//------------------------------// // Chilling news // Story: FrostBound // by Azrael the alicorn //------------------------------// Luckily, they didn’t had to wait that long. Shining Armor opened his eyes, watching around trying to understand where he was. “Twily?”. “Yes, Shiny, I’m here” she said. Then she had to ask those dreaded questions, which sure would bring just as awful answers, “What happened to you, Shiny? And where’s Cadence?”. To those questions, the prince of the Crystal Empire closed his eyes in a fit of guilt, “She is in the clutches of the one responsible for my sudden arrival” he said, his voice filled with regret and powerless anger. “It happened so fast and sudden. We were on the Crystal Empire train, me, Cadence and our personal guards. We were talking about what was the reason for this sudden call when the weather outside changed abruptly, turning from a nice sunny spring to one heck of a blizzard. And then suddenly the train stopped abruptly. The reason behind such sudden stop? Apparently there were people out there, on the rails of the train, even though we could only see their silhouette in the blizzard. Me and some guards went down to check if they need it any help. Maybe they were travellers caught by surprise by the sudden snow storm and got lost. I should have realized that it was a trap by how sudden their appearance was. By the time we got near them, me and the rest of the guards realized that those weren’t real ponies, but statues. Ice sculpture of excellent quality, but the jarring lacking of any face”. “Creepy” grimaced Pinkie Pie. “Indeed, even though it was nothing compared to what happened next. They started to move at fast pace towards us, summoning ice swords and spears and any kind of sharp weapons. We fought back, shattering many of those moving sculptures, but as we took them down, more started to appear, trying to use the sheer number to overpower us. We had to call the rest of the personal guards to even the odds. Cadence too was about to join the fray to help us but, as just she was about to step down from the wagon, those ice ponies stopped their assault and crumbled to the ground. Me and the other guards watched their remains with uncertainty when we felt it”. Shining Armor stopped, shivering, “At first I thought it was just the wind. But then I recognized the feeling of when someone breathes on your neck. Something was behind us”. “Who was it?” asked Applejack. “Did you managed to see it?” asked Spike. “No. Whatever that thing was, his figure was hidden by the blizzard. Or maybe he was the blizzard itself, I can’t really tell. But what I CAN tell you is that it was BIG. And that his eyes were of a dark shade of cobalt and looked like it belonged to a dragon. But the main focus of his attention was not to us, but to the wagon where Cadence was. At first I stood still, as if the coldness around us frozen us into place, watching as the wagon got yanked from the rest of the train. But it was only for a few seconds, then me and the rest of the guards reacted. Some of us shoot rays at the creature and who didn’t had magic threw his spears into a desperate attempt to make it drop the wagon, but to no avail. Me and the others could only watch in horror as the wagon disappeared into the icy mist, hearing Cadence screaming in help. And as that happened, the creature focused his attention to us. Knowing full well that we couldn’t injury it, I summoned all my power to rise a shield to protect my group. The beast sent against us another wave of wind which didn’t just overpowered my defences, but downright ignore it, as if it wasn’t even there. Oddly enough, I remained unscathed by the cold, but not the rest of the guards, which got frozen into place. In a fit of rage, fear and despair, I charged this unknown attacker with one last destructive beam. He ignore it and, without giving me any time to dodge, I got grabbed by one of his hands, taking me even more close to those blood-chilling eyes. Despite that, I glared at him, defying him”. “Pretty bold” commented Rainbow Dash, impressed by the courage of Shining Armor. Bold? Yes. Smart? No quite thought Twilight Sparkle, trying her best to not berate her brother actions. “And then he turned you to into ice and literally sent you here?”. “Not exactly. First he talked to me. Even though I could swear that he was not actually moving his mouth. He told me that I had less than seven hours to get back there, or else Cadence would die” he concluded, while closing his eyes in frustration, “I hate myself for having failed to protect Cadence, I’m her husband and yet, it seems like I can’t protect her!”. “Don’t you blame yourself, Shiny, is not your fault” said Twilight Sparkle. “Indeed. Listen to your sister, Shining Armor” agreed Princess Luna, “Because the one responsible for Cadence abduction is the reason behind this sudden call”. “And his name is FrostBound”. The Mane 6 turned their attention to Princess Celestia. The eldest of the royal sisters looked (and sounded) like she was strained by what Shining had just told them. “Oh NO, NOT FROSTBOUND!” screamed Pinkie Pie, scared silly. “Wait, who’s FrostBound?”. “He was... is a dragon. But not like all the others”. Yeah, we kind of figured it out already thought Rainbow Dash. “And he controls ice instead of fire” commented Rarity. “Is not just ice, Rarity. Cold. He can emit cold, control it in all his forms. His powers are so great that no one, not me or even Clovis the Clever or Stars swirl the Bearded could see a limit”. “But how did he came to be?” asked Ember, entering in the conversation, “I’ve seen and heard of a lot of my kind, but never someone like him”. “That’s, Ember, is because his origins are as old or even older than me. But let’s go with order. I’m sure that all of you know about the Windigos, right?”