month. You're all fans of the Love and Magic in Fillydelphia series, right?"

"You write those?" gasped Raindrops. She blushed red, and when she next spoke, she sounded almost reverent. "Those are my favorite romance--" Her gaze suddenly darted back to her friends, several of whom were smiling. "I mean, um, I'm familiar with them."

"Aw, no need to be shy! Everypony loves Fillydelphia!" said TIM. "My best-selling book series! We should talk about it later." He winked again. "Hey, want to know if Sweetie Pie chooses the kelpie or the night-mare in the next book? I might be able to rustle up an Advanced Reader Copy for a fan."

"Breathe, Raindrops," murmured Carrot Top, and Ditzy turned to see that Raindrops' face was shining like Hearth's Warming Eve had come early. "Remember to breathe."

Cheerilee glanced at Trixie before turning back to the baker and the novelist. "Vicereine Puissance provides you with everything you need? That's... generous."

"That was how she persuaded me to move to the Vault," said Bounty. "The promise of the opportunity to pursue my craft at a level I could never reach outside."

"The Vault?" asked Ditzy. She didn't think Stream Dream or Bones had mentioned any vault, and Puissance certainly hadn't. "What's that?"

"It's sort of an..." Bounty hesitated and glanced at TIM before continuing. "Artist's colony. The Vicereine has collected about a hundred and fifty of us ponies and provides us with all that we need in order to excel in our various creative endeavors. For me, she ensures I have access to the finest ingredients and equipment to be found on the continent." He gestured at his dishes, a proud smile crossing his face. "Before I met her, I had to make do with whatever I could afford... coarse flour ground from cheap wheat, whatever fruit happened to be ripe at the moment, a few spices if I was lucky and the traveling merchant got to my village before selling her entire inventory en route. Now..." He sighed wistfully. "If I desire the pulp of a cactus from Tapira or a rare sugar produced by a particular family-owned bakery in Pferdreich, I need only ask, and in a day or two it arrives at my doorstep. There is no comparison."

"And," said TIM, "She got me an agent, a publicist, the very best typewriters... perfect setup." He grinned. "You know, before I moved to the Vault, I spent half my time just on the business end of things. Had to do publicity, contracts, go to literary conventions... and then a paparazzi caught me going all shadow-y, and suddenly everypony was panicking about me being Sombra reincarnated. Couldn't get too many panels after that. But now that Puissance handles all the publicity and business stuff, my only job is to write, and I'm up to three novels a year. Let me tell you--this is the life."

"I agree." Bounty chuckled. "My special talent is baking. That's what I want to do with my life, and that's what makes me happy. But I was spending hours and hours a day on other tasks, things I didn't care about but I had to do anyways just to keep my bakery open. Advertising, cleaning, running the counter, going to court when some upstart stole my recipes... and each chore was another minute, or hour, or day of my life wasted." He shook his head. "I would never have been able to do what I love and just bake out there. But now I can get my twelve hours a day in and still have a few hours left to plan for the next. Vicereine Puissance truly is the most generous patron I could have asked for."

Ditzy, who was beginning to feel slightly creeped out, said, "It sounds like you're very lucky."

"Yeah," agreed TIM. "Trust me, sometimes I don't know how I lucked into this--"

"Luck had nothing to do with it," said Bounty. "The Vicereine saw our talent and potential, and she saw that we would never be able to be our best without support. That was why she offered to help us. But it was us who had the potential in the beginning." He glanced up at Ditzy. "She's always looking for more talented individuals. You might want to speak with her about it later."

"We'll consider it," said Trixie, before Ditzy could respond. "However, right now we're trying to find Ice Heart. We already saw Steam Dream and Bones in the pool, do you know where anypony else is?"

The two looked at each other. "Have you tried the grand ballroom?" TIM asked. “I think Silver was working on her next project there.”

"We'll go there next," said Trixie. "Thanks."

The Elements left the room. Ditzy had to force herself not to run.

***

Ditzy was no longer surprised when she looked into the next room and saw a very unusual pony.

The floor of the ballroom had been covered in a large white tarp, and a block of pure marble had been set in its center. A silver-coated pony was carving into the stone with a hammer and chisel. She had a moderately sized horn, and at first glance she looked almost like Ponyville’s resident librarian Twilight Sparkle. But then she stuck out a wing to steady herself as she chiseled at the top of the marble, and the differences became apparent.

“A pegasus-unicorn hybrid?” murmured Raindrops. “Okay, so that’s one seapony, one null pony, one hybrid, one double pegasus, and one guy of Sombra’s bloodline. What, is she collecting unusual ponies?”

“Not just a hybrid.” Cheerilee pointed. “Look at her wings.”

When the pony turned, Ditzy could see her body in better detail. Most of it looked healthy, but her wings were an exception. They were atrophied and weak, moving slightly as if she were a foal who didn’t have the muscular strength to hold them steady yet. The one on the left was also missing a few feathers.

After another few glances, Trixie stepped forwards. “Hello,” she said. “We--”

With an audible growl, the pony wheeled around. “I’m working,” she snapped. “Don’t interrupt me.”

“We just want to say hello,” said Carrot Top.

“I happen to know that Vicereine Puissance gave strict orders to all her servants that none of us are to be disturbed when in the middle of our artistic endeavors. I shall see to it that she’s notified that you--”

“Oh, calm down Silver,” said another pony. Ditzy turned to see that an orange-coated unicorn was lounging in one of the couches on the side of the room. She had a large tank filled with an orange liquid by her hooves, and she was sketching something on a pad that levitated before her. “It’s not everyday we get to show our wares to new people!” She rolled over and hopped to her hooves. “Hi, I’m Orangerie, and this is Silver Sculptress! I work with oranges, she sculpts. It’s great to meet you!”

Maybe it was just that she seemed to be the first pony in the hotel that seemed genuinely happy to see them, but Ditzy felt herself smiling at the orange unicorn. “It’s nice to meet you too,” she said. “We’re the Elements of Harmony--”

“The ones that saved us from Corona? That’s so cool!” Orangerie grinned. “I’ve never met heroes before. Is it true that one of you grew thirty feet tall and punched her pet dragon in the face?”

Raindrops blushed and held up a hoof. “Uh, sort of…”

“That’s so exciting!” Orangerie squeaked. “You know what? Heroes like you deserve something special! I’m gonna make you a glass of my super-special orange juice!” She ran to the tank and began pouring the orange juice into cups. “Did you know this hotel has its own orangerie? I didn’t even know you could grow oranges this far north! But the Vicereine said that this hotel was built to entertain all these big delegations, so they had to make sure it had absolutely everything anypony might want so the delegates would be happy! And I guess they got a bunch of delegates that liked nature cause there's a little greenhouse at the end of the wing." She used her magic to rotate the cups under a continuous stream of juice which she poured from her tank. "The oranges up here are actually really good. I just added a little magic, souped ‘em up, and squeezed ‘em down!” She hoofed a glass to Ditzy. “Try some! It’s the best orange juice you’ve ever had!”

“I don’t know if--” began Cheerilee.

Ditzy smiled. “Of course I’ll try some. Thank you, Orangerie.” She took a sip--and then stiffened at the heavy sensations that crashed through her mind.

It was like every part of her had grown a tongue and was licking an orange simultaneously. It was like she was in a sea of orange juice, letting its citrusy scent waft up her muzzle and its sticky pulp soak into her coat. It was like she was on a beach eating a slice of orange that was bursting with so much flavor it filled up her entire body. It was like she was one with the very essence of oranges.

When she came back to herself several seconds later, she saw everypony staring at her. “Uh,” she said, holding a hoof to her head. “That tasted…” She had to take another moment to think of how to describe it. “Like you took the flavors from a hundred oranges and concentrated them into that one sip.”

Orangerie’s smile grew. “So you like it?”

“I suppose--”

“YAY!” Orangerie cheered. “Now, you try some!” And she shoved a glass into Carrot Top’s hooves.

The farmer blanched. “I’m more of a carrot pony myself…”

“I guess you’re the mad scientist of your artist’s colony?” asked Raindrops.

“Ponies keep saying that, but I don’t feel that mad,” said Orangerie. “I guess I’m more of a happy scientist.” She giggled. “So you know about the Vault, huh? When did VP hire you?”

“Vicereine Puissance,” corrected Silver Sculptress. “She earned that title; it’s only proper to state it and not abbreviate it.”

Orangerie shrugged, though Ditzy thought she saw a faint eye-roll on her part. “Okay. When did you start working for Vicereine Puissance?”

“We’re not her servants,” said Trixie, a slight note of exasperation in her voice. “I’m sorry, but why does everypony keep asking us that? Do you really never meet any new ponies besides her servants? What kind of artist colony is this?”

“A refuge.”

The Elements and Orangerie turned to Silver Sculptress, who, like Bounty, hadn’t looked up from her work. “The Vault is a place where unusual and different ponies can go to live their lives free of persecution, doing what makes them happy without having to hide themselves.There’s a lot of ponies who could do great things, but can’t, because they have both wings and a horn. Or extra wings. Or a tail instead of back legs. Or they aren’t affected by magic. Before, ponies like us had to spend our time trying to fit in so the others would accept us. In the Vault, we can be who we really are.” She finally looked back, her gaze falling on Ditzy. “Does that sound appealing to you?”

“Me?” asked Ditzy, taking a step backwards involuntarily. “Why me?”

“I’m sure a pony with eyes like yours--beautiful though they are--has endured your share of bullying and hate,” said Sculptress. “And the Vicereine, I’m sure, knows it too. I could ask her if she would be willing to let you move to the Vault. Everypony you met would accept you as you are, not treat you like a freak. You could make true friends like you’ve never had before.” The silver pony nodded. “Are you interested?”

Ditzy felt like something slimy was being draped around her shoulders. There had been a few times in Fillydelphia, during her wild youth, when drunken suitors had hit on her in bars. This felt similar, except more so. “No thank you,” she said at last. “I appreciate the offer, but I have friends--true friends--in Ponyville, where I live now. And none of them look at me as a freak.”

“Do they look at you at all?” challenged Sculptress.

Ditzy’s mouth opened, but she couldn’t think of anything to say to that. Looking at her friends, they seemed at a loss for words as well. Finally, Trixie said, “I’m surprised we hadn’t heard about this colony before. I’d think that word would leak out, even if just from ponies that she asked who said no.”

“I’ve never heard of anypony saying no,” said Orangerie. “I mean, the Vault’s one of the best places to live in the world! No taxes, no monsters, and total security.” She smiled. “If you don’t want to join, that’s totally okay. It’s not for everypony. But she’s asked about a hundred and fifty people so far, and I’m pretty sure just about all of them said yes. We’ve got all kinds of folks, from hybrids, to ponies with special bloodlines or manifestations of their magic, to creatures that aren’t ponies, like a baku tapir. If you don’t fit in anywhere else, you’re welcome there.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” asked Trixie, “What makes you… uh…”

Orangerie smiled warmly. “Special?” she asked. “Turns out I’m a hybrid too--unicorn and earth pony. Went almost my whole life without knowing it, but there it was.” She chuckled. “I actually almost didn’t make it to the Vicereine’s attention. I mean, she has agents out looking for ponies like Bounty and Silver Sculptress, you know? Ponies who don’t fit in and need a safe place to go. But she’d never have found me if she hadn’t started testing all the other ponies in her province.”

Cheerilee blinked. “I’m sorry. Testing?”

“You know how there’s some spells that can let you see a pony’s tribal magic?” asked Orangerie. “They’re useful if you want to see if somepony’s overchanneling, or underchanneling, or doing magic wrong some other way. So the Vicereine launched a big public health initiative in her provinces to have unicorns scanned regularly. It’s actually reduced overchanneling injuries by almost twenty percent, since ponies are catching it early more often. But it turns out those spells can also detect hybrids by seeing if a pony has multiple types of tribal magic. So when I went in to get tested one day… well, that was when I learned I was a hybrid. And that I qualified to live in the best place in Equestria.” Orangerie grinned. “Yeah, that was a good day.”

An uncomfortable silence once again filled the room before Carrot Top ventured, “And the Vicereine brought all one hundred and fifty of you up here?”

“Oh, no. We wouldn’t all fit in her airship!” Orangerie giggled. “Ice Heart didn’t want to come alone, so she let him pick seven friends. We all came with. The rest are still at the Vault.”

Trixie frowned. “You, Sculptress, Stream, Bones, Bounty, and the Sombra dork,” she said. “We’re missing one.”

“The seventh friend is in her suite,” said Silver Sculptress. “She won’t come out for anypony except the Vicereine herself.”

Orangerie frowned. “She had a… bad life before meeting the Vicereine. She’s very shy. I can try to introduce you later, but it’d probably be best not to bother her right now.”

Ditzy saw Trixie pause and then turn back to confer with Cheerilee. Then Orangerie walked up to her, still grinning. “It’s great to meet you,” she said. “Do you want more orange juice?”

“I’m fine for now. But actually…” A smile crossed Ditzy’s face. As much as Sculptress and some of the other ponies had made her feel nervous, Orangerie, at least, seemed like a genuinely nice pony. “Could I take some home with me when we leave? I have a feeling my little muffin might enjoy some.”

“I’ll pack you a bottle,” said Orangerie. “Foals can’t have too much orange juice, that’s what I always say. What’s the name of yours?”

“Dinky Doo,” said Ditzy. “Do you have any foals?”

Orangerie tilted her head. “Well, actually--”

“Ditzy!” called Trixie. “Don’t get too distracted. We need to keep looking.”

Ditzy frowned, but quickly said goodbye to Orangerie and went back to Trixie. “What’s wrong?”

“We still haven’t found Ice Heart,” said Trixie. “And I’m starting to get worried. Come on.”

As they left the room, Trixie leaned in close to Ditzy. “And, uh… if you’re getting creeped out by all this attention, you can take a break or something. I mean, I’d probably be weirded out if other ponies kept focusing on me like that.”

Ditzy thought for a moment. Orangerie was nice, but the rest of them… in all honesty, when Silver Sculptress looked at her, she felt almost like a zoo exhibit. Now that Trixie mentioned it, a short break would be nice. “I'll find one of the servants and have them get my coat, and then I’ll just step outside for a few minutes,” she said. “Clear my head. Meet you back here in fifteen?”

Trixie nodded. “You got it.”

***

Vicereine Puissance was standing in the snow-filled courtyard when she saw Dame Ditzy step outside.

The courtyard was a small square set between the hotel’s four wings that was open to the outside elements. Illuminated only by the moon and a few torches that shone through the windows of the hotel, it was a dark and shadowy place. Ditzy’s gaze passed over the dark corner in which Puissance was standing without pausing for a moment, and the Vicereine concluded that the mare had missed her. She, however, could see Ditzy just fine, as the younger pegasus had stopped under a lighted window.

The mailmare was wearing a new brown jacket with only a faint few scuff marks to indicate use. It was a heavy jacket, the kind that cost money, and so was perhaps a superficial indication that Ditzy had some financial means. But that thought was belied by Ditzy’s motions; she walked carefully through the deep snowdrifts, keeping a good bit of clearance not just from the walls of the hotel but from the trees and other objects in the courtyard. She walked so gingerly it was like she was afraid of the coat. Or, more precisely, like she was afraid of damaging it.

These were feelings Puissance well understood, though she of course had never needed to worry about such things. She could imagine the mailmare scrimping and saving for months, eating grass for lunch and begging off on social activities, to accumulate enough bits to purchase a brand new jacket. When she bought it, she was likely quite excited as she tried it on, imagining the comfort with which she could endure the most punishing winter weather. But as soon as the bits changed hooves, doubt would begin to creep in. If she damaged the coat, ripped it in any way, then all that comfort could be lost as the wind slipped in through the cracks and again chilled her to the core. Furthermore, she wouldn’t be able to afford another such coat for quite some time; she would have blown her only chance and would be condemned to the cold for yet more months. So she had to move as if she were wearing a coat made of teacups and eggs, hesitant to even brush it against another surface for fear of breaking it.

It was almost sad, Puissance thought, and what’s worse, it was so unnecessary. Ditzy Doo was an Element of Harmony. She had saved Equestria multiple times over. If she wanted a new jacket, all she needed to do was look up some clothiers and offer her friendship. Half of them would be so overwhelmed with gratitude for their saviour that they would give her a wonderful new jacket on the spot, and the other half could easily be persuaded to part with it in exchange for some public endorsement by a national hero. If she only understood the kind of riches she could have, Ditzy would never be cold or hungry again. Puissance shook her head. It was too bad that some mares just couldn’t grasp such things.

Of course, Puissance was not among those mares. She glanced down at the ruby around her neck and smiled. If offered at auction, it would likely go for tens of millions of bits. And yet she had picked it up for the price of a postcard…

It had been several decades ago, only a few months after her parents had retired and Luna had graced her with the title of Vicereine. She had taken to her duties with the care and diligence demanded of any decent member of the House of Optiebeurs-Golo, but in her few free moments, she had begun traveling through her provinces and seeing what there was to see. She needed to know every detail, she had thought, about the territories Luna had graced her with the privilege of ruling, and what better way to learn than to actually go to each of her villages, towns, and major cities, and explore them for herself? That would give her a much better understanding of what she owned than just reading some bureaucrat’s report. And, as an added bonus, there were some astounding treasures that had been forgotten in the most unlikely of places, just waiting for a smart young mare like Puissance to seek them out.

The day when she had found the ruby had begun like any other of her expeditions. She had arranged for transportation to yet another little town in Palomino, a farming community on its border which had never produced any notable citizens or witnessed interesting events in its entire existence. Her jewel-studded carriage had deposited her just out of sight of the town, and after instructing it to come back in the evening, she had disembarked and begun to walk. After a quick circuit of the town to get the lay of the land, she sought out a citizen who looked like he knew something ,and asked to see the most interesting treasures or sights the town had to offer. Citizens didn’t always want to help her right away, especially if they didn’t recognize her, but she was the Vicereine and her special talent was authority. They yielded in the end.

Sometimes they took her to someplace lovely; a little museum with works of art by some skilled local painter, or a statue garden set in a bucolic park, or a library which contained some rare and forgotten works by great scholars. And sometimes the town truly had nothing of importance to offer, in which case she found herself looking at a sagging dance floor which was the town’s grandest social venue, or a run-down historical society which only demonstrated the village’s total lack of worthwhile history, or Equestria's third-largest ball of twine. But this day was different. Puissance found herself being led to the town’s only four-story building and up three flights of narrow, cramped stairs. At its top was a studio apartment, and in that apartment was a mare who was richer than any of the big-city elites Puissance had met in her wanderings. The mare hadn’t wanted to talk to her either, not at first, but Puissance knew how to invoke her authority. She was in the apartment within five minutes, and she learned the occupant’s tale soon after.

The mare’s name was Red Rose. She had--as Puissance learned over a few cups of some truly dreadful tea--married young to a rich old stallion who was on his last legs and had wanted a pretty wife to take care of and comfort him in his final days. She had played her part to perfection, dutifully tending to his every whim, ministering to his increasing pains, and professing how fortunate she was to have met such a wonderful pony before he left the world forever. They had been married at his hospital bedside in a heartwarming ceremony; the stallion had even declared that he thought himself the luckiest pony in the world to meet a wife who was so attentive and caring even to one as sick and weak as him. When he died a month later, of course, she inherited everything.

But then a funny thing had happened. Red Rose, having gained millions of bits, found herself feeling something very much akin to shame. She had tried to bury herself in luxury, but even at its most decadent, her material gains couldn’t make her feel better. Nor, as it turned out, did the donations of staggering sums to worthy charities. Beset by ennui and unease, she had retired to a quiet life in an unknown town as she tried to figure out what to do with her life. In Puissance’s judgement, she hadn’t worked it out yet.

The Vicereine hadn’t cared one whit for the mare’s story, but her gaze had been drawn to a particular ruby sitting on a mantel as soon as she had entered. She knew well what it was; she studied notable gems and jewelry pieces frequently, knowing that she was likely to come across some in her travels and needed to know what they were in order to have a chance of acquiring them. The famous Fire Ruby of Ink Blot, one of a set of seven famous magical gemstones, was apparently one of the many possessions that Red Rose had inherited. Puissance wanted that ruby. But she could tell--from Red Rose’s meandering, self-pitying, and deeply boring story--that money would be no help in obtaining it. Red Rose didn’t want money; she had too much of it already. Puissance would need to find another way, and for the first time, she wasn’t quite sure how.

When her carriage finally brought her back to her own estate, Puissance convened a meeting of her advisors and confidants and demanded their advice. Some suggested she try to shame Red Rose, using the power of her office to call her out for manipulating a dying stallion into willing her his entire fortune, and thereby driving her to donate the results of that manipulation to a suitable charity in penance--such as a charity that was owned by a corporation that was owned by a trust that was owned by the Vicereine. Others thought she should look for Red Rose’s friends and lean on them to urge Red Rose to give up the ruby. One suggested that Puissance hire a burglar to just steal the ruby and was fired on the spot. Puissance wanted that gem, but she wasn’t going to risk all her other possessions and her freedom for it. Besides--she wanted that gem to be hers. And if she had to keep it secreted away for fear of discovery, if she woke up at night terrified that some servant or janitor had recognized it and contacted the authorities, if she felt a jolt of fear every time Luna summoned her in case it was to arrest her for taking that gem… well, then it wasn’t really hers, was it? That gem wouldn’t be hers until she could display it, plain as day, to the entire world if need be. Theft was out of the question.

In the end, one of her father’s advisors, a venerable old stallion named Winsome Wisdom, had a suggestion. Red Rose seemed to want spiritual peace, he said, so why not provide it? Find a monastery or a religious order that would accept her and teach her how to cleanse herself of her sins. Most of those orders required novices to cast off worldly possessions, and Puissance could be there to catch them when they fell. Even if they didn’t, Red Rose would surely be grateful enough to the mare who taught her how her soul could be saved that she wouldn’t begrudge her a little present.

The scheme worked perfectly. Puissance wrote to a spiritual leader in Niqab, a camel named Enduring Peace who had long been a friend of the House of Optiebeurs-Golo, and asked him to, as a favor, take on a new initiate. Enduring Peace, whose sect had been saved when Puissance’s mother had successfully pressured other religious orders in Niqab to allow it to exist without fear of destruction, was only too happy to repay the favor. Red Rose’s face had lit up with what was likely her first genuine smile in years when Puissance told her the news; she had embraced the Vicereine in a massive hug, thanked her profusely, and even wept in gratitude at having found such a good friend. She departed for Enduring Peace’s sect that very night, pausing only to insist upon giving Puissance some gift--and though Puissance said she didn’t want anything, she let her gaze land on the Fire Ruby for just a few moments, and when she left that village for the last time ever, she did so with that gem around her neck--and several more in her saddlebag to boot.

Yes, thought Puissance, it had worked well for everypony. Red Rose couldn’t be happier; she wrote Puissance every month, telling her about her new spiritual advancements and how she was becoming a better and better pony, all thanks to her friend the Vicereine. Puissance had long ago hired another pony to read and respond to those letters, of course, but it was quite an achievement to have a mare’s friendship more than half a century later just because of one single deed. The Vicereine had also seen to it that some of Red Rose’s other property had, once she abandoned it, made its way back to the stallion’s other heirs; they were so grateful for her ‘intervention’ that they had publicly praised her, completely unprompted, to Luna when the Princess arrived in Palomino on an inspection tour. And, of course, Puissance had started her collection of Ink Blot’s seven magical gemstones. All for the price of a letter to Niqab.

The thought of letters made her frown. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t think Red Rose had written her in several months. Had something happened to her? Surely she hadn’t died of illness or old age or anything; Puissance felt sure she would have been notified by Enduring Peace’s successor. Her secretary probably just hadn’t mentioned it…

“Oh! Vicereine, I didn’t see you there.”

Puissance was broken out of her thoughts by Ditzy’s voice. “Dame Ditzy,” she said, inclining her head slightly at the bowing mare. “Don’t worry about it. I was lost in my thoughts. Please do forgive an old mare her eccentricities.”

“Of course,” said Ditzy.

“May I ask what you’re doing out here?” asked Puissance. “I hope the hotel is to your satisfaction.”

“It is. I just wanted to get some fresh air.” Ditzy smiled up at the moon. “We don’t usually have such heavy snowfall in Ponyville. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

Puissance nodded. “I always liked snow,” she mused. “Especially fresh snow.”

“Me too,” said Ditzy. She found herself thinking of when she had first come to Ponyville, an unwed pregnant mother that was fleeing the shame and scorn of all those who had known her in Fillydelphia. It had been snowing then too. “It’s a clean environment, isn’t it? Wipes everything clean and gives ponies a chance to make new marks without worrying about the old.”

“Or to make no marks at all.” Puissance said, her own thoughts miles away as well. “Have you ever looked around even a few hours after a snowfall to see how so much of it has gone gray as ponies trampled it? It’s surprisingly hard to preserve fresh snow; a single hoofstep can ruin it. Last year, for my provinces’ first snowfalls, I issued a decree that no hoofstep was to be taken on any of my estates for a full week after the snow came down. Every day that week I awoke to a pure sheet of white around my residence, stretching as far as the eye could see. To look at that perfect beauty, protected even as every other field was trampled underneath hundreds of hooves… it was something quite extraordinary.”

The two mares were silent for a long moment before Ditzy said, “If you don’t mind me asking, aren’t you cold, Vicereine? You’re not wearing a jacket.”

Puissance smiled and brought up one hoof to lift up her ruby and show it to Ditzy. “This is one of Ink Blot’s seven magical gemstones. This particular stone, the Fire Ruby, provides heat. As you can see,” she held out a wing and waited for a few snowflakes to fall on it and immediately evaporate, “It keeps me warm without needing a bulky coat.”

Ditzy’s eyes widened. “That’s incredible,” she said. “Where did you get it?”

“A gift from an old friend.” Puissance lowered the gem and sighed. “But, as much as I enjoy the snow, I feel I should rest soon so that I am ready for the windigo tomorrow. Please excuse me, Dame Ditzy. And enjoy your night.”

“Of course, Vicereine.”

Puissance flew up into the air and glided over the snowdrifts before landing by the door Ditzy had exited from. It hadn’t slipped her notice that Ditzy had used the door connecting to the west wing, where Puissance had ordered them not to go, but that was fine. She had known that it was inevitable that the Elements would meet the Vault ponies she had brought with her on this trip, but this way, she had at least gotten them to violate her request to respect her guests’ privacy, which she could use if the Elements tried to cause trouble for her later. Besides. If Trixie offended the Vault ponies--which seemed almost to be her special talent--it would just reinforce to them the idea that outside ponies, even heroes, would never understand them. That only in the Vault would they be safe.

Smiling to herself, Vicereine Puissance entered the hotel.

***

Ditzy watched the Vicereine leave before slumping down. She hadn’t meant to go off on a tangent; in fact, when she had seen the Vicereine, she had meant to just turn around and go back inside. But Puissance had been staring off into space for so long that Ditzy had felt obligated to see if she was okay, and then one thing had led to another and Ditzy found herself babbling about snow.

She sighed. It had been a long day. Travel always took a lot out of her, and between the creepy hotel, the overbearing Vicereine, and the strange ponies who seemed to think she was one of them, it was a lot to take in. She hoped they found Ice Heart soon so that she could go to bed. Maybe everything would feel better in the morning.

Something moved at the very edge of her peripheral vision. It was a snowdrift, she thought, but then realized that it wasn’t drifting. It was just shaking slightly, like it was laughing at her.

She turned towards it, saw it immediately go still, and began meandering in its general direction. When she reached it, she paused for a moment, then lunged down and plucked up the top of the snowdrift. It wriggled in her grasp before shaking snow off itself and revealing it to be a giggling foal.

Specifically, a giggling foal who seemed to be half made out of ice.

The colt had an orange coat, feathery wings, and straw-colored hair, but veins of cloudy ice ran through all of them, some large enough that it looked more like veins of hair and feathers were running through the ice. One of his eyes was a bright blue color, and the other was glassy ice. When his tail flicked, bits of snow broke off of him and fell to the ground below.

For a moment, Ditzy didn’t know what to do, but then the foal burst into a big smile and the mailmare couldn’t help but smile back. “Aw, you caught me!” said the foal. “I thought I was real quiet!”

“You were,” said Ditzy. “You’re very good at hiding.” She set the foal down. “Ice Heart?”

“Uh huh!” said the colt, nodding quickly. “That’s me! And you must be Ditzy Doo!”

“I am.” Ditzy knelt so she was level with the foal. “You know about me?”

“Of course I do!” said Ice Heart, grinning. “You’re the Element of Harmony with the really cool eyes!”

Father and Son

Ditzy took a few moments to respond. "Thank you," she said. "That's very kind of you to say, Ice Heart."

The colt blushed, his ice taking on a reddish tinge along with his coat. "What're you doing outside?" he asked. "Do you like the snow?"

"I do." Ditzy said. "And you seem to be having fun yourself--"

"It's AWESOME!" Ice Heart's wings fluttered, the frozen one casting a small shower of icy shards, as he flapped up to the top of a larger snowdrift. "This must be the biggest snowstorm ever!" He flung himself off the snowdrift and crashed through the snow on the ground, sinking out of sight. After Ditzy hurried over, though, his head popped up and he burst into laughter. "I hope it never stops!"

Ditzy couldn't help but smile at the rambunctious foal. Made of ice or not, he acted far too similar to the foals she knew from Ponyville to unnerve her. "Does it snow a lot where you're from?"

"Some, but not like this. I mean, Auntie Puissance built me my own snow fort, but even there the snow only comes up to my knees." Ice Heart paused for a moment. "Um. Can you not tell her I was jumping around? She says it's not proper."

Ditzy winked. "It'll be our secret," she promised, and the foal burst into a big grin.

"Thanks. I mean, I really try to be all formal like Auntie wants, but it's snow!" The foal shrugged helplessly. "You can't be formal in snow! It's way too much fun! And you're from Fillydelphia, right? I heard they have a city-wide snowball fight every year. Did you ever play in it?"

"Yes," said Ditzy, smiling to herself and remembering how much she enjoyed galloping around with her parents and joining in the huge melee. Then something occurred to her. "Ice Heart, may I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

"How did you know who I was and where I’m from? I met your friends before, and none of them did." Ditzy didn't see why Puissance would have described her to Ice Heart but none of his friends. "Did somepony tell you about me?"

"Yup! I read about you in the paper!" chirped the foal.

“The paper?" Ditzy frowned. None of the others seemed to have access to the news...

Ice Heart nodded. "Right after you beat the Tyrant Sun. I was on my own, then… my Mom had died, and my cousins didn’t want me around after they saw what I really looked like... and I was passing through a village when the sun came up at night. Everypony was scared, and then a pony showed up and said he was part of something called the Sun Cult. He said Corona wasn't going to hurt us and that she had just come back to kill all the monsters who were hunting ponies, like Ursa and timberwolves and windigo." The foal looked down. "He didn't know what I was, ‘cause Mom had a special amulet made for me that made me look like other pegasi. So he didn't say anything to me, but he told everyone that we should be happy Corona was back because all us monsters weren't good for anything but hurting ponies, and she was going to get rid of us so everypony else could be happy. But then Corona got her butt kicked, and the next day I saw a big picture in the paper of you and your friends. And I learned that even though you're unique like me, 'cause you've got cool eyes and can see in two directions at once, you did something as awesome as fight the Sun and win!" Ice Heart jumped in the air, his wings buzzing as he labored to remain hovering a few inches above the snowdrift. "That's how I knew unusual and special ponies like us could do really cool things, like beat Corona and save Equestria, even if some other ponies think we're monsters." He beamed. "Can you really see in two directions at once?"

"Er..."

"Because that's awesome!" as the foal bounded to the top of a higher snowdrift and looked directly into her eyes. The icy orb on the left side of his face rotated slightly, as did his flesh eye on the right. But after only a few moments, he yelped and toppled over into the snow again. "Ow!" He said once his head poked up above the surface. "I can't do it."

Ditzy couldn't help but giggle, even though she felt a little unnerved at the foal's hero-worship of her. "That's okay. I can't make ice like you can." There were magic charms available to enable pegasi to cast such spells--Duchess Fragrant Posey had made a minor news item when she had bought one from a then-unknown artifact crafter, boosting that craftsmare's reputation--but Ditzy had never obtained one. "And you’re right. You're a wonderful pony, whatever species your father may be." She was silent for a moment. “Your mother sounds like a very nice pony too. She must have cared about you a lot to have that special amulet made for you.”

"I know." The foal nodded. "She was a really good Mom..." He trailed off. "I miss her."

"What happened?" asked Ditzy.

"She got really sick, and then one day they told me she died," said Ice Heart. "And I had to live with my cousins, but then one of them stole my amulet, and when they saw me looking like me they called me a freak and chased me away." He was silent for a long moment. "But--but now Auntie Puissance watches over me, and she's great. She set up a home for me that's always cold, so I never need to worry about melting even though its warmer in Califurlong than where my family used to live. And she got me the best friends anypony could have!" He grinned. "Did you meet them yet? They're all unique ponies like me, and Orangerie's always happy, and TIM's goofy, and Stream Dream is always willing to play water-tag with me--"

"I met them. They're very nice ponies." Except maybe for Silver Sculptress, thought Ditzy. She trotted after Ice Heart, who was starting to hop from drift to drift. "What about friends your own age? Are there many foals in the Vault?"

"No. Auntie Puissance is looking for some, said she has to check them very carefully to make sure they're not mean ponies. That way I never need to wear my amulet again, and nopony will ever call me a freak." Ice Heart nodded. "She's the best Auntie in the world."

Ditzy hesitated. She couldn't deny that it was good for the foal to have an environment that was suited to his unique physiology--she couldn't imagine what she'd do if she had to worry about Dinky literally melting on a hot day--but the complete lack of other foals wasn't a good thing. "Don't you ever want friends your own age?"

"Yeah... but not if they're going to call me a freak. That's why Auntie Puissance is looking so hard. She promised me she'd do her very best to find me some more friends. Ponies who are special, like me."

