Black

Twilight knocked on the door and stepped back, teeth and fists clenched with something close to terror. When she heard the voice from within beckon, she took a breath so long it burnt her throat and entered.

"Twilight!" Princess Celestia waved from her desk but didn't stand. On the top was a gargantuan pile of documents. "Rainbow Dash didn't send you to shoo me along to the rehearsal, did she? I'll be there in a few minutes, I promise. I know she must be bo-" Something about the way her student shut the door and approached put her on edge. "Twilight?"

"I've figured one thing out," she said, sitting down in one of the chairs. "I mean, I don't have the why, but I've got the rest."

Celestia arranged the papers with her magic and set them all to one side. "What are you talking about?"

"It's Fuyu. I know." Twilight's heartbeat quickened at the look she saw appear on her mentor's face. "What? Didn't you think I'd find out eventually?"

Her priority became learning what Twilight did know; to that end she stilled her rattled nerves and searched for some leading questions. "Find out what? I'm a little confused."

Twilight issued an annoyed groan and crossed her legs. "Someone did something to Fuyu that made her powerful. So powerful she needed your guidance. She remembered being at the Academy of Science. What the classrooms smelled like. You made her your student, just like me. What I can't figure out is why you felt the need to hide it!"

"Well, I..." Celestia trailed off, feigning nervousness in hopes the delay would make Twilight reveal more.

"No, seriously. Did you think I'd be jealous? I would have loved the company!" She found herself growing more agitated despite the weight she was getting off her chest. "Just...why did you hide her?"

The Princess clasped her hands on the desk and sighed. "You saw what she'd become. I couldn't have paraded her around the city. I had to hide her – even from you."

"Because of what she had to eat, right?" Mulling this over and combining it with the story she'd built took a few minutes. "But if that was the case, you had the amulet. Why not give it to her?"

"We didn't have it. We knew it existed and some of what it was capable of. You saw what it did to Trixie. Fuyu was already incredibly strong, I was wont to risk giving it to her and risk unleashing an even greater monster. I didn't dare publicize its existence either, because we both know how many treasure-seekers and world-conquering wannabes that would have dredged up." Celestia decompressed as she saw Twilight slump over in thought. Seizing the chance to move the conversation farther away from Fuyu, she asked "Did you see yourself in her? Is that what tipped you off?"

"No, but in hindsight I guess we are sort of alike." She looked past the Princess and out the window. "How did she get away from you? Why didn't you look for her?"

The uncomfortable demeanor was no act as she replied. "Her...feeding habits caused her incredible stress."

Twilight nodded forlornly. "Yeah, I noticed. Do you realize she remembers every single one of the people she's killed? I'm surprised it hasn't destroyed her."

"She was the same way here. Being around people drove her to the point of insanity. She begged me to let her go, to give her a chance to isolate herself. I did, even though I was worried she might find the amulet. I didn't think the amulet would find her. As for not looking, well...imagine the panic that would have caused. I can see the headlines: 'Cannibal Serial Killer On the Loose'. The country is unstable enough, it surely doesn't need my help in making things worse."

"I guess that all makes sense. Trixie has a tendency to screw everything up, but she's trying to make up for...for it." Twilight hesitated as she remembered the magician wasn't the only one. "Fuyu is too, I think. She's stern...imposing, but so kind. Always keeps a promise. She hates to hurt anything – I mean, she won't even swat houseflies. Under the circumstances, she turned out really well."

Celestia deflated with relief, figuring the prickly portion of the conversation had come to an end. "I'm glad to hear it. When I found out she was living with you, I knew she would be in good hands."

"Oh," Twilight giggled and blushed. The color ran away from her face just as fast. "That's not the only thing that's bothering me."

"Hmm?"

Twilight perked up with anticipation in her chair. "Fuyu said we both had the power to transmute matter. Is she right?"

In an instant, Celestia found herself hurled right back into the thorns. "She said that to you?" A nod from her student made the blood freeze in her veins. "I wonder where she got such a thing."

Rather than seeming angry, Twilight sighed and took on the air of a disappointed parent. "Princess, Fuyu doesn't lie. Not about stuff like this. Please, just tell me?"

