The Exegesis of Frozen Waters

by HolyJunkie

Chapter 2

[PAGE 0099 - CHAPTER 2]

Young, fearless, lacking in context, blood like wildfire, reckless, if not insecure, polarizing, schizophrenic. How many ways can I describe a youth? I count eight ways in the previous sentence. What do you have? Do you have a child who is perfectly well-mannered? A properly-dressed little filly in a custom dress by a local fashionista? A well-mannered colt in a suit he'd outgrow within a month?

Breaking news, number one parent: You've officially raised a robot. I certainly prefer that over a compete flankhole, but what do I know? I'm only older than Celestia's mum.

It was like the arrival of a god, probably because it WAS the arrival of a god. Galaxia, was her name. I remember my mum's good friend's instructor, Starswirl the Bearded, made a big deal about it. Almost as much as he said the old windego threat was a big deal. He was right about those icy pricks, anyway. Perhaps this would be a bad thing as well.

Spoiler alert, dear reader! It was damn near the best thing imaginable! Queen Galaxia was a combination of all three tribes, basically a personification of that Flame of Harmony. She ruled with an iron fist, but that fist was the kind of iron that was always warm to the touch, never cold, never hard whenever it moves. All we needed to do was maintain the warmth by keeping that fire alive. It was like that heart of fire was her life force or something.

She lived because of that fire, I guessed. She was therefore immortal. No chance in that hellhole we came from did we want to bring back the windegos.

Now what did this have to do with my previous description of children? Well, Galaxia had parenting down right. There was an iron fist, sure. There was, however, opportunity to develop your own identity. Equestria wasn't a place where you would be forced to do something you truly didn't like. Cutie marks work that way, you know? Honestly, I can't imagine a world without cutie marks, where a discovered talent isn't magically enhanced through the real discovery of said talent.

After the Rhinos, I could. Thanks to them, I always have that niggling feeling in the back of my head that makes me feel depressed every time I see a joyful foal wasting away by having fun. They struck, and Queen Galaxia didn't want this precious land ruined by the society without Cutie marks. She just got the throne, after all.

I believe I was about 19 by the time I joined the ragtag coordinated defense against the brutes. I was like the others, reckless, oblivious, ignorant, every five dollar word I mentioned already, and more. We learned to hone the magic in us all to become effective fighters. Earth Ponies- like myself- became strongponies and suppliers of food. Pegasi became the speedy skirmishers that whittled down the enemy's strength. The Unicorns were the real powerhorses. By combining the efforts of multiple unicorns, vastly powerful magic was possible.

Starswirl the Bearded by himself was a sight to behold. Imagine him with his five best students serving as amplifiers.

Yeah, those Rhinos almost feared that pony... almost.

I can't really describe the spectacle that was the storms of fire that engulfed entire platoons of rhinos... probably because as the war went on, I wondered if those rhinos had any family back home. I wondered what exactly they were trying to accomplish by attacking us. I wondered why this was happening at all.

A certain legend named Kurgan Indrik was probably the only one who appeared to have enough patience to answer my questions. Too bad he was too busy murdering me with that massive spike on his snout. It was the size of a fully developed Earth Pony for Luna's sakes!

Anyway, that time was in the later stages of spring... or maybe summer had just started. I don't remember. The grass was its greenest, and that was all I could care about.

My youthful blood sprayed everywhere as that massive spike carved through- Good Celestia, I'm grossing myself out. I don't want to throw up on this paper. I was a warrior, and remembering battles grosses me out.

I writhed in agony... At least, that's what I assumed I did. I blacked out, then awoke in a different position. The field was desolate, but still generally green. If not for the bodies littering the place, I'd have figured nothing had happened. Not even my wounds. The source of the previous pain had vanished save for a scar. I was not even hungry or thirsty.

I was alone for the first time in years. My name tags were gone, and so were my rationed supplies. I didn't blame whoever looted my corpse. Ponies need all they can get to push the warmongers back.

Nowadays, that previous hell was replaced with films about "Evil Gryphons" and Timber wolf stories like Xylem & Phloem. We actually maintain a relatively positive contact with gryphons, and the timber wolves aren't as sentient as freakin' diamond dogs!

