Fire Fight found himself surrounded by darkness, a pitch-black void where not even existence itself seemed to be present. Try as he might have to look for any sort of company, he could barely even hear the sound of his own breathing; there was nothing. Even when he ignited his horn, the light seemed to be swallowed whole by the surrounding darkness. Nopony…..no one was there with him. On top of that, it was cold……so cold.
Suddenly, he heard a very faint noise from far behind him. When he turned around, he could barely make out the image of his mother frantically running towards him from far away. “M-Mom!?” he called out. Despite the distance between them, he could clearly see the expression of terror on her face, and yet she somehow wasn’t getting any closer.
“Mom, what’s….. No….. No! I can’t come back! I won’t!” Fire Fight declared. His mother suddenly stopped in place and just…..stared at him. As if she was having a staring contest with something terrifying and couldn’t keep her cool. Feeling a little unnerved, Fire Fight anxiously observed her for a moment. “Umm….” After a tense moment with the oppressive atmosphere chilling his spine, his mother suddenly flash froze, turning into an ice sculpture. “WHOA! WHAT!?” Just as quickly as she transmuted, Ms. Fight crumbled into a pile of icy dust. “MOM!!” Fire Fight managed to run up to the pile of ice that was his mother, only to find that it bore the same eerie glow as the remains of the windigo he and the Battle Foals faced before. “Wha…!?”
The frigid detritus suddenly scattered as if it was blown by a wind that Fire Fight couldn’t feel, and it dissipated into the darkness. “Huh!?” He suddenly felt a chill behind him. When he turned, there was another mare turned into ice! This time, it was Film Noir. “F-Film Noir?” The only response he got was the same thing- disintegration. “<Gasp!>” Fire Fight could only look on as she too evaporated into mist. Now he was starting to panic. There were suddenly icy effigies of the CMC, his father, Cheerilee, Abbot Meadow, Rocky Mountain, and even Princess Twilight. All of which violently burst simultaneously into millions of ice shards, startling the fiery the colt. “Wh-Wh-What’s going on!?!?”
The chill was intensifying, and he began to feel that the void he was in seemed to harbor some twisted form of sentience. Suddenly there was ice statues of the many villains he’d faced on his journey. Action Shot, Officer Curfew, the giant snake, the Diamond Dogs, the florastrad, the Sand Vipers, Gene Splice and his mutated monsters, the crystal golem, the Fallen, the hydra, Lechuza and her swarm of harpies all in glacial form surrounded him. All Fire Fight could do was watch and wait; he had no idea what the consequences would be if he tried to attack them. He tried to light his horn once again, but he could only get a small flicker out and didn’t know why, and he was becoming more paranoid. “G-G-Guys!? Are you here!?” he called out, but to no avail. His only company was the creepy ice sculptures that seemed to suddenly close in on him. “HUH!?”
Without warning, the heads of every effigy quickly turned to face him bearing angry expressions at him! “AH!!” Fire Fight felt helpless. He couldn’t ignite his horn to summon his fire spells, let alone warm himself in the now frigid temperature, and it reached down to his bones when the ice bodies started moving towards him! “WHUH!? HUH!? U-U-U-UHH!!!” Fire Fight’s blood must’ve been breaking the sound barrier by now. He was completely frazzled and panicked at everything that was going on. Where was he, why was this happening? Were these ice sculptures…….going to kill him. “N-NO!! S-STOP!!!!” As they drew near, all he could do was cower beneath his hooves. He could feel the icy air emanating off of them get closer along with their footsteps. Was this it? Would he fall to an inexplicable attack from his past?.....No…..he had to muster some courage. Sending his fiery will into his spirit rather than his horn, Fire Fight mustered the strength to throw a punch at whatever he might hit. “HYARGH!!!”
However, when he opened his eyes, nothing was there. The effigies had all but vanished as though they never existed. “Wh-What!?” He looked around in confusion, but nothing. He was once again alone, and even the cold front had all but dissipated.