"Very well." She rose and came slowly around the desk, using her deliberate steps to determine if she wished to trade one secret to keep another safe. Her brow furrowed. "She was right. You once transmuted matter." Once again, she didn't quite get the reaction she expected; it appeared her student was rolling the admission around in her head like a fine wine. "Are you angry at me for not telling you?"

Twilight continued to stare at her knees. "I don't know yet. When did this happen? I can't remember doing it."

Celestia sat in the chair beside her student and looked out the large window behind her desk. "The practical applications test."

"Wow. That was ages ago." Poking at the memory – or where it should have been – yielded nothing. "Geez, is this how Fuyu feels about lacking most of her past? Not knowing would drive me insane."

The Princess let slip a sigh and smiled to herself since Twilight seemed to be handling the news well. "You were so terrified of failure. In your panic, you showed a power I didn't think existed outside the Royal Family."

Twilight snapped her gaze over. "Wait, you can do it?"

"Sure. It isn't something we advertise, of course. Could you imagine what everyone would do to get us to use it for them?" A chuckle slipped through her lips. "Why, it would be utter chaos."

"How do you figure?"

The question, and its tone, caught her entirely off guard – so much that she actually looked it for a split second. "Say we began transmuting things to gold or diamonds or any number of valuable things because everyone wanted it. The stuff would become worthless and everyone that had wealth already would be instantly poor. Or, say we began turning rocks into food to feed the hungry. We'd run out of land to build on, or grow on, and everyone would end up starving to death. Our gift may seem like a limitless wish-granting device, but it's not." Celestia looked at Twilight to see if she'd provoked enough of a disagreement to distract her.

She had. Twilight sat back and discharged a pointed look at her mentor. "I don't think I like your last example. You can't feed everyone, so you elect to let a few of them starve to death?"

"Of course I don't want that to happen, but...it's difficult to balance things." They shared a long silence. "Welcome to being a Princess."

Groaning, she decided to drop it and move back toward her intended topic. "Er, right. We can argue later. Does Fuyu know about...well, everything? Do you have any idea about how she lost her memory?"

Celestia decided a convenient version of the truth would be best as she rose from her chair. "I'm not sure how she got amnesia, no...and I told her some details, but not all of the story. I didn't want to burden her while she was trying to build herself a new life."

"I don't think it would be a burden. I think it'd be a relief." Twilight also rose and moved to the door. "In fact, she's waiting downstairs. Let's go talk to her right now."

She didn't like the idea one bit, but figured she could at least control the conversation. "Hmm. Very well. Actually, I was hoping Luna could meet her. She tells me you've been texting her fingers off about Fuyu." They emerged out into the hallway and began walking. "Have you heard from my niece lately?"

"I've heard from my brother," Twilight snickered, accepting the shift into chit-chat. "He's tremendously bored while she's off doing official business. When is she coming back?"

"This weekend, sometime. I think Fuyu should meet Cadance too. They haven't had much interaction." Celestia waved politely at some of the courtesans who bowed as they passed.

"I don't doubt it. I think most of her time was spent being my friend and making googly eyes at Shining."

A few moments of weaving brought them back to the staircase. Twilight went down first, scratching her head as she looked around for Fuyu. "Well, this is weird. I told her to stay here in case I needed her." She saw the other Fuyu near one of the paintings, still looking a bit shaken from her encounter. "Excuse me, miss? Have you seen a tall woman around here? Muscular build, short black hair with blue bangs covering the left side of her face?"

She looked up as both Princesses came over. "Y-yes...she went with Princess Luna."

"Oh. Looks like we got beaten to the punch." Twilight glanced up and started at the dark look in Celestia's eyes. "Wow. You're looking grumpy all of a sudden."

Her frigid mask melted into a gentle smile. "Don't mind me. Would you mind going back to the group and telling them I'll be along shortly? I'll go retrieve Fuyu."

"Sure!" Twilight moved away and disappeared behind a corner. The Princess stalked off in the other direction, pulling up her long gown with her magic.

