The Exegesis of Frozen Waters

by HolyJunkie

Chapter 12

[PAGE 4301 - CHAPTER 12]

Luna was cursed... by Galaxia...

No one knew how Luna appeared to go insane from jealousy... but I knew.

I couldn't say now. The Queen had become too good in the eyes of the citizens. She just pushed back one more potential obstacle to her selfish goals, and I was once again alone.

Luna... I miss Luna... she was sent to the moon, and we never said goodbye. I never got to ask her...

I shouldn't have told her! I should NEVER have Celestia-damned told her!

Every night afterward, up to the day I stopped seeing the sky, I looked up to the stars every night to see if I could see her, to see if she could see me.

She was banished to the moon, reluctantly, by Celestia.

I miss her... She was gone...

That devil did this... Her own mother did this...

Some threshold in my brain had been crossed. The door closed and locked behind me. The writing was on the wall. This was the point of no return.

I made the tall order: "I will kill Galaxia. I will make her bleed for all the nightmares she had inflicted upon every innocent creature inside and outside Equestria!"

And so... I returned to Elasmotheria. I arrived at Lefaya Massif. The Rhino gate guards pointed their massive tusks at me, rearing to charge.

I told them my name. I told them I wished to see Kurgan Indrik.

---

[PAGE 7511]

I could have asked why the Rhinos attacked us in the first place, why they invaded Equestria and possibly caused Galaxia's psyche and sanity to deteriorate. I could've figured out why we didn't appear welcome even before Galaxia became that monster I only now knew her as.

I never asked. There was only one thing on my mind at the time. The Beast and I were in an armoury as we discussed what to do with me.

"We differ from the winged unicorns," Kurgan told me, "I have killed them before. Extended family of Galaxia, like Constellation, or King Canterlot."

The King was dead? I had the lingering suspicion. It was never made public, but his lack of presence next to the Queen made everypony wonder at least once in their lives.

I had never heard of Constellation, however. I asked him about the character.

"He has not been a concern for many years now," Kurgan replied. "The Queen's brother and the old King bled like any other pony. The problem with the winged pegasi is that they have immense magic potential- often honed- so it's difficult to get close enough to strike.

"Just tell me how I can kill Galaxia."

"Your lust for blood rivals mine," Kurgan said, "I can't have that, can I?"

"There's a time and place for preferences," I replied, "You can't get anywhere near Equestria without Galaxia finding out. I can."

"I see... What rewards do you want?"

I told him I intended to do this quest for free. I had my own reasons, and he had his own reasons to help supply me. I only needed an instrument to make this a symphony like no other.

Galaxia would die within the year. I've been alive for nearly three thousand years, and I cannot die.

I was grateful for the bastard rhino. I expected him to just up and lock me up until he found out how to kill an immortal. But no... he understood me. He and I really were brothers.

Discord as well... Equilibrium... He was immortal as well, wasn't he?

Equipped with a small, sharpened axe I could easily hide, I left with the blessing of the rhinos of all people.

---

"How fares my brother Kurgan, anyway?" Frozen asked.

"He's dead," Silver replied as he finished the book.

As he closed the book for the last time, the scriptwriter heard rustling. After replacing the book back inside his saddlebags, he turned to see the immortal's eyes wide as dinner plates. The face was of genuine surprise, but Silver would remember it as the stuff of nightmares. "Dead?" Frozen asked. "No, that can't be right, can it?"

"Yes, dead," Silver replied, as if Frozen appeared to forget the meaning of such a word.

"How?" The immortal asked in excitement.

"Kurt Foalington knows."

Frozen didn't appear to care to ask who Kurt Foalington was. Instead, he asked, "He never told you?"

"He never really told me anything."

"At last," he said, "Freedom... but still out of my grasp."

"You're telling me," Silver said, "No matter what I do, I can't get my true potential to be noticed."

"Potential? What, in those writings of yours, Mr. Writer?"

"Yeah," Silver replied.

"I've seen old stage productions," Frozen said, "Ponies clop and cheer at the talents of the stage, or the efforts of the director or techies."

The scriptwriter knew where this was going.

"Never once was the writer credited."

Silver refrained from internally cringing, but his mind screamed for him to at least shed a tear. That was a cruel jab right there... but it was true.

"But things can change! If I can get my magnum opus don-"

"That's what they all say. Do it or not, they made no difference."

"But what about The Birth of Equestria?"

"That's only a couple hundred years old," Frozen replied, "Primarily based on Galaxia's memories."

Silver nodded slowly. Given how much he had read in the tome, he was willing to suspect the old Queen wasn't truly benevolent. Even if Frozen did admit within the first page that he was going mad.

Though even now, the immortal seemed quite level-headed and sane. Perhaps he was wrong.