Gryphons? Good Celestia, is that child's play! The Rhinos were, hooves-down, the worst enemy of harmony the Equestrians had ever faced, and they're still resentful for the ultimate victory we claimed a long time ago! I, Frozen Waters, can testify to that through first-hand experience and the multiple scars I had received from that conflict.

---

Silver entered the library for the first time in years. A rush of nostalgia greeted him like the smell of a fresh meal in a good grandparent's house. He remembered all of the days he spent reading books, and applying the knowledge of hundreds of names into whatever he writes and does.

He left for college before he could read every book. This inheritance would give ample opportunity to completely read the entirety of the library. Lacking the room in his apartment, Silver decided to keep the ones he hadn't read, and his favourite books. Everything else would be donated to a good library.

For now, however, Silver wanted little more than to spend a few hours looking through a few books. He spent the next hour picking out a book and reading the first several chapters.

Gold entered the library, but Silver didn't notice. The younger brother was engrossed in his current book.

"Silv," Gold called.

"Yeah?" Silver asked without looking up.

"If you want, I could hold onto these books for you. My home's got the space."

"Nah," Silver replied, "I want to donate them to libraries across Equestria. Mum would want that."

Gold blinked.

"Of course, I'll keep the ones I haven't read yet," Silver added.

Gold passed by Silver without a response. It was a rather unusual reaction. At last, Slver peeled his eyes from the page he was reading. "What's this?" The elder asked.

The elder referred to a safe in the corner between two towering shelves.Silver remembered the safe. It always sat there. Neither mum nor dad ever spoke of it, nor did they give a decent answer when the younger brother did bring it up. Silver stood up, marked his page, and approached his brother and the safe.

"What do you think?" Gold asked.

"I think mum can't stop me from finally opening that thing," Silver replied.

"Unless it's rigged with some magic trap, or a curse."

"There are no such things as curses, Gold," Silver quipped, "Every unicorn knows that."

Gold huffed with a smile. Silver repeated his brother's action. "Got any tools for this job?" the younger asked. Gold nodded before leaving.

The scriptwriter continued staring at the safe. Like the cliffhanger of a good book, Silver wondered what came after the safe door. What was stored in there that mum wouldn't have wanted Silver to see in her lifetime? Or anypony for that matter.

While waiting for his brother, Silver sat down next to the safe and continued reading his book of choice. It was an autobiography to the author of the Daring Do Adventures. There was a pony Silver admired. A strong female character and legitimately evil antagonists. Even as a unicorn, Silver could identify with the adventurous pegasus.

He didn't like the overabundance of gryphon antagonists later on in the series, however. Then again, the author's father was killed in the Gryphon Conflict.

Two pages later, Gold returned with an intimidating-looking drill. The bit looked tough enough to bore through diamond. Gold set up the contraption and began drilling into the lock.

Silver continued reading as his brother worked. Several more pages later, there was finally a loud crack, and Gold twitched as the resistance against the drill stopped entirely, and shot forward.

"You okay, bro?" Silver asked as he marked his page and approached.

"Nah, I'm fine," Gold replied as he pried the drill away from the safe.

Silver looked into the safe as Gold opened the door.

A humongous tome sat in the safe. Silver noted the pages reached in the high thousands. The cover of the tome was a picture of an ice-clad lake.

"What's your name?" Silver asked, more to the book than anything.

The book was too heavy for either brother to lift with their hooves. Magic was used instead.

The massive book was placed rather gently onto an end table next to Silver's original chair. "No title," Gold mentioned as he looked at the broad spine.

Silver opened the cover to note that the paper looked remarkably new. This could be attributed to the fact that the tome had been sealed inside the safe for so long.

The first page contained nothing but what he assumed was the title. In big, bold letters, IT'S A KIND OF MAGIC was almost carved onto the page in a mad scrawl. The pages afterward were all but entirely covered with words. From that next page all the way to the end, Silver saw nothing but notes and ramblings.

"To whoever takes the time to read the only copy of this book," Gold started.

Silver closed the book once more. "I'm bringing this back,"

"Eh?" The elder asked.

"This is exactly what I need, Gold: Inspiration."