CHAPTER 5
Seeking Help
Immediately after leaving Luna’s quarters, I did what she told me to do, and headed for my room to rest. She was right when she said the effects of memory crystals could be harsh, mainly because the second I entered my room, I felt the urge to simply collapse on my bed and sleep, and that is exactly what I did.
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Even through my sleep, the images I had witnessed in Luna’s memory’s kept flashing back to me, but I still managed to get the rest I needed. But I was awoken by the sound of knocking on my door, my eyes slowly opened as the knocking ringed in my ears.
“Frost…you in there, it’s River” a familiar voice said through the door. My eyes opened fully and I crawled out of bed, I quickly made my way over to the door. Winter sat on her perch in the corner of the room. I opened the door with my magic, and looked into the worried eyes of my marefriend, “there you are…we missed you all yesterday, what happened to you?” she asked as she walked past me into the room. I turned and walked in after her as she sat on the edge of the bed, I quickly sat next to her and did my best to act normally.
“Yeah, sorry about that, I wanted to come and meet you for dinner, but I just…loss track of time” I said with a smile, she simply frowned at me slightly, “are you okay, you seem…distant. You know you can talk to me, I’m always here for you” she said with a concerned look. I looked at her and cleared my throat, before smiling at her, “I know…and that’s why I love you. I promise you, I’m fine, I’m sorry for not meeting you guys” I said as I put my hoof to her cheek.
She smiled at me and we connected for a brief kiss, she sighed happily and smiled at me. “Alright fine, you can make it up to me later” she said as she stood up and turned to face me, a sly smile on her face. “But right now, you need to get fixed up, Luna wants to speak with us in the war room, I suspect it’s our next mission. Also, you might want to bring Winter with you, I think Luna wants to bring her along for the mission” she said with a smile as she left the room.
I sat there for a moment, just staring at the door, when I heard a small chirp from behind, I turned to see Winter looking at me curiously. “What? Don’t look at me like that” I said as I went into the bathroom to get ready, while winter just glared at me.
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After making myself proper, I quickly caught up with River, as we made our way to the war room. Winter followed us as she made our way through the halls. After a few minutes of walking, we finally entered the war room, where we saw Luna, Iron Star, and Aurora waiting for us, our friends had made it there as well, and they all turned and smiled as we walked in. “about time you two got here, I wonder what those two were doing alone in in Frost’s room…with nopony to disturb them” Dust said with a sly smile and wink at me, but he was quickly met with a shove in the side from Vapor.
I blushed slightly and turned to look at River, who simply winked at me and walked past, her tail brushing under my chin. After that Luna walked up to the large table with the map, “glad you two could join us, now down to business. The information we received from Silver Wing, tells us that that the pony who can help us resides somewhere in this part of the forest” she said pointing to a small area that she circled out.
“Problem is, that the only known habitable place with in the vicinity, is the old castle that my sister and I used to live in” she said looking around at all of us. My friends and all looked at each other in confusion, before I stepped up, “but…who in the right mind would live there, I thought all old equestrian ruins were destroyed by Red Spear after he took control” I said with a uncertain tone.
Luna looked at me and nodded, “yes…most of them were, but since that castle was already falling apart, it would have been pointless for him to waste his troops on demolishing it, when he was to busy fighting off resistance groups, and I suppose it just fell from his mind. After the empire fell, Red Spear left the ruins alone, believing it to be a sign to all those who resisted him, the ruins still stand today, but they are forbidden to all” she said with a sad expression.
Now it was Dust’s turn to step up and speak, “wait a minute…I’m not saying my uncle’s information was false, but what if this lead turns out to be a dead end, then we would have wasted our time” he said with a firm tone, we all turned to him, while Luna chuckled lightly. “I understand your concern, but your uncle’s information has yet to mislead us, but you have a valid point Dust. That is why…I am coming with you” she said in a confident tone.
