The final battle between good and evil was over. With the power of Grogar’s Bell, Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis curb-stomped the rest of Equestria, sucking the magic out of the nation’s would-be saviors, and awakening the windigos from their slumber.
That had been months ago. The triumph of their victory was short-lived. It was hard to be a conqueror when your would-be subjects were dying from cold and starvation. Equestria, the mightiest nation on the planet, plunged into anarchy. The smartest ponies fled while they still could. For those who stayed, there was nothing but snow.
Ponyville’s population had dwindled to two, the final survivors of the once thriving village. Living in a primarily earth pony settlement, Cloudchaser had taken it upon herself to start stocking up on nonperishables once the first signs of racism started. Her sister, Flitter, had prepared by sculpting them a home in the clouds, someplace safe from the earth ponies and unicorns below them. Sadly, their fortress of solitude also meant they were out of the loop when it came to hearing news of the return of the windigos. By the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late: they were trapped.
As the days turned to weeks turned to months, the twins could only watch helplessly as the town they’d lived in their whole lives was buried ever deeper in snow, until not even the top of town hall was still visible. Ponyville was dead, as were any residents who’d been unwilling or unable to migrate to warmer climates further south.
The twins’ pegasus magic was still working, and while the wind chill was well below zero outside, it stayed above freezing inside. The wind buffeted their house, and the twins weren’t entirely sure their home was still above Ponyville. The frozen wasteland below them was the same in every direction, at least in the rare moments there was any visibility to speak of.
But their supplies eventually dwindled as time passed. Even severe rationing could only go so far with no way to replenish their supplies. Faced with the inevitable, the twins took stock of their inventory: two cans of creamed asparagus, one can of baked beans, and three ridiculously small potatoes. The mares looked from each other to the nearly empty shelf and back. Both twins could easily count the ribs of the other, visible through their malnourished barrels.
“So this is it, then.” Flitter stared out the window at the ever-raging snowstorm outside.
Cloudchaser nodded. “Sorry, sis. I stocked up as best I could. Maybe we should’ve just moved to Cloudsdale when we had the chance.”
Flitter shrugged. “Then we probably would’ve been caught up in whatever conflict between the tribes that was so bad it brought on eternal winter. Maybe we would’ve made it through to safer lands. Or maybe we would’ve died on the streets like so many other ponies. At least we still have each other.”
Cloudchaser nuzzled her sister. “I love you, Flit.”
“Love you too, Cloudy.” She turned her attention back to the food. “We could stretch this out another week, and then slowly starve to death. Or we could eat everything now in one last ‘feast’ to defy fate and recharge ourselves as best we can to make a mad scramble for safety.”
Cloudchaser turned to look out the window. The blizzard outside hadn’t abated since she’d last checked. “Going out there would be suicide.”
“Staying here to starve is also suicide. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not roll over and die. If we’re gonna die either way, I want to go down fighting. If we don’t make it, I want my last thought to be ‘At least we tried.’”
Cloudchaser wrapped a wing around her sister. “Me too, Flit. But our flight muscles have atrophied from malnourishment and lack of use. These aren’t muscles so much as they’re mush-scles. We won’t make it far.”
“So be it.” Flitter took their remaining food and started preparing it. “Start planning our escape.” Flitter hummed as she cooked, swinging her hips in time to her tune.
Cloudchaser looked up from where she was sitting at the dining room table, and couldn’t help but watch the rhythmic sashaying of her sister’s hindquarters. Wow, Flitter’s got a cute butt. The thought came unbidden, but wouldn’t go away. I’ve been cooped up in here for way too long if I’m starting to find my sister sexy.
Flitter, meanwhile, scooped the majority of their food onto one plate, which she quickly served to her sister. Cloudchaser started eating while her sister grabbed a pair of drinking glasses and opened one of their windows. She scooped both glasses full of snow and then closed the window, returning to the table. Cloudy had already polished off most of her food, and Flitter returned with own, significantly smaller, portion.
“Flitter! Where’s the rest of your food?”
“I was snacking while I cooked,” she lied.
“Let’s try this again. Where’s the rest of your food, Flitter? And let’s try answering it honesty this time.”
“In your stomach, where it belongs. You’re a Wonderbolt.”