. To that everypony nodded. “Everything started at the end of their rule over the soon-to-be land of Equestria. They had just suffered their first and greatest defeat by the hands of Clovis, Smart Cookie and Private Pans thanks to the Fire of Friendship. But while defeated, they were not completely destroyed by it. Weakened, they tried to regain their strength, but it was too late. With their existence revealed and with the power of friendship spreading through the land of Equestria, the Windigos couldn’t feed on the hatred like they did before and could only get enough to not disappear into existence. Mostly, the hate that they could absorb was their own. They hated those responsible for their predicament and the whole pony kin. They wanted revenge, but to do so they had no other choice but to ask for help from one of the very ponies that they despised. His name was Web Heart”. “Who was this Web Heart? I’ve read a lot of books about the past of Equestria, but I never found anything about him” asked Twilight Sparkle. “That, Twilight, is because of his actions. In a way, he was like Clovis the Clever or Star Swirl the Bearded. But, while he shared their intellects and skills with magic and alchemy, he lacked their empathy. He made horrible experiments, testing on innocent creatures in horrible ways, and all of that just for the sake of the science and nothing less. Star Swirl told me some of those and let me tell you: it was the stuff of nightmares. To avoid that anyone would try and follow his twisted passions, it was decided to delete everything about him and his experiments.”. Everypony looked terrified by those words, but Twilight felt the worst. The idea of using science without any sort of moral was disgusting. “No wonder the Windigos chosen him as an ally” commented Rarity, quivering. Celestia nodded, “Indeed. Web Heart at the time was already considered a criminal. He shared the hatred the Windigos felt towards the rest of his kin. To him they were nothing but a bunch of fools, too much attached to morality to appreciate his works. So, when the Windigos appeared in front of him, promising a chance to rule beside them in change of his help, he accepted without hesitation. Web Heart helped them to search for a way to counter the Fire of Friendship, allowing them to surpassing that weakness. The solution was a mysterious piece of ice-looking that he found inside a hole in a cave”. “But that’s so random” interjected Rainbow Dash, “How can a random stone have such power?”. “Nobody knows how it was possible. Web Heart never succeeded into finding out from where exactly that thing came from. The only conclusion was that it came from the outside and that such foreign nature would make it impervious to any magic from this world. Web Heart plan was to make a ritual with magic and alchemy, using that cold stone to create a vessel that the Windigos would have used to take over Equestria, without having to worry about the Fire of Friendship. Fortunately, such wicked plan never came to be. Before the ritual could be completed, Clovis the Clever and his friends had finally managed to track him down, discovering his hideout. With the favour of surprise and with the advantage of sheer numbers, Web Heart attempts to fight his way out got easily countered and at last he got arrested. But while the ritual itself never reached its conclusion, neither was it undone by the sudden interruption. And the result was FrostBound, a dragon looking creature which had the Windigos trapped inside his spirit”. “Oh poor thing” said Fluttershy, “Having to deal with those awful beings inside of him all the time! It must be horrible”. Celestia nodded, “Yes, sadly those presence in his mind were strong and, with the passing of time, they got more and more stronger. At first, when it was just a whelp, Clovis decided to keep it jailed into a dungeon but, as he grow more powerful, he decided to move it in a more safe place. Even though safe place was more for the rest of Equestria than FrostBound himself. He got taken to the volcano Ifrit, imprisoned in a special room that acted as a cage, with all the necessary spells and runes to keep him stuck there. But in the end it just wasn’t enough. Tonight, he managed to break free from his cage, more powerful than ever”. “And let me guess, he wants to bring the eternal winter, right?” asked Rarity. “That, and take over the world”. “Of course!” shouted suddenly Pinkie Pie. “Well, what you said was very interesting, Celestia” said Ember, “And I guess that this is the reason of my sudden arrival, right? You need the help of us dragons to face that monster”. Celestia nodded again, “I tried to act as fast as we could, hoping to gather our forces before FrostBound would strike. But now, with Cadence seizure, he’s forcing us to clash with him before having all the numbers from our side”. “Is that really necessary?” asked Rainbow Dash, “I mean, it would be awesome to have an army of dragons to our side, but why don’t we just zap him with the new Elements of Harmony? I get that he has amazing powers” she said, quoting her words, “But so had Tirek. I’m sure we can take him on”. “You know nothing, Rainbow Dash” said Discord. His tone was so serious that it took Rainbow Dash some seconds to actually replying to him. “Oh come on, Discord, what makes this FrostBound different from all the other bad guys that we have defeated?”