//------------------------------// // Secrets in the ice // Story: FrostBound // by Azrael the alicorn //------------------------------// CHAPTER 11: SECRETS IN THE ICE Cryo found himself standing on a top of a snowy mountain surrounded by clouds of a cotton white. All around him there was a pure azure sky, with a beautiful orange/yellow sun on the horizon. The most odd and at the same time amazing thing was that he could actually feel the warmth. Well, maybe feel was an hyperbole, but somehow, he could sense the warmness that was coming from it. For a being that couldn’t for the life of him feel any heat, this was a miracle. It feels so nice he noticed. Was this a dream? He looked at himself and noticed that his form was the same as when he had sealed himself inside his mind. Maybe not a dream, but something that’s far from reality he initially thought, before suddenly he realized what that actually meant. This no dream. This is my subconscious. “Indeed it is, my friend” said the familiar voice of Gloomy Dusk, appearing behind him. “This is the very same place where we two meet. Now that you’ve finally got rid of those pesky Windigos, your mind has finally cleared up”. “And not only that” said an unknown voice this time, making Cryo turn around in surprise. He was no pony, that was pretty clear by his posture alone. But that aside, he couldn’t really grasp of what kind of creature it was, because of the blue/azure cloak and hood that kept any appearance hidden from anyone. But it couldn’t hide the elemental power that coursed through his being, the very same Cold element that the ice dragon had. “Your spirit and your connection to the element of Cold, or some say Frost, has been fixed”. “You… you are the one who made up that barrier”. It wasn’t a question. “Correct” nodded the caped figure, “Allow me to present myself. I am the Ice Master”. Ice Master? That sounds more like a title than a name. Or does his species has the same funny names than the ponies? Cryo wondered. “I know you have questions about me, but first I think it’s for the better to focus on other important matters”. “Right” had to agree the ice dragon, before turning to Gloomy Dusk. “So, has everything went down without an hitch?”. “Everyone is fine and well” nodded the “unicorn”. “Just as I promised. And the Ice Master here helped me, especially when dealing with that frosty fire of yours. Without him it would have been rather tricky”. “Good” huffed Cryo, feeling a weight being pulled off of his back, while thinking when he meet Gloomy. He had done pondering between accepting the Windigos offer and was about to reject it, when suddenly the frost spirits had been stopped into place, as if time itself had been frozen. And then this mysterious unicorn appeared, with the most nonchalant manner possible, mocking the Windigos and saluting him in a friendly manner, before offering him a way out of that nightmare. Cryo was completely taken aback by how informed Gloomy was on both him and the Elements of Harmony. But for how much the ice dragon wanted to believe in his words and to be cured, he couldn’t accept it; he knew that, to fool the Windigos, to making them think that he was on their side, just trapping the ponies in ice wouldn’t have been enough for them. They wanted to crush, destroy. Kill. And he couldn’t run the risk to take innocents life. So the “unicorn” assured him that he didn’t had to worry about that because Gloomy would have made sure that no one would have really died off. Somehow, Cryo believed in his promise and accepted. “I thank both of you for your help” he then said bowing his head in respect. “You take our words for granted?” asked the Ice Master, in a curious manner. “I can tell that you’re not lying. When I were still under the Windigos curse I could sense that he wasn’t lying. And now that my mind is finally free, I can actually sense that he’s saying the truth. In fact, I can sense a lot of thing that first I didn’t noticed. For an example, that spell he’s using to hide away his wings”. “Ah… so you’ve noticed it” commented Gloomy, looking embarrassed. “I doubt a simple pony could do what you did. Then again, I never heard or read of a male alicorn with that kind of power over the dead… at least in this dimension” he added with a knowing look. This time, the alicorn in disguise couldn’t help but chuckle, “Can’t keep anything hidden from you, isn’t it?”. “I think doing that is nearly impossible. Now that he’s in perfect synchrony with the cold” mentioned the Ice Master. “Wasn’t I before?” questioned the ice dragon. “You were… but the Windigos were a disturbance with their corruptive presence. Now, thanks to the Element of Harmony, the power of the Cold has embraced you completely. How do you feel it?”