“Reservist.”
“You’re a Wonderbolt reservist. We both know you’re the stronger flyer. You can make it if you leave the dead weight behind.”
“You’re not dead weight, sis.”
“I will be soon enough.” She stood up and nuzzled her twin. “You need to make it. Just remember me.” She kissed her on the lips. “I love you, Cloudy. You’re my better half, now and forever.”
Cloudchaser returned the kiss. “I love you too, Flitter. And that’s why I can’t leave you behind. What happened to going down fighting?”
“I meant every word of it. But when I finally succumb to the cold and wind, you can’t go back for me. You can’t stop. You have to press on.”
“Life isn’t worth living without you.” Cloudchaser stood up and pressed her lips against her sister’s. Flitter offered no resistance, and instead melted into the kiss. They dragged one another to the bedroom they’d been sharing and finally consummated the relationship that had begun the day they were born.
The next morning dawned brighter than usual, not that either of the twins noticed. Cloudchaser slowly came to. The bed smelled like sex and two ponies who hadn’t had access to hot water in months. Her mind focused on the first part of that equation. “Flitter?”
“Hmn?”
“Last night was incredible. Can… can we do it again?”
“Um-hm.”
After consummating their love for a second time, they loaded everything of sentimental value into their saddlebags and took off into the storm. Not that it was much of a storm. The raging snow and howling wind had turned into flurries and a gentle breeze.
Flitter grabbed Cloudchaser’s hoof in her own and kissed it. They continued holding hooves as they flew. With the diminished storm came increased visibility, and what they saw disheartened them. Their home had indeed been blown dozens of miles north of Ponyville. The Canterhorn, with Canterlot perched on top, was visible to their south, jutting out from a uniform blanket of white in all directions. There were no trees, animals, or ponies to be seen, only snow as far as their eyes could see. They flew on in eerie silence towards Equestria’s former capital.
The wind started howling, though there was no change in the intensity of the breeze they felt. Then they saw a windigo headed straight for them. Flitter let go of her sister’s hoof and flew towards the hissing spectral equine.
“What are you doing?”
“Windigos feed on hate. Follow my lead.” The pair of pegasi hovered in front of the screeching windigo, and Flitter darted towards her sister and kissed her. The windigo hissed in pain. “They don’t like love. Let’s show it how much we love each other.”
The twins wrapped their forelegs around one another and kissed each other once again. The windigo retreated from them, but they followed, hoof in hoof. With each public display of affection between the sisters, the windigo decreased in size. Once it had diminished to the point where it was the size of a pony, the twins surrounded it, and trapped it between them as they hugged. The cold of the windigo started freezing their skin with frostbite, but Flitter’s plan worked. When they pulled away, there was a confused pegasus filly fluttering between them.
“Oh my gosh! You’re adorable! Do you have a name?” The windigo shook her head and Flitter turned to her sister. “I think we she could call her Windy. What do you think, Cloudy?”
“Works for me.” She looked at the former windigo. “That wasn’t what I was expecting to happen.”
“Me either.” Flitter shivered, and Cloudy pulled her close.
“We’ve got to warm up to prevent permanent damage from the frostbite. We’re not far from the castle, maybe we can salvage some supplies while we’re there. Come on, Windy. I guess we’re adopting you.”
As they approached the battle ravaged castle it became apparent that half of it had been obliterated.
“Luna on the moon! What the hay happened here?”
“Whatever did this brought the windigos back. So it had to be pretty bad.” Flitter circled the castle and her sister and Windy followed. Most of the castle was buried in snow, so they smashed a window halfway up the sole remaining tower.
The castle’s interior had stayed amazingly clear of snow, and the trio of pegasi made their way downstairs. Their first stop was the kitchen, which thankfully proved to be well-stocked. Since the princesses were in the habit of primarily eating fresh food, most of the kitchen’s contents were already spoiled. Though there was an entire pantry dedicated to nonperishables that made their own stockpile look inadequate.
“We could live here for years if we have to.” Cloudchaser started inventorying the boxed and canned goods. “Pasta!” She tossed the box to Flitter and continued hunting for tomato sauce. There was plenty of cheese as well, and since the castle’s ambient temperature was barely above freezing, most of it remained unspoiled.
