Spot met Cirrus the day after their scuffle. The two didn't say much to each other and the awkward silence persisted as they made their way through town and into the snow fields. Spot was impressed that the griffin was comfortable with wearing only light clothing while the unicorn had to wear many different layers. As they neared the mountain, it was obvious that something large was lurking around. Large prints in the ground suggested that a dragon was nearby, but the depth of the prints were much too deep. The dragon would have had to be the size of a castle to make prints that big, and dragons of that size were rare.
Cirrus broke the silence by commenting that they were getting close to the cave that he believed the dragon rested. “We will wait here for night to fall, then we will sneak into the cave.” Spot nodded in agreement, but remained silent. Soon the howl of the wind was the only noise. The two didn’t look at each other; the tension of the previous day still hung in the air. “What do you need the tablet for?” Cirrus questioned. “It’s not something that would be of any interest to you.”
“I’m not interested in it,” Spot replied curtly, “I’m here to retrieve it for someone else.”
“That’s troubling news.” The griffin looked a little sad, “It describes directions to resurrect an ancient power. Be sure your friend doesn’t let it fall into the wrong hooves.” Spot was about to answer when a low rumble shook the two to the core. Something enormous flew overhead, swooping low so as to block out the little light that was cast by the rising moon. “That must be the dragon!” Cirrus shouted as he took off running towards it. Spot followed, and soon the two found the cave that the dragon had made its home.
The cave entrance was hard to miss, but many of the griffins probably didn’t travel up that far because there was really no reason to. The cave was surprisingly bright. There were torches on the walls which was strange for a cave inhabited by a dragon. Despite that, there were telltale signs that a dragon lived there. Claw marks on most of the surfaces, treasure scattered in messy heaps, and the lifeless statues of its frozen victims. Many of the unfortunate were griffins, but there were a few ponies. Heavy breathing echoed through the cave and the two took it as an indication that the dragon was asleep. They reached the innermost part of the cave and spotted the dragon, which Spot found to be most interesting. It wasn’t an ice dragon; it was a dragon made of ice!
Incredible! Spot thought to herself, This is not the work of nature, but of powerful magic! I’ve heard that this sort of magic was possible, but I didn’t realize that I would ever see it; the caster must be here somewhere! Spot momentarily forgot her original purpose for being there and ventured out in the open.
Cirrus noticed her and pulled her back into the shadows. “Are you crazy!” he whispered, “You’ll get us killed!” Spot struggled against his hold, but he was much stronger.
“Let me explain!” She whispered back. Cirrus loosened his grip on her, and allowed her to explain what she had been thinking. Cirrus wasn’t sure if he trusted her reasoning, but he was curious to see if she was right. The two wandered carefully up to the dragon, and to their relief, it didn’t stir from its slumber. As Spot had expected, the dragon’s body was made of solid ice forced into a living shape by magic. As the two stared into it’s body, they could see something standing behind them in the reflection.
They deftly spun around and came face to face with a tall unicorn. He was wearing a silver chest piece that covered his light blue coat. His short mane looked sharp and icy as if it had been blown back by a strong freezing wind. His horn faded from blue into a very deep red that matched his eyes which stared at the two with contempt. “What are you doing in here!?” He yelled, “Do you want me to add you to my collection?” The two gulped. They figured that “the collection" referred to the many columns of frozen ponies and griffins.
Cirrus was the first to answer and it seemed that his surprise had completely vanished. "Are you the one that owns this dragon? The one that has been terrorizing the town?" Indeed, the young griffin's questioning had turned into some interrogation. "You have a lot to answer to if it was you!"
The unicorn chuckled, "You amuse me. Kold does not answer to anyone but himself. You could bring an army against me and I would turn them all to ice and shatter them with a single utterance. " Kold, as the unicorn called himself, stomped the ground and a sharp gust of wind chilled Spot and Cirrus to the bone. There were even small icicles forming on their clothes already.
Spot used her magic and turned the ice that clung to their clothes into water droplets. She then gathered them up into a puddle of water which promptly froze. While Spot thought nothing of the action, Kold was intrigued.
"Water magic? Why, I've been looking for somepony to teach me that very thing." The unicorn thought for a moment. "If you were to allow me to learn what you know, I will let you both go free."
"Hold up!" Cirrus said abruptly, "What about everyone you froze? I'm not leaving until they are all returned."
Kold's smile quickly turned to a frown, "What would you need with a bunch of dead bodies?"
Cirrus was pushed over the edge by this remark. He screeched and lept at Kold with his talons outstretched. The griffin aimed for the unicorns throat so as to finish him in one strike. But without even batting an eye, Kold froze the griffin solid while he was still in mid air. The chunk of ice that was Cirrus fell to the ground.