We all looked at her with shocked expressions, even Iron Star and Aurora seemed to be caught off guard by the statement. Iron Star stepped closer to her, “Commander Luna, are you sure that is wise? Shouldn't you stay here in the Monastery?” he asked her, she turned to him and smiled. “while I am thankful for your concern Iron Star, if this pony does have a way to help us fight the king, then I want to meet them…face to face” she said with a confident tone. He looked away for a moment, but smiled at her and nodded.
She then turned to face us, “now that everything is settled, you should all report to the armory, and get your things together. Frost…Aurora has been working on a new piece for your armor, which will allow your feathered friend to come with you on your missions” she said with a smile, as Winter flew down and landed on the table. I smiled at her and followed the others to the armory.
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After making it to the armory, we all suited up in our armor sets, and gathered our things together. Luna had instructed us to make our way to the air field, after we had finished getting ready. While we were there, Aurora explained to me that she reinforced the plating on my back, which would allow Winter to land there, without tearing the flesh from my back away, and she also mentioned that she had reinforced the plating on my fore hooves so that she could land there as well. Another major thing I brought with me was my medallion, although I had no idea what use it would have, you never know when it could be useful.
After my friends and I had gotten fully dressed up, we all made our way to the field, where an airship was being prepared for launch. Winter chirped happily as she landed on my back, I was prepared to wince as she landed, but was relieved to hear her claws scrape along the plating, not causing me any pain, I sighed happily as we made our way to the field.
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As we walked across the field, we saw multiple ponies walk out of the ship that was being loaded. We saw Luna and Iron Star waiting by the ramp, both of them were dressed in armor. Iron Star’s wore the same armor he did when he helped us reclaim Ashen, but it was Luna’s armor that caught our attention. Her armor was greatly different from ours, it was a dark blue, matching her coat and mane, which was tied back behind her head. My gaze traveled to her side, where there was a large sword scabbard, with a crescent moon engraved on the hilt, which indicated that it was made specifically for her.
As we approached, they smiled at us. “Excellent, you’re here. How do you like your enhancements Frost?” she asked me with a calm smile. I smiled back and flexed my shoulders, “well, if it keeps Winter from tearing my back off, then it works fine” I said, and Winter squawked happily, making us all chuckle. Luna and Iron Star, then walked up the ramp and into the ship, which we all followed after them.
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The engines of the large airship hummed deeply, as our ship crossed over the Everfree forest, but by this time, I had gotten used to their sound. While the others were talking about the mission plan, I was gazing out the window at the passing horizon, but it wasn't the forest that caught my interest, it was the fact that we were flying close to Ponyville. I could see the town in the distance, but it looked nothing like I had read about in history books.
I heard hooves walk up next to me, I turned to see Luna standing beside me, her face was calm, but I could see a hint of worry in it. I sighed and looked out the window again, “Luna…what happened to Ponyville, after Red Spear took over?” I asked looking at the once small and peaceful town.
I heard her sigh and speak up, “after the Crystal Empire fell, Red Spear wanted to make sure nopony would be inspired to resist him. Ponyville was a symbol of peace and friendship in the kingdom, he sent his airships there, they destroyed Princess Twilight’s castle, and all those who were related to the Elements of Harmony, were taken in for questioning, but were released after swearing their loyalty to the King. Ponyville used to be a happy place, but…now it stands as a reminder to those who question the King’s rule, the citizens live in a constant state of fear. Many of our recruits come from Ponyville” she said with a sad expression.
I looked out at the town in the distance, and I could see what remained of Twilight’s castle, nothing more than a smoldering ruin. I sighed and turned to look at her, “how do you do it? How do you get used to all this death and misery?” I asked her with a curious tone. She sighed and looked away for a moment, but then her gaze fixed to the ruined town as well, “when one is exposed to something long enough, they become numb to it, while others are less successful. There have been many of us, who could not handle to horrors of war, and have fallen apart, resulting to suicide” she said with a sad look, but before I could say anything else, the captain walked over to us.
