//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Life in Ashen 
// Story: The Frost Chronicles: Book 1: Veil of Night 
// by steelwingx 
//------------------------------//


CHAPTER 1
Life in Ashen



I awoke that morning as I did any other, lying on my back staring at the ceiling, the comforting embrace of my dream slowly leaving me, as a cold chill passed over me, I looked to my side and saw that the other half of the bed was empty, signifying that my sister had already gotten up.

With a heavy groan I pushed myself up, and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, turning to the mirror, I chuckled at the messy stripped light blue mane I had, giving it a quick brush to smooth it down, I left the small room that I shared with my younger sister.

Our family was forced to live in a very small two bedroom house, much like rest of the population of Ashen. Ashen was a small community in the north eastern mountains, far away from the shimmering lights of New Canterlot, a town that lived in poverty and despair. My family had lived in this house for two generations, ever since my grandfather built it, as a place for his family, to make a new life for themselves, some life it turned out to be. After my father died three years ago in a mining accident, I was forced to take up the duty of supplying my family with what money I could, and that meant taking up various jobs around town, until I found a steady job working at the lumber mill. My mother forbade me from working in the mines, in fear of losing me to, and she has every right.

As I made my way to the bottom of the stairs, I looked up and saw all the pictures of my family, from the day the house was complete, to the last picture we took as a family, when my father was still alive. As I got closer to the kitchen, the smell of food quickly filled my nostrils, luckily for us; our mother was a very good cook, something she learned from her mother, whom I never met.

As I walked in, I saw my sister, Misty Rain, sitting at her side of the table, patiently waiting for breakfast. Despite her young age, she fully understood our economic struggles, and never bugged to have new toys like some of the slightly wealthier filly’s she knew at school. My mother calmly smiled at me as she flipped another hay pancake, “morning sweetie” she said in her normal cheerful voice. Over the years I had come to understand that she purposely remained cheerful, to make us believe that she was okay, but as I got older, I understood what it was like living this lifestyle, though my sister may not have.

“Morning mom, misty” I said greeting them both, as I sat at my place, my mother quickly came over, levitating a plate of freshly made pancakes, to both our plates. “You got up later than usual, everything alright?” she asked me, I calmly smiled at her, despite her age, my mother still had that charming smile, that enchanted my father, “yeah I’m fine, just a little more tired than usual” I said as I took a bite, she smiled again and walked back to the stove, wiping her hooves off with a towel.

“Got work today?” she asked me, after I swallowed I stood up, “yeah, the boss wants me to put in a few hours today, but the good news is I get paid, is there anything we need from the market?”  I asked as I walked over to her, she nodded and got some paper, “yes, I’ll make you a list, better finish up eating and get to work” she said and I quickly went back to eating, a few minutes later, I put on my coat and saddle bag, while my mom levitated up a small bag, that most likely contained my lunch. I smiled and kissed her cheek, then moved over to my sister, “I’ll drop by and pick you up mist, okay?” I said as I headed for the door, she didn't say anything, only giving me an assured nod, as I quickly left the room.
________________________________________

As I stepped outside the house, the cold morning air filled my lungs, making me shiver and pull my coat closer to me, as I stepped off the porch, into the fresh layer of snow on the ground. Living in Ashen had its advantages and disadvantages, one disadvantage, was that it snowed frequently, and many ponies had to go without snow shoes, making hard for ponies to go places, but luckily for me, I was used to walking in the snow every day, since I started my job at the mill. Taking a deep breath, I calmly made my way down the street, hearing the snow crunch under my hooves.

To the ponies that had lived and grown up in Ashen, it was a quaint little friendly town, the kind where everypony knew everypony, and many of them treated other with respect, while some from cities like New Canterlot or Manehatten, would look upon our seemingly uncivilized way of life, due to our lack of modernization, I had come to love it’s peacefulness.
________________________________________

As I walked along the road, the various shops had just started to open, many of them not getting much business. Our biggest trade was lumber and coal, which we traded with travelers from across the kingdom, much of which went to the large factories through the kingdom, if there was one thing the entire kingdom could agree upon, it was that under Red Spear’s rule, technology sure had advanced.

Equestria had reached its own Industrial Revolution, motor vehicles now driven by the high class ponies of the capitol city and those like it, large factories built across the kingdom, spat out brand new inventions, especially those made for militaristic purposes, such as pistol’s and shotguns, which were only carried by imperial soldier’s and other high ranking officer’s. Ashen itself, was very 
different, without access to these items, not many ponies knew much of the rest of the world, only that Ashen had one or two motor vehicles that had broken down and abandoned by their owners.

Walking down the road, I came up to a large old building, one of the first to be built in Ashen with a large sign over the door.

Cloud’s Lumber Mill


As I walked in, I passed by other workers on their way out to the yard to haul in more lumber, quickly giving them a friendly nod, something they kindly returned, I made my way inside.  After making my way through the shop, I came into Mr. Cloud’s office, as I knocked on the door; he looked up from his desk and smiled at me, the overhead light reflecting off his glasses. “Frost, glad you could make it in today, sorry for that; I’m a little short right now, but I may need you to deliver some lumber as well, think you can manage?” he asked, with his cheery old smile, that always made ponies laugh, Mr. Cloud was one of the more respected members of the community, and was widely adored for his good nature. “Sure thing boss, let me just get my things and I’ll get to it, oh! Almost forgot, mom say’s hi, and she wanted me to give this to you, just a little gift” I said reaching into my bag, and pulling out some extra food from the night before, and placed it on his desk.