“I guess they keep this stuff around in case of a prolonged siege. Pity that all of the recent invasions have been lightning strikes on the capital.” Flitter started boiling a pot of water. “It’s going to warm up in here as soon as the oven heats up. Leave me a block of mozzarella and get anything else that needs to be refrigerated out in the hallway.”
Cloudchaser nodded, and started moving the surviving perishables out of the kitchen. Windy followed her lead as Flitter poured the tomato sauce into a saucepan.
Half an hour later, Flitter piled three dishes high with spaghetti. “Dinner is served.”
“About time, I’m famished. I haven’t eaten in three months.”
All three of the pegasi turned to see a pint-sized alicorn standing in the doorway.
“Cozy Glow? What are you doing here?”
“When did you get a horn?”
“That’s ‘Empress’ Cozy Glow.” She said it without malice or mirth, and instead fluttered to one of the seats at the table.
Flitter pulled a fourth plate out of the cabinet and loaded it up with spaghetti for the filly. “How are you alive if you haven’t eaten in months?”
Cozy Glow shrugged. “Apparently alicorns can neither starve to death nor freeze to death.”
“How did you ascend?”
“I didn’t. I stole the magic of a lot of ponies with Grogar’s Bewitching Bell. Including Celestia and Luna.” She held the artifact up so the others could inspect it. “It was all Discord’s idea. He wanted us to interrupt Twilight’s coronation because she was having self-doubts or something. He didn’t expect a double-cross, though really, I don’t know how he didn’t see it coming. I mean seriously? Me, Tirek, and Chrysalis. What did he expect to happen? That we’d all sit around a campfire drinking cocoa and singing songs?” She sat the bell on the table and started eating her spaghetti, enjoying the taste of marinara-soaked pasta smothered in cheese. “This is fantastic. Your empress is pleased.”
“So, empress, what are you going to do about the windigos?”
Cozy Glow shrugged. “Tirek, Chrysalis, and me tried fighting them, but everything we tried only made them stronger. Chrysalis abandoned us and Tirek eventually froze to death. I’ve been alone ever since. I came back to the castle and I’ve just been sitting on the throne.” She sighed. “This isn’t what I pictured would happen with me in charge.”
“And what would that be?”
“I just wanted ponies to know what it was like to be a powerless little pegasus filly with no magic. I wanted them to serve me like I’ve had to serve them. I wanted ponies to cater to my whims or face my wrath. But until now, I didn’t have any subjects.”
“What happened to the princesses?”
“I don’t know. Once the windigos showed up, Twilight Sparkle teleported everycreature away and I never saw any of them again. I was beginning to think I’d never have any servants… I mean loyal subjects.” She pointed to Flitter. “Congratulations, you’re the new royal chef.” She turned to Cloudchaser. “And you shall be the head of my Royal Guard.”
“Then my first action as your guard is to launch an expedition against the forces of the windigos. Flitter, Windy, I’ll need your help.” Cloudchaser raided the guards’ barracks under the castle and returned with armor, which she distributed to the others.
“Where’s my armor?”
“It’s much too dangerous for you, your highness.” Cloudchaser played the part of a loyal royal lackey.
“Well, duh. That’s why I won’t be fighting, I’ll be supervising. I can’t have you three just flying away now can I?”
“First of all, we’re not going to fly away. All our supplies are here in the castle. Secondly, you’d be a major liability out there. Do you know why the windigos kept getting stronger when you were fighting them? It’s because they feed off hate, and your heart is an all-you-can-eat buffet of hatred. If you want to go out there with us, you need to be capable of love.”
“I’m perfectly capable of love!”
“Really? Name one pony you love, other than yourself.”
“There’s… and… uh…” She paused awkwardly. “Huh, I guess I really do only love myself. It’s so hard not to! Golly, I’m just so perfect in every way!” She hugged herself.
Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. “If you’re done, we need to be on our way.”
The four ponies took to the sky, with the twins sheltering Windy between them, and Cozy Glow taking up the rear. It was hard for her to resist the temptation to blast all three of them in the back with magical energy, but she reminded herself that they were her minions. They were her only minions at the moment, so they weren’t disposable. Without them, there’d be nopony to talk to in the castle. Memories of the last three months made her shudder. She didn’t want to be alone any more. Backstabbing others had lost a lot of its appeal.
