The Most Horrible Hearth's Warming EVER: A Candy Mare Tale

All was calm. You might even be fooled into thinking all was well, if you didn't know better. Flash's breath came out as a cloud of steam in the late evening air. Though the snow had mostly been cleared away, here at the edge of camp his hooves still crunched through a thick layer of the soft white powder. It would have almost been pleasant if it were not for the thoughts that haunted him.

He should have found somewhere to bunk down and taken advantage of the break as Celestia had suggested. Trying to snatch a little shut eye wouldn't have been the worst idea, if indeed sleep would come. Unfortunately after everything that had happened Flash doubted he'd be having an easy time drifting off to slumber land anytime soon. Not after all the horrors he had witnessed just in the past few hours. With those events so fresh in mind, scenes of bloodshed still appeared to him whenever he shut his eyes. No, sleep wasn't going to come easily to him for some time.

He felt cold in a way that no fire could warm, though he passed campfires aplenty as he had moved through the encampment. Perhaps it was because their flames had been used so recently as pyres for his fallen friends. Maybe the chill of death still clung to those smoldering embers, freezing his spirit no matter how cherry red they glowed. It felt like it would take nothing short of dragon fire for Flash to ever feel warm again. A hollow hope, as the few dragons that ever made their homes this far north had chosen only the highest peaks and the deepest crags to hide themselves away from those who might steel from their hoards.

Perhaps that was why he found himself drawn away from fellow soldiers and friends alike. Maybe he was seeking solitude, trying to protect something fragile yet vital that he didn't quite understand. A solitude that would be denied him, it would seem, as he heard the soft crunch of another pony's hooves coming up behind him.

"It's not safe out here on your own, you know," it was Stygian, a look of concern on the unicorn's face as his words fogged the air.

"And where exactly is safe, my friend?" asked Flash with more bitterness in his voice than even he expected. He kept his eyes firmly locked on the darkness before him, refusing to turn back towards the one who had followed him. "You tend to be our expert when it comes to researching such things. With what I've seen I'm having a hard time believing there is a truly safe place left at all, anywhere, in Equestria."

As the tired soldier's words hung in the silence, the wind picked up in one long morose moan, as if agreeing with him. High above the weather team still did their best, but the circle of starlight was steadily shrinking as the clouds boiled over with cold. It wouldn't be long before they would have to either send up fresh weather busters or give up trying. Even so, Flash could see past the storm to the lights of the Aurora Borialis dancing in long bands of pink, blue, and green; Celestial fire blazing defiantly across the firmament. Yet the beautiful sight did nothing to cheer Flash, and as the air grew colder so too did the pegasi's heart.

What was he doing out here with this sorry excuse for a unicorn? Stygian talked of dangers, but he had never had to face them the way Flash had. Did the insipid little horn-head even understand how many brave and noble pegasi had been sacrificed today? What good was all his research if it could not save them? And really, was Flash any better? What good was calling him a hero, a Guardian, if he couldn't even save his fellow soldiers when it mattered? What good were any of the Pillars of Harmony, if they couldn't prevent such horrors as he had witnessed?

A dark cloud, hatred both for himself and everypony around him, settled over Flash Magnus's heart and soul.

"Flash! Flash, snap out of it!" The wind was howling louder, ripping away Stygian's words so that they only barely reached the ears of the dazed legionnaire. It wasn't until a jolt of magic crackled across Flash's flank that he snapped back to reality.

"Ow! Hey! That hurt!" he yelped, turning at last away from the darkness both outside and within. "What was that for!?"

"Look at yourself, are you alright?" asked Stygian, his face full of agitation.

As Flash took a moment to assess himself, he noticed that frost had begun building up on his legs and hooves as if he had been flying through an ice storm at high altitude. With a shiver he shook the freezing crystals from his limbs and, as he did, the weight on his heart seemed to lift. The vague feelings of loathing he had been experiencing also cleared away in that moment. Far away, the moaning wind sounded like a harsh whinny, high and almost frustrated. A spectral flash of blue lightning leaped away from cloud to cloud.

