The Frost Chronicles: Book 1: Veil of Night

by steelwingx

Chapter 14: Rescue Mission

Author's Note:

okay so we come down to the second to last chapter of this part. i truly hope you have all enjoyed it so far, and the support you guys give is truly helpful. but fear not there will be one more chapter in this part.

anyway, as always, hope you enjoy!!!

CHAPTER 14
Rescue Mission

A few weeks before my life changed forever, if a pony had come up to me and said that in a few months’ time, I would be a part of a massive rebellion movement, bent on fighting against the tyranny of Equestria’s king, I would have assumed they were crazy and walked away. But, here I stand now, a young stallion who had lost so much, and gained little in return, on the verge of completing my training, to become a fully inducted Night Ranger.

Funny how life can change so easily.
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The training my friends and I had gone through, was rigorous beyond imagining. We were told that most ponies had spent their entire lives training with their teachers to fully commit to the cause. But here is stood, on the brink of what some many ponies craved their entire lives. I would be lying if I didn't feel concerned that some of the other initiates had been harboring jealousy towards and friends and I, but luckily for us, they never acted on it.

The physical training with Aurora Melody and Iron Star had been a great strain on our bodies, but the results had been worth it. Not that any of us were in bad shape, but having spent a few good years working in the lumber business, had done its job on keeping me fit, but the hard work had helped us build up our body’s even more, but not to the point where we were literally walking piles of bulging muscles, but enough for us to thrive as a Ranger.

The Magical training that River and I went through, was a strain of the mind and body, as many ponies know, if overworked in magic, it can cause strain on their body, and actually kill them if not tended to. But as we trained with Luna, our prowess in magic had gained drastically, as she taught many great lessons on the true power of magic.

The way she taught us, was the old way of magic, the way she learned. She would tell us that magic is the life blood of Equestria, and that even though we may not see it, all races of ponies used magic. Pegasi with their ability to manipulate clouds to their will, earth ponies with their incredible strength and endurance to till the land, and of course, unicorns, who were the only race that was able to directly access magic, and mold it to their use.
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As I stood in middle of the main sparing arena, centered in the middle of the main training hall, I looked around to observe my surroundings, nopony else aside from my friends were around the room. That and my three opponents, all standing at a different angle. I looked around and shifted in my new set of armor that Aurora had made for me, made from the same material as my axe. Aurora stood to my left, Iron Star in front of me, and Luna to my right, my axe attached to my side.

My friends look on with intrigued looks, they had all already passed their final tests, and were on their way to full Ranger hood, leaving just me. Both Iron Star and Aurora readied their weapons, while Luna’s horn glowed brightly, I could feel the sweat trickle down my face, waiting for their next moves.

Then, in one quick instant, Aurora and Iron Star charged at me, their swords at the ready, I narrowed my eyes, and levitated out my axe. As Iron Star leaped into the air, sword pointed directly at me, I rolled to the side and watched as his sword struck the ground and got stuck temporarily, bringing up my hoof, I punched him in the jaw, not hard enough to cause any real damage, but enough to knock him away. But before could do anything, Aurora jumped from behind, but instead of rolling out of the way, I turned and raised my axe up, there was a sharp clang as her sword came down on my handle. The force of her collision, knocked me down slightly, but I stood up and attempted to overpower her, but her superior skill was more than I could handle, as she broke away. I looked back to Iron Star charging at me again, but this time he had a large pole arm, I turned to face him as the spear end was pointed right at me.

I smiled as my horn began to glow, enough to the point where he could not see, as the brightness dies down, the pointed end was a few inches from my chest plate. I smiled as I quickly moved to the side a few inches, just so the point missed me, I then spun and kicked the weapon from his hooves, I then grabbed it and extended it in front of his hooves causing him to trip forward and collide with Aurora, which knocked them back to the ground.

Now it was just me and Luna.

As I turned to face her, a smug smile was plastered on her lips, my eyes narrowed as her horn glowed brightly, as she leaned down and shot a powerful blast at me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, my horn quickly glowed up and then I was gone in a flash. I smiled as I appeared slightly to the right of where she shot, she frowned and shot again, but I was long gone before she hit me. This continued until I was a few feet from her. Then I smiled as I disappeared one last time, this time I appeared right in front of her, I yelled out as I threw my axe up, bringing the blade up to her throat. She looked down at me with a shocked expression, both of us breathing heavily.

Just as quickly as it happened, she smiled at me and I backed down, holstering my axe again as I gave her a slight bow, which she gave in return. “Well done Frost, you have made excellent progress, you all have, and you passed the exam” she said. I smiled and turned to see Aurora and Iron Star walk up to me as well, both giving slight bows, which I gratefully returned. I slowly backed away and ran over to my friends, they all smiled and then broke into cheer, all of them giving me hugs and hoof pumps, except for River, who not only hugged me, but also kissed me on the cheek, and it was a casual, congratulatory kiss, nothing romantic behind it. But both our cheeks still turned red.