“My apologies if I was interrupting something important, but I wanted to inform you that we are closing in on our destination, what are your orders commander?” he said in a stern tone. Luna looked at me and nodded, and then turning to the captain, “very good Captain, we’ll start our search in the old castle, land the airship in the nearest clearing” she said in a formal tone. The Captain nodded and walked off to the other ponies operating in the front.
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After landing the ship, Luna led the way as we walked off the ramp and towards the large castle in the distance. It didn't take us very long, but we soon found ourselves standing in front of a large gorge, that seemed to go down forever, due to the layer of fog that covered it. There was an old bridge across the gorge, which continued up to the path, “why do I have the feeling this isn't going to end well” Dust said as we all turned to look at him, he chuckled nervously and rubbed his head. Winter screeched and flew over to the other side, just barely visible enough for us to see her, we all turned and looked at each other, deciding who goes first. Luna unfurled her wings and took off into the air and landed on the other side, quickly followed by Aurora, Iron Star turned to us and motioned for us to follow, as he made a careful first step.
The board groaned under his weight, but as he applied more pressure and continued walking, he smirked back at us. “Well…you know how that saying goes, don’t look down and you’ll be fine” he said as he continued walking. I turned to my friends and saw the smirk’s on Dust and Vapor’s face, “well…good luck you three, see you on the other side” vapor said as they took off and floated to the other side, leaving just the three of us, I turned to River who gave a disgusted sigh.
After a few careful steps, we found ourselves crossing the bridge at a relatively fast pace, with River in front of me, I kept an eye out for weak planks. But as we stepped, there was a loud snap, which caused River to cry out in shock as her hoof fell through, causing her to collapse down. I immediately sprung to her side and helped her up, but there was another loud groan and we both turned to see the ropes that held the bridge up on the side we crossed were snapping.
“Go! Go!” I shouted as we all rushed, but before we could get to edge, the ropes snapped completely, which made the bridge fall behind us. Just as that happened, Iron Star jumped to the other side, I cried out as I shoved River to safety, just as the bridge left my hooves, causing me to fall. “Frost!” I heard River cry out as I fell into the mists.
In the blink of an eye, I immediately pulled out my axe, and used the back end which had been equipped with a small pick to break things open with, I plunged the small end into the wall, and slowed to a stop. I cried out in shock s I grasped the axe handle with both hooves, I looked down to see small pieces of rubble fall beneath me, I looked up to see all my friends gather at the edge.
“Frost? Are you alright?” Luna called down.
I chuckled lightly and looked up at them, “well…I’m still alive. But…I’m having trouble pulling myself up, I think I might need some help” I yelled up. The next thing I heard was the flapping of wings, as Aurora appeared and hoisted me on to her back and we floated back up. My heart was still beating frantically as I rolled off of her with an exasperated sigh, I was then met with a tight hug and a kiss from River, who looked like she was ready to kill me.
She gave me a hard punch in the shoulder, “you idiot! You nearly gave me a heart attack” she yelled, scolding me for my actions, I chuckled lightly and stood up, “I’ll take that as a ‘thank you’ for pushing you out of the way” I said with a smug smile. She huffed at me and turned and walked away, but not without having her tail slap my chin.
After that little escapade, we returned to the path and eventually came up to the entrance. In a closer view, we could see why nopony would ever want to stay here, it was practically falling apart! The walls had been covered by moss, many of the towers looked like they were near collapsing, and to add to the creepiness, we heard a wolf’s howl in the distance.
Luna turned to us and stomped her hoof, “alright, listen up my friends, we don’t know what to expect in there, so be on your guard, it’s been so long that even I wouldn't recognize this place either. Watch each other’s backs, and stay close, we’ll only split up if we have to, let’s go” she said as we all made out way inside.
