Amaura Borealis

by Adenbadens


Chapter 2: The Long Night Begins

I finally reached the mountains to the south. I took one look at them, then at my not-made-for-climbing feet, and decided to continue on west. Who knows, there might be a pass. Failing that, the mountains will have to end eventually, and in the meantime I can find shelter in a cave or something.


The sun is gone now. Sure, it’ll be back, but winter has truly set in. The winds blow, the snow falls, the moon rises, but its setting does not herald the sun. I’ve also learnt that my solitary claw in each foreleg is meant for gripping and digging through the ice, which has been helpful in finding different grasses to eat, so I’m not starving yet.

It’s not as dark as I’d thought it would be, though. My eyes have had plenty of time to adapt to the night and between the moonlight, stars, and both reflecting off the ice, it’s surprisingly well lit here.

The other half of the old saying holds true, however. The night here is full of terrors.

This world has magic, I now know. Not like how some Pokémon abilities can seem magical, or otherworldly, or bend reality. Honest, true magic. The very land is alive here, and I mean that in the most literal, nightmarish sense.

The long night seems to have awoken all manner of beasts from the land itself. A ridge or a cave is as likely to be the back or mouth of some massive creature as not. Truly colossal beasts of ice and stone lumber across the plains in the dark, their silhouettes blocking the stars. I’ve seen entire glaciers cross the snow at dizzying speeds, only to sink into the ice-locked ground, merely the fins of whatever lay beneath, eerily silent and leaving the snow largely unruffled in their wake.

But while these things are terrible to behold, as long as I don’t go near them they aren’t dangerous to me. I guess I’m beneath the notice of those titans. Far more dangerous to me are the things closer to my size.

I've had to stay out in the open, avoiding possible shelter on the basis that it could in fact be some giant monster. I could easily walk into somewhere and never walk out. The set of healing cuts along my back and stomach given by a closing mouth with teeth made of stalagmites and stalactites is proof enough of that. This strategy, however, has its own drawbacks. My eye sails, which have firmly been the green-with-black-fringe that shows my fear and stress, might as well have been a glowing beacon for predators on the ice.

This leading to my current predicament.

“Come on then!” I yell at the wolves. “You want some of this? Well, come and get it!”

This is of course bluster, not bravado; I am terrified. The pack of five pure white wolves either emerged or formed from the snow and caught me completely by surprise. I am outnumbered, outsized, and outclassed in every way I can think of. I have never in my weeks of wandering been more aware of my new status as a lone prey animal as I am in this moment.

Okay Joey, you can’t outrun them because they’re wolves and you’ve got short legs. All you have to do is fend off a pack of hunters that have you surrounded with your largely-untested abilities...yea that’s not gonna work. Need a better mindset. I’m not surrounded I’m...I’m in a target rich environment, just pick one and keep going from there. Go!

“YAAAAH!!” I cry out as I charge at the smallest wolf I see. I don’t even reach him before I’m tackled down from the side by another wolf, knocking the breath out of me. Before it is able to do more, I knock it off with my Take Down, flipping our positions. Struggling to my feet, I manage to gasp a breath back in and immediately begin coughing. “Stupid recoil,” I manage. “Stupid speed stat.” Hearing the sound of another charging behind me I get out, “Stupid pack hunters” before I’m taken down again mid-turn.

Its teeth clamp down on my neck - why not? It’s only the largest vital part on my body - and I brace for what I’m sure is the end. I feel the teeth pierce my hide, and a moment later my eyes widen when they stop.

What?

With my wider field of vision, I can see that the wolf looks as surprised as I am, and a layer of rime vanishes off of its teeth. Ice Fang! Ice does half damage against other ice types! I don’t know if they’re Pokémon, it they sure can fight like them. As I roll my body so I can push the wolf off with my feet, I feel a moment of relief that this might not be the end, until I remember that all of my moves are ice type as well.

My Refrigerate ability turns all my normal-type moves into ice-type, meaning my Take Down probably hurt me nearly as much as it hurt the wolf. So it’s to be a slow grinding death instead of a quick one. Wonderful. Might as well go down swinging.