. “Because FrostBound is unlike any of them” replied Discord, harshly. “FrostBound is not a princess that didn’t felt loved enough. He’s not a playful trickster. He’s not a bug queen with dreams of conquers. He’s not a crazy unicorn with a passions for crystals and he’s NOT a jerk that wants to wreck anything by stealing power. He’s a force of nature, fuelled by both an alien element and spirit-like creatures that festers on hatred. And it will send us back to the ice age, if we underestimate him!”. When the Draconequus uttered those last words, it was clear that there was sincere fear in it. “Then why didn’t he just attack us?” asked Rarity. “I have no idea” admitted Discord, “Maybe he just wants to deal with us in the first place, so then he can focus on freezing this planet. Or maybe there is something more to it”. “Whatever he’s planning, we can’t waste any more time” said Celestia “Cadence is in great danger and we must act fast if we want to save her. And for that” she turned to her sister, “I’ve made sure to call for more help”. As she was talking, it was possible to hear the sound of some kind of engine in the air, getting more and more louder. With curiosity, the Mane 6, Spike and even Shining Armor, got to the window to get a view of what was coming. What they saw was an armada of airship. The air fleet was counted 40 airships in arrow formation, most of them had the same size, except one or two, barely twice as big as a house. But the main one, the one which was situated in the point of the arrow formation, was by far the largest and in length as long as castle of the Royal Sisters. It was one of the very rare occurrences where both Twilight and Rainbow Dash knew who this new comers were: the Dragon Watch. A special group created to, as the title said, watch over dragons activity, making sure that the flying and fire breathing giants wouldn’t start a mess during their research to increase their hoard. To do so, they had mastered the control of the airships, without a doubt one of the most advanced technology of Equestria or even in the whole world: created with the toughest of steel and mithril, magical windows nearly impossible to break on the outside, and armed with two of the few weapons truly capable to hurt and possibly kill a full grown adults. One of this were special devised harpoons, with the spiked end made of enchanted diamonds, and the other were cannons which were capable to shoot highly focused thunders. Everypony watched the scene with awe. Well, everypony except Discord, Ember and Spike. The Draconequus looked completely unenthusiastic at the arrival of the Dragon Watch. Spike and Ember because... well, they were dragons, so having to deal with a group made to fight off their kin was kind of awkward. A pegasus flew down from the biggest ship and landed on the balcony of the castle. It had a gray coat and a black mane and tail. This one was starting to show some white in it, signs of his age. Yet his strong body and wings and the steel in his jade eyes proved that there was still fire in his soul. His cutie mark was an image of a target on what looked like a dragon. Celestia made the presentation “Allow me to present you the captain of the Dragon Watch, Steel Wing”. “Is great honour to finally meet the heroes of Equestria” said Steel Wing, bowing in respect. “Not as great as to meet you, captain Steel Wing” replied Twilight with glee in her voice “You and the Dragon Watch have done your part keeping the control of the most wild dragons”. “Nothing compared to what you six have done. Saving Equestria is bit more harder than fight some brute dragons”. “A-hem!” coughed Ember, making her and Spike presence noted. At her sight, Steel Wing winced, “Oh, I’m sorry if I offended you” he replied, ashamed. Spike waved his hand, “Nah, we’re not offended. I myself know too well how violent some of us are”. At those words Steel Wing looked relieved, but then he realized something, “You look familiar” said to Ember. “You’ve meet my father. And I can say that you and your pals have left a mark on him”. The dragoness words were as cold the air outside. “So that’s why your father wears an armour” exclaimed Twilight, realizing the meaning of her words and, at the time, try to divert the conversation “Is to hide the injuries”. “I always wondered why a dragon would wear such banal armour to hide its amazing scales” added Rarity, to help her friends and also add her thoughts on the matter. “In my defence, miss--“. “Ember. Dragon Lord Ember for you”. Her tone was on edge. “Dragon Lord Ember” corrected himself the captain, “As I was saying, your father didn’t let us any choice but to use violence against him. He was attacking a convoy that was carrying a load of gold that served to help build an hospital. We did tried to talk to him, then we tried to scare him off. When even that failed, we had to get serious or get burned into cinder. We didn’t do what we did for spite, but for duty. If it can make you feel any better, your old man put up one heck of a fight, damaging five of our ships before he yielded”. Ember seemed to consider his words. “Interesting” she said, sounding much more calm, “My father always told me that it was you that started the fight attacking from behind. Is nice to hear the other side of the story. I don’t know who’s telling the truth, but I will find out. Now, let’s focus on the most important stuff”. “Thanks for your comprehension, Ember” thanked her Celestia, before turning her attention to Steel Wing. “Captain, what have you seen in the area where FrostBound attacked while getting here?”