//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: Frostbite 
// Story: The Northern Winds 
// by LCpl Azure Blaze 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight looked up into the deep blue sky from the side of a steep mountain. Night time had fallen and she could see the stars in the sky clearly even though there was still a raging snowstorm outside. She was in the plain of magic, which allowed her to see through the non magical snow to stare at the flow of magic in the sky so as to regain her bearing. Both Rarity and Twilight had traveled a long distance since and now it seemed like the source of the magic was just over the crest of the next mountain that was in front of them. After she got her bearing and surveyed the land out in front of her she turned to start heading back to her body, which was a little ways behind her but she saw something unexpected.
She saw her body laying on the ground and Rarity's blue magical essence standing right next to it as a guard. She also saw some ominous black mist approaching. Upon seeing the black mist Twilight knew that something was wrong and took off running back to her body practically racing the shadow which began surrounding Rarity and her body. She ran as fast as she could but it seemed her efforts were in vain as the shadow kept approaching Rarity faster and faster. Twilight saw Rarity's magical essence begin to panic as if she saw whatever it was coming up on her off in the distance and didn't know what to do. Rarity's essence discharged a beam of magic into the shadow as it got closer to cut back at the darkness but even that was of no use. The shadow was too great and despite her efforts Rarity was consumed by the shadow and knocked onto the ground.
Twilight couldn't wait any longer and decided to fire a massive beam of magic from her horn into the shadow. The beam of magic was so large and powerful that it repelled the shadow completely and revealed Rarity lying on the ground as if in distress. It wasn't long after that Twilight arrived on the scene and touched her horn with the one she left on her lifeless body. Her world went dark and when she opened her eyes again she was back in her own body lying in the snow next to Rarity who was moaning.
Twilight quickly jumped to her feet ignoring the physical fatigue, which was a side effect of the spell she had just returned from, to go inspect her friend. Rarity was lying in the the snow with her suit torn in multiple places in claw like patterns all over her body which were leaking blood.
"Rarity! Are you okay?" Said Twilight, checking to see if her friend was still okay.
Rarity opened her eyes and stared back up at Twilight, shivering. "I-I-I know it looks bad, darling, b-b-but I assure you I am a lot better off than what my suit looks like. D-d-dr. Frost wasn't kidding when he said it was cold out here though."
"Wait," said Twilight reaching down to look at Rarity's wrist device. It read that the temperature around them was -63 degrees fahrenheit and that Rarity's body temperature had fallen to 93.9 degrees fahrenheit.
"W-what is it Twilight?" asked Rarity.
"Oh, it's nothing, Rarity, you're going to be fine. Just stay with me." Replied Twilight not wanting to let her friend know that she was currently brushing shoulders with death itself. "We should probably find some shelter for the night so you can rest up. Whatever it was it got you pretty bad." Twilight helped her friend back onto her feet and began helping her walk towards the side of the mountain.
"B-but, Twilight, we're in the middle of nowhere in the mountains with nothing but snow and ice around us. Where could we possibly find shelter out here?"
Twilight charged a strong magical beam which she shot out of her horn into the wall of the mountainside carving a cavern into it.
"We'll improvise." replied Twilight who was now getting extremely light headed due to the fact that she had just finished the magic tracking spell and hadn't fully recovered yet.
The two ponies stumbled into the cavern and fell onto the ground next to each other. Twilight struggled back to her feet again fighting her body's will to give up with her own will to save her friend. Se looked over at her friend's wrist device. 89.7, 88.4, 87.1. Rarity was beginning to develop hypothermia and Twilight began to panic to try and find something to reverse the process. She ripped off her saddle bags as well as Rarity's and began to rapidly sift through them for anything that could help. The first items she came across were simple hoof warmers. Quickly she took all the hoof warmers she could find, activated them, and tossed them on her friend.
"That should slow it down until I can find a better solution to this problem." Twilight said to herself as she went back into the bags to try and find more items to help her friend.
"Food rations, ice picks. Ah! Here we go!" Twilight said in excitement as she pulled out a thermal blanket. She quickly stuffed Rarity's shivering body into the blanket and looked at Rarity's wrist device. It had stopped at 83.6 and was very slowly starting to climb back up.
