The smell of cooking was in the air. It isn’t the type of smell that sticks out, nor is it particularly strong, but it’s enough to notice. Streak rolled over, his nose aroused by the pleasant aroma. He mumbled a bit in his sleep and his legs reached out to hug something that wasn’t there. The pegasus rolled over again and fell off the bed with a loud thud. Streak opened his eyes, not knowing why his head was hurting and couldn’t see. His brain kicked in, and Streak began to tussle with the covers, trying to get free. After a minute of rolling around, the red pegasus was still wrapped in covers, no more free than he was when he started.
“Streak, breakfast!” a voice called.
“Mmpgf!” Streak tried to yell through his mouthful of sheets.
“Get up and get ready for school!!”
“Mmphmghumph!” Streak furiously worked his front hooves out of the binding, and paused to take a ragged breath through the sheets. Having his hooves raised above his head while lying on his back wasn’t exactly the ideal situation that he was going for. At that angle, it would be quite difficult the bang his hooves against the floor as Streak had planned… Oh, wait. The floor was a cloud. You can’t exactly bang on a cloud without bursting through it, no matter what type of pegasus you were. Not to mention the lack of noise it would make. Streak paused at the thought of bursting through the cloud to get downstairs, but vetoed the idea. He then set to work trying to push the sheets down off of his face, so that he could shout downstairs.
“Streak, what are you doing?” The voice was coming upstairs now. “We have to get ready to go. Now.” Streak rolled onto his side, legs in motion as he desperately tried to scoot himself to a wall.
The lime-green pegasus appeared in the doorway. In desperation, Streak moved his limbs like he was trying to grab the pegasus, while making zombie noises. It wasn’t helping. The green pony kept coming closer. She grabbed the edge of the sheet with her teeth and gave it a firm yank. Streak came rolling out of the sheets, yelling.
"Hurry up! We're going to be late!" Prism grabbed Streak's tail in her teeth and dragged the struggling red pegasus out to doorway. "Now, come on!"
Needing no further prompting, Streak was up and trotting down the stairs. He wasn't about to give Prism the chance to drag him down the stairs. Again.
"Hurry up, jackflank. We're late." Nox was waiting at the bottom of the staircase, insults primed and ready. "Why don't you fly, birdie?"
"Hey! I was injured in training!" Streak exclaimed in defense. "Any other time, I could outfly anypony!"
"Come on. We're leaving." Prism ushered the ponies out the door and on their way.
Walking through New Ponyville during the day was a different affair than stumbling through the town with fatigue-loaded limbs at night. For one, the lamps that illuminated the night were safely hidden away below the ground. The sun blazed in the blue morning sky, and birds sang their song. New Ponyville was one of those towns that like to sleep late, so the trio walked through the relatively empty streets from the outskirts and into town. On either side of the main road were softly-colored houses of varied hues. As the trio got closer to the other side of town, buildings rose out of the horizon. They were low-laying clay brick structures, each one unique in some way. One, obviously the school for magical studies, had large turrets and an iron gate. It was the largest of the buildings, more resembling a castle than anything else.
"Why are all these ponies here?" Streak asked. "A-Are we on-time?”
“I don’t know,” Prism said. “But it looks like the ponies are setting up for something.”
All over the grounds, ponies were working pegasai and ponies on scaffolding were working on the walls of buildings. In the field, ponies appeared to be setting up a stage.
“You’re hosting the Independence Celebration, right?” Nox asked.
“Independence-“
“Whatever the buck you call it. Lunar Carnival. Summer Sun Orgy.” Nox waved her hoof dismissively. “It is this week, right?
“Yeah, so?” Streak looked around, trying to piece the puzzle together. Independence Festival next week, New Ponyville Hosting.. “Oh, they’re setting up-”
“Took you long enough,” Nox snorted. By that time, the trio had arrived at a building. A building whose entrance was 10 feet above the ground. Over said entrance was the symbol of a wrench overlaid on a gear, which signified engineering. Leading up to the door was a set of stairs, thin enough for only one pony at a time. Prism opened her wings and fluttered up to the door. The placed a hoof on the knob and turned. The knob rattled, refusing to budge.
