//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Exegesis of Frozen Waters // by HolyJunkie //------------------------------// [PAGE 1890 - CHAPTER 10] My eyes adjusted as I continued to climb the steep hills of the cliff I had come across. I knew this had to be it: I had finally reached land... and those damn bunyips were heckling me all the same. I managed to slay one when I could get a grip around his scrawny scaly neck. Those gryphons were damn good warriors, now that I recall my years of training with them. The remaining bunyips learned from the mistakes of their dead comrade, and were a lot more careful with their strikes. I had been bitten by those creatures' sharpened teeth a few times now. Every hole in my hide stung as the salty water washed away my never-ending supply of blood. Despite my immortality, the blood loss and constant sting made me feel numb. I couldn't give up. I didn't want to be bunyip food. Luna wouldn't allow it... but she wouldn't be able to find me in these depths. Nopony would... I doubt the seaponies would either. One more shot at me like a javalin. I was lucky enough to stick a hoof out and kick the bunyip in the teeth. I didn't know what was going to happen. Suddenly, the bunyips made screeching sounds that were muffled in the waters. I didn't dare look. I just continued the climb up to the surface. I could see the flickering sunlight piercing the many layers of water. Does water come in layers? Maybe to those unicorn scientists who round things into sectors for those charts... those charts lesser minds could remotely comprehend. Lesser minds like my own. I'm just an earth pony who can't die. I felt myself being picked up. Some armoured sea ponies had come to help. All they did was carry me to the surface of the ocean. Once out, I stumbled closer to the shore, and then regurgitated all of the water that had filled my insides. "Why?" I finally asked as I turned. I did nothing for them. I didn't deserve the help. "Why did you help me?" I turned to face a row of three armoured sea ponies. They had tridents slung over their shoulders, probably the standard weapon of a sea pony, much like armoured claws were for gryphons. The most ornately armoured sea pony in the center of the line replied, "Though you look different to us, you desire peace. We help our kind." I sat, and continued coughing out the sea water. Miraculously, my voice remained relatively the same. "You are troubled," the guard continued, "Most creatures fear death. You fear life." The three rose their right hooves as if they had such an action rehearsed. I turned my head to where they pointed. It was the largest mountain in the world, a place Kurgan Indrik would claim as his fortress... but that rhino bastard could not own that mountain. I turned back to them. They gave a bow. The lead guard finally said, "For problems like yours, there exists only one who can help. One who is bound to no nations, save for the very planet itself. He owes nothing, and nothing owes him. He is Equilibrium. He will help you." At that, the three sea pony guards dove back into the sea. I finally stood up and wobbled my way away from the beach. I still had fluids to evacuate, and I had been underwater for a long time. I then scaled the mountain. I climbed until I found an entrance even an adult dragon would have problems entering. As I climbed, I looked back on what the sea ponies had said. Mostly they reminded me of over-dramatic opera singers from the plays I watched with Princess Luna. It all seemed... unnecessary. Maybe it was necessary for one such as Equilibrium. I wrote before that the mountain could've belonged to Kurgan Indrik. Such a prospect was impossible, for there already exists an inhabitant. A massive two-headed creature was in a deep slumber within the hollowed-out peak. I knew not how such a beast could get inside, or how the biggest mountain in the world could be hollowed out like this. I didn't dare try to wake it up... but something about the creature fascinated me. There were convenient steps that led down to the ground floor of the chamber that could fill the entirety of Equestria. Like a stone, I pushed myself up the hill, only to climb down the hill once more. I arrived at the bottom of the stairs at last, and it was then that I wasn't sure how to introduce myself. "Excuse me," I finally decided to begin. "Yes?" a booming, yet soothing voice resonated across the massive chamber with barely an echo. It was as if he was speaking through some kind of mind business or something. "Are you Equilibrium?" "Yes." "Do you know of my plight?" "Yes..." "Do you say anything other than yes?" "Yes..." ... Okay, I