//------------------------------//
// Peaks of Eternal Snow 
// Story: Azure Flame 
// by Silver Page 
//------------------------------//


“Thanks again for the ride, captain!” Azure Flame said, waving a hoof at the receding shape of the “Swiftly Falling,” the ship of Captain Rufus Embezzlement (Bezel to his friends). The trio had been lucky to find that the old Griffin was in the docks still, waiting on last minute adjustments, and was willing to take them to Ti-bit. Some of his crew had complained that would throw off their schedule by a week, but they had all been silenced when told it was a matter of settling a debt with an old friend. Honor was big for Griffons.
And so they’d spent nine days on the rather small cargo air-ship. From storms to pirates, they’d weathered it all, and ended up bonding with the old merchant and his crew. 
“I hope Cookie manages to propose to his sweetheart,” Slim said as he and his friends walked down the wood planks of the dock at Mandala, the capitol city of Ti-bit and the only settlement with a large port.
“I’m sure he will! We got him that ring, remember?”
“We ripped it off the talon of that pirate captain, Creepy,” Azure pointed out. 
“So? It was pure gold and had a ruby the size of an apple on it! And I’m sure he can wash the blood off.”
The Unicorn and Minotaur rolled their eyes at the hit-donkey. 
“I still can’t believe we managed to tame that giant Storm Squid,” Creepy mentioned, thinking back to that harrowing encounter. 
“Nothing with that many tentacles should live above the water,” Azure said, shuddering at that memory. “That horrible wiggling… Though at least the lookout, Lilywind, likes her new pet. Was very loud and screechy in the Crow’s Nest with it, though. Not sure why exactly. Um, why are your faces green?”
“Don’t ask, don’t tell,” Slim and Creepy intoned, a traumatized look on their faces, eyes staring off into nothing, or perhaps a terrible memory.
“Oookay,” Azure said, raising an eyebrow at their antics, but shrugged it off. Probably nothing important. Slim shook his head violently, clearing his thoughts.
“Cheer up, guys! At least we made it!” Slim said happily, grabbing his quadruped friends to his chest. “Ah, Ti-bit! Land of snow, rocks, and hippies! What more could you ask for?”
“A scarf?” Azure hazarded, feeling a bit cold as a gust of icy air buffeted them.
“Ok, ok, we’ll get out of the cold,” Slim said, shaking his head at his smaller companions. “You ponies and your temperate climates!”
“Excuse me, are you perhaps the Minotaur known as Shadow Horn?”
The group froze, and Slim slowly lowered his bundled up buddies to the ground.
“Why? Who’s asking?” Turning, he saw a surprisingly large group of Llamas, all dressed in green and gold robes. The speaker was an older, more rugged looking Llama with a silver torc around his neck that had some sort of swirling design etched into it. 
“Ah, I see. And so I assume these are Azure Flame and Creepy Crawly?” 
“Uh, noooo…” Slim said, stepping away from the Llama, his quadruped friends still under his arms.
“Wonderful. His Excellency will be glad to know you’ve arrived on time.”
“Pardon?” Azure raised an eyebrow as Slim’s brain stopped working for a moment from surprise.
“Please follow us, we will escort you to the palace.” Turning without waiting for a reply, the older Llama trotted off, his entourage falling in behind him.
“Come on, lets follow them,” Azure said with a sigh, wiggling out of Slim’s grip.
“Are we really going to trust these Llamas so readily?” Creepy demanded, hopping down as well.
“Unless I’m mistaken, we were just invited to see the Dahli Llama,” Azure said under his breath. “We also don’t have any other leads than what that voice said to us, so for now, let’s take them up on their offer.” The white Unicorn began to trot after the Llama, leaving his companions behind.
Creepy grunted in annoyance, but began to move on as well with Slim. There really wasn’t any way to find what they were looking for, so taking any lead given to them was as good an option as any. Still, the Donkey discreetly checked that his newly acquired pistols, taken from the pirates, were secured to his forelegs. No sense in being unprepared.



The walk was a long one, made tougher by the steep, sloping streets and the sapping cold. Their escorts had thankfully provided warm scarves to wear, but it was steadily growing colder, and soon the warmth offered would be mostly token. Mandala was beautiful, though, as the ice hanging from the buildings was often carved into intricate shapes, reflecting the lamps and torches in dozens of dancing motes of light. The buildings themselves were solid stone constructs with limited wood, mostly for doors and window frames. They were all perched on the flatness of the Ever Rest mountain in a tilted, lopsided manner, even more so than Canterlot, which at least had platforms built in to support the many houses. 
None of the group talked, as the chill winds tore the words away before they could be heard, and the brisk pace the Llama escorts set was only slightly harder to match. In time however, the cityscape began to fade, the buildings more spaced out and becoming more and more ornate and elaborate. Eventually the houses stopped altogether and they soon approached a massive gate made of black stone and gold, intricate designs of arcane purpose covering the surface, and situated in a way that made it loom over all of the city. There wasn’t anything past it, except more ice and a wide path of rough stone stairs spiraling upwards around the edge of the mountainside. 
“This is the gate to the Halls of Time, the palace of His Excellency,” their guide explained, stopping before it. “Once we pass through, you will not be allowed to leave without His permission. You can still turn back now, if you wish.”
“Oh, can we?” Creepy said with an eye roll. “We can go all the way back down through snow and frozen wind? Oh, thank you!”
“You are most welcome,” their guide replied with a smirk.
