//------------------------------// // Cold Loneliness, Part II - The Domain of Winter // Story: The Taking of Tartarus // by Rakoon1 //------------------------------// The Snow Queen was alone sitting on the highest point of the castle of Canterlot, contemplating her power moving forward through Equestria, involving everypony and everything in her eternal winter. It wouldn't late until everypony know the coldness of her loneliness and have their hearts frozen, in the same way as her heart was. However, seeing everything going on, made her remember the reason she was doing it all this. In the past, The young Ingrid, having reached adulthood, was walking happily in the green fields of Unicorn Range. Then she saw him. He was a beautiful young unicorn about her age. He had an orange coat equal to the color of the sunset, a mane that seemed the sea rippling and eyes that looked like two full moons immensely bright. Seeing him, she felt her heart increasing its beats and a lump in her stomach, but all these feelings made her feel immensely well. Was she in love? In the present... Ingrid tried to fend off those memories. It was something that was now in the past. She now should focus in the present and in her future. To stay focused and away from any thoughts that could warm up her cold heart, she began to sing. It was a sad song that reported all her loneliness and bitterness. It was a song she composed during her confinement in Heartbeat’s urn. When she finished, she felt her heart more relaxed and relieved. Although once those memories that she was repressing had left her immensely happy in the past, now it only disturbed her focus. It was something unpleasant to do, but necessary. "What a beautiful song" a voice nearby said. Ingrid turned and faced the Lord of Chaos, hovering in the air at some distance from each other. "What are you doing here?" Ingrid asked. "I just came to admire this magnificent vision" the Lord of Chaos answered, watching the snow and ice covering Canterlot and its surroundings. "This is a work of art that must be seen at live instead through a mirror." "I'm glad you like it" Ingrid said. "I'm just starting." "I'm sure you are" the Lord of Chaos. "And I’m sure I will. But don't forget one thing. There's still more alicorn Princesses. They can cause problems." "No" Ingrid replied. "I'm not going to freeze more alicorn princesses. Celestia and Luna had it coming, but I'm not going to attack more fellow alicorn princess of mine." "You have no choice" the Lord of Chaos said. "When they find out what you did to your sisters, they will do the possible and the impossible to stop you." Ingrid said nothing. After all, she didn't want to hurt anypony else of what was needed. She had frozen her sisters, but was to avenge what they had done to her. Ingrid knew she could defeat the other alicorn princesses without resorting to her freezing powers. Noticing the great dilemma that Ingrid was having, the Lord of Chaos said: "Don't forget you put your light at my service. You chose to serve me and that's what you're going to do. You will freeze the other alicorn princesses to contain their light. In this way, you can have the kingdom you so wanted, at the same time get rid of my enemies as soon as your magic starts to affect them." Remembering that she had really put her power at the service of the Lord of Chaos, Ingrid had no choice but to accept his orders. "For who should I start first?" she asked. "Good girl" the Lord of Chaos said. "You will face the alicorn princess who is closer. She lives in the North of Equestria, in the Crystal Empire. Her name is Princess Cadance, the first alicorn descendant of your family since Luna. I wish you good luck." And, having said this, he disappeared. Ingrid sighed before the hard work that was ahead of her. She then stretched her wings and took flight, heading north. In the Light Kingdom, everypony were still recovering from the shock that Celestia and Luna have a sister that they did not know. "But why is it that I never knew about the existence of this sister?" Twilight asked. "Why Princess Celestia never mentioned her to me?" "Did she ever tell you about Luna when she was still imprisoned on the Moon?" Golden Paladin asked. Now that he'd ask that, Twilight noticed that Celestia also never had told her about Luna. "The reason why almost anypony know of the existence of Princess Ingrid, besides us, it's because Princess Celestia and Princess Luna wished so" Golden Paladin said. "They didn't want to live with the fact that they have been forced to betray their older sister soon after she succumbed to darkness" Mirror Coat said. "The same thing happened when Luna turned into Nightmare Moon." "But what happen’d tah her fer her tah be corrupt’d?" Applejack asked. "Somethin’ must have happen’d." "Please, it's obvious that she allowed herself to be seduced by the Lord of Chaos’ power" Rainbow Dash said, noticing then that her friends were looking at her in a disapproving way. "What?" “Rainbow Dash, that was really rude" Rarity said. "Even for you." "But it's true" Rainbow Dash said. "Not always" Melody said. "Sometimes a weak spot is just enough, a weakness. Being in our moment of vulnerability, the powers of darkness can be pretty tempting." "Don't forget that Arbor also wasn't bad at first" Blue