//------------------------------// // Chapter 5~Icy fear~ // Story: The snow mare // by pegasis23 //------------------------------// Winter groaned as she woke up from her sleep. Sunlight was streaming in through the damp curtains of her room. Nopony would need her now,since it was the second day of when she arrived here and Celestia would be too busy with administrative papers to continue magic lessons. Yawning,Winter dove back into her blankets and began to sleep once more,returning to her dream land. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ow.."Winter winced as her body fell onto crystal. Wait a minute,crystal? Winter opened her eyes to see that she was trapped in some kind of black crystal stuff. Evil,masculine laughter could be heard all over the place as Winter looked about in terror. "Winter Snow,child of my most loyal leader of my little group. We finally meet face to face." The dark,yet sophisticated sounding voice continued,echoing around the dark room. The shadows all round condensed into smoke which then quickly formed a dark stallion with oily,yet wavy dark hair. "I suppose,you are going ask who am I and what I want from you,like all other silly ponies before you." The stallion studied winter's icy blue eyes,traces of a smirk on his face as he seemed to read her mind as if it was an open book. "Well,for your information,I am the King Sombra, king of the Crystal Empire until some meddling sisters ,or should I say,mother and aunt,took it away from me." Sombra said,laying back comfortably on a crystal chair that was conjured by his dark magic. "H..how did you know?"Winter whispered almost inaudibly,"That the Princess was my mom?" "I had Snowdrop as my little informant. When Luna took her away from here, Snowdrop took Luna along to the moon for a thousand years.One pony down,another Princess to go." Sombra grinned evilly as his meaning of his words sank into Winter. Winter shivered,"Wait,not my mom..Please no!" Winter did not want another pony disappearing from her forever,like what happened to her aunt Luna that eventually led to the death of Sweet Tea. "Oh,your mom is just the very beginning. Once she's gone,you will be next." Sombra smiled,his face just inches away from Winter's,his fangs glinting in the light of the overhead moon in the dream dimension as he moved closer to Winter. Winter cowered back for a moment before narrowing her eyes suspiciously,"Pray tell,my dear sir,why are you telling me all of this?" "Oh,haven't you seen the signs?Let me tell you this,if you are truly Celestia's student ,surely you would have known that I want you as an ally,that is if you were reading those dusty old books in the library as she would have told you to do. Oh,Winter Snow,you could be so,much more if you were taught under me.So,much more." Sombra eyed Winter hungrily before stepping back in the moonlight,his armor shimmering in the light,giving a majestic look that rivaled Celestia's,"So,what do you say?Would you like to be my student and my ally in overcoming Celestia?" Winter stepped back,before noticing that the cage had melted away in to the ground,leaving her free from any constraint.Even though there was no cages or chains this time,Winter felt uncomfortable in the presence of the stallion. Voices began to speak in her mind as time floated by. "Don't join him!This is wrong,it is most unfilial for a daughter to plot against her mother!"Her own mental voice in her mind screamed as her mouth poised to accept. Winter shook her head and tried to decline,but as she did that,an intense pain in her head began as another voice not quite like hers spoke in her mind,"Join him!After all,you are not Celestia's biological daughter,you are Snowdrop's daughter!Why should you care for that old hag?" Winter sat down suddenly,as she held her head in pain as Sombra furrowed his brows slightly as he probed about with Winter's mind. The mental fight between her voice and his battled each other fiercely between the decision as Winter neared breaking point of the relentless attack. Winter finally had enough but instead of snapping,like what Sombra had done to most of his victims and of his expectation,Winter did the very opposite. "NO!"She yelled,a blast of winter magic shoving Sombra a good distance away from her. Sombra groaned in pain as he stood up on his own hooves,blinking a few times before noticing Winter standing in the light with newfound confidence that was radiating off her. "Thank you for your kind offer,but no."Winter firmly said,"I love my mother and I am her student.It is most unfaithful of me to plot against her and to be your student when I am hers."Winter continued,her voice full of assertiveness as Sombra winced as her voice echoed about,her consciousness strongly fighting against his presence. "I don't know how many other innocent ponies you had affected with your misused powers,but I promise you,Sombra,I will not let you affect other ponies as you had done with my true mother. So,begone with you!"Winter said,her magic sparking and the moon began to glow as she attacked Sombra with an ice blue beam. As Winter fought Sombra's nightmare force with her magic,the moon shone with magic and a familiar alicorn formed beside Winter,fighting by her side to eradicate Sombra's dream presence from the dream scape. "No,stop!"Sombra panicked when he saw the alicorn beside Winter,"Stop!No!" He disappeared,leaving a small pile of ashes on the ground. Winter gasped,sinking down on the ground for some rest when she noticed the alicorn. Winter's jaws dropped when she saw who it was that helped her fight against Sombra.It was unmistakeable,yet impossible for her to even be here. "Auntie Luna?!"