"Whatever they're talking about better not be what I think they're talking about," she hissed lowly. "No. No, Luna wouldn't do that to me." Her gait became a little more leisurely. "Still, I'd appreciate being in on the meeting. I wanted to see your face, sister." She let her thoughts drift while approaching Luna's room. "Twilight took her own little secret very well. Maybe you're right. Maybe I should let Winter have the whole truth."

After arriving she pushed the door open and found the room empty, which perturbed her despite her best efforts to remain calm. "Luna, what are you up to..." A guard on patrol was walking by as she came out. "Have you seen my sister anywhere?"

He came to a halt and saluted her sharply. "Yes, ma'am. She was departing the castle with a woman with black and blue hair."

Celestia's blood began to turn back to ice, but her visage was the picture of calm. "Did she mention where they were headed?"

"No, ma'am."

"Very well. As you were." As soon as he'd gotten out of sight, she let herself explode just a little. "Damn you! You set me up! You..." she fell silent and wilted on her feet. "I can't leave, Twilight will know something is wrong. What am I supposed to..." A thought occurred to her that made her eyes glitter. It was unsavory, and risky, but the only way to deflect any concern from her faithful student would be to use one of her friends. "Hmm." She began walking back toward the throne room as fast as her outfit allowed.

Twilight and Stormy were bickering gently as the Princess arrived, causing the gathering to fall silent and regard her. "Forgive me for the delay, but it's going to go on a bit longer." She nodded to her student and beckoned her, and her friends, over. The ex-thief also tried to approach, but a firm hand stilled her steps. "I would like to speak to you three for a moment," she whispered, leading them away from the crowd.

"Something the matter?" Applejack asked, fiddling with her hat.

Celestia smiled warmly. "An inconvenience, really. I need to borrow Rainbow Dash."

She perked her eyebrows and moved forward. "What's up?"

"Luna has kidnapped Fuyu and left the castle." A collective gasp made her shake her head. "I'm kidding. They've wandered off and I need someone fast to find them."

Rainbow flashed an arrogant smile and thumbed at her chest. "Nobody faster than me. I'll find them before you can say...I dunno, something that's easy to say. It's too damn early for me to be sassy. Back in a flash!" She pulled her wings and hovered down the hallway at breakneck speed, looking for a door or suitable window.

Twilight watched her go for a moment before poking at her mentor. "Everything all right?"

Again, she smiled warmly – this time to mask the fear boiling in her heart. "Oh, Luna's just being silly again."

Meanwhile, Fuyu and Luna were on the Academy of Science campus, the former dressed up in Luna's hoodie to hide her face. They went around to a different side of the complex than Fuyu had seen from the street. This area was trees and fountains and benches, something like the castle gardens and just as devoid of other people. The increasing snowfall had driven everyone indoors.

"It's finally snowing," Luna pointed out. She frowned when Fuyu said nothing. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way." Again, no response. "Are you angry?"

Fuyu weakly shrugged her shoulders.

"Right. I'll stop bringing it up. Come on, there's a service entrance over here I use to get in...discreetly."

Luna guided the pale woman along beside her, past the manicured landscape and toward something that looked like a gardener's shed. Inside, however, was a long stairwell that lead down. Beyond this was a tunnel, dimly lit, at whose end was a blue door. Through that was a basement, half of which was walled off while the remainder comprised an open forest of concrete pillars. No lights were on, so Luna used her magic to cast a pall. "Here is where the sausage was made, so to speak." She jumped with surprise as Fuyu threw her hoodie over.

"Start talking," she hissed, prowling around the space like an angry cat.

Luna stood her ground as she tracked the unhappy woman. "Before I do, what story did my sister give you?"

Her words were terse, spat out with confused anger. "She told me I was an orphan from Canterlot. She said I was given the black sludge to kill Twilight Sparkle." She stopped walking to stare at Luna. "Why did that woman say I took her name? Is she my mother?"

"No. Did my sister mention how you got your name?" She rubbed her eyes at the stare she got. "The housekeeper, right? It's true. You did visit the castle once. You did meet a woman named Fuyu, and yes, that was her. You...imprinted on her."

