The Frost Chronicles: Book 1: Veil of Night

by steelwingx

Chapter 4: Distant Clouds

Author's Note:

well, i wanted to upload another chapter for the story, so here it is, hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER 4
Distant Clouds

After the rest of the citizens were escorted out of the town square, those who were chosen were taken on to the stage, where the general explained the plan. We would have a full day to pack anything we needed, from clothes to personal items, and then we would be gathered into a large motor vehicle, and taken towards New Canterlot. Afterword, the soldiers escorted us to our homes, where we would have the chance to say goodbye to our families, but I had the feeling my goodbyes would be more unique than others.

After the soldier’s left me in front of my house, I knew I would have to face my mother and sister, and it wouldn't be pretty. I took a deep breath, and slowly made my way inside, opening the door, I immediately saw my mother and sister, standing in front of the stairs, my mother had a look of distraught on her face, something I hated to see. I sighed heavily and walked up to them, there was a glistening in her eyes, indicating that she had recently been crying.

I walked up to her, afraid to meet her gaze, but I willed myself to look up, my own blue eyes meeting hers, “mother I-“ but before I could fully speak, she cut me off with a hard slap to the cheek, my words lost in my mouth, it was true that the stinging felt bad, but it couldn't compare to the pain I felt, seeing my mother in such pain.

I turned back to her, her lip was quivering, and tears started to pour from her eyes again, “I’m sorry” was all I could muster, instead of saying something, she moved to strike me again, but faltered, her hoof caught in the air, it was then that she gave in and began bawling, she wrapped me into a tight hug, and held me close, I could feel the tears hitting my shoulder, I tried to comfort her, “it’s going to be okay mom, I’ll be fine, I can handle myself, I promise you, I will be back, I won’t ever leave you” I said, and ever so slowly, the tears stopped, and she turned to look at me, and with a nod, I turned to my younger sister.

At this point she had been struggling to hold back tears, I bent down slightly to get to her eyes level, “Misty, it’s going to be okay, just…just promise me you’ll look after mom, and stay out of trouble” I said as I turned back towards the door, I knew there was a couple of things I had to take care of, before I packed up. Opening the door slightly, I turned back and gave them the best smile I could, even if I truly didn't believe it myself, and with that, I quickly went out the door.
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After leaving the house, my first stop had been to go to the lumber mill, to talk with Mr. Cloud, but as I arrived, he had been more distressed than I had ever seen him. After talking with him for a while, he assured me, that when I came back, my job would still be waiting for me, and that he would do what he could to help my family out, something I was immeasurably grateful for, and with that I decided to talk a walk around town.

As I walked along the street, many ponies had gone about resuming their daily lives, but every now and then, I could feel them turn to watch me, and despite not being able to hear clearly, I could hear them whisper, not that I knew for sure, but I had a pretty good feeling they were whispering about me, and my little stunt.

As I turned a corner, and began walking on to a slightly more deserted street, I suddenly felt a familiar chill run down my spine, the same one I felt before I received that mysterious gift, but before I could react, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I quickly turned around and was met with a hard punch to the face, one powerful enough to send me falling to the floor. The sting from my earlier attack came back, along with a new sting, I groaned and looked up to see none other, than a very pissed off mayor’s daughter.

As I slowly pushed myself up, rubbing my already sore cheek, she slowly spoke, “you stupid…idiot! What in the name of Celestia were you thinking?!” she shouted at me, as I fully stood up and faced her. “Heh, nice to see you too River” I said trying to lighten the tense mood, but when I looked up at her, there was nothing but anger in her eyes, and I could tell she was expecting an answer, “well? What were you thinking?” she yelled again, moving to hit me again, but I moved back, and she stopped.

“Me? I was thinking about my little sister. What was I supposed to do, River? Let them just take her away, she’s strong, but not that strong, she wouldn't last a day with that much work” I said back, River still had the angry look in her eyes, but she knew I was right, and she hated it. “I can’t believe you did that” she said turning away from me. Knowing that I was safe from any further strikes, I slowly took a step towards her, despite her being turned away, I could hear what sounded like sniffling.

Still taking cautious steps, I stepped next to her, “River…if you had a younger sibling, what would you have done, I love my sister, and I would do anything to protect her” I said, placing a hoof on her shoulder, almost immediately she shrugged it off. “it’s not about that, do you have any idea, how much it hurt me, to see the ponies I grew up with and befriended, get called up, to be gone for so long” she said as wiped what looked like tears from her eyes.

I slowly felt a growing pang of guilt grow in my heart, “River…what’s wrong?” I asked with a honest tone, she didn't speak for a moment, but she eventually turned to face me, and I could see the tear stains on her eyes, indicating that she had been crying before coming to me, but what for, I didn't know. “my father…he purposely asked the general to remove my name from the list, I begged him to put it back on, to make it fair to the other ponies, but he refused, I hate being treated differently because of my father’s status, I wanted myself to have a fair chance, it’s not fair, I have nothing productive to do here, you have your family to take care of, what will they do while you’re gone? How will they survive? What about me? Did you ever take into account, what it would do to me? Watching my closest friend be taken away, can you tell me that?” she asked, bringing us up to eye contact.