He then heard a filly crying behind him, and when he turned around, it was Shadow Shroud facing away from him. “Sh-Shadow Shroud?” He decided to exercise caution for the risk of this just being a ruse, but he very much hoped that it was his friend. As he drew near her, he could feel the menacing chill returning, and he kept his nerves on high alert. “Shroud? Wh-What’s wrong?”
Shadow Shroud suddenly stopped crying just as Fire Fight came right behind her, urging him to stop. For a tense moment, he anxiously anticipated for her to strike, but she didn’t. Instead, she got up and slowly turned to face him. It was her alright, but something felt wrong…. “Sh-Shroud?” Her expression was as blank as sheet of paper, and the chill seemed to be coming off of her. She slowly reached into her cloak and drew a kunai. However, when she drew it, Fire Fight was shocked to see that the blade was made of ice! “Sh-Sh-Shroud!?” He started back away, but she started approaching him at the same pace. “Wh-Wh-What are you doing!?”
The air was becoming more and more frigid as their mobile staring contest continued, and it was then that Fire Fight began hearing whispers in the dark. Listening more closely, he could hear ponies he’d heard talking or conversations he’d held on his journey: his mother pleading for him to come home, Spiral Galaxy’s parents lamenting her disappearance, the Sand Viper boss taunting Kickback, their confrontation with Gene Splice and their argument over his execution, he and Shroud during their burial of the mad scientist, Quantum Tech’s parents reprimanding her, their encounter with the monks of Gardenia, Greensprout’s tantrum, Bullseye’s rampage during their raid on the Rockslide bandits, their conversation with Rocky Mountain afterwards, and the commotion that ensued when they were discovered just before entering the portal to Asgard Forest.
As he was too distracted by the voices of the past, Fire Fight didn’t notice right away that he and the ominous copy of Shadow Shroud were moving faster. “Shroud, stop! What’s going on!?”
“Just shut up, Fire Fight!” She had said exactly the way she did just before they went to bed, but her expressionless face made her seem as though it had been forced out of her as though she were a puppet, and then he realized what was wrong- her eyes. There were....pale, almost colorless, a far cry from the deep amethyst he was used to seeing shining in the dark. Whatever this was, it wasn’t her. It wasn’t his friend. This was an unknown force that for one reason or another meant him harm.
Try as he might have, he again couldn’t light his horn. “Oh, come on! Please!”
“Don’t be such a baby.” The fake Shroud said in her copied tone. The fact that this being took the form of his close friend suppressed his will to directly attack it……until it turned into another ice effigy and continued to pursue him.
“Oh, shoot…” he squeaked. He found himself wanting to turn tail and make a run for it, but before he could, the ice form created grotesque armor akin to the windigo they fought in the White Tail Woods! “Oh, shoot!” He was practically galloping backward now. Then….the final nail in the coffin.
“<RRRRRRHHHHH!!!!!>” It let loose an otherworldly growl before intensifying the frigid air that was blowing off of it like a fireplace. “Freeeeeeeeze tooooooo deeeeeaaaaaattttthhhh!!” it said in a demonic drawl. The swell of cold air around it violently swirled around it as it grew to gargantuan proportions, bigger than even Tirek at full power and took on the form of an equine dragon that was even more ferocious than the windigo.
“<RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!>”
“OH, SHOOT!!!” Fire Fight finally broke and made a break for it, but his path was barred when a huge wall of ice suddenly erected in his path. “HUH!?” He looked back in horror to see the glacial giant rearing its fangs and ready to finish him. With one last demonic howl, it lashed at him. “AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”
“Cease at once, abomination!” An inexplicable beam of silver light suddenly blasted from above them as a divine voice resounded from the darkness. The ice titan was struck by the bright blast and let out an agonized roar as it was obliterated in the radiant assault, and it exploded in a burst of shards shaped like petals. After it was destroyed, the silver light continued to shine down, and from its source emerged Princess Luna. She floated down to greet Fire Fight.
“Princess Luna!” Fire Fight could feel the tense atmosphere lift along with the frigid air.