Ditzy frowned. "I don't--"

But Ice Heart kept going. "And Auntie Puissance always comes through. I mean, when she told me she'd keep an eye out for my dad, I didn't think she could do it. But now I might actually get to meet him!" The foal's face almost glowed. "I can't believe I finally get to see my dad! This is the best week ever!"

Meanwhile, Dinky's never known her father... Ditzy shook her head to clear it from that thought. She could worry about that--and Ice Heart's isolation--later. "We don't know if you'll be able to see your dad," she cautioned him. "We have to see if it's safe."

"I know, but I'm sure he'll be safe. He's my dad! He probably just wants to see me." Ice Heart grinned. "I hope he says he'll come live in the Vault with me! That'd be awesome! But even if he doesn't..." He smiled wistfully. "I'd love to see him. Just once."

The two were silent for a moment before Ice Heart asked, "So, why'd you come outside? Did you want to play in the snow?"

"Actually, I was looking for you."

"Oh." Ice Heart blushed. "I guess everypony else got worried... sorry. I just couldn't help it. I saw snow drifts bigger than me and I just had to play in them."

"It's alright," said Ditzy. "Why don't we go back inside and find my friends and yours?" An idea struck her, and she kneeled down. "Would you like to ride on my back?"

The foal hesitated. "A lot of ponies don't want me to ride on them because they'll get cold."

"I'm from Fillydelphia." Ditzy winked again. "I don't mind the cold."

Ice Heart grinned from ear to ear and fluttered over to Ditzy's back. When he landed, DItzy could feel a jolt of cold even through her thick winter jacket, but she forced herself not to react to it. "Awesome!" said Ice Heart. "I'm riding a hero! Thanks, Miss Doo!"

"Ditzy is fine," said the mailmare, turning to head back inside. "Shall we?"

***

"There he is!" said Stream Dream, gesturing with one foreleg as Ice Heart entered the grand ballroom on Ditzy's back. The seapony was in a large wheeled bathtub being pulled by the ever-stoic Bones; the other four Vault ponies Ditzy had met were also in the room. "I knew he'd turn up sooner or later."

"Yep!" chirped Orangerie. She trotted to the nearest door and called down the hallway, "Hey, Elements! Come back! Ice Heart's here!"

"Having fun out there, champ?" asked TIM, coalescing into his pony form from a smoky shadow in the corner. "Make some snowponies?"

Ice Heart shook his head. "I was gonna, but Ditzy said I should probably come inside."

"She's right," said Silver Sculptress. Her statue had now taken the overall form of a pony, though Ditzy couldn't identify who just yet. "It's past your bedtime, Ice Heart."

"But I'm not tired! I--" The foal's protests were cut short by a large yawn. "I mean, uh, I--"

Orangerie giggled. "Come on, Icey. I'll get you a nice cold bath and a frosty glass of orange juice, and then TIM'll read you a story, okay?"

The large doors to the ballroom opened as Trixie and the other Elements returned. They stopped fast as soon as they entered the room, and Ditzy knew, with uncomfortable certainty, that they were all trying to process Ice Heart's unusual looks. She turned to them and smiled. "This is Ice Heart, Vicereine Puissance's ward and the child of the windigo we're here to meet," she said. "And Ice Heart, these are my friends, the other Elements of Harmony. This is Lyra Heartstrings, Carrot Top, Raindrops, Cheerilee, and--"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie!" interjected Trixie. She beamed as her horn glowed and some illusory fireworks appeared around her. Ditzy, who knew Trixie well, could hear how her voice was just slightly unsteady as she still worked to deal with Ice Heart's appearance, but Trixie's showmare skills seemed to be keeping her unease in check. "And it is a Great and Wonderful honor to meet you, young Ice Heart!"

The foal giggled. "You're silly."

"Yeah, she is," drawled Raindrops. "But we put up with her anyways."

Cheerilee turned to the other Vault ponies. "Do you have any trained teachers in the Vault? If not, as an educator, I'd be happy to help design a curriculum for him."

"School? Yuck!" Ice Heart stuck out a tongue that contained thick veins of blueish ice. "Auntie Puissance got me a private tutor instead. He knows everything!" The foal grinned. "He knows all the big battles in history, and all the important ponies, and the best games, and the really tasty recipes...."

Carrot Top tilted her head. "Does he know any good carrot ones? I've been trying to add some new dishes to my stall, and--"

"Carrots? Are you kidding?" asked Lyra. "If I were like him, I'd eat nothing but ice cream!"

"You already eat nothing but ice cream," said Raindrops.

"That's not true! I ate a cracker once." Lyra twisted her face into a comical grimace. "It was yucky. I think I'll stick with ice cream."

Ice Heart laughed as Ditzy lowered down and helped him descend to the ground. The foal ran over to Silver Sculptress. "They're fun," he declared. "Auntie Puissance got us some really fun ponies to come up with us!"

"Of course she did," said Sculptress, and Ditzy noticed a note of kindness in her voice that had not been present previously. "She knows what she's doing. She always does." She helped Ice Heart climb onto her back. The foal seemed careful to stay away from her atrophied wings. "Thank you for helping us find Ice Heart," she told the Elements, sounding a little more at ease with them than she had before. "Now, I think it's time he went to bed. Until tomorrow."

Ditzy glanced at Trixie, wondering if she would contest the dismissal, but the illusionist just nodded. "Alright. Good night, everypony." She turned, and the Elements followed her out of the room.

Nopony spoke until they were in their suite--a hub of six bedrooms connected to a central living room and lounge area. Ditzy sat on a couch, noticing how soft it was and how it seemed about ready to swallow her up, while the others took seats elsewhere in the room. "Well?" asked Trixie. "What do you think?"

"I think this hotel needed a better decorator," said Lyra. She was looking at the corner of the room, where a painting of a tall and muscular gargoyle sitting on a diamond-studded throne was hanging on the wall. "Because it's kind of creeping me out."

"Seconded," said Raindrops.

"I like it." Carrot Top flopped onto another couch and grinned as she sank into it. "Mmm. I want one of these for home."

Trixie sighed. "I meant about Ice Heart and the others." She turned to Ditzy. "You actually talked with Ice Heart, right? What'd you think?"

"Well..." began Ditzy. "I mean, he seems very happy. He's excited, curious, energetic, and he seems to genuinely love Puissance and hanging out with his other friends. I don't think he's being mistreated in any real sense. But... I do think it's a problem that he doesn't have any friends his own age."

"That might not be Puissance's fault," said Carrot Top. "If the other foals are scared of him--"

"But that's just it. There's no other foals in the, uh, Vault." Ditzy frowned. "He said Puissance won't let any others in because she only lets other 'special' ponies into the Vault, so that they'll know what it's like to be different and won't call him a freak. But with all her power, I'm sure she could find some other foals, even if they're not hybrids or double-ponies or descendants of famous tyrants, who won't be mean to Ice Heart."

"That might not work for Ice Heart," said Raindrops. "Remember how Bounty hid his lower wings as soon as he realized we weren't the staff? I'll bet a lot of those ponies really don't want 'normal' ponies to know about them. Ice Heart might be one of them."

"Then Puissance should be trying to find regular ponies who can help him get over it," said Cheerilee. "Unless she plans to keep him shut up in her community his whole life, he's going to need to learn to deal with other ponies eventually." She frowned. "I'm sorry ,Trixie, I know you wanted me to give her the benefit of the doubt, but nothing about this feels right. She's got a bunch of ponies that she's convinced are only safe under her care, and she's managed to convince them to dedicate everything they do or think to her. She's treating them like zoo exhibits. We need to do something."

Carrot Top shrugged. "But if they're happy, how could we take that away from them?" She looked away. "I mean, I'd never want to move to the Vault. But if some rich pony offered to make sure I didn't need to worry about money, I'd probably like them a lot. I don't think anything's wrong with that."

"But if that pony convinced you that they were your only friend in the world, that would be wrong--even if you yourself didn't know any better," said Cheerilee. "Look, I'm not saying Puissance can't give patronage to artists she likes. Luna only knows how many petitions I've sent to Canterlot asking for more arts funding. And I’m not saying she shouldn’t try to protect ponies who are genuinely discriminated against. But it doesn't matter how much money she gives them or how well she protects them, she's wrong to make them think she's the greatest and most important pony in their worlds, not to mention the only one that can keep them safe. It's manipulative, and I think we should talk to Luna about it." She glanced to her left. "What do you think, Raindrops?"

"Meh," said the yellow pony, who was eating a slice of buttered Prench bread from the minibar.

"Meh?" repeated Cheerilee. "You think the... 'Vault' is acceptable?"

"Oh, no, it's completely ridiculous" said Raindrops. She gulped down another bite of bread. "It's Puissance admitting that the only way she can get ponies to like her is to bribe them to the point of paying for literally every whim they have. But hey, if the Vault ponies want to spend all their time worshipping Puissance in exchange for her bits, more power to 'em. Not my problem."

Trixie turned to Lyra, who giggled. "Honestly? I kind of like the idea of an artist's colony. Waking up every morning and having nothing to do but play music, or bake candies, or play music while your wonderful marefriend bakes candies? I could get behind that."

"What if she didn't let you bring Bonbon?" asked Trixie.

Lyra's grin faded. "Then I wouldn't like it. Bonnie means more to me than the finest concertos," she said. "But still... if a pony doesn't have friends or family that they're attached to, I think an artist's retreat kind of thing could be a great environment. I mean, the baker's stuff was almost as good as Bonbon's--and that novelist is a best-seller. Maybe artists really can flourish there."

"It does sound almost too good to be true--which means it probably is," said Trixie. "Nopony's heard of this place. So either nopony's ever wanted to leave the Vault, or Puissance didn't let them. I mean, it's Puissance. I wouldn't be surprised if she made them sign contracts saying that, if they leave, they owe her for all the bits she ever spent on them, plus interest." Trixie shut her eyes for a moment. "I'm not saying for sure that anything's wrong here, but I've got a bad feeling about it. If there's one thing I learned from studying politics under Luna, it's that utopias don't exist. There's always a catch, and either we don't know what it is, or the Vault ponies don't."

"Wait."

The Elements all turned to Ditzy. "Yes?" asked Trixie.

"I--I know I said I was uneasy about Ice Heart not knowing anypony his own age. And I still am. And some of the things about the others are also… disturbing… like how they’re all so fixated on my eyes.” She paused. “But as long as everypony's happy and healthy, and as long as they can leave if they want--and I don't think Luna would let Puissance keep them against their will--I don't think we should get involved." Ditzy shrugged. "Maybe this is just because I've heard a lot of ponies telling me how I should be raising Dinky--how I shouldn't leave her home alone so often, how I need to marry so Dinky has two adults in her life, how I should hire a full-time tutor to teach her magic so her development isn't stunted--and none of them had any idea what they were talking about, but I don't feel right telling Puissance that she's caring for her ward, or the other ponies, wrong."

She trotted over to a window in the lounge area. Outside, she could see a few of the houses of Noam as they were steadily buried by the unending snowfall. "We don't know how to care for a half-windigo--whether or not he's in danger of melting, what he eats, what happens if he gets sick. We don't know what their real situations are. Bounty seemed scared of us, and Silver's wings are shriveled--maybe they have good reasons for wanting to hide away." She turned back to the other ponies. "I think it's bad that Ice Heart has no friends his own age. And maybe we should talk to Puissance about that. But at this point, I really don't feel comfortable going to Luna and saying that Puissance is being a bad mother or guardian. After all... I've made mistakes too."

Trixie glanced around the other ponies for a moment before her gaze returned to Ditzy. "Alright," she said at last. "We'll play it like before. Keep our eyes and ears open; if we learn anything really bad, we'll tell Luna later. But for now, we'll accept the Vault, and all the rest of it." She was still for a moment. "And we won't complain about it to Puissance either. Again, I'd really rather not have yet another viceroy mad at us." She smiled weakly. "Wouldn't want to have to go through that a second time, right?"

"Agreed,” said Lyra, who proceeded to yawn prodigiously. “And with that,” she added, “I think it's my bedtime. Goodnight, everypony!"

"Right." Trixie began to trot to her own room. "We should all get some rest. After all--tomorrow we're talking to a windigo."

***

Ditzy couldn't sleep.

Part of it was the bed, she thought. It was almost as soft as a cloud, and while it felt wonderful, it also felt wrong. Her bed at home wasn't a luxury bed by any stretch of the imagination, but it was hers--reasonably soft, relatively comfortable, and wonderfully warm on a cold day when the fire was banked and Dinky was cuddled up next to her. This strange bed, though far superior in every way that could be measured, just wasn't hers.

But most of it, she thought, was Dinky. She missed her little filly. Normally, she could go on missions for a few days without worrying like this... but most of the other missions they had been on hadn't involved her being obligated to determine whether another mare was a satisfactory mother. And after so much time spent thinking about all of Puissance's flaws in that area, she found herself thinking of her own. How she had almost ruined the burgeoning relationship between Dinky and her half-sister Sparkler. How she had almost ruined Dinky's chances of going to Sharpwhinny. How she wasn't home enough, couldn't afford to cook the healthiest possible meals, how sometimes Dinky acted up and then cried when Ditzy reprimanded her...

With a whicker of annoyance, she got up and walked to the door. There was no point, she told herself, in thinking on such things. She was a fine mother, a perfectly adequate one, and on the rare occasions when she let Dinky down, her friends always helped her to fix her mistakes. She would go on a quick walk to burn off her nervous energy, and then she would return to her bed and sleep the night away,like she should have done from the very beginning.

Her midnight stroll took her through some of the upper passages of the hotel. She passed dozens of rooms and some large paintings and sculptures, most of which seemed to depict kings and emperors of various species. Some of them were almost normal, like the one of Princess Cadance of Cavallia sitting on a brilliant throne while the bound generals of an invading Zaldian army knelt in submission, while others--like the strange three-headed monster which sat on a throne of lesser monsters, all of which looked like the history book depictions of the 'monsters from beyond the stars' that Princess Luna was said to have driven off a long time ago-were more unnerving. Still, the exercise helped calm her, and she quickly found her body beginning to welcome the idea of sleeping even in a strange bed.

She put her hoof on one last hallway door before returning to her room, but unlike the others, this one did not move. Blinking, Ditzy looked to the side and saw a sign indicating that she was entering the west wing, the one that Puissance had blocked off. Well, she thought, she was too tired for any more sneaking around. She turned around... and saw a light coming from underneath the door of the bedroom nearest the locked wing.

Ditzy frowned. The Elements were clear on the other side of the hotel, Puissance's entourage and staff were supposed to be within the locked wing, and there was nopony else authorized in the hotel. Was there a trespasser? She hesitated, then put one hoof up to the door and knocked. "Hello?"

"Ice Heart? Is that you?" came an unfamiliar voice from the inside.

Ice Heart? But I--oh! Ditzy remembered Orangerie and Silver Sculptress saying that Ice Heart had a '7th friend,' one who tended to stay hidden even beyond the usual standards of the Vault. This, she thought, might be that pony. "No," she said, in as warm a voice as she could manage. "My name is Ditzy Doo, and I am the Element of Kindness. May I come in?"

"No."

Ditzy hesitated. "I just wanted to say--" But then her voice cut off, because she felt herself being enveloped in magic. She squeaked as she was pushed back against the opposite wall.

"I do not want to talk to you, Dame Ditzy," came the voice, now much harsher than before. "Leave me alone."

The light vanished from under the door. Ditzy deliberated trying again, but decided against it--kindness had its limits, and the pony's rude behavior had used up all of hers. She was going to go back to bed.

Still, she thought as she returned to the Element's quarters. That hostility... it wasn't normal. Did Puissance tell her something bad about me? Or does she dislike anypony from beyond the Vault? Or...

Her thoughts trailed off as she lay down on her bed again. She would, she told herself, think about it the next morning. In the meantime, sleep was what mattered.

***

The next morning saw Ditzy smiling as Lyra and Carrot Top trotted in place in the snowy front lawn of the hotel, trying to keep themselves warm. "This isn't fair!" complained Lyra. "Why couldn't the windigo show up in some place like Arubray?"

"Good question," drawled Raindrops. "When we meet him, you can ask."

Ditzy chuckled as she wrapped her jacket and scarf tighter around herself. Except for Trixie, who wore a smug look on her face as she wrapped her magical cape around her, the Elements were bundled up; Raindrop, Carrot Top, and Cheerilee were all wearing two layers, and Lyra was wrapped in so many jackets and blankets that she looked like a green boulder with a horn poking out of the top. The cold didn't usually bother Ditzy, though, and although the weather in Noam was harsher than what she was used to in Ponyville, she still wasn't feeling too put out by it. "When we get back," she said, "I'll make you some hot chocolate, Lyra. Sound good?"

Before Lyra could respond, the hotel's front door opened and Puissance--wearing only her ruby necklace and a small bracelet around one of her legs--flew out. "Elements," she said, inclining her head as the others bowed. "I hope the accomodations were to your liking."

"They were wonderful," said Trixie. She paused. "Um. If you don't mind me asking, aren't you... cold?"

Puissance smiled, as if to a child. "No," she said. "I happened to bring along the Fire Ruby of Ink Blot--you might have heard of it, one of the seven stones in his most famous set of enchanted artifacts--and it provides adequate warmth." She gestured to the ruby around her neck. "You may study it later, if you wish. Along with the others, in fact--I recently completed the set."

Trixie grimaced, and Ditzy was certain that she heard her friend mutter, "My cape does the same thing and you don't hear me bragging about it," but then Trixie just said aloud, "Thank you, Vicereine. I would appreciate that."

"Excellent." Puissance held up her leg with the bracelet on it. A dial on its face spun for a moment before pointing north. She turned to face the steppes, checked the dial again, and said, "The Windigo is located along this bearing. We will journey to its location, at which point I will begin the negotiations. Follow me." And she began to fly through the snow.

The other Elements pursued, with the two pegasi flying after her and the others trotting on the ground. The snow fell steadily but not so thickly that it became hard to see. Ditzy flew in silence for a moment, then called, "Vicereine?”

“Yes?”

“About how far away is the windigo?"

"Forty-five minutes," said Puissance.

Ditzy frowned, wondering if the old mare was really capable of fighting through a snowstorm for that long, but didn't say anything. She glanced around to see that Raindrops had dropped down to talk with Trixie, and the other Elements were clustered together in the same area as they moved through the steppes. For the moment, she was alone in the sky with Puissance. Letting herself fall back, she began to swoop down--

"By the way, Dame Ditzy, Ice Heart told me this morning that he had a good time talking with you last night," said the Vicereine. "I wanted to thank you for speaking so kindly with him."

"Of course," said Ditzy as she climbed back up in the air. "He's a very friendly colt."

Puissance chuckled. "He certainly is. It was difficult to bring him out of his shell at first, considering his... well, I'm sure he told you about his cousins, and some of the other foals and adults he encountered who saw his real form. But I'd like to think that I, and his friends in the Vault, helped him to open up."

"Well..." Ditzy hesitated for a moment, then blurted out, "One other thing that might help is if he had more friends his own age. Why don't I let Dinky, my daughter, come over for a playdate some time?"

"A playdate?" Puissance sounded amused, but Ditzy could hear the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice. "I myself would have no objection, but... Ice Heart did ask me to promise, when I first brought him to the Vault, that I would protect him from other 'normal' ponies. He had enough bad experiences with them that he's not comfortable revealing his true form to anypony that isn't a little bit special, like the other Vault residents... and I'd hate for him to be uncomfortable."

"My Dinky would never insult Ice Heart for being half-windigo," said Ditzy. "You don't need to worry about it."

"And I don't, but Ice Heart would. I've offered to bring in other foals for him to play with before, but he won't consider it, not unless they're special like he is. He wouldn't want me to allow for a 'regular' unicorn foal to come over to play, even one as sweet and charming as I'm sure your daughter is. And I wouldn't want to jeopardize his love for me by going against my word."

"Love?" Ditzy frowned. She would have expected Puissance to mention 'trust' or 'faith' instead. "I don't think you need to worry about that," she said. "Foals tend to be forgiving. I know I haven't been a perfect mother, but my Dinky, she still loves me unconditionally. I'm sure that even if Ice Heart didn't like Dinky, he wouldn't hold it against you."

"Unconditional love?" mused Puissance. "Hmm... I apologize, Dame Ditzy, but I don't really believe in such a thing. Or at least--I'm not sure such a love would be worth having, if it existed at all."

It was such a strange tangent that Ditzy almost missed a beat of her wings. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Unconditional love exists. My daughter and I, for instance, we love each other, and nothing will ever change that. No matter what happens, there will always be a place for us in each other's hearts."

Puissance turned her head back to glance at Ditzy. She looked quizzical, but beneath that, Ditzy thought she saw hints of a smirk. "But--oh, please do forgive me, I know how rude this sounds--what do you love each other for, then?"

"For?" asked Ditzy. "Why--I mean, she's the sweetest, kindest, most clever foal I could ever hope for. She's always willing to help other ponies, she's great at making friends, she's willing to stand up even to adults if she thinks they're doing the wrong thing--"

"Yes, but... if your love is unconditional, then doesn't that mean you don't really care about any of those things?" asked Puissance. "You say that you love how clever your daughter is... but if you love her unconditionally, then you would also love her if she were not clever, if she were lazy in school and applied little thought to anything. But that would imply that you don't really care that she's clever--you'd love her just as much regardless. You said that you love how your daughter is willing to stand up for what's right, but that you'd love her if she instead always acquiesced to power and authority... that you love how your daughter makes friends, but that you'd care for her just as much if she were a loner... and so forth. With all respect, Dame Ditzy--and please understand, I ask for my own edification--what is it you love your daughter for?"

Ditzy opened her mouth, then let it hang open for a long moment before forcing it closed. Every time she thought of something--her inquisitive nature, her care for others, her kindness without limit--she found herself wondering what would happened if Dinky ceased to display those traits. "I love her for her," she said at last, aware of how weak that sounded. "I love her for--for everything about her. And I know she would never do any of those things that would stop me from loving her. It's not in her to do anything so wrong."

"Indeed," said Puissance. "Yet that is still a condition, is it not, even if you never expect it to be invoked?"

"Not.. I mean..." Ditzy frowned. "What do you love Ice Heart for, then?"

"I love him because of his respect, his energy, his cleverness, his prowess at a variety of tasks--including utilizing his windigo magic--and a host of other traits," said Puissance. "I love him because when I see him playing, his excitement and youthful vigor make me feel years younger. I love him because he honors me and his other friends with our due. I love him because I've never seen a pony able to manipulate ice like he can, and I feel that talent such as that is valuable and deserves recognition." Puissance glanced back again, this time smiling serenely. "I love him because he is a wonderful, special foal--not just because he happens to be legally classified as my ward."

It sounded superficially reasonable to Ditzy--but it made her stomach curdle when the implications hit her. "And does he... know that your love depends on him continuing to be respectful, energetic, clever, and so forth?" she asked.

"We haven't spoken on it in so many words, but I take great care to tell him when I am proud of what he does--when he masters his lessons, for instance, or learns a new spell involving ice--and when I am disappointed in him. I'm sure you do the same."

Yes, but not like that. Stars, not like that. Ditzy felt a coldness on her shoulders that had nothing to do with the snowstorm. "And if Ice Heart really changed and became less clever, energetic, and so on," she began, "Would you really stop loving him?"

"I..." Puissance's voice trailed off, and Ditzy guessed that she hadn't been expecting that question--or indeed hadn't thought of it. Indeed, as the seconds dragged on, Puissance didn't seem to have an answer.

The mailmare was tempted to let Puissance continue to wrestle with it, but she could practically hear Trixie yelling at her for antagonizing the Vicereine. She wouldn't even have asked the question if she'd taken another few moments to think about it. "I'm sorry," she said at last. "I didn't mean to disturb you. Having met Ice Heart, I know how close both of you are. I shouldn't have asked--"

"No, no, it's quite all right." Puissance flicked a wing in an imitation of a casual shrug. "I brought it up in the first place. And... I do appreciate you talking with me, Ditzy. I found this to be a very illuminating conversation, and you've given me something to think about."

"As have you," said Ditzy, though she wasn't sure what, exactly, that was. "Um, by your leave, I should check in with Trixie."

Puissance nodded and dismissed her, and Ditzy was glad to spend the rest of the journey on the ground with her friends.

***

After just under fifty minutes of walking, they crested a low hill, and Ditzy got her first glimpse of the windigo.

It stood in the middle of the steppe, three times as tall as a pony and seemingly made out of snow, cloud, and ice. Its coat was an icy blue that was almost transparent, with thin lines of snow jutting out over its back for a mane. Its eyes were long, narrow, and glowed with an otherworldly light that reminded Ditzy of the painting of the star monsters that Cadance had allegedly drive off. When its mouth opened slightly, the snow in front of its head blasted away as if it was caught in a gale.

Ditzy’s vision swam as she looked at it. The body of the monster seemed to be constantly shifting, as if it was a storm itself, and Ditzy kept feeling like the form she saw was just some fragment of a larger, even stranger form. Every now and then, when the windigo turned just right, she thought she saw the quickest glimpse of something else--something massive, and twisted, and alien--and she quickly made herself look away. “The Hearth’s Warming pageants don’t really do it justice,” she managed. “Not by a long shot.”

“You can say that again,” said Carrot Top. “How is that even possible?”

Trixie shrugged. “I’m sure the Academy scientists will have all kinds of theories.” She turned to the others. "Everypony brought their Elements, right?"

"Right," said Ditzy, along with the other four.

Puissance descended down to the others. "There it is," she said, in a voice that was clearly laboring to remain calm but couldn't quite suppress its awe. "Shall we?"

"Of course. We'll take the lead, Vicereine," said Trixie. "Everypony--if it gets hostile, hit it with the Elements. Let's move."

As they descended, the windigo's gaze drifted over and began tracking them. Ditzy felt cold again, though this time she was pretty sure it wasn't just a feeling in her gut. The air seemed even more frigid as they neared the monster. Maybe it's causing the winter storm, she thought to herself. I guess anything's possible...

"Does it look, uh, broken to anypony else?" murmured Carrot Top.

Trixie dug a pair of binoculars out of a saddlebag. "Hey, yeah, it's all cracked on one side," she said. "Lyra, does that show up in any of the legends?"

"Not unless you count the windigo mare from Love and Magic in Fillydelphia. Raindrops, wasn't there a scene where--"

"I will pay you ten bits not to bring that up," muttered Raindrops, earning a few snickers from the others.

The cracks became more noticeable to Ditzy once she'd crossed half the distance to the windigo. Lines split the monster's coat all along one side, some very thin, but others thick and jagged. She wondered what had happened to it. Do windigo get in fights?

"We should be close enough," said Trixie at last. Ditzy eyed the last thirty feet between themselves and the beast, which was now glaring at them, nervously. "Ah, Vicereine? Do--"

"Yes, yes, thank you." Vicereine Puissance walked to the front of the group and turned to the windigo. "Windigo! I am Vicereine Puissance. I am the representative of Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna Equestris. You will negotiate with me as to the conditions under which you may meet Ice Heart. You--"

The windigo huffed, and then Ditzy saw their group--as if she were standing where the windigo was and looking back at them--except, in the vision, a little windigo was with them. The windigo foal suddenly vanished. And, as it vanished, Ditzy felt a surge of anger, as if the meanest drill sergeant in the world was yelling directly into her heart.

"I don't think he's happy about us not bringing Ice Heart," said Lyra.

Puissance had taken a step back, but she quickly recovered. "We will negotiate," she called. "If I am satisfied as to the safety of--"

Ditzy winced as another image of the young windigo forced its way into her mind. Even as she shook it off, she saw the monster approaching. "Girls!"

"Together!" said Trixie, gathering the Elements into a tight cluster. "Come on, don’t worry. We're friends. It can't hurt us--"

The windigo opened its mouth and screeched at the Elements. The air itself seemed to freeze in a cone traveling towards them--but then Ditzy let herself relax, feeling her friends by her side and protecting her, and the cone crumbled into harmless snowflakes before reaching them.

"Well done," said Puissance. "What kind of spell was that?"

"Just our friendship," said Trixie. "The legends say that windigos can't hurt true friends. Looks like they're right."

Puissance hesitated as the windigo glared directly at her. Ditzy wondered if it could sense that she was the only one there who wasn't friends with the rest of them. "Ah, Dame Trixie--"

"Don't worry. We've got this. Girls--Element time!"

As the windigo began to blast again, this time directing its cold straight at Puissance, Ditzy felt the familiar warmth in her necklace that indicated the Element was going to activate. She floated slightly, along with the rest of them, and as the freezing air streaked towards them a rainbow formed between the Elemental gems--

Which bent around all the ponies, shielding them from the windigo's blast.

The windigo stopped, and a moment later the Elements dimmed and the mares sank back to the snowy field. Trixie grinned. "Alright. Think that showed it violence won't work." She sounded tired, but Ditzy could tell how happy she was at the success. For her own part, Ditzy felt slightly drained, but nothing like when she had used the Elements before. "What now?" the showmare continued.

Puissance--who once again looked regal and calm, Ditzy noticed--flapped her wings and flew up a few feet. "We will negotiate," she stressed. "If, at the end of the negotiations, I feel we have agreed on conditions which will allow Ice Heart to see you safely, then you may meet him. Otherwise, you may not--and if you persist, we will banish you. Is that clear?"

The windigo hissed softly but did not send another vision.

Puissance turned to Trixie. "Dame Trixie, please use your illusions to convey the same message."

Trixie nodded, and as her horn glowed, Ditzy saw a series of images appear in the steppe between them and the windigo. She saw scale models of the monster, the Elements, and Puissance talking, Puissance eventually waving a wing forwards and prompting a suddenly-appearing Ice Heart to run towards his father. Then the illusion returned to its original state, but this time Puissance spread her wings protectively, and all the ponies walked off in the other direction. Then the illusory windigo tried to pursue the illusory ponies, only to be blasted away by the Elements.

Silence filled the steppe for a long moment, and then, as the windigo's eyes glowed, Ditzy saw another image--all the ponies present, plus Ice Heart, on the steppe. Puissance letting Ice Heart go. Ice Heart running to his dad.

Puissance smiled. "I think we have a line of communication," she said. "Thank you, Dame Trixie. Now--please do convey that Ice Heart shall remain with me, at least at first. Have him by my side. The two can see each other, but I don't want this monster snatching my ward away."

Ditzy shivered as Trixie began what she was certain would be a long, cold day of negotiations.

Author's Note

Thanks to Talon&Thorn and RainbowDoubleDash for beta-ing.

To Have and to Hold

"...absolutely not. No physical contact will be permitted. Convey this to the windigo."

Trixie nodded and focused, the light from her horn momentarily brightening as she modified the illusion. A miniature illusion of the ponies and the windigo formed in front of her, with the windigo standing several feet back from the illusory Ice Heart. After another moment, Trixie changed it again and the illusory Elements were positioned around Ice Heart. "Is this acceptable?" she asked Puissance.

"Move your friends about six inches away from Ice Heart on all sides. We don't want to look like we're keeping him prisoner," corrected Puissance.

“Got it.” Trixie made the change. When the Vicereine gave a short nod of approval, her horn flared up again, and a larger version of the illusion--large enough that the windigo would surely be able to see its every detail--appeared on the steppe between the ponies and the monster.

Ditzy fought to keep her head up. She was tired, hungry, and very cold. They had been on the steppe for several hours, standing still as the Vicereine and Trixie 'negotiated' with the windigo. Each round began with the monster sending an image, at which point Puissance would immediately disagree with some detail--the windigo's proximity to Ice Heart, for instance, or the lack of the Elements being present--and would instruct Trixie to draft a new illusion in response. She and Trixie would tweak every little detail in the draft until it was made to Puissance’s hyper-exacting specifications, after which Trixie would make the full-scale version so the monster could see it. Then the windigo would make a sound that reminded Ditzy of an awful ice storm that had once blown into Ponyville from the Everfree Forest and would create another image, this one basically the same, or maybe a fraction of an increment closer to Puissance's. Trixie's next illusion would show a similar lack of willingness to compromise. And thus ten hours had passed.

"It's like the world's worst foal custody hearing," Cheerilee had whispered to her early on. "Where one of the parties is a greedy monster with a heart of ice." She had paused. "And the other is a windigo."

Fortunately, Ditzy had managed not to laugh out loud at that.

But as time passed, even Cheerilee's occasional jokes seemed to lose their humor. It wasn't just the disorienting visions that was wearing on Ditzy, but the grueling physical conditions as well. One of Puissance's servants had shown up at around noon with bottles of ether for Trixie--an unavoidable necessity, given how much magic she was using--but nopony had come with food. Trixie had explained, when Raindrops had asked about this, that it would show weakness to take a lunch break. They needed to demonstrate that they were strong and hardy enough that the windigo couldn't just attack them and take Ice Heart by force, and they couldn't do that if they demanded an hour time-out for hay pizza. So they worked without food, and Ditzy tried to tell herself that at least it was for a good reason.

She looked over at Puissance. The old mare didn't seem affected by the cold--which hadn't surprised Ditzy; she had her fire ruby, of course, and she was a pegasus to boot--or by the lack of food. In fact, she stood solid and strong in the snow, looking straight at the windigo without flinching, as if saying she feared it not. Watching her, Ditzy could understand why Luna felt confident in her conducting the negotiations with a monster drawn straight from the deepest fears of ponykind.

"Vicereine?" asked Cheerilee. "It's starting to get dark. Can we find our way back without light?"

Puissance glanced up. "I'd prefer not to," she mused. "Trixie. Tell the windigo that we'll be going, and that we'll be back tomorrow at the same time."

Trixie nodded and wiped away the existing illusion, then made a new one that showed the seven ponies walking away as the 'sun' lowered, then returning when it rose back into the sky. When Puissance approved of it--after only another ten minutes of revisions--she put it on the steppe. “Now, if he just lets us--”

The windigo hissed again, and Ditzy felt a surge of something like concentrated anger wash over her. Even as she found herself stumbling back a step, the windigo began to move forwards.

