//------------------------------// // Those Lost in the White // Story: Winds of Wintercrest // by Lost_Marbles //------------------------------// The earth-brown walls of the cellar glowed with a warm light, and the crackling of the fire was a welcome change to the whistle of the winds outside. The bare cellar reeked of rotten, moldy wood, and the smoke from the fire dispersed through some of the narrow, paneless windows at the top of the walls, under which were piles of snow. Rainbow or Rarity had to occasionally push a hoof through the windows to clear them and let out the smoke. Asphyxiation didn’t sound any better than freezing to death. Much to their dismay, there wasn’t any dry wood in the shelter Astral had led them to--the cellar of one of several dilapidated houses of a ghost village. Of the whole village, only a few houses were left standing that weren’t completely covered in snow. Several chimneys and rooftops littered the landscape where trees didn’t grow around the village near the peak of the mountain. In order to get wood to build the fire, Rainbow tore apart a nearby roof while Rarity collected sticks and branches. They also salvaged old farming equipment. The two broke the handles off of rusty shovels, pickaxes, and hoes and added them to the pile. Rarity used a heating spell to dry some wood and start a small fire, then put all the other wet wood nearby, in the hopes that the heat would dry the other kindling. The cellar provided plenty of protection from the biting wind, but the cold still seeped in through the windows and the frozen dirt floor. Rarity hated being there in the musty ruins, but this dismal hole in the ground was a huge improvement from the wasteland outside. Oh, what she would give to be back at the lodge, under a blanket with a hot cup of cocoa, and nose deep in a romance novel. Their savior, Astral, sat in the corner close to a window, as far away from the fire as he could. Against the snow, he was almost invisible, but now out of the wind and the blinding white, his form was visible. From head to tail, he was a white-blue icy hue and mostly transparent. The fire reflected off a solid, smooth ice that was his body. Even his short mane and tail were a frozen chunk of ice. Rarity tried to study his cutie mark to learn something about him, but it was barely visible, only a slightly darker shade of blue than his ‘coat’--it seemed to be a constellation of stars. The one thing she tried hard not to stare at was his horn--broken off near the base. Not a clean cut, but a jagged crack. Rarity shuddered as she imagined how painful it must have been to have a horn broken off like that. Rainbow didn’t have a qualm about staring, however. He had helped collect some wood, but other than that, he didn’t say much. He just sat there in his corner far from the fire. Silent. Still. He didn’t seem to focus on anything except for the occasional gaze in Rarity and Rainbow’s direction. His silence was louder than the whistling outside. Rarity tried to smile at Astral, but he didn’t reciprocate the gesture. Could it have been that Astral was shy? He didn’t look nervous, just deep in thought. Could it be that she and Rainbow were the first ponies he’d met in a long time? Back at the lodge where Cheerilee’s class were staying while the Friendship Express was undergoing repairs, the lodge owner had told the schoolfoals the legends of the lost town of Wintercrest, the Ice Pony, and the Banshee. If the story had had any truth to it, Astral must have been alone for years! And if that lodge owner hadn’t been so unfortunately charismatic, she wouldn’t have been out here looking for her lost sister. Next to her, Rainbow stretched her wings and gave the fire a few flaps. The small confines of their shelter didn’t sit well with the restless pegasus, and neither did the silence. “So, what’s your deal? What are you? A ghost? You look more like a crystal pony.” Rarity jabbed Rainbow in the ribs. “Rainbow! Manners. Astral just saved our lives.” She turned to Astral. “I’m terribly sorry about my friend. We are truly grateful that you’ve helped us.” Astral fixed his eyes on Rarity. “I don’t know what a crystal pony is, but I’m not one.” Well, since we got him speaking. “Well, crystal ponies are natives of the Crystal Empire just north of here. We were on our way back from a field trip with our sisters when the train had to stop midway for repairs. We stayed the night at the town down at the--” Astral pulled his head back and furrowed his brow. “Train?” Rarity and Rainbow looked at each other. Rainbow peered at Astral from the corner of her eye and raised an eyebrow. “Hang on. You seriously don’t know what trains are?” Rarity raised a hoof to jab Rainbow again, but Astral spoke before she could scold her rude friend. “No. What is a train?” “Well,” Rarity spoke up before Rainbow could possibly blurt out something rude again, “a train is like a carriage that travels on tracks very fast. Trains help ponies travel quickly to faraway places.” Had that been a good enough answer? Rarity couldn’t tell; Astral’s face remained solid, distant, and cold. If he didn’t know what trains were, he must have been isolated for decades. Rarity felt a twinge of sadness pull on her heart as her mind flooded with questions she’d ask if she were a little more crass: How alone must Astral be? Why had he stayed up here for so long? Could he come down from the mountain? Was there a way Rarity could help him? Before she could try to