Just as we finished our cheering, the door to the training room flew open, and another pony came running into the room, he was out of breath and panting. We watched as he ran straight up to Luna, “Commander Luna…we received…a…urgent…message” he said through heavy pants. Luna smiled and comforted him, “calm down, take a deep breath, and then tell me” she said, the pony nodded and waited, slowly his breathing returned to normal.

By the time he caught his breath, we all gathered around him, waiting to hear what he so desperately wanted to tell us. After his breathing returned to normal, he looked up at Luna, “we received…an urgent message from one of our patrolling ships. They reported being shot down over the Everfree Forest” he said. We all exchanged confused and concerned glances, but we all looked up at Luna, who seemed to be processing, everything she heard.

Soon she looked at all of us and sighed. “Very well, come along every pony let us go to the War room. I’m sorry Frost, but your celebration will have to wait” she said with a frown as the three of them walked out of the room. I looked back at my friends, as they all shared my expression, but we quickly followed after.
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The War room was modified from its original purpose as the meeting room where the old inhabitants would meet and discuss their daily activities. The room now consisted of a large table in the middle of the room, with a large map of Equestria sprawled across it. There were multiple sets of computers across the room, some that controlled the security around the Monastery, some that regulated the flight patterns of the airships that were coming and going, and the others were simple radio set up’s that would allow, them to contact the various outposts scattered across the kingdom.

We had all gathered around the large table in the center, while the pony who had come to get us, played through the distress signal they received.

“This is the captain of the NRS Red Sky, we've been shot down over the Everfree, we request immediate evacuation, I repeat, we request immediate evacuation, we have several wounded, and they need medical assistance…” the voice said before it faded out and began to replay.

We all turned to see Iron Star mark a spot on the map, “this is where the signal is coming from, based on the information we have, the ship must have crashed landed here or nearby. We need to go there and bring them home” he said looking at all of us. Our gaze’s fixed on Luna who was studying the map with complete concentration, after a moment she sighed and looked up.

“I agree with Iron Star, that team was sent to infiltrate a Royal army outpost and collect new Intel on the army’s movements, it is imperative that we get them home, we need to assemble a team as fast as possible” she said as she turned away, but just before anypony could react, Lieutenant Arrow walked up and spoke. “With respect commander, I suggest we send Frost and his team, this would be the perfect practice for them to go on. If they succeed, then we will know if they truly are Night Ranger material” he said flashing me a sinister glare.

Luna turned and looked at Iron Star, who simply shrugged and nodded, Luna quickly turned to us and sighed. “He does have a point, you all passed your final tests, and this can be your first real mission. Do you think your team can handle it?” she asked, looking down at me. I looked back at my friends, who all simply gave me nods of encouragement, I felt my own confidence rise as I turned back to her, “we would consider it an honor, how soon do we leave? I asked her. She smiled at me and walked past and over to Aurora.

“Excellent, you’ll be leaving as soon as we get a ship ready, since this is your first mission, I am appointing Aurora as the mission captain. You are to take a ship out there, find the injured crew, and bring them back home. But I must warn you, their location is dangerously close to a Royal army outpost, you may find some resistance” she said with a warning look. I looked at my friends again, and saw their looks of confidence, I turned back to her and smiled, and gave a very confident nod of my own, which she returned with a grateful smile.

But despite that, I could tell that there was somepony in the room, who was not pleased by our acceptance.
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The low hum of the airship engines filled the sky, as our ship flew over the large and dangerous Everfree Forest, which had taken the lives of many innocent ponies, long before the war ever started. As we moved along, I made my way over to the side window and looked out at the forest below, my hoof twirling the medallion that hung around my neck, but I quickly heard a set of hooves walk up behind me, I turned to see River standing next to me, offering me a comforting smile. I sighed and looked away for a minute, but she placed a hoof on my shoulder. “It’s going to be fine, we’ll make it through this. Together.” She said as I turned to her and smiled. But just as I did, we saw Aurora walk up to us.

She was dressed in a set of armor that she claimed was passed down by her father, her mane tied back as it was the first day we met. We all turned and circled around her, all of us dressed in the armor she had made for us. “Alright my friends, this should be a relatively simply job, but there is a chance we may meet some resistance. We will have some back-up so while Frost, River and I head inside the crashed ship, Vapor and Dust will be stationed outside to watch. Stick to the plan and this should be pretty quick and easy” she said as the captain of the ship walked over to us.