Trixie's illusion flashed as the fake ponies used their Elements to knock the illusory windigo back. The real windigo stopped moving forwards, though Ditzy couldn't find any trace of fear in its alien, icy expression. At the next moment, the mailmare saw Raindrops and Cheerilee holding up their Elements, and she grabbed her own. "Get ready," said Cheerilee. "If it--"

"I've got this," muttered Trixie. She dismissed the illusion and returned to the prior one, with the ponies leaving at night, and returning early the next morning. Then she slowly slid it forwards towards the windigo, as if giving it a peace offering. "Come on. Be reasonable. Work with me here..."

Finally, the windigo slammed down a hoof and sent another image--this one forceful enough that it almost hurt Ditzy to look at. But it matched Trixie's; the Elements and Puissance were leaving, and then returning when the sun was high. Yes, in the windigo's illusion they were returning with Ice Heart, but still, the leaving part was the same. Ditzy's heart leapt. Come on, she thought. Trixie, Puissance, let's just go...

"It will have to do," said Puissance. "Dame Trixie, I believe the windigo will allow us to disengage. Shall we?"

"Of course, Vicereine," said Trixie. "Might I suggest that you go first? We'll stand between you and the windigo just in case it pursues us."

Puissance inclined her head and--taking just a moment to shake her wings, as if waking them up--launched herself into the air. A moment later Ditzy saw her flying back towards the hotel, towards warmth, and light, and the crystal ball that the mailmare was going to use to call her little muffin. A few moments after that, Trixie began to lead the Elements home.

As she crested a low hill and began to descend, Ditzy looked back. The last she saw of the windigo was its frozen gaze staring directly at her.

***

"Ditzy? Wake up!"

Ditzy groaned and rolled over. "Dinky, your Mama's napping. Go play with Sparkler--"

The giggling she heard wasn't Dinky's. Opening her eyes, she saw Lyra smiling down at her. "Everypony's down in a big lounge room. Want to come?"

"Lounge...?" Ditzy blinked. She remembered stumbling back into the hotel, still cold and weary, and forcing herself to take a hot shower so that she didn't risk catching cold. Then she let herself lie down for a moment before contacting Dinky, and... "Wait. What time is it?"

"The sun went down maybe an hour ago. The Vicereine's staff says dinner will be in--"

Ditzy rolled to her hooves. "An hour ago? Oh, no--I didn't talk to Dinky!" She glared at Lyra. "You should have woken me!"

"Hey, we tried!" said Lyra. "But you were out cold! So Trixie contacted her to check in. And Dinky's doing fine. In fact, she had an adventure with Scootaloo today."

"An adventure?" asked Ditzy. "What kind of adventure?"

"Well..."

***

Twilight Sparkle grunted as her horn flared a bright purple. When it was over, she took a moment before saying, "Alright, there you go. You can walk on clouds now, Dinky."

"Yay!" said the foal, bouncing up and down. "Thank you, Miss Twilight!" She turned to Sparkler and Pokey, who had escorted Dinky herself and Twilight respectively to the outskirts of town. "This is gonna be fun!"

Pokey nodded. "Now all you need is Scootaloo. Where is that foal?"

"I'm over here!"

The ponies all turned to see Scootaloo scooting up, two little clouds securely fastened to the back of her wagon. Rainbow Dash flew loops over her head, Heavy Roller trotted by her side, and a large mob of foals was hurrying to catch up with the three of them. "Sure you can handle them?" Rainbow Dash called down. "Two clouds is a bit much for one little pony--"

"Sure I'm sure!" said Scootaloo. "No problem!"

Dinky waved at the approaching group, and she helped Scootaloo untie the clouds when the pegasus arrived. "Can we go now?" she asked Sparkler. "Please?"

Sparkler screwed up her face in pretend concentration. "Hmm..."

Dinky made a pleading face.

"Well, alright. But just this once."

Dinky beamed. "YAY!"

Heavy Roller helped Scootaloo fasten the helmet securely onto her head. "Is this really done in pegasus cities?" he asked Rainbow Dash.

"Sure! We used to race clouds all the time up in Cloudsdale!" said the weather captain. "Before I learned to fly on my own, I was racing clouds day and night! Best way to travel... except for wings, of course."

"I don't doubt it," said Sparkler. She turned to Twilight. "Thanks for doing this. Ever since Cheerilee talked about cloud races in class, Dinky wanted to do one, and when you mentioned that cloudwalking spell..."

"Don't mention it. Happy to help!" said Twilight. "It really is a fascinating spell. In fact, the same principles behind it could probably be used to let ponies manipulate other intangible substances. Smoke, for instance--imagine if a firepony could just ball up all the smoke from a fire and throw it in the trash! And maybe..."

As she chattered, the two foals climbed onto their clouds. Dinky giggled at the feeling; it was like she was lying on a big comfy pillow that floated a few inches above the ground. "Ready!"

"Ready!" called Scootaloo.

Heavy Roller and Sparkler exchanged bemused looks. Pokey grinned and stepped between them. "Then let the racing... begin!" he roared.

Immediately Dinky reached down and pushed off the ground with a hoof. The cloud moved forwards and began to float down the path, quickly picking up speed as Dinky kicked down. She grinned, then looked to one side--and got a facefull of cloud as Scootaloo guided her cloud into Dinky's and knocked her back. "Hah!" said the pegasus, who was also buzzing her wings to help gain speed. "I'm gonna win!"

Dinky grinned. "Nuh-uh!" She kicked down even harder, surging her cloud ahead. "I will!"

Behind them, the adults and foals laughed as the two continued to bounce down the road.

***

Ditzy blinked. "A... cloud race?" She had heard of such things, though she'd never participated herself, largely for the same reason she didn't go flying within city limits. "Who won?"

Lyra grinned as she continued.

***

After innumerable bumps and bounces, the end was in sight--and, Dinky noted, she had a slight lead! Scootaloo had started out fast but had fallen behind, whereas Dinky had followed Twilight's advice to 'pace herself,' and it seemed to be paying off. She grinned. It was like Miss Trixie always said--being the best was awesome! All she had to do was keep driving herself forwards, aiming right at the big finish line Pinkie had set up--

Her thoughts were interrupted as another foal blithely walked across her path.

"Wagh!" squealed Dinky as she crashed into the other foal. She felt herself falling forwards, bonking her head and her hooves into the interloper, before they tumbled to the ground with the cloud settling around them. Her barrel hit the dirt with a loud 'thump'. "Oof!"

She got to her hooves, her head and horn poking through the cloud, in time to see Scootaloo cross the finish line. "Aww!" she complained. "I was so close!"

"Close to what?" A brown-maned pony with a white-and-brown coat poked his head through the cloud. "What's going on?"

Dinky looked at Pipsqueak, who was standing there... in her cloud... mere inches from her. "Nothing!" she said as she felt her cheeks flush. "Nothing important." She paused. "So! What are you doing here?"

"Um..."

***

Ditzy couldn't help but laugh at that. "I'm glad she's having fun. She wasn't too upset I didn't talk to her, was she?"

"We told her you were exhausted from helping to protect a Vicereine from a big monster. She said that was fair, as long as she gets an extra hug when you come home."

"Good." Ditzy slowly nodded. "Thanks. And... sorry I yelled at you." She frowned. "I don't know what came over me."

"A lot of us are a little on edge. Trixie thinks it's got something to do with the windigo; it's possible it can make ponies grumpy." Lyra shrugged. "But you know what the best cure for grumpiness is? Company! Come on, I'll show you down stairs. Trixie's with Puissance, but the rest of us are all hanging out!"

Ditzy yawned, but she made herself get up. "That sounds lovely. Thank you, Lyra."

As it turned out, Ditzy saw, Lyra hadn't just meant the Elements when she had said that everypony was downstairs. As she entered the lounge--which, despite the murals of vast starscapes which made Ditzy feel very small, was still comfortable and friendly thanks to the plush carpet, warm fire, and luxurious furniture--she saw that the Vault ponies were there too. Nopony seemed to be looking at her, though, so, after nodding to Lyra and watching her trot over to a table where Bounty was mixing something, she meandered to the fire and lay down on her barrel in front of it.

Ahh, she sighed to herself as the fire warmed her. Her yellow mane had flopped over her face, and she spent several moments like that, just basking in the heat and letting the fuzzy carpeting tickle her fur. This is much better.

Gradually, she became aware of the other conversations. Opening her eyes, she saw that Lyra was hanging around Bounty, watching him work and peppering him with questions. "That looks delicious!" she said. "Next you add butter, right?"

"No. Next I will make some butterscotch. It has a better texture and will--"

"Allow the cookies to rise more!" said Lyra. "Bonbon taught me that once."

Bounty nodded. "Yes." Unlike before, Ditzy noted, he didn't seem to mind the interrupted--possibly because Lyra understood what he was doing. “After that I’ll add the chocolate--”

Lyra grinned. "What will you use for the chocolate chips?"

"The Vicereine brought a supply of high-quality dark chocolate from the province of Brayzil..."

Turning to her other side, Ditzy saw TIM in a corner working on a typewriter. Raindrops was sitting down near him, reading through what looked like an Advanced Reader Copy of a book. Suddenly, Raindrops gasped. "Wha--wait, I thought that if a kelpie fell in love with a landmare, he'd be banished from his native seaweed forest forever!"

TIM nodded sagely. "Yep. Wrote that in the last book."

"But Kale can't be banished! He needs to be able to go home so he can drive out the usurpers who are corrupting the kelpie kingdom!"

Kale the kelpie? thought Ditzy.

Meanwhile, TIM shrugged. "Right again."

"Well--he won’t be banished, right? It’ll all work out?"

"I dunno. I guess you'll have to read on," said TIM, a smile spreading over his face. “In fact, you might even need to wait for the sequel to find out the answer to that one.”

"Gaah!" said Raindrops, but there was pleasure in her voice. She sighed theatrically and dove back into the book.

Ditzy rolled over and sat up. At the back of the room was a cast-iron tub in which Stream Dreams was splashing around. Bones was there too, as was Cheerilee. "...I'm just saying," the teacher continued, "The Vicereine seems to have a lot of power over you."

Stream shrugged. "So? Princess Luna has power over her--and both of us. Besides, the Vicereine owns the Vault; it’s hers by right. What would you change?"

"Have her constrained by formal laws, ratified through the Night Court, which clarify what she can and can't do in the Vault. Just as the law protects us from our highest ministers if they choose to do something corrupt--"

"Does it?" asked Stream. "I mean, if Princess Luna decided for whatever that she wanted to banish a random pony, would she really be incapable of it thanks to the law? Doesn't she have the resources to see it happen, without consequence to herself?"

Cheerilee flushed. "She would never--"

"I know. She would never choose to do such a thing. But in that case, the law preventing her from doing such is superfluous, isn't it? And if she did want to do so, the law would be no help in stopping her. As such... what is the point of the law?" Stream Dreams leaned against the wall of the tub. "In my opinion, sovereign rulers shouldn't be constrained by paper laws. If the ruler is bad, no law will protect the populace from them--and if the ruler is good, then the law will only tie the ruler's hooves and prevent them from doing good things."

"You've thought a lot about this," said Cheerilee.

"I was a princess once. I ruled countless sea ponies before I was deposed. I did give some thought to my governing philosophy."

Cheerilee slowly nodded. Ditzy saw a smile forming on her face and wondered if she was looking forward to a spirited debate. "I see. However, I have to disagree with you."

"Oh?"

"FIrst, I reject your premise that the law would be no hindrance if Luna did want to do something illegal. Were she to try, the laws she's set up would block her at every turn. Laws protecting the freedom of the press would allow reporters to sniff out what she had done--and if she tried to disregard those laws too, she'd have to find ways to shut up hundreds of nosey reporters, and ponies would begin to notice. Laws permitting freedom of assembly would allow the missing pony's family and friends to gather and demand an investigation into their missing loved ones night and day, and the resultant investigations could well expose Luna. There are literally hundreds of laws that would interfere."

Bones nodded. "Yup."

"Bones!" admonished Stream Dreams in mock-annoyance. "How could you?"

Cheerilee chuckled as Bones shrugged. "It's a good point."

"Really?" said Stream Dreams, smiling as well. "Well, even if that's true, the constraint of law can often inhibit the prompt action of..."

Ditzy tuned them out and turned back to the fireplace. To one side she heard a door open, and glancing in that direction she saw Orangerie come in with Carrot Top and a basket of oranges. Both were chattering rapidly about farm-related topics, though Carrot Top kept shooting cautious glances at the oranges, which quivered and seemed about ready to explode. Ditzy smiled to herself as Carrot Top said, "It must be nice to have a bumper crop every year. What do you do with the excess oranges?"

"Excess?" Orangerie tilted her head. "There's no excess. Any we don't eat are used for science! I dissect them to see how orange-y they are and how I can make them even more orange-y. Why, what do you do with your excess carrots?"

"...eat them?" But Carrot Top was smiling. "I've never dissected a carrot. It sounds hard."

"Nah, you just cut them into little pieces and figure out how each of them could be more carrot-y. Like, is the stem really pulling its weight? What if it were orange? And yummy?"

"I never thought about that," Carrot Top conceded. “Although… there’s a Ponyville confectioner whose mother tends to work on similar projects. Maybe I should run some of these ideas by her.”

“Yeah! With a little scientific help, you could probably be growing the most super carrots in all Equestria!”

Ditzy chuckled and was about to get up and join that conversation when she heard somepony calling her name. "Dame Ditzy," said Silver Sculptress, who had just walked into the room. She sat in front of the fire. "Hello."

"Hello," said Ditzy, shifting slightly so that the sculptor had room. "Did you have a good day?"

"Yes. I got a lot of work done on my sculpture." Silver smiled. "It depicts Commander Hurricane at his famous victory over General Bloodslash of the Griffin Empire. The Vicereine said she'll have it installed in one of her public parks in southern Califurlong."

"That's very nice," said Ditzy. "It must be fun to have so many ponies looking at your work."

Silver nodded. "Indeed."

The two were silent for a moment, with Ditzy letting the chatter from the others wash over her. Eventually, Silver asked her, "Are you still cold?"

Ditzy shook her head. "I'm mostly warmed up by now." She glanced out a small window on one side of the room. The lights from the hotel illuminated the snow-swept plains stretching away into the darkness. "It did take a while though. It's cold outside."

"You should get a warmer jacket," advised Silver. "I saw you coming back in, and you were shivering. But there's a clothier in the Vault who makes enchanted garments. They barely weigh anything at all, and they're incredibly warm. I could ask the Vicereine if it would be alright for her to make a new coat for you."

For a moment, Ditzy thought of herself prancing through Ponyville, feeling light as a feather and warm as a hearthstone as she played with Dinky. But after a moment, her thoughts caught up with her and she shook her head. "Thank you," she said. "But I like my current jacket. It's just my size, and it's warm enough for me, and it was made by a good friend." She smiled as she thought of Rarity bustling about her, wrapping her in so many measuring tapes that she'd almost tied Ditzy into a knot as she worked to find a jacket of just the right size. "Plus, my little muffin helped me pick it out."

Silver tilted her head. "But if you could have a better one..."

"But it wouldn't be mine." Ditzy shrugged. "I know how mine feels and how it moves. It's also got some good memories, even though it's only about a month old... for instance, when it ripped slightly a couple weeks ago, my daughter helped me mend it. And when I was playing hide and seek with her last week, she hid in the jacket." She couldn't help giggling at that memory. "I appreciate the offer, but I prefer my own. Thank you, though."

After a moment, Silver nodded her head. "Very well. But if you change your mind, the offer is still open."

"What offer?"

All the ponies in the room turned to see Puissance walking into the room, Trixie trotting along behind her. The Vicereine looked around for a moment before seating herself in a large chair as if it were a throne. "Please," she said, a smile crossing her lips. "Don't interrupt yourselves on my account."

"I offered to ask Threaded Needle to make a better coat for Ditzy," said Silver Sculptress. Ditzy couldn't help but note the almost reverent tone in the sculptress's voice. "But she said she prefers her own."

"Own?"

Ditz frowned. She saw a sparkle in Puissance's eye and had a sinking feeling that the Vicereine wanted to get revenge on her from her comments earlier about unconditional love. "Yes," the mailmare said, slightly more sharply than she had intended. "The jacket that I own. I like it, and I don't want another."

"Good, "said the Vicereine. She moved a wing almost imperceptibly, and a moment later her camel servant hurried in from the next room with a large pot of tea and a small tray of immaculate biscuits. "I think almost everypony should own at least one jacket that they like for weather such as this. Except for very special ponies, such as my little Ice Heart, most would find it dreadful to be caught outside in this weather without a coat."

Bounty said, in a prim voice, "Vicereine, didn't you order a big jacket giveaway during the Equestrian Games a few years back?"

"Why, yes, I did." Puissance smiled at that, and Ditzy wondered if she had been fishing for that comment. "Yes, the winter Equestrian Games were being held in Califurlong that year. I arrived early for my inspection tour, to make sure everything was up to the standards demanded of the occasion, when I learned--to my dismay--that some of the ponies in that area didn't have their own jackets. A few couldn't afford it, others had lost or torn theirs, and then there were those who did have coats, but not ones warm enough to keep them comfortable in the thick of winter. I could hardly have an Equestrian Games in which my populace stayed home for fear of the cold, so I commissioned a large order from Filly Fabric." She sipped her tea. "I made sure that, when the games began, everypony in the area could attend in a warm and comfortable jacket." Her gaze drifted into the air slightly. "It was one of the largest turn-outs at an Equestrian Games in recent history, as I recall."

"Filly Fabric?" asked Cheerilee. "They're a high-end designer firm, aren't they? I'm surprised the Games budget covered that."

Puissance waved this off with a flick of her wing. "They made a very competitive offer when they saw the large quantity that would be ordered. Also, with everypony bundled up, it wasn't necessary to have the stands heated--or to cast spells to keep that heat from leaching onto the field, which are more expensive than you might think. The extra money allowed me to add to the landscaping and catering budgets. In fact, Blizzard Twist--oh, I'm sure you've heard of her, the famous ice sculptor--debuted her first exhibits on the lawns of the ice archery fields." She sighed softly. "It was a wonderful Games. And when it was over, seeing all the ponies going home, with even the poorest of them owning a nice warm jacket to protect them from the coldest days of winter..."

The Vicereine trailed off, her voice hesitating near the end as if unsure about what she was saying. Stream Dreams leapt into the gap. "Is something wrong, Vicereine?"

"Nothing really. It's just, in the past few years I was thinking... for those ponies, if they only had one jacket and couldn't get another... did they really own it at all?" Her gaze flicked towards Ditzy, and the gray-coated mare narrowed her eyes slightly. "Perhaps this is just the ponderings of an old mare, but it seems to me that if you only have one of something that you need, and you can't get another, then while you might possess it, you don't really own it." She shrugged. "Oh, but I prattle on. Please, don't let me distract you."

"What do you mean?" asked Ditzy, before she could stop herself.

Puissance's smile returned, though it was thinner than before. "Well... it seems to me that ownership is defined by having the power to do whatever you please to the object that you own. If a pony checks out a library book, for example, while they may take it home and put it on their bookshelves, they are actually quite limited in what they are allowed to do with it. They may not write in it, damage it, or throw it away. However, if that same pony purchased that book from a store and owned it, they could do whatever they wanted with it--scribble all over it, tear out pages, throw it away or even burn it. Indeed, I would contend that if you have something which you cannot freely dismantle or discard, you do not own it.

"And so, I was thinking--suppose a pony does have a jacket, a wonderfully soft and warm one that they love... but they only have the one and cannot obtain another. Do they really own it? They cannot throw it away or destroy it, because then they would have no jacket and would have to go outside in freezing weather with nothing on. They cannot give it to a friend, or even loan it out, in case they need it later. Even when they wear it, they must restrict their own motions to avoid damaging it, move slowly and cautiously, and give a wide berth to sharp corners. In fact, they must take so much care to keep it safe and protected, that it really seems more like the jacket owns them than the other way around."

Ditzy rose. She felt a wave of cold anger washing over her, and though she told herself it was probably just residual effects from being so close to a literal windigo, she couldn't quite push past it. "I only have one jacket," she said. "And I do own it."

Puissance put a wing to her mouth. "Oh--please forgive me, Dame, if I have offended. I was only speaking hypothetically. In fact..." She brightened. "Are you sure you wouldn't like Threaded Needle to stitch you another? Even if you do prefer your own, it would surely be a relief to know, in the back of your mind, that if the worst happened and your jacket were damaged or lost, you would have another, and would not need to risk facing the cold unaided."

It was tempting for a moment, but not longer than that. Even if there were no strings attached--and Ditzy doubted Puissance would be so generous as to give her a jacket without expecting something in return--she didn't want it forced on her. And--a sullen, angry part of her whispered--she didn't need it. She worked hard, and while she didn't have a lot, she had enough to raise Dinky in a comfortable, loving environment. She didn't need the charity of a rich benefactor who cared more about scoring points than doing good.

"No thank you," she said. "My own jacket is fine for my needs. And--" she hesitated for a moment before continuing on, "I think you're wrong anyways. Just being able to destroy something doesn't mean you own it."

Puissance raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Behind her, Trixie was frantically waving her hooves at Ditzy to get her to stop talking, but the Vicereine didn't notice. "Please explain, Dame."

Ditzy almost backed down, but found that she couldn't. The Vicereine, she thought, had stood in front of the whole room and called her too poor to own anything; she wasn't going to take that lying down. "When I bought that jacket, I didn't feel like I owned it right away. It was mine legally, and I wore it, but it still felt like it was the store's or some other pony's. But after I wore it for a couple weeks and learned everything about it, every crease and fold and rough spot... then it felt like it was mine.

"You have to understand something to own it. That's why a library book isn't 'owned' by a pony; it isn't because they can't burn it--why would they want to?--but because they only have it for a short time. They don't have the time to learn how heavy it feels when they're reading it in bed, or how comfortably it rests in the crook of their leg, or how the sun glints off the cover on a crisp fall day. It's a foreign object that they can't let their guard down around because they don't really know it. But if they had it for a month or a year? It wouldn't matter that they couldn't scribble on it or spill soup on it. They would still feel like they owned it.

"And--" Ditzy realized that the words were coming out of her in a rush, but let herself be carried along--"If you know something well enough to own it, if you know every little unique detail that makes it different from every other book or jacket or table that exists, then you know it too well to want to destroy it. The reason that I take care of my jacket isn't because I can't replace it; it's because I like it, every inch of it, and I don't want to damage it. But if you look at something you 'own' and you can still think about destroying it for no reason, then that means you don't know it well enough to know why it's irreplaceable and doesn't deserve to be thrown out. And how can you own something--really own it--if you don't even understand what it is or what makes it special?"

For a long moment, nopony spoke, and Ditzy slowly became aware that everypony was staring at her. Puissance's glare seemed frosty, and the mailmare belatedly realized that she had just implied that Vicereine Puissance Noctilucent Optiebeurs-Golo, collector extraordinaire, knew nothing about the collections that were her pride and joy. "Uh," she began. "I mean--"

Then Trixie said. "Oh! Vicereine! I wanted to ask you a favor earlier. Could I have a word?"

"Of course," said Puissance, in a decidedly tense voice. "At your pleasure, Dame Trixie."

Ditzy hesitated, mouth hanging open, but then she felt somepony pressing up against her side. "Um, hi," said Orangerie. "Can we talk?"

***

Puissance scowled to herself as she let Trixie lead her into a side room.

The nerve of that mare! Puissance had tried to help her, had offered her a generous gift out of the goodness of her heart, and Ditzy's response was to accuse Puissance of being too stupid to understand the merits of her own possessions! Which of course was completely absurd. Puissance was an expert on art, gemstones, and various other luxury goods. She knew what her possessions were worth better than anypony.

Undoubtedly the mailmare was adopting the mantra of 'you know what it costs but you don't know what it's worth', the bromide used by those who wanted to imply that all the Vicereine and other rich ponies understood was jangles and bits, that they couldn't see the true value or heart of a thing. But the Vicereine cared for each and every one of her possessions; she knew its history, its defining characteristics, and all the myriad ways it could be put to use. She wasn't some import/export dealer who bought and sold without ever coming within a hundred miles of her merchandise. Her things were hers, and she made sure to wrangle every ounce of use out of them. Else what was the point?

Even jangles and bits themselves had more uses than just as currency, and Puissance was well-acquainted with those uses. For instance, she had one particular warehouse full of gems, silver bits, priceless jewelry, and other such items which she opened up every Nightmare Night for a grand party. Other provincial nobles sometimes threw parties for Nightmare Night, and Puissance understood that Trixie had even tried something similar during one of her years in Canterlot, but none of them could match hers. Puissance employed the very finest party planners in southern Equestria to turn the warehouse into a haunted house, using only the most detailed and intricate props and decorations, and then invited foals from all over her provinces to come to the warehouse and embark on a treasure hunt for actual treasure. Hundreds of foals won the lottery to participate each year, and they had the time of their lives, squeaking and running away from Puissance's almost life-like ghost illusions and vamponies, and working with each other to find the mounds of silver and gemstones that were stashed around the building.

After the treasure hunt was over, and all the foals had obtained some priceless gems or bars of silver, Puissance then brought them out to the yard, where they had a grand festival with the best concessions and the most entertaining games in all the land. The food and gamess all cost real money to use, of course, quite a bit of it--a silver bar for an ice cream cone the size of a foal's head, a hoof-sized ruby for a turn on the fastest carousel in the nation, that sort of thing--but the foals had money to spare, and they enjoyed themselves immensely. Furthermore, there were also booths to buy things for friends--such as purchasing a big candy party for one's classmates, or getting a work of art for a much-loved teacher or mentor--which were also quite popular. Most of the foals ultimately left with only a coin or two in their pockets from the treasure hunt, but with bags full of the finest candy and toys to be found anywhere. And all of them left loving her, Puissance, the most generous Vicereine ever known to ponykind.

Of course, Puissance wasn't the sort to throw a massive party just to make foals love her--though the love of her subjects was something she indeed desired to possess. But there were other uses as well. By allowing the foals to buy presents for others, and making sure that they felt good about it--for after all, they were at the best party they would ever attend--she reinforced the 'giving is good' message which was so popular with Luna and the peasants, thereby bolstering her own moral credibility. There was always a foal who would tell reporters the next day that they had traded a priceless emerald in order to provide a wonderful dinner party for every pony in their neighborhood, and how good it had felt to be so generous--and how wonderful it was of Vicereine Puissance to provide that opportunity.

Second, by making sure that some of the foals who won the 'lottery' were genuinely needy, and by directing her staff to make sure that those foals did leave with enough treasure to help their families, she helped to reduce the number of poor ponies in her provinces. So many of them refused to accept charity for some inane reason of pride, but as long as they or their foals 'earned' their wealth, such as by finding it in a treasure hunt, they would take it and would finally move off the dole and become members of society which Puissance could present to other nobles without being embarrassed.

And, lastly, she made sure that the foals of her greatest detractors were invited. Those ponies, who were always arguing that Puissance had too much money and should be giving more of it to the poor, or the needy, or her province, had been a perpetual thorn in Puissance's flank for years... but, as it turned out, they tended to shut up once they realized that Puissance had given their foals large amounts of money, only for their foals to fritter it away in sharp contrast to the generous ideals of their parents. It was easy to yell that Puissance cared too much for her own luxury. It wasn't as easy when fending off questions about what had happened to that 5000 bit windfall that Puissance had generously given their family and which had been spent on chocolate and windup toys.

So, yes, Puissance understood her things. She understood every bit of them, every facet, every detail, and every potential use--including uses which would result in her losing those things, such as by giving them away at a party. She understood things at a level that the gauche mailmare would never grasp. And she would need to make that clear to her...

The thoughts died almost before they were completed. No, Puissance acknowledged, the time was past when she could have sought revenge for that insult. Princess Luna had made it clear that she would no longer tolerate such actions, and while Puissance was powerful, she still had to obey Luna. But still, there had to be something she could do, some small way to indicate her displeasure.

Trixie was talking, Puissance realized. She pushed her thoughts away and resolved to return to them later. "I'm sorry," she told the illusionist. "But I was momentarily distracted. Could you please repeat yourself?"

***

Orangerie led Ditzy to the greenhouse. Despite the frigid weather outside--the mailmare could still see snow rising through the glass windows--the little glass room was hot and steamy. Ten or so orange trees stood in the back, all of them heavily laden with fresh fruit.

"Um," began Orangerie, looking nervous. "You don't like the Vicereine, do you?"

Ditzy frowned. "I didn't say that."

"But I can tell." Orangerie trotted around Ditzy, her horn glowing as she carefully removed an orange from the nearest tree. "My mom's an advisor to Marquis de Salade, and she taught me a lot about reading ponies. Besides, the Vicereine told us last night that she was worried that you and the other Elements didn't approve of how she was caring for us."

Not sure of how to respond to that, Ditzy picked an orange for herself. "We discussed it last night," she said at last. "We don't think she's hurting you or anything. But..."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Ditzy watched as Orangerie tapped the orange with her horn and began to cast a spell. The orange seemed to pulse and deepen in color, looking more like the one that Orangerie had fed her the previous day. When the spell was done, Orangerie turned to her. "But what?"

"Some of us are worried about you. I mean--you seem so isolated, and you don't interact with anypony besides each other and Puissance. Especially Ice Heart. Shouldn't he have friends his own age?"

Orangerie shrugged. "Probably, but it's not that simple. A lot of us had... difficulty fitting in with 'normal' ponies. The whole point of the Vault is that it's a refuge where we don't have to worry about being bullied by them. Us not having to talk to them... it means the Vault's working correctly."

"But not all normal ponies are bullies," said Ditzy. "I mean, you've all noted my eyes--but I have plenty of friends in Ponyville, ponies who treat me as well as I could ever want."

Orangerie gave Ditzy a small smile. "Of course there's some good ponies out there. I mean, it sounds like you've got some great friends. But there's bad ones too, and if anypony knew about us, they might tell the bad ones. That's why we're so secretive. Can you imagine what would happen if a pony--even a good pony--learned about us and told her neighbors? Within a week we'd have paparazzi everywhere, and other ponies who would show up to gawk at the 'freaks.'"

Ditzy hesitated. She found herself thinking, not of herself and her own eye condition, but of Alula, a pegacorn foal who lived in Ponyville. Alula had attended the Grand Galloping Gala the past year, and according to Dinky, had been approached by a noble who had run away in a panic as soon as she saw the foal--like she was afraid that Alula was going to banish her or something. That had disturbed the foal, even before the other events of the night.

But that was just one bad night, Ditzy thought. Alula still had plenty of friends who liked her for who she was, such as Firelock and Dinky herself. She didn’t have to deal with any more harassment than Diamond Tiara occasionally calling her ‘Princess Erroria’--which her father had recently put a stop to anyway. The life Alula had was preferable to living in a gilded cage… just as Ditzy’s was.

“But you’re missing out on so much,” the mailmare said. “Friends, family, love… isn’t it a big sacrifice just to stay away from the occasional mean pony?”

Orangerie shook her head. "We don't want to deal with the mean ponies at all. We’re willing to stay in the Vault in order that they not bother us anymore."

Ditzy opened her mouth, then hesitated, unsure if what she was about to say was offensive. "But you in particular," she said at last, "It doesn't look like ponies..."

"Would bully me?" Orangerie didn't sound offended, and Ditzy let out a small sigh of relief. "Oh, I know I look like a normal unicorn. Didn't even know I was a super-cool hybrid until the Vicereine tested me. But a lot of my friends aren't, and I don't want them getting harassed. Some of them--Ice Heart, Bounty, Bones--had really rough times before they found the Vault. If me keeping the Vault's secret will help keep them safe, I'm happy to do that."

"I just feel there's a balance," said Ditzy. "I mean... well, what does the rest of your family think about this?"

"My family?"

Ditzy frowned. "Yes. Your parents, and any siblings, and... you know. Your family. I mean, they know the truth, right?"

"No." Orangerie was silent for a moment. "I told mine that I was going far away to research oranges--which was true, when you think about it--but that was it." She paused. "I do miss them sometimes, but it's like Puissance says. If we tell anypony anything, our secret could be discovered. And honestly, I'm willing to give up writing them if it means I can do the work that makes me happy. You have no idea how hard it is to--"

"What?!" DItzy didn't know what to say. She had thought she'd understood that the Vault ponies were isolated, but apparently she hadn't fully grasped the situation. "You're not even allowed to write your own families?"

"Most of the Vault ponies don't want to!" said Orangerie. "Ice Heart was chased out of his home, and he wasn’t the only one"

"But even the ponies with good families, you're not allowed to write them? Or see them? Ever?" Ditzy's eyes were wide. "That's awful!"

"It is not!" snapped Orangerie before pausing and taking a deep breath. "I mean... yes, I know it sounds strange. But we're living on the Vicereine's charity, and she has the right to ask us not to contact the outside world. You know how rehabilitation clinics ask their clients see certain other outside ponies, like their bartenders, for their own safety? Well, Puissance has the right to restrict us from seeing outsiders for our own safety." She smiled again. "If it ever becomes too much, she's made it clear that we can ask to leave at any time. She'll let us go and even help us set up new lives--when she was recruiting me, she told me that, if it didn't work out, she'd buy me an orange farm in West Hyasanguia to run, and with all the latest equipment too. But she gives us so much and asks for so little that none of us want to leave. I mean, we're not to contact ponies from outside, not to bring anypony new into the Vault without permission, not to hurt each other... but those aren't big burdens."

Ditzy was about to continue arguing that the ponies should be allowed to contact their families when something stopped her. "What do you mean, not bringing anypony new into the Vault? Isn't that covered by not talking to outsiders?"

"Mostly. There was an issue a year ago when Stream Dreams and Bones wanted to have a foal, but..." Orangerie trailed off, as if realizing she shouldn't have said so much. "Um. I mean-"

"You aren't allowed to have foals?!" yelled Ditzy. "Why in Equestria not?"