. “Pure like the winter winds, clean like this snow right here” responded Cryo, “After feeling a whole lifetime so corrupted… I still have to wrap my head on this sensation”. “I guess one way to help you to clean your confusions will be to answer your questions and doubts. Ask, Cryo, and we will do our best to answer it”. They didn’t had to say that twice to him. “What is the Cold? And how is it that I’m bounded to hi… It?”. “Before I respond to this question you must promise to keep this a secret. What I’m going to tell you is made only for our ears. The other creatures that inhabits your world must not know this”. “You have my word” promised Cryo. Gloomy Dusk had pulled out from nowhere a bag of popcorn “It’s exposition time!” exclaimed, before enjoying his snack. “I will try to make it simple. The Cold (or Frost) is an abstract force. One of the most alien, one of the most ancient. For the most part of its existence, it lived in the void. Unfortunately, in that awful place, it got infected by the most vile of all evils: the Corruption, a force that twist anything that exist into a monster that hungers for destruction and to return creation into the Nothingness. One day, during a battle between the forces of good and evil, the Cold got awakened in an attempt to defeat the heroes, nearly condemning the rest of the creation. But two heroes managed not only to stop the Cold, but also purifying him from the Corruption. But through such battle pieces of the purified cold flew through time and space itself, ending up in various worlds at random times. One of those remnants ended up into your world. For eons it lay inside one of the many caves near the Smokey Mountains, before finally being founded by the pony know as Web Heart, which then he used it on you during the ritual”. “Why not using it on himself?” asked Cryo. “Because Web Heart was a paranoid. While he could sense the immense power in the fragment, he didn’t want to risk his life until he figured out how the remnant worked. But he never had the time to do that, before the Windigos came knocking at his door. A fortune, for the ponies living here, just like a fortune that the ritual was halted before it was too late. Now, be that the fruit of coincidence or fate, the name Web Heart gave to you is actually what you have become. You, Cryo, are a FrostBound”. “A FrostBound? Is that like a cryomancer?”. “Something alike a cryomancer and yet very different. Were both a FrostBound and cryomancer share the same element, the first has a more deep connection to it, especially if its energies are channeled into one body and spirit, like you, Cryo. Because of that, a FrostBound can be just as powerful as the most powerful of cryomancer; or, like in your case, even surpass him, going very close to the power of a champion of Frost”. “Champion of Frost? Who are those?”. “Beings chosen by the Cold/Frost itself to be its avatar in the material world. Usually those people already have a connection to the Element of Frost, while for the FrostBound such bond is created by entering in contact with the fragment. Usually, the Champions of Frost are the most powerful in the art of mastering the ice energies of the element”. “And you think that I can rival them?”. “I can’t say if you are the oldest of the FrostBounds that I’ve met, nor if you are the first one, given how the fragments flew through time itself. But I can safely assume that you are the most powerful I’ve met until now”. “And how powerful are you?”. “I’m not as powerful as a Champion of Frost, nor I am a braggart, but my position of Ice Master allows me to can take away the touch of Frost from the FrostBounds that are not using the power in the right way. As Ice Master, that is my duty, as it is to help the FrostBounds to comprehend their situation and overcome the difficulties of the changes”. “If that’s so, why didn’t you came to help me? I could have used your help”. “That’s… my fault actually” replied Gloomy Dusk, ashamed, “Well, maybe not my fault, but the one of my grandpa. You see, this plane of existence is pretty much off limits. Believe it or not, this multiverse has been plagued by a lot of beings that are referred as Displaced. This creatures varies a lot, but more often than not cause a lot of problems in the balance, with them jumping across universes, making all sorts of messes. So to avoid that, my grandpa, being the guardian of this plane of existence, decided to put the hoof down. He sealed any passage between universes, allowing only those he deemed worthy to pass. I know, it sounds a bit extreme, but if you had seen the number of Displaced crossing over and bringing over chaos, you would do the same. Even though, now that the Displaced activity has dropped a bit, he’s considering lowering the defenses. But I digress; my grandfather wanted to try by himself to solve your problems. The first idea was to use his soul based powers to rip the Windigos out of you. So he made a test, creating a visual representation on what would have happened. What he had seen in that test…”. The alicorn in disguise stopped, looking unsure if to continue. Well that’s a good sign thought Cryo, sardonically. “Was it that bad?”