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Luna had told us the story of how her sister had tasked Princess Twilight and her friends with fixing the castle up, and restoring it to its original beauty. But as they had grown older, Twilight was drawn away with her royal duties, and her friends all went off to live their own lives, but still remaining in contact together, and having monthly meetings. But she also told us about the day she was banished, how she had nearly killed her own sister, but we all knew it was painful for her to talk about it, so we didn't push her.
As we entered the main hall of the castle, we saw the extent of Twilight’s work, much of the castle had been fixed up, but only to be ruined again after decades of neglect. Four separate halls extended off the main room, leading to other parts of the castle, while a large staircase lay in front of us, but the most surprising and creepy part of it, was the empty suits of pony armor that lined the walls in between the halls.
We all looked around to make sure the coast is clear, just as Luna turned to us and cleared her throat. “Alright every pony, we don’t know what we are looking for, so keep a sharp eye out for anything suspicious” she said as she walked over to us, reaching into her bag, she pulled out multiple small ear pieces, and levitated them to us. “Put these on, we’ll have to split up and cover more ground that way, so keep these set in case we get separated. Frost and Dust, you two stay here and watch for trouble. Vapor and River, you take the hall to the left. Aurora and Iron Star, you come with me and we’ll check a different hall, keep in contact and radio for help, good luck” she said with a firm tone. We all nodded and went our separate ways.
Dust and I sighed heavily as we sat back down, Winter chirped as she flew off and perched in one of the windows above us. “Well, I guess we just sit here” Dust said with a groan as he dropped his pole arm and sat down. I sat with him and looked at the ceiling, some of the stones had fallen loose, making it easy to see the night sky.
I sighed sadly, “You know…I’m happy to be here, making difference and all, but some days…I can’t help but miss my home. I miss my mother, my old job, my house…everything. But here we are…in the middle of a war” I said with a sad look as we stared up into the night sky. He sighed to and nodded his head, “yeah, I know what you mean. Speaking of which, what do you plan on doing after all this…after the war I mean?” he asked me. I was momentarily shocked by the question, I had never really put much thought to it.
“I never really thought much about it. I guess…I’ll go back home to Ashen, help rebuild the town and help it thrive. Maybe even…settle down with River…” I said drifting off into my thought. But before either of us could say anything more, there was a loud rumble from one of the halls, causing both of us to immediately jump to our hooves, and ready our weapons. When nothing emerged from the shadowy hallway, Dust slowly began to creep towards it, and then he vanished for a moment.
I waited in silence for him to return, but then I heard a loud screech, quickly followed by a blaze of light to fly past me and up to a window. Winter screeched and fluttered back down towards me, I turned to see Dust emerged from the hall, a surprised look on his face. We both turned to see the mysterious creature, but our eyes widened at the sight of a beautiful, majestic Phoenix.
Its brilliant colors shined in the light, but it quickly screeched and took off into another part of the castle. Dust whistled lightly, “damn, that was a Phoenix, not very common in the Everfree Forest” he said as we both returned to our spot. But before we could sit down and enjoy ourselves, our gaze’s fixated on a peculiar sight, standing at the far end of the room was a shadowy figure, although we couldn't see it very well, it appeared to be made of metal. Dust and I readied our weapons, “who’s there!?” Dust shouted, and the figure slowly emerged, only making us look at each other in confusion.
It was a full suite of pony armor, it was a much older model of armor, as this kind covered the whole body, while new armor went down to the waist.
Dust was the first to react, as he lowered his weapon and started laughing. “Come girls, really? You think that dressing up in a suit of armor is going to scare us?” he asked as he stepped towards it. I watched the suit of armor with a suspicious gaze, and then it hit me, if somepony were in the armor, we would be able to see their eyes, as well as small spots of their coat through the armor, but the eye holes were pitch black, and the armor looked like it was encasing nothing.
