"Now young ones, settle down so we can start the story," said an old, grandmotherly unicorn. The little fillies and colts all sat or lay down promptly. They old pony settled into her chair by the crackling fire and used her magic to settle a blanket around her lap. The wind howled outside as the snow swished about.
"This is a tale from long ago, about a little unicorn filly, just like you," she pointed at a dark green filly who was in the front.
"This filly had lost her belief in Frosty Beard, the pony who brings gifts to all the good little fillies and colts every Hearth's Warming, but she went on a grand adventure to find the true meaning of this holiday and help save everypony from a cold and malignant creature. That is much later in the story, so we'll start in the beginning, where all good stories start. Anyway, the filly's name was Star Light and she was....."
Star Light was slowly walking down the streets of Canterlot and looking at all the Hearth's Warming decorations. There were garlands and wreathes, and bells tied together with red ribbons. There were candles in windows and eight foot candy canes too. There were also all sorts of gifts and holiday treats in the shop windows. Even though there were two weeks left before Hearth's Warming, ponies were decorating and singing carols to get into the spirit of things. Star snorted, softly. She was far from holiday cheer, but she didn't want anyone else to know. She didn't want to ruin this supposedly good holiday for anyone else.
In truth, Star Light had her fun of the holiday sapped from her because of a multitude of things. First of all, her parents were always gone on some matter or another. She knew they had important jobs, what with her father being one of the few knights of Equestria and her mother a civil security adviser, but that didn't stop her heart from being hurt whenever she saw all of the other ponies of her age enjoying the company of their parents on the holiday when she barely even saw her's for only a few minutes before they had to go off on some "important job" they had to do. The next thing was that she had completely lost her faith in Frosty Beard. Every year she had believed that he wasn't an colt's tale she asked for the same thing, that her parents would spend the holiday with her. Finally, the thing that really made her unhappy on Hearth's Warming, was that she had no one, not even a real friend, to spend the holiday with and had never even experienced the magic of the holiday.
Star sighed. She headed for her favorite pastry shop, Joe's Donuts, to give her some comfort. She always loved the hot chocolate there. When she got there, a pegasus she liked the least was in her way. His name was Shock Fire, and he had his two cronies with him. He was a bully, and he loved to pick on her when no one was looking. He was the son of two rich parents and he always got the best from them. In fact, they were always smothering him with attention. Great, another reason that ruins Star's day.Unfortunately for Star, he spotted her.
"Hey look, Gloomy Light is coming," he said to his 'friends'. "Let's go mess with her."
"Ha ha, yeah, I could go for some enjoyment," answered the tall, skinny one.
Star looked around and saw Joe, the shop owner of Joe's Donuts, and galloped toward the shop, barreling past Shock. Shock was a bully, but he wasn't stupid. When he saw who Star was heading for, he stopped his two cronies from following and they slunk off. When Star reached Joe he smiled knowingly at her and let her in the shop.
"Hello Star Light, your usual I presume?" he asked.
"Yes, thanks Joe, and can you bring me one of those sugarplum tarts you make at this time of year too?" she asked.
"Sure."
She sat at a table close to the front window of the pastry shop and looked outside at the snowy ground and pretty decorations. I wonder if the library is open today she thought. Not surprisingly, Star's escape from the world was books. In fact, it seemed her only companions were books. She loved them, but wasn't obsessed with them like the Sun Princess's student was. As she looked out of the shop window, she thought of the ruler of Equestria and Twilight. How could such an antisocial bookworm become an incredibly powerful unicorn that defeated multiple threats to Equeatria just because of making a few friends. Star's musings were interrupted with the appearance of Celestia herself and Twilight when they entered the shop. She nodded to the Princess and Twilight shyly and looked back outside. The pair sat at another table and ordered their own hot chocolates.
Then they started talking. Star couldn't help but listen in.
"Well Twilight, I always look forward to our time together, but why aren't you celebrating Hearth's Warming with your friends?" Celestia asked.
"Well, Applejack is celebrating the holiday with the rest of her family and Spike is having his first dragon nap, so Applejack promised to watch over him in Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie is away with her family on vacation, Rarity is busy making the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant costumes and spending some time with her sister, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are in the joint Ponyville and Cloudsdale Pageant, so they needed to memorize their lines and actions. I decided to spend some time with my family and you Princess, and I wanted to show my brother all the new spells I learned. I also wanted to see all the new books in the Canterlot Public Library." Twilight replied, with a dreamy look when she said the last of her objectives.
Celestia chuckled and said, "Well I see your holiday won't be boring. Just remember to actually spend time with your family before you go to the library, my faithful student." With that, they started to discuss the many spells Twilight knew. Star had finished her tart and hot chocolate and was staring into space.She started when she heard Twilight talking to her.