Spot's heart skipped a beat as she saw the immense power of the other unicorn. She slid over to the griffin and turned the ice into water. As the moisture flowed away and froze again, Spot checked Cirrus' pulse. He was dead. "I need him alive!" Spot spouted without thinking. She quickly covered her mouth so as not to perhaps anger Kold.
"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." Kold said nonchalantly. "Bringing one back to life is beyond my power. However, instead of worrying about him; you should worry about yourself." Kold moved closer to the unicorn. His intimidating presence made Spot quiver, "I don't want to have to kill you too," he said calmly, "Allow me to learn what you have learned and you will go free. In fact, you will be rewarded."
"I don't see much of a choice." Spot replied. She couldn't see any way out of this. She doubted that a unicorn who could kill a fully-grown griffin in the blink of an eye could be bested by her.
“Good, now point your horn towards me.” Kold looked at Spot expectantly, but she was confused by his instructions. She relented and bowed her head towards him. Kold bowed his head down and touched his horn to Spot’s. A bright light flashed and was reflected by the smooth walls of the cavern. In that moment, Spot was overcome with memories and experiences. She was flooded with feelings of great sorrow and hate, as well as loneliness. The swathe of memories was almost too much for her. She fell to her knees and started gasping for air.
“What was that?”
“A memory sharing spell,” Kold sighed, “I just looked around your mind for anything pertaining to magic; I have no interest in other pony’s pasts.” His horn was surrounded by a blue aura and Kold tested his new magic. He turned the dragon of ice into a dragon of water and back again. Satisfied, Kold helped Spot to her hooves, “Thank you Spot. Allow me to escort you back to the town.”
“Th-Thank you…” Spot was still reeling from the mental experience she just had. “But, who are you?” She had seen into his past in that small instance, and it wasn’t pretty. She wondered what kind of unicorn would be able to survive all that he did.
“I am Kold,” he replied, “that is all.” He seemed to have taken a moment of brief contemplation. “It is time for you to go.”
“Wait! Won’t you tell me anything else?”
“You would know too much,” Kold stated matter-of-factly. Without another word spoken between the two, Kold’s horn glowed bright and enveloped Spot in its magic. Spot instinctively closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she found herself right outside of Talonfall. Spot kicked at the ground in frustration. She felt like she should have known who that unicorn was, but she couldn’t put the pieces together. His memories filled her mind like tiny sprites: only showing up in the corner of your eye before flitting away.
Spot had lost track of time. She stood on the outskirts of the town in the snow trying her best to solve the puzzle of Kold’s identity, but the griffins of the town were getting curious. She had left during the night and now it was early morning. Why was the unicorn standing in the snow and staring into space in the wee hours of the monring? A mischievous little grifflett tossed a pebble at her. The rock struck the ground next to her which was enough to break her concentration. She looked around and blushed when she realized that everyone was looking at her. She scurried off to her room at the inn and rested for a spell before heading to Cirrus’ house.
It was unfortunate that the griffin had to die. He really didn’t deserve it, but Kold definitely lived up to his name. She crept into the deceased griffin’s house and searched for the tablet that she had originally been there for. It was back in its perch above the fireplace, but the glass was still broken from the night before. She retrieved her prize and headed for the door when she remembered Cirrus’ words. Apparently he had some “encrypted notes”. Spot figured it would be best to find them. She searched all over the house, but couldn’t find even a scrap of paper. It wasn’t until she searched that kitchen that she discovered a safe behind a shelf of collectible sporks. It was easy to pick the safe. A teacher back at the academy taught her how to use her water magic in unexpected ways. She used small streams of water as a sort of lock pick. The safe swung open with ease, and laying inside were a stack of papers and a glowing blue gem. Intrigued, Spot inspected the gem first. It looked ordinary, but she could tell that it was somewhat magical. She decided to hold on to it. As for the papers, Spot could tell that they were written in some ancient griffin dialect. Her studies in Neigh Jing allowed her to make out a few words.
“Core, golem, power, elements? I wonder what all of these mean.” She said aloud. She shrugged and decided to keep these as well. She couldn’t make out what the script was talking about, but it sounded interesting. She made her way to the door once again when she looked at the clock. She still had some time left, but there was nothing left for her to do. “I’ll just have to lay low till tomorrow, but I shouldn’t go back to the inn… they might look for me after Cirrus doesn’t come by.” She closed the door to the ownerless house, leaving its untold secrets to be plundered by mere passersby.