They encountered only flurries as they flew, eventually spotting another windigo making lazy loops through a cloudy sky. There was no snow, no wind. Just a lone windigo making laps.
“Stay here.” Flitter kissed Windy on the forehead and took her sister’s hoof. The windigo made no effort to scare them off as they approached, it just continued circling warily.
“Love you, Flit.”
“Love you too, Cloudy. And we love you as well, Miss Windigo.”
As before they boxed the windigo in, but this one made no effort to escape. They squeezed her between themselves, radiating the love they felt for one another. And the windigo was… eating it? The twins stretched their necks towards one another and kissed, keeping the windigo trapped between them.
“It’s okay. We love you.”
There was a flash of green light and a changeling hovered between them.
“What have you fools done to me? I look like I was colored by Lisa Flank!” Chrysalis examined her garish new colors in horror. “I’ve… changed. Like Thorax and those other traitors.”
“How does it feel to let love and friendship into your heart?”
“Oddly satisfying. Like I’ve just had a filling meal. The constant hunger is gone.”
“Chryssie! I love the new look!”
“Cozy Glow.” Chrysalis glared at the diminutive dictator. “Shouldn’t you be a popsicle by now?”
“At least I stayed with Tirek until the bitter end. That’s what friends do! Not like somecreature else who ran off and abandoned us.”
“You were losing.”
The twins retreated, pulling Windy to safety in the clouds.
“We should get out of here, now, while they’re distracted.”
“If we do that, Equestria’s finished. They’re fighting, and that’ll attract the windigos. We’ll stay hidden up here and reform them when they show up. Hopefully one at a time. I don’t know if we can take on two of them at once. How many are there, anyway?”
Flitter shrugged. “I don’t know, but I know somepony who does.” She looked at Windy, who turned her gaze toward the cloud they were standing on. “Windy, how many other windigos are there?”
Windy pawed the clouds twice.
“Two?”
Windy nodded.
“Are they friends of yours? Family?” Windy nodded. “Sisters?” Windy nodded again. “We’re gonna help your sisters like we helped you.” Flitter nuzzled the filly.
The war of words between the two villains continued dragging on below them, though neither of them actually attacked the other physically. It didn’t take long for them to attract the attention of one of the other windigos.
“Look at what your arguing has done!”
“My ‘friends’ will take care of it for us.”
“Your slaves?” Chrysalis laughed. “Look around. They deserted you the first chance they got.”
“Just like you.”
“You didn’t just go there.”
“Oh yes I did.”
With a pained shriek the windigo circling them turned her attention to the clouds above. She poked her head through to find Cloudchaser pinning Flitter to the clouds and peppering her with kisses. “Hiss!”
“Come join us. There’s room for a third. We’d love to have you.” Cloudchaser rolled off Flitter and the twins pounced on the windigo, embracing her in hugs.
Below the clouds, Chrysalis started shaking.
“What’s wrong?”
“Those two have an incredible amount of love for one another. Even more than Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. I can’t feed on it anymore, but I can still feel it.”
“How does it feel?”
“Good. And I hate it.”
“You hate feeling good?”
“No, I hate that this…” She motioned to her body. “…feels good. Everything I’ve been fighting against for years was only hurting me in the long run. I feel so foalish, and I’m angry with myself.”
“If it’s any consolation, I’m angry with you too. So at least we have that in common.”
“I sincerely hate you.”
“Is that any way to talk to your empress?”
“My empress? You dare insinuate that I would take orders from you? I’m a queen!”
“Queen of what, exactly? You have no hive. I have a castle and loyal subjects.”
It was at that moment Cloudchaser poked her head through the clouds. “Two down, one to go. Keep up the good work! If I didn’t know you two were acting, I would’ve believed you two were angry with one another!”
“Acting?”
“Yeah, totally acting, Chryssie.”
“Stop calling me that. I’m Queen Chrysalis.”
“And I’m Empress Cozy Glow the First.”
“I earned my title.”
“Golly, so did I. I killed two immortal alicorns.”
Chrysalis snickered at that. “Have you forgotten? I was there, you fool. You stole their power, but you didn’t bother killing them. Because you’re a weak and pathetic pony with no bloodlust whatsoever.”