Her fists clenched. "What does that mean?"

Luna leaned against a pillar, looking down at the indigo light that shone from the crystal in her palm. "It was part of an experiment to see if you would accept socialization. It sort of worked, but you were so childlike all you came back here with was the name. Fuyu. We ended up naming the project in your honor, sort of."

Something was stinging Fuyu's brain. It was so strong, she placed a hand on her head and winced. "She was the first person that was ever nice to me?"

"I'm...I'm afraid so." Pain bent Luna's face as she looked away. "This was before the injection process occurred. If you want to see the room, it's actually right through that door." She pointed her hand so its light shone on the wall. It was a white cinder block facade with rectangles cut out. They were covered by gray curtains. "You stayed in there for so long. We'd turn the lights on and off outside and tell you it was the day-night cycle. You never once questioned it. I don't think you ever even tried to look out the windows."

Helpless, she stared at the wall. "Is that as awful as it sounds?" She watched the Princess nod sadly. "Hmm. I had a dream about the injection, but I don't remember you being in it."

"I was in the back, out of sight. My sister was right beside you." Feeling lightheaded, Luna used her free hand to steady herself. "She didn't lie about your original purpose. You were built as a weapon to protect Equestria from a rampaging Twilight Sparkle...but then we took Project Winter in a different direction."

"What direction?!" Fuyu shrieked, throwing her arms up as she reached the end of her patience.

"You were going to be the next Princess Luna."

Fuyu froze in place, unable to make herself turn around. Were she able to, she would have witnessed Luna's weary face, staring at the cold concrete floor as she grappled with her confession. "I don't...understand..." the pale woman finally whispered.

"It is kind of my fault. I grew very ill during Project Winter. My sister re-purposed you to be my new body, in case I died." She looked up as Fuyu faced her. "I know you and Twilight must have questioned why the jewels on your palms had gold trim. You are a Princess, whole and true, because we made you one."

She dropped her eyes and lifted her hands to look down at those crystals. "But how?"

Luna sat down abruptly and crossed her legs. "The amulet. You read about how it is a storage unit for magic; that is, at our core, what Princesses really are. We contain immense amounts of power. It's why we can do the things we do. It clumps together in little bits for regular people, but for you to kill Twilight we needed a lot more. When you ingested all that power we compressed and stored in the amulet, you ascended – just like we designed. We built a Princess to kill a Princess. Then I got sick, so you were going to save one instead."

Fuyu had no words, but she also sat down and clutched at her head.

The Princess couldn't make herself approach. "I'm sorry to unleash all this on you, but I promised the whole truth."

"I don't even have my own name," she muttered weakly. "Everything I thought I was...I'm not." Inhaling the dusty air made her cough once, after which she looked at Luna. "Do you at least know who my parents were?" The look on Luna's face made her stiffen with worry. "What?"

"I do know your parents," she said, her voice wavering badly. "They are us. You're from Canterlot, but you are no orphan. We created you from scratch."

"You-" Fuyu leaned away as Luna suddenly broke down.

"I am so sorry!" she cried, hiding her face. "You were just a tool at first, a weapon! I designed the container for your fuel, I implemented the emergency magic acquisition protocol in case the amulet were lost, I did everything to you with my sister's blessing! She doesn't understand! I saw you become something else! I saw you cry when we fed you! I saw you pick up your first book and read! You became Winter...then my sister wanted to sacrifice your existence for my own and I could not let her do it." The silence made her scramble over and try to shake some emotion into Fuyu, who was rigid as a board and blank-faced. "I was the one that helped you escape into the river valley. I was the one that released the amulet. I...I hoped you'd find it, that it would somehow make you whole. And maybe give you...give you peace." She squeaked when Fuyu smacked her hands aside and withdrew. "You must hate us."

"How many more people did you feed me?"

"Why do you-" Fuyu's steely eyes silenced her. "Well, once every four days for five years. Whatever the math is there."

