Chapter 1 - The Frozen Prison
Chapter 1 - The Frozen Prison
Beyond the northern Crystal Mountains of Equestria and out of her territory entirely lie what some called the Frozen North, and it definitely didn't receive its name for any deceptive purposes. It was a vast continent of surreal, but oddly beautiful tundra lying under a sky filled with boreal lights. Despite this, few ponies lived in it to see its sights except for the hearty Tundra Ponies, though they were scattered few and far between. That didn't mean there weren't any more sentient species that resided there, however.
There were the Changelings, who mainly lived in icy arctic caves, the White Wolves, noble hunter-scavengers, and a variety of animals. Still though, despite the fact life still thrived here it mainly kept hidden. Most of the landscape was completely unpopulated and barren. If one ever wanted to hide anything, the top of the world was the place for it.
Distraught and alone walked a solitary wolf, his paws ever-tenacious against the cold snow battering against them. He had been separated from his pack a while ago, and was now on a trek to find them. Though he had caught a whiff of their scent miles back, he had lost it again soon after. However, he wasn't about to give up just yet.
Onward he went, the sun of a distant pony princess gazing at him from the sky. It was really his only company, and that wasn't enough for him. Wolves were creatures of the pack, and separating them from it was the worst fate any could receive. However, after an hour more of travel he began to feel an odd sensation, an icy cold trickle spinning down his spine that had nothing to do with arctic winds. It was as if he wasn't alone any longer, though this company wasn’t anything he felt he wanted.
At that, he began to walk across a vast sheet of ice covered by a good four inches of snow. Despite it being frozen water, it was pretty much land to him, solid ground. He never expected it to suddenly crack, but that's just what it did. A thousand fissures erupted from a small point some twenty feet from him, quickly spreading in all directions with a roaring crackle. His eyes widened at this. He had never seen such a thing before in all of his life. Ice was never something to be just cracked, it being too thick for any such thing.
He began to run back from where he had come, panting as wind whipped against his fur. When he made back to the safety of solid ground, he sighed in relief before turning back to around to view what was transpiring. What in the world of Trinity could be causing such a thing? Was there some sort of beast under the ice trying to breach it? His eyes widened at that. Had it sensed him? Heeding to caution, he began to back away further from the lake.
The sound of cracking ice began to grow louder, and soon after a jet of black mist suddenly jutted out from where the cracks had originated, sending chunks of ice flying in all directions and melting a ton near it to form a large, ten foot in diameter hole. He gasped when he saw one of the chunks was about to strike him and quickly jetted out of the way, it crashing down right where he was a second ago. He took a deep of breath at that, thankful his eye had caught the projectile, though despite the present danger he refused to turn and run. Instead, he continued to stare at the lake before him.
He couldn't see the bottom of the hole in the ice, him not being at the right angle, though it seemed to be more than five feet deep. He wasn't in any hurry to grow closer to it, though. The jet of black mist had dissipated at this point, and the ice had stopped cracking, giving rise to an eerie calm save for the ghostly winds of the north. However, a second later this calm was squelched.
His ears perked as he heard something that had never befallen them before, a song, it being sung in a strange language by a multitude of voices. His kind were not one for the arts, so singing was something rarely if ever heard by them. Despite the fact he couldn't judge, he could still sense a certain... beauty about it. He felt others would feel the same. However, that wasn't the only thing he sensed.
"I don't know why... but it makes me sad..." he thought.
A second later, he saw wisps of black smoke jutting out of the hole before curving towards the edge of it, them soon forming coherent shapes. Their forms looked somewhat like ponies, creatures he had seen to the south. However, from this distance he couldn't make out any details. These smoke creatures soon formed a circular ring around the hole they had come out of, there being nearly fifty of them... a hundred... two hundred...
Naturally, being a somewhat intelligent wolf he wasn't about to sit around to see what they wanted. At that, he quickly turned and ran. He'd have to spend quite some time navigating a large arc around that lake now, him not wanting to draw attention to himself from these strange beings, but it would be north not being in danger. Their song followed him, however, and he soon found himself feeling quite drowsy. His legs were with his mind, and he found them growing heavier.
At that, he felt something behind him, and turned to see one of the smoke creatures closing in on him. Now he could see the details of it, or the lack of them actually. It had the shape of a pony but that was about it. It had no mouth, no nose, no features whatsoever save for a series of black tendrils that jutted out of it at every possible point and whipped about as if they were being blown by a furious wind. His eyes widened as he tried to pick up his pace, but the creature was still closing in on him fast.
Suddenly, it was as if he had lost all muscle control in his legs. At the same time, he felt a terrible chill in his flank. His legs collapsed beneath him, the rest of his body soon following them as it plummeted into the snow. He wanted to growl instinctively, despite the fact that that wouldn’t do much, but he couldn't. His mouth simply wouldn't follow his mind's command. He tried to get up, but that was a futile effort as well. The only thing he could do was move his eyes.
His ears still worked however, and he heard the song of these shadow creatures grow ever louder. More were likely drawing near. One soon trotted before him, its beautiful music pouring out of it. He felt himself growing calmer, and soon after his eyelids shut as he drifted into a deep, dark sleep.