Mr. Cloud looked at me and smiled widely, “well thank you Frost, your mother is a sweet mare, I know times are tough for you right now, but you know I’m always here to help you out, your father was a good friend of mine, and I will do what I can to help his family out” he said putting a hoof on my shoulder. I smiled at that, Mr. Cloud was always like a second father to me, mainly because I had known him since I was a foal, and my father was almost like a brother to him, and the whole town grieved when he passed. I calmly removed his hoof and turned towards the door, “thanks Mr. Cloud, let me just get into my gear, and I’ll get to work” I said, he gave a calm nod and returned to his desk, while I made my way to the locker room.
________________________________________

There was a dull thwack, as the head of my axe, chopped through a chunk of wood, splitting it in two. I had already been at work for a few hours, and the clock had ticked past noon, signifying that my shift was almost over. I sat and took a breather as a older earth pony walked past and hauled away the wood I chopped, I quickly turned away as I levitated another batch of wood over, dumping it next to my cutting block, when I turned back, much to my surprise, my axe had disappeared. Quickly looking around to make sure I didn't place it anywhere else, I noticed hoofprints in the snow, leading off to some tree’s, wiping the sweat from my brow, and I walked after them.

As I got closer to the tree line, I heard some hoof steps, as a young mare my age, stepped out from the tree’s, smiling at me, she had a light blue coat, and a dark blue mane with streaks of purple in it. She had a sly smile on her face as she waved the axe around; “looking for something?” she asked teasing me with the axe. I felt a smile creep along my face, “hey River, yes I’m looking for my axe, and can I have it back, please?” I asked with a kind voice, she smiled at me and examined the axe. “What this one? Oh, I doubt that, I stole this axe from a handsome young stallion, and I’m waiting for him to ask me nicely” she said in a teasing voice, with a mischievous look in her eyes.

River was the mayor’s daughter and my best friend since we were foals, and we still are today, growing up in a town like this, one need friends to get by, and since we shared a lot of the same interests, we quickly grew close. But we equally had our differences, she was more of a dreamer than I was, with me being more grounded in reality, I suppose that might have to do with the fact that she was of the richest family in town, and I was from the less fortunate part, but that never stopped us.

“Hmm, well then you won’t mind if I do this” I said throwing a snowball at her face, she cried out in shock and fell back, the axe falling from her grip, as she wiped the snow away, a grin on her face. “Hey! No fair” she said standing up, I smiled as I levitated my axe up and holstered it, “well, nopony said I had to play fair” I said with a smile. Finally standing up, she turned to me, and we walked back to my station. She simply sat to the side as I levitated another piece of wood, and quickly cut it, “so, how much longer is your shift?” she asked, I let out a grunt as I pulled the axe back up, despite using magic, the work had as much physical strain as it did mental, I put the axe down, “um, should be ending any minute now, but Mr. Cloud wants me to deliver some wood as well, but that shouldn't be long” I said as I repeated the same motion on the next block of wood.

She smiled as she watched me work, “cool, mind if I tag along, couldn't hurt” she said in a calm tone, the same tone that always came with her calm and caring demeanor. I thought for a moment and smiled at her, “sure, I’ll have to ask Mr. Cloud, but I’m sure he won’t mind” I said wiping my brow, just as I did, the whistle, that signified the end of the shift, howled in the distance. I quickly turned to her and smiled, motioning her to follow me, as I holstered my axe and we made our way back to the main building.
________________________________________

After finishing my shift, River and I, made our way around town, delivering fresh fire wood to the usual stops, and then returning to the mill, where we parked the cart and made our way inside.

Walking in to Mr. Cloud’s office, he looked up and smiled at us, “job’s done sir” I said as we walked in, he quickly got up and walked over to me, placing a small bag of coins in my hoof, “excellent work frost, here’s your pay for the week, with a little something extra for the deliveries, you two take care now, and say hello to your mother for me!” he shouted the last part as we left his office, and made our way back.
________________________________________

As we walked through the town, I remembered that I had to stop at the market, and pick up some food, and we quickly made our way there. Going through the aisles, River helped me pick out the things I needed, such as vegetables, eggs, and other assorted things for the house, and with the help of Mr. Clouds slight raise, I was able to buy a little something for River and Myself. As we walked through the market, fetching the items, a group of older stallions was standing not far from us, attempting to talk quietly, but they couldn't stop their excited voices from raising a little too high. “…not sure why they’re coming here, I hope they just come and go…” was what one of them said, river and I quickly listened in, “…besides, you know as well as I do that the town’s been producing less than usual, they might be coming here to whip us into shape” the other said, and finally the third one spoke up, “damn imperial troops, why can’t they just leave us alone, go bother some other town…” he said but we couldn't hear the rest as we made our way out of the market.

As we came out, I turned to River, and I could immediately tell, she was thinking the same things I was. “Imperial troops? Coming here? Why? We haven’t done anything wrong” I said with a concerned tone, River turned to me, “it’s not that we’ve done anything wrong, those stallion’s were right, the town has been producing less than usual, my father’s tried to solve the problem, but no luck, we’ll see tomorrow, I have to get home, see ya” she said as she trotted off, I nodded and trotted off in the direction of my home. But I couldn't fight the concerned feeling in my gut, imperial soldier’s frequently sent patrols to the outer towns, to keep order, but when they came in larger numbers, it could only mean one thing.

Something bad was going to happen, and soon.