Luna helped her sister out of the snow for the second time. Aurora gave her sister a thankful nod before shaking the snow off yet again. Since the snow had started falling a few hours ago, their progress anywhere had been slowed to a crawl. There was nothing but whiteness as far as the eye could see, and no matter what the sisters tried to do to thaw it, the snow seemed to come back even thicker and deeper than before.

"Sister! We have to find the Elements soon! I'm not sure how much more of this Equestria can take!" Aurora cried to Luna.

"I know! But we're never going to find it in all this snow!" The younger alicorn blasted the ground ahead of them, a trail cutting deep through the snow opening up. "Come on! Let's run for it!"

The two hurtled down the open path, their hooves sinking deeper as the snow filled it back up. A cold howling wind hit the sisters, knocking them into the snow bank. As Aurora pushed herself out of her body-shaped hole, she listened again to the wind. It wasn't just the wind blowing through the empty trees, it was a wind that carried all the hatred an envy of an age gone by.

A wind that made her feel cold from the inside.

Windigo.

"Sister!" Aurora dashed over to Luna's imprint, levitating her sister out. "We have to hurry! This isn't just a storm Discord summoned! It's the Windigoes!"

"What?!"

"This is caused by spirits of Hatred!"

"But that's impossible! If our grandparents are guarding Friendship's Fire, then how can the Windigoes be here?!"

"The other ponies must be blaming everyone else for all this chaos going on!"

Luna shook her head. "No, wouldn't the other ponies realize that this isn't pony magic going on?"

"Sister," Aurora placed a hoof on her shoulder, bristling as another cold wind tossed her mane and wings, "The ponies would be too busy blaming each other to even care that someone else was causing all this chaos."

"We've got to find the Elements!"

They trudged on, their hooves compressing the snow, wings becoming locked in place as the frigid flakes piled up. The world was turning into a frozen blanket of grey, never ending in any direction.

It was only when Aurora felt she was about to collapse into the snow that looked like a fluffy bed, that she saw the light, shining in the distance. It flickered and danced, casting the gloom aside. The snow around it sparkled, as if the sun were shining on it.

"You two!" the light called. "Come this way! Quickly!"

There was a moment where Aurora felt the urge to resist going toward the light. But in this white wasteland, the light was inviting, warm, even though she was far away. Her last ounce of strength leaving her, she galloped towards the light, Luna's hoof beats, muffled by the snow, not far behind her.

In the middle of the freezing winds, Aurora thought she saw her mother, holding aloft a lantern, her mane swept by the cold.

She ran faster. If she could find her mother again, everything would be all right. And her father wouldn't be far away either. He would be just beyond in the greyness, waiting to give his two daughters a hug and a kiss. She knew it. It just had to be that way.

Luna ran into her as Aurora stopped before a cloaked pony. The cloak stained with snow, a sign this pony had been in this blizzard for a while. The lantern was in the pony's mouth, so the pony jerked her head as a sign to follow. Luna snuggled into her sister's side, while Aurora covered her with her wing, and gave a weak smile. Even if this turned out to be a trap, a trap inside was better than wandering through the snow for another three hours.

Luna trotted over to the cloaked pony. "I can take that light if you want."

The pony continued onward, as if she hadn't heard the princess of the night.

Behind the clouds, the sun vanished over the horizon, and the blackness overtook the world. The light was now the only way to know if they were on course, or if they would be doomed to freeze to death outside.

The pony trotted at a brisk pace before she approached a house that had seemingly materialized out of the darkness. The door creaked open, and the pony ushered the sisters inside. The moment Aurora closed the door, the pony hurried about a spacious room. Her brown cloak darkening where the snow was melting on it, she lit several candles in the room from her lantern, the warm light flickering shadows across the wall. She hurried over to a fireplace and lit a small pile of twigs that rested in the hearth. She put her lantern down. "Come warm yourselves. I'll get some soup on the fire. I had a cauldron prepared before I went out to look for ponies wandering in the snow."

"Thank you," Luna said, trotting over to the fire and warming herself, shaking with the cold."

"It's very generous of you," Aurora said, shaking off the snow by the door.

"Oh, think nothing of it!" The pony smiled and headed into a kitchen. "Would you mind helping me with this cauldron? It's a bit heavy. Normally I can get it on my own, but it is a bit heavy."

Aurora levitated the cauldron all the way to the fireplace, resting it on two hooks just above small fire. She also added a few logs to the fire. In a few moments, the fire blazed high, licking the bottom of the black pot.

The pony took off her cloak. "Thank you, dear."

At first, Aurora thought it was a trick of the light, the many candles casting shadows on the pony's indigo mane and tail, wrapped tightly in a shimmery lavender ribbon. Her cream colored coat seemed to sparkle. When the mare turned around to look at the sisters with her dark blue eyes, it almost looked like a pair of sapphires.

It was then the mare took notice of the white alicorn gaping at her. "Oh, is this the first time you've seen a crystal pony?"

Luna whipped her head around and gasped in shock. "You're all…sparkly!"