I give a wordless bellow to the wolves, who howl in return, and the battle is rejoined. High above, a flicker of light comes into being; buried deep in the darkness, something stirs.


Keen Vesper’s tufted ears twitched and she looked up from the cards in her hoof. “The frost wolves found something, Parsnip.”

Parsnip, a cream Earth pony with a yellow mane, didn’t even look up from his hoof of cards. He shifted to resettle his armor, which briefly showed his namesake for a cutie mark. “What of it Keen?” He asked the thestral across the table from him. “You want to go out there and fight off a pack of wolves to save whatever hapless thing they’ve found to eat? Or maybe you just want to take Snowdrift out for a flight and catch a show? Goodness knows you two are the only ones able to last that long out there.”

Keen grimaced, briefly showing her fangs. “Don’t be morbid. It’s just that they sound closer than usual, and I thought I should say something.”

The stallion blinked and looked across the table at Keen, then sighed and rolled his eyes. “Keen, if you’re worried about the wolves, the wards will keep them out. If for some reason the wards fail, the wall will keep them out, and if they manage to somehow get over the wall, then Bright Spark and I are charged with the defense of the outpost and getting you and Snowdrift to escape to warn Canterlot that the outpost defenses have been breached and need to be rebuilt and reinforced, and possibly restaffed. You know this, I know this, and we all rest easy despite what those orders would mean because nothing outside the wards have ever shown an interest in anything inside, because that’s part of what they’re for. So we’re not going to borrow trouble worrying about the wolves, okay?”

Keen gave Parsnip a flat glare. “It’s not that, Parsnip. I’m not an idiot.”

“Thank the princesses for that. Than what is it?”

“It’s that the wolves have never found something this close to the base. With what we’ve been posted out here for, I’m just wondering if what they’ve found is what we’re looking for. I mean “you’ll know it when you see it” could be anything, but we have to actually see it.” Keen explained.

Figuring that they weren’t going to get back to their card game, Parsnip started stacking the cards to put back in the box. “So you do want to take Drift out to see the wolves. You’ll stay safe?”

“Yes, mom.” Keen grinned. Parsnip did not. “I’ll just pull her away from Spark and we’ll take a quick flyby to see what’s got the wolves riled up. Won’t even have to leave the wards to see them, from what I could hear.”

Standing from the table, Keen Vesper shook out her leathery wings, then turned and went to find where Snowdrift went. Parsnip watched her leave, having an idea on where she was heading. Sure enough, seconds later he heard Keen pounding on a door.

“Snowdrift, stop boosting Sparky’s “morale” and get out here! We’re going flying to see what the frost wolves found!” Parsnip didn’t bother trying to hold back a snort of laughter.

At the end of the first week of their rotation, Snowdrift had declared herself Morale Officer of the outpost and decided to have one-on-ones with the other guards stationed there (a grand total of four including Snowdrift herself) to discuss ways of keeping a positive attitude in what was basically a dead-end posting. She had spoken with Keen Vesper and Parsnip himself before dinner and was going to speak with Bright Spark afterwards. Snowdrift didn’t leave his room until the next day. Over their pancakes the next morning Keen, the least conservative guard in the group by far, had asked if Snowdrift planned on keeping everyone else’s morale up the same way she had Bright Spark’s.

Parsnip had never seen two ponies switch colors before. With sputtering denials Snowdrift had turned a bright red and Bright Spark went pale. Keen had watched their faces, and fell backwards out of her chair from laughing so hard, with her wings holding her sides as she gasped for breath. Parsnip had managed to keep a straight face, and merely said “Keen, get off the floor. You’ve got patrols in an hour and need to eat.”

That had been at the height of summer. Now, with autumn well on and winter coming, he couldn’t help but wonder sometimes about how Captain Armor had arranged this squad. Pulled from the various branches of the guard, they had never met before they left from Canterlot together. Considering the Captain was seeing Princess Cadenza, Snowdrift and Bright Spark getting together was surprising but not unexpected. He worried about meddling in his personal life though, and wondered if the Alicorn of Love had similar designs on himself and Keen. With Bright and Drift cozying up, he had been spending more and more time with her.