made that last exchange up. Some ponies gotta have fun, right? He asked me if it really was a plight, or some curse to my existence. "Being immortal was cool over a thousand years ago," I replied, "and I'm disturbed at the advancement of Equestria." "Equestria," the massive beast repeated. He finally rose to his powerful wolf-like paws. The creature had two heads, and two scaly tails with live snake heads on the end. "Yes, a society of ponies-" "I know of Equestria. I know of the Queen who threatens the balance, who threatens Everfree Forest, who threatens all other societies on this planet." I slowly nodded. "Be wary of the Queen," he said, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." "What about you?" I asked. Surely a creature like this was powerful, if it meant almost divine worship from the sea ponies of all things. "My power only has as much influence as what creatures care to apply. The Everfree Forest, among others like it, are places that nothing can truly rule but myself." "Do you fear the Queen?" I asked. "Yes..." I stared, waiting for elaboration. I didn't think I needed to ask for it. "She continuously moves the sun and moon at her discretion. It's not natural. It... pains me to see such things happen all for one small piece of the planet." "I would think so." My heart stopped- not like that would do me in anyway. I watched Equilibrium's twin heads rise to see the newcomer. I didn't need to turn. I knew that voice. Galaxia... "Frozen Waters?" She asked as I finally turned. Even at a distance and contrasted against the brightness of the light beyond the entrance, I could see disbelief in her eyes. How did she remember my name? How did she recognize me? Did Luna tell her? "I'll deal with you later," she said. Equilibrium turned down to me once more. I started to feel a magical sensation that made my hairs stand on end. "Don't lose your head," he said with those yellow eyes. Of all the things I've lost memory of, this image will still haunt my mind. Those eyes oozed regret. He stepped back and puffed his serpent chest out as a challenge. He bellowed, "At least I don't turn things into sto-" Then I found myself outside of the mountain. I shot my gaze up to the entrance I spent so long climbing up to. A violent purple light flickered from the entrance for a few seconds. Then silence... I decided to gallop into the woods and hide. I didn't want the Queen to find me after whatever she was doing. The mountain cracked... and cracked some more. I could see a more intense light seeping through the cracks. They were not violet. They were of every colour. The mountain then exploded. Pieces of rock soared miles into the sky. I hit the dirt near a cluster of trees. I prayed no piece would fall on top of me. Immortal or not, If I'm stuck, I'm stuck. Eventually, everything stopped. I rose my head from my makeshift cover and looked back at the mountain. Pieces were still falling, but the mountain was very much a crater now... What had Galaxia done? There was nothing left... I didn't get the answers I wanted... She made sure of that somehow. "Frozen?" The Queen called. She couldn't find me. I didn't dare speak up. I instead nestled myself deeper in my cover. "Frozen!" she called again. "Luna is waiting for you!" I almost wanted to respond... She promised to take me back... and she also saved me a long time ago... You know, I just realised... I've been holding a pretty excellent memory of my life, despite what I said before- on how my memories were becoming faulty... I think I'm just remembering them again as I write... That must happen to writers, I guess... Against my better judgment, I rose from my cover. "Galaxia!" I called. "Frozen," she soared down and landed a few meters away, "What are you doing here?" I told her the truth. I was traveling. "Luna misses you," She replied. She appeared to ignore her handiwork entirely. "What about Equilibrium?" I asked, "What the heck did you do to him?" "You should know better than to mention what has happened here," She said, "This is for the betterment of all ponies." I stared in disbelief. Wouldn't you, dear reader? "But..." The Queen's eyes looked the same... I honestly couldn't come up with a description for them until now: Focused. She had blinders on. I never noticed because they aren't the physical kind our marathon runners wear. She did this for ponies. She attacked my zebra family of twenty years for ponies. She brought down the hammer on the rhinos for ponies. She peeved off the gryphons for ponies. What more would she do? Is Luna safe? Queen Galaxia was... kind enough... to bring me home. For the first time since the war, I feared death... or