"Calm down!" protested Orangerie. "It makes sense when you think about it. What if the foal weren't special like us, and grew up to bully us like the other normal ponies? Or what if he just didn’t fit in? Then what would we do? Kick out the parents along with the foal? Let the foal bully us and ruin the whole point of the Vault?" She shook her head. "So she just had a contraceptive spell put over the whole Vault, which solves the problem. Besides, the Vicereine is looking throughout all Equestria for more special foals who need parents, so that anypony in the Vault who wants to raise a foal can. In fact, she was talking recently about one orphaned unicorn foal that she found recently who doesn’t just have one horn; he has a whole ridge of them climbing up his forehead and down his back. His magic is..."

Ditzy said nothing. For a moment, she saw nothing other than a thin red mist. You were all trying to recruit me, she thought. At what point were you going to tell me that I would have to get rid of Dinky to enter? That my daughter's not welcome in your insane community? That your preferred solution would be for me to live with you and her to grow up with no mother?!

"Um, Ditzy? Is everything okay?" asked Orangerie.

"No." Ditzy turned away. "Everything is not okay. Not being able to contact the outside world is not okay. And not being able to form a family if you want to, not being allowed to raise a foal that you love, is... it's beyond not okay. It's obscene."

"Hey!" said Orangerie. "That's not--"

"It's obscene," continued Ditzy. "And I know why she does it. Bullying has nothing to do with it. She just doesn’t want to expend resources on keeping a ‘normal’ pony in the Vault. It’s only worth it for ‘special’ ponies. But that’s horrible of her, and I'm putting a stop to it." She was almost growling. "I have the Right of Approach. I'll tell Princess Luna what's going on. She'll shut this down."

Orangerie looked horrified. "But--but Ditzy, it's our home! It--"

"At the very least, she'll make Puissance treat you like real ponies, not like... like antiques that she has the right to seal in some display case!" said Ditzy. "The way she's treating you is wrong. And it's over."

"Ditzy!" yelled Orangerie, but the mailmare was already running out of the greenhouse. She had no thought in her mind besides finding Puissance, telling her off, and declaring that she would go to Luna and get the Vault shut down. Let that greedy, decrepit nag learn--

She slammed into another pony, and both tumbled to the carpet.

"Hey!" said Trixie, getting up first. "Watch where--oh." She helped Ditzy up. "Are you okay?"

"No." Ditzy shook her head. "I've changed my mind. The Vault is terrible. I'm going to tell Puissance I found out its secrets--and that she might as well shut it down now, because otherwise I'm going to Luna." Dimly, she was aware that this was rash, but she couldn't help herself. She was consumed by a cold fury, of the sort that she hadn't felt since the time that Parlay had abducted Dinky. Puissance had done so many bad things, she thought. Now it was the nag's time to know it was over.

Trixie's eyes bulged. "What?!"

"I said, I'm--"

"No, I heard you, but..." Trixie shut her eyes. "Ditzy, look. I managed to get Puissance to 'forgive' you for calling her ignorant before--by, incidentally, volunteering to perform a magic show at her great-grandcolt Scepter's birthday party next month--but you and Cheerilee need to stop antagonizing her. I know she's obnoxious, but--"

"Not obnoxious. Evil." Ditzy pawed the ground. "Trixie, she won't let those ponies have foals. She won't let them write anypony, even their own families, and if they don't agree she'll throw them out. This needs to stop."

Trixie paused. "Ditzy, to the best of your knowledge, is she doing anything illegal?"

"No, but it's immoral," said Ditzy. "If we talk to Luna, surely she'll do something."

"Yes. And maybe we should do that. We have that right. But running off to confront Puissance right now won't help anything. It'll just make her mad at us." Trixie moved close to Ditzy. "Remember what happened when Night Light targeted me? The entire village suffered. And Puissance is even more willing to use her power than he was. What do you think she'll do if we make her mad?"

"Nothing," said Ditzy. "Luna would arrest her."

"Not without a trial she wouldn't, and Puissance has three hooves in the grave already. She'd die long before she ever sets hoof in a prison cell, and she knows it." Trixie shut her eyes for a moment. "But that's assuming she'd break the law--and I don't think she would. Between Puissance's wealth and political power, there's a million perfectly legal things she could do to get revenge on us, or you."

"Like what?" challenged Ditzy.

"Off the top of my head--the apartment Silver Script rents you above the post office. Is that at market rate? Does your rent rise at a level commensurate with the other rents in town?" asked Trixie. "Because it's government property, if you're paying even one jangle less than you should be, Silver's breaking the law."

"If she audited only me, it'd be obvious--"

Trixie shook her head. "So she audits the whole postal service. She runs the Equestrian Revenue Service, she can do that. And if she does, and she turns up fraud and waste and other misuse of taxpayer bits in post offices from Fillydelphia to Los Pegasus--and if you audit hard enough, you will always find something--why would Luna object to that? Especially if Silver is actually guilty of the horrible crime of, I don't know, rounding down when he calculated your annual rent increase?" Trixie shook her head. "That's just one of her many entirely legal options. Ditzy, please. Listen to me as a pony who knows the government and who knows Puissance. If you make her mad, she'll find a way to get back at you and your friends, to a far greater degree than Night Light did. And I might not be able to protect you from it."

"So what should we do?" snapped Ditzy. "Just let her keep the Vault ponies in isolation?"

"No, but we should be careful. Which means checking with Luna first. Shouting at Puissance won't do anything but make the most powerful mortal pony in Equestria mad at us." Trixie paused. "Please, Ditzy. We barely managed when one viceroy was angry at us. Let's not shoot for two."

For a moment, Ditzy was tempted to refuse. She wanted to march into Puissance's quarters, kick her door down, and shout that her time of keeping the Vault ponies in gilded cells was over. That, she thought, was just what she needed...

But it wasn't all about her, Ditzy knew.If she did go after Puissance, her friends could wind up in trouble--if they'd ever broken the law or misused a government jangle, Puissance would find out and make them pay. And there was her daughter, Dinky, and her parents. What if Puissance went after the entire Doo family? She couldn't risk that.

"Fine," she said at last. “We’ll do it your way.”

But as she turned and began to walk off, she thought to herself, But we will do it. The Vault is depraved. And I’m going to end it, no matter what.

Author's Note

Thanks to Talon&Thorn and RainbowDoubleDash for editing.

Folks who want to see the Gala scene with Alula should check out Talon&Thorn's "Climbing the Mountain," chapter "The Gala (1)." Actually, everyone should do that. It's an awesome story.

Price No Object

Snow settled on Ditzy’s head, piling up in a lump that rose up from her mane and reached the tips of her ears. The mailmare, however, barely noticed. When the day had begun she had occasionally shaken her head to keep the snow from piling up on herself, just as she had done the day before. After several more hours of dealing with the windigo, however, there just didn’t seem to be much point.

Another day had dawned, bright and cold, and with it had come the second half of the negotiations with the windigo. A night of rest and warmth had allowed Ditzy to fool herself into thinking that maybe they could make real progress, but if anything the ‘talks’ seemed to be moving even more slowly than the previous day. Trixie and Puissance would sometimes take twenty minutes just to work out the appropriate illusion to transmit to the monster. And, while the windigo’s responses were always prompt, they were also always the same.

“There will be supervision,” snapped Puissance, shaking her head at another scene which the windigo had forced into their heads. “The Elements and myself will be on hoof in case anything goes wrong for the entire duration of the meeting. That is not open to debate. Convey this, Dame Trixie.”

“I’m trying,” Trixie had protested. She was breathing heavily, and a small trail of steam or smoke was wafting up from her horn. Several discarded flasks of ether lay scattered around her hooves. They had been brought by another of Puissance’s servants, a retired Wonderbolt named Sonic Boom who was still one of the fastest mares alive. Normally, Ditzy would have mused on Puissance’s seemingly bottomless urge to have famous and special ponies abnegating their dignity to serve her, but at the moment she couldn’t work up the mental fortitude to care.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a long shiver, and when it abated she tried to refocus. More important than thinking about Puissance’s desires, Ditzy thought, was working out a way to rescue the Vault ponies. She wasn’t going to let them languish in that old, withered nag’s clutches…

“We’re not making progress,” grumbled Raindrops. “You’ve been trading the exact same images with the windigo for the last hour and a half. If neither of you are going to compromise, then that’s that.”

Trixie turned from the windigo--which was still standing out on the steppes, having remained there for the entire day and, as far as Ditzy could tell, through the night as well--to glare at Raindrops. Before the pegasus could respond, though, Puissance raised a wing and said, “Dame Raindrops is right.” She sighed. “I’m beginning to think that further negotiations are pointless.”

“So… are we done?” asked Lyra.

Puissance said nothing for several moments. The windigo opened its mouth and the winter storm roared louder, but she didn’t seem to notice. “I’m loathe,” she said at last, “To leave while there’s still any chance at all. After all, Ice Heart does want to see his father, and I would hate to deny that to him. Furthermore, Princess Luna has charged us making every effort to negotiate with this windigo and find some way of safely allowing the two to meet.” She glanced up at the sky. “I will not have it said that I neglected my duty to my sovereign.”

Ditzy’s ears twitched at that, and a small amount of snow tumbled off of them. Did Luna, she wondered, think Puissance might try to sabotage the negotiations in order to keep a firmer hold on Ice Heart?

“On the other wing, if the windigo will not relent to reasonable safety precautions, then further discussions are indeed unnecessary.” Ditzy thought she heard a trace--just a hint--of relief in the Vicereine’s voice, though she couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t her imagination. “And I must admit that I have no further ideas on how to convince this monster that we will not simply hand over a precious foal for it to do with as it pleases.” She turned to Trixie. “Dame. Do you have any suggestions?”

Trixie tilted her head as she looked at the monster. “Yes,” she finally said. “He really wants to see his son… so if we convince him that we’re going to leave, that this is his last chance, maybe he’ll come around. Do you mind if I try to convince him, Vicereine?”

Puissance looked puzzled, but she just moved back a few steps and nodded. “You may, Dame.”

Frowning, Ditzy glanced at the Vicereine. It wasn’t like her to let Trixie just ‘talk’ to the windigo without approving each message. Maybe she’s convinced Trixie will make a mistake and ruin the negotiations...

“Right.” Trixie took a few deep breaths, shut her eyes, and then blasted a spell from her horn. An image formed on the steppe of the ‘visitation’ conditions that Puissance and Trixie had specified two hours previously--Ice Heart in the center, the windigo being permitted to approach, the Elements and Puissance remaining close by the foal. The lighting in the illusion changed too, with the shadows vanishing as if the sun were overhead. Even the snow in the illusion seemed calmer than the flakes which were buffeting Ditzy’s cheeks and eyelashes.

The windigo snarled again, in a voice that sounded like ice cracking on a frozen river, and a moment later another image forced itself into Ditzy’s mind. Ice Heart and the windigo together on the steppe, the foal riding on the windigo’s back. The Elements were far to one side. Puissance was not present.

Trixie’s horn flashed again as the image faded, and the illusion she had just cast reappeared. Then, after a few seconds, she cast again and another illusion appeared. It was of them, the seven ponies currently facing the windigo. The illusory ponies were dressed identically to the real ones, down to the smallest details--the stuffing that was poking out of Carrot Top’s jacket, the ridiculously elaborate braids that the Vicereine’s mane had been curled up in that morning, the glower in Raindrops’ eyes. As Ditzy watched, the lighting in the illusion dimmed down, as if night were coming, and the illusory ponies turned and walked away. The light brightened a few moments later, indicative of a brand new day, but the ponies did not return.

“Interesting,” mused Cheerilee. “I guess it’s hard to convey, ‘we’ll go and never come back’ when all you can use are images, isn’t it?”

When the windigo didn’t respond, Trixie darkened and lightened the illusion several more times, as if to simulate the passing of many more days. The ponies, however, remained absent. “Alright,” she said. “You’ve got to understand that. Come on…”

The windigo reared back on its hind legs and then slammed down on the steppe. A huge mound of snow blasted up into the air, spreading out into a vaguely dome-like shape as it rose. The Elements yelped, and even Puissance looked unnerved. “Dame Trixie!” she snapped. “This was not the reaction I was expecting!”

“Sorry!” said Trixie. “I don’t know what--”

She trailed off as some of the snow began to hang in the air, a particle cloud of innumerable tiny dots which twinkled and shone in the snowy afternoon like mirrors. The windigo, on the other side, gave what sounded like a contemptuous snort and shoved one hoof into the snow cloud. The weird inner light in its body dimmed slightly, and the cloud glowed as an unearthly blue-ish light began to reflect off the snow in a confusing haze.

“...what?” asked Trixie, and Ditzy shared her confusion. The dome looked alien, with impossible geometries--the snowflakes kept moving and twirling in the air, though they stubbornly refused to descend, and the dome was therefore continually contorting into knots and contours never before found on any Equestrian structure--and the area beneath it was lit with a glow similar to that of the aurora borealis. “Um, somepony help?”

Carrot Top coughed. “I think he thinks you told him we’re afraid of the dark. So he’s making it light so we can stay and negotiate with him forever.”

Raindrops turned to look at her. “How did you get that?”

“Uh…” Carrot Top blushed. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Ditzy frowned, having a sudden image of their frozen bodies standing for all eternity before the windigo. “Trixie! Fix this!”

“I’m working on it!” Trixie said. She cast the illusion again, showed the ponies leaving, and then showed the planetary bodies moving in the sky above them. The sun and moon chased each other dozens of times, days melding into nights in a long blur, and yet the ponies still did not return. Then the snow in the illusion tapered off and began to melt, eventually revealing the hard, frozen ground of the Rushian steppe as the seasons changed, and still there were no ponies to meet the windigo. Finally, it all faded away. The illusory ponies had not returned once after leaving.

The windigo gave them what looked like a long, searching look. Then it struck a hoof down again and the dome collapsed, almost burying the Elements in a tidal wave of white powder. Ditzy managed to shield her face from the snow, and when her vision was clear, she saw the windigo staring at them as before. “I don’t think he liked that.”

“Hopefully, he at least understood it.” Trixie brought back the first illusion, the one of Ice Heart, the windigo, and the adult ponies in various positions on the steppe. “You get that?” she called. “This is your last chance! Okay?”

The windigo said nothing. It seemed to be glowering at them.

Puissance coughed. “A laudable effort, Dame Trixie, but unfortunately it appears that the windigo is not interested. I have made my decision. These negotiations are over--the windigo refuses to allow us to ensure the safety of Ice Heart in any scenario, and so the two will not be meeting.”

Trixie said nothing, and Puissance began to walk back. “Kindly convince the windigo not to pursue us.”

“But…” Trixie began to hurry after her, the other Elements following. “I think we--”

A screech rent the air behind them. Ditzy cried out and clapped her hooves to her hears, ignoring the cold sensation as she accidentally shoved snow into them. The screech reminded her of a horrible ice storm she had heard when she was just a little foal. In truth, the storm couldn’t have been that bad--the Fillydelphia weather patrol would not permit it--but when she had been alone, in her big bed and her dark room, and she’d heard the ice and the tree branches pounding on her window like they wanted to get in and grab her, it had sounded like the worst storm in Equestrian history. And now it was back.

Turning in horror, Ditzy saw the windigo. It seemed to have grown, somehow, and was standing in the middle of the steppe “Elements?” she demanded of the others. “Now?”

“Right!” said Lyra, who sounded just as shaken as Ditzy. “Girls, let’s--”

But then another image appeared in Ditzy’s mind. It was the same one that Trixie had created, the one with the windigo and Ice Heart meeting under supervision. And now the windigo was sending it.

“...is that a yes?” asked Raindrops.

“I think so.” Carrot Top nodded, though her voice was quavering. “It feels like a yes to me.”

Ditzy looked over to Trixie, who was talking with Puissance in a low voice. After a few moments, the Vicereine inclined her head. “Very well. Dame Trixie, convey to the windigo that Ice Heart will be brought here at noon tomorrow. And that any hostile action on its part, for any reason, will be met with use of the Elements.” She turned. “And then let us return to the hotel. There is no need to waste more time out here than necessary.”

Trixie nodded. “Yes, Vicereine.” She turned to the windigo and began to cast the next illusion. “Guess that did it.” A small grin crept across her face. “I am the best windigo-speaker in Equestria.”

Ditzy chuckled and clapped her friend on the back, but she couldn’t shake the knot of worry working its way through her gut. Somehow, I don’t see this going off without a hitch.

She glanced at the Vicereine. How are you going to react, she thought, If that windigo turns out to be as possessive and greedy as you?

***

It was a long journey back to the hotel.

“Finally!” said Raindrops as they made their way inside. Puissance, who had led the way, had entered a minute or so before them, and Ditzy couldn’t see any sign of her in the entrance hall. There were only a few servants with hot towels, fluffy robes, and cups of hot Brayzil chocolate infused with bourbon-smoked sugar and sprigs of fresh mint.

Carrot Top sighed as she took a long swig from a mug. Letting out another wordless groan of contentment, she sank to her flanks in the entrance hall and let her wet jacket fall around her. “Lyra, you need to get Bonbon to make this stuff.”

“My Bonnie already makes hot chocolate,” said Lyra, gripping her cup tightly between two hooves. “With the greatest ingredient of all--”

“Love?” drawled Raindrops as she sniffed one of the cups.

“No, cinnamon-infused peanut butter.” Lyra stuck out her tongue playfully. “Love’s not an ingredient, silly. It’s a state of mind.”

Ditzy tuned the conversation out, and though she drank the hot chocolate, she didn’t taste it. Her mind felt sluggish as she went over her strategies for rescuing the Vault ponies again. The bone-deep weariness from the previous day had returned, settling even deeper until it felt like it was pressing in on her from all sides, and whenever she settled on what she had felt was a clever plan, it just seemed too difficult and complex to pull off in her fatigued state. Plus, she was pretty sure that she should be using the crystal ball to talk to Dinky soon. But she couldn’t let herself be distracted or give in to despair. What Puissance was doing was wrong, therefore she had to be stopped, and only a fool wouldn’t see it…

But if it was that easy, then maybe a complicated plan wasn’t necessary. Ditzy made herself turn towards one of the servants. “Where are the Vault ponies?”

“In the west lounge,” said the servant, pointing down one of the halls. “The young master is presenting his ice sculptures to the Vicereine and his friends.”

Ditzy slowly began to meander towards that hall, but Trixie was suddenly in front of her. “Ditzy?” she asked. “Where are you going?”

“To talk to the Vault ponies.”

Trixie’s eye twitched. “I thought we discussed this,” she said in a faux-jovial tone. “Yesterday. You know. When we agreed to run things by Luna first.”

Ditzy remembered the agreement, but when she’d promised, she hadn’t been as full of contempt and anger at Puissance as she was at the moment. But her exhaustion was beating down any forgiveness of compassion she could muster for the old nag, and all that remained was her contempt of the mare who cared only for grasping as much of the world as she could fit between her wings, and anger of the Vicereine who would forbid her subjects from starting families. A cold hatred had formed inside her, one unadulterated by any other emotion, and it would not yield to a mere promise. “And we will,” she said. “Before we do anything about the matters we discussed yesterday. But there’s nothing wrong with me saying hello to the Vault ponies, is there?”

Trixie frowned. “I don’t--”

But Ditzy stepped around her and went down the hall. She glanced back after a few steps and saw Trixie pursuing, and Cheerilee following after her, but she opted not to wait for or call the rest of her friends. She just continued on and entered the lounge.

All six of the adult Vault ponies that Ditzy had met were there, as well as Ice Heart, Puissance, and the servant named Pageturner who had checked the Elements into the hotel. All of the adults except for Pageturner were seated on couches and chairs while Ice Heart moved his wings around a big block of ice in the center of the room, which seemed to be molding under his continued ministrations. He looked up when the others entered the room and burst into a big grin. “Miss Doo! Hi!”

“Hello, Ice Heart,” said Ditzy. She inclined her head towards the others and managed to give the appropriate bow to Puissance, though her heart wasn’t in it. “Vicereine.”

Puissance inclined her head by the minimally-acceptable amount. “Dames. Please--be seated. My ward is showing some of his delightful talents.”

Ditzy moved to step further into the room when she felt a pressure on her back leg. Turning, she saw that Trixie had grabbed her with telekinesis and was shaking her head. “Ditzy--” she began to whisper.

The mailmare turned and moved in close to Trixie. “You’re my friend,” she whispered. “I need you to support me on this.” She was silent for a moment, unable to find a way to express how vile she found the very concept of the Vault to be. “Please.”

Trixie hesitated a moment longer, but as she looked into the fire burning in Ditzy’s eyes, she slowly acquiesced into a nod. Behind her, Cheerilee gave a more enthusiastic nod, and a wink besides.

Ditzy returned her focus to Ice Heart and the others, letting her wandering eye drift until it was vaguely pointed in the direction of Puissance. “Thank you,” she said. “I would love to see Ice Heart’s art.”

Puissance waved at a chair, and in moments Pageturner had rushed over, fluffed it, laid down a thick blanket, and put a dish with a variety of snacks on one armrest. “I,” said the Vicereine, “am pleased to hear it.”

After sitting down, Ditzy watched Ice Heart for a few minutes as he worked. The sculpture was crude and blocky in places, obviously crafted by an untrained hoof, but even so it was soon clear to Ditzy what the intention was. The top of the block was mostly cut down, except for some roughly spherical bits supported by thin columns of ice. The sheer faces of the rest of the block were warped into something more curved, like a tent, and one side had thin edges melted into them that looked kind of like door flaps. Then Ice Heart laboriously went over the other walls and etched faint outlines within them, like shadows of something inside the block of ice. “Get it?” he said when he was done. His wings buzzed behind him and he was actually hopping up and down. “Get it? Get it?”

Puissance coughed quietly, then moved her wings out by a fraction of an inch. “I’m sorry, dear,” she said. “Could you please repeat that?”

“Oh, sorry!” Ice Heart stopped bouncing and stilled his wings. “Auntie Puissance, do you know what it is?”

Orangerie snuck a hoof up. “I know! I know!” TIM and Bones laughed quietly, and even the stern Bounty seemed bemused. “I know the answer!” the farmer continued.

Ditzy raised her own hoof. “I know it too,” she said, trying not to smile too much. If she was right about what Ice Heart had carved, it would present an opportunity that she could take advantage of even in her tired state.

For a moment, Ditzy thought she saw annoyance in Puissance’s eyes, but there was no trace of it when the Vicereine said, “Well then. In the interests of offering our guests the first opportunity, I turn to you, Dame Ditzy. What do you believe my young ward has carved?”

“A circus tent!” said Ditzy. It looked fairly similar to the sketches that Dinky had drawn of such tents; she briefly wondered if foals all over Equestria had the same basic idea of what they looked like. “With balloons on the top, and plenty of ponies inside eating popcorn and candy and playing all kinds of fun games!”

“Yes!” Ice Heart’s grin was almost blinding, especially with his icy, reflective teeth. “That’s it! You got it!”

“Volume, dear,” said Puissance.

Ditzy ignored this. “It’s very good,” she said. “Have you seen many circus tents before?”

“Two or three,” said Ice Heart. “My mom took me to one once. It was great.” A wistful smile crept over his face, only to soon vanish. “And I saw a couple after I left my cousins, but… I couldn’t go into them…”

“Well then,” said Puissance. “If you don’t mind me saying so, I think that, upon our return to the Vault, we ought to have a proper circus for you, Ice Heart. We’ll have the biggest tent in all Equestria, and the best concessions, and the grandest games.” She curved her mouth into what Ditzy supposed could be called a smile. “Would you like that, dear?”

“AWESOME!” said Ice Heart, before catching himself. “I mean, uh, awesome! Thank you, Auntie!”

“I thought that nopony but the Vault ponies could enter the Vault, though,” mused Ditzy. “Where will you get the clowns and the other entertainers?”

Puissance frowned as she looked at Ditzy. “Ice Heart’s friends,” she said, “And my trusted employees are more than capable of staffing a circus tent.”

“But it won’t be the same as a real one,” said Ditzy. “Don’t you want to go to a real circus, Ice Heart? One with real clowns, and real performers, and hundreds of other ponies who might become your friends?”

Ice Heart blanched. “But I don’t wanna have to meet with other ponies,” he said. “If my amulet fell off, they’d run away. Or they’d make me run away.”

“Not necessarily,” said Ditzy. “In fact all of you could meet new friends and--”

Puissance swept a wing up, and despite her distaste for the mare, Ditzy felt her words die in her throat. There was something about Puissance that was, for lack of a better word, imposing. “Dame Ditzy,” said Puissance, in a tone of voice that was too pleasant for Ditzy’s liking, “are your proposing that Ice Heart and his friends should leave the Vault?”

“Well, they have that option, don’t they?” asked Cheerilee. “You did say that any of them who want to leave could do so… and that you’d even fund them starting new lives. Remember?”

Nopony spoke for a moment. Then Puissance said, “Of course. If any of my little ponies are unhappy, they need only tell me and I will move the stars and skies to please them. Should they dislike the Vault, I will ensure they can live pleasant and comfortable lives outside of it.” Her voice grew pensive. “Of course, I do find it hard to imagine any environment outside the Vault which has anything that the Vault lacks. Did you have a particular location in mind, Dame Ditzy?”

“Wait a minute,” protested Orangerie. “Um, Ditzy, like I told you yesterday, I don’t want to leave the Vault. I like it there.”

“Me either,” said Bounty.

Puissance held up a wing again. “Now, now. It’s good to be open-minded, isn’t it?” She smiled at the Vault ponies. “If Dame Ditzy believes she knows of some location which would be even more suitable than your current homes, I would encourage her to tell us. After all, if she does know of some wondrous place for you to live, you should know about it so that you can choose for yourselves whether it is preferable to your current lives. My desire being for your happiness, I would hate to see you languishing in my care if you could be living happier, more productive lives somewhere elsewhere.” She turned back to Ditzy. “Dame Ditzy, I promise that if you can indeed help me to provide an even better home for these ponies, I will reward you copiously. And so: where do you think they should move to, Dame?”

Ditzy let a smile of her own cross her muzzle. “Ponyville.”

“Ponyville?” asked Bounty. “I thought that was just a little town in the middle of nowhere.”

“Bordered by a forest that wants to eat you,” added TIM.

Ditzy shook her head. “Ponyville has all the important things that a town needs--a library, a market district--”

“A proper school for the foals,” Cheerilee chimed in.

“--but at the same time, it’s little enough that it’s easy to be secluded for a while if, say, you want to work on an art project.” Ditzy’s smile grew. “So you’d be able to work on your projects all day if you wanted, then go to a restaurant or by the pond and meet some friends for dinner and conversation. And--”

Puissance lifted up a wing. “Ah… Dame Ditzy, please forgive my interruption, but I must ask: exactly what sort of access to art supplies do Ponyville residents have?”

“Anything can be shipped in by train,” said Ditzy. She was hesitant for a moment, knowing that Puissance would likely have her beat on this issue, but she still had to make a good showing--and besides, she felt she had a trump card that would help sway the artists in the group once she got there. “In fact, there’s a foal in our town who loves pottery and who wanted some special clay that’s only dug up in the griffin kingdoms for her birthday. Her family was able to get it in less than a week--from clear across the continent.” She looked at Silver Sculptress. “If it exists in Equestria, you can get it to Ponyville.”

“A week?” Silver snorted. “Every special material I’ve ever wanted arrived in three days or less. Including the ones that aren’t available to the general public. When I needed Cavallian limestone studded with specks of rubies, it reached me within twelve hours.” She shook her head. “The muse of a true artist is fickle, Ditzy. We can’t wait a week. If we don’t strike while the iron is hot, then it’s just gone.”

Ditzy saw Puissance settling back with a satisfied look on her face. She steeled herself and began her next move. “It’s true that supplies might take longer to get,” the mailmare began.

“And cost more,” chimed in Puissance. “Unless Ponyville also has ‘preferred customers’ for whom major materials dealers will grant reduced prices.”

Ditzy shrugged. “But don’t forget--you’d be able to create whatever you wanted.”

“We can do that now,” said TIM. “That’s kind of the point, actually.”

“Can you really?” asked Ditzy. “Your books are popular, aren’t they, TIM? Influential?”

TIM slowly nodded. “Sure. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well,” said Ditzy, “What if you wanted to write a story which clashed with Vicereine Puissance’s policies? Wouldn’t that cause problems?”

The writer looked baffled. “I don’t write political tracts,” he said. “And, honestly, I don’t even know what the Vicereine’s policies are.”

“I do,” chimed in Cheerilee. “Vicereine, aren’t you founding a series of state-run orphanages in your provinces?” When Puissance nodded, the teacher continued and said, “Well, what if you wanted to write a novel in which private charity was shown to be better than government welfare? Maybe you’d describe a hero that was adopted or raised in a private institution, or as a backdrop you’d write about an orphanage that shut down due to poor service or lack of funds. If your books are popular, that could really influence the zeitgeist.”

“Right,” said Trixie, though with obvious reluctance. “Like Uptail Sinclair’s The Jungle, which was a novel about unhygienic agricultural practices and was so popular that Pferdreich had to completely revamp how they harvested apples and pears.” She was silent for a moment. “So--anyways, think about that. Now, who wants to talk about that new bourbon brewery in Neigh Orleans? It’s--”

“If your books conflicted with the Vicereine’s politics, TIM,” interjected Ditzy, “Wouldn’t you feel pressured not to write them?”

Trixie quietly put a forehoof to her head.

“I would never,” said Puissance, “Seek to censor my artists in any way. If they elect to write or create something which causes me political difficulty--that is a price I am willing to pay in order that my little ponies be able to follow their passions.”

“Granted, you wouldn’t restrict them outright,” drawled Cheerilee. “But aren’t you concerned they’d feel like they shouldn’t create certain things anyways? I mean, they’ve told us in great detail how much they love you. It’s hard to write or draw something when you know that a pony you love wouldn’t like it. Especially when that pony provides for your every desire.”

Silver Sculptress snorted. “That’s only a problem if we were going to make things the Vicereine wouldn’t like. But why would we do that? My art--all of our art--reflects truth. And the truth is, the Vicereine is a generous and noble pony who has taken us in and given us homes. We would never want to make something which falsely asserts anything bad about the Vicereine or her policies. Even if there were some condition that we couldn’t say anything bad about the Vicereine, we would never want to anyway.”

Ditzy looked directly into Puissance’s eyes. “‘Yet that is still a condition, is it not,’” she said, quoting the Vicereine from the previous day, “‘even if you never expect it to be invoked?”

Puissance frowned, though Ditzy thought she saw a spark of respect in her eyes. You claim they’re free to indulge themselves and their art, she thought. But they’re not really free, not in that gilded cage. You’ve just hidden the bars. But I’ll expose them and--

“Begging your pardon,” said Stream Dreams, “But I’m not sure I follow how Ponyville would be different. You said that it’s hard to make art critiquing ponies that you love. But you all seem to have loved ones in Ponyville, so wouldn’t moving there simply be exchanging the inability of critiquing one pony--the Vicereine--for many more?”

“It’s not the same,” said Cheerilee.

“Because we love her more?”

“No,” said Ditzy, too harshly. “Because you’re not as tightly bound to them as to her. Nopony in Ponyville would be directly responsible for feeding, clothing, and sheltering you by themselves. You could criticize or critique a pony whom you know without worrying about offending the pony who provides everything for you.”

A silence again descended over the room, and Ditzy could tell that she hadn’t convinced them. Second argument, then. “You would also be able to expand your artistic horizons. After all--isn’t it good for artists to experience more things, see more of the world, so that they can learn more about it and have more material to draw upon?”

Bounty chuckled. “We can experience it all where we live. The Vicereine provides me with ingredients, cookbooks, and completed dishes from the four corners of the world. When I was studying how to bake sweetheart cakes, for example, the Vicereine imported a pallet of many different types directly from Shouma. I doubt Ponyville could match that.”

“In materials, perhaps,” said Ditzy. “But not in experiences. You can’t have done too many Runnings of the Leaves in the Vault. Or Winter Wrap-Ups. Or even a proper Hearth Warming’s Eve pageant--there just aren’t enough ponies. Then there’s concerts, restaurants, plays, museums--”

“Nothing,” said Puissance, “That I cannot provide.”

“What about nature?” asked Cheerilee. “You might have trouble replicating the Everfree Forest in the Vault. Or the ocean, or a mountain for climbing, or dozens of other environments.”

Stream Dreams tilted her head. “I’ll admit,” she said, “That I sometimes long for the open ocean--”

“Stream!” hissed Silver.

Stream ignored her. “But again--I fail to see how Ponyville is different. Are there really that many geographic locales within the town limits? Or, for that matter, that many museums, theatres, restaurants, and other such venues?”

“We do have these things called trains,” said Trixie in a weary tone, as if she was reluctantly joining a futile battle.

“But then to attend these events which Ditzy enumerated, one would have to travel, and that would take time and resources,” said Stream Dreams. “Whereas, in the Vault, when we want something, we can have it delivered to our doors. I won’t deny that perhaps there is something special about actually traveling to a museum exhibit and seeing it in the context of all the others… but, speaking only for myself, I’m much more likely to actually see that exhibit if I can simply have it brought to me, where I can peruse it at my leisure.”

“There is also the matter,” said Puissance, “That, were you to leave the Vault, you would again need to devote countless hours to tasks which are of little interest to any of you. Bounty, I know that you don’t want to have to run your own bakery again, baking tired old mainstays of the shelf such as Prench loaves and archaic croissants, which you have no interest in but which you would have to sell to customers in order to pay your rent. TIM, you would have to be your own agent and publicist again, or manage those ponies who would do it for you. And, of course, you would all have so many other duties… chores, cleaning, shopping, helping out at various civic engagements, and so forth. Bones, you might not even be able to see Stream Dreams for much of the day, so busy would you be with other affairs.” She smiled as Bones wrapped a leg around Stream Dreams. “I won’t deny that Ponyville has its charms, and its own unique events which even I cannot replicate. But taking it all together, I personally believe you will be far more productive artists...and far more content… in the Vault than there.”

