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// Chapter 2  
// Story: My A** is Frozen 
// by Joshleb1098 
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It had only been a few short years since Celestia and Luna had been crowned Princesses. As soon as Discord had been defeated and the lack of any ruler noted, their little ponies had basically shoved the crown onto their heads.

Of course, they also basically forced all of their responsibilities onto the sisters as well.

Celestia couldn't complain, though. It bothered her a bit that all of their worldly issues were her - and her sister's, of course - problem now, but the ponies need leaders. As the alicorn saviors of Equestria, what other choice was there?

Today in particular had been more concerning than usual. The local wildlife were noted as being more aggressive than they used to be, and a few farming ponies had even been injured. They were having a hard time growing food anyways, as something had been slowing growth of their apple trees for months now, and now seemed to have stopped growing at all. The investigation started as soon as it was reported, with no progress, and the ponies began talking of moving to a more fertile place. Princess Luna supported the idea, for establishing a new town would help the population issues. This castle wasn't really built for many more than the Princesses and their servants, after all.

The Royal Courtroom had nopony else to see after that, giving the sisters much time to worry about the future of their kingdom.

"Luna, hath thou heard news from Canterlot?"

"Nay, sister. We do hope 'twas from our architect, to tell us that it is fixed." Canterlot, home to the unicorns as soon as Equestria was founded, had been one of many places affected by Discord's reign. Repairs had been required, as was in every other major city, but the damage was more than significant. It hadn't been as easy to rebuild as Cloudsdale, either. However, some changes would be made to make it a more inviting place than ever before - including...

"Canterlot is not ready yet. We have heard that there shall be a dramatic new change, if we doth approve. Our architect would ask our opinion on having a castle built there."

Luna grinned, but the door to the throne room was opened before she could make a response.
A stallion in that so-familiar yellow armor entered the room. "Urgent report from the Royal Guard."

"We shall hear it," Celestia loudly declared. As the stallion turned to beckon in another guard, Luna nodded her head furiously in approval towards Celestia. They shared a smile.

The other guard began his report. "My partner and I were on patrol on the back of the garden when we heard screams and shouting. We reacted with all haste. The scene we happened upon was that of two ponies - one dead child and one dying father - and a fleeing unidentifiable creature." Needless to say, the Princesses were no longer smiling. "I decided to help take the stallion and corpse away whilst sending my partner to capture the assumed assailant. With some hesitance, he agreed. However, upon reaching the castle, I was nearly trampled as he ran past with a haste I have never seen from him before. He seemed to be heading towards Cloudsdale, his former place of residence, though it is my doubt that he intend to travel the full distance there."

The Princesses thought about the situation for a moment. They were doing well to hide their sorrow over the murdered child. "Continue," Luna said, her voice echoing through the room.

"The child was just now sent to the morgue to determine his cause of death. The stallion was taken to the hospital, and his injuries are not immediately apparent. His back legs no longer work, but there are no scratches or bruises or bites. The doctor claims that the attack may have been magical. Which brings me to describe the assailant." He paused for a moment to ensure he remembered everything correctly.
"The creature seemed to stand on two legs. It was over twice our height and wore purple clothing, notably a large purple cloak with a collar that blocked my view of the head. It could not have been a minotaur, for the legs were long and bent forward. I am afraid I do not have any more accurate information, for I only saw from the back. My view was much obscured by the aforementioned cloak."

"We cannot allow a possible murderer run loose," Luna announced. "We declare for a small platoon of guards to search for it. It shall be taken to the dungeon." Celestia added, "From there, we shall decide what is to be done. We also require more details from our living victim, so we might know what else we might expect. Thou art dismissed."

The door was already open, and a third guard bumped into the second as he entered. "If I might say, your Highness's, a search is unnecessary. The creature of description hath made entry to the castle, along with another of sinister appearance."

- Zero's POV -

The entire thing felt like a dream. I occasionally pinched myself, or pointed impossibilities out to myself (which basically encompassed everything), but I never did wake up or even lucidity. I decided to accept it when I unsuccessfully willed myself to fly.
Dave, on the other hand, didn't even question it. We walked in to the castle as I gave out orders to all the guards - the same order every time, "You cannot see us." - and Dave just sort of kept going.

The entrance was an enormous hall lined with pillars. Several doors led out, and there was a large staircase at the end. There were around eight guards in there, and a couple of funny-looking maid ponies. Dave didn't even help me as I grabbed each guard one at a time, forced eye contact, and gave my command. He just stood still in the middle of the room for a few seconds before walking right up the stairs. By the time I had the last guard controlled (I ignored the maids), he was out of sight down a hallway upstairs and to the left. I ran over to reach him.