“Eh, the cold probably finished them off?”
“Some empress you are. Crumble under the slightest pressure. Can’t even break a few eggs to make an omelet. Weak.”
Flitter, meanwhile, was laying between the two fillies, with a wing over each to keep them close and warm. She took turns nuzzling them. “I’ve always wanted to have foals. How about you Cloudy?”
“Yeah, I guess. I never really thought about it. There was always going to be time for that later. You know, if some hot stallion asked me out. Now though, I know who I want to spend the rest of my life with. Maybe we can adopt?”
“I think we already have.”
The twins nuzzled the windigos-turned-fillies.
“Sounds like they’re still bickering down there.”
“Perfect. We just need them to attract the last windigo and we can end this nightmare.”
“What about them?”
Cloudchaser shrugged. “They’re too busy arguing to pay attention to us. We’ll reform the last windigo, then we lead them someplace safe. Maybe the castle?”
“It’s the first place they’d look for us. Ponyville?”
“Still buried under snow.”
“We could go back to our house. Do you remember how to get back to it?”
Cloudchaser shook her head. “Not a clue.”
“Same here. I wasn’t really planning to go back, and it’s not like there were any landmarks along the way.”
Meanwhile, the tone of the conversation going on below them had shifted dramatically. “I have to give you some credit, Chrysalis. Despite all your faults, you’re still the best mom I’ve ever had. So thanks for that.”
“You… you consider me a maternal figure?”
Cozy Glow nodded. “And Tirek was my paternal figure. I always was more of a daddy’s girl, I suppose. It’s so much easier to manipulate males. But he’s gone now and you’re all I have left.”
“What happened to your real parents?”
“Oh, they lived in Manehattan. They never had any time for me so I ran away. I left three years ago, and I’ve been public enemy #1 for half that time, yet I bet they still haven’t even noticed I’m gone. You can see how much they cared.” Chrysalis embraced the filly in an awkward hug.
“Hiss!”
The two villains turned to find themselves face to face with the last of the windigos.
“Right, they don’t like love.” Cozy wrapped her tiny forelegs around Chrysalis. “Love you, mom.”
“Love you too, Cozy.”
The twins watched from the clouds as the former queen and wannabe empress stared down the windigo. “They’re trying.”
“They managed to love one another enough to get its attention. That’s pretty impressive for the two of them. Think we should help them out a bit?”
Cloudchaser nodded and Flitter pounced on her, knocking her twin to the clouds. She started nibbling her sister’s ear.
“Flit, hon, the girls are watching us.”
“I want a raincheck.” She puckered up and pressed her muzzle against Cloudchaser’s.
The windigo howled in pain from the onslaught of the twins’ love for one another. Cozy Glow and Chrysalis closed in on the thrashing windigo and embraced it. When they pulled away there was a snow white filly between them.
“We did it! We reformed a windigo!”
Chrysalis looked from the snowy filly in front of her to the rambunctious filly bouncing up and down in excitement next to her. “I suppose we did.”
The already weakened storm started breaking up immediately. The clouds under the twins dissipated, and they found themselves falling until they could snap their wings open. The other two reformed windigos joined them, and the four cautiously flew down to where the Cozy Glow and Chrysalis were waiting.
“You two let the fire of friendship into your hearts, didn’t you?”
Cozy Glow nodded and started singing the traditional Hearth’s Warming carol, but Chrysalis stopped her. “If you continue singing, I will end you, friend or not.”
“Duly noted.” Cozy Glow hovered, looking from the bell clutched in her hooves to the ponies and former windigos surrounding her and the former changeling queen. “Now what?”
“The way I see it, ponies will start returning to Equestria now that it’s no longer the southern extent of the Frozen North. And when they do, they’re going to find the two of you, and we’ll be back at square one. From what Cozy was telling us, the last time around, the three of you were surrounded, and the only reason you weren’t defeated was because the windigos showed up. You don’t have Tirek anymore, and you definitely no longer have the element of surprise. If you keep fighting, you’re toast. Or, you can embrace the change in your hearts, return your stolen powers to the bell, fill a cart with supplies, and just keep flying until you find a new home outside Equestria. I hear Abyssinia is nice.”