. “Trust me, you wouldn’t like to hear it”. “No, but tell me the same”. Gloomy Dusk took a deep breath “In that scenario, things turned from the worst. The ritual, despite being incomplete, had still united your soul both to the Windigos and to the element of Cold. By ripping off such connection, while he did succeeded into freeing you from the Windigos, he also made you go… bonkers, to say it friendly. Berserk, if you want a more honest term. The power of Cold consumed your mind, turning you into a beast, a force of nature hungering for destruction. Your sole presence was enough to tear the multiverse apart. In the end my grandpa had to stop you. What happened next was the most difficult my grandpa ever faced, forcing him to go all out and using all the power at his disposal to stop you. In the end he succeeded, but with all the destruction your fight caused, it felt more like a pyrrhic victory than anything else”. “Who or what is exactly your grandfather, to be able to do all that stuff?” wanted to know the ice dragon, curious. “He has many nicknames. Grim Reaper, guardian of balance, the pale alicorn. But his name is… Death” responded Gloomy Dusk, with a bit of superb grin. Cryo eyes become big as plates as he watched his hands in awe and fear. My power is truly so great? I can understand why both Clovis, Stars whirl and Celestia didn’t wanted me to get out of that cell . “Anyway” continued the alicorn in disguise, “After that… well, let’s call it disastrous test, my grandpa decided to work on a more delicate approach to help you out”. Hearing that, Cryo did a double take, “But- Why? Why going through all of that, especially after seeing me nearly destroying everything and everyone?”. “Because it wasn’t in your control, Cryo. You were a victim of chance and even more of destiny” told him the Ice Master. “What does that mean?”. “It means that behind the most recent events, someone has been plotting against you, to make sure you wouldn’t get in his way” replied Gloomy Dusk, a spark in his eyes. In that second, he caught the eyes of the alicorn in disguise change from the ones of a pony to the ones of a dragon and then back to normal. “The name of that vermin was Fate Weaver. She was the embodiment of destiny of this plane of existence; an alicorn looking wench, with an obsession with control. In the recent years, she has proven to make sure the old saying “you can’t fight fate” to be more than words in the wind. She tried to plot behind my grandfather and to gain more and more power for herself, by manipulating the ponies of this and other dimensions to her will. Mostly, she tried to make the Bearers of Harmony and everypony related to them in one way or another be under her control. And to stop anything that could interfere in her projects. Fate Weaver knew that the Elements of Harmony could have released you from the Windigos curse, but she also knew that the your immunity towards the magic of this world would’ve made you immune to her control. So she manipulated both Stars Whirl and Celestia, forcing them to keep you in prison. She counted on your good nature to stop you to break out and wreck everything, at least until she could find a way to get rid of you permanently”. “I can’t help but notice you use the past tense. What happened to her?”. “Death happened. Putting the Balance in danger equals to signing your execution. My grandpa gave her a choice: either gave up her dreams of conquer and her title of embodiment of Destiny, or die. Fate Weaver replied by nearly starting a war, but my grandpa stopped her before things could take a turn from the worse. Her fixation of domination sealed her own fate. Poetic justice at his finest” explained the alicorn in disguise, with a grin. Cryo let what Gloomy had just told him sink in his head. A part of him wanted to leave this matter aside, glad that maybe Celestia betrayal wasn’t her fault and that she didn’t faked her affection to him. Yet, another part of him, more cold and rational, wanted some explanation “What exactly do you mean with manipulation? Did she used some kind of mind warping spell on Celestia?”