He wondered if Keen noticed that same fact, and what she thought. A thestral being paired with an Earth pony she had barely met before they shipped out, seemingly chosen by the Princess via Captain Armor. He wasn’t even sure what he thought about it. Or how he felt about it. Or her.

He knew Keen would laugh about it and make some flirtatious jokes, purposefully send mixed signals and ultimately reveal nothing, so he kept that to himself.

Parsnip was shaken from his musing as Keen led a flushed Snowdrift back across the doorway, headed to the front entrance. Whether Drift was flushed from embarrassment or something else was up for debate.

Bright Spark wandered in a few minutes later and fell into a chair, letting out a groan as he rubbed his face with his hooves.

“Let me guess,” Parsnip began after Bright failed to say anything, “she started knocking before the good part.”

“I don’t know how she does it, but Keen has managed it every time since she found out Snowdrift and I...uh…” Here Bright Spark fumbled.

“Closed ranks?”

“Sure, let's go with that.”

“She isn’t named Keen for nothing, Bright Spark. All her senses are sharp, and thestrals have excellent hearing to begin with. So if you and Snowdrift really want some time to yourselves, Keen probably shouldn’t be in the outpost at all.”

If anything, this made Bright Spark’s mood drop further. “So she’s been doing it on purpose to get her jollies at our expense. How wonderful.”

“At least it means she approves,” Parsnip consoled him, “if she didn’t she’d be pulling Snowdrift away from you entirely instead of just poking fun at you.”

“Blessings upon us all for her graciousness.” He finally lifted his face from his hooves. “Deal out those cards, I’ll make something for us all to eat, and the mares can have their portion when they get back.”

As Bright Spark trotted away, Parsnip heard him mutter “I wonder if there’s any alcohol in the supply cabinet.”

Knowing it wasn’t meant for him to hear, Parsnip called out anyway, “It’s meant to be used medicinally!”

“Achoo.”


The thestral and the Pegasus trotted down the hall, but when Snowdrift made to turn towards the private quarters, Keen Vesper instead pulled her away towards the gear room by the main entrance.

“Just towel off, Drift! You can shower when we get back, you’d freeze your wings if they were wet anyway!

Keen was still needling Snowdrift as they walked. She didn’t think she had gotten that heated, but she just wanted a few minutes to gather herself without being nearly dragged by the hoof to see what had the wolves riled up.

“I wasn’t going to shower, Keen! I just wanted to grab my… ugh! Let GO of my hoof!” Just before Snowdrift could yank her hoof out of Keen’s grip, Keen let go and Snowdrift nearly tipped herself back.

“Your scarf and hat are right here, Drift, and anything else we don't need because the wolves might leave by then!” Keen said, excited at the idea of them maybe finally seeing something out here.

“You went in my ROOM?!” Snowdrift cried.

“You sounds like my sister. No, not lately, you just left them right here, which was probably a mistake since the snow still hasn’t melted off from our last flight,” Keen replied, snatching the hat off it’s peg and putting it down on Drift’s head. “Why? What are you hiding…?” Keen’s eyes narrowed at her, but Snowdrift just shook her head at her antics before grabbing her scarf and stepping into her snow-boots.

The “mud room” as Parsnip had dubbed it, was poorly named in Snowdrift’s opinion. Sure, the bare wooden walls served the purpose of holding their outdoor wear, gear, and several spears in an umbrella stand (the weapon rack in the arms room having been assembled in there and now too big to fit through the door), but she doubted there would ever be enough mud in there compared to the amount of snow that got tracked and blown in from outside. Other than the guard gear, the only thing separating it from a normal antechamber was the heavy oak doors that had a wooden beam barring them, both to keep out the wind and for defense.