"You've missed a lot over the years," Silver said, "Kurgan's dead, Princess Luna is back, the Elements of Harmony have new wielders no-"

"Luna? My darling Luna?" Frozen asked.

"Yeah, just recently."

Frozen's face suddenly filled with warmth. "Luna... I've got to see her again..."

Silver watched as the earth pony clambered out of the cot. He raised a brow as Frozen approached the massive metal door. He then cringed in pain and covered his ears.

Frozen had started bucking at the door.

"Luna's Socks Almighty!" Silver shouted, but that was drowned out by the repeated clanging.

"Luna!" Frozen shouted as if he was in a trance, "Luna! I'm coming!"

Silver watched as the earth pony relentlessly beat at the door. Dents formed, but they were miniscule in comparison to the door itself.

"You will stop hitting the door or we'll come in there and hit you!" A guard on the other side shouted.

Frozen didn't stop. He continued to blather about how much he missed his darling Luna.

Silver glanced at the beds, and used his magic to pick up the cot mattresses. He pulled off the covers for the two mattresses, and readied them both.

The guard continued shouting before he emitted a loud, frustrated "Gah." Then the door itself started clicking. Silver figured they were the mechanisms of the complex-sounding lock.

The door opened, and two guards poured in.

Silver used his magic to shove the mattress covers over the heads of the guards. In the confusion, Frozen bucked both of them in the face.

The scriptwriter smiled. This was turning into a handsome prison break.

"Luna!" Frozen shouted as he turned to his handiwork. The third guard began to shout for reinforcements.

Silver spotted the immortal loot the two knocked-out guards of their weapons and charged out. Frozen still shouted for Luna.

Reluctantly, Silver followed. He used his magic to pick up a side blade that the immortal left behind. The scriptwriter glanced out of his cell, and he saw Frozen getting his flank handed to him.

That battle-scarred pegasus from earlier was tossing the immortal around like a beanbag chair. The prison break didn't look so handsome anymore.

"It's unfortunate we never figured out how Foalington killed Kurgan exactly, otherwise I'd have finished you months ago," the lead guard growled.

Frozen didn't shut up about Luna. He still got up and charged at the scarred one- who did nothing but parry and strike with a security club. Frozen still wouldn't shut up.

Silver took this opportunity to book it. The guards appeared to be concentrated on the immortal, so maybe the scriptwriter had a chance. Somepony somewhere had to at least hear the commotion, right? Silver galloped as fast as his rather unfit body could go. He thought he had a chance at-first, but then he rounded a corder.

There were more guards, and they stared right at the scriptwriter.

Silver cursed and high-tailed it in the opposite direction, suddenly reminded of the script he wrote before- the latest one rejected by Sydney. The gryphon character rounded a corner, and a bunch of wyvern underlings were lying in wait.

The scriptwriter was reminded of how much he hated wyverns, more than Sydney hated gryphons.

How did the gryphon escape, however? Silver remembered that wings weren't involved. He shot a glance around for something; anything that could serve as an escape plan. A vent, another hallway. There was nothing. This place was solid as a mountain core... well, not the one Equilibrium once lived in.

There was a sudden rumbling noise, which forced the wyvern-esque guards to stop in their tracks. All of them wore confused expressions. The faces appeared to be the kind these ponies were not used to.

There was shouting on the far end of the hallway. All the guards glanced at each other then back at the screenplay writer.

Silver booked it back to Frozen's position, but he was tackled by two of the guards. As he attempted to resist against the physically superior pegasus and unicorn, the shouting continued and became more prominent.

"Intruder!"

Silver swung his hooves pathetically. He was never trained to fight. He was only knowledgeable in the show business kind of fighting. The kind that looks awesome on the camera. By knowledgeable, he only knew the theory, not the practice.

The two guards easily pinned him down and locked his hooves behind his back. It hurt... a lot. Nothing snapped, but Silver was very much in pain. They rose the scriptwriter onto his hind hooves and produced blades. The scriptwriter's pulse started to race. This felt like a hostage strategy being employed right before his eyes.

The shouting continued, but became more prominent. On the far end of the football field-length corridor, Silver could spot ponies launched high into the far wall, only to drop down in a crumpled mess.

Then there was a battle cry, a howl Silver hadn't heard before. The voice was still familiar.

How did Kurt get here? the scriptwriter wondered.

The massive burgundy pony looked humongous even compared to the well-equipped guards that massed upon him. Silver watched as the two guards that held him softly planted the tips of their blades around the scriptwriter's neck.

This time, Silver could figure out a way to describe the carnage. It was beautiful in its design. The beast's body was well-practiced, easily unclipping sections of armour off his enemies so he could steal them and use them against the guards. Namely blades, where he swiftly stabbed them in vital places.

Silver was used to murder. He had written stories that contained them.