. “Not exactly. Fate Weaver controlled not much the mind, but the emotions of her victims, clouding their judgment. She used the fear that Celestia and Stars Whirl had for you, increasing them at levels of paranoia, making them act irrationally when it could have use to have a clear mind on your subject. So, to ask to your real question, we could say that Celestia is at 50% responsible for her choice to not fulfill her promise to you. But I can assure you, her regret was more than 100% real. What she and others have told you is true, Cryo. And I know that you know that too”. “Yes” admitted the ice dragon, looking conflicted. He did know that Celestia pain was not regret born out of fear for her life, but he couldn’t accept her apologies. Not without revealing his true intentions to the Windigos. Sure, this didn’t changed the fact that Celestia love for him wasn’t strong enough to win the fear that was hidden in her heart. But can you really blame her to be afraid? Of you and all that alien like power that course through your body and soul? Cryo asked to himself, scolding his wounded heart. You can’t blame her to be smart enough to comprehend the risks of having you around. And yet, while she feared to let you out of your cage, she never really stopped paying me a visit. And if Fate Weaver didn’t interfered… who knows . “So, once dealt with Fate Weaver you and your grandfather decided to help me out”. Gloomy Dusk nodded, “We know that the Elements were the solution to your problems. But we needed to study how the effective way to use them to cure you once and for all of the Windigos presence. Neither of us, you included, wanted to take any chances of them somehow surviving, forcing a second chapter out of this story”. At that, Cryo stared confusingly at the Ice Master. This one shrugged, unsure to what to say. “So, after some tests, we came up with the plan that we just executed. And to make 100% sure that the Windigos couldn’t find a way to meddle everything up and help avoiding casualties Grandpa gave the job to me and our friend here” he said, giving a friendly pat to the Ice Master. “Between my own control over the souls and his power of the element of Cold/Frost, we made sure that everything went according to plan”. “It seems like I’m in greater debt with you than I though. Both with you two and you grandfather”. “No debts, Cryo. There are never debts between good friends. And for my grandfather… well, let’s just say you can repay him by doing your best to control that cold attitude of yours, if you catch my cold. Since that horrible vision of that alternative future, he’s a bit worried of what you could become”. “Trust me, neither of us wants that to happen” assured Cryo. “Good, now is there any other question?”. “Actually, I do” And is by far the question of which I fear it’s answer the most “You told me my past and one of my possible futures. But what about my origins? Where do I come from?”. Gloomy and the Ice Master exchanged a sad glare. “To answer your questions, we must look beyond Equestria. In the northern hemisphere, to be precise. The vast and cold north is incredibly well populated, with many kingdoms and creatures that lived in peace and harmony. One of those creatures are the north dragons; Unlike the southern dragons, the northern are far more civilized. They are not interested in gathering hoards of treasures, preferring to the calmness of solitude so to ponder on the secrets of the universe. And yet, for how powerful and intelligent they were, they just couldn’t find a solution to one problem. Unlike the other inhabitants of those lands, the northern dragons were bounded to those lands. The more they moved to south, distancing themselves to the coldness of the land, the more their bodies started to suffer. And those that tried to persevere through the pain, ended up losing their lives, while their bodies turned into lifeless ice sculptures the size of icebergs” told him the Ice Master. “Still, while the northern dragons were quite frustrated to be stuck in one place, even if as vast as the north hemisphere, they decided to go on with their life. But while they couldn’t leave the cold lands, that didn’t stopped people from the outside to come there” continued Gloomy Dusk. “A southern dragon that didn’t hunger for gold but for adventures, named Pyrus. He arrived in the northern hemisphere and, thanks to his attention to detail, he managed to find where the northern dragons lived. Alarmed at fist by his intrusion, he gave his word that he would keep their presence a secret. Thanks to their ability to smell a lie or the truth, they knew he meant those words, so they decided to allow him to see how they lived. It didn’t take long for Pyrus to fell in love by the life-style of the dragons of the north. He had never liked how narrow-minded and gem obsessed were his kin in the south, compared to this sages that didn’t feel the need to fill their homes with coins or gold that they would have never used anyway. And he also fell in love with one dragoness of the north. Her name was Afrid, and she was one of the best philosopher of her people.” As he said that he opened a magic window for a minute, showing a picture of two adult dragons. The male had a purple scales, with green gills, the female was mostly blue and azure scales. And both looked very happy together. “They had so much in common, it didn’t took long for them to become first friends and then engaged, ending in a wedding” said the