“Um Dust, I don’t think that’s the best idea…” I said lowering my weapon as well. Dust turned to me with a smile, “Come on Frost, you get fooled to easily, it’s clearly River or Vapor trying to mess with us” he said as he stepped closer, the suit of armor simply watched him as he stepped closer. My eyes widened as I watched the suit of armor reached behind and take out a small sword, “come on girls, if you want to be scary, at least make….an effort” Dust said as he turned to face the suit, only to see it raise a sword above him.
“WHOA!!” he shouted as he pushed back with his wings, landing back next to me as the sword hit the ground. He picked up his weapon and look at me with a confused gaze, I turned to the armor and readied my axe. I yelled out as I broke into a charge, just in time to see it raise the sword again, I swung my axe right into its neck, there was a sharp clang as my bade sunk into its neck, but I pulled the axe through the rest, and the armor simply clanged to the floor in pieces.
I sighed as I turned to see Dust pointing toward the wall, I followed his gaze only to have my jaw drop. The other suits of armor against the wall were rattling violently, we watched as some of them raised their hooves up, and stepped off their displays, and they all started walking towards us. Dust and I back up against each other as they began to surround us, “okay, so were surrounded by a bunch of haunted suits of armor, got any ideas?” Dust asked as he readied his weapon.
I looked around at our new, slightly creepy adversaries and then the thought hit me, the earpiece. I quickly reached up and pressed the button, “Iron Star? Aurora, River? Luna? Do you read me? We got a situation in the main hall, you might want to get back here” I said into the piece. The suits of armor simply closed in further, raising their weapons up. But before any of them could attack, he heard the flapping of wings, and suddenly two blasts of magic rained down and blew apart the suits of armor in front of us.
We looked up to see Luna and Aurora standing in front of us, “Come on! We’re meeting up in the throne room!” Aurora yelled as we bolted after them, as we climbed the stairs, I turned back to see the suits of armor walking after us, but what caught my eyes was the ones that were blown apart, were somehow piecing themselves back together. Before I could see much more, Dust pulled me and we continued running. Winter screeched as flew after us.
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After running through the castle’s various turns and halls, we finally came into the throne room. After we did, Iron Star and Vapor pushed the door closed, and braced up against it, both Dust and I quickly sat down and breathed deeply. River ran up to me and pulled me into a hug. After taking a few quick breath’s I turned to Luna, “what…in the name of Equestria…are those thing?” I said as my breathing returned to normal. Luna sighed and sat down slightly, bringing her hoof to her chin, “I can’t be sure, it must be some sort of defense mechanism. Whoever lives here, doesn't like visitors” she said as she stood up and began walking around.
I watched as she walked towards the center of the room, her gaze fixated on the two thrones on the other end of the room, then her gaze wandered up to the large hole above them. I walked up to her, she sighed sadly and looked down, “it’s strange, after all the years I had been back, I only ever came back here once, with Twilight and her friends…the memories here, are…to uncomfortable” she said with a sad look, I was about to say something comforting to her, but I was interrupted by a loud bang on the door.
We all immediately turned to see the door bang forward, indicating that the suits of armor were trying to break in. Iron Star, Aurora, Dust, and Vapor all piled against the door, trying to hold it back. “Luna, you used to live here, is there a secret exit or something?’ Dust yelled as another blow from there end almost knocked the door off its hinges. Luna began looking around the room, trying to remember the design of the castle.
While every pony else was busy doing something, I stood there completely useless. But before I could say or do anything, I heard the flap of wings, and I looked up to see a familiar brilliantly colored Phoenix land in the whole above the throne’s, the creature simply stared at me with interest as a large bang was heard.
The four of my friends cried out as the door was nearly pushed away, but then…it suddenly stopped.
The room fell completely silent, as the banging had ceased and they all looked around normally. My friends and I slowly backed away from the door, Luna took a step forward, and grabbed the handles with her magic, and in one fell swoop, pulled the doors all the way open. Much to our surprise, no scary suits of armor stood in the hall, I walked forward next to her and peeked into the hallway, not a single sign of any living or animated object in sight.