“Alright, anything else we need for our little trip to see the wolves?” Snowdrift said, shaking her head as she watched Keen try to put on a coat without getting her fluff caught in the zipper. “Crossbows, armor, that sort of thing? Do you want to drive them off of whatever they got?”

Smiling down at herself for managing to successfully zip her coat up, Keen chipperly responded, “Nah, maybe just some binoculars so we don’t have to get too close for a good look.” At the sound of another howl that even Snowdrift could hear without Keen’s sharper senses, Keen said “Alright, maybe crossbows. We won’t engage with them up close, or leave the wards, but if they’re right outside the line we might want to encourage them to leave.

After grabbing the mentioned items, they both walked over to the door. Giving a nod to each other that they were ready, Snowdrift lifted the bar and pulled the door open. The cold from outside immediately began to cut through their gear, a reminder to keep their outing short.

The main entrance, situated on the south side of the outpost, was out of the usually northern winds and was placed to give anyone leaving a clear indication of which way Canterlot was: straight ahead. It was reasoned that anything local that might bother with the base wouldn’t be coming from the Equestria side of things, but instead from the wilderness. Thankfully that hadn’t been tested yet.

As Keen and Drift lifted off and began to turn north, Snowdrift first looked over the outpost and its grounds. A squat one story building, the outpost’s southern entrance overlooked the train tracks and the loading platform on the opposite side. The simple construction hid its sturdiness, as it was built to weather the wild storms of the north, and hopefully a monster attack or two. Beyond that was the five-foot stone wall that closed in the base on all four sides, with a small gap to the north and a wider one for the train to the south. The wards in the distance, glowing faintly to those inside them, were designed to keep the weather manageable to some extent and hid the outpost from or outright deterred every monster they knew lived here, which was surprisingly few for a “wild” area.

The building itself was made to hold a dozen ponies and was as well maintained as the current four could keep it. There was little in the way of actual duties beyond “keeping watch” over the largely-empty snowscape, so they kept it clean as another way to stave off boredom.

The lack of duties also led to a lack of discipline, or at least a rise in familiarity among the group. They still followed “lights out” and kept a duty roster, but Parsnip was the only one who wore armor regularly on the basis that he was the “last line of defense and might not have time to arm up” and bi-weekly game nights were also a thing. But why not bend the rules a little this far out? Reporting someone for something just made for bad feelings and no official word would come for weeks between supply drops, so they sorted things out themselves. Snowdrift, as “morale officer”, felt this was the better option and made them a better unit overall by working through personnel problems rather than letting them fester. It also meant she wouldn’t be written up for fraternizing with Bright Spark.

As the two winged over the top of the building, Keen was buffeted by the north wind that Drift was able to just cut through. Snowdrift glanced to Keen. “Don’t think I missed your comment about not going in my room lately, we’re having a talk about personal boundaries when we get back. Now what... in Celestia’s name is THAT?!

The two came to a halt at the sight before them. The swirling pillar of green and blue stretching from sky towards the ground funnily enough did look like a single lock of Princess Celestia’s hair, gently twisting in a wind different from the one Drift and Keen felt. The wide-eyed look the two shared said enough: beyond the Princess herself neither had seen anything like it.

“Is that where…?” Snowdrift couldn’t even finish the thought.

“Oh yeah.” Keen confirmed. “Let’s go get a closer look.”


Where? Searching. Couldn’t find it. Where was it? Like a sound barely heard, or a faint familiar smell, it teased the edge of the senses. But where was it coming from? It was gradually getting stronger. Where? Merely had to wait. Had to look. Wherewherewhere…


Apparently, when I’m in a fight-or-die scenario and my adrenaline is pumping, once I start yelling it’s hard for me to stop. Yelps of fear, bellows of anger, cries of panic. Yells of “bitter outrage” at being so much slower than my enemies makes the wind from my freezer-gems flare and actually does slow down my enemies, so I yell and yell and yell.

My desire to keep hitting, never letting up, never losing strength, has also created a fog around me that stretches about the size of our battlefield. I don’t know if it’s helping, or what it’s actually doing, but it’s there.