"Hello little filly, what's your name. I noticed you were sitting here by yourself and I wondered if you would like to join us." she said.
"I... I'm Star Light," Star said shyly. She couldn't believe it, she was going to sit with Celestia. If she wasn't so downcast on the holiday, she would have said it was a Hearth's Warming miracle. "Uh... sure, I guess I could join you." she said to Twilight, and let herself be led over to the table with Celestia sitting at it.
They talked about many things, such as stories and legends, and soon it was evening. That was the first time Star felt happy when holiday season came around in five years.
"Now young ones, Star Light had very mundane holidays up until that moment with Celestia and Twilight. She and Twilight became fast friends, Star's first true friend. However, that friendship was soon to be tested. Now, you all know that Star had no cutie mark yet, you know why, right?" said the old mare to her audience.
"No, tell us why." they replied.
"All right, all right. You see, Star was always connected to light and good feelings, things she never really felt at the time. Anyway, Star Light and Twilight went to the library together and met there for the next three days. I'll bet you all are wondering when the actual adventure starts, am I right?" she said.
The answer she got was a few sheepish looks.
"I thought so. Never fear though, this is when things start get interesting. This is how it started..."
Star Light was dreaming a very unsettling dream. She was in a large, icy, and snowy plain. The wind chilled her to the bone, blasting her with snow from all sides. It was dark with no moon or stars shining. Shrill screams rent the darkness. Suddenly, a whirlwind surrounded her with three pairs of glowing eyes the only things visible. Her body was getting cold, so very cold. Ice started to form on her as she heard a voice as cold as the wind that hit her. It said:
"Feel the freezing cold, my little light of the heart. Freeze and be mine, so none shall ever feel the warmth again! Ahahahaha, AHAHAHAHA!"
Then a flash of dark blue and stars dashed through the whirlwind, making it disperse. The three pairs of eyes went away as well, chased by the blur of blue. However, another figure, dark and foreboding still stood, with a malignant might all its own. Its eyes were as pale as the snow around it. Suddenly, it reared with a shrill cry-
Star woke with a start, her heart racing. She shivered as if she were cold, or very afraid. What was that, she thought. The nightmare was fading, and the more she tried to remember it, the faster it faded. Soon she could not remember anything but the cold she felt in the dream. She snuggled deeper into her heavy covers and went back to sleep after an hour or so of staring at the wall. When she woke up later, she did not even remember the cold of the dream.
Star went down stairs to the kitchen and saw her mother, Vale Trotter, frantically trying to gather up her papers with magic. Her dad, Sky Trotter, was away on official business at Gryphoniath, the kingdom of the gryphons. Vale had bags under her eyes and her mane was slightly frazzled, implying that she got very little sleep last night. Even her winter cloak was haphazardly thrown onto her back. This was unusual for Vale, she usually was sharply presentable, even when she worked long nights. Star was worried for her, even though Vale was her adopted mom, she was still a caring mother. The weak, pale blue aura of her power was making Star unsettled for some reason, as it collected various forms, documents, and whatnot.
"Good morning dear, I was just leaving, so there are some pancakes on the counter. Have a nice day." she said tiredly, as she picked up her briefcase and cantered out the door. Star sighed in resignation and helped herself to the pancakes. Her head was in the usual muzziness of the morning when she suddenly remembered that Twilight promised to meet her in the Canterlot Public Library. She quickly finished her breakfast and put on her own winter cloak. She galloped through the door and made her way to the library.
When she got there, she saw Twilight at the grand doors of the library, carrying an overstuffed saddle bag with an insignia that looked like her cutie mark. Star saw her holding a piece of paper in her magical telekinetic grip.
"Hey Twilight!" she called.
"Hm? Oh! Hi Star, you look tired. Rough night?" Twilight greeted her. "Anyway, let's go read on the wonders of magic, shall we?"
"Yeah, and Twilight, could you teach me a basic levitation spell, like turning a page sort of spell." Star asked.
"Sure Star, let's see..." Twilight said as they entered the building. The entrance of the library was grand, with marble columns and bronze accents on the ceiling arches. The ceiling itself was made of a light, redish gray stone. The floor was a pattern of black, gray, and brown stones, making their hooves clatter on the polished surface. They passed a check in/out desk with an elderly yellow pegasus at it.
"Why hello young'uns. Welcome to Canterlot Public Library. If you need to find anything, give me a holler. My name's Parchment Wing by the way." she said to them.
Twilight nodded to her and she and Star made their way towards the shelves containing knowledge on various spells and magical theories. Twilight quickly skimmed over the various titles and selected ten of them, lifting them with her magic and putting them on a nearby table.