said. "It was the combination of his love for his subjects and his anger at ponies that triggered his alliance with the Lord of Chaos." "And Princess Luna felt that her work was not appreciated by ponies" Twilight said. "And don’t forget that Shadow Claw was transformed involuntarily by the Lord of chaos into a monster that almost brought the eternal full moon night" Rarity said. "Okay, I get it" Rainbow Dash said. "Can you stop giving me examples?" "Answering to your question, Applejack, we don't know very well" Leaf Mane said. "Celestia and Luna asked the Lord of Order to keep the reasons for Ingrid have been corrupted in secret, even from us." "Even the information related to it in my library is sealed" Mirror Coat said. "But why?" Fluttershy asked. "Why didn’t they want anypony to know what happened?" "Maybe they don't want us judging Princess Ingrid wrongly" Heartbeat said. "So we can accept her in case she comes back to the good side." That made everypony turn to her. Feeling observed, Heartbeat said: "What? I am an empath. I feel things." "If so, then she must have done something really, but really, but really, really bad" Pinkie Pie said. "Did I already said it could have been really bad?" "Yes, Pinkie, but Ah think that once would have been enough" Applejack replied. "If she is planning revenge of Celestia and Luna, then we have to stop her" Twilight said. Mirror Coat’s eyes returned to shine with a baby blue brightness and when they returned to normal, he said: "I'm afraid that it is too late." And, having said this, he invoked a mirror that reflected the throne room of the castle of Canterlot, where Celestia and Luna were completely frozen, something that shocked everypony. "It can't be ..." said Twilight, approaching the mirror. " Princess Celestia... Princess Luna..." Tears appeared in Twilight’s eyes. Blue approached her and put her hoof on her shoulder. Feeling the touch of her great love, Twilight embraced him, while crying. "Don't worry, Princess" Golden Paladin said. "We can still save them. Since their ice statues continue intact, there will be hope of rescuing them." Having heard Golden Paladin’s words Twilight recomposed herself and wiped away the tears. "You're right, Golden Paladin, I can't cry now" she said, starting to show her decided side. "We have to stop Ingrid now." "Yee-haww, now ya sound’d tha Twilight we know" Applejack said. "Let's defeat this Snow Queen" Rainbow Dash said, suspended in the air, giving a few punches in the void. "Mirror Coat, can you find her?" Twilight asked. "I can try" he replied, carrying his horn with magic. The image in the mirror changed, just to show all Equestria. It could see a large white spot in the center that was constantly expanding. "But what is that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Duh, obviously that is the Snow Queen’s power that is spreading throughout all Equestria as her power strengthens, something that was accelerated when she froze Princess Celestia and Princess Luna” Pinkie Pie replied. That made all the ponies turned to Golden Paladin who answered: "What she said. Ingrid’s ice can even freeze star seeds, preventing their light to shine." "Wow, Pinkie, how did you know that?" Rarity asked. "Just a hunch" she replied, with a smile. "I found her" Mirror Coat said. And he made the image approach quickly and then they all saw her flying quickly to North, while letting behind a trail of snow and ice. "Where tha hay is she doin’?" Applejack asked. "If she keeps heading north, there's only one place where she can go" Golden Paladin said. "The Crystal Empire." Upon hearing that, Twilight held her breath and said: "She's going after Cadance and Shining Armor." "Of course, if she freezes another alicorn princess, the greater will be her influence" Golden Paladin said. "But that means..." Purple Smoke began. "That after her, Princess Twilight is the next victim" Golden Paladin completed. "That means we can't have Princess Twilight coming with us" Melody said. "We will only hasten Ingrid’s work." "No way" Twilight said. "I'm coming with you." "But, Princess..." Melody started. "Stop, Melody, it won’t matter" Golden Paladin said. "You should know Princess Twilight. She is too stubborn, one of the things that differentiates her from Princess Aurora.” "Furthermore, the Light Kingdom’s borders would not protect her" Heartbeat said. "After all, Ingrid is just being manipulated by the Lord of Chaos. She's not a dark being. It’s her negative emotions that drive her power, but she is still technically a being of the Order. She can come in." "Following this reasoning, making Princess Twlight to stay here would put the Light Kingdom and all its inhabitants in danger" Mirror Coat concluded. Melody tried to refute, but she didn’t found anything to counter what her siblings had just said and so she said: "Yes, you're right." "Well, if everything is discussed, so let's go" Twilight said. She started heading to the exit, but it was then that Leaf Mane stopped, starting to moan in pain. "Leaf Mane, what is it?" Golden Paladin asked. And it wasn't just her. Heartbeat also led a hoof to her chest, while she began to pant. "Heartbeat" Golden Paladin said. "But what's going on?" "I don't know" Leaf Mane said, while trying to hold her pain. "I feel a great pain. And it's