“It’s locked. Now what?” Nox asked.
“New Ponyville tour,” Prism said, floating back down to the ponies on the ground. “If you’re going to be staying with us, then you’re going to need to know your way around.”
“Uh, speaking of staying with us,” Streak began, turning towards Prism, “Why are you with me?”
“Is there a problem with that?” Prism replied patiently.
Put in the spotlight, Streak instantly became fidgety and started to stutter. “It-It’s not that, it’s that, it’s that you live in {Rawshire?} I-I mean, it’s a bit farther to school, but it’s not that far.”
“I mean…” Streak trailed off, made further unsure by the looks he was receiving from the two mares. “What?”
Nox and Prism shared a glance, and then walked away, Nox shaking her head.
Did I say something wrong? Streak wondered momentarily, before running to catch up with the two mares.
~-_-~^_^~-_-~
New Ponyville was a different sort of place than its namesake. Whereas the original Ponyville was a small spread-out town filled with one-to-two story buildings, New Ponyville gave the feel of a city, with its tall buildings clustered together on the skyline. After the original Ponyville was swallowed up by the Everfree Expansion, New Ponyville was made as a monument to the original. It retained may of the significant locations in Ponyville, such as the town hall, the library, Sugarcube Corner and Carousel Boutique.
Going back into town, the trio saw ponies going places and doing things. IT was the morning rush, with working ponies going to work and school-age foals being shepherded to school by their parents. In the space of about an hour, the airspace had become occupied and the streets became filled with ponies on the move. Prism took to the air, while Nox and Streak, the latter begrudgingly, walked below.
“This is the main road into the city from the outskirts,” Prism said, hovering close enough for Nox to hear.
“Sparkle Street,” Streak murmured involuntarily.
“Sparkle, as in Twilight Sparkle?” Nox demanded.
“What?” Streak asked, confused.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Nox stated.
“Who?” Streak asked, even more confused.
“Twilight Sparkle, founder of the Sparkle Labs research company, the most powerful unicorn in Equestria to date, the pony who re-adjusted the USMS, Youngest winner of the Magi Tournament, inventor of numerous spells, the greatest Archmage of Canterlot, and the Element of Magic, leader of the Elements of Harmony?” Nox recited the titles as if it was something she had memorized, and took great pride in knowing.
“Who’s Twilight Sparkle?” Nox’s speech had Streak even more confused than he was initially.
“This ‘Twilight Sparkle’ sounds like she has far too many high titles than a pony could achieve in one lifetime, and furthermore,” Prism interjected, not about to believe in this mystical ‘Twilight Sparkle’ that Nox had invented and arbitrarily stuck numerous heavyweight titles to, “Canterlot is not a place, Sparkle Tech is a weapons manufacturer that broke off from another company during the war and the Elements of Harmony sound like another leftover war myth. In fact, this whole thing sounds like a war myth.”
At this denial, Nox stopped and did a full turn towards Prism. “How do you doubt the existence of one of the, no possibly the greatest unicorn in history?”
“Where is she? In what history books? What records show of her feats?” Prism had stopped and was in the air, going nose-to-nose with Nox in her argument. In the way crowds do, they had formed a circle around this interesting spectacle, this loud argument in the middle of the street about this so-called Twilight Sparkle. Was she real? Is she a myth? Whispers flew through the onlooker like wildfire spreading in a forest. “How do you know she exists or existed? By the way you’re defending her, is would seem like she was your best friend! And by that reasoning, it would be impossible for Twilight to be any of the things that you say she is.”