This one pony attempted to pounce on Kurt to stab a blade into the burgundy giant's spine. Despite the scars, Kurt was also remarkably fast. He grabbed the pony in mid-air by slamming his hooves in what Silver assumed are pressure points, and threw the pony against the wall.

After plowing through the last of them, Kurt stepped over the crumpled remnants of the foes he bested. He then spotted the two guards and Silver.

"Don't make us do this, Kurt!" the guard to Silver's left shouted.

"Celestia knows," Kurt announced, "She knows about this place."

"We're calling that bluff. You think your darling princess is going to believe a pony of your reputation?"

"No, but she believes her star student," Kurt replied, "I had Twilight send a letter."

The two guards tensed up. Silver could feel the blades poke a little harder. He didn't feel any blood draw... yet.

"Twilight Sparkle," the right guard muttered, "I told him we should've disposed of her."

"Now let the scriptwriter go, and face the consequences of your crimes," Kurt said rather calmly, despite the fact he just broke an entire hallway full of ponies.

"No, this is still a bluff." One said.

"Playing Guard again? Aren't you their most wanted?"

Kurt didn't reply. He only inched closer. The guards responded by pulling Silver back.

"That's enough," a hardened voice behind Silver said. The scriptwriter knew it was the voice of that one pony who was beating down Frozen Waters.

The guards eased the poking of their blades as they looked to their commander. "Sir?"

"I'll get this one in a cell as well, don't you worry."

Silver's brow furrowed. Kurt just murdered what he assumed was half of this floor. What did that random guy have a chance? Even if the guy did beat Frozen Waters, the immortal in question seemed really out of practice, and Frozen's eyes clearly screamed madness. Besting that one was a cinch.

This other immortal killed Kurgan Indrik, often cited as the most monstrous killer that ever roamed the planet.

Frozen felt a tug from the two guards, and he was led back to his cell, where he was thrown in.

The metal door slammed behind the scriptwriter. He stood and looked to Frozen's cot.

The immortal lay battered, bruised, and barely breathing. Apparently he spent all the energy in the entirety of Equestria trying to fight that big one.

A commotion erupted from beyond the door. The noises were the slamming of hooves upon hides, and shouts of agony and anger.

Eventually, the sounds stopped. A few seconds later, the door opened.

Kurt was thrown in. Silver then noticed that the burgundy giant was bleeding everywhere.

"What?" Silver shouted, "But how?"

"You didn't see the wounds?" the pegasus captain asked, "For a scriptwriter, you really don't look that well into details." He then turned to Kurt's sorry heap and added, "You're really out of practice if you could get hit that many times, kid."

He then slammed the door shut. There was more shouting beyond the door. Among the shouts was talk about clearing out... and then there was silence.

Kurt lay bleeding. He groaned in agony. Silver watched this display and felt he had it easy, only being threatened at knife-point by two guards who refused to kill.

Silver could do nothing but watch as the immortal's regeneration started to become more apparent. The bleeding stopped surprisingly quickly. There was a sudden snapping noise, which forced Kurt's back to snap straight.

"Ah, that's the stuff," Kurt muttered in ecstasy.

"He got your spine?" Silver asked.

"I'd prefer you don't know how he got me that way," Kurt replied as his quivering muscular legs pushed him onto his hooves in full. The giant then spotted Frozen Waters. "Is that...?"

Silver nodded. Kurt approached the other immortal.

Frozen opened one eye and spotted Kurt. "Kurgan? Is that you?" he asked.

"Kurgan's dead," Kurt replied.

"No... You have to be Kurgan. I see his spark in your eyes." Frozen weakly rose his head so he could see the scriptwriter. After lowering his head again, he said, "You must be Kurt."

Kurt nodded. The wounds slowly mended back together, as if they never happened.

"How did you do it?"

Kurt made a gesture. He slashed across his neck with his hoof.

"That simple..." Frozen lost all tension in his muscles at the new knowledge.

"I can do it painlessly if I had a blade handy," Kurt said.

"No," Frozen replied, "At first, I wanted to go... but Luna's back. I need to see her..."

"You've gone mad, Frozen. Your book proves it."

"I wrote that crap a century ago," Frozen replied. "It's obsolete."

Silver huffed with a smile. "Told you, meat-head."

Kurt shot a glare.

"Do the guards know?" Frozen asked as he copied that neck-slashing gesture.

The meat-head shook his head.

"Of course they wouldn't. Otherwise I'd have been executed a long time ago."

Kurt stepped toward the far wall and sat down. Silver hopped onto his cot and pondered the next move.

"So what's the plan, young'uns?" Frozen asked.

Silver still thought about the comment beforehand; the one about how the book was obsolete.

Comments

[deathtap]

Oh, I hope he gets to see her again...