"So I've been doing this for ten years, not five...and that's all I was ever doing." She stood up and glared down at Luna. "I can't remember my past because I never had one. My life is and always has been taking others lives so I could be ready to take one specific life, except on a whim that changed to your sister taking my life so yours could be saved?"

Luna rose very slowly with her hands up as if being held at gunpoint. "Yes. Simply put, yes. My sister always kept herself at a lengthy distance from the project so Twilight wouldn't suspect anything. I could not do the same because I...I had so much pride in my work." She wilted with shame. "I am...I am so sorry..."

"Did you let me go because you cared, or-" she paused to ignore a vehement 'yes', "Or did you let me go because you just felt guilty for what you did?"

Hugging herself tightly, she nodded at both options. "I cannot lie and say it was none of the latter, but I really did care. In some twisted way, I was starting to view you as my daughter."

Fuyu needed something concrete to latch onto before the fires of Luna's confession turned her brain to ash. Since she found herself suddenly lacking an identity to fall back on, she instead focused on the gap between her present and past. "Why don't I remember my time here?"

"I erased your memory, but did not have the power to alter your programming." Luna's face was consumed by shame once more. "I knew full well you'd keep on killing and eating, but...maybe I thought having amnesia would have given you an escape. The prospect of a pleasant past to distract you from your bloody present."

She growled, long and low. "It didn't. You left me a machine. I had to start over from scratch. If Applejack hadn't found me I would still be out there...a clockwork murderer until the end of time."

Luna wanted to give her a hug, but stopped short when she saw the pale woman bristle at being approached. "I'm sorry again. I had to get you away from here. I knew it wouldn't be clean, but at least you were free."

"Free? You call dreading my every meal freedom? Being a slave to my stomach, and causing misery for a reason I didn't understand?! Is that your idea of freedom, Luna? Is it?!" She stormed over and snatched her up by the collar, slamming her against a pillar. "You made me a tool, then a shell, then a killer. I don't even have a name to call my own, everything came from you. My life, my purpose, my identity. It's all a lie. Now I don't have anything!"

Luna made no effort to escape Fuyu's grasp, but did allow herself to wince with pain. "If you want to kill me – us – do it. It is no less than we deserve," she wheezed. "I will not fight you."

No blows were delivered; no magic used to bring harm. She let go and watched Luna crumple to the floor, then turned on her heel and walked quickly away, disappearing through the door. After she collected herself, the Princess gave chase. They met up again just as the pale woman exited the shed and entered the stern snowfall. "Please," she begged breathlessly. "Don't take your anger out on anyone else..."

She placed a hand on her hip and snarled, but kept her back on the weeping Luna. "Here we go again with this. I'm too powerful to be trusted. She'll kill us all. It's what she was designed for, wasn't she?"

"No, that's not what I me-" The pale woman snapped her hand up and brought silence.

"I'm going home. I need to...think, cry, something, and I am not doing it in this fucking city." She produced a pair of magnificent black wings, using their thrust to push her airborne before her magic propelled her onward and upward through the weather. She blew past Rainbow Dash on the way, leaving the woman to try and catch up with her for a moment. When that failed, the athlete traced her path back to the ground and found Luna.

"Damn, there you are," she greeted, huddled against the chill. "Fu heading back to the castle, I take it?" Her face dropped when she saw the Princess crying. "Whoa, what's going on?"

"Rainbow Dash, I need you to get a message to my sister." She stared up at the flakes for a moment and frowned, teary-eyed. "What have I done..."

Awkwardly, the athlete stood a distance away and tried to trace Fuyu's flight, but had already lost her in the snow. "Um...do I even wanna know what's going on here?"

"You will find out one way or another, I suppose. Go back and tell my sister that Winter knows everything. She will understand what you mean."

Rainbow Dash delivered her message about five minutes later and unleashed a firestorm of activity in the castle. Suddenly, the rehearsal was canceled and Princess Celestia was barricaded in her office. Twilight was at the door with the athlete and Applejack, trying to coax Celestia out.

"Princess, please! What happened? Where is Fuyu? Where is Luna?" the librarian called again for the sixth time. No answer came. "Rainbow Dash, what the heck?"