“Their…gone” I said as I turned back to my friends, while Luna slowly closed the door behind me, but before anypony could say anything, Luna cried out as she grasped her head. We all turned to her with a concerned look, but she quickly stood up, and turned towards us. “I don’t think were done yet, I sense a very powerful source of magic here, stay close” she said as we all bunched together.
We heard the flapping of wings, but they weren't any wings, they were the wings of a pony, a very fast pony. Before we could say or do anything, we heard a loud zapping sound, as a shadow passed over us, a small blast of concentrated magic heading for us. We all readied our weapons, but Luna was the first to act, bringing up a large shield around us, where the blast simply exploded around us, causing a brief puff of smoke.
Luna instantly lowered the shield, and stepped forward. We all looked up to see a shadowy form flying toward us again, Luna narrowed her eyes and shot multiple blasts of magic at the assailant. The figure swooped around all of them and charged at her, Luna simply spread her wings and fluttered back as the figure crashed to the ground, leaving a layer of dust and rubble to fly everywhere. Luna landed back toward us and unsheathed her sword, while we all readied our weapons to fight, the dust cleared to reveal a pony about Aurora’s height, dressed in sleek black armor.
The pony stood up and spread her majestic wings out, bringing out a long pole arm with an axes blade at the end. They were wearing a mask that prevented us from seeing their face, but we could still see their eyes, which were a sparkling violet.
“Who are you? And how did you find this place?!” a female voice shouted as she readied her weapon. Her voice seemed familiar to me, but then as I studied her features a bit more closely, and then I realized I recognized her eyes as well.
It was the pony who had attacked the imperial convoy that my friends and I were in.
But to make it even weirder, she seemed to recognize me as well. Her eyes widened as she glanced over my figure, but I could tell she recognized my face.
You? I recognize you!” she said lowering her weapon and pointing at me, causing all of my friends to look at me with confusion, I blushed a little bit, but I quickly stepped past Luna and stood in between us. I reached into my armor and pulled out the medallion and held it for her to see, her eyes widened even more. “Yes…I do remember you, you’re that stallion from the convoy, where did you get that medallion?” she asked in a threatening tone.
She readied her weapon, as well as my friends, but I quickly raised my hoof to stop them. “Its fine” I said as I turned to face her, “my name is Frost Fall, I am a member of the Night Ranger’s, and I was given this medallion, I didn't steal it from anypony” I said in a confident tone. The masked pony simply lowered her weapon and relaxed slightly, but tensed up again as Luna stepped next to me.
“My name is Luna, I am the commander of the Night Ranger’s, and who are you” she said as she removed her helmet. As soon as she did, the pony gasped again, her eyes widening and slightly tearing up, “L-Luna? It’s really you…your alive?” she asked in a shocked tone. Luna seemed confused by her question, “indeed I am, and who are you?” she asked with an impatient tone, but before the pony could answer, I spoke up instead.
“I think I know exactly who you are. All the evidence points towards it….it’s you isn't it…Princess Twilight Sparkle?” I asked in a confident yet serious tone. Despite all the collective gasps I heard from my friends, I turned to see Luna look at me with a shocked and confused look on her face, I cleared my throat and turned back toward the masked pony.
She was simply staring at me with a shocked look, her eyes wide with astonishment, but she sighed and lowered her weapon. We all watched in suspense as she bowed her head slightly, reaching up with her hoof, grabbing the lower part of her mask, she slowly pulled it over her head. All our eyes widened as we gazed at her brilliantly colored sapphire striped mane, with stripes of rose colored streaks that went along her mane and most likely to her tail as well. A unicorn’s horn graced her forehead, which greatly complimented her majestic wings, she slowly raised her head and we stared into the eyes of a pony that the kingdom had thought to be dead for many decades now, and we knew there was no denying it.
It was Princess Twilight Sparkle…in the flesh.