"Forgive our staring," Aurora said hastily, trying to keep from watching the mare shimmering.

The crystal pony laughed. "Don't worry, I'm used to ponies being surprised when they see me. Now, why don't you two get some sleep? You both look exhausted."

Recoiling from the thought, Luna looked to Aurora for help. Aurora placed her wing on her sister, and touched their horns together. "I'll stay with you all night long."

A pile of blankets appeared at their hooves. The crystal pony had gone to fetch them and was now heading over to her lantern.

"Thank you…" Luna paused, unable to continue.

"Specialty." The crystal pony smiled at them. "I'll keep the fire going, so don't worry about it going out."

Helping her sister get comfortable, Aurora tossed a blanket over them both. She made sure that her horn was touching Luna's before drifting off into sleep.

A bubbling noise stirred Aurora from her sleep. Hoofsteps, trying to be quiet, came close to her. She could hear a cloth moving, then the lid of the cauldron scraping against the metal. This was woke her up fully. She saw Specialty stirring the soup inside. "Sleep well?" she asked.

Aurora nodded. "How long have we been asleep?"

"A few hours by my count. The soup's perfect now. Would you like some?"

"Of course!" It was only now that Aurora realized how long it had been since she and Luna had last eaten. How had they kept going without stopping to eat? She woke Luna, nudging her with her hoof. Luna blinked several times. She sniffed the air.

"What smells so good?" she asked.

"Food."

Specialty brought out two large bowls. Luna offered to fill them, since she couldn't burn herself using magic. She dipped them into the cauldron, and then brought them out, steam rising. Carrots, celery, beans, and what looked like alfalfa floated on the surface. The liquid warmed both their bodies and their hearts.

It was only after the second bowl of soup that Aurora realized Specialty hadn't had any herself. "Aren't you going to have some?" she asked the crystal pony.

"I will," Specialty said, "but once you two are done. I want to make sure you've had as much as you want."

"But what if you don't get any?" Luna asked. She caught sight of Aurora glaring at her from the corner of her eyes. "What? It's just a question."

"It's all right. I can always make more. You two need it a lot more than I do."

Luna offered her bowl, quickly drank the remaining contents and offered it to the crystal pony. Specialty nodded and the alicorn filled the bowl and placed it at the pony's feet. Using her hooves, the crystal pony picked up the bowl and drank. It was quiet for several minutes.

Aurora broke the silence. "Specialty, I'm sorry to ask you this, but my sister and I have been searching all over Equestria, and no pony seems to know. Do you know anything about the Elements?"

The bowl hit the floor, a bit of soup sloshing onto the floor. Specialty quivered. "The Elements? The Elements of Harmony?"

"I guess. Starswirl the Bearded, our mentor-"

"Starswirl sent you to find them?"

"Yes! He believes they can stop Discord, the reason Equestria's been so…chaotic lately."

Specialty sighed. "Starswirl and I found them, long ago in the Crystal Empire, my home. You see, my special talent is finding rare and magical gems. Starswirl discovered the Empire by accident, and was fascinated by us crystal ponies. We were in a cave when I sensed that there were magical gems nearby. The Crystal Empire has several caves filled with crystals, each holding their own power. But I knew the ones in that cave were different, special."

"Do you have them?!" Luna cried with joy.

The crystal pony shook her head. "No. Once I excavated them from the rock, Starswirl took them, to examine their magical properties. There were five we took from the cave. Starswirl tried to cast a spell with them. But in the blinding flash afterwards, they were gone."

Aurora and Luna both sighed in defeat. The Elements were gone.

"Don't tell Starswirl this, but in the middle of the light, I heard a voice. A voice saying, 'Those with the bond shall find us in the heart of the land.' I still have no idea what this means, but I have never forgotten it."

"Why don't you want us to tell Starswirl?" Aurora asked.

"I don't think the Elements thought he was worthy to use them."

Luna scoffed. "Starswirl? Unworthy? He's the most powerful unicorn I know!"

"Powerful, yes. But the Elements aren't swayed by power. Their magic is something different."

The heart of the land. Why did that sound so familiar? Aurora couldn't place her hoof on it. She knew, though, that she knew the answer to the riddle. She just couldn't remember how or why she knew.

"The heart of the land," she murmured.

"The land that's getting frozen over," Luna replied, looking out the window. "If we don't do something soon, sister, we're all going to freeze."

Freeze, frozen. Aurora tried to make sense of it all. Windigoes, chaos. Three tribes banding together against the hatred and cold. A fire of friendship.

She bolted upright. "Sister, I know where the Elements are!"

"Where?!" Specialty and Luna cried at the same time.

"They're back in Canterlot. They're in the Friendship's Fire!"

"Go," Specialty urged. "Equestria's future rests on you two. Go now, and find the Elements! Stop this Discord and send the Windigoes away!"

With that, Luna dashed to the door, kicking it open. The cold air caused her to flinch, but she remained at the door, determined and ready. She looked to Aurora, who flew to her sister's side, and then, together, they rose up into the clouds, flying as fast as they could against the winter winds.