"Okay that problem's taken care of, now we need a fire." Twilight searched the rest of the saddle bags but found nothing along the lines of making a fire. She looked around at her surroundings and found nothing but rock and snow. She then turned back to the saddlebags and came up with a last ditch effort idea that she didn't quite seem to like herself.
Twilight piled all of the supplies she had taken out of the bags. "I really hope this brings Rarity back. This better be worth it."
Twilight used her unicorn magic to light the equipment on fire and then fell to the floor in magical fatigue. As her sight began to fade she caught a glimpse at Rarity's wrist device which was steadily starting to climb back up through the nineties. At that point she knew that her friend was well on the way to recovery and gave in to her bodies demands for rest.
It was dark.
She began to hear whispers.
"This one has power even greater than King Frost Thorn had before he went corrupt."
"Yes, it seems she has no need of our teachings."
"Could she be the Descendant Lady Genesis prophesied about?"
"I'm a Guardian of Hope and even I think that idea is a bit far-fetched. Nopony has ever mastered all three elements and Lady Genesis had no child."
"Shut your mouth. Don't you remember it was doubt that ultimately had us slain in battle? You feed Hoarfrost power even in death. I, for one, agree. She is the Descendant."
"I too believe."
"Me as well."
"I agree."
"... I see... Perhaps I may be mistaken. After all not even I know what Lady Genesis meant by "Descendant." I guess only time will tell."
"Descendant, it is time for you to awaken. Your friend has recovered from the cold and awaits you. The forces of despair are actively hunting you as we speak. Wake up."
"Wake up."
Twilight felt like she was being shook.
"Wake up, Twilight," came Rarity's voice, "There's something outside the cave. Wake up"
Twilight's eyes opened slowly and she was looking up at Rarity who seemed to have recovered from her wounds and somehow repaired the rips and tears in her suit.
"Rarity, how did you fix your suit?" asked Twilight.
"A professional seamstress always has her ways." answered Rarity. "But now's not the time for details. Twilight, I think the same thing that attacked us before is back and it's outside the cave."
Twilight looked at the mouth of the cave. The blizzard only became thicker since she remembered last and it was completely dark. Out of nowhere, suddenly the two ponies heard a large roar which shook the very ground that they were standing on.
"W-what do you think it could be?" asked Rarity.
"I think we both know the answer to that," Twilight responded raising to her hooves. "There is only one creature we've encountered so far in all of Equestria capable of making that sound. A dragon. But not just any dragon. A full grown adult one."
A loud laughing sound came from the darkness followed by a loud deep rumbling voice. "You are quite the smart one aren't you little filly? I am flattered that you have recognized me as such a powerful beast."
"Twilight, what's a dragon doing all the way out here?" asked Rarity.
"It's possible," answered Twilight. "A long time ago, before Sombra tried taking over the Crystal Empire, a dragon stole the crystal heart and took it back to it's hoard in the Crystalline Mountain range which was the same mountains we went under to get out here. According to the reports on the incident, however, that dragon did not breath fire. Instead it breathed frost and shards of ice. It just so happened that this dragon was a newly of a newly discovered species at the time. Due to their breath and the fact that they seem to live in subzero climate they were given the name 'frost drakes.' However, as I have said many times before, there is not much recorded data about dragons in general and it would seem, by lack of information, that this was that only recorded time in history pony kind has come into contact with a frost drake and lived to write about it and that was more than 1,000 years ago. Most ponies have thought the species to have gone extinct before anypony had ventured into their territory to discover more of them."
Just then Twilight was interrupted by a gigantic head of a blue dragon covered in snow and frost that came out of the darkness ramming the mouth of the cave full force shaking the ground and causing the ponies to stumble and fall.
"DOES IT LOOK LIKE WE'RE EXTINCT!" The dragon shouted letting out a huff of cold air out of his nostrils.
The cave went dark causing Twilight to illuminate her horn with magic so she could see in the darkness. When she had done so, however, she was surprised to see no traces of the dragon.
"Where did he go, Twilight," asked Rarity as the ponies rose back up onto their hooves again.
Twilight remained silent keeping her eyes fixed on the entrance to the cave. At first there was no sign of anything other than the blizzard which was still raging outside. Out of nowhere she suddenly saw something which looked like a blue flame rapidly building in the distance and the cave began to fill with fog. It didn't take long for Twilight to realize what was about to happen.