“No turning back now, guys. Let’s go.” His mind made up, Azure stepped under the gate, and felt a ripple of static run down his spine. Gulping, and praying silently he’d made the right decision, he waited for Slim and Creepy to pass through. They too shivered as energy caressed them, and gave the gate a black look. Their expressions all changed to complete shock, as now, there was a sprawling palace where nothing had been before. What’s more, it was filled with lush, green plants of all kinds and a few tinkling fountains all across an immaculate lawn criss-crossed with gravel paths.
“How…”
“The gate judged you worthy,” a soft, grandfatherly voice said, coming from their right. Looking over, they observed a wizened old Llama approach them, a simple grey robe over his platinum colored fur. “It is a relic of an old, and ancient race, whose magic was vast and great. By accepting you, it teleported you straight here to the palace, rather than making you walk up several flights of icy steps.”
“Greetings to you, young friends. I am the Dahli Llama. Welcome.” He bowed his head politely towards the trio, and beckoned them over. Sharing glances, the mismatched friends walked over, and the holy old Llama led them to a round glass table with four teacups and assorted snacks. No chairs though, just a soft patch of vibrant grass.
“You’re probably hungry from your trip. Let us discuss the future over something to eat,” he offered, sitting down in the grass before the table. 
“I must confess, I am confused,” Azure said, settling down across from the Dahli Llama. “Partly about how you knew of us, and partly as to how this place exists when just moments ago there was just ice and snow.”
“For a pony who claims to wish to learn more about the world, you don’t open your ears that often, do you?” the Llama said, shaking his head sadly. “The Gate judged you worth, and so took you here.”
“But I assume you mean how can such warm and spring-like environment exist where before ice and snow choked the stone?” the Dahli Llama said, cutting off Azure before he could speak. Azure Flame closed his mouth, swallowing his response. This old being was strange. He had an odd air to him, a venerable weight to his actions and words. 
“The answer is simple; magic.” 
Azure rolled his eyes at the answer, which made the elderly quadruped and the unicorn’s friends laugh at his annoyance.
“Yes, a bit of a cop-out answer, but a truthful one none the less. Ever Rest Mountain is one of the few original sites where Natural Magic exists. It is an old, ancient mountain that has stood for billions of years. Older than the Everfree Forest, older than the oceans you crossed to reach this land. Old enough to have seen the rise and fall of more civilizations and beings than even I. As such, it is possible for many mysterious and magical things to happen. Long ago, the Llamas who settled here created this place as a shrine to their ancestor-gods. Carved out near the very tip of Ever Rest, the wild magic was bound and tamed to spells and runes, made to preserve this wonderland of green. That is the origin of this lush, out-of-place garden.”
“How exactly did you know to look for us?” Creepy inquired, nibbling on a bit of crusty biscuit. “Your guards knew our names, our species, and I assume our appearances as well.”
“I had a burst of insight, you could say,” the holy leader said vaguely with a playful smile. “It informed me of three important guests I would need to see to, in order for the future to be guided.”
“You have the power of Prophecy?” Slim asked, leaning forward eagerly.
“Indeed, young Shadow Horn. It was my words that informed Celestia of her sister’s eventual return. It was my words that quieted the wrath of Old One Horn, allowing the city of Trot to be spared. And it was my words that were ignored that let Grogar take control of Tambelon.”
“How? You speak of my aun… Princess Celestia as if you were the one who told her about the consequences of her banishment of Princess Luna,” Azure said, raising an eyebrow. “But that can’t be possible. That was many centuries ago. You can’t be that old!”
“True, this body is only eighty years old, and has maybe another dozen or so years left in it, but I was there, you know. I was there for much of the world’s past.”
“Are you… a body snatcher?” Slim gasped, trembling with fear. “You can’t have mine, you wouldn’t like it! It’s full of cholesterol and flatulence!” At that, a loud roar of laughter echoed through the garden as the Dahli Llama broke down into hysterics. Azure and Creepy gave their friend a withering, disappointed stare.
“That has to be the most amusing response I’ve had in ages!” the genial being chortled, wiping away a tear. “No, nothing like that! The secret of my many lives is rooted in a mistake. Tell me, what do you know of Phoenixes?” 
“Um, they set things on fire? Including themselves?” Slim offered.
They are an endangered species of magical bird that can live for many centuries thanks to their ability to spontaneously combust and revive themselves from the ashes,” Creepy recited, as if from a textbook. 
“They like setting my oatmeal on fire when I don’t give them any of my toast at breakfast,” Azure grumbled under his breath. That earned him a confused look from his friends along with a chuckle from the Dahli Llama. 
“All of that is true. So, what would you say if I told you I was a Phoenix?” 
“I’d find out who to contact in order to get you into the looney bin,” Creepy stated, with a nod of agreement from Slim. 
“What would you say if I had been the pet of a Dragon Lord, who tried to defend his master from Discord, but was cursed? What would you say if I told you that when I, as a Phoenix, tried to resurrect in flames to escape the curse, I died, but was reborn into a new being’s body? Specifically, that of a newborn child? And what would you say to that every time I died since then, I have been born into another body, over and over for thousands of years?”
The trio stared at the Llama seated before them, mouths agape. 
“What would you say to the fact that as a pet, my name was Kibo?”
“You! You’re the one he told us to find?!” Azure exclaimed, pointing an accusatory hoof at the Dahli Llama. 
“Yes, indeed. Hello, little ones.” The ancient being before them stood up from the grass, and gazed at the trio with a sad smile. “Your search may be over, but your journey is just beginning!”