“We’ll cover for you. Say we found your bodies and gave you a traditional pegasus funeral pyre. The nice thing about burning bodies is it doesn’t leave a whole lot of evidence,” Cloudchaser added to her sister’s suggestion. “Something tells me you’re not going to get a deal that good from the princesses.”
Cozy Glow’s ears fell. “No, probably not. What do you say, Chryssie?”
“I say to stop calling me that.”
“Okay, mom.”
“I find that an acceptable alternative to ‘Chryssie’. Likewise, I’m in agreement that this is the best outcome we could hope for. It certainly beats being thrown in Tartarus or sealed in a statue for a thousand years.”
Cozy Glow giggled. “No way would the princesses turn an adorable little filly like me into a stone statue.”
“I bet you didn’t think they’d let your rot in Tartarus, either.”
“Well, no, I didn’t, but that worked out great because I was right there with my best buddy in the whole world, Tirek!”
“Don’t underestimate the determination of the princesses. Celestia ruled for over a thousand years. You don’t reign that long by asking politely. She’s strong in ways you can’t imagine, nor is she afraid to make hard decisions if it means benefiting her precious little ponies. Celestia once sealed her sister in the moon. You’re an annoying, insignificant little ant. You’re nothing to her.” She reached down and hugged the little alicorn as she started to sniffle. “But from here on out you’re everything to me.”
“Really?”
“Really. Let’s go make a better life for ourselves.”
“’Kay.” Cozy pointed the bell at Chrysalis, and then at herself, feeling the power withdraw as their stolen magic transferred back to the bell.
Cloudchaser looked at the horn still visible on Cozy Glow’s forehead and cleared her throat. “All of it.”
“Every last drop of Equestrian magic has been returned to the bell. But I’m keeping my half of Grogar’s power.”
“As am I. It’s going to be a long flight, and we’ll need all the strength we can get.”
“Don’t believe me?” Cozy turned the bell on the twins. “See for yourselves.”
The twins cringed, expecting the worst. But instead of having their magic sucked out of their bodies, they felt magic filling them to the core. “Flitter! You’re an alicorn!”
“So are you, Cloudy!” Flitter brought a hoof to her newfound horn. “I can feel the sun.”
“And I can feel the moon.”
Cozy Glow shrugged. “Congratulations, you’re the new Celestia and Luna.” She tossed the bell to them, and with a pop of magic, she and Chrysalis were gone.
“Come on, sis. Let’s make sure they don’t take all our supplies.”
“I don’t think they will, Cloudy. I think they’ve changed. Maybe not all the way, but enough that they’re not threats anymore. They won’t let us starve, but they might take the best supplies and leave us with creamed asparagus.”
“Ugh. There’s a reason we saved that for last.”
“Why did you even buy that in the first place?”
“It was on sale.”
“Probably because nopony in their right mind would buy it at full price.”
They flew down to the castle and helped the reformed villains load a cart with supplies: blankets, pillows, two-months’ worth of food for the two of them, and sundry other items. In the end, the supplies were split as fairly as possible, and nopony ended up stuck with creamed asparagus – the princesses had lived long enough not to keep such an abomination on hoof. The last time a royal chef had made the mistake of stockpiling it, he’d had to eat it himself. His successors learned from his error.
And then Cozy Glow and Chrysalis were gone, and the twins were left with three identical former windigo filly triplets. The trio sported matching white coats with icy blue manes and tails, and sparkling turquoise eyes.
“Thundersnow.”
Flitter nodded. That was certainly an appropriate name for one of the triplets. That left one more. “Winter Breeze.”
“Do you like your names?” The newest additions to their family nodded their heads. “Can you speak?”
“We can,” said Windy in an archaic accent. “But your language has shifted in the aeon we’ve been imprisoned.”
“Then we shall teach you modern Equestrian.”
“This would please us muchly.”
Three weeks passed as the twins taught the triplets and cleaned up Canterlot to the best of their abilities. Their newfound magic certainly helped, as did the fact the city was built on the side of a mountain. Snow was magically removed from the streets and roofs and unceremoniously dumped off the cliff to coat the valley below. Canterlot had weathered the storm better than most pony settlements, but roughly half of the structures in town had collapsed roofs from the weight of the snow piled on top.