"Windigo's... They've been stalking us since we arrived here," a weak Flame of Friendship danced at the end of Stygian's horn. It had been this that had gotten Flash's attention and apparently chased away the wraith-like entity that had been trying to influence his thoughts. Flash had been thinking such terrible things about Stygian just moments ago, but his friend had only been looking out for him. "They've been trying to stir up feelings of hatred and despair among the soldiers. Starswirl is doing what he can to keep everyone working together, but those that stray too far from his protective cantrips are easy prey for hungry spirits."

"I'm sorry Stygian, I should have known," apologized Flash, chagrined. Even legendary heroes could make mistakes, "Would that we were all so well studied as you when it came to such malevolent creatures."

"I'm working on that actually!" Stygian replied, his features brightening. Reaching inside his cloak he produced what appeared to be a half finished journal thick with bookmarks and notes, loose leaflets of paper fluttering in the breeze. "I've steadily been compiling a compendium that gathers information on all of the folklore and legends we've come across on our travels. If it were made freely available as a kind of guidebook, the information I've been able to glean concerning such supernatural creatures that regularly appear in those stories could be vital. I was going to publish it under the name 'Super Naturals', but I discovered that title was already taken by a recently released herbologist index."

"Does your grimoire contain information about the Candy Mare?" asked Flash, intrigued.

"Oh yes, of course," assured Stygian, smiling at his friend as he showed interest in the subject of his studies for the first time. "I know Starswirl wants to keep information about her restricted, but I don't think there's any harm in making a record of the rumors that are already circulating in the populace. In these pages are all of the myths and factoids related to her, even down to a recipe for the very candies that were supposedly used in her creation!"

"You may want to include a warning along with such information," cautioned the soldier warily. "We wouldn't want someone going and creating another creature like her."

"Oh, oh yes, of course!" it was the scholars turn to be chagrined. Stygian took out a quill and scribbled a few quick notes, his face darkening slightly as he blushed with embarrassment. "Obviously I won't include any of the spells that Lemon Drop supposedly used. That would just be reckless. Just the tricks he played and the terrible treats he used to lure the victims of his experiments."

"Are you crafting a grimoire of supernatural creatures or a manuscript of old tricks and treats?" asked Flash wryly, half joking.

"Ye Olde Tricks and Treats!? Why didn't I think of that? That might actually make a decent title," quipped Stygian to himself. "Let me write that down."

"Hah! If you go with that one, I'll expect my cut of your profits for giving you the idea," laughed Flash, his grim mood lightening.

A moment ago laughing was the very last thing Flash felt he'd ever be able to do again. But now, as he turned his gaze up to the sky once more to watch the glow of the Polar Lights, he was starting to feel a bit like his old self again. It was amazing what chatting with a good friend could do for even the blackest of moods. Flash never should have tried to bear the burden of his trauma on his own, but that was just what he did sometimes.

As he took in the sight of the clouds and the stars beyond them, his eyes widened as they caught a glimpse of what moved between them. What he had taken for the aurora at first had now resolved into the shapes of great spectral stallions galloping in a circle around the encampment. They were keeping just inside of the barely restrained storm clouds, but every now and then you could see their ghostly forms melt through the rumbling storm. It was clear that they were watching, waiting to claim what sustenance they could.

In that moment, a thought occurred to Flash,"Do you think they are working together? The Windigos and the Candy Mare I mean?"

"Helping her? I don't think so. Their behavior strikes me as being more like scavengers, waiting for a moment of opportunity." Stygian finished scribbling down his books new title and then flipped to a page in his journal that contained a crude drawing of the wintry wights. "My studies seem to indicate that they behave like a pack of jackals or a flock of vultures, circling, waiting expectantly as their prey grows weak. Although I suppose they might also gather if a greater predator were on the prowl, waiting for them to do the hard work for them so that they could then swoop in and feed on any stricken left overs."

That thought sent a shiver down Flash's already chilled spine. "I forget sometimes just how dangerous Equestria is for us little ponies. No matter what great things we may accomplish, there may always be something terrible like those beasts waiting out in the dark, ready to pounce."