something worse than death. It was something... that I feared... She just murdered Equilibrium itself... What else could she do? --- Two days out from Ponyville. The only thing Silver consumed was a rationed can of sweetgrass. He was far too busy reading. Trixie was asleep. Earlier, she had been practicing some kind of precision magic with ropes. She tied every knot Silver figured was possible. It had to come in handy more than once in the street magician's life. The scriptwriter started thinking of a character whose special gimmick was knots, and how he utilized said talent to outwit and outlast an entire team of gryphons or rhinos or something. How would anypony get rhino actors, anyway? he asked himself. He had reached the six thousandth page. The more he head, the more he wanted to just stop... but he couldn't. It was too late. He had read about some utter horrors that had to be true. Even if they weren't true, they would've made for a most excellent drama. But what would Sydney say? He hates not antagonizing gryphons up to the point where even more ponies than Gold were getting sick of it. Maybe with Gold's help, the scriptwriter could write and produce it himself. Sydney would eat his words when this story became a smash hit. Kurt hadn't stopped his light gallop throughout the entire trek. He was still awake, shockingly. "Can't you sleep?" Silver asked. "Don't need to," Kurt replied, "I assume Frozen wrote about that." Silver nodded, but the fighting pony didn't see it. "Page six thousand now." "Any new developments?" "It's gonna be hard to get sleep," the scriptwriter replied. He closed his eyes regardless of the disturbing information he was receiving. "How do you know it's all true, anyway?" "Kurgan knew," Kurt replied, "When I woke up after finishing him off, I felt that I knew things that I didn't know before. I suddenly had knowledge of rhino culture. Well, bits and pieces-" "Wait, wait," Silver interrupted, "You killed Kurgan Indrik?" "Yeah," Kurt replied. "How?" "Knowing Frozen, he'd want to know as well," Kurt replied, "Nothing was ever meant to live for thousands of years." --- Silver finally got some shut-eye. When he woke up, Trixie was also awake, and Kurt still never slept yet. "What do you think it all means?" The street magician asked. "What-now?" Silver asked. "I think it's some effort to defend some last will the Queen left behind," Kurt replied, "I guess to figure that out, we need to figure out how she died in the first place." "Is that why you went after this book?" Trixie asked. "Yes." "But the Queen's been gone since before the Gryphon Conflict," Trixie said. "Seriously? That long?" Silver asked, "How are there still these ponies in suits around?" Kurt shrugged, "Whatever the case, we need that book read. I'm heading towards Canterlot." "Canterlot?" Trixie blurted, "Are you insane? That's where they came from!" "I know the Royal Guard, they're not with the ponies that are after us. They can keep you safe. Just tell them your names and that you're looking for Princess Celestia." "Something tells me you're not coming with us," Silver commented. "Correct. I can't go back there, not for Kaia, or Cor or anyone," Kurt replied. Silver easily timed the beat between the dialogue. "I made a promise." "That doesn't mean I'm opting out entirely," the giant continued, "With you two safe, I can move at my own pace and find where these ponies came from." The trees hanging over the path began to part. The mountain Canterlot sat upon filled the opening vista. Kurt then stopped before the very edge of the trees. He turned to the duo and gestured to the mountain city. "Here's where we split," Kurt said. "Suddenly I wonder what your purpose in all this really is," Silver said. "What do you mean?" Trixie asked. "You want to kill Frozen; it can't be for mercy." Kurt's brows rose in surprise. He sputtered his response. "What? How'd you figure that out? Are you insane?" Silver gave Kurt an unamused expression. "Nothing was ever meant to live for thousands of years, you said so yourself." Kurt then nodded. "Yeah... but you've been reading his diary." "That's irrelevant," Silver replied, "Emotions can't be assumed through text." Kurt didn't reply- a typical response of what was ultimately a meathead. He turned back to the path in front and continued pulling that carriage. Silver turned to Trixie and held a hoof out in a gentlemanly gesture toward the mountain city of Canterlot. As Trixie left for the gate, Silver heard a rustle in the nearby brush- near the Everfree Forest, where Kurt had probably gone. "Kurt?" Blunt force made contact with Silver's head. He never got to call for Trixie.