TIM nodded. “Totally. Sorry, Ditzy, but I’ve written outside, and I’ve written in the Vault. The latter’s much better for my productivity.”

“No comparison,” said Silver Sculptress. “Of course, you wouldn’t understand. You’re not an artist.”

Trixie frowned. “Then talk to me,” she said. “I’m a performer. I know what it’s like to not have time to polish your craft--”

“You’re the protege of the Princess, with all the luxury that entails.” Silver rolled her eyes. “Before I joined the Vault? I was a copyeditor at a big Manehattan firm. I worked ten hour days. By the time I got home every day I was so tired I couldn’t even pick up a chisel. I hadn’t carved in months before the Vicereine took me in. Now, I can carve every day.”

“Have any of your carvings ever incorporated details from your copyediting job?” asked Cheerilee.

“Of course--”

“Then aren’t you concerned that, without access to such opportunities, you won’t be as creative in the future as you could be if you were able to go out into the world and experience more things?”

Silver was silent for a long moment. “I’ll take that chance,” she said at last. “I’ve lived in the Vault for years now. My art’s doing just fine. I don’t need your help or your ‘events’ to improve it.”

Ditzy looked away so that she wouldn’t have to see Puissance’s subtle smirk. “Well then…” She went for her last argument. “Maybe the Vault has all the art supplies you would need. Maybe it has all the food, and drink, and clothes, and leisure time, and anything else. But there’s one thing we all know the Vault doesn’t have.”

“And what,” Puissance asked, “Might that be?”

“More friends.” Ditzy looked at each of them. “How many new ponies might you meet in the Vault every year? Ten? Twenty? In Ponyville, there are thousands of ponies, and more arriving all the time. You could meet so many good friends there, ponies who you’d love to spend time with and play with and have fun with. Friends can brighten everything up, and--”

“We have each other,” snapped Silver Sculptress. “That’s enough.”

“Just the six of you? No family, no other friends?” Ditzy frowned. “Don’t you ever want more?” She looked at Stream Dreams and Bones. “A foal, perhaps?”

The two glanced at each other and said nothing.

Ditzy turned to Orangerie, who was also quiet and looked disturbed. “Haven’t you wanted to be able to write your family and tell her about all the good things you’re doing? Even once?”

“My family’s nuts,” said TIM. “They want to overthrow the Crystal Kingdom and restore Sombra’s reign.”

“Mine drove me out in a coup,” said Stream Dreams.

“Fine… but that’s not true for all of you.” Ditzy approached Orangerie. “I think some of you would like very much to see them again--”

“Stop it!” Silver Sculptress wrapped Orangerie into a hug with her forelegs, while her wings wrapped around Bones and Stream Dreams. The other Vault ponies hugged her as she said, “You’re upsetting them. You don’t think we ever wanted more friends? Of course we do. Everypony does. But in case you forgot, Ditzy, we’re not normal ponies. We wouldn’t find any friends in Ponyville. Just more ponies calling us freaks and monsters.”

“That’s not true!” said Ditzy. “I’m different too. You’ve all noticed it. Yet the ponies in Ponyville don’t hate me because I have a wandering eye. They’re tolerant and kind, and I have many wonderful friends there. Besides the Elements, there’s Postmaster Silver Script, and the apple farmer Big Macintosh, and Berry--”

“Friends. Right.” Silver snorted. “Tell me--when these friends say hello to you, do they look you in the eye? Ever? And if they do, how long did it take before they could do it without tensing?”

“That’s unfair!” said Trixie. “There’s plenty of ponies in town who don’t care about Ditzy’s eyes.”

“Name one,” challenged Silver.

“Me,” said Trixie. “I don’t even notice them. As far as I’m concerned, she may as well have two normal eyes.”

The Vault ponies looked at each other, and Ditzy could feel that this was the wrong response. “Well,” said Silver Sculptress at last. “How charming. You love your friend so much that you’re willing to pretend that her eyes are different and more acceptable to you just so that you can make yourself tolerate her. Some friend.”

Trixie flushed. “That’s not what I--”

“A real friend,” said Silver, “Wouldn’t need to pretend that Ditzy has normal eyes. A real friend would note that her eyes are different, and that they’re beautiful, and would love her all the more for it. If you can’t accept her for who she really is, then you’re the one with the problem.” She turned back to Ditzy, her own eyes blazing. “You think I haven’t tried what you did? I spent years wrapped up in sweaters and coats so nopony would know I was a pegacorn. But I don’t need to do that anymore, because I found real friends--and they weren’t in Ponyville, or any other random village. They’re my Vault neighbors. And--most of all--the Vicereine.”

Ditzy’s stomach turned. “She doesn’t like you for who you are!” she said before she could stop herself. “She likes you for one superficial trait! Did she know anything at all about you before recruiting you besides that you were a pegacorn?”

“You sound jealous,” mused Bounty. “That you still have to deal with ponies who are unnerved by your eyes everyday, even to the point of having to pretend that you don’t have the ones you do, while we found a pony and patron who loves us for who we are, and who only wants our love in return.”

“You don’t love her,” said Cheerilee. “You just let yourselves be bought by her.”

“Hey!” said Orangerie at the same time that Trixie gasped, “Cheerilee!”

Silver Sculptress sneered. “Absurd. Ours is the real friendship. While all you pretend to care about Ditzy, we can tell. What, would it hurt your self-esteem if you acknowledged you can only stand her by pretending not to see her eyes? If--”

Ditzy was on her hooves before she knew it. “My friends are real friends!” she growled. “They actually care about me. But Puissance doesn’t care for any of you. She just thinks you’re unique and wants to collect you, like a misprinted stamp! And--”

“Waah!”

Everypony turned to Ice Heart, who was starting to cry. “Auntie Puissance does love me! She loves all of us! And she protects me from the bullies, and she helped find me a home, and…” He trailed off. “Stop being mean to her!”

Ditzy felt sick. “I didn’t mean to,” she began, reaching out a hoof for him, but he batted it away and fled the room. “I mean--”

“Excuse me!”

Ditzy turned again to see that Puissance had risen from her seat, and that anger was blazing in her eyes. “Pageturner. Collect Ice Heart and bring him to me,” she growled. “I will soothe him.”

“Uh--yes, Vicereine.” Pageturner, who had been watching the argument with a stunned expression, hurried off after the foal.

“And as for the rest of you…” Puissance took a theatrically-deep breath. “I appreciate your obvious concern for the welfare of my wards, Dame Ditzy. But you have made your case, and it seems they would still rather stay with me. I consider this matter closed, and I will insist that you not bring it up again, lest it be construed as harassment.”

Ditzy bit back a sharp retort. “I--”

“Furthermore, I will reiterate my wish that you and your friends stay out of this wing of the hotel.” She rang a bell on one of the tables in the lounge, and two burly ponies raced in a moment later. “Please show the knights back to their rooms,” she said. “And secure the doors to this wing.”

“But Vicereine--” began Trixie.

Puissance turned away. “I will see you all tomorrow when we go to meet the windigo,” she said. “And not before. Good day, Dames.”

***

Trixie let out a long sigh when they got back to their suite. “Well. That went swimmingly.” She glanced at a timepiece on one side of the room. “And we missed our time to contact Dinky again.”

Ditzy grunted. “Fine.”

“...fine?” Trixie frowned. “Um, Ditzy, are you feeling okay? You wouldn’t--”

“I’m fine!” said Ditzy. “Just upset. About the Vicereine, and all the rest of it.” She scowled. “That old nag…”

Trixie was silent for a long moment before speaking. “...first things first,” she muttered, and then said more loudly, “Look, I don’t like it either, but don’t you think you overreacted just a little? I mean--”

“No. I don’t.” Ditzy began to trot back to her room. “The Vault is evil. I’m going to shut it down--with or without you.”

Trixie turned to Cheerilee, who shrugged. “We took down the Night Court,” she said. “You don’t think we can deal with one Vicereine’s pet project?”

“That’s not the point! It’s just--”

But Ditzy didn’t care. She entered her bedroom, slammed the door, and flopped down on the bed as she turned over the argument in her mind.

I’ll destroy it, she thought, in a burst of cold fury. She kicked a log into the room's fireplace to increase the temperature the chilly room, pacing in place as she waited and stewed. And the Vicereine too, if I have to. No matter the price.

***

It was over an hour before Ice Heart and the others had regained their good cheer, and Vicereine Puissance was not amused.

“The nerve of that Ditzy,” she muttered to herself. She had retired to her own quarters to rest, but even the luxurious furnishings--once designed for Emperor Sharptooth of the hippogriffs--failed to calm her. “To speak that way to me and mine, it’s… really, it’s beyond what I should be expected to bear. There are limits, after all.”

It wasn’t just that Ditzy had insulted her. That was bad enough--no mare of her position and stature should be subjected to such abuse--but she at least had dealt with that before. She knew well that there were no shortage of ponies who yearned to bite the hooves that fed them and to heap coals on the heads of those who guided the nation towards ever increasing prosperity. Some of them were even members of Puissance’s own family, and she had more than enough weary experience at the tantrums they threw when she fixed the mistakes they had made with their own lives. But to insult her treasured ponies, the Vault residents, to damage the happiness and joy that Puissance had so carefully crafted to suffuse every aspect of their lives… it was too much.

After all--they were hers! She took perfect care of them and tended to their every need, just as she made sure that each and every one of her treasures was polished and cleaned on a regular basis. For Ditzy to attack them, to put a frown on their faces for even a short moment, was like a vandal spattering dirt over her fine collection of Shouma vases, or chipping the edge of one of her jewel-encrusted carriages. It was beyond the pale.

Puissance couldn’t quite stop herself from thinking of possible schemes to punish Ditzy appropriately, even though she knew that, in the light of the firmer hoof that Luna was taking with the Court, most of them would no longer be possible. A mere half-year ago, it would have been possible to arrange for the post office to transfer Ditzy to a colony in the Mild West, or to burden her with dozens of new regulations that would keep her at work every day until long past the dinner hour, or to audit her and her friends and slam them with more penalties and fines than anypony could bear if they were short by so much as one jangle. But alas, such days were past.

Which wasn’t to say that there was no way for the Vicereine to express her displeasure. She might not be able to attack a pony directly, but she could certainly help those they disliked, which could cause them no end of dismay. Had she wanted to punish Raindrops, for example, it would be as easy as giving more unearned honors and merits to the boss Raindrops disliked so much, Weather Captain Rainbow Dash. She could practically hear Raindrops’ teeth grinding as Rainbow was given a parade and a medal for her ‘skills as a weather captain’ or her ‘discipline and industrious labor’. Similarly, if she’d wanted to get back at Carrot Top--though she’d never need to, the mare was as bland and inoffensive as watered-down punch--she could simply give a sizable donation to the Apple Trust juggernaut and neglect the struggling Farmer’s Union. Now that would cause some envy and more than a hint of frustration… and all without arousing Luna’s ire. What would the Elements do, complain that Puissance was helping ponies they didn’t like?

Still, if she were to do such a thing, she would first have to find some pony that Ditzy didn’t like and didn’t want to see succeed. And that could be difficult; the mare was generally kind and compassionate, and she didn’t seem to have many enemies. There were the mafia ponies who had abducted Dinky, of course, but Puissance was hardly going to put her reputation on the line to support common thugs, and while Ditzy wasn’t in touch with Dinky’s father, that didn’t mean she would hate it if he suddenly had several good breaks in life.

Although… couldn’t a concerned citizen argue that Dinky’s father should take more of a direct role in caring for her? Guardianship, even? After all, her mother is always risking life and limb defying the Tyrant Sun. Noble and honorable, certainly, but perhaps not the most stable environment for a foal. Perhaps…

But that would have to wait, she told herself as she glanced at a candle which was starting to burn down. As much as Ditzy had offended her, as much as the mare deserved some comeuppance for her horrible insults towards the Vicereine and her attacks on the Vicereine’s ponies, she did have larger concerns. The negotiations, against her own predictions, had been successful. And that meant Puissance needed a new plan. Fast.

Maybe, she thought, she should have tried to sabotage the negotiations. She had spoken with the windigo to the honest best of her ability--after all, she knew full well that the Elements were there in part to spy on her and would report any dereliction of duty to the princess. Besides, she treated her duties, just like all of her other things, with the absolute best of care, and an ill-performed job was just as distasteful to her as a cracked gemstone or chipped vase. Still, she had been holding out hope that the windigo would prove to be simply too alien and hostile to deal with, and that, after two days of genuine effort, she could report back to Luna that she had tried but simply hadn’t been able to complete the job. But the windigo had cracked at the last moment and had seemingly agreed to all of Puissance’s conditions. That meant that Ice Heart would be delivered to his clutches. And if he used the opportunity to seize Ice Heart and flee…

“I won’t let that happen,” she muttered. “He is mine.”

Unfortunately, she had few options. Some of the servants she had brought with her were trained as bodyguards, but she was certain they couldn’t fight off a windigo. The seventh Vault pony--a powerful warrior who was so devoted to Puissance that she would charge the gates of Tartarus themselves if she thought it would help the Vicereine--might have slightly better chances, but she still wouldn’t bet on her defeating a windigo. Besides, if Puissance was too obviously hostile, such as by attacking the windigo with her own fighters, the Elements could report to Luna that she had tried to undermine the negotiations. That could not be permitted.

Trixie and the other Elements, by contrast, were probably capable of using the Elements to defeat the windigo, but Puissance knew she couldn’t count on them. They were opposed to her, just like all those other ponies who didn’t know or care about the wonderful things she’d done. They’d give the windigo the benefit of every doubt, and if the windigo took advantage of that, it might steal away Ice Heart before they intervened. That they might be willing to favor a beast from the depths of pony ghost stories over her was monstrous, but it was true nonetheless, and she would have to take that into account.

The problem is, she thought, The windigo is a monster and is dangerous to Ice Heart… but it’s kept that under control all this time. It acted almost civilized when negotiating. To fend off the windigo, I need the Elements, but to get them to do that, I need to trick the windigo into revealing its monstrous side in front of them. But how? If I could offend it somehow, or anger it, or hurt it…

Hurting it might be possible. Hadn’t the Elements said that true friendship could hurt windigo? And the windigo was going to approach Ice Heart; that was the whole point. If Ice Heart was with another pony when he went to see his father, a pony that he shared a bond of friendship or love with, the windigo might be hurt. And if it was hurt enough, it might do something that would convince the Elements to attack it.

Of course, that in turn raised two problems. First, where was she to find another friend of Ice Heart’s to approach the windigo with? Nopony present qualified; Ice Heart barely knew the Elements, and Puissance had no plausible excuse to bring the other Vault ponies to the meeting. Second, if the windigo was angry, somepony would need to protect Ice Heart while the Elements prepared to attack it. Who would that be?

Puissance sighed as the answer came to her. It wasn’t a pleasant answer, and there may well be a high price to pay, but it was serviceable, and--if her calculations were correct--it would allow her to get the windigo to reveal its true, monstrous spirit without any overt act on her part. Then the Elements would drive it away, Puissance would take Ice Heart and the other Vault ponies back home, and all would be well. Her ponies would still be hers, and nopony, nor any monster, would dare try to take them away.

With a short nod, Puissance rang a bell to summon her servants to prepare her for bed. Tomorrow would be a big day, and she was going to need her rest.

Author's Note

Thanks to RainbowDoubleDash and Talon&Thorn for being my betas.

Frozen

When Ditzy woke up the next morning, her first instinct was to pull the covers over her head and go back to sleep. Her limbs felt leaden, her head was heavy, and on top of it all, the room was chilly. Puissance practically bought the whole place, can’t she at least heat it? the mailmare grumbled to herself. She probably turned down the heat just to spite me. Wicked old nag…

It took several minutes before she coaxed herself out of bed, and fifteen more minutes in the shower before she felt even vaguely equine. Drying herself thoroughly--Cheerilee had instructed them on how going outside wet could be very dangerous in the frigid weather--she stumbled down to the dining room, brushing a few stray strands of blond hair out of her eyes as she did so. “Hi,” she said to the Elements as she sat on an overstuffed cushion under the watchful gaze of a portrait of Commander Hurricane. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” grunted Raindrops, who looked as tired as she was. “Just eating.”

A few more grunts came to Ditzy from around the table, and the mailmare decided that maybe eating in silence was preferable.

Breakfast was an elaborate frittata served with several ounces of caviar and covered in cheese from a specific breed of East Pferdreich cows that only produced a few dozen liters of milk a year. The camel servant explained how the cheese itself cost about 400 bits per serving, with the caviar another 200 on top of that, but Ditzy didn’t care. The meal had no taste at all to her, and she was just satisfied when it was done and the rest of the day could begin.

The silent Elements followed another servant to the front hall where they got into their coats and went outside. Vicereine Puissance awaited them, as did the half-windigo foal--now wearing a sable cloak studded with diamonds and sapphires--perched on her back. “Shall we?” said Puissance with an unusual brusqueness, making Ditzy wonder if she too had slept poorly. “Unless there’s any objections?”

“I recognize those constellations,” said Trixie suddenly, gesturing at Ice Heart’s cloak. “That’s from the Orion quadrant in the night sky.”

Ditzy rolled her eyes. Imitating Luna. Of course.

“Given the historic nature of this meeting, I thought it best for him look presentable,” said Puissance. “And while I understand you could have provided some illusory clothing, I thought it best for him to wear a tailored, hoof-selected outfit instead of… ‘showmare chique.’” She flapped a wing at Trixie’s hat and cloak. “Now. Follow me--”

“Can I run in the snow while we go?” asked Ice Heart, genuine pleading in his voice. “I promise I’ll keep up! And--”

“No. Stay on my back until we reach your father,” ordered Puissance.

Ice Heart’s face fell, but he didn’t complain, and the Vicereine flew off towards the windigo. The Elements followed, trudging through the snow which now reached up to the base of their necks in places. Ditzy thought she heard Trixie muttering something unpleasant, and smiled at her in sympathy. “Just a little longer. Then we’re done, right?”

“Right. Yeah.” Trixie nodded slowly. “I mean, unless she carries a grudge. Otherwise, sure, we’re done.”

Ditzy frowned to herself and stopped talking.

They were going to the same place as the previous days, as far as Ditzy could tell, but the journey still seemed much longer to her. It was the weather, she thought; she felt cold even bundled up as she was. Come on, Ditzy. Just a little longer and then you can go home… to your bed, and your fireplace, and your bouncing little muffin…

After what felt like hours, Ditzy heard an excited squeal. “Ohmygosh, it’s him! It’s dad! HI DAD!” Ice Heart began to bounce up and down on Puissance’s back, causing the Vicereine to shake slightly in midair. “HI! I’M UP HERE! HI!”

Trixie rushed forwards, cresting the small hill in front of the steppe just as Puissance landed on top of it. Ditzy ran too and saw the windigo, which if anything seemed to have grown overnight. It looked at her with a piercing glare that almost made her stumble. Besides her, Ice Heart was yelling, “DAD! DAD!”

“We should probably say hello first,” said Trixie, whose horn glowed. Ice Heart squeaked as Trixie’s telekinetic grip settled around him and held him in place. “If he’s as excited as Ice Heart, he might do something crazy.”

“I think he already noticed us, Dame Lulamoon,” drawled Puissance. She pointed a wing at the monster. “With all due respect, I would like to complete this as quickly as possible. If you’ll release my ward, we can begin.”

Trixie glanced at the other Elements. “Get ready,” she cautioned. “We might need to use the Elements, girls. If the windigo tries to foalnap Ice Heart, or hurts him in any way--”

“We’ll blast him!” said Lyra. Somehow, she had retained a bit of her usual cheer, and her smile was positively warming to Ditzy’s frozen body. “You can count on us, Vicereine!”

“Good,” said Puissance. She took a long breath, as if steeling herself. “Very well. Ice Heart, I will take you to him.”

“What?” said Cheerilee, just before Ditzy herself could jump in. “Didn’t the windigo agree that you would remain back here with us while he met Ice Heart alone?”

Ditzy saw motion in the corner of her eye. When she turned to the windigo, she noticed that it seemed to be pacing above the far side of the steppe. After having remained still for so long, the sight of it moving was unnerving, almost as if a gargoyle had come to life and was walking around. Plus, its gait looked all wrong. Its legs moved through the air in a manner similar to that of ponies, albeit somewhat more stiffly, but the windigo moved more quickly than its leg motions should have allowed.

Meanwhile, Puissance was frowning at the knights. “Yes, of course,” she said. “I will transport him to the center of the steppe, leave him there, and then withdraw, allowing the windigo to advance as agreed upon. Do you have any objections, Dame Cheerilee?”

Cheerilee frowned. “I do. First--”

“That was a rhetorical question, Dame. I am in charge of this meeting, and I am going to guard my foal until the very last possible moment.” Puissance’s eyes flashed. “I suppose it might just be a mother’s paranoid eccentricities, but I would personally feel more comfortable if my foal were by my side for as long as possible. And if I cannot defend him during the actual meeting, then I can at the very least protect him on his way.”

“Defend me?” said Ice Heart. “But Auntie, Dad won’t hurt me! He loves me!” He grinned. “I can feel it. He’s not mad. He just misses me and he wants to be with me.”

“Feel it?” asked Trixie. “Like, you can sense what your father is feeilng?”

Ice Heart looked at her blankly. “He’s my dad,” he said. “Of course he loves me and my friends. That’s just obvious.”

Puissance was silent for a moment. “Dear,” she murmured, “Your Auntie is worried that he may love you so much that he takes you away and your Auntie never sees you again.”

“He wouldn’t do that!” said Ice Heart. “He’s not mean, and…”

His voice cut off as Puissance gently lowered him down and nuzzled him. “I hope you’re right, dearie,” she said. “But your Auntie still worries for you so.”

The two remained like that for a long moment before the windigo hissed and the clouds overhead began to swirl ominously. Puissance shook herself and helped Ice Heart climb onto her back. “Lulamoon,” she said, in a tense voice. “If he attacks us, utilize your Elements immediately. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Vicereine.”

Ditzy watched as Puissance walked down the hill and crossed the steppe. Despite her best efforts, Ice Heart began to bounce up and down on her back, and and seemed almost ready to jump off and run towards his dad. For better or for worse, though, he stayed with Puissance until they reached the center of the steppe.

Puissance lowered her body and let Ice Heart clamber off. She turned, hesitated, and then seized him into a sudden hug. Trixie chuckled. “I guess she’s got a heart after all, huh?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Cheerilee.

Ditzy was about to chime in, but then the windigo jerked forwards.

The motion was so sudden that it took Ditzy by surprise. One moment it was on the other side of the steppe, and the next it was soaring towards Puissance and Ice Heart. Its hooves thundered down on empty air, and the wind gathered behind its back as if the weather itself were assisting it. In moments it had neared the center of the steppe and the two ponies within it. It froze there for a moment, saying and doing nothing.

Puissance began to step backwards, but Ice Heart grabbed her with a wing and called out, “Dad! It’s me, Ice Heart! And this is Auntie Puissance! She’s been taking care of me and she’s an awesome Auntie! She even brought me all the way here! And--”

The windigo hissed, and it didn’t sound friendly.

“What’s wrong?” muttered Trixie. Her horn glowed, and after a moment, so did her eyes; Ditzy recognized the telescopic-vision spell. “Come on, this is what you wanted! Just--”

The windigo took a sudden step towards the two ponies but stopped abruptly and cried out. Its voice was full of anger, hate… and pain. It reeled backwards before slamming a foot down and burying Ice Heart and Puissance in a wave of snow.

“Woah!” yelled Raindrops. “Girls, Elements time!”

But even as Ditzy prepared to use hers, she saw Puissance and Ice Heart pushing through the snow. Puissance looked chilled--apparently her fire ruby had its limits--and definitely the worse for wear. Ice Heart, by contrast, didn’t look hurt… but when he spoke, his voice sounded horrified. “Dad! Stop!” he cried out. “Don’t hurt Auntie!”

Raindrops looked at the others, baffled. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know!” said Trixie. “The windigo aren’t supposed to be vulnerable to anything except for friendship and love, and--” Her eyes widened. “And Ice Heart’s love for Puissance is keeping it at bay. Stars above, I didn’t think of that. But that means--”

“It’s going to freeze Puissance solid just to get her out of the way,” concluded Carrot Top.

The windigo reared back and then charged, jumping straight at Puissance, but Ice Heart moved between it and his Auntie, and it crumpled as if it had slammed into a solid wall before it got close. When it pulled itself up again, Ditzy could see a new crack along the left side of its body. “Girls. We need to do something.”

“Right.” Trixie held up her crown. “HEY, WINDIGO!” she roared. “YOU BLEW YOUR CHANCE! GET OUT OF HERE!”

It was impossible to tell if the windigo understood, but it did look in their direction. It tossed its head disdainfully and once again turned towards Puissance--still shivering and looking sick--and Ice Heart--

And the Elements fired.

Ditzy felt that familiar rush run through her, the most basic components of magic triggered by the deep friendship of the six ponies who bore their symbols. Her breath left her in a rush, and as a burst of rainbow blasted out from her and her friends, she almost collapsed. Even though she remained upright, it took a moment before she could raise her head to look down below.

The windigo was no longer near Puissance and Ice Heart. It had been knocked back across the steppe. When it rose again, it sported several new cracks, some of them overlapping with the old ones. But still it roared, its voice like a winter gale, and moved forwards again. Ice Heart had climbed on to Puissance’s back, and the old mare was flying towards the Elements, but the wind itself seemed to be fighting them.

“Why didn’t it work?” demanded Raindrops. “The windigo should be unconscious or dead, not blown back a few feet!”

“I knew we should have brought the user manual,” said Cheerilee. Nopony laughed.

Carrot Top raised a cautious hoof. “Trixie, I’m not sure I’m strong enough for another blast--”

“I know! I know, I know. Let me think.” Trixie watched the windigo for a moment before her horn glowed a brilliant blue. “Well,” she said. “Here goes nothing.”

An illusion appeared on the steppe before them. It was all eight ponies, Ice Heart included, leaving, with the windigo remaining there. The real monster looked down at it and roared, and a gust of wind almost sent Ditzy tumbling back down the hill.

Trixie’s horn glowed again and the illusion changed. This time the illusory windigo pursued the retreating ponies--and then the Elements turned and blasted it with their magic. The fake monster broke into thousands of pieces and crumbled to nothing. There was only an empty steppe, and the illusory ponies walking away.

The windigo stopped advancing towards Puissance and Ice Heart and looked at Trixie. For a moment, nopony made a sound.

And then the windigo snorted, turned, and vanished into the snowy wastes.

Trixie let out a long sigh of relief. “Alright,” she said, with a small smile. “Told you I’m the best windigo-talker in all Equestria.”

“Never doubted you for a moment,“ drawled Raindrops.

And then the Elements were congratulating Trixie, or at least, all of them except for Ditzy. She just watched the Vicereine and Ice Heart approaching them, a grim expression upon her face.

***

When Puissance landed, she turned her head towards Trixie and said, “Shall we?”

“Ah, yes, of course.” Trixie paused. “But, uh, by the way--sorry we didn’t use the Elements before you were buried in snow--”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” said Puissance in a tone suggesting that worrying about it was the only rational response. “I’m sure you all did your best. Of course, I do need to mention that in my report, but I assure you, Princess Luna is known to be very forgiving.” Not stated was the obvious counterpart that Luna might be forgiving, but Puissance herself was quite another matter.

Trixie winced. “Of course. However, I still request that you accept my most humble and sincere apologies regardless, Vicereine.”

Ice Heart said nothing to this, He gripped Puissance tightly as if he was trying to hug his way right through to her heart, but aside from the occasional sniffle, he was silent. Puissance carefully tucked a wing over him. “Don’t worry, dearie,” she said. “I’m sorry your meeting with your father didn’t work out, but you know that, whatever that windigo thinks or feels, my love for you is as strong as ever.”

“I know,” whimpered Ice Heart. “But I just… I wanted you and him to be friends. I wanted to be able to meet with him, and talk with him, and make snowponies with him…”

Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. “Uh--”

But before she could say anything else, Ditzy approached. She looked at the Vicereine with narrow eyes and swept a wing at her. “You planned that,” she said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You knew the windigo wouldn’t be able to approach if you were out there with Ice Heart. You knew he’d get mad and hostile enough that we would drive him away.” Ditzy’s vision had taken on a reddish tint, and she was only dimly aware of her shivering body. “You used yourself, and your ward, as bait.”

“That’s perfectly absurd,” said Puissance, and Ditzy marveled that she somehow sounded offended at being called out. “And I would remind you, Dame Ditzy, that while Equestria’s laws apply even to Vicereines… they also apply to knights. I would be very cautious when making statements which could be construed as slanderous.”

“Slanderous?” Ditzy flushed red. “You used your child to provoke a windigo, you could have killed him, and you dare--”

“Ditzy.”

The mailmare turned to look at Trixie, who had a weary expression. “Ditzy, the entire purpose of this mission was to figure out if it was safe for the windigo to meet Ice Heart. It wasn’t, and Puissance was the one that proved it. She’s in the right here.”

“But it was only unsafe because of her!”

Trixie shook her head. “Suppose it wasn’t a windigo, Ditzy. Let’s say it was just a regular father and he flew into a rage when his foal’s legal guardian showed up with his foal. Would you then let that pony meet with his child, even if the guardian were subsequently absent? Wouldn’t you worry that the father’s rage might trigger for some other reason… and this time, trigger when there was nopony to protect the child?”

Ditzy ground her teeth. “That’s not the same thing--”

“It is entirely the same thing,” said Puissance. “Or are you saying that you would let your ‘Dinky’ meet with that windigo without your protection?”

The mailmare shook her head. “You put your foal in danger. Deliberately. I don’t care what goal you had, that’s--”

“This conversation is pointless.” Puissance flew into the air. “We will return to the hotel. I will send a message to the Princess informing her of all that has transpired, and then we will leave this town for good.” Her gaze drifted down to Ditzy. “I suggest you stay out of my wing of the hotel, Dame Ditzy. I would hate for your mouth to land you in further trouble.” And she flew away, with a sombre Ice Heart still on her back.

Ditzy scowled and ran forwards into the snow, falling behind Puissance but soon outdistancing the others. Her vision was still tinged red, and her body shook with cold, and she suddenly wanted nothing more than to catch up with Puissance and destroy the old crone. Nothing else mattered as much as that. She was an evil, wicked, vile old mare, she thought. Somepony had to stop her.

As she crested a large hill, she glanced behind herself and thought for a moment that she saw the windigo on a distant plain, moving parallel to her. But she blinked and it was gone, and she had no more time or energy to worry about it.

***

When Ditzy reached the hotel, she turned to Trixie, who had caught up with her on the final stretch. “I’ll come up to the room in a few minutes, okay?”

Trixie sighed. “Ditzy, I can tell you’re about to do something stupid.”

“You already made it clear what side you’re on.” Ditzy shivered and again wished that Puissance would spend a few more bits and get the hotel heated to something approaching a reasonable level. “So, thank you kindly for the concern, but I’m going to take it from here. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“But…” Trixie trailed off as Ditzy walked down the hall. And, when Ditzy looked back, she noted that the showmare hadn’t followed her. With a contemptuous flick of her tail, she went down the hallway, and she did not again look back.

She found Puissance in a small antechamber off of the main lounge. Ice Heart was sitting on one of the chairs, looking forlorn, but Puissance just looked smug. “Excuse me,” she said, causing both of them to turn. “But I would like to speak with you, Vicereine. Privately.”

Puissance was silent for a long moment before an obviously-fake smile crept over her features. “Of course. Dearie, could you go play in the hallway for a few minutes, please?”

“But…” Ice Heart’s voice trailed off. “Yes, Auntie.” He sighed, got up, and trotted out.

Puissance watched him go before shutting the door behind him. “Poor thing,” she mused. “I hope that the Ice Village I’ll be building for him in the Vault can perk him up.” She chuckled, then turned back to Ditzy. “Well, Dame?”

“I have a proposal for you,” said Ditzy.

“Oh?”

Ditzy nodded. “Let somepony else raise Ice Heart--outside the Vault. Let him interact with foals his own age.” She paused, every fiber of her straining to keep herself calm, to remain peaceful, not to jump across the room and scream at the old nag. “Call them nannies and caretakers if the title of ‘Ice Heart’s guardian’ matters that much to you, but let other ponies bring him up.” She locked eyes with Puissance. “He deserves better than to be raised in isolation.”

“I see.” Puissance tilted her head. “Well then, Dame: your proposal is rejected. Thank you for your time. Do you have anything else to say?”

Ditzy’s eyes flashed. “I think you should reconsider.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Because I’ll tell Luna.” Ditzy grinned. “I’m a real mother. I didn’t just birth my foal, I raised her. I’ll tell Luna that Ice Heart’s environment is flawed from the very foundations, that any foal raised with no friends, no companions his own age, is going to have problems.” She shrugged. “I have the Right of Approach. She’ll listen to me. And then she’ll take Ice Heart away.”

The Vicereine was silent for a long moment. Then she padded up to Ditzy. “Is that so?” she murmured.

“Yes. It’s so.”

Puissance squinted at her as if she had suddenly become a bug-like creature. “Well. Of all the…” She paused, then turned and slammed at the door. “Firestarter!” she bellowed.

In moments, the door burst open and a bulky unicorn with a red coat and a flame cutie mark came in. “What?”

“I thought I told you to heat the hotel properly. It’s barely warmer in here than outside. What exactly am I paying you for?”

The servant looked confused, though Ditzy had no idea why. The room was downright chilly; she was surprised she couldn’t see her breath.

Cutting off the servant’s protests with a raised wing, Puissance snapped, “Get this hotel up to a bearable temperature. In five minutes. Or you’ll be walking back to Califurlong--and then only to clean out your desk. Are we clear?”