getting cold." "I also feel what Leaf Mane is feeling" Heartbeat aIS. "However, it is a slight pain, but it seems that my power is being drained out." "Mine too" Leaf Mane said. "It was like when Arbor attacked my matrix. Hearing this, Mirror Coat turned to the mirror that he had created and made it change its image. "Oh no," he said. "What now?" Golden Paladin asked. Mirror Coat showed the image that was in the mirror. It was the cave where Arbor was doing his duty as Leaf Mane’s matrix. Ingrid’s ice had managed to break into the cave and was occupying it, having begun to freeze Arbor. "Damn, Ingrid’s ice reached Leaf Mane’s matrix" Golden Paladin said. "If Arbor freezes completely, the same will happen to her." "That's not all" Mirror Coat said, while various images from various parts of Equestria dominated by the Snow Queen appeared. Everything was covered with several layers of snow, but that was not the worst. The ponies, even sheltered in their homes, began to feel the cold penetrating in their hearts and they themselves began to freeze. "Oh no!" Fluttershy exclaimed, horrified by what she was seeing. "That's terrible!" "And Ponyville?!" Applejack exclaimed. "How's my farm? My family?!" "And my sister?!" Rarity exclaimed. "And Shadow Claw?!" "And Scootaloo?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "And Thunder Night?!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "And the Cakes?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "And the twins? And my family? And my friends? And all ponies which may become my friends, but that may not be my friends anymore if they are frozen solid?!" And she started to cry a lot. That made everyone look at her, what she noticed and stopped of crying. "What?" she asked. "Too much?" "Unfortunately..." Mirror Coat said, making appear the image of Ponyville and Hollow Shades, both under the domain of Ingrid’s magic." "We have to help them" Applejack said. "Mirror Coat, take us there." "Unfortunately, Ingrid's magic is too powerful in Equestria" Mirror Coat saod. "She managed to block all the mirror portals between the pony world and the Mirror Realm." "Besides, I don't know if it would be a big help if you were there" Blue said. "You would only be able to freeze with them." Twilight's didn't say anything, because she knew that Blue was right. "Now, we have to worry about Cadance and Shining Armor" he said. "You're right, Prince Blue Sword" Golden Paladin said, turning then to Heartbeat. "Do you have enough power to take us to the Crystal Empire?" "I don't have my full speed, but I think I can take you quickly to there" she replied. "Perfect" Golden Paladin said. "I'm going too" Leaf Mane said, barely standing. Fortunately, Applejack hastened to go help her. "It's better if you stay here" Twilight told her. "My friends are going to take very good care of you. Isn't it, girls?" They all waved, something that made Leaf Mane smile. "Let's go" Twilight said, and she, the other Generals and Blue started to head to the door of the Great Hall. It opened and Spike appeared, saying: "Hi, guys, I just ended of taking care of Cerberus for today, though it was a bit hard when he wanted to play. But now I am ready to help with the preparations for the party." "I'm sorry, Spike, there's an emergency" Twilight said, as she left. "There's no time to explain. Bye!" Spike was baffled by that sudden exit and then looked and saw Leaf Mane’s fragile air and the others’ preoccupied air. "Did I miss anything?" he asked. At the Crystal Empire, Cadance and Shining were on the main balcony of the Castle, observing the crystal ponies making their life. "Sometimes it feels so good these moments of peace" Cadance said. "You bet, I don't think anything's going to ruin our peaceful day" Shining said. But he was greatly mistaken. Suddenly, the Crystal Empire was enveloped by a snowstorm that entered, making the Crystal ponies go to their homes. "But what the hell..." Shining Armor said. Their vision was obscured by the ice and the snow, but then they faced with Ingrid, which was hovering in the air. "It can't be" Cadance said, not wanting to believe. "Another alicorn Princess?" "Are you Princess Cadance?" Ingrid asked. "Yes, I am" she replied. "And who are you?" "I'm the Snow Queen" Ingrid replied. "And I'm sorry." "For what?" Cadance asked. "By this" Ingrid responded, charging her horn with magic. Before Shining could do anything, Ingrid hit Cadance and she froze quickly. "Cadance!" Shining exclaimed, turning to Ingrid, also charging his horn with magic. "You're going to pay for this." But the Snow Queen was faster and he also froze. "And now one more to go" Ingrid said. "Ingrid!" a voice called. Ingrid turned and saw, at the base of the Castle, Golden Paladin, Heartbeat, Mirror Coat, Purple Smoke, Melody, Twilight and Blue. "Enough of this madness" Golden Paladin said. "Defrost my brother, Cadance, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna" Twilight demanded. Ingrid ignored her and said, addressing to Golden Paladin, remaining in the place where she was: "Golden Paladin, but what great displeasure in seeing you again and your brothers. Especially your sweet and irritating youngest sister who imprisoned me." "It's good to see you again, Ingrid" Heartbeat said. Ingrid then put her eyes on Twilight and noticed