Nox was left spluttering in disbelief and rage. The crowd cheered, as a conclusion had been reached. They started to disperse. I… I know because I connected with Twilight, as well as reading about her in the books. But what happened to the records of the Elements? Is the future really that detached?
“Prism, look. They’re tearing down the library,” Streak pointed out an old, decrepit tree-library behind yellow caution tape. It had a musty, ancient feel, like it was an intricate part of history. At the moment, work crews of ponies were busying themselves with the destruction of the tree-library. Prism, still puffing from the argument, fluttered to the ground and observed the tree with Streak. “Look close. See those wire there, coming out of the tree? Means it’s a tree-borg. Part tree, part circuitry. Amazing.”
The Library. Or at least a representation of it. Nox ground her teeth. And it was being torn down. Did they not know the significance of it? The answer was right there. It was a no. No, they did not.
“I remember coming here as a kid… It felt so friendly and homey. The librarian was so helpful, too…” Streak’s face was full of nostalgia as he gazed at the library. Prism gently nosed him on, moving the red pegasus on down the road, towards the town hall.
The town hall was a large wooden-looking structure that looked about as old as the library, although in much better shape. There was, however, a distinct air of technology about it, as if the wooden exterior was only holographic. The clearing around it served as the market. Concentric circles of stalls stood with merchants, grocers, craftsmen and tailors all shouting their wares to the throng of ponies passing through, trying to make sales.
After shopping at the market for some food and whatever else caught their eyes, the trio went down the road on the other side, the road towards the park. The park was a grand old park, one that exuded a feeling of peace and harmony, one uncharacteristic to a city. In the middle of the park stood the statues of six equine forms. At one point in time, they could have been grand; they might’ve been the centerpiece of the park. But time and abuse by ponies had worn them down to relics that nopony felt right tearing down.
Prism and Streak settled down near a tree to eat their food. Nox, however, remained standing, lost in thought. Her legs started moving, taking her farther into the park. When the dark mare came out of her reverie, she was standing in front of the six pony statues. The world faded around her. No, there was no world around her. Only a darkness in which one could see, but never quite make anything out. Time was inconsequential. Space was meaningless. Nox was no longer a broken-horned unicorn disguised as an earth pony; she was a unicorn floating on her gilded wings. The navy blue unicorn felt a pulse. A throbbing. A presence. Something old. Something lost.
Nox
Memories. Facing monsters. Losing friends. Night.
Nox
Fresh green pastures. Civilization. A sister. Chaos.
NOX
War. Sanctuary. Lothing. Cold. Bitter Cold.
NOX!
The unicorn blinked. She was back in Ponyille. New Ponyille? No, she hadn’t left. It was a dream… About what?
“Nox, are you okay?” A cyan- no, a pine-green pegasus was standing over dark blue mare. Nox was lying on her side at the base of the middle of the six statues. “Nox.” The green pegasus softly shook the unicorn in distress.
An aqua-maned pegasus was examining the statue above the dark blue unicorn. He turned towards the green pegasus and the unicorn. “We have to leave. Now. Did you feel that magical energy coming from here?”
“Yes, but why-” the green pegasus started.
“Exactly.”
The pain concentrated at the base of Nox’s horn was excruciating, and felt hotter than a star. The world swam in and out of focus, and the slightest head movement meant a fissure of pain. So much pain… It was easier just to sleep. Nox’s eyes fluttered closed.
~-_-~^_^~-_-~
A military pony was in his office, watching a screen intently. There was a hissing as his door opened behind him and a pony entered. Without turning his chair around, he said “Sargent, did you record the magical pulse?”
“Yes, sir. It occurred by the statues in the park at 17:00. Is it to be investigated?”
“At once.”
“Yessir.” The stallion scurried though the doors separating the commander’s quarters from the rest of the room.
The commander reclined in his chair. First it was the temperature anomaly in the PV-zone of the Everfree, with one of his best men returning from investigation alone and only able to speak in gibberish. Now, there’s a magic surge by the New Ponyville Park statues. The fabled statues about which books upon books of lore exists.