“Uh--yes--”

“Then go!”

When the servant was gone, Puissance shut the door and smiled. There was tooth in it, Ditzy noticed. “Honestly, Dame,” the Vicereine said, “I appreciate your passion. But if I wanted advice on how to be a mother to my foal, do you really think I would seek it from one who… well…” She gave a little sigh. “Well, I’m sure you try hard, but I think we both know the truth, don’t we? You’re hardly the perfect little pony yourself. And you’re in no position to give advice.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” snapped Ditzy. “Because I happen to think I’ve done a fine job raising Dinky. She’s fed, clothed, sheltered, has the best education--”

“Oh really?” Puissance smirked. “I was under the impression she didn’t actually qualify for the best education. Or did she get into the Sharpwhinny Academy after all?”

Ditzy flushed. “She scored very well on that entrance exam. And it’s hardly on me--”

“Every single one of my foals has qualified for Sharpwhinny,” drawled Puissance. “And my grandfoals, and--once Scepter stops fighting his private tutor-- my great-grandcolt will do so as well. I was able to provide them with access to the best teachers in the land to prepare them for that test. What preparation, exactly, did you provide for your foal?” Her grin grew. “A hearty breakfast? A good-bye hug? Charming, I’m sure, but hardly the kind of support that your daughter needed…”

“Just because I don’t hire ponies to teach my daughter to the test,” hissed Ditzy, “Doesn’t mean I can’t afford to raise her properly.”

“Is that so?” asked Puissance. “Can you afford to get her the healthiest artisan foods from the family farms of Califurlong, or do you buy her cheap, local, inferior produce every night? Are you able to supplement her school lessons with magic tutoring from the Professors at Luna’s Magic Academy? If your daughter became seriously ill, would you be able to place one telegraph call and have the finest physicians in Equestria at her side in mere moments?” She chuckled. “Well?”

“Dinky doesn’t need all those things--” began Ditzy.

“Oh, I think we both know that’s a lie,” murmured Puissance. “Haven’t you ever lain awake at night, listening to the fitful snores of your dear little foal, and lamented how you could never give her the life she truly deserves? How she’ll always be held back because her poor mother couldn’t afford the very best for her?” She tilted Ditzy’s head up with one of her wings.”I could help, you know. Just say the word and I’ll give you all the money you’d need to raise your foal as a foal should be raised. You’ll be able to buy her the finest clothes, the very best food, the most intelligent and skilled tutors…”

Ditzy backed away. Puissance’s wing felt like ice under her chin. “Never,” she growled. “I won’t take your money.”

“I see.” Puissance shrugged. “So sad… for her.”

Ditzy was tempted to slap the Vicereine, but managed to restrain herself. “Maybe I can’t get her the best food or clothes. But I can give her love. And a foal needs that more than she needs some Prench tutor. Every day I’m there to support my daughter and help her grow. I guide her as she discovers the things she loves in life.” She smirked. “But you don’t support your own children, do you? How many of them have been exiled from Equestria?”

“I support them more than you could ever know,” snapped Puissance. “I only want what’s best for them. Sometimes they make mistakes, yes, and then I have to correct them--but it’s for their own good. And believe me--when all is said and done, they know it.”

“Best for them? What’s best for them is that they be happy! You should let your ponies do what they want--”

“So if Dinky decides to become a salt addict, you’ll stand by and wish her well?” challenged Puissance.

Ditzy rolled her eyes. “That’s different. What I mean is, you should let them pick careers and lives that will make them happy. Not force them down different paths.”

“Maybe that’s the best that will happen to Dinky. After all, with you raising her, perhaps enjoying a happy life of comfortable mediocrity is the best she can aspire to.” Puissance’s eyes glinted. “Some of us, however, have higher aspirations for our children than mere frivolity. And my children know it. Deep down inside, they love me. They all do.”

“Greed,” hissed Ditzy, “Is not the same as love.”

“Nor is pity,” said Puissance. “When your daughter sees you once again obtaining inferior food, or clothes, or anything else for her, because you simply can’t afford the best… well, she might say she doesn’t mind. She might say she loves you anyway. But believe me, she knows, Dame. She knows full well that her mother is letting her down.”

Ditzy saw red. Her legs were starting to tremble under her constant shivering--and Puissance was shaking too, she noticed--but she dismissed this. “I think we’re getting off topic,” she managed. “As I was saying--let Ice Heart be raised outside the Vault, or I’ll tell Luna that you’re not raising him well. She’ll take him away. She’ll shut down the whole Vault.”

“Ridiculous,” said Puissance. “My dear, do you think that Ice Heart’s friends are the most unusual that that Vault has to offer? There are ponies within it that would not survive in the outside world. Luna will never close the Vault.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Ditzy. “Especially when I tell her how you keep the ponies isolated from their families. She’ll probably have it torn down on the spot.”

Puissance was silent for a long moment. “I try to be tolerant of other pony’s opinions,” she said at last, “But I also fully intend to defend my legal rights. Dame Ditzy, if you lie about me to Luna--if you say one false thing that impacts me in the slightest--you should be aware that I am more than willing to sue you for slander. And my lawyers are very good.” She grinned. “I would be very cautious about where you step, Dame. It would be most unfortunate if you set yourself up for a judgement which bankrupted you. After all… where would your little muffin live, if her mother lost all her money because she slandered the Vicereine?”

Ditzy couldn’t say anything. She looked at the mare who had just threatened to leave her daughter homeless and tried to suppress the coldest rage she had ever felt.

“...but perhaps I go too far,” mused Puissance. “After all… it’s hardly your daughter’s fault if her mother is intemperate.” She grinned. “Well, I’ll make you a deal. If you slander me, Ditzy, make no mistake--I will bury you in court. But if that should happen, and you are no longer able to care for Dinky at even the mediocre level you are now… I’ll adopt her and raise her as my own. Just like Ice Heart.” Her eyes gleamed. “I suppose it would be difficult for her at first, but I assure you, I am quite experienced as a mother, and I’m certain I could do an excellent job. Why, in a few months she might not even remember you at all.” She chuckled softly. “Quite generous of me, yes?”

Ditzy had a brief vision of Dinky being forced into the Vault, and before she knew it she had reared back. She wanted to buck the Vicereine and send her flying across the room. It was the biggest temptation she had ever encountered, and the single thought holding her back was that, if she did, Puissance would sue her, and the bitter old crone would then own her and her descendants forever. But still, she was so evil, so wicked, so in need of righteous punishment, and the hotel was so cold that it was making her even angrier, and--

“Excuse me.”

Both mares turned to see Cheerilee standing in the doorway.

“Couldn’t help overhearing,” chirped Cheerilee, though Ditzy could hear the anger in her voice. “Ditzy, might I have a few words with the Vicereine?”

Ditzy took several long breaths. She could see her breath when she exhaled; she wondered what in the world had happened to Firestarter. “Not necessary,” she managed.

“I think it is.” Cheerilee entered the room and gently steered Ditzy outside of it.

“But--”

Cheerilee leaned in close. “I know the law,” she whispered. “I’ve got this. Don’t worry.” She winked. “Just leave it to me.”

She got Ditzy outside of the room, turned to Puissance, and then kicked the door shut behind her. “So!” Ditzy heard her say. “About the definition of slander…”

Ditzy shook her head as she paced and tried to warm up. “Depraved, vile, wicked old nag…” She kicked a chair. “I’m going to destroy her. If it’s the last thing I do, I--”

She stopped talking. Ice Heart had poked his head up from behind one of the couches, and tears were staining his cheeks.

“...are you really going to hurt my Auntie?” he whimpered.

Ditzy was going to say something, but the words caught in her throat.

***

Ditzy kneeled down so that she was face-to-face with Ice Heart. The rising voices of Puissance and Cheerilee in the antechamber faded from her perception, as did the feel of the carpet under her legs, and even the bitter chill. She only saw the foal.

“I don’t want to hurt her,” said Ditzy at last. “But… Ice Heart, she’s treating you so badly. You deserve friends, lots of them, ponies you can play with and laugh with and grow up with. She’s keeping you from that. It’s not fair of her, and I want to put a stop to it.”

She looked down. “You’re a wonderful foal. I only just met you, but I can tell you’re kind, and intelligent, and energetic. You should be exploring the world with friends and neighbors. Not locked in a Vault like a museum exhibit.”

Ice Heart shook his head. “But other ponies are mean to me,” he said. “My cousins, and the others I bumped into when I was running away… they called me mean things. They said I’m a monster. They said somepony should call Luna to banish me.”

“Some ponies are very mean,” agreed Ditzy. She gestured at her own eyes. “I had all sorts of horrible nicknames too when I was a little foal. But there are good ponies too. And the thing is…” She smiled slightly. “On the balance, it’s worth it to try to make new friends. Maybe a few ponies you meet will be mean. But there’re so many that would accept you for who you are. Don’t you want friends, Ice Heart?” She locked eyes with him. “Don’t you?”

The foal said nothing for a long moment before fluttering his wings and clambering up one of the big chairs in the hallway. “Yes,” he said, in a low voice, like he was ashamed. “I do. But… not if they’re going to hurt me!”

Before Ditzy could respond, he had flapped behind the chair so that only his face was peeking over the top. “Ponies drove me out of towns!” he said. “And--and some of them threw rocks at me! And I was scared, and sad, and I don’t ever want to feel like that again!” He shut his eyes. “Auntie Puissance said I can stay safe in the Vault for as long as I want, where nopony’ll ever be mean to me again. Sure, sometimes I want to leave and see other ponies… but Auntie Puissance told me she’s looking every day for other nice foals who might want to live in the Vault and be my friend.” He managed a smile. “The other Vault ponies said they’d help too. And Auntie promised that once they find some, she’ll bring them in and then I play with them!”

Ditzy sighed. “Your Auntie is a very rich and powerful mare, Ice Heart. If she was really looking hard to find you friends, she could have found some already.” When Ice Heart said nothing, she continued. “I know there’s ponies out there who would be afraid of you, but there’s a lot that wouldn’t. And they’re not hard to find. You should ask yourself why Puissance can’t seem to find them.”

“But…” Ice Heart looked away. “You don’t get it,” he insisted. “She’s not my Mom, but she gave me a home. I feel safe with her. Maybe she’s not perfect, but she’s still a really good Auntie. And she’s my only family. I mean, I wanted to see Dad, but then he hurt Auntie, and...” He trailed off, his eyes glistening again. “Please don’t be mean to her.”

Ditzy wasn’t sure what to say. “You really love her, don’t you?” she managed.

Ice Heart bobbed his head up and down.

The mailmare was quiet for a few moments. Puissance was in the wrong, she could be doing so much more to help Ice Heart get friends and companions… but at the same time, how could she tell this foal he was wrong to love his adopted mother who had taken him in when nopony else would? If somepony found Dinky and recounted Ditzy’s various screw-ups as a mother, would her daughter react any differently?

What was she trying to do, anyways? Tear down Puissance? Yes, that felt right and just… but would that help Ice Heart? He clearly loved the mare. Shouldn’t she take her own advice and prioritize his happiness?

“Alright,” she said at last. Distantly, she noted that the chill had died down, and she smiled as her shivering subsided. “Maybe I could help your Auntie.”

“Help her?”

“In finding you some friends.” She leaned her head in close. “I know some really friendly foals who would love to meet you. They’re kind and energetic, and they accept anypony. In fact… some of them are friends with a pegasus-unicorn hybrid.”

Ice Heart blinked. “I thought Auntie Puissance had all the hybrids in her Vault.”

“Not this one.” Ditzy winked. “There’s a hybrid in Ponyville. And you might think ponies treat her strangely. But actually, she has lots of friends! She plays every day with a unicorn pony who really likes fireworks, and every week with earth ponies who like tea parties, and last week she dressed up as a princess in a Hearth’s Warming Pageant and got to put on a show with a bunch of other foals! And a few weeks ago, just before winter began, she was playing ‘pirate’ with a dozen friends and they had so much fun…” Ditzy let a smile wash over her features. “I think you would have enjoyed it.”

Ice Heart looked eager for a moment before his face fell. “Well, a hybrid’s one thing,” he said. “But I’m half-monster.”

“No you’re not,” corrected Ditzy. “You’re all foal. And I promise you, there are ponies in Ponyville who would love to make friends with you, amulet or no.” She winked. “I Pinkie-promise, even.”

“Huh?” asked Ice Heart.

“It’s…” Ditzy trailed off, realizing that explaining Pinkie to another pony could take hours. “Well, nevermind that.” She was silent for a moment longer. “Why don’t I talk to your Auntie and the other Vault ponies? I’ll say I’m very sorry for being mean to them--and then I’ll offer to help them find you some friends. Would you like that?”

Ice Heart tentatively nodded. “Uh huh. But--but only if they won’t be mean and won’t hurt me.” He looked nervous. “I don’t wanna get hit with rocks again.”

“I swear to you, I’ll make sure that each and every one of the foals is as kind as can be,” said Ditzy.

Ice Heart said nothing.

Ditzy sighed. “I know I haven’t done much to earn your trust,” she said. “But what if I run them by your Auntie first? I’ll work with her. She’ll check everypony I suggest. How’s that?”

At that, the pony nodded. Ditzy wasn’t sure how much of a victory it was--surely Puissance could just veto everypony on spurious grounds--but at least it was something. And, who knew, maybe Puissance’s heart would be touched when she saw how badly Ice Heart wanted some friends after all. “Wonderful.”

The mailmare straightened and stretched, realizing that she didn’t feel cold at all anymore. I guess Firestarter got things going, she thought. “You can climb on my back when I go see your Auntie,” she said. “Does that sound fun?”

“Yep!” Ice Heart climbed on. “Thanks, Miss Doo.”

“Like I said--it’s Ditzy.” Ditzy turned back to the door and noted with relief that she didn’t hear anymore shouting. Maybe, she thought, Cheerilee and Puissance were getting along. She pushed open the door--

And was struck with a blast of sub-zero air.

The antechamber was completely frozen over. The fire in the fireplace was dead, ice coated the furniture, and snow even drifted down from the ceiling. In the middle of it all were Puissance and Cheerilee, standing with hooves pointed at each other, both coated completely in thick ice.

“Auntie?” whimpered Ice Heart. Then: “AUNTIE!” He jumped off of Ditzy’s back and ran to Puissance. “AUNTIE! AUNTIE! Somepony help her!”

Meanwhile, DItzy had run over to Cheerilee. She tapped the ice, but it was impossibly thick. She looked at the earth pony’s anguished look. The windigo, she realized. That’s why we were so cold and grumpy, why I was ready to punch Puissance. It was feeding our hate, making us snap at each other, and when Cheerilee and Puissance went too far… A cold lump formed in her throat. What now?

“Somepony screamed. Is everypony okay?” Ditzy turned to see Trixie and the other Elements run in, followed in moments by the Vault ponies. “Ditzy!” cried Trixie. “What happened!”

“I think the windigo followed us home!” said Ditzy, fighting to keep panic out of her voice. She looked around for some way to warm up Cheerilee, but there wasn’t even an ember left in the fireplace, nor a single lit candle in the room.

Trixie’s eyes widened. “No,” she muttered, rushing to Cheerilee’s side. “No, no, no, we are not going to lose a friend up here…”

“We can’t use the Elements without her--” began Carrot Top.

“I know!” yelled Trixie. The wind was blowing her cape and hat around, but she didn’t even seem to notice. “Okay, fine, we can fix this. I’ll work out a spell to--”

“You!” The Elements turned to see Silver Sculptress sweeping a hoof at Trixie. All the Vault ponies were either glaring at them or trying to minister to Puissance. “You were supposed to keep her safe! Do something!”

“I’m trying!” snapped Trixie. “I’m trying!” She put a hoof to her head. “I’m--I’m working on it, okay?”

Nopony answered her.

“We’ve got this!" Trixie screamed. "Everything is under control!”

At that moment, the windigo burst through the outer wall of the lounge.

Author's Note

Thanks to T&T and RDD for betaing.

Deleted scene: there was a cut to Canterlot in which Pinkie and Bluie were at a fashion show. Bluie was bored but was watching it for PInkie. Meanwhile, Pinkie was more interested in watching the rafters, in which a silly villain who was mad at being disqualified from the show was creeping around with buckets of dye to dump on the contestants and their clothing. Fortunately, the villain was then stopped by Mounty Max and Pokey Pierce, who chased her down on the rafters and tackled her into submission (but not before one of the buckets of dye somehow got stuck on Max's head). I cut it because, well, it didn't really fit with the tone.

Thaw

Ditzy didn’t care much for a lot of Vicereine’s Puissance’s tastes. She wouldn’t have wanted the mare to select her outfits, or her home decor, or the flowers she put in her window box. But Ditzy did have to give Puissance one thing: the mare’s taste in hot chocolate was impeccable.

The Elements, the Vault ponies, and Puissance sat in another lounge, this one across the hotel from where the windigo had broken in. Almost everypony was drinking the hot chocolate that Puissance’s staff had brewed up, except for the old mare herself, who was sipping a tea drink that involved coating the tea leaves in pure silver before infusing them into the water, Solar Flare, who drank nothing and stood besides Puissance like a devoted bodyguard, and Ice Heart, who was guzzling chocolate milk like there was no tomorrow.

“...and so!” Trixie was saying, her horn flashing as she conjured up illusions and images to better explain what had happened to the Vicereine, “The windigo attacked us, but we drove it back! By using the power of our friendship, we forced it away and out to the steppe where it can’t hurt any of us, or you, or your ward.” She beamed. “And so--except for the brief period of time during which some particularly negative ponies might have been able to argue that you were, in a purely technical sense, ‘frozen’--we were able to prevent the windigo from harming anypony. I hope, Vicereine, that these events meet with your satisfaction.”

“Mmm,” said Puissance, in the most purely non-communicative tone that Ditzy had ever heard. She was wrapped in towels that shone with platinum and silver threading, though she somehow still managed to look regal as she perched on an armchair. “Your skill in driving off the windigo was indeed impressive. I assure you that I will convey my appreciation in my report to the Princess. And I do promise that I will not give… disproportionate attention to the fact that both Dame Blackcherry and I were injured by the windigo.” She took another sip of her tea. “However, I must tell you that certain intemperate comments made by other members of your party--”

“Ah, yes, those!” said Trixie, grinning. “See, when we were fighting the windigo, I used my ‘magic sight’ spell to look at you and Cheerilee--and Ditzy too. The three of you were heavily affected by the windigo’s magic. All those comments? Just the windigo controlling you three to make you mad at each other.” Her grin began to stretch at the sides of her face. “I’d go so far as to say that nopony meant any of them. And, that being the case, I don’t really think it’s necessary to waste the Princess’s time by repeating a litany of insults that nopony in this room would ever have said if they weren’t being influenced by a malevolent monster.”

“Hey!” said Ice Heart, lowering his mug. Ditzy realized that he’d drunk so much chocolate milk that his ice had taken on a faint brownish tinge. Ah, to have the metabolism of youth again…

“...who is nonetheless surely a loving and supportive father,” Trixie corrected.

“Mm-hmm.” Ice Heart smiled, though it looked a little sad to Ditzy--not that she was surprised; she knew how much the foal had wanted to meet his father--and returned to his mug.

Puissance had adopted a pensive look. “I see,” she said. “Well, Dame Trixie, I suppose that--if it really was only at the windigo’s urging that certain comments were uttered--I might be able to justify omitting a few particular remarks. Dame Blackcherry’s assertion that I must have bribed both of my husbands to overlook my ‘clutching, avaricious personality’ and my ‘leathery, wrinkled flanks’ to deign to marry me, for example, could be overlooked. Of course, I--”

“Exactly!” chirped Cheerilee from beneath her own pile of towels, cutting off what would surely have been a request for some favor. “Just like we could overlook your comment to me that I should have had my sister shipped off to Shouma years ago so she didn’t keep humiliating me with her ‘drunken revelries’. I don’t think that needs to come up when we talk to the Princess about our experience on this little adventure.”

Puissance was silent for a long moment. Finally, she said, “I’m glad we’re in agreement that there is no need to mention any such comments. They were said due to the windigo’s influence, and thus are not representative of how any of us truly feel about each other. Certainly they don’t rise to the level of meriting a formal complaint.”

“Or even holding a grudge,” said Trixie. “Yes?”

Puissance inclined her head slightly, and Ditzy--who was also wrapped up in towels, though more conventional ones than the Vicereine’s--noticed that a load of tension seemed to vanish from Trixie’s body as the showmare slumped forwards in what looked like relief. “Yes,” said Puissance. “No need for any of that.”

She rose to her hooves swiftly, as if she had just come to a decision. “I must say,” she told the Elements at large, “That I am impressed by your actions. You protected myself, my ward, and his friends from harm, at substantial risk to yourselves. I will make a note of this to the Princess. Now--” She looked at the others, her gaze eventually landing on Ice Heart, who had tipped the cup upside-down over his muzzle so he could get at the last drops of chocolate milk. “I must send a message to the princess. She may wish to visit us tomorrow to examine the situation; in that event, I trust you will behave with the appropriate dignity. As for now, I will be taking my leave for the night. Come along, Ice Heart.”

“Yes, Auntie.” Ice Heart reluctantly put the mug down and got up. He hurried over and gave Puissance another leg hug, though his face still held a fair amount of hurt mixed in with his relief. “Good night.”

Puissance paused. “Are you alright, dear?” she asked in a voice indicating that company was present and that being alright was thus the only appropriate way to be.

But Ice Heart sighed. “I’m real happy you’re safe, and that Solar Flare’s safe, and that everypony else is safe too,” he said. “But I wanted to talk to my dad, and…”

“Dear, it was not possible. Based on Dame Trixie’s recounting of events, it appears that your father cannot even approach you without being injured by--”

“By my friendship, I know.” Ice Heart sighed again. “But I don’t wanna stop being friends with anypony. I just wanted to talk to my dad.”

Puissance looked confused as to what to do next, but then Orangerie trotted over and scooped Ice Heart into a big hug. “Hey, don’t worry,” she said. “We’re your family. And we’re not going anywhere. Besides, who knows? Maybe when you’re older we can try again.”

“Maybe.”

Puissance coughed. “A splendid idea,” she said without conviction. “We should discuss it tomorrow. As for now…”

Ice Heart took the hint and trotted out. The rest of the Vault ponies followed, with Puissance bidding Trixie and the others goodnight and leaving last.

When their footsteps had faded away, Trixie cheered. “Alright! We protected the kid, beat the baddie, and we did it all without making another Viceroy want to destroy Ponyville. Mission accomplished!”

“I didn’t think she liked us,” said Carrot Top. Her voice was slightly muffled, largely because Ditzy had shifted so that she was leaning against the earth pony as she reclined on the couch. “Even at the end.”

“Oh, I’m sure she doesn’t,” said Trixie. “But she was sincere enough when she was saying there was no need to hold grudges over anything that happened here--especially since, if she were to complain about our conduct or words, we could complain about hers. She might think we’re barbarous cretins in her heart, but on the surface, she’ll live and let live. And trust me, that’s the best you’ll get from her.” She got up. “Now… I don’t know about you girls, but I’m beat. Anypony want to head upstairs with me?”

The others got up, but Ditzy waved a hoof. “I’ll stay down here for a few more minutes, if you don’t mind.” She wanted a warm bed, true, but at the moment the sofa was proving to be too cozy for her to get up. Even if her pillow was heading upstairs with the rest of them. Note to self, she thought. Carrot Top makes a lousy pillow. She’s comfortable, but she gets up and leaves too easily.

“Alright,” said Trixie. “See you soon. “

The other mares headed upstairs. Ditzy lay on her back and looked up at the mural on the ceiling, which featured a stylized image of Equestria’s three great founders, Puddinghead, Hurricane, and Platinum, staking flags in what would eventually be known as the Canterhorn. Staring at the image, she gradually felt herself begin to drift off to sleep.

***

“Ditzy?”

The mailmare groaned and looked up to see Orangerie, who was looking at her with a smile that nonetheless showed some signs of trepidation. It was too still, like she was actively forcing it to remain in place. Glancing at a wall clock, Ditzy realized that she’d fallen asleep for about half an hour. “Um,” said Ditzy. “Hi?”

Orangerie giggled. “I hope I’m not bothering you. I just wanted to ask… um…”

Ditzy rolled over and got to her hooves. “Yes?” she said, moving so that Orangerie could sit down if she desired.

The farmer was quiet for several moments. “What you said before,” she said. “Can you really shut down the Vault if you don’t like it? Did Luna give you that power? Because you seemed awfully confident…”

It took Ditzy a few moments to figure out how to respond to that. “Not exactly,” she said. “All I could do would be to ask Princess Luna. But…” She paused. “Oh. You’re wondering if I’m still planning on doing that.”

Orangerie nodded. “I know you probably don’t care what I have to say--” she began.

“I do,” said Ditzy. “Honestly.”

“--But please don’t. So many of us would have nowhere else to go. We’d lose all our friends. And… even if you don’t like her… we couldn’t bear to leave the Vicereine. She’s given us so much, and asked for so little.” Orangerie looked down. “Please don’t take us away from her and each other.”

Ditzy guided Orangerie onto the couch so that both of them were sitting. “I know you care for each other,” she said. “Or you wouldn’t have been able to hold off the windigo. For that matter, Solar Flare wouldn’t have fought the windigo in the first place if she didn’t love the Vicereine very much.”

“Right,” said Orangerie. “I know the whole idea of the Vault sounds strange, but it works for us.” She paused. “Please don’t destroy it.”

Ditzy said nothing for a long moment. “I think,” she said at last, “That it’s wrong for her to prevent you all from seeing ponies outside of the Vault. I know she does a lot for you that she’s not required to do, and I know that she’s made your lives happier than they were, but it’s wrong for her to demand that you stay so isolated. She has enough power and wealth to find some way to allow those of you who want other friends to have them without violating the privacy of those of you who don’t. But she won’t, because she has power over you, and so she doesn’t have to. She has the right to make that choice. But it’s still wrong.”

Orangerie’s eyes began to bead with tears, but Ditzy hastened on. “However. You and your friends are adults. If you consent to that environment, then--even if it’s not a choice I would make, and even if I think that the Vicereine is abusing her power over you by not allowing you to stay in touch with your families or other friends--I don’t have the right to get in your way. I won’t ask the Princess to close the Vault.”

Orangerie threw her hooves around Ditzy. “Thank you!”

“I didn’t finish.” Ditzy carefully extricated herself from Orangerie’s embrace. “Ice Heart, however, is not an adult. He doesn’t have the capacity to consent to living in an environment in which he’ll never know another pony his own age.” She was silent for a long moment. “I won’t object to you and Solar Flare and the other adults living in the Vault like you are. However, I will not accept the idea of Ice Heart remaining as he is.” She shook her head. “He needs friends to grow up with.”

“You don’t understand. He doesn’t trust ‘normal’ ponies his own age--and with good reason. I mean, you know what happened to him, right?” Orangerie waited for Ditzy’s nod, then added, “And as for other unique foals... the Vicereine’s been looking to add more to the Vault, but it’s hard. There’s not that many, after all, and even fewer who have no home and need what the Vault offers.”

Ditzy said, “Vicereine Puissance is the most powerful pony in Equestria short of Luna Herself. If she wanted to, she could find him some ‘normal’ friends his own age that wouldn’t be mean to him. You know it as well as I do, Orangerie.”

The farmer sighed. “Yes,” she said at last. “I mean, he’s talked about it too, and I’m sure the Vicereine could be trying harder to find him some buddies. But… even if she’s made mistakes, even if you could argue that she’s not an absolutely perfect mother, Ice Heart still loves her dearly. If you took him away, he’d break.” She looked down. “I mean, it’d be great if somepony could convince her to let Ice Heart see other ponies, but if that won’t happen, Ice Heart’s still happier and healthier in the Vault than he would be outside.”

Ditzy thought for a moment as the inklings of a plan came together in her mind. “You said he doesn’t trust normal ponies,” she said at last. “But I think he trusts me.”

“You’re not normal, though. You’ve got the cool eyes.” Orangerie cracked a smile and pointed at Ditzy’s face. “You should have heard Silver Sculptress, by the way. She said your face is proof that there can be great beauty in violating symmetry.”

Uh. Ditzy made herself ignore that. “I mean, do you think he would trust me to recommend a ‘normal’ foal to him as a good friend? Especially if I could come up with some proof that this other foal can play with unusual ponies?”

“Sure, but… I mean, right after this, we’re headed back to the Vault. I don’t think Puissance will let you take Ice Heart on a field trip to meet a new friend.”

“She doesn’t need to,” said Ditzy, a smiling curling up the edges of her mouth. “I can introduce him to some great new friends right from here. But I’ll need your help.” She explained what she needed Orangerie to do. “Will you?”

Orangerie hesitated. “I don’t think the Vicereine would like this…”

“Probably not. But this is what Ice Heart wants.”

“What he really wants is his father,” mused Orangerie. “But… yes. He does want friends too.”

Ditzy nodded. “If Puissance truly does love you as much as she says she does, then she’ll understand why you’ll do it and won’t hold it against you.” She picked up the other mare’s hoof. “Are you with me?”

Silence stretched across the room for a moment. Besides the howling of the wind on the steppe outside, Ditzy could hear nothing whatsoever. Please, she thought. I need your help for this.

And then Orangerie smiled. “I’m in,” she said. “Let’s do it!”

***

What he really wants is his father.

Ditzy and Orangerie chatted for another half hour, talking about life in Ponyville and the Vault, respectively. Ditzy had to admit that some of the things Orangerie said about the Vault did sound very convenient. The idea of groceries and other supplies being delivered directly to her doorstep, for instance, was something that Ditzy liked the sound of; she hated having to pry time away from being with her child to run to the market because she’d forgotten to get a loaf of bread or a flower garnish. Meanwhile, Orangerie seemed intrigued by some of Ponyville’s own quirks. The various shenanigans that the foals, the flower trio, and Bonbon’s mad scientist mother got into seemed to amuse her to no end.

Eventually, Orangerie yawned and excused herself. With one last ‘good night, ‘she vanished into the west wing of the hotel, and Ditzy was again alone. She got up to return to her own bed, looking forward to falling asleep and putting the very long day behind her, but something stopped her.

What he really wants is his father.

Ditzy glanced out the window and sighed. Intellectually, she knew she was about to do something very stupid. Her friends would surely have counseled her against it if she had asked them. But she wasn’t going to ask them. Ice Heart had endured a rough life, and she had a feeling the windigo’s hadn’t been much more pleasant. If there was a way to do something for them, for their far-flung family which had crossed countless miles for this meeting only to be prevented from so much as touching each other, she was going to find it.

She threw on her coat and a scarf, grabbed a lamp, and left the building.

The snow had almost stopped, with only a light dusting descending to build up the endless piles beyond. Ditzy thus worked her way easily through the wilderness. She had taken this route several times in the past few days, and now that the snow was no longer a blizzard, she could more clearly discern the occasional landmark that poked above the snow--an old shack, a big rock, a banner proclaiming some notable event that had happened there. Ditzy passed them all, heading steadily north of the northernmost village in Rushia, and continuing deeper into the empty steppe.

The windigo was right where they had found it days ago. It was standing with its head bowed, and in the moonlight Ditzy thought she saw masses of new cracks which spread all over its body. But it didn’t look pained, and as it snapped one eye open and directed it at her, she felt a single moment of pure terror. Maybe, she thought, she should fly like the wind and return to the hotel. That would be safer. It would be more pleasant.

But it wouldn’t help Ice Heart, a foal without a father, or the windigo, a father who had lost his foal. So she kept going.

The air seemed to take on a sort of charge as she crossed the empty plain, and her coat was standing on end when she reached the windigo. It had grown while she walked--that was the only way she could put it--and now its open eye was larger than her entire head; its head surpassed her body. When it blinked, the breeze knocked her back a step.

“The old cracks on your body,” she mused. “You got those from Ice Heart’s mother, didn’t you?” She was silent for a moment. “You must have loved her very much. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

The windigo said nothing.

There has to be some way to communicate with him without Trixie, thought Ditzy. The Shadowbolts did it, right? And Trixie said the first guy to talk to it was some engineer. It has to be possible. I could try drawing in the snow, but with my eyes I’m not going to be able to make clear pictographs at night. I don’t think he gets speech. But that… oh.

She raised a hoof, lingered for a moment, and then gently pressed it up against the windigo’s muzzle.

Her body bucked involuntarily as a blast of the deepest cold she had ever felt swept through her, along with another surge of need, but this time she was ready. She thought of images of her friends, neighbors, and her wonderful daughter, wielding them in her mind like a shield and diverting the windigo’s torrent of desire. I don’t need your needs, thought Ditzy. I have them of my own. I have a child whose needs I have to take care of, and friends, and so many other ponies. I don’t have room for your needs too.

The windigo’s desires battered against her psyche, but Ditzy held, and a moment later they receded… and Ditzy found herself looking at the windigo, really looking, as if she had never seen him before.

They stood still for a moment, neither saying a word.

Then Ditzy began. “Your son needs to be safe,” she said. “Safe from harm and fear.”

The windigo didn’t seem to react.

So Ditzy thought of Dinky and how she had fulfilled her daughter’s needs. How she had found her when she had been trapped in the rain, and wiped her muzzle when she’d been sick with the pony flu, and fed her and sheltered her and treated her as a daughter should be treated. That, she thought, was what any foal needed. She focused on how Dinky must have felt with her needs fulfilled--her belly sated, her cold body warmed up, her illness eased by a mother’s touch--and tried to ‘send’ that to the windigo.

The windigo still didn’t move, but it made the faintest sound… half-grunt, half-hiss, and far too easy to lose in the background of the windswept plain…. and Ditzy hoped that it had understood.