If I live I’ll have to figure out how to do these intentionally on command. More ice attacks aren’t exactly helping, though, and the fight isn’t going too well. I’ve managed to take down one wolf of five and slow the others enough that I can land a hit against some of them before they can get me, but this fight is exhausting. I keep yelling, though. It seems to help.

Coughing as I stand from my latest attack, I wince as I taste blood in my mouth and spit it out on the ground. My body burns from the impacts, and my exhaustion is making it hard to focus enough to really channel “indignation” into an attack. The myriad of cuts, bites and scratches along my body aren’t doing me any favors either. ”No more of those… I can’t. And here we go.”

The sound of claws on ice gave me just enough warning to jump out of the way of the next wolf to attack. “That all you got?” I weakly taunted, only for it to spin upon landing and leaping for me again. This time I wasn’t so lucky, and we went down together in a roll.

Suddenly, my world went green. Fire and pain erupted along my entire body, then bright white light and searing heat, the wolf falling off of me with a yelp, and finally another lingering burn as I thudded down onto the snow.

Lifting my head from the briefly steaming snow, I saw a single twisting pillar of aurora. I had always longed to see one, and this was more solid-seeming than I would have imagined it to be. And much lower, coming down to brush gently along the ground. This was a bucket list item for me, a dream come true, and seeing that the disturbed snow from my fight went right through it, I was pissed off to no end.

“Are you KIDDING ME?!” I rose, the pain of the burn already faded from my body, but still fresh in my mind. The fear was nearly gone, the stress unable to stand in the face of overwhelming anger and outrage. I saw red, both literally and figuratively as my eye sails shifted crimson. The aurora also began to change, seeming to ripple with the force of my emotions.

“Is everything here trying to kill me? Can’t I just get a GOD!” My tail rose. “DAMNED.” It slammed against the ground, causing a stone to fly up. “BREAK?!” I hit the rock with my tail, where it crashed against one of the wolves, which vanished in a puff of snow and a whimper of pain.

I paused. My anger vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by relief and joy at finding salvation from a rock move. Angry crimson cooled to a jubilant purple.

Some red lingered though. I may have laughed in sadistic glee.

The rest of the fight was almost pathetically easy compared to what came before. I took a few more hits but I was feeling surprisingly good all things considered. A few rocks to the face and the wolves were nearly gone. I was one short though, I could only account for four all told and I knew there were five. My eye was drawn to the still-swirling tendril of aurora as I remembered the wolf that had fallen through it with me. Did it burn away where I had merely felt the flame? They were solid enough, but in the end still seemed to be just magically animated snow and ice. I walked close to the spot I had fallen through before and was just reaching out when I heard the soft crunch of snow.

Behind me! I spun, hoping to see where the wolf was lunging from so I could dive to the side, when I froze in confusion. It wasn’t the last wolf, it was some kind of bat-horse thing. It was just...standing at the edge of the Mist peering in like it could barely see through it when I could see clear as day. Finally another Pokémon? No, it wore deep purple barding and carried a crossbow. The only similar one I could think of was Bisharp, and those were bipedal and had swords. Some sort of military, or police force for the land, but in the middle of nowhere? It looked familiar, not like I had seen this particular creature before, but it’s like.

“Hello?” I called out as the mist began to dissipate, taking a step back in caution when its ears tilted in my direction and its cat-like eyes snapped to me.


There! Yessss. Had it now. The feeling flared up like a beacon as things passed through. Hurry. What made it though? Hurry, didn’t matter. Reclaim what was lost, must go faster.


As Keen and Snowdrift approached the aurora, they saw that the ground was covered in a mist neither could see through. It went right up to the edge of the wards, forming a clear line where “inside” ended and “outside” began. The pair could hear heavy impacts and the pained cries of the wolves but had no idea what the pack was actually fighting. Their only clue was some weird, echoing cry.

“See anything, Keen?” Snowdrift asked. “I can’t even make out shapes through that mist and we’re right above it.”

“I can’t either. I think I’m going to have to get closer before I’ll be able to see what’s happening.” With that she began to spiral down to the ground, before being yanked back by Snowdrift.