"I'm afraid that's something I have had the opportunity to learn all too well, my brave friend," Stygian wrapped his cloak tighter against the winter chill, looking somehow smaller than ever. "All my research has made it abundantly clear that the average pony is far outmatched by a great number of vicious entities eager to prey upon us. Not all of us have magic shovels or mystic shields to protect ourselves with either."

"Oh Stygian, not that old song and dance again..." groaned Flash. This was a complaint that the Pillars had heard often from their scholarly unicorn friend. It seemed to be coming up all the more frequently as time went on.

"But I'm certain if I had a magical artifact of my own I could be so much more helpful to you and the other Guardians!" insisted Stygian. "I've been studying up on the subject, delving into ancient tomes on enchanted items, and I'm convinced that if I could just borrow the power of your artifacts I could..."

But before he could continue Flash cut him off.

"Stygian, you are already a huge help to myself and the other Guardians," he insisted. "When would we have the time to research and plan strategies for dealing with the foes we face, or write about our own exploits between harrowing adventures? Those are vital things only you can do! Besides, Starswirl made it clear that siphoning off the magic from our artifacts could damage them irreparably. Then what would we do the next time Sirens took over a village or some mad pony tried to conquer the world?"

Stygian would not let Flash stymie his words, however, and he tried his best to press the issue, "Even so, I believe that the potential benefits would far outweigh the risk! If you would all just listen to -"

"Wait, do you hear that?" asked Flash holding up a hoof to silence his companion. "Shh, be quiet Stygian... Listen. Do you hear what I hear?"

The wind had calmed down and the howls of the Windigos had faded into the distance. However, this was no silent night. In the freezing shadows something was stirring. As Flash and Stygian listened intently, the silvery glow of a full moon beamed down from a break in the clouds, giving the luster of midday to the snowy land below. They couldn't see a single soul for miles... But they could hear them.

Hushed voices, speaking quietly, urgently.

There was laughter and ... Was that a scream, cut off with a sudden crunch?

Suddenly the sound swelled! They could hear so many voices now; laughing, singing, shouting! A great chorus of voices rising in the night! A song came crashing down from on high, roaring like the sea.

"What is that?" whispered Flash, unable to fully process what he was hearing.

"Oh no! I've read about this! We have to go back, right now!" warned Stygian as he turned on his heels and broke into a gallop. "Hurry!"

He didn't need to tell Flash twice as the soldier took to his wings and quickly followed his friend back into the heart of the camp. The voices faded behind them as they fled, but even as the crackle of flames from the nearby bonfires offered them some comfort, the murmuring voices of an unseen throng were still just barely perceptible at the edge of their hearing.
Stygian came to a stop, huffing and puffing with exertion. He was apparently satisfied with their relative safety, at least enough to resume speaking.

"It's her - The Candy Mare! One of her tricks," explained the unicorn, doing his best to catch his breath. "The stories say she can steal the voices of those she's killed and use them the way an angler fish uses it's light to lure prey. She can sound like long lost comrades or your foalhood friend, or even a lost child, anypony she has devoured! She sings in the voices of the dead, calling out for fresh victims! Sometimes ponies answer her and disappear over night only for their own voices to be added to her choir the next evening, to sing and call out to the friends they left behind and try to convince them to follow after them...”

"By the Dragon Lord's Bloodstone Scepter, that's diabolical!" exclaimed Flash, "Should we rouse the others? Let them know the Candy Mare has returned? We should track her down and put a stop to this!"

"It's no good," Stygian advised, putting a hoof on his friends shoulder to hold him back. "It’s said she has a way of throwing her voice. She could be miles away or standing right behind you. The Candy Mare is just trying to torment us. Playing mind games. Our time would be better spent warning the ponies on sentry duty not to investigate any strange noises that they might hear. Anyone who strays too far tonight is as good as dead, but so long as we stay in camp I don't think she'll risk a direct attack. We should be safe."

"Do you feel safe Stygian?" the legionnaire asked his friend, staring hard into his frightened eyes.

"Of course not! But knowing the things I know, I never do," admitted Stygian with a weak smile.