Rainbow gave her a helpless look. "Don't get mad at me, I thought Fu was flying back here. She was hauling ass, man, I couldn't catch her."

"What about Luna?" Applejack asked, seeming deeply uncomfortable. "Why was she cryin'?"

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought and suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh my gosh, Luna must have told Fuyu about her past. Wow. It must have been bad for her to just leave like that."

"Where d'ya think she's headin'?"

"She's gotta be going back to Ponyville, right?" Rainbow folded her arms and looked around for confirmation. "It's the only place she really knows."

"You're right. I'm going to call Rarity. Would you two mind waiting here?" They nodded and took up positions by the door, almost mimicking royal guards.

Just after the librarian had moved toward the outside to get a signal, however, Luna showed up coming from the opposite direction. Her face was weary and scrubbed red by the icy wind. "Is my sister in there?"

Applejack nodded. "Yes ma'am. Uh...I'm kinda worried. What's happenin'?"

She pushed the door open and walked through, growing abruptly tense. "You have every right to be afraid," she said, closing the door quickly.

Rainbow glared at it for a moment before looking up at her girlfriend. "The fuck? AJ, I don't like this shit. What the hell did she say to Fu?"

"No idea, but we need ta find her and fast." Fidgeting, she leaned against the wall and gazed at the corner around which Twilight had gone. "She ain't never run away before. From anything! This is bad, ain't it?"

"Sure feels that way." Rainbow's ears pricked as she heard noises from the room. "Whoa, hold on." They both pressed their ears to the wall and tried to eavesdrop. "Are they arguing?"

They certainly were. Celestia had spent a full minute glaring daggers at her sister after she had arrived, but now the fight was truly on. "I cannot believe you went behind my back and told her."

Luna was anxious and upset – but on this subject she remained unbowed. "I cannot believe you put me in the position to have to go behind your back," she hissed, prowling closer. "There is no clean way out of what we've done! Why can you not get that through your stubborn skull? You can rage at me all you wish, but what I've done is right, and it's the best way out of this mess."

"No! Your confession is not ripping a bandage off a cut, Luna, it's endangering the entire country! You've unleashed a mentally unstable super-weapon on a defenseless populace and heaven only knows how many people are about to die!" She quietened with the empty gaze her sister was displaying. "What?"

"She could have killed me. After I confessed, she threw me up against a pillar. I was not going to fight her. She...she let me go." The life popped back into her eyes, but her face was still tired. "She needs time. I still believe she can come to terms with everything."

Celestia wanted to shoot her belief down, but faced with Twilight's example earlier, she found it hard to do so. Instead, she fell back down into her desk chair and hid her eyes. "I never had the faith in Twilight I should have, I admit. But I learned to trust her. I know nothing about Winter and what she's capable of."

"What did you expect? You kept yourself at such a distance you had no chance to learn." Luna, just as exhausted, dragged herself to another chair and sat. "You were so aloof."

"I had to keep my distance to maintain the secret. You're not the ruler everyone sees every day, you're able to get away with a lot more than I can." A tremendously pregnant pause came and went before she could make herself speak again. "There's so much about the project I left in your hands. I couldn't make myself do those th-" Suddenly, a cold brick of realization crashed into her heart. "I knew it was awful and I foisted it off onto you!"

"Yes, and I became so depressed I almost died." She rose and went over to hug her bitterly weeping sister. "I talked because Winter deserved the truth, but I also talked because I knew it would eventually consume you as it did me."

Celestia crumpled onto her desk and whimpered. "What have we done, Luna?"

She stroked her hair and tried to be comforting, but was crying again. "We finally screwed up."

Rarity blew a wisp of steam off her mug of cocoa and glanced out her bedroom window. The snow was coming down so hard it blurred Ponyville's skyline. "Goodness. There might not even be a Nightmare Night this year." She looked over her shoulder at the pile of costume requests and groaned. "I don't think my hands would mind." Just as she moved to take a sip, her phone rang and made her jump. "Oh, lovely. I'm sure this is another costume order."