He pressed a button on his chair and leaned into the speaker above it. “Bring him in.”
The metallic doors hissed open once again, as two guards escorted a disheveled grey unicorn into the room and stood to either side of him. The unicorn’s eyes were the wide, shifting eyes of somepony overtly paranoid. He was also shivering as much as somepony with hypothermia.
The commander turned towards the unicorn.
“T-t-the forest, i-i-it’s so cold…” The unicorn was chattering from the cold even though the room was comfortable warm.
The commander addressed the guards. “Get this poor stallion a blanket.”
“Um, will all due respect sir,” the guard began hesitantly, “we’ve tried that. We even specially heated his cell. He stays cold no matter what.”
“Hmm.” The commander frowned. “Soldier. What happened in the Everfree?”
“It was c-cold.” The unicorn shivered. “My squad… Th-they were all t-t-t-taken. When I-I looked the other w-way…”
The unicorn started shaking, his eyes wide. “In… heart of Ev-Ev-Everfree... It-it was there!” The unicorn’s eyes were filled with remembered fright and paranoia. To either side, the guards slowly backed away, unsure what to do.
“It said to me-” The unicorn was quaking. The guards hastily scrambled back to what seemed like a safe distance and readied their weapons. A smile, a maniac’s smile crept on to the unicorn’s face. The air temperature dropped. Breath became frost.
“It said to me,” the unicorn began again, except it wasn’t the unicorn’s voice. The new voice came from not just the unicorn’s mouth, but from everywhere. It was a voice that pierced your brain and held your rapt attention. It was a cold frozen voice, one that could be equated with subzero temperatures or perfect logic. It was a voice that froze the soul. “You cannot run from a chill. And yet you try.” The unicorn -the voice- it laughed. The unicorn’s body shuddered. Its head turned and leveled its frozen glare at the commander. “Winter will fall at summer’s height. Equestria will be frozen to the soul.”
Thick red frost creeped up the unicorn’s legs with the body itself growing paler as the frost advanced.
“Evacuate!” shouted the commander, rising out of his chair. The guards sidled around the frost-ridden unicorn, intent on reaching the door and escaping from this nightmare. But the door was frozen shut, found out one guard. The other, who was on the side of the door override panel, reached towards the panel’s speaker, only to find that it had grown a thick layer of transparent ice.
The commander took a step forward. One guard decided that trying to attack the unicorn was a good idea. He found that with every moment, his steps were heavier and he felt more light-headed. The guard stopped, losing consciousness while standing up. His frozen veins bulged red and ripped his skin.
The commander took another step. The other guard screamed. Frozen spires slicked with red emerged out of his chest. Red liquid gargled out of his mouth as he collapsed.
“Why,” the commander asked, no weakness in his voice, “did you take all the trouble of taking a host and coming here to give me a message if you’re just going to kill me after I hear it?”
“Smart pony,” the voice responded. “It’s simple intimidation. For when you resist. You, however will stay alive. At least one pony must be able to spread the message.”
“Resist what?” The commander asked.
“The cold.”
“Elaborate,” the commander demanded, trying to get as many answers as he could out of the entity.
“Why should I?” The unicorn shook the icicles out of mane, the red frost up to its back. “This body isn’t going to last much longer with its blood on the outside. Time to go.”
The commander eyes widened in shock. The frost was-
The unicorn’s body shattered, the flesh and bones clearly visible in the shards of ice.
The commander’s will snapped. He dashed towards the door, through the pony shards, and hammered on it, hollering to get out. Fortunately the ice released the door, and it slid open, revealing a herd of ponies outside, curious as to why the commander’s door was locked and ice-cold.
(A/N)- USMS means Unicorn Strength Measurement Scale. Also, I think this escalated a bit too quickly. I'd like to have put some more space between Streak's lecture on Twilight and Nox's fiasco with the statue.