“Good evening, Fire Fight.” Luna said. “I see you and the Battle Foals succeeded in reaching Griffonstone, and yet tonight you find yourself surrounded by doubt and uncertainty.”
“Y-Yeah….. A lot’s happened.” Fire Fight muttered. “And I think you might’ve been right about some coming catastrophe.”
“So it would seem.” Luna said. “Your recent encounters with these anomalous ice monsters is most disturbing, and something tells me that it is no coincidence. Something is looming on the horizon, and we may have to take action soon.” She softened her expression as she looked into the fiery colt’s eyes. “But enough about that. Your travels are starting to make you grow weary, especially given the current circumstances.”
Fire Fight solemnly nodded. “I didn’t think this mission would be easy, but…..I had no idea just how much of a toll it would take.” He sighed. “But I’ll still brave through it if I have to. For my friends! The Battle Foals! And all of the other foals that might come eventually.”
Luna could hear his exhaustion despite his powerful words. “The fire in your soul burns as brightly as ever, but even the strongest of flames can be extinguished, Fire Fight.” She gently lifted his head by his chin. “Even if your friends have great strength of will on their own, they still look to you as their guide, and they need you.”
“I-I know….” Fire Fight muttered. “I just don’t get why I’m thinking about everything so much. My mind’s been made up from the beginning. I swore to help other foals……so why do I feel so…..weak?”
“Because you’re pushing away your doubt rather than facing it, and the more you do so, the more it hungers for your willpower.” Luna said. “You’re now starting to realize the sheer magnitude of the trials the world can truly throw at you.” She let go of him.
Fire Fight sighed. “I guess so…. I can’t imagine how everypony else must be doing.” It was then that he was reminded of something that was likely a central theme in this nightmare. “Shadow Shroud…” he muttered. “Princess Luna, what’s going on with Shadow Shroud? What is she hiding from me? I think something’s hurting her, but she won’t say what.”
“That is an issue between the two of you, Fire Fight.” Luna said. “You know better than to force her.”
“I-I know, but….. This is the first time I’ve ever seen her seem unsure of herself.” Fire Fight said. “I know she had a moment after what happened with Gene Splice, but-”
“But she openly spoke with you, didn’t she?” Luna said. “You are her friend, Fire Fight. She will come to you if she feels the need, but of course don’t hesitate to offer your hoof if all else fails. All you can do is keep moving forward.”
Fire Fight managed to crease a little smile. “You’re right…” he said. “Hey…. You should really warn your sister about this whole catastrophe. My friends and I might be tough, but we might need all of Equestria to take out whatever’s coming.”
“I will tell my sister what she needs to know when the time comes. For now, my priority is watching over you.” Luna said. “H-However…..tell me something. When you faced these ice creatures, did you sense anything…..peculiar about them?”
Fire Fight cocked his eyebrow, unsure of how to take the odd question. “Umm….I didn’t get to fight the ice ape that almost killed Air Slash, but I guess the windigo was weird since it was alone. Why do you ask?”
“I…. I can’t shake the feeling that whatever is to come, there’s more to it than is readily apparent.” Luna said.
“Yeah. Quantum Tech said as much when she told us about that ice dust they left behind. It sounds like something’s waking up.” Fire Fight said.
“Waking up?” Luna asked.
Fire Fight explained Quantum’s analysis and how the ice monsters seemed to be proxies of an unseen force. “Have any other ice monsters appeared around Equestria and attacked ponies?”
Luna shook her head. “Nothing of the sort has happened, thankfully.”
“Then why’s it coming after me and my friends? What did we do?” Fire Fight wondered.
“Perhaps whatever this force is sees your strength and is simply testing its own, gauging your power and trying to match it. It may very well see you as its biggest threat.” Luna said. “If nothing else, let that fuel your courage as you continue down your path. I have utmost faith in you and the Battle Foals.” She leaned and gently pecked the fiery colt, getting a blush out of him. “But for now, the light of day beckons you. My work here is done.” She and the dream void began fading away in a gentle glow of silver light. “May your strength endure, mighty Battle Foals!”