There were guards clutching his legs and arms, shouting for him to stop and come with them instead. He didn't care at all. He pretended not to notice them, and he wasn't slowed that much by them. I once again grabbed each guard and gave my command, and once more, he just walked forward. It was starting to piss me off.

Well, a minute later, we reached a door at one end of a branching hallway. The guards all around us were panicking because they knew we were here but they couldn't see us. They did their best to listen to our footsteps, but their own shouts and running about masked our sounds. In short, they were pretty terrible guards. Anyhow, Dave threw open the door, letting every guard looking for us know where we were headed, and I quickly ran in behind him and held it shut. An army of four-legged guards versus someone as physically unfit as I was had only one conclusion. My frustration reaching undiagnosable levels, I called out, "Would you PLEASE do SOMETHING!?"

Dave looked at me, at the door, and back at the enormous library we were in.

"You've got this," he stated. I was not amused.

The door burst open and I jumped to the right to avoid getting stomped to death. All of the guards looked around, searching for us. Dave scanned the shelves and searched the area. I saw him find a section that he liked. I let him do his thing, but I was about one step away from commanding him to jump out of the window. A new wave of guards came in from down the hallway. "In here, in here!" the present ones shouted, and some ten-to-fifteen guards stormed into the room. I couldn't get them one at a time anymore, and I was knocking my head back and forth for a solution... and I got one.

With a wide sweep of my cape, I closed my visor and ran into the middle of the room. I stood on a table, flourishing again to look down upon the newcomers. Appearance was everything, and I absolutely had to get their attention. I took a deep breath, and hoped I didn't screw up.

"You!" I shouted. "You are all puny, powerless beings. Individually, you are all insignificant. As a whole... still utterly worthless." I fished around in my head, wondering what I could say next to keep their attention. It was an empire, wasn't it? And I knew they had princesses. I got an idea of what to say next, so I quickly spat out, "You must understand what power is - the only true power, the power of the heart. The desire to change inspires strength through determination, and change is my only desire!" I pulled that right out of my ass. I threw my cape behind me dramatically, and was very glad to see that all of the guards who could see me were looking right at me. My visor opened on one side, revealing my Geass. "I am Zero, and I command you all to remove the princesses from the throne, now!"
The power of my mind control took every one of them, except for the ones who thought I was invisible. Not only because they couldn't see me, mind you, but because there is a rule that prevents giving more than one command to any single person. Being a fan of Code Geass, of course I knew that.
At any rate, it turned out better than I expected. Every guard that could had looked into my eye, and they all hastily left the room, leaving just the ones who couldn't see us behind. They lunged at the table I stood on, and I leaped off and backed up. I bumped into my brother, nearly making him drop the stack of books he decided on. Wordlessly, he took my shoulder and began walking out with me in tow. As we moved slowly and quietly, none of them noticed us leave as they tore the room apart.

- Celestia's POV -

I... didn't really know what to think about this.

The mass of guards I had sent to deal with the intruders came storming in my throne room. I was alarmed, and even more so when they went directly to my sister and I and lifted us into the air.
And then, quite gently, they sat us down on the floor.

I didn't really know what to think about this.

It would seem that they didn't either, as they awkwardly shuffled on their hooves and looked towards the ground.
After a long, awkward silence, Luna nearly shouted, "What is the meaning of this?!"
The guards shuffled around, none of them having an answer. Soon, one guard was shoved to the front by his companions. Attention on him, he had no choice but to answer.
"I'm not sure, your Highness. My memory is quite hazy. One minute, we were with the intruders, but now, I know not what to make of this scene."

"'Tis the same for me as well," spoke another guard. All of them murmured agreement.

"'Twas quite rude! We demand a detailed explanation," Luna calmly shouted as she got back onto her throne. She was always louder than I. "What exactly transpired?"

"We encountered them in the library, where the one in armor gathered books." That action confused me.
"Books?" I wondered. "What books was it interested in?"

"History, I believe, and geography. 'Twould suggest that they are strangers."

"Indeed," mused Luna. "And the other one?"

"It stood upon a table, and... hmm..." The guard scratched his head, but another had his back.

"It made a speech, I believe. It said it's name was Zero. And it spoke of... Hmm. Significance, I think."

None of the guards had any memory of what happened afterwards.
"We have yet to see them," I said, "and we are quite curious. Since thou hath trouble detaining them, we wish for you to escort us to them instead."

Another guard came in. It was beginning to get quite crowded. "The one called Zero made it so that most of us cannot see him. However, the staff reports that they have left the castle."

"Then we shall follow. Guards, let us find them." They all saluted their solar diarch, and lead her off to search for the intruders.