"Get down Rarity!" she shouted as she dove to the ground pulling Rarity along with her just a a massive wave of the dragon's freezing breath engulfed them. Shards of ice and frost filled the cave completely overwhelming the two ponies for a shot time before the breath subsided.
The dragon once again slowly poked his head into the cave expecting to see the bodies of two ponies encased in ice but was startled by what was actually there. The two ponies were safely taking refuge underneath a shield made of white light which made the dragon furious. However instead of attacking again the dragon seemed to keep his cool as if he knew something.
Twilight raised her head from her protective position to see the dragon and the shield made of light. Many questions ran through her head like what was this mysterious magic that came to her rescue and where it came from. But the question that puzzled her and applied to the situation the most was why the dragon didn't strike again. She knew it was in the dragon's nature to be very aggressive. VERY aggressive.
"Well then, it seems you are much more gifted  than I thought little filly." the dragon said, "And maybe even more than you knew yourself."
"Just who do you think you are!?" shouted Rarity, "You just assaulted us for no apparent reason! What in the world did we ever do to you?"
The dragon turned his head towards Rarity and let out another huff into her face. "Quiet you!" he shouted back at her shaking the cave. "I only wish to speak with the purple one."
Rarity stood frozen with a scared look on her face.
"If it is I you wish to speak with I refuse to speak unless you treat my friends with a little more respect. As a matter of fact I was just about to ask you the same question so what difference does it make if it came from her mouth or mine?"
The dragon's eyes narrowed. "Very well. My name is Salzaura."
"Salzaura?" questioned Twilight.
"What's the matter Twilight?" asked Rarity. "It looks like you've heard his name before."
"Because I have." Twilight turned to the dragon. "If I'm not mistaken, Salzaura was the dragon from the crystal heart incident that happened over 1,000 years ago. Dragons live long but they are still mortal so the fact that this dragon is still alive is a miracle."
"That's because I'm not alive." The dragon answered. "I have been dead now for more than 600 of those years."
"But how?"
"I am alive through the magic of my master which binds my bones and marrow together in exchange for servitude."
"Was this 'master' the one who ordered you to attack us?"
"Yes."
"But why? Who is he?"
"It was a test of strength. He felt your presence in his kingdom and wanted to make sure you were the one he was calling out to. His name is Frost Thorn."
Frost Thorn. That's the second time I've heard his name in a short period of time. He must be the source of the magic. He must be the one calling out for help.
"Please, take us to your master."
"I'm afraid I am not allowed to do so. I am not allowed to get too close to his fortress for... certain reasons. Only on rare occasions does he ever call me there and this is not one of them. Besides, if it weren't for your weak pony eyes you would be able to see that his kingdom, the kingdom in which you seek, can bee seen from the mouth of this cave." The dragon turned to the side and seemed as if he was speaking to an unseen force. "Hmm... Yes... Of course master, I shall inform them." The dragon turned back towards the ponies again, "As a matter of fact my master says he will pause the snowstorm in the morning to allow you safe passage into his kingdom. You must make haste in the morning for he can only hold it off for a short time. Once you get there you must find the royal throne room and free my master from his icy prison. Afterwards he will explain everything and he will make the world's weather stable once more."
"Very well, we will rest here for the night and travel to you master's kingdom in the morning."
"He will be expecting you Miss. Sparkle. As for me, I will patrol the area to make sure your rest goes on undisturbed."
The dragon then withdrew his head from the mouth of the cave and wing flaps could be heard going off into the distance.
Twilight turned to Rarity and said, "I can't help but think that that dragon was hiding something from us."
"He was very calm but I could read his actions. He kept something secret. But I have no idea what."
"I guess from here on we'll have to proceed with more caution. But for now let's use this time for some well deserved rest."
"I couldn't agree with you more."
Both ponies curled up into a little ball and slowly drifted off into sleep. When the next morning came Twilight was the first to wake up and when she did she woke Rarity up as well. Outside the snow had stopped falling just as Salzaura had said it would. Eager to see the kingdom the dragon was talking about, Twilight ran to the entrance of the cave and looked out so see a massive city which very closely resembled The Crystal Empire only made purely of ice. At the top of the main spire the magical aura they had been searching for the whole time was plainly visible to the naked eye and shooting up into the sky.
"Rarity! Come quick!" Shouted Twilight.
"What is it Twilight?" Rarity answered.
"We made it. We've finally made it."