“I’m truly sorry,” she said. “But if you’re near your son, he won’t be safe. You can’t touch him without it hurting both of you.” She reached out and stroked one of the cracks on the windigo’s face, marveling at how it felt colder than cold--it was like she was touching a void, where there was nothing and her heat just leached out of her into the emptiness. “You tried everything you could, but there’s no way to do it. Whenever you and he are close… even if you freeze every other friend he has, he won’t be able to touch you. He loves you too much, and you him.” And she thought of the foal, who needed to be safe from harm, and how horrified and frightened he would be when his father showed up only to break into ice shards upon nearing him. How he felt when his friends were chilled or coated in ice. How his love for his father was drowned in a sea of terror.

The windigo continued to say nothing.

Ditzy dimly saw that her hoof was starting to shake. She figured that it wouldn’t be good to touch the windigo for too long, but couldn’t stop before her job was done. “You can’t be there for your son,” she said. “But I pledge this--I will look out for him. I’ll make sure the mare raising him treats him right--including providing him with friends. I’ll make sure he’s happy and healthy. I will not let him be hurt by the Vicereine’s greed. Do you understand me?”

She formed the images in her mind of her standing over Ice Heart like a shield, protecting him from whatever the Vicereine might put him through. She thought of the relief and ease that Ice Heart would surely feel at knowing he had such a guardian who would take care of his need for safety and protection. And she sent it at the windigo.

Once again, nothing happened.

Ditzy sighed to herself. She hoped that his mind was at least slightly eased, but knew she couldn’t count on that--or even that he knew what she had thought. “Alright,” she said. “I hope you understood me. I’m sorry I couldn’t--”

The windigo’s hoof moved too fast for Ditzy to see it. It swept into a snowbank and retracted with a hunk of pure-white snow about the size of a hoofball. The windigo pressed it up against one of the newer cracks in its body. The cloudy blueness of its body shifted, and Ditzy could see it misting into the snowball until it too glowed with a faintly ethereal blue light. The windigo waited for about twenty seconds, then took the snowball and flicked it at Ditzy. It swerved to her head and stuck there, behind her left ear, at an odd angle. It didn’t feel cold, exactly, but it did feel heavy. Like Ditzy now had a weight attached to her head.

Ditzy had no idea what that meant, but she knew what she had been tasked with doing--and that the consequences of failure were likely to be dire. Still, this was the mission she had asked for, and she was going to complete it. “I’ll give it to him,” she said, thinking of how Ice Heart’s need for his father might be abated--if only slightly--when she hoofed it over. “I promise.”

The windigo snorted. Then it threw Ditzy’s hoof down, turned, and vanished into the falling snow. When the storm ended completely a few minutes later, the monster was nowhere to be seen.

***

Ditzy awoke the next morning to a feeling of genuine peace.

She had finally grown used to the large bed, with its cloudlike mattress and its wonderfully warm covers. Stretching, she let the very tips of her wingfeathers brush up against the bedposts before relaxing and letting them fall back to the bed. She knew that she had to get up soon, that there were important things that had to be done that day, but she decided that she would take advantage of the opportunity for a rare moment of calm.

Then she rolled over and found herself staring at Trixie Lulamoon.

“Ditzy!” said Trixie, a huge smile on her face. “So glad you’re finally up!”

Ditzy blinked. “...Princess Luna’s coming, isn’t she?” She reached up and patted at her head, remembering belatedly that the snowball wasn’t there anymore. “And she’ll be here soon?”

Trixie nodded.

“And you want everypony to be up and ready--”

“Exactly!” Trixie helped Ditzy get to her hooves. “Puissance sent over some fancy clothes that fit us. Try not to think about how she knew our measurements. Just get dressed and eat, and then all of us can be ready to talk to Luna when she gets here!”

Ditzy smiled warmly. “Trixie, don’t worry. I’ll be down in a few minutes--and so will everypony else, I’m sure. You’ll have a full audience when you tell Luna how good of a job you did.”

“That’s not why I want a full audience,” said Trixie. “Rather, I…” She trailed off under Ditzy’s knowing look. “Okay, it’s not the only reason. I want us all there for when Puissance has to admit that we pulled it off.” She chuckled. “She’s been rude enough to us this whole time. I think we deserve that.”

The mailmare couldn’t help but laugh at the image. “Sounds like a good reason,” she said. “I’ll make sure to be down in time to watch when the Vicereine has to give you all the credit for keeping her safe.”

Trixie waved a hoof. “It was a mutual effort. Why, as Team Leader I don’t think I should get more than two or three equal shares of the credit! In fact…”

Ditzy talked with Trixie for another few minutes until the mare went to wake up the other Elements. Then she washed and put on the dress--a sleek, silver-and-blue outfit with sleeves that fit perfectly against her wings and almost made them look armored--before heading downstairs. She trotted into the dining room, wondering what breakfast would be--

And stopped. Sitting alone at the head of the table was Vicereine Puissance.

The old mare looked up at Ditzy. “Dame. Please, sit down. I was just finishing.” She rang a bell by her side and her camel servant appeared in moments. “What would you like for breakfast?”

“An omelette and some buttered bread would be lovely,” said Ditzy. “And a glass of fruit juice. Thank you.”

Puissance gave the order to her servant and sent him away. “I was hoping to speak with you,” she said. “Before the Princess arrived. As to our prior interactions--”

Ditzy held up a wing in a conciliatory gesture. “It’s like Trixie said. The windigo made us say those things. I don’t see any reason to hold grudges, or to complain to the princess.”

“I’m glad you see it that way.” Puissance was silent for a moment. “But that isn’t fully what I meant. I understand you have some… qualms with the way that the Vault is being run.”

The mailmare hesitated. “I’ve spoken to Orangerie about some of my concerns, yes.”

Puissance nodded. “I understand that it is an unusual living environment. But I ask you to trust me that, though some of the rules may seem strange, there are sound reasons behind each one. And that the ponies within the Vault are not being hurt in any way.”

She’s still worried I might complain to Luna about it, thought Ditzy. “I don’t think they’re being hurt, for the most part,” she said. “It just… it seems so tightly regulated. I mean, I love my daughter just like you love your Vault ponies, but I could never see myself controlling her so closely.”

The Vicereine considered. “There are ponies,” she said at last, “who say that it is necessary to choose between great affairs and smaller ones. That one who focuses on fine details can never see the big picture, and that those who move mountains cannot make out the individual blades of grass. I have always rejected this view. If one does not see the big picture, how can they handle the fine details? How could such an artist make sure that their intricate masterworks fit the mediums they were working in, the environments, the locales? Don’t ponies laugh at the fabled mare who spent years molding a cloud into the most perfect replica of a city ever created by pony hooves, only to take it outside and see her sculpture warped and ruined during the first spring breeze?”

“And then there is the opposite, the pony who cares only for the grand scheme and neglects the little details. But the grand scheme is nothing more than the culmination of millions of little details. The pony who would seek to develop a province and yet leaves the design of the individual parks, and villages, and waterways to others, will never create a harmonious territory. They will only yield many disparate elements which can never work together, no matter how grand the planned design.”

“If one wants to create something wonderful, whether that be a prosperous nation, or a beautiful province, or a happy community… or even a single loving child… it is necessary to tightly control all the elements, the small and large alike. Every single detail must be managed with as much care as the overall scheme. I won’t deny that it is a lot of work. But that is the only way that I can ensure that anything, the Vault included, is as good as it could be.” She smiled slightly. “When you were reluctant to allow your child to attend Sharpwhinny, surely one of your reasons was that you would have no control over the curriculum? That the distant educators would be assuming full responsibility for your youth’s education and that you would have no way to supplement or counter it if it was not perfectly to your liking?”

“That was… one of my concerns,” acknowledged Ditzy.

“Then you understand why the Vault has its policy against allowing outsiders. Yes, many of the ponies within it were traumatised by ‘normal’ ponies. Yes, safety is a genuine issue. But also…” She paused. “I want to ensure that these ponies have the best lives possible. That their every moment is joyful. They are mine, and just as I spare no expense in keeping each and every one of my treasures in perfect condition, I want my Vault ponies to live perfect lives as well. But to ensure that, I must be able to control every detail. Even I cannot control outsiders, Ditzy. Their presence could cause discord and strife in the Vault in innumerable ways--ponies with no external friends feeling jealous of the others, for instance, or one of the external friends having a feud with one of my Vault ponies. In order to ensure the happiness and safety of my little ponies, I must keep them protected.”

It wasn’t a horrible argument, and now that Ditzy was no longer enraged due to the effects of the windigo, she could actually see Puissance’s side of the story. But that, of course, was not to say that she agreed with it. “I understand,” the mailmare said. “And I saw how much the Vault ponies love you. They wouldn’t have been able to withstand the windigo had their love been insincere. You’ve clearly given them good homes.” She paused. “But I still don’t agree with you… and I think it comes back to the other thing we discussed.”

“Oh?”

“Do you remember our discussion on love?” When Puissance nodded, Ditzy continued: “You said that love always had to be conditional, because to love something unconditionally was to say that you didn’t love it for any of its qualities which might change--that it made no sense to love a foal unconditionally, for instance, because the foal could turn into somepony unlovable. But the way I see it is--if you know what you love deeply enough, if you know it won’t change into something you despise, you don’t need to worry about that. And then you can love unconditionally, just as I love my little muffin.”

Ditzy gently reached out and touched Puissance’s dress at a point where a shining platinum thread ran through it. “Do you value this dress?”

“What?” Puissance frowned. “Of course I do. It was a present from Princess Cadenza Herself. It contains genuine sapphire, ruby, and emerald powder, not to mention platinum thread.”

“Did you check that?” asked Ditzy. “Before you came on this expedition, I mean. Did you carefully examine the dress to ensure that the gemstone powder had not become dust, and the platinum thread had not magically changed to common dyed silk?”

“Of course not.” The Vicereine looked baffled. “Dresses do not simply change materials.”

“I know. You can trust that your dress still has everything about it which you care about. Certainly, if it changed into a common dress with no expensive components, you might not like it anymore, but you know that won’t happen, and you know that your dress maintains its value.” Ditzy smiled slightly. “My foal is the same way. I know her better than anypony else. I know what I love about her… all those traits I told you about a few days ago. And because I know her so well, I know she will never abandon those traits, anymore than your dress could turn itself into a peasant’s shawl. Yes, if my Dinky became a depraved monster or a horrible criminal I might stop loving her… but I know she will never, ever take such a path. And so I can say I love her unconditionally, with just as much certainty as you could put a price on one of your treasures.”

Puissance said nothing for several moments, and she looked faintly troubled. “I apologize, Dame, but while I do appreciate your candor, I’m not sure what this has to do with the Vault.”

“You know the Vault ponies very well. It’s clear you have a strong bond with them, or they wouldn’t have been able to help protect you from the windigo.” Ditzy smiled. “You don’t need to keep checking every little detail about them, anymore than I would need to keep checking whether my daughter is lovable… or than you would need to keep checking as to whether your dress became worthless overnight. Surely you can think of some of the Vault ponies who are intelligent, mature, discreet, and otherwise suited to having outside friends without causing discord. Orangerie, for instance. You know her well enough to know that nothing bad will come from allowing her to see her family. Yes, they might cause her to have to make some new decisions or choices that you wouldn’t be able to control. But she can make them on her own. You can trust that.”

Puissance settled back in her chair as the camel servant reappeared with Ditzy’s breakfast. “With respect, Dame, while you make a persuasive argument… we must agree to disagree on this issue. After all, I have raised my family and run my provinces according to my principles of monitoring every detail of their existences, and I believe I can say both have prospered for it. Califurlong is the single richest province in all Equestria, and Palomino has never fallen out of the top four. Their ponies are many and joyous, their civic infrastructure unrivalled, their art scenes flourishing, their farms abundant with the best produce to be found anywhere. And as for my family, I raised them under even stricter supervision than I can provide for the Vault, and it has worked out wonderfully for all of them. My descendants run large businesses, hold high judgeships and commanding posts in the military, and carry out our nation’s most critical diplomatic and internal affairs.” She finished her juice. “Its possible that your method might also work. But, with the happiness of my Vault ponies at stake, I would prefer not to change from a system that I know works. After all, the residents of the Vault have placed themselves in my care. They are mine--my responsibility, I mean. I must look out for them.”

Ditzy sighed to herself. For a moment she’d thought she’d gotten through to the old mare. But what she said aloud was, “And you are. Please don’t take me to mean that you’re somehow neglecting them. I’ve spoken to all the Vault ponies you brought here, and each one was quite clear that you have given them everything they could ever want.”

Puissance did smile at that, a grin which reminded Ditzy of how Filthy Rich had beamed when a visiting trader had complimented his perfect collection of salt shakers from the Renneighsance era. “Thank you,” said the Vicereine. She got up to go. “In that case--”

“Actually,” said Ditzy, “May I ask you one more question?”

“Of course, Dame.”

Ditzy steeled herself. “Suppose I were able to find a friend or two for Ice Heart that I could guarantee wouldn’t disrupt the Vault--a genuinely kind and caring foal, for instance, who would arouse no jealousy or hate. Would you permit that friendship?”

The Vicereine tilted her head. “If it could be guaranteed that the foal truly was as wonderful as you say, I would of course have no objection… but of course, you know how shy Ice Heart is around non-Vault ponies. He would have to be willing. So--if you have ideas for candidates, Dame, please post them to me and I will discuss any suitable options with him.”

Ditzy nodded. She knew that was a ‘no’ and that Puissance would find some excuse to dismiss any choice she might make. Fortunately, she thought, It’s not going to be up to you. “I’ll do my best to find a foal that Ice Heart can accept,” she said.

When Puissance left, Ditzy went to work on her breakfast, enjoying the light, fluffy eggs flavored with exorbitantly expensive cheese, as well as the dragonfruit juice in the crystal glass by her side. The Vicereine, she thought, was going to have an interesting morning.

***

“Princess!”

The Vicereine frowned as Trixie ran forward and nuzzled against Luna, who strode into the hotel with her customary poise and grace. Luna grinned and draped a wing over her, hugging her close before she spoke. “Trixie. It is good to see you again.”

“It’s great to see you!” Trixie beamed. “I can’t wait to tell you about what happened!”

“Vicereine Puissance has already transmitted me a thorough report,” said Luna. Ditzy winced as she saw Trixie’s face fall. “It was clear that your actions, as well as those of your friends, was heroic and served to protect the Vicereine and her guests from a most dangerous opponent. Once again, you have the nation’s thanks.”

Trixie brightened at that, and Ditzy saw the other Elements smiling too. “We do our best,” Trixie finally said.

Luna chuckled at that and turned to the Vicereine. “Were there any other issues I should know about?”

“No, Princess,” said Puissance. “Your Vicereine spoke with the Shadowbolts early this morning and verified that the windigo seems to have left our territory. Ice Heart and the other guests are all healthy and in good spirits, with no ill effects from the previous night, as are myself and, to the best of my knowledge, the Elements as well. Thus, it seems that the windigo is gone without having permanently injured anypony.” Puissance nodded. “Furthermore, while we were unable to reunite Ice Heart with his father--the two could not approach each other due to the windigo’s inability to withstand Ice Heart’s affection for it, not to mention his other friends--I personally confirmed that Ice Heart was overjoyed to at least be able to see his father. Granted, this is hardly a national concern--”

“But no less important,” said Luna. “I am glad that Ice Heart was able to meet his father… even if it could only be for a few seconds.”

Puissance nodded. “As am I. Lastly,we learned a great deal about windigo. If more come, we will have strategies for dealing with them.”

“I am glad.” Luna stepped back so that she could face all the other ponies at once. “Thank you all once again for your loyal service. Now--unless any of you wish to stay longer in Noam, I might suggest that you move to the train station. My own private car is waiting for you.”

Trixie’s mouth dropped. “Wow!” she said, before blinking. “I mean, uh. Thank you for your generosity, Princess.”

Luna chuckled. “You’re quite welcome.”

“Um, Princess?” Ditzy raised a wing. “I had one more thing, actually. May I use the Right of Approach to speak with you on another matter?”

Luna’s mouth quirked upwards. “You do not need the Right of Approach, Dame, since we are already talking. What is it?”

Puissance frowned, and Trixie suddenly looked apprehensive, but Ditzy smiled warmly at both of them before turning back to Luna. “I was talking with Ice Heart the other day, and I know that he would love to see you, princess. Would it be alright if he came out to say hello quickly?”

“I see no harm in that,” said Luna. “Although… Vicereine, as his guardian, would you object?”

Looking thoroughly puzzled, Puissance shook her head. “Your Vicereine would be honored if you again met with her ward.” She turned. “Sonic!” The servant appeared immediately. “Fetch Ice Heart, please.”

Sonic Boom hurried away. A few moments later, a door in the back of the lounge banged open as Ice Heart ran through it. He was grinning like a fool as he scampered inside, and--though he was dressed in formal clothes, as befitting somepony who might be about to meet a princess--he also had a distinctly unusual accoutrement.

Puissance’s mouth dropped, and when she spoke, there was tension in her voice. “Ice Heart. Dear. Why, exactly, is there a potato frozen to your head?” She turned to Luna. “Don’t worry. I’ll have him remove it immediately--”

“No matter,” said Luna. She approached Ice Heart and then knelt. “That is a large potato,” she observed.

Ice Heart grinned. “Uh huh! My new friend told me lots of foals are doing it, and they all compete to see who can balance the biggest one! I figured I could use a really big one cause I can freeze it so it won’t fall off!” He beamed. “So I picked the biggest one I could find and it worked!”

Luna winked at him. “Very impressive,” she said.” Her horn glowed, and within moments a potato appeared on her horn as well. “And an intriguing game indeed…”

Ice Heart laughed, as did the Elements. Puissance seemed to be having trouble deciding how to react. “Ice Heart, Dear,” she said at last. “Which new friend, precisely, were you referring to?”

“Dinky Doo!”

The Vicereine said nothing for a long moment. Luna tilted her head. “You spoke with Dinky Doo? In Ponyville?”

“Uh huh! You see--”

The door opened again and Orangerie trotted in. She was holding the crystal ball, within which was Dinky’s smiling, potato-adorned face. “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t mean to interrupt. But Dinky wanted to see what her new friend was doing--”

“It’s quite alright,” said Luna. She smiled at Ditzy and Puissance. “That was a very wise use of that artifact. I am glad to see that Ice Heart was able to make a friend.”

Puissance still seemed to be confused as to what was going on. “Ah… yes… but, Dear, why didn’t you tell me if you wanted other foal friends? When I asked you last year, you said you were worried they’d be mean to you.”

“I was… but Dinky’s different! First, she was recommended to me by Miss Ditzy, and she’s a really trustworthy pony!”

Ditzy bit back a gulp. She didn’t mind Ice Heart mentioning her role in this, especially since it was obvious anyways, but she would rather he not bring up the real reason why he’d agreed to trust her. He’d been reluctant at first, even after Orangerie had let her into the restricted wing, until he saw the snowball stuck to Ditzy’s head. He’d been able to remove it--neither she nor Orangerie had been capable of getting it off her head--and somehow he’d instantly known it was from his father. He’d even said that he could sense his father within it, which was something Ditzy didn’t pretend to understand. In any event, he’d been willing to trust her completely after that. Ditzy had asked him to keep the snowball a secret, leery of what would happen if Puissance found out about it. He’d agreed, but then again, he was still an excitable foal…

But he didn’t say anything about it. “And second, Dinky’s already friends with unusual ponies! And she’s really nice to them! That’s how I know she’ll be nice to me too!” Ice Heart beamed. “I haven’t had a new friend in ages! This is awesome!”

“Unusual ponies?” asked Puissance. “What unusual ponies? Do you mean the Elements? Or--”

Dinky budged aside, and a yellow-coated face filled the ball. Then it backed up, so all could see that the new foal had both wings and a horn. “H-hi,” she said in a quiet tone. “I’m Alula. Um, I play with Dinky a lot. She’s nice, and she doesn’t tease me about having wings and a horn--”

Dinky rose up from Alula’s side so that she was draped under the other foal’s wing. “We make pottery together sometimes!” she said. “And we’ve played pirates, and Mild West settlers, and Night Court--”

“Night Court?” asked Princess Luna. “How do you play ‘Night Court?’”

“I’m sure it’s a fun game which promotes friendship and love and certainly nothing disreputable am I right?” said Trixie immediately.

Dinky blinked. “Yes. That.” Ditzy thought back to her own memories of the game--including Scootaloo’s hours-long fillybuster which lasted until Silver Spoon agreed to pass her motion proclaiming Rainbow Dash the most awesome pony in all recorded history--and smiled to herself.

Ditzy turned to Ice Heart and Luna. “Ice Heart had a hard life before he came to the Vault,” she said. “Vicereine Puissance has clearly done her very best to raise him--and she’s done a truly wonderful job. I just thought I could help introduce Ice Heart to some new friends, and maybe even a whole new community. I figured he would like to know that there’s towns in Equestria where even unusual ponies can live happily and healthily.” She smiled and turned to Alula. “Alula, you’re happy in Ponyville, right? Ponies are nice to you?”

“Uh huh,” said Alula. “I like it here.”

That should forestall Puissance from trying to add Alula to her own collection, thought Ditzy. Since she just said in front of the princess that she doesn’t want to leave. As for Ice Heart… “I know we might not be able to keep the crystal ball,” she said. “But perhaps you would like to become pen-pals with my little muffin?”

“Yeah!” cheered Ice Heart.

At the same time, Dinky grinned. “Ooh! That sounds fun!”

‘Luna tilted her head. “Actually… Vicereine, you spoke with Archduke Fisher when he wished to utilize those crystal balls for military purposes, didn’t you? As I recall, you said they were of limited practical use because they could easily be interfered with by my sister or other adversaries?”

“Yes…” said Puissance.

“In that case--if they’re not of use for more important things, might I request that you allow Dame Ditzy to keep one so that she and your ward can continue to communicate? The two seem very happy to talk to each other. And--given the understandable conditions which have led to Ice Heart’s relative isolation--I believe it would be good for him to have a friend.”

Puissance opened her mouth, and she seemed to be trying to come up with a reason to oppose Luna’s request. After a few moments, though, it was clear she had nothing. “I see no reason why not,” she said. “Ice Heart, Dear, if you’d like to remain friends with Miss Doo, you may of course continue to use the crystal ball--”

“Of course I would!” said Ice Heart. “Awesome!” He grinned. “Next time we talk, Dinky, I’m gonna have a potato twice this big on my head!”

“Oh yeah?” squeaked Dinky. “Well, I’ll have one three times as big! It’ll be bigger than my head!”

Alula frowned. “But what if somepony thinks you’re a potato and plants you?”

Dinky blinked. “Oh yeah. Um… I’ll paint it purple so ponies know it’s not a planting potato! It’s a Dinky potato!”

Ditzy laughed, as did the other Elements, Ice Heart, and Luna Herself. “A wise decision,” she intoned. “I’m glad to see that--even if you could not meet your father, Ice Heart--you were at least able to make a friend.”

Ice Heart nodded, and Ditzy smiled.

Sometimes, she thought, things work out just right.

***

“...Register the Noam hotel with the National Registry of Historic Places.”

Vicereine Puissance strode through one of the lounges on her airship. She didn’t need anything in the next room, but she liked the sensation of motion. Her ship wasn’t some commoner craft in which a pony could spend a fortune for a single seat. The whole ship was hers, and she would make use of it.

“The photographs that Red Snapper took of the architecture and the furnishings should be sufficient, but if not, contact one of the castle historians and commission them to fly out and confirm the authenticity of the hotel and its collected artifacts,” she continued. Solar Flare, who sometimes functioned as Puissance’s secretary when the mare was with her, made notes in a pad and followed. “Once that’s done, apply for a Historic Reconstruction and Restoration Grant for the hotel--first to get it repaired, and second to have it relocated to a more accessible location. Cite…” She frowned. “The Education bill sponsored by the Viscount of Konetikut and passed four vernal Equinoxes prior, which argues that historical facilities and museums must be made accessible to foals. As precedent, cite how the museum within the Castle of the Pony Sisters was relocated to Manehatten after that one tour group was almost eaten by giant spiders in the Everfree Forest.”

“Yes, Vicereine,” intoned Solar Flare.

“After that motion is accepted, commission a reputable third-party agency to determine the best places to move the hotel in terms of accessibility to foals, historical accuracy, and tourist revenue. The correct answer will be History Village in Palomino, since I’ve spent the past five years setting up that district specifically to house historical sites, but make the study thorough anyways. I don’t want the Princess accusing me of stealing some historical monument.”

Puissance turned at the edge of the lounge and began to walk back the way she’d came. Solar Flare finished writing down the last sentence and then said, “Vicereine, if you don’t mind me saying…”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect you better.” Solar Flare dropped her head, looking less like the Tyrant Sun than like a little filly who had disappointed her mother. “It is my fault.”

Puissance smiled as she gently patted Solar Flare on the back. “It is alright,” she said. “You did your very best against a monster which, it turned out, could only be defeated by the Elements themselves. You have nothing to apologize for.” She paused for gravity. “I still love you and all the other Vault ponies, whatever happened in Noam.”

Solar Flare tilted up her head, smiling and teary-eyed. “Thank you,” she said. “I swear to never fail you again.”

As the Vicereine continued to reassure Solar Flare, a small part of her sighed in comfort. This was how ponies should treat her, she thought. She was the mare who had everything, the mare who would carefully arrange things so that all her loved ones and dependents were happy and productive and had the best lives possible… and all she asked for was their love. And yet she so rarely received it from her ungrateful family. At least the Vault ponies valued her.

But then there was Scepter--bright, energetic, and not yet poisoned by her family’s treacherous whispers. She simply had to take a firmer hoof in his rearing and ensure that he had the proper respect for the Vicereine and the position she embodied. I should really think about forcing my grandcolt to hire one of my nannies or tutors for him…

But that was a subject for another time. She straightened and said, “Next--I think I need to have a talk with Ice Heart about this new friend of his. Obviously, I would never go against the Princess’s wishes, but it would be a shame if his new companion caused him to spend less time and attention on his real friends, the ones with whom he plays every day.”

Solar Flare nodded. “Would you like me to summon him?”

“Yes--”

As they walked, they passed a hatch connected to another room within the airship. A squeak issued from inside it, and when Puissance turned, she saw Ice Heart giggling as he wrapped himself around the crystal ball. Orangerie was lying on a couch nearby, her horn occasionally sparking as she powered the artifact. “You’re silly!” he announced. “You can’t be a pirate! You don’t have an eyepatch!”

“I have one at home!” Dinky chirped. “An’ a hook and a wooden sword Miss Trixie made for me! And I can ‘yar’ really well!”

Puissance coughed, and Ice Heart and Orangerie both looked up. Ice Heart grinned. “Dinky, I gotta go, but we’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay!”

Ice Heart scampered over to Puissance as the crystal ball’s magic faded. Orangerie got up, but Puissance waved her back as Ice Heart skidded to a halt just in front of her. “Auntie! Hi!”

“Hello, dear.” Puissance picked up Ice Heart and cradled him. “How are you?”

“Great!”

“You’re not still sad about not being able to speak with your father?”

“I am, but…” Ice Heart sighed. “I got to see him, at least, and I can still feel him too. Thanks for taking me all the way up here, Auntie.” And he hugged her.

Puissance returned the hug and smiled, feeling at last like all was right with the world and she was receiving the adoration she so richly deserved.

“And thanks for letting me keep talking with Dinky!” Ice Heart added. “She’s awesome!”

“Yes… but about that, dear, I think--”

“It’s like you knew what I wanted for Hearth’s Warming!” continued Ice Heart. Then his mouth dropped. “Hey, you did know! You’re psychic!”

Puissance glanced at Solar Flare, but her aide didn’t seem to have any more ideas than she did. Are all foals this random? she wondered. “I beg your pardon?”

“The one thing I really wanted for Hearth’s Warming was some new friends,” said Ice Heart. “I didn’t think I could get it, though, ‘cause we need to keep the Vault secret so mean ponies don’t hurt us. But now that we found more good ponies…” He grinned. “Yay!”

“Ah…” Puissance trailed off. “Dear, I thought you told me that you and TIM wanted a train.” She didn’t understand the purpose of a train that could just go in circles around one village, but apparently the foal liked to play with them, and TIM liked to write in them, so she’d had one installed. It boasted top-of-the-line rail technology, including wards that prevented the sound of the train from traveling, so that it wouldn’t disturb those Vault residents who wanted peace and quiet. She’d even purchased a prototype engine from Fisher Locomotive so that Ice Heart could stand in the engine and pull the bell, which had kept him amused for about three days straight. “Was it not what you wanted?”

“Oh, no, I wanted it. It’s great!” Ice Heart grinned winningly. “And I know TIM likes to write on trains, so he’s really happy too. But what I really wanted, more than anything, was some new friends to play with. And now I have them.” He beamed. “You’re the best Auntie ever.”

Puissance wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “I… thank you,” she said. “However--”

“So, when can I talk to Dinky?” Ice Heart asked. “She said that she can probably chat with me once or twice a week. What about Wednesday nights? I promise I’ll do all the homework Yang Chew assigns me. Is Wednesday okay? Please?”

The Vicereine looked into Ice Heart’s big, smiling eyes, and she said nothing for a moment. Finally, she thought to herself, Well… one external friend won’t hurt him, I suppose. “Of course, dear. On the condition that you do all your homework--”

“YAY!” Ice Heart hugged Puissance again, chilling the mare without even noticing. “Thanks, Auntie!”

“You’re very welcome, dear. Of course, speaking of homework…?”

Ice Heart sighed theatrically. “All right,” he said, beginning to trot away. “Don’t worry. I’ll do it!”

Puissance watched her ward go before turning back to Solar Flare. “And so,” she said. “Next, have my agent purchase the collection of Cavallian art that should be going up for auction this week at the Canterlot Auction House. Distribute it as follows: the two paintings of Cadenza with her wings outstretched to my country estate in Palomino, the sculpture of Princess Luna to my Canterlot residence, the statues of Cadenza’s lovers to the East Field Park in Califurlong… on that note, contact the East Field Park manager and direct her to switch to Topnotch Topsoil brand dirt. That should save three hundred bits and seven jangles in her budget. Reinvest that money in repairing the fountain and painting the bandstand, something patriotic…”

She began to pace again, smiling as she looked out the portholes and watched her nation float by under her. Sometimes little hiccups occurred in her life, but whatever they were--a windigo, a Tyrant Sun, Princess Luna’s ire, even an unexpected friendship--she’d find a way to continue on. She would ensure that all she had--her nation and her provinces; her towns, villages, and parks; her Vault ponies, her family members--continued on their proper courses. Because she was the Vicereine, and she took good care of her things.

“Also,” she told Solar Flare. “Contact the niqab sect which took in Red Rose. I want to know why she stopped writing me. While you’re at it, see about purchasing the White-Rock oasis with the unusual palm tree formations…”

***

When he was back in his quarters, Ice Heart glanced around and then pulled a big snowball out of one of the boxes. It hadn’t melted, even though the airship was heated above freezing, and it seemed to whisper when he touched it. He nuzzled it briefly, letting it press against his skin for a few seconds, before putting it away.

“I wish I could have seen him longer,” mused Ice Heart. “But… it was still a good trip. I’m glad I went.”

With a smile on his face, he began to go through his homework problems.

***

“Almost there!” called Carrot Top as the train began to slow down. “Next stop, Ponyville!”

Lyra sighed theatrically. “Can’t we go on a little further and then come back? I like this car!” She stroked one side of the couch. Luna’s private car had furnishings which put five-star hotels to shame, the very best food, and--most importantly to Lyra--a heater. It seemed she hadn’t enjoyed the cold up north very much. “I wish we could ride it all the time!”

“Maybe someday, when Luna makes me a Vicereine, I’ll give you one!” said Trixie. “Sound like a plan?”

Raindrops snorted. “Sure. That’ll be right after she makes me Captain of the Wonderbolts.”

“Hey, it could happen!” Trixie grinned. “Even if I’m just a Viscountess, I’ll bet she lets me use it occasionally. I have a way with her.”

“Of course,” said Cheerilee. “I believe it is called ‘The Complaining Way.’”

Trixie threw a pillow at her.

Carrot Top stretched. “I’m glad we won’t have to deal with a windigo anymore, but I can’t say I’m all that excited about getting back home. I kind of liked having a vacation from fixing up my barn…”

“I’ll help,” said Raindrops. “I’m probably going to have a few extra days off soon.”

“Why?” asked Cheerilee.

Raindrops grinned and showed her a piece of paper. “I got that Sonic Boom guy to give me an autograph. Bet you Rainbow Dash trades me at least a week of vacation for it.”

“Me? I’ll be baking with my Bonnie as soon as I get home. And composing a new ballad about six awesome mares beat a windigo.” Lyra grinned. “I’ll call it, The Ballad of Six Awesome Mares who Beat a Windigo.”

“Worked all night on the name, huh?” joked Raindrops.

Lyra stuck out her tongue at her.

Trixie turned to Ditzy. “What’ll you do when you get home?”

Ditzy grinned. “What do you think?”

In mere moments, the train stopped, and Ditzy raced out of the door. She scampered through Ponyville and hurried down the streets, saying ‘hi’ to the occasional passerby but keeping focused on her main goal. She reached the post office, raced up the stairs to her apartment, burst in--

And saw her daughter sitting in front of the fireplace toasting a marshmallow.

“Hi Momma! Sparkler’s in the bathroom, and--oof!” Dinky grinned as Ditzy enveloped her daughter in a massive hug. “I missed you too, Momma!”

Ditzy nuzzled her daughter. “I love you as much as any pony could love another,” she whispered. “And I’ll always love you. Unconditionally.”

And it was true.

Author's Note

That's all, folks. It's finally finished. Hope it was worth the wait.

Thanks to RDD and T&T for being my betas.

Ditzy's Heart

The Vault ponies screamed. So did the Elements.

A blizzard blew from within the windigo and coated the icy room in layers of snow. Pillars of ice which looked like extra legs sprouting from the windigo’s body lashed out and barely missed the ponies as they crashed against the walls and the furniture. Trixie yelped as a chunk of hail glanced off her ear. “Go away!” she yelled at the windigo, running to Cheerilee’s side. “Or we’ll use our Elements on you! We’ll--”

“Use an illusion, Trixie!” roared Raindrops. “It doesn’t speak Equestrian!”