When she got to her nightstand and saw Twilight's goofy face on the screen, her lips pursed. She picked it up and cleared her throat. "Darling! How is Canterlot? I hope you've not been struck by the same blizzard we have."

"Oh, it's totally snowing, but I have bigger things to worry about. Can you go outside and see if Fuyu is around? We think she might have flown back."

The dressmaker's brow cocked as she set down the mug. "Twilight, I can hardly see the spa from here, much less anything in the air. Why would she have done such a thing?"

"We think Luna told her about her past. It must have been really, really bad, because Rainbow said she flew away. She couldn't catch her!"

She was genuinely stunned. "Someone outran Rainbow Dash? I can't believe it. Well, I'll give it my best effort and call you back."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

After hanging up, Rarity used her magic to grab her coat and scarf off the hook. A cold knot had formed in her stomach. "Fuyu doesn't run away. I wonder what Luna told her." Once bundled up, she finally took a sip of cocoa and braced herself to head outside. "Opal, mommy will be right back." The white cat on her bed paid no attention. "I love you too. Good grief."

Despite being dressed for it, the cold still smacked the sense out of her as she left the boutique. Any time she tried to look up, her eyes were pelted with snowflakes until she dropped her head and rubbed them away. "My word, I need a pair of goggles!" She kept trying, huddling under the oak tree near her SUV and peering out. "This is ridiculous. I'll never see..." A dot of black punched through the cloud deck, moving at such a speed that she could hardly turn her head fast enough to track it. It was heading in the general direction of the woods. "Oh!" She reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone. "Twilight! I think I saw her!"

"Great! Is she all right?"

"Well, she didn't actually land, per se; in fact she was moving at a frightening speed, so I don't really know how she's doing," she replied, a bit flustered. "It looked like she was heading toward the woods. I'm going to send Fluttershy after her and drive that way myself."

"Okay. Keep me informed."

"Certainly." Rarity hung up and speed-dialed the shy woman. "Darling, I hate to ask this of you but it's something of an emergency."

Fluttershy had been watching the snowfall from her couch, but looked away as the dressmaker spoke. "Rarity? What's wrong?"

"It's Fuyu, she's flown back to Ponyville. Twilight fears she might be in some distress after hearing about her past from Princess Luna."

She raised up on the sofa and blinked. "Oh, my. Is she okay? Where did she go?"

"Heading your way, dear. Would you please go out and see if you see her anywhere?"

"Sure." She darted over and jammed her feet into the heavy boots by the door before going outside. "When did it get s-s-so windy?" Forced out from under the safety of the branches, she shivered against the blizzard but diligently searched the sky. "I don't see her..."

Rarity was already getting in her car. "It might take her a moment to get there, but she was traveling quite fast."

"Right. I'll keep loo—oh!" Fluttershy detected a black shape through the snow, dropping down and into the trees some distance beyond her backyard. It had very visible black wings. "Fuyu! Fuyu! I see her, she went into the woods!"

"Wonderful! I'm off to grab Pinkie and we'll be on our way."

"Okay. I'll go after her. Please be careful." She went back inside to don a coat, then began trundling through the snow toward where she had seen Fuyu land. The pack was dry and soft, causing her to sink in with every step. Her pace was agonizing, and only got slower as she entered the woods. "Fuyu! Where did you go?" The snow was knocking dead leaves from the branches above, resulting in a mottled rain of all sorts of airborne objects that made seeing difficult. "Fuyu! H-hello? It's me! Please come back!"

Fifteen minutes of hard trekking left her so far in the trees she could no longer see her cottage, but Fluttershy still had no Fuyu to show for her efforts. Scared and freezing, she was about to call Rarity for help when a strange noise grabbed her attention. "F-Fuyu?" she whimpered meekly, hugging her chest. Another noise followed, this one clearly a scream and certainly the pale woman's voice, but it was so full of rage that the shy woman moved to a tree and sheltered there, refusing to move any closer. Only then did she realize the forest around her seemed very familiar.

Fluttershy fumbled for her phone to call for help. "W-why did she come to the cloning pool?" she asked herself, still trembling with fright.