delicately pry information from Astral, Rainbow jumped up and flew in place. “Enough about trains. We have to get back and find Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom.” “Are the fillies you mentioned yellow, white, and orange?” Rarity gasped. “Yes, that’s them!” “What!?” Rainbow flew at Astral. “You’ve seen them!? Where? Let’s go get them!” Astral looked at the window beside him, as if he were ignoring him. “Hey, I’m talking to you. We have to find them!” “Astral, please. We have to find them.” Astral’s ears twitched. “Hush.” Rainbow fumed. “Don’t you hush me! I’m not--mmmphhh!” Astral threw snow in Rainbow’s face and proceeded to smother the fire under more snow before barricading the narrow windows with planks of wood and more snow. The basement was flooded with darkness except for the few rays of light that pierced through the wooden floor above them. “What are you doing? We need that fire to--” Then she saw his face. He furrowed his brow and scowled while he looked at Rainbow with wide, angry eyes. “I said ‘hush’. Stop flapping your wings.” Rainbow glared back then landed. The wind whistled outside as snow slid in through the small windows. Any heat left in the cellar vanished and the cold quickly reclaimed the room. It was only seconds before Rarity was shivering again. At least her clothes were dry now. Seconds slogged by, turning into minutes, which seemed like hours. All three ponies swiveled their ears, but Rarity hoped they wouldn’t hear anything. Then a roar broke through the wind. The same one Rarity had heard twice before. It was close. “What is tha--” “Hush!” The whistling of the wind continued. What could have been out there that made that noise? The sound of crunching snow above them grew louder. Even louder than that was the growling. The snorting. The breathing. Something was outside, and it sounded big. Upstairs, Rarity heard the sound of rotten wood cracking. The floor above them creaked and groaned in protest as something large and heavy walked across. The old planks of wood bent but held. The breathing was louder, more rapid. Whatever was above snorted, sniffed, and growled. The wood moaned as the thing walked back to the doorless entrance of the dilapidated house above them. All three remained quiet as it made its way back outside and disappeared into the white. Even after it was gone, nopony dared to speak. Rarity scooted close to Rainbow as quietly as she could and held her. Rainbow responded by wrapping her with a wing. But neither could stop shaking, either from the cold or fear. Moments slogged on, and after what felt like an hour, Rainbow finally broke the silence with a whisper. “What was that?” “That,” said Astral as he turned to the mares and pointed to his horn, “did this to me.” He got up and walked to the stairs. “Come, I have something to show you.” Another building, another cellar. Unlike the last one, this one was pitch black except for the few rays of light coming through small holes in the ceiling. The open cellar door allowed them to see the steps on the way down, but not much else. Snow blew in through the opening and threatened to seal the entrance shut with snow. “Close the door,” said Astral. Rarity shut the door from the bottom of the stairs with her magic, and the whole room was engulfed in darkness; only the few beams of light from the floor above remained. “Stay there.” Astral walked away from Rarity and Rainbow. She could hardly see where he was going, but she heard his icy hooves against the frozen earth. There was some creaking and shuffling of wood, then a flash of white. The blinding light from outside pierced the darkness and illuminated the room. The light from the unblocked window shone through Astral’s body and refracted onto the wall behind him, creating a stunning rainbow that flooded the room. Rarity was in awe, but she gasped as she saw what was at the other end of the room. A mare encased in a column of ice. The light shone through her frozen prison and refracted onto the wall behind her, enveloping her in a heavenly glow that emphasized her beauty. The halo of colors shone gloriously on her snow-white fur, and her deep-blue mane and tail were frozen in the air. It looked as though she was sleeping while falling, but not going anywhere. An angel not of this world. Was it odd that Rarity thought she and her looked a lot alike? She wasn’t a narcissist, heavens no, but she couldn’t help but see a lot of herself in this beautiful mare. “Woah…” said Rainbow. She jumped back as a thought nipped her mind. She lowered her head and snarled. “What is this? Did you do this to her?!” Astral scoffed at Rainbow and gazed at the mare in the ice. “This is my wife.” At his confession, Rainbow flinched. She turned her head away. “Oh, um… Sorry.” Rarity took slow steps up to the mare and stopped a few feet away. “Oh my, I’m terribly sorry.” “Don’t be.” Astral didn’t seem to hear them as he walked up to the tower of ice and rubbed his hoof on it. Rarity chewed on her lips. Pity and sorrow welled up inside her as she processed the scene before her: A cursed stallion, alone on a mountain, stranded with his wife, frozen in a block of ice. His horn--his only possible means of rescuing her--was gone, stolen by an enormous beast that Astral had no hope of overcoming. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to the two. “Rarity, Rainbow. This is Winter Lily, my wife. And that creature you heard before is the reason she’s like this.” Rarity gasped and covered her mouth. Knowing her name just made her feel worse. “What could have possibly happened to you two?” Astral took a deep breath. “Long ago, this village, Wintercrest, was a small mountain town. Ponies traveling through would stop for lodging and supplies. I was born here, and so was Winter Lily. “We grew up together. We were happy, and before I left for magical training at a young age, we made our vows to each other. We wanted to start a family upon my return. “I wrote letters to her whenever I could. I kept copies in a journal. After several months, she stopped writing back. I returned two years later to find she had married the local chemist. She heard rumors that I had met another mare. When I showed her the copies of the letters I sent, she wept. “The letters I sent were intercepted by a stallion who wanted Lily for his own--the  chemist. He had always looked at her as something to be owned. He coveted her as a jealous neighbor would want a wealthy neighbor’s jewelry or money. “That accursed fiend was stealing my letters and had spread lies about me. He broke Lily’s heart and took advantage of it in her weakened state. I called him out. “The chemist said it was a misunderstanding and wanted to show me proof. He brought me down here to this cellar and attacked me. He threw potions at me. I retaliated with magic. Lily heard the fighting and tried to stop us, but the vials and magic collided and exploded. “The magical explosion turned me to ice, the chemist into that beast, and injured Lily. I tried to use my magic to heal her, but I froze her instead. Before I could reverse the spell, the chemist, in an animalistic rage, attacked me, broke off my horn, and ran up to the mountain’s peak. That’s when the storm came, and everypony left town. “Ponies stopped using this route. It became too dangerous, and eventually the roads were lost under the snow. Any pony foolish enough to trek over this mountain is either taken by the cold... or him.” Astral sighed and looked back at his wife once more. “We’ve been cursed for ages.” Rarity looked on as Astral leaned up on the ice trapping his wife. She felt tears form in her eyes and warm her cheeks as she saw him put his forehead against the ice, nuzzling it as a loving husband and stallion. Her mind raced for things to say: condolences, ideas, anything. If this pony was truly trapped up here without his magic, there was only so much he could do. She looked down at the floor, pawed at the frozen earth, and scrunched her face. She wanted to cry. To weep. For Astral. For Winter Lily. But that would do no good. They were trapped here. And if Astral’s reaction to the fire from earlier was any indication, even if he could save his wife, he’d be trapped up here forever. His wife couldn’t survive the cold, and he couldn’t without it. She so desperately wanted to help him, but she still needed to find Sweetie Belle. Her eyes burned, so she raised her crook and wiped at the tears in her eyes. “Well then, what are you moping around for!?” Rarity flinched at the sudden outburst by Rainbow. Rainbow flapped up into the air and threw her hooves out at Astral. “If you love her, get your horn back and save her!” “Rainbow!” Rainbow turned to Rarity, she scrunched up her nose and bared her teeth. “That hardhead tricked these two, and now look at them! They’re both suffering because of this. They’re stuck here forever.” She flew closer to Astral. “Come on, Astral. You can’t save her by hiding!” Astral rubbed the ice once more and looked at Rainbow in the eyes before walking over to Rarity. “You would help me?” Rainbow soared around the air and stopped just over Rarity’s shoulder. “Oh yeah, we’re going to get you and Lily out of here.” She stopped flapping about, landed with a thump on her hooves, and looked down at the ground. “Oh… shoot. We can’t. We have to find our sisters. They’re still out there.” At the mention of the three fillies, Astral turned his back on the two. He sat quietly for a moment before speaking. “I’m sorry to say this, but... those three fillies I mentioned earlier--you’re sisters, right?--I’m afraid I witnessed the beast go after them. They most likely didn’t escape.” Rarity gasped, and Rainbow jumped. “What!? Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” shouted Rainbow. “Where did he take them? Let me at ‘im! I’ll pulverize him!” “Astral, darling.” Rarity felt her knees weaken. “We must go find our sisters. I’m sorry, but--” “Settle down. I know where the fillies are.” Rainbow and Rarity froze. “If the beast captured them, they would be in its cave. Where my horn is,” said Astral. “Its den is north of here. Your sisters are safe as long as the beast doesn’t get hungry.“I know the area around the cave well, and as luck would have it, we can use the terrain to our advantage. I have already devised a way to be rid of the creature once and for all. I’ve just been unable to carry it out--” He walked up to the open window and pushed up a piece of wood, plunging the cellar back into darkness “--until now. “Come. I’ll show you the way,” he said as he opened the cellar door. Before he took the first step out into the storm, he turned to Rarity and pointed at her horn. “And hide your horn under your hat. If it knows you’re a unicorn, you’ll be its first target. It’ll break your horn off before you can even see it. The ones before who’ve gotten lost up here have all met a similar fate.” With that said, he turned around and walked back out into the white.