//------------------------------//
// Cyroxim 
// Story: The Frozen gate of Tartarus 
// by Optimistic Pessimist 
//------------------------------//

	

Twilight was shivering. Not because of the cold. She had gotten used to that. The constant flock of Windigoes that flocked around Cyroxim had created a miniature winter that was complete with its' own snow storm. Twilight Sparkle didn't expect something like this. She had to walk off to the side to avoid being frost bitten.

She was shivering at the thoughts that ran through her mind. She kept staring at the unicorn who called himself Cyroxim. Twilight had read about Windigoes once. They were an ancient race, dating back to pre-Equestria. They were the sole cause of the mistrust between the ancient tribes. They fed off the bitterness and hatred of any pony. She looked at Cyroxim again.

She read that there were only four Windigoes that plagued all three tribes at once. They were gone, vanquished when Equestria was created. She could clearly see at least five of the ghostly spirits flying about Cyroxim. Who knew how many more were flying above the clouds? Twilight looked down to the ground. Even while she could see him as a small plaything, she could still hear the crunch of ice and snow under her hooves.

Twilight looked over again. He was reading the spells she gave her. She was still very bothered by what stuck onto his chest. She thought the frozen block of ice would've fallen off when he had gotten down from the mountain, but it stuck there, as if it was attached to him. It grew over his left side and shoulder, which she happened to remember was also the same side as the heart was in the body.

She looked over again. He was staring intently at the text on the scroll. Twilight tried to give him the gemstone to keep time off, as Celestia said, but he shrugged and froze the ancient scrolls. Surprisingly enough, it was still legible. She couldn't help but to notice he looked confused. She slowly made her way towards him, trying her best to ignore the cold.

Cyroxim noticed, but he simply looked back to the scroll. Twilight stretched over to read the scroll. He continued ignore her. Twilight smiled, she understood the spell well enough. Twilight decided to try the spell out. She closed her eyes and tried cast the spell. Immediately a column of flame shot out of her horn and scattered the flying Windigoes. They whinnied, clearly annoyed by the heat. She looked over to Cyroxim. He simply stared, unimpressed. He cast a spell of his own.

A great column of ice broke the frozen ground and shot into the air. Twilight looked up. She shrieked as she saw it come down towards her. She held her hooves to brace for the impact. Twilight heard a loud thud. She fell backward when she saw that the column of ice had come down just centimeters from her face.

Cyroxim simply sighed. He continued walking, reading the scroll. Twilight sat there, dumbfounded, and quickly ran up to him.

"What was that for?" He glanced back. "It was for my pleasure." Twilight was extremely ticked off. "You didn't have to drop it right in front of me!" Cyroxim simply turned back to the scroll and kept on walking.

Twilight stopped in front of him. "What do you think you're doing?" He looked up. "The demons are loose again, aren't they? I'm trying to save time." He walked around her. That simply pushed her off her stool. She ran in front of him again.

"My friends are holding them at Tartarus. I want to know why exactly you did that." Cyroxim didn't even bother to look up. "The demons won't stop until they see their leader fall. Trust me when I say that." He walked around her again. Twilight couldn't take it. Her horn lit up in purple magic. "Get BACK here!" The purple magic surrounded Cyroxim. Twilight was ready to drag him back to her.

She was knocked back when her magic suddenly back fired on her. She sat in the snow, stunned. Cyroxim walked up to her. "If there's one thing I hate, it's arrogance." He lifted her back to her feet, and continued walking. Twilight simply stood there. How did he break through her magic?

Curiosity took a hold of her. Twilight walked back up to him. "How did you do that? I've never seen anything like it!" Cyroxim looked over with a glance. "You're a strange one." Twilight stared in disapproval. Cyroxim didn't seem to hold any respect for her. "When you're like me, you have to break yourself out of a glacier from time to time."

Twilight stopped in her tracks. She simply stared after the unicorn. Master of Ice? Having to break himself out of glaciers? She looked again at the icy crest he bore. 

How cold exactly was it?