“Captain Melody. We have the ship in sight” he said as we all walked forward and looked out. Instead of seeing a large amount of trees and smashed together like the rest of the forest, we saw a large amount of trees missing, torn out of the ground and throw to the side, a large mark that eventually lead to a large piece of metal that we assumed was the airship. “Excellent, looks like there is a clearing a few hundred yards away, let’s stop there and put the ship on cloak” she said as we slowly drifted away from the crashed ship and stopped above a small clearing, and we all felt the ship slowly descend.
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The forest seemed different that the stretch we traveled across on the royal convoy to New Canterlot, but that could have been the less dense part. As we made our way through, we began to see large chunks of metal around us, and then we made it out into the now unnatural clearing, with the large crash mark in the ground.

As we followed it, we came across the side of the wrecked ship, still creaking and groaning eerily. Luckily for us, we found a large hole that had been ripped into the side of the hull, bug enough for us to climb in and out. Before we made our way inside, Aurora turned to Vapor and Dust and nodded, they nodded back and turned around to keep watch, while some of the troops that had accompanied us, while she motioned for us to follow her in.
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The interior of the ship was filled with metal beams that held it together, unfortunately for us, we only managed to make it to the other shell, which made it hard to get inside the interior. But with a stroke of luck, we found another hole that lead into the cargo hold of the ship, and so we ventured further into the ship, making sure to avoid any sharp piece of metal.

In the cargo hold, many loose wires hung from the ceiling, as they occasionally sparked off electricity, Aurora took out her tracker and looked around. “Hmm, according to the tracker, the signal came from inside here” she said as we continued on. After the ship crashed, all sorts of things in the cargo hold had been thrown around, boxes that were once stacked on each other, were now thrown across the room.

But as we made our way closer to the room, we heard s sharp yell as multiple troops surrounded us, all pointing swords or rifles at us. But before anypony got a shot off, we realized they were dressed in the same armor we were, and that they had the Night Ranger Emblem on their armor, which was a small metal badge with Luna’s cutie mark on it that one attached to their chest plate.
“Whoa there, calm down boys! It’s me, Captain Aurora Melody, and we’re here to rescue you” she said in a calm tone as she lowered her sword. The minute she said that they all lowered their weapons and one of them stepped forward. “Oh thank Celestia you’re here, we thought you might be royal soldiers. Stand down boys, this is our ride home” he said as all the soldiers’ relaxed and sighed with relief.

The captain and Aurora shook hooves, but then he glanced at me and frowned slightly, “who’s this? Your new team?” he asked, Aurora smiled and stepped beside us. “Yes, this is Frost and River. Frost here holds the fifth medallion” she said with a charming smile, at that the captain’s eyes immediately widened, and he shook my hoof, “my apologies sir, I didn't recognize you, we haven’t been home for a few days now” he said with a sheepish smile. I smiled and shook his hoof as well, but as he shook River’s I noticed that all the ponies around us didn't seem injured like in his signal.

“In your message you said you had several injured, where are they?” I asked. His ears pinned back on his head, and he looked back at the others who shared his expression. “Without the proper medicine, we weren't able to treat their wounds in time, those with more severe injuries died, only those with some minor bone fractures are alive still, and you’re looking at them, we’re all that’s left” he said in a sad tone. I looked around and saw that what he was saying was true, many of the ponies around us, had bulges in their armor around their legs, and bandages around the heads.

Aurora looked at him and placed a hoof on his shoulder, “well were here now, and were getting you home, let’s go!” she said as we all turned around and made our way outside.
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As we exited the way we came out, we saw that Vapor and Dust were still standing in their positions, and nothing seemed to be out of place. “Okay, we got what we came for, so let’s head back to the ship before we-“ she said but stopped as she froze in place. We all turned to see why she stopped but her eyes widened as she examined the forest around us. I was about to ask her why she stopped, but she shushed me and looked around, eyes narrowing as she skimmed the tree line. In an instant her magic gripped the hilt of her sword, and she unsheathed it.

“Alright…show yourselves!” she shouted out into the trees, and the rest of us immediately readied our weapons. A few moments of silence passed before a group of royal soldiers dressed in armor came out of the trees and walked towards us. They stopped a few feet away, as the pony in front, whom we assumed was the leader, stepped forward and removed his helmet.

He smiled at Aurora as removed his helmet, “well, I’m impressed not many ponies can detect us so easily, we've been watching this wreck for hours now, just waiting for the crew to come out, but it seems, you did that for us” he said as he unsheathed his sword. Aurora stiffened slightly but stood firm, narrowing her eyes at him, “you would be surprised at what I’m capable of” she said with a slight smirk, but this was only met with a chuckle from the leader.