Expecting the worst, Twilight Sparkle teleported in, horn charged with a spell at the ready. No windigos. No villainous trio. Far less snow and ice than there should’ve been. But the last thing she expected to see were two Ponyville pegasi-turned-alicorns sweeping the streets of snow. She blinked, but the scene stayed exactly the same. So she blinked again, and again. Then, having to face reality, she just stood there with her mouth agape.
“Oh, hi, Twilight.”
“We’re just doing our best to fix up Canterlot. We haven’t had a chance to clear Ponyville or any of the other towns yet.”
Twilight blurted out the first thing to come to mind. “Windigos.”
“They’re back at the castle. Cloudy and I didn’t want them out here, since they feel so guilty about causing this in the first place.”
Flitter’s answer yielded more questions than answers. “Any sign of three evil villains? A red centaur, a changeling queen, or a pink filly?”
“We found them huddled together north of here. They, uh, didn’t make it.” Cloudchaser grimaced, pretending to remember a horrifying sight. “Froze. We gave Cozy Glow and the changeling a proper pegasus funeral. Tirek was too big and we couldn’t move him.”
“They had this bell with them though, and when we touched it, um...” Flitter just pointed to her horn. “I can feel the sun.”
“You’ve been moving it?”
Flitter nodded. “And Cloudy’s been moving the moon. Any chance we could get the princesses to take back those duties? Being an alicorn is nice and all, but we didn’t earn the honor like you did.”
Twilight chuckled nervously. “About that… As a Princess of Equestria I hereby declare you the new Princesses of the Sun and Moon.”
“I like the old princesses.”
“So do I, but they retired. And they were adamant about that. So much so they were willing to offer Cozy Glow a plea deal if she’d take over doing it for them. I was thinking about offering it to my friends, but how would I fairly pick between them all? Sunset and Starlight would be the obvious choices, but what about Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy?”
“The princesses don’t want their magic back?”
“I don’t think they’d mind having a little bit. Their horns are sort of just decorations at the moment. And watching them fumbling with their mouths and hooves like a foal is rather embarrassing.”
“We’d be happy to give them back as much as they’re willing to take.”
“I’ll talk to them. I’ll be back with Canterlot’s residents. Then it will fall to three of us to clear the rest of the towns around here.”
“What’s the extent of the damage?”
“Central and eastern Equestria. The west and south escaped unharmed. I was using Las Pegasus as a temporary capital. Thanks to being a tourist trap, it had the most available temporary accommodations. Hotels, convention centers, we used all of it. We did our best to settle ponies in as many other cities as we could: Seaddle, Vanhoover, San Franciscolt, etc.” Twilight cringed. “Unfortunately, most of Equestria’s largest cities were in the affected area: Manehattan, Chicoltgo, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and Detrot. It was a nightmare teleporting all those ponies across the continent. And apparently I didn’t get everypony. My sincerest apologies for leaving you behind; it wasn’t intentional.”
“We understand. But that’s amazing that you saved so many ponies.”
Twilight blushed. “Time’s wasting.” There was a flash and she was gone, teleporting across Equestria to bring everypony home.
Later that day the two newly-minted alicorns stood on the balcony of Canterlot Castle and watched their little ponies spread out through the freshly cleaned streets of the capital. “We did it. We’re finally free.”
“Free? From what?”
“Oh Cloudy, we were trapped for months. First at home, and then here. Alone, with nopony but ourselves and our newly extended family. And now, look at everypony.” Flitter’s eyes watered. “It’s a beautiful sight.”
Cloudy nodded her head. “We did it. We saved ourselves, and Equestria too.”
“We reformed three windigos and two villains, and gained three daughters and two horns in the process.”
“With incest.” Cloudchaser flopped on the bed and patted the space next to herself.
Flitter snuggled up to her sister and kissed her. “Maybe we should call it ‘love’ for the benefit of the history books. What we do behind closed doors is nopony else’s business. Love you, Cloudy.”
“Love you too, Flit.” She nuzzled her sister, then pressed her snout against hers in a passionate kiss. Flitter allowed herself to be pulled on top of Cloudchaser, and with a flicker of lilac-tinted magic, the lights went out.