Ice Master. “Pyrus decided to settle down, preferring to stand beside his beloved one, and Afrid was happy to have found a mate that wasn’t just strong, but also smart, compassionate and funny. Their love brought them two eggs. One seemed to have taken from the father, the other from the mother. But they both were immune to high temperatures. This was a reason of joy for the parents, and it sure would have meant a lot for the rest of the northern dragons, if only they had the time to tell them about it. But, sadly, things were about to take a turn from the worse. One of the creature belonging to the other races in the north came visit the northern dragons, offering them a solution for their problem. He claimed to be a good hearted wizard that wanted to help the ones in trouble. He offered them a cure to their vulnerability to the hot weather, without asking for nothing else in exchange. The offer of this stranger made the northern dragons starting prolonged debates. Some were doubtful of the intentions of this wizard, feeling that there was something strange in this individual, others just dismissed such feelings, claiming that they shouldn’t allow fear and doubts to make them miss this chance. So in the end, they decided to let the ones who wanted the cure take it, so to prove that there was nothing to worry about the wizard”. “But, as I’m sure you already feel it, there was a lot to worry about this wizard. For starter, it wasn’t a wizard, but a warlock, banished by his people for his attempting to take over the throne. But he was not yet out of his game. He had worked on a powerful spell that could warp even the minds of the northern dragons. When he casted his spell on the dragons, they got turned into his puppets in scale and ice. And then he turned them against their friends and family, so that they could get the same treatment. Afrid and Pyrus luckily were among those that didn’t trusted him, so they tried to help the resistance. But it was already too late, the ones free from the mind spell just couldn’t bring themselves to hurt their own people, nor were they prepared for such betrayal. So, in the end, they couple had to leave to avoid being captured. They took the eggs and fled, trying to find shelter outside of the kingdom of the north dragon and maybe warn the others kingdoms of the incoming threat, but they were chased by some of the best flyers. Forced to move till the line that was separating the northern hemisphere to the southern ones, Pyrus decided to stay behind and fight the chasers, so that her wife and his sons could escape. But they were too many and their icy breath too deadly, he fell in less than ten seconds. With her heart broken, she knew that now it was all upon her to avoid being turned into a slave with her children. She preferred death over this fate, but she couldn’t dare to end the lives inside the eggs. So, knowing that they would have been immune to the warm weather in the south, she decided to fly as much as her wings could. Then, once surpassed the edge, she landed on a floating iceberg. There she used her ice control to close the two eggs in an ice container that looked a lot like a smaller iceberg” went on Gloomy Dusk. “Afrid begged the dragon gods to allow the two eggs to reach somewhere safe, and then she pushed them into the water. She watched them drift into the mist losing sight of them, as her body started to turn into ice. She hoped that the two eggs stayed together, but just as the northern dragons couldn’t survive the warmer environment, so the magic got weaker. The ice thawed, separating the eggs, making them go through different places. Both eggs got found by ponies, but at different times. Yours got found first, by some nasty members of the black market. The other egg navigated the waters of the vast ocean for an incredible amount of time, before finally being found by none other than Stars Whirl the bearded, breaking it free from ice. But the long time spent into the iceberg made the egg very hard to break, it took time and a strong dose of magic before it was possible to hatch it open” completed the Ice Master “Spike” said Cryo. “Yup” nodded Gloomy Dusk, looking worried. “How do you feel?”. “Not sure” admitted the ice dragon. “I feel enraged for what that warlock did to my people, sadness for the fate of my parents, joy at the thought that I have still a family”. “Comprehensible. Rarely a FrostBound has an cheerful beginning, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get your happy ending” said the Ice Master, putting an hand on his shoulder. “We lose only when we think that we haven’t anything else to fight for. Do you have someone worth fighting for?”. “Yes” Maybe even more than one . “Good. Now, do you have any more question?”. “In fact… I have one” replied the ice dragon, while his eyes started to burn in fiery cold energy. “Who is that warlock?”.