“I know who you are, Captain Aurora Melody of the Night Ranger’s, but we both know your more than just a captain, don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about” he said with a sinister smile. I slowly turned to see Aurora growl, as she looked around at us, before turning to face him. But then the leader turned to me, “and you must be their new puppet, Frost Fall is it? The famous medallion-wielder, this is the best they can muster” he said with a malicious grin, but not before he turned to address all of us. “Sorry you came all the way out here for nothing, but we’ll be taking those plans they stole” he said pointing at the captain of the ship.

By this point Aurora was seething, she pointed her sword right at him. “You’ll have to get through us first” she said, and the leader merely smiled, “I was hoping you would say that. Kill them!” he shouted as they all charged forward. Aurora cried out and charged at the leader, and then the battle broke out.
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Although we were matched in numbers, the battle did not take sides, as we both gained and lost ground. With my axe drawn I fought off a relentless Pegasus who was wildly swinging their words at me, the loud clang of metal rung as our blades collided, but as he pressed down on me from above, I cried out as I broke away and swung the blunt end of my axe and smacked him across the face, sending him to the ground. I turned to see another unicorn stallion charge at me, a spear levitated in his magic. Just like in training I jumped to the side and knocked the spear from his grip, and then reared on my front hooves and bucked him in the side, sending him a few feet away.

After that I looked around and watched the battle wage around me, I could see Vapor and Dust flying around shooting off arrow after arrow, occasionally scoring at hit. River was busy dueling another unicorn stallion, but she seemed to be taking the upper hoof, as I looked around, I could see Aurora fighting the leader in heated battle, despite her great skill, he seemed to be equally skilled.

As the battle went on, we gained the upper hoof, and began to push them back, even the leader backed off and retreated into the forest. But as that happened we heard a familiar sharp cry of pain ring out, we all turned to see an arrow cut through Vapor’s wing, causing her to fall off her path.

“Vapor!!!” Dust cried out as he fought off another Pegasus pony in air combat. As she fell, time seemed to slow as I looked around for a way to help her, but much to my surprise, I saw Aurora unlatch the armor around her body and jump into the air. There was a swift shadow above us as Vapor landed on its back, and crash into the ground, causing a puff of dust to fly around us.

We all coughed and narrowed our eyes trying to see past the cloud, but as it cleared we saw Aurora standing proudly, with Vapor resting safely on her back, but that’s not what caught our attention. Stretching majestically from her sides was a pair of long wings, which stood up fully, as Vapor rested between them. We watched in awe at the sight, and then the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

She was an Alicorn!

But I didn't have long to admire them, as I heard River cry out to me, time still seemed to react slowly as I turned to see her diving in my direction. It took me a few moments to see two ponies pointing rifle’s at me, but as the guns went off, River crashed into me and knocked me to the ground. My eyes opened in shock, as one of the bullets hit her in the chest, and the other in the side. I could see her cry out in agony, but no noise came out.

In one long moment she crashed to the ground and rolled on to her side, and ceased to move. My eyes turned to the two ponies as they reloaded, I could feel my anger boil to a point as my eyes narrowed. My horn glowed as I charged forward, unsheathing my axe. As I got closer, they pointed the rifles at me again, but I quickly brought up my axe and knocked them into the air. I leaned on my front hooves and bucked one of them with enough force to shatter their skulls, and it felt like I did just that, as he flew a few feet away, and slammed into the trunk of a nearby tree.

After that I screamed out as I lifted my axe up above the other pony, murder intent in my eyes, and brought it down on his shoulder. I felt a wave of satisfaction wash over me as the blade sunk into his flesh, and blood came out on to my blade. The pony screamed in agony, and fell to the ground, and didn't move again. Then the realization hit me.

I had just taken another pony’s life. And the strangest part was, I was okay with it, mainly because they had hurt my closest friend.
Time returned to normal as I stood over the now dead pony. The battle around us faded as the ponies retreated into the forest. I looked down at the body of the pony I just killed and my eyes widened in shock. I let go of the grip on my axe and stepped back, stumbling as my mind registered what I had just done. I looked back over to see River remaining motionless, so I dislodged my axe from the body’s shoulder blade and ran up to her, dropping the axe as I turned her on to her back.

I immediately put my hoof to her neck and sighed with relief, as I heard multiple sets of hooves walk up to me. I turned to see Aurora frowning at me slightly, Vapor and Dust came behind her, Vapor’s wing had been bandaged lightly, but it would still require surgery to stitch the wound. I felt tears form in my eyes as I looked back at River, “she’s still breathing, we have to get back to the ship” I said looking back at Aurora. She looked at me with a sorrowful expression and nodded.

“Alright every pony! Let’s back to the ship, go!” she yelled as they all took off. I hoisted River on to my back and carried her back to the ship myself, as my mind drifted back to the horrible crime I had just committed.