“WORKING ON IT!”

Meanwhile, the Vault ponies were backed up against the far wall, Ice Heart standing on Silver Sculptress’s back. His face held a mixture of awe and horror as he looked at his father. “Dad!” he cried. “Don’t hurt Auntie! Stop!”

The windigo hissed, as if the words themselves were painful, and stomped a hoof. The blizzard intensified and Ditzy yelped as ice shards began to smack against her coat.

“Hey!” Ditzy turned to see Carrot Top’s teeth beginning to chatter. “We need to stop the storm or we’ll all freeze!”

“I know!” said Trixie. Her horn was flickering. “But it’s not working--”

The wind suddenly reversed course and began to flow back out of the room, sending broken knickknacks and torn paintings hurtling behind the windigo and out into the winter wasteland beyond the hotel. Ditzy felt herself begin to be dragged towards the monster but managed to grab onto a heavy couch and hold tight. Then she heard a squeak behind her. “Ice Heart!”

Indeed, the foal was gripping onto Silver Scuptress tightly as the wind clutched at him and tried to bring him closer to his father. “Dad, stop!” he cried. “Stop it! Stop! STOP!”

The windigo locked eyes with him.

And the wind stopped.

For a moment, there was a deathly stillness in the room. Then the windigo stepped forwards and reached one hoof towards his son--but yanked it away as soon as it grew close. With an unnaturally loud sound, a crack burst into existence along his leg. The windigo stumbled backwards, its legs still completely out of sync with its body, and then turned to the Vault ponies with glowing eyes.

It still can’t touch Ice Heart, thought Ditzy. Not with his friends there. But that means he’ll just try to destroy them--

Trixie’s horn flared up, as bright as Ditzy had ever seen it, and suddenly the room was an inferno. Ditzy cried out as a flame licked against her back leg, and in front of her Cheerilee and Puissance seemed to melt into ash. Even as her mind told her this was impossible, she felt herself backing away from the burning heat, and she held her wings forwards in a desperate attempt to shield her face from the flames. From somewhere within the smoke and flames the windigo roared with the fury of a blizzard. The sound cut out after a few moments--and, several seconds later, the fire did as well.

Ditzy gasped as the icy room returned into existence and had to fight not to hug the intact -- though still-frozen -- Cheerilee. “What happened?” she managed.

Trixie was panting, and sweat ran down her body in rivulets and froze as it hit the frigid ground. “Firestorm illusion. Figured it might… come in handy… for this trip...”

“Where’s Ice Heart?”

Ditzy turned to the Vault ponies, who were still pressed against the far wall. Orangerie was looking around. “Ice Heart? Where’d you--”

“Um.” TIM pointed at a little icy footprint in the snow near the door. It was pointed back towards the rest of the hotel. “He ran off.”

Silver Sculptress gaped for a moment before a scowl crossed her face. “Of course he did. He’s afraid of fire. Him being part ice and all.” She stalked towards Trixie. “What were you thinking, you idiot? You could have traumatised him!”

“What? No! It wasn’t real fire!”

“How was he supposed to know that?!” roared Silver. “What, couldn’t you have made it so only the windigo could feel the illusion?”

“No! How do you think--”

“You’re the Element of Magic! You’re supposed to be good at it!” screamed the sculptor. “You shouldn’t be scaring the ponies you’re supposed to protect!”

“She did a lot more than you!” Raindrops put herself between Silver and Trixie. “Cowering against the wall… yeah, fat lot of use you all were.”

“We’re artists,” snapped Bounty. “Not national heroes like yourselves. We expected you could handle it. That was your function here, was it not? The reason why the Vicereine has brought you here and treated you so royally?”

“She did handle it!” Lyra thrust a hoof at him. “The windigo’s gone, isn’t he? And--”

“STOP!”

All the ponies turned to look at Ditzy.

“This is the windigo’s doing,” she said, speaking as quickly as she could. “It’s making us hate each other so that it can freeze us. See?” She gestured at Silver’s hooves, which were being coated by a rapidly-forming layer of ice. As the sculptor yelped and began to kick her way out, Ditzy turned back to the others. “We can’t let it win. We have to stay calm and be nice to each other or we’ll end up like them.” She nodded at Puissance and Cheerilee.

Orangerie gingerly tapped the Vicereine. “Are they… dead?” she whispered.

“Not according to the legends,” said Lyra. “The tribe leaders who were frozen by the windigo thawed out and were fine once the windigo were driven off. So as long as we can kick its flank, they should be okay.”

“But we drove it off--” began TIM, just as the howling wind--which was still blowing into the room through the hole in the wall--began to pick up.

“Not for long,” said Trixie.

The Elements ran to Cheerilee and began trying to pick up her, but she was solidly frozen to the ground. The Vault ponies, in the meantime, were trying to do the same for Puissance. “Now what?” demanded Bounty. “He’ll be back any minute!”

Trixie grit her teeth. “Come on!” she roared, shoving the frozen teacher alongside Raindrops and Carrot Top, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the wind had increased to a fever pitch. Ditzy bent low against it and tried to kick away at the ice trapping one of Cheerilee’s hooves, but she could tell it wasn’t going to work. “Come on!” Trixie repeated. “Come--”

A sheet of ice flew through the hole in the lounge and shattered against the back wall, ripping several chunks out of the wall. Ditzy yelped and was only just able to shield her eyes in time to avoid getting hit by ice shards.

Trixie stumbled backwards, and Ditzy saw that she was bleeding from a small cut just below her horn. “Stars. We’re stuck,” she hissed. Then, more loudly: “Okay. Some of us need to retreat.”

“What?!” yelled Raindrops and Silver at the same time.

“We can’t do anything for them now! But if we can drive off the windigo, maybe we can figure something out!” Trixie sighed. “Lyra, you and I are going to fight this thing with magic. The rest of you, run--”

“You’d have your friends abandon the Vicereine?” hissed Silver Sculptress. “She was right. You are depraved.”

For a moment, Trixie looked like she was going to kick Silver, but Ditzy wrapped a wing around her--it was all she could think of--and the showmare calmed. “As I was saying. Raindrops, Carrot Top: find all the servants and get them out of here. There’s other buildings in this stupid town, so put them somewhere. And Ditzy--”

“Yes?” Ditzy had to raise her voice to be heard above the shrieking wind. More balls of ice were flying through the hole in the wall now.

“Find Ice Heart. If we can’t get rid of the windigo, he’ll be going after his kid next. You need to keep him safe. Can you--”

Before Trixie could finish, the windigo returned. Sharp icicles formed on the ground in lines extending from its hooves, and Trixie and the others had to rear back to avoid being impaled.

“GO!” yelled Trixie.

She shot an illusory fireball at the windigo. Besides her, Lyra summoned her lyre and then played a jarring, dissonant chord. Ditzy’s last glimpse of them, before she ran out of the room after her friends, was of the two of them dodging away from ice that seemed to form out of nowhere and reached out towards them with grasping claws.

Then she was charging down the hallway, Raindrops and Carrot Top in front of her, and the wind howling at her back.

***

“Woah!!”

Ditzy skidded to a halt with Raindrops and Carrot Top. The latter, the mare who had spoken, looked around. “We’re near the staff areas--kitchen, laundry, servant beds. Raindrops, let’s clear them out. We’ll meet back here.”

“Where is here?” asked Ditzy. She wasn’t familiar with this part of the hotel.

Carrot Top pointed at a sculpture near them. “Okay, we’ll meet over there. By the statue of the gargoyle sacrificing a pony to Tirek.”

None of them spoke for a moment.

“Remind me again why we’re staying here,” said Raindrops.

Further comment was forestalled by a blast of cold air and the sounds of a distant explosion. Ditzy gave a quick nod to the others. “I’ll find Ice Heart. Save the servants!” And then, with a quick jump, she was galloping down the hall.

“Right,” she said to herself. “Find Ice Heart. Let Raindrops and Carrot Top deal with all of the Vicereine’s other minions. The other Vault ponies are with Trixie and Lyra, unless they ran away, which they probably did. That’s everypony, and…” She trailed off. “Oh no.”

There was one more Vault pony who wasn’t with the others. And who, as far as Ditzy knew, had no idea what was going on.

For a moment, her heart clenched and she was tempted to find Ice Heart first. The other pony had been awful to her, had even knocked her into a wall, and hadn’t seemed to want anything to do with her. But Ditzy Doo was the Element of Kindness, and she was going to do what she could to help anypony who needed it--even if she were running for her life, and even if the other pony was cruel. So she flew up two flights of stairs and raced to the door which housed the 7th Vault pony, the one that had shoved her away two nights prior. “Get out!” she called. “We’re under attack!”

“Attack?” The response was instantaneous. “From who?”

“The windigo. It froze Puissance, and--”

The door opened, and--despite all that had happened, despite the windigo and Cheerilee being frozen and everything else going on around her--Ditzy was stunned silent by the pony she saw.

The mare was tall, unusually so. She had a white coat, large wings, and a big white horn that tapered to a very fine point. Her mane was a yellowish-white, as was her cutie mark, which looked like a big ball of fire. It was Corona that stood before her.

Except that it wasn’t. The mare wasn’t quite as tall as Corona, and she lacked the fiery mane. She also looked more overly muscular than the Tyrant Sun, as if she spent time working out, instead of exploiting an unchanging alicorn physique. And then there was the right side of her face, which featured several faded--but still noticeable--scars. This wasn’t the Tyrant Sun. It was just a pegasus-unicorn hybrid who looked somewhat similar.

Ditzy saw her, and she realized whom Puissance had been referring to when she had said that the Vault had some ponies that would not be tolerated in the outside world. She had met the Tyrant Sun, she could tell the difference, and still she was tempted to flee in terror. How much worse would it be for those who knew no difference between the mare before her and the monster that haunted the nightmares of ponies all over Equestria?

“Where?” the pony demanded. Her horn glowed, and several bracelets, necklaces, and strips of rune-covered metal appeared all over her body.

The mailmare took a breath and got herself under control. The pony before her was not the Tyrant Sun; she was an innocent bystander who needed help. “The antechamber off of the main lounge--”

With a flash, the hybrid’s horn lit up and her body was enveloped in flame. “I’ll rescue her,” said the other pony. “Stand aside.”

“No. You need to flee. Trixie and Lyra will protect--”

The mare’s eyes flashed. “I will not allow the Vicereine to come to harm,” she hissed as she began to run. In seconds she had crossed the hall, blasted through the wall blocking her off from the stairs, and vanished.

Ditzy stared for a moment before reminding herself that she had more work to do. She turned on her hoof and headed out to find the wayward Ice Heart.

***

The task had at first seemed daunting to her. Ice Heart had run away and could be anywhere in the hotel, not to mention the endless snowy wastes outside. But even though they had only met a few days ago, Ditzy was pretty sure she had a good idea of where Ice Heart would be. He wouldn’t run too far as long as his Auntie was in trouble. That meant he would definitely be either in or near the hotel. And the area around the hotel that he, a snow-loving half-windigo would be most comfortable in, was…

She burst into the inner courtyard and saw the two eyes blinking at her from deep under a pile of snow.

“Ice Heart!” she said, stopping near him. “Ice Heart, don’t worry. I’m here. It’s okay now.”

Ice Heart wiggled deeper into the snow. “Nuh-uh,” he said, in the hoarse voice of a pony that had been crying.

“Yes. I swear--”

“It’s not okay. It’ll never be okay.” Ice Heart sniffed. “Auntie Puissance protected me. She kept me safe from all the mean ponies. But now she’s frozen. Nopony’ll protect me, and the mean ponies--”

“Won’t get anywhere near you.” Ditzy gently dug Ice Heart out. Part of her was screaming to get him on her back and get as far away from the hotel as she could run, to hurry to the train station and commandeer the best available engine to flee to Stalliongrad--or Canterlot--or, or that matter Mareami beach--but she restrained herself. “I promise.”

“How? Auntie Puissance was the only one who could do that. Cause she had enough money to build me a home where the mean ponies can’t go.”

I could get you to a home with no mean ponies either, and that includes your Auntie, thought Ditzy, but she didn’t say it. Her thoughts felt clearer than they had before, and she knew how to avoid hurting the foal. “Let me finish. I promise that I’ll find some way to fix your Auntie Puissance. And to protect you until she’s better and can take care of you again.” She smiled. “I Pinkie-promise, even.”

Ice Heart’s eyes were big. “You won’t leave her? I thought you didn’t like her.”

“I…” Ditzy paused. “I don’t,” she admitted. “But I’m a Knight of the Realm. And part of that means it’s my responsibility to protect all ponies, even those I don’t like.”

The foal still looked skeptical. “But…”

“It’s like this,” said Ditzy. “Imagine if you did something that made your Auntie mad. Like… you dropped a very expensive plate or something. She’d be upset, wouldn’t she?”

Ice Heart nodded.

“But she’d still protect you from all those mean ponies, wouldn’t she? Even if she didn’t like you at that time?”

The foal considered for a long moment before nodding again. “Yeah.”

“It’s the same thing. I disagree with your Auntie on… well, everything, except maybe what flavor of ice cream is best. But she’s a fellow pony and so I’ll do whatever I possibly can to help her. Just like I’ll do whatever I can to help you.” Ditzy gently picked up Ice Heart with her wings. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a commoner or a Vicereine.”

For a moment, it looked like Ice Heart was going to go for it, but then he shook his head. “Maybe you’ll help the Vicereine,” he conceded. “But all the normal ponies are scared of me. And even though you’ve got cool eyes, you’re still almost normal. Why would you or anypony else help me?”

“Like I said--you’re a pony. I’m not scared of you, but even if I were, I’d still help you. Just like I’d help TIM even though he’s related to Sombra, or like I helped the hybrid that looks a little like Corona--”

“You met Solar Flare?” gasped Ice Heart. “And you helped her? But--but she told me nopony outside the Vault would ever be nice to her, cause she looks like the Tyrant Sun!” Ice Heart paused. “I mean--she’s why there’s a Vault! Auntie bumped into her and took her in, and then realized there would be other ponies like her, and so she began looking for them. But… you helped her?”

“Of course. I saw her, and I said that the windigo was coming, and I told her where he was so she could get ready. And she charged off to help fight for the Vicereine.” Ditzy smiled. “I’m a Knight, Ice Heart. It’s my job to keep you all safe, and I’m going to do it. I’m going to get you to a safe place, and then I’ll head back and help your Auntie. That’s a promise.”

“Well…” Ice Heart let out a long sigh and gratefully wrapped his legs around Ditzy’s back. He didn’t feel that cold, though Ditzy acknowledged that she had run outside without a jacket into a snowstorm and that there was thus a limit to how much colder she could feel. “Okay,” he said with relief. “Thanks, Miss Doo.”

Ditzy settled Ice Heart onto her back, then hurried through the passage and out into the snow. “I think the train station would be best,” she said. “We’ll put you on the next train out, and if something goes wrong we can get you out of town. Does that sound good?”

“Uh huh,” said Ice Heart. “But I wanna see Auntie first.”

Ditzy paused. “Um, that’s--”

“I wanna see her! To make sure she’s okay!” said Ice Heart. “Please? I couldn’t leave if she’s not okay. I love her, and…”

“I know you do. But it’s too dangerous.”

“Not to me! My dad doesn’t wanna hurt me!” Ice Heart tugged at Ditzy’s coat. “He won’t do anything to me, I promise. And all I want’s one peak…”

The mailmare was about to refuse, but then she considered how Dinky might react if she were stranded in town. She doubted that her foal would want to leave either. Plus, she heard sounds of fighting, but they seemed to be coming from the steppe. The windigo had apparently been forced outside of the hotel.

“One peak,” she said. “And then we go.”

***

When Ditzy made her way back into the ruined antechamber, she saw the Elements, the Vault ponies, and the still-frozen Puissance.

“Hey,” said Trixie. Her horn was smoking and she was gasping for air. Lyra, lying down next to her, looked even more tired. “Glad you’re back. Where’d you put Ice…” Her voice trailed off. “Ditzy, please tell me that’s not him on your back.”

“He wanted to see his Aunt,” said Ditzy.

Even as she spoke, Ice Heart was flapping down off her back and running over to Puissance. The other Vault ponies moved aside from their work--which seemed to be putting blankets on Puissance and moving torches and candles underneath her--to let him hug her. “Auntie?” he whimpered. “Are you okay?”

“Poor colt,” said Carrot Top. “I feel bad for him.”

“I’ll feel bad for us if we don’t find a way out of this soon,” grumbled Raindrops. “Carrot Top and I got all the servants to the train station, but the tracks are frozen. They say it’ll be twelve hours before we can get a train out of here. If we can’t beat that windigo, we’re not going home.”

Ditzy frowned. There goes that plan. “What happened here?”

Lyra sighed. “Well, we’ve tried hugs, positive thoughts, and power ballads towards Cheerilee, and the Vault ponies tried blankets and torches on Puissance, but nothing worked. I don’t think we’ll be able to thaw them until we get rid of the windigo for good.”

“Where is the windigo, anyways?” asked Ditzy.

“It figured out that all my illusions weren’t real fire pretty quick,” said Trixie. “It almost froze us, but then somepony that. uh, looked kind of like Corona showed up and blasted it with a fireball that actually knocked it back a few feet.”

“Solar Flare,” said Ditzy. “The first Vault pony. I think her special talent is setting things on fire.”

“... ookay. Anyways, I peaked with my magic vision, and she’s up to her eyeballs in magic artifacts and charms to boost her power.” Trixie shrugged. “She drove it off a few minutes ago and it hasn’t been back.”

“It’d be nice if somepony else could save the day for once,” said Carrot Top.

Hope for that outcome stirred in Ditzy’s heart too, but she shook her head. “If the Hearth’s Warming legends are at all true, you can’t beat a windigo just by burning them out. She bought us some time, but I don’t think we can count on much more than that”

As if to underscore the point, a cry of pain echoed across the steppe as another flash lit up the sky.

Orangerie looked at the Elements. “Aren’t you going to help her?” she asked. “I know Solar Flare looks scary, but--”

“We can’t,” said Raindrops.

“What do you mean, you can’t? You have the Elements!”

Trixie sighed. “We need all six of us to use the Elements. Cheerilee’s frozen.”

“And we can’t just use the power of friendship,” said Lyra, “Because we’re not friends with Solar Flare. We’d be able to protect each other but we couldn’t extend that to her.”

“Also, she’s rather grumpy,” said Stream Dreams. The other Vault ponies glared at her, and she shrugged. “What? It’s a legitimate point. There are some ponies that could make friends with their rescuers in seconds, quickly enough to matter under these circumstances. Solar Flare isn’t one of them.”

Silence filled the room.

“So, what exactly is our plan?” asked Carrot Top.

“I don’t know.” Trixie hung her head. “I mean… if and when it comes back, if we keep our heads and focus on our friendship, maybe that’ll drive it off. But that doesn’t help Solar Flare.”

“We could go get her,” said Orangerie. “I mean, we’re friends with her. Shouldn’t that be enough to protect her?”

“We can’t go! The Vicereine needs us!” said Silver Sculptress. “I think she’s starting to defrost!”

Ditzy couldn’t see any difference in the frozen Vicereine, but Silver did sound sincere to her, not cowardly. “Even so--”

“We could try,” said Carrot Top. “I mean, do we know the Elements won’t work with only five of us? We’ve never done it before. Maybe it’ll be enough.”

“I don’t think I’m comfortable with a maybe.” Trixie bit her lip as another cry echoed across the plains. “Not when so much is at stake.”

Raindrops sighed. “I hate to say this, but maybe it’s time to call in the military. We know there’s Shadowbolts around here somewhere; they told Puissance where to find the windigo, remember? Maybe they’ve got some anti-windigo weapon that’ll melt it or something.”

“NO!” Ice Heart jumped off of Puissance. “They’ll kill my dad!”

“Kid, I hate to break it to you, but your dad kind of tried to kill us first.” Ditzy glared at Raindrops, who had spoken, but the latter mare just shrugged. “What? It’s true.”

“No he didn’t! He just wanted to protect me! He didn’t understand I was friends with you!” Ice Heart turned to Ditzy. “You said you’d protect everypony! Don’t let them kill my daddy! I mean--if you have to force him to thaw my Auntie and the other mare, I can…” he trailed off. “But don’t kill him! Please!”

“I don’t think we have a choice at this point,” said Trixie. “Raindrops, search Puissance’s room. We’ll find out how she’s communicating--”

“Wait.”

Trixie turned to Ditzy. “Got an idea?”

“If we lure the windigo back here, it won’t be able to hurt us. We’re all friends, and so are the Vault ponies. If we got it here and then focused on our friendship, instead of blaming and attacking each other, we could drive it off that way. Without killing it.” Ditzy paused. “I’ll go get Solar Flare and have her run back here. Then I’ll lead it back.”

“What?!” Trixie’s eyes bulged. “Why you? If somepony’s going to lure it, let’s all go--”

“We can’t lure it with all of us. Only with one. And it has to be me.” Ditzy was silent for a moment, but when she heard another scream--this one louder and more hoarse--she explained her plan. It only took a few sentences. When she was done, she saw the worried faces of her friends. But none of them objected.

“Fine,” said Trixie. “But for the record, I hate this.” She sighed. “Let’s do it.”

Ditzy stepped towards the hole in the wall, preparing for what she knew would--for better or for worse--be the night’s last trip outside. She tensed, but then felt a hoof on her back. Turning, she saw Orangerie, with Ice Heart standing besides her.

“Thank you,” whispered Orangerie. “We don’t know what else to say, but… thank you.” Behind her, the other Vault ponies looked at her with grateful expressions.

Ice Heart threw himself against Ditzy and hugged her leg. “Can you really save my Auntie without killing my dad?” he whimpered.

Ditzy smiled and hugged him. “I think so,” she said. If I survive this, she added to herself.

“You’re the best Knight ever,” said Ice Heart, before Orangerie gently tugged him back. “Good luck.”

Then Trixie cast a spell, and Ditzy ran out into the steppe.

***

Of course, it has to be me.

The cold was the worst Ditzy had ever felt. It stabbed into her, cutting between the hairs in her coat and slicing into her skin, her muscle… her heart. But still she pushed forwards, battling through the snow and the wind.

The other Elements can’t go because the Vault ponies don’t trust ‘normal’ ponies, and I’m the only one that’s not normal, that’s ‘worthy’ of the Vault, thanks to my wandering eye.

Her hoof bounced off a rock, and Ditzy almost stumbled, but she kept her balance and continued towards the yells and howls of combat. The sky was occasionally illuminated with a burst of flame, but they grew weaker each time. If Ditzy waited much longer, she knew, they would vanish entirely.

The Vault ponies can’t go because Puissance wouldn’t want them to. She’d want them to stay and protect her. For this plan to work, the bait pony has to be acting as a friend. If one of them went, they would know that they were betraying their friend the Vicereine, going against her wishes in her hour of need. But Cheerilee, she wouldn’t want us to stay by her when a pony needs help. She’d want one of us to go help whoever’s in trouble. So it had to be one of us Elements… and I’m the only Element that would qualify for the Vault if I wanted. So it has to be me.

A thin, ragged tree blew past her, its trunk whistling by her head as it hurtled into the night.

So it’s up to me. Ditzy forced herself to breathe evenly even though her body told her to hyperventilate with panic. Fine. Time to work.

She came across Solar Flare a few minutes later. The mare was kneeling on the icy ground, struggling to rise to the point where her head would break the snow, and Ditzy would have missed her had she not seen the mare’s flickering horn. “Solar Flare!” she squeaked. “Back to the hotel! We have a plan!”

Solar Flare managed to get up. Somewhere in the darkness beyond them, Ditzy knew, the windigo was surely waiting, but it didn’t move to strike. “Plan?” asked Solar Flare, her horn lighting up and illuminating them with a ragged red glow. “What plan? Is the Vicereine okay? And what are you doing here--”

Her voice cut off as she came to the realization that Ditzy had been counting on. Solar Flare leaned in close as her eyes widened. “You’re not him,” she whispered. “You’re not Ice Heart.”

“Nope,” Ditzy squeaked. Trixie’s illusion had been almost perfect. She looked like a foal half her size, with veins of ice moving throughout her flesh--or maybe veins of flesh moving through the ice. Her tongue looked icy, her tail gave off little ice shards when she shook it, and even her voice squeaked like the colt’s. Only one detail remained the same.

Her eyes did not align.

“I’m Dame Ditzy,” said the mailmare. “I came to rescue you.”

Solar Flare hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s my job to keep the Vicereine safe. I would die for her. I--”

“You don’t need to. We can all get out of this alive.”

The hybrid snorted. “Ridiculous. Who else will save her? Nopony else likes the Vicereine; they’re jealous of her wealth, and her power, and her depthless generosity to her friends. Her enemies are so bitter they would leave her here to freeze if they knew.” Solar Flare turned back to the windigo, limbs trembling as she did. “Even her own family is ungrateful. We--the Vault ponies--are the only ones that truly love her.”

And that belief, Ditzy thought, Is what Puissance truly wants to gain out of the Vault. Of course… that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Aloud, she said, “I don’t love her. But I’ll also fight to save her.”

“Why should I believe that? Maybe you’ll just have me leave and then slip away so the windigo can freeze her.” The mare’s eyes hardened. “For all I know, you’re one of her enemies.”

“You have many enemies too. Ice Heart told me about them. But I came to save you, didn’t I?” Ditzy gestured at her eyes. “I can see your value, and the value of what the Vicereine has done for you. I can appreciate your uniqueness, because I’m also unique, and her generosity, because I too was hurt for being different and once wished I could go somewhere where there were no mean ponies to hurt me. We’re alike in that way.”

Ditzy tapped her eyes again. Personally, she thought they were alike in that they were both ponies, but for the moment she’d exploit the ‘unusual ponies stick together’ thing the Vault ponies had going. “And I’m not going to let a fellow ‘special pony’ like you get hurt,” she continued. “Or a benefactor of ponies like us. So--run back to the hotel. Now. I’ll stall for a few minutes and follow.”

Solar Flare was silent for several moments, apparently considering. “You can’t think your disguise will fool the windigo.”

“That’s my problem, not yours.” Ditzy managed a smile, though she didn’t know how that would look on Ice Heart’s face. “To melt the Vicereine, she’ll need all her friends. She needs you, Solar Flare.”

That seemed to do it. The mare straightened and extended her wings. “So be it. Good luck, Ditzy.” And she flew back towards the hotel.

Ditzy watched her go until she could no longer see the mare’s glowing horn in the blizzard. Finding her way back would be difficult, though Trixie had assured her that she would come up with a plan for that. If not, they’ll probably find me after the next thaw, she thought.

A soft hiss came out of the air behind her.

Turning back around, Ditzy saw the storm seem to warble. It was almost pitch black, but part of the wind seemed to be adopting a wavery blue-green glow similar to the Aurora Borealis. It shifted in the air for a moment, stretching and doubling back on itself in a dizzying loop, and then Ditzy found herself looking at the windigo.

What would Ice Heart say? she thought. She had to stall for as long as possible. The whole scheme was pointless if the windigo was able to catch up to Solar Flare before the mare returned to the hotel. “Hi, dad!” she chirped. “Long time no see!”

The windigo growled, this time more harshly, and Ditzy had the distinct feeling that her perfect disguise had just come undone.

She backed up a step, but then the windigo flashed forwards, as if carried on the breeze. It thrust a hoof at her, slamming it against her head. She felt a very cold sensation--

And then a feeling of pure need. It wasn’t just desire, like she might want a hot bath, or a good night’s sleep, or to play with her muffin after a long and stressful day. It was a life-threatening, desperate need that seemed to swallow petty concerns like ‘food’ and ‘warmth’ and ‘survival.’ All other thought was wiped from her mind as she wheeled around to fulfill that need, the need for her son--

I don’t have a son, she thought.

An image of Dinky, hazy and distant, floated into her mind. She seized it and focused on it, letting it buoy her and fend off the windigo’s assault. She focused on every detail of her wonderful daughter, and all the things she needed--a loving mother, good friends, food, shelter, an education--and let those desires, which were so much more important than her own petty concerns, swamp the ones the windigo had flooded her head with.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when she managed to pull away. Her whole body was shaking from the cold, and she noted that the illusion around her body had been ripped away, but she hadn’t fallen. “You can’t have him,” she said. “I’m sorry. I really am. I know what it’s like to love one’s offspring. But you can’t. Not now.”

The windigo said nothing.

Knowing it was pointless, Ditzy tried to explain. “We don’t know if he can survive with you. What if he froze to death? Half of him is pony, and if we're out in the cold too long we can get very hurt... or even die. Would you want that?” She shook her head. “For his own safety, you can’t have him.” She shook her head and crossed her wings in the universal pony symbols of ‘no.’ “I’m very sorry.”

The windigo continued to say nothing for a long moment. Then, with an enraged roar, it swept out a hoof and a sheet of snow--which had to be six feet tall--blasted at Ditzy.

The mailmare was already running away by the time the snow wave had crested. She managed to outdistance it, barely, but she could hear the windigo behind her, and then heard it pulling to her side. The wind and snow grabbed at her, and as she fought her way free, back towards the hotel, she felt it touch her again. And this time she saw more images--

Of the time when Trixie terrified Fluttershy, her good friend, by demanding that the agoraphobic mare play at a concern to be attended by hundreds of ponies and the princess herself.

Of the time when Raindrops had called her a failure as a mother.

Of the time when Carrot Top’s deranged mirror pool clones had almost destroyed the post office.

Of the time when Dinky, her surly child, her stale, bitter, and rancid muffin, had gotten in a hoof fight with Scootaloo and hadn’t even seemed sorry later. Of the time when she snuck off in Canterlot Castle and got herself abducted by Duke Greengrass of all ponies, without a care in the world for how much other ponies might worry.

Those thoughts and innumerable others pounded into Ditzy’s head as she ran, and each one seemed to come with an extra dose of ice that chilled her from the inside out. It was almost enough to make her stop for a moment to focus on them and on her hate for all the cruel, petty, and vicious ponies who had contaminated her wonderful life. After all, her thoughts insisted, they deserved it.

But Ditzy was the Element of Kindness, and she did not believe them.

She took one step forwards and summoned memories of Trixie. She remembered the showmare bravely fighting against the golem that threatened to destroy Ponyville. Trixie leading the charge to fight Corona, and Grogar, and the other monsters they had encountered over the past year. Trixie taking the time to introduce herself to Fluttershy properly and become one of the mare’s most beloved friends.

She recalled Raindrops when he battled the bloodthirsty dragon called Spike and saved them all from certain doom. She thought of the time that Lyra had driven herself almost to the point of overchanneling when she fended off three sirens that wanted to eat them. Of when Cheerilee had talked some sense into her and prevented her from making a horrible mistake about Dinky’s future. Of all the times that Carrot Top had given and given and given some more to help her friends, including her favorite mailmare.

And she thought of her beloved muffin, the most precious foal in all the world. Her laughter, her joy, her inquisitive nature, and her boundless empathy. Her preternatural ability to make friends with absolutely anypony, up to and including the great-grandcolt of a Vicereine. Her love of life, of her friends, and, most of all, of her mother.

She thought of all these things, and she realized that the snow wasn’t holding her anymore.

Ditzy burst into the ruined antechamber in the hotel--illuminated by a blue glow no doubt produced by Trixie--and skidded to a halt in front of the frozen Cheerilee. “He’s right behind me!” she yelled. “Everypony get ready!”

The windigo burst through the hole a few seconds later. It swiveled its head between the two groups; the Elements clustered around Cheerilee, and the Vault ponies guarding the Vicereine. Solar Flare stood at the front of the Vault ponies, with wings outstretched and horn aglow, and with Ice Heart perched on her back. The windigo turned and stormed towards them--

And stopped. Its hoof flicked back as soon as it neared the air in front of them, just as it had earlier on the steppe. It roared, and the winter storm pounded through the destroyed wall--there was no surface in the room that was unfrozen, and the ground was soon covered in at least three feet of snow--but when it moved its leg again, it still couldn’t reach Ice Heart or the Vicereine, and when Ice heart reached out to him, the other Vault ponies yanked him back before they could touch. The only result was another small crack in the windigo’s body.

“Shouldn’t they be driving it away?” whispered Raindrops. “I mean, that’s what our friendship did, right?”

“They’re pretty good friends, I guess,” said Trixie. “But we’re the best.” She grinned. “Come on, girls. Let’s win this thing.”

The windigo turned to them and advanced. Ditzy felt her head fill with hateful images again, but this time she wasn’t even slowed down. She fortified her thoughts with all the joys and triumphs she had shared with her friends in the past year, from defeating monsters like the Tyrant Sun and Grogar, to little things--saving a farm, pulling off a concert or a magic show, getting the mail routes re-organized. Every smile, every laugh, every warm feeling that Ditzy could muster went to fend off the windigo. Besides her, she knew her friends were doing the same thing. And she knew it would work.

The wind and snow stopped blowing into the room.

The windigo howled, but there was a weak, watery quality to it this time. It darted forwards but couldn’t get anywhere near the Elements. A rainbow of colors was swirling around them, and every time it touched the monster its body seemed to break a little more. When it thrust its hooves at them, not even a single snowflake responded, and it had to yank them back as they began to bubble and crack.

“You’re not welcome!” roared Trixie. “We give you one last chance. Leave in peace, or--”

The windigo leapt at them.

Ditzy took the hooves of her friends and stood tall, ready to fight and struggle and bleed for their sakes, just as they were for her.

There was several loud cracks, almost deafening in volume. Ditzy whipped her head around, saw the broken pieces of ice falling from around Cheerilee and Vicereine Puissance, and then turned back to see the form of the windigo as it was hurled far away into the winter night.

Author's Note

Thanks again to T&T and RDD, my betas.

The last chapter should be up within a week, assuming all goes well.