I looked into her eyes, and saw a mix of many emotions, anger, sadness, depression, but I was at a loss for words, something that had only recently started happening to me, I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and my mouth slowly closed, I watched as River gave off a sad smile, as a small tear slid down her cheek, “no…I didn't think you could…” she said and slowly walked away. I watched her go, and like before I acted on impulse, “River…wait!” I called after her, she briefly stopped and turned her head back to me, “I’m sorry Frost, but…I guess this is goodbye for now” she said as she continued walking away, I felt the need to call after her, but my better judgment told me to let her go. But much to my surprise, I felt a tear slip down my cheek, as my eyes began to get misty, I quickly wiped them away, and when I looked back, she was gone.

As if my day couldn't get anymore worse, but as fate seemed to hate me the past few days, it did. Much to my surprise, I heard a light chuckling, and turned to my right, to my surprise, an older male unicorn, sat leaning up against the building, looking at me with an amused smile, he was dressed in more fancy attire than I had seen in town.

Then it hit me, he matched the description that Vapor gave me, even with the glasses and the beard, he was even smoking a cigar. “well my friend, that was…quite the interesting show” he said in a more elegant and educated tone, which only proved that he was from one of the bigger cities, I immediately wiped the glistening from my eyes, and fully turned to face him. “Sorry sir, I apologize that you saw that, it’s just that…” I tried to say, but the right words escaped me, he just continued to smile and took a puff of his cigar, and waved his hoof, leaning back and placing his hooves on the ground.

“Oh I don’t mind, I enjoy a good show as much as the next pony, but you may want to watch who your audience is” he said as he stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to me. He had a dark grey coat, and a deep blue mane, that matched the strips in mine, but his words are what interested me the most, “I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean” I said, he simply smiled and finished his cigar, before throwing it off to the side, blowing the smoke in my direction. “well, I’m talking about the little stunt you pulled in town square, and before you ask how I know, I was there, I watched the whole thing, and I must congratulate you, not many ponies dare to do something so defiant” he said with a calm yet unnerving smile.

I looked this stallion over with a suspicious gaze, but he seemed perfectly normal. “I…just did what I thought was right, she’s my sister…” I tried to say, but before I continued he raised his hoof and silenced me, “please, you don’t have to explain your actions to me, you have real courage, to stand up against the general’s will, to protect those you care for, you proved that not every pony’s will has been broken by Red Spear’s regime” he said with a confident smile, as he removed his glasses, and took out a cloth and cleaned them.

At that point, I was really confused, “I’m sorry for my abruptness, but…who are you?” I asked, he seemed a little surprised by my question, but he smiled and chuckled, putting his glasses back on, “ah yes, where are my manners? We haven’t been…formally introduced, my name is Midnight Star or better known to you as…a friend” he said the last part slowly. My eyes shot open, and my mouth hung open as well, I could even feel my heart rate increasing, he simply smiled as I tried to find the words lost in my mind. But I found them none the less, “it’s you…you’re the pony that sent me the medallion” I said in a baffled tone, he merely chuckled at my amazement.

“guilty as charged, but you might want to be careful who you say that to, my dear Frost Fall” he said with a smile that could make anypony uneasy, I felt a eerie chill run down my spine, “how…how do you know my name?” I asked, even though I could tell, it was a stupid question, but they were the only words I could form, and he took great amusement out of it, giving off a hearty chuckle, which only furthered my uneasiness.

“Oh my dear boy, I know much about you, probably more than you know of yourself, I know you were born and raised here, I know your father died in the big mining accident, and I especially know that you completely went against my instructions and told your friend about the gift I gave you” he said, as his voice took on a edgier tone, as the smile was replaced with a frown, instinctively, I took a step back, not sure what I could expect from this pony, “how…how could you possibly know that, we were alone, I made sure of it” I said, but he chuckled once more, something I could tell was a regular thing of his, he looked at me, as the light flashed from his glasses. “So sure of everything are you? Well, I can assure you, that I have my resources, how sure are you that you can trust miss River?” he asked in a quizzical tone, I was taken aback by his question.

“she…she’s my best friend, ever since we were in school together, she would never do anything to betray me, as a matter of fact, you can take the damn thing back, my life has been turned up-side down, ever since I got it” I said as I took a step forward, trying to prove my bravery, but his resolve was hard to crack, and he just smiled at me the entire time, and after a silence, he spoke up. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, you see Frost, I sent the medallion to you, you are the only one who can protect it now” he said in an unusually morbid tone of voice.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, still trying to sound brave, but his greater authority, was slowly eating away at my resolve. He smiled and looked down for a moment, and then looked back up at me, “that is something you shall find out soon enough, things are about to change for you, and not for the best” he said, and I could feel my heart rate increasing, he looked up at the sky briefly, and then back down to me. “I believe our time is up, we shall meet again, but I must warn you, there is a storm coming, and you my friend, are smack in the middle of it” he said as he turned and made his way back down the street, I continued staring at the spot where he stood, attempting to process all he had said, after shaking that off, I turned to face him, but much to my shock, he had disappeared.

I stood there, looking all down the street, but there was no sign of him, he simply vanished, I blinked to make sure I had been seeing right, but after retrying again and again, the fact remained, he had gone, where I did not know. As I looked up into the sky, I could see it was getting late, and that I should be getting home, I would have a long night tonight, probably sleepless, and with that, I turned and made my down the street.

Comments

[spike the mustache]

Way to make cliffhanger and also when will luna be riding on spikes back while spike burns new canterlot to the ground?

[steelwingx]

4535364 not entirely sure what you mean, but i can assure you, Luna and Spike will both play major parts later on in the story, but not in the way you expect them to.

[spike the mustache]

4536657 darn well ill just hqve to wait then