. The pegasus shook his head, “Not much. The whole zone, for miles and miles, is covered in a isolated and violent blizzard. But I’m ready to bet my very own wings what you want that something big is going in it”. Luna watched the weather outside and the position of the sun, “If we want to save Cadence, we must make haste”. “Right. Twilight, you and your friends will join captain Steel Wing in the research of Cadence. Do everything in your power to save her. Five airships of the Dragon Watch will remain near Ponyville and Canterlot, ready to fight back”. “You can count on it” nodded Twilight, determinate . “I want to come too!” exclaimed Shining Armor, not less resolute, “Is my wife we are talking about. I failed to protect her, the very least I can do is to help rescue her from the clutches of this FrostBound.”. “No” replied Celestia, “You’re still too much weakened from your last meeting with FrostBound”. “But--“. “Celestia is right” added Twilight, interrupting her brother, “I know that you mean well and I also realize how important this is for you, but I can’t afford the risk to lose you both”. “Listen to your sister, soldier” said Steel Wing, “I know what it means to be let out from the action. Is frustrating, but you must learn your limits, if you don’t want to hurt yourself even more”. At first, Shining Armor seemed to not be capable to reply, too much aware of his health, but then he added, “Then allow me to at least go back to Canterlot with you, Princess Celestia. I can’t stand still when everyone else is working to save the country”. Celestia nodded, “That’s more manageable. Your experience will certainly be helpful if FrostBound will show up”. “As if” muttered Discord, but not quietly enough. Twilight turned around giving him stern glare with the rest of the group, “What? I’m being honest here. In fact, I think to be the only one to taking this matter seriously (for how much absurd that sound). This plan of yours stink worst than a sewer filled with rotten cupcakes! I expected that at least you took this threat seriously, seeing how it made you look like a foal scared of the Bogey Mare. Do you seriously think that those flying toys and an army of dragons would be enough to stop FrostBound?” “What would you do otherwise? Other than whining and offending everyone!?” exclaimed Applejack, frustrated. “Simple, I would pack all my things and leave this dimension, going as far away as possible, never looking back and praying whatever high entity above that FrostBound will not follow us. That is what I would have done, if I wasn’t so much attached to you bunch of ponies!”. Those words made the stern glares disappear, replaced by genuine surprise. Or, in the case of a certain yellow female pegasus, great glee, “Aw, Discord!” she said, hugging the Draconequus, which looked quite embarrassed by Fluttershy affect. Celestia sighed, “Discord, I know that my plain doesn’t sound that great. I’m PAINFULLY aware of that. I wish we could gather a much larger army, composed of all the forces in the whole Equestria and beyond, because FrostBound is a threat that involve all the creatures that walk, fly or swim on this planet. But, like I’ve said before, we don’t have the time to make a better plan. So please, help us to make it work, because without you’re magic, we’re doomed”. Discord looked at the eldest of the royal sister, then to Fluttershy and her friends, then he too sighed, “Fine, what do you want me to do?”. Celestia smiled “Simple, you and Ember will gather all the dragons that will answer to the call. Then, when you will be ready, we will meet back at Canterlot”. “Fine by me” nodded Ember. “Good, at least I won’t be completely useless this time”. “Can Spike join them?” asked Twilight, suddenly. Last thing she wanted was to leave him alone with a dangerous dragon of doom flying around Equestria. “Can I!?”. At the thought to actually help save the day rather than sit on his butt, Spike looked overjoyed. And Ember too, even though she, just like Discord, tried to hide it. “Sure, I don’t see why not” nodded Celestia. “Good. Before we leave I want to warn Mayor Mare about what’s going on. I want her and all the citizens of Ponyville to get inside the castle, in case this weather is going to get worst”. “Great idea, Twily” said Shining Armor, proud of his sister. “Indeed, but before you go there is one last thing I need to tell you”. While saying that, her voice sounded a bit less sure, “Is very likely that FrostBound will be there waiting for you. In that case I ask you to try and rescue Cadence without using the Elements of Harmony”. As expected, those words caused quite the confusion “WHAT!?” shouted contemporarily the Mane 6, Spike and Discord. “I know it sounds absurd, but listen to me” replied Celestia, trying to sound firm, “Just like I’ve said before, FrostBound source of power is a mystery to us. We don’t know what effect the power of Harmony would have on him or the Elements itself. For not mentioning the attention you would get to him. Of course, if there is no other way to save Cadence, you have my authorization to use them. Just be careful”. “Ok princess” Twilight nodded, before her and her friends went to prepare themselves for the upcoming mission. As they went, Ember asked a question, “What if the Elements actually work on FrostBound and he gets defeated? What should I say to all the dragons that we gathered?”. The answer came from Luna, and her words sounded grave, almost ominous, “If that happen, Dragon Lord Ember, we shall consider all ourselves lucky”.