“Are you crazy?! You want to go out of the wards into the middle of a fight you can’t even see just to find out what the wolves found? Let them have it and we’ll check out what’s left!”

“It’s not going to be that bad, Drift.”

“Yea? What makes you say that?”

“Listen. The fight’s over. Whatever’s in there beat the wolves back.”

Breaking her attention away from Keen Vesper to the swirling mist below, Snowdrift realized she was right. The wolves always howled over a kill; now the area was silent but for the wind. The mist still sat below them, menacingly hiding whatever lay within.

“That’s not better,” Drift insisted, looking back up, “if anything it’s worse! Whatever is in there can beat a pack of frost wolves and there’s just one of you!”

“And it’s probably weakened and tired from fighting off the wolves. We’re armed and armored, and I just want to step one hoof into that to see what’s inside. If whatever’s in there gets the drop on me, which it won’t, you just need to put a crossbow bolt into it so it lets me go. It’ll have to leave its cover to grab me so you’ll even have a clear shot. Then I fly up and back into the wards, and it limps off or dies, and the mystery is solved. Good plan? Good plan.” With that Keen began to spiral back down, landing softly on the snow with a light crunch.

“No Keen, bad plan!” She hissed down at her but she hefted her crossbow anyway, pointing it at the leading edge of the mist where anything would have to reach through to grab her fellow guard. “This is what I get for saying we don’t need to stick to the chain of command.” She muttered as she kept her aim trained just ahead of where Keen was standing. “Insubordination, and it’s my own doing. Oooh I’d be pissed if I wasn’t so worried. Please oh please be safe Keen this was supposed to just be a simple scouting I don’t want to have to tell the others I let you get hurt.”

As Snowdrift kept up her quiet litany up above, Keen Vesper had landed just inside the wards and was peering out into the mist. Not even a shadow of what’s inside. Geez, what is this stuff? I never have this problem.

Steeling herself and throwing caution to the winds, Keen took her first step. Out of the wards, into the mist, her hoof landed with a gentle crunch. Her vision immediately began to clear, the instant change from impenetrable to murky telling her that it was at least partially magical in nature. She squinted and began to pick out shapes as her vision adjusted when she heard it.

“Amaura?”

The sound itself was muffled and distorted for her, though its location was not, and she immediately honed in on the source, shocked at what she saw. Standing taller than any pony she had ever seen save the princesses themselves was a black silhouette. Roughly pony-shaped, the clearest detail she could make out were its eyes: glowing red and green, with a deep purple wisping away towards the back of its head. As she watched, whatever it was took a step back towards the green fire behind it. As soon as it stepped through, the shadow, the fire and the mist all vanished.

The wind suddenly picked up and Keen, more unsettled than she would like to admit, stepped back into the wards right as Snowdrift touched down behind her.

“So,” Snowdrift began, “what did you see before whatever happened… happened? Where did whatever it was go?

“I’m… not sure, Drift. But we need to send a message to the Captain on the next supply train.” She answered, still facing out.

Snowdrift heard the capitalization in her voice and didn’t bother with clarifying. “Why? Keen, what did it do?”

“It was hard to hear, even inside the mist, but I think it said Amore. Questioning. And if something out here is looking for Princess Cadenza…” Keen trailed off.

“Then the Captain needs to know, right. The next train’s not due for a few days but we can write a full report of what we saw and what happened. Let’s go back and tell the others.” With that Snowdrift took off, Keen looking for a moment longer at what was now an empty field of snow.


No! Less than blind! Worse than useless! It was right there and now it was gone! Almost had it, how was it gone?! The wind howled in response to the fury felt inside, whipping flurries into a frenzy. It was so caught up in its rage that it didn’t even notice the sudden appearance and disappearance of a pony nearby.

Saw it though. Felt and seen. Seen and heard. It did not just appear, it was called. The one who called it would return. Take it. Control it. It would sound the glorious return. It would be mine again. They will all be mine. The Herald will be mine!