"These should be good for a beginner. 'Gray Mist's Guide to Levitation Spells', 'Light Spells for Novices', and 'Ways to Focus' are books I recommend you start with. In fact, I read 'Ways to Focus' when I was just starting to learn magic." she said to an eager Star.
"Why do I need learn how to focus, don't I just point my horn and will it to do something?" Star asked.
"Oh no, you need to learn how to focus your magic into doing something for you. You see, the horn only acts as a transmitter to aim a spell. Your magic needs to be gathered inside you and channeled into your spell. Sort of like freeing and guiding a trickle of water to a desired destination using a flat surface of some sort. Except, the trickle of water is pure energy and the flat surface you're using is sheer will power, and in order to use that will power, you need to focus." Twilight answered.
"Wow, I didn't know magic was that complicated." Star replied, trying to wrap her head around what was just said to her.
"It isn't, really. Basically, all you need to do is focus on your magic, will it into a spell, aim your horn at whatever the spell is supposed to affect, and guide it to the object."
"Oh. Well, while I'm doing this, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to be researching Windigoes. I've been doing some looking into on the story we tell on Hearth's Warming Eve and I have to say I'm curious about these equine shaped creatures."
Star nodded and started reading the pile of books she was provided. Apparently, both ponies were avid note takers and they soon had two large piles of notes on their respective subjects. Eventually, Star grabbed an old book that Twilight put aside after she finished with it. Star randomly opened to a page somewhere in the middle of the book and started reading. The passage said:
While Windigoes do appear in our more interesting tales, such as the tale of how Equestria came into being, not much is actually known about these creatures. All that can be known is that they cause mischief and malcontent feelings to run rampant. No one knows how or why they do so. It has been inferred in notes that were salvaged from Clover the Clever's personal journal that the Windigoes might just actually feed off of the negative feelings of other creatures, although this theory can't be proven without creating dangerous situations, so this remains a theory.
Another theory is that the Windigoes have a sort of powerful leader. This is unfounded however, yet neither discounted, due to the lack of evidence. The only evidence that exists, however, is in favor of this theory due to the fact that the Windigoes are surprisingly coordinated. Again, this can be neither proved or disapproved.
At the mention of a leader of Windigoes, Star nearly dropped the book she was so shaken. Why she was shaken in the first place was a mystery to her though. She mentally shrugged and put the book back where she picked it up and went back to her own studying, not thinking there was any significance to the passage she just read. Oh how little she knew.
Later, the two ponies were trotting to a cafe, telling each other what they learned, when they were interrupted by a royal messenger.
"Greetings, Lady Sparkle. The Princess told me to give you this." he said, and handed over a rolled up scroll to her and trotted off. Twilight unraveled the scroll with her magic and began to read it. She gasped and nearly dropped the scroll.
"Come on Star, we have to hurry over to the castle! I should go alone, but you are a young filly in a big city, so I have to bring you with me." she said. Star nodded and the two set off at a canter in the direction of the castle. A few minutes later, they arrived. Since the guards knew Twilight, they let them pass. As they entered the throne room, Star was filled with awe as she looked at the arches and stained glass windows. After a second of staring, she was poked by Twilight and she remembered her manners and bowed to the Princess just as Twilight did. Celestia bid them to rise and said:
"While I did want my student here only, I do see why you would come as well, Star Light."
Star looked nervously and made to leave, but was stopped by Celestia who said it was alright for her to stay. She then turned her attention to her student.
"Twilight, I asked you to come because of a shocking piece of news I received today. It seems your friends were frozen in blocks of magically induced ice that refuse to be melted-" she was interrupted by Twilight babbling incoherently. She was stopped by Celestia raising a wing. "As I was saying, each one of them was not present in their homes last and were found a few yards outside of Ponyville. They all have an expression of alarm on their faces, almost as if they were attacked. Needless to say, it is safe to assume that was what happened."
"I have to go and help them." Twilight said.
"Do not be hasty, my faithful student. You and your friends are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Whatever did this has effectively rendered them useless." Celestia warned, "I want you to stay with me here so we, me, you, and Luna, can tackle this the right way and not lose you either. Star, seeing as how you have become quite close to Twilight and show an unusual amount of understanding complex words at your age, you might as well help. Do you know how to perform a basic levitation spell?" A shake of the head was the answer.
"Okay, Twilight, could you teach her? It will speed things up a bit." Celestia said as she beckoned them to follow
"Alright Princess. Okay Star this is how the spell is done..." Twilight answered and she proceeded to explain how the spell was performed to an eager Star.