that she was an alicorn princess. "And I see you brought me an alicorn princess" Ingrid said. "She is quite alike Princess Aurora." "I'm her reincarnation" Twilight answered her. "And, as Princess of the Light Kingdom, it is my duty to stop you, Ingrid." "Snow Queen" Ingrid corrected gruffly. "But it doesn't matter. You're not going to have more opportunities to call me by my real name. It's time to freeze." "We are not going to let you" Golden Paladin said. But it was then that ice appeared on the hooves of all Generals and Blue, immobilizing them. Taking advantage of the fact that they were entertained trying to break free, Ingrid charged her horn with magic and shot at Twilight. She reacted, responding with her own magic. The two spells collided and started to measure forces. Twilight tried to hold out, but Ingrid was too powerful. "Go, Twily, you can do it!" Blue exclaimed. However, Ingrid used more magic, thus subjugating Twilight’s, causing a small explosion that threw Twilight against the ground. "This is the end" said Ingrid, charging her horn. "No, Twilight!" Blue exclaimed. Using all his willpower, Blue tried to break free from the ice that was holding him. Then it started to crack. "Goodbye!" Ingrid exclaimed, casting her magic. Twilight closed her eyes, as she prepared for the impact. But Blue managed to break free from the ice that was holding his hoofs and he ran to protect Twilight. He launched himself in the air until he was between the spell and Twilight, leaving everypony in suspense. Ingrid's spell ricocheted in Blue, hitting him in the temple, and causing it to hit the ground a few hooves away, creating a large amount of ice crystals. When she open her eyes, Twilight saw Blue lying on the ground. "Blue!" Twilight exclaimed, while hoisting Blue head. "No, Blue, please!" Seeing that gesture of love, Ingrid was perplexed. She never thought that Unicorn would put himself in her way to save Twilight. But why? She began to feel her heart starting to beat faster and faster. Ingrid couldn't believe she was feeling your emotions starting to release. Suddenly, for a moment, looking at Twilight, she was looking to Celestia. Her head looked like it was about to explode. She felt that she was losing my mind. She took the hooves to the head, saying: "No! Stop! Leave me alone!" And, having said this, she walked away, flying as fast as possible. With her departure, the ice that was holding the generals broke. Released, they went to Twilight and Blue. She was cried, while she saw the blow that the Snow Queen had done. The ice there began spreading, albeit slowly. "Please save him" Twilight pleaded to the Generals with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Princess, but we don't have the power to do it" Golden Paladin replied. "You may not have it, but I have" Heartbeat said. "Despite everything, I still have magic to help Blue. After all, he hasn't been completely turned into ice." "Can you help him?" Twilight asked. "Of course" Heartbeat replied, making Twilight smiling while she kneeled before her and took one of her hooves. "But I'm going to need to borrow some of your love for Blue." "Sure" Twilight said. "I give you anything you want, but please save him." "I just needed to hear these words" Heartbeat said, smiling. Heartbeat’s began to shine and then she put them on Blue’s chest, just above the heart. It was then that heat began to scroll through him and the heat melted the ice that was beginning to possess his body. The blue unicorn prince opened his eyes and asked, confused: "What happened?" Seeing that Blue was fine, Twilight embraced him and said: "Blue, I'm glad you're okay?" "I'm glad you're happy, Twilight" Blue said, with some difficulty. "But I wonder if you could drop me so I could breathe." Realizing that she was squeezing Blue, Twilight dropped him, blushing, and said: "Sorry." But, instead of a hug, Twilight gave him a kiss on the lips, something that made Blue smile and she smiled back. While flying back to Canterlot, Ingrid tried to regain control, singing her song again. However, the silence which had established with the Snow Queen’s winter took her music to the Crystal Empire, and was then picked up by Melody’s sensitive ears. Upon hearing that song full of sorrow and bitterness, Melody felt an immense pain in her head, making her moan in pain. "What's going on, Melody?" Golden asked. "It’s Ingrid" Melody said. "She's singing... Her song... It’s hurting me." "But how?" Twilight asked. "I see" Mirror Coat said. "It has to do with the fact that there are no natural music." "What?" Twilight, Blue and Purple Smoke said, not having understand. "I understand" Golden Paladin said. "The sounds of nature are the basis of all the music. But winter is a season where silence reigns. That's when the sounds of nature ceased until the arrival of spring. No sound, no music and no music…" "No General of Music" Purple Smoke said. "Melody's matrix must had freeze due to this." "And also made her even more sensitive to negative music" Golden Paladin said. "We have to go back to the Light Kingdom. Melody will need all the heat you can get. But after that, we will have to figure out a way to stop Princess Ingrid before she causes even more damage." "And I think I know how" Heartbeat said, adopting a thoughtful air.