Dawn of The Ice King

by KingdomBrony16


12: And the beginning of another

I stepped off the train and stretched, all of my joints cracking, "Ah yeah, that felt good." I picked up my bag and walked out of the station, I shielded my eyes from the bright light and when my vision cleared I looked around, I was home. "Man, Ponyville hasn't changed a bit within the last four and a half years." I said walking in the direction of the Cottage. I was hidden underneath a cloak, not the one Rarity made me all those years ago, that was in my bag. This cloak was mainly white with a few pink and yellow accents. Honestly I hated this cloak at first but I had to wear it as a Prince and it just grew on me and it's now one of my favorite cloaks.

When I reached the Cottage I noticed that a lot of the birdhouses that were there well weren't I thought this weird but really paid it no mind, what I did notice however was that when I got closer to the Cottage I didn't hear the usual scurrying of animals coming from inside or around back either. I decided to knock on the door, when it opened It wasn't Fluttershy who answered instead it was an old stallion, looked to be 80 or so.

"May I help you?" He asked, his voice cracking with his age.

"I uh… someone I know used to live here but that obviously doesn't seem to be the case anymore." I said looking past him and into the house.

"Ah you mean Ms. Fluttershy, she moved into town a few years ago and gave this place to me, said something about not having enough room when her coltfriend gets back or something. Personally I haven't seen this so called coltfriend of hers in the years since she moved out. Either she wasn't entirely truthful or that coltfriend of hers left her and never came back, the coward." The old colt said with bitterness.

I laughed nervously, "Yeah…. Uh do you know where she moved to in town?"

He shook his head, "No, I see her out and about but I never saw where she moved to. Who are you anyway looking for a kind mare like her?"

"An old friend from years ago. Thank you anyway sir, have a good day." I told him turning around.

"You too youngun." He said from behind me and I waved as I walked away.

When I got into town I was thrown off balance and onto the ground with something heavy landing on me. "Ugh… what hit me?" I looked down and saw a mess of blonde hair.

"Ooohhh not again…" The pony that was on top of me sat up and looked at me, her eyes were pointing in different directions… I think we've met before. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine how about you?" I asked her.

"I'm perfectly ok; I crash into things all the time." She said with a smile.

"Well, that's good to know… I guess. Uh… do you mind getting off of me?" I asked her politely

"Oh, sorry." She stood up and held out her hand to help me up, I took it.

When I was standing up I brushed myself off and looked at the mare. She was wearing a gray uniform that matched her fur. She was also a Pegasus and I could see that there were 7 out of place bubbles on her uniform, which must be her cutie mark. I looked at her eyes again and yeah, we did meet, but when?

"You know, you remind me of someone I bumped into a long time again, they were wearing a cloak too." She said, which made me remember when I met her, she then went over to a bag that was on the ground with letters scattered everywhere. I decided to help her pick the up since ya know I kinda was the person she crashed into. "Thank you for helping me, not many ponies do so."

"No problem Ms…"

"Derpy…. Derpy Whooves."

"No problem Ms. Whooves, but why don't a lot of ponies help you out, you seem nice enough." I said.

She looked around and then back at me… or I think she did. "Because of my eyes, they make a lot of ponies uncomfortable so they just avoid me if they can." She said sadly.

I huffed, "Well that's no reason to avoid someone, I could understand if you were like a really mean pony or you smelled really bad. But, again, you don't seem mean and you smell a lot like muffins. Besides I think your eyes make you look cute." What? I could compliment other mares, it ain't against the rules.

She blushed, "Th-thank you."

"Yeah, no problem… oh by the way my name is Chris McGrath, but please just call me Chris." I held out a hand and she shook it.

"Well it's good to meet you Chris, say what are you doing in Ponyville?" She asked me.

I rubbed the back of my head, "Ah, you see, I used to live here and I wanted to come see an old friend. Wait, you're a mail mare right?" she nodded, "Well do you know where Fluttershy lives?"

"I do indeedy, she's one of the ponies who is really nice to me, is that who you're trying to find? If so I can take you there, it's on my route anyway." She offered happily.

"You know what, yeah, I'd like that. Lead the way." I told her letting her walk ahead of me.

While we were walking she decided to bring something up.

"I hope you aren't going there to try and woo her." Derpy said cautiously.

"Why's that?"

"Well a lot of colts tried to do so and she told them that if her coltfriend found out he'd be super angry. They didn't believe her until they saw who she was living with then they put two and two together and took off with their tails between their legs." She explained.

"Who she's living with?" I asked, curious, feeling my heart rate increase… she wouldn't get with someone else… would she?

"Mhm, but if you don't know then you must not've seen her in quite some time, so I'll keep it as a secret." She said with a wink.

Ok now I'm worried, "So anyway can I know who this pony she's living with is like?"

Derpy shook her head, "Nope not telling sorry, you'll just have to see for yourself."

I sighed, "Alright then." The rest of the walk was silent and then we reached a house, it was two stories tall and had about 5 windows on the front and a small porch with a large wooden door to enter. The house itself was pure white with light blue highlights.

"Well here we are, I'd stay to talk to Fluttershy too, but I have to deliver the rest of the mail." She said, putting whatever mail Fluttershy had in the mailbox out front.

"Alright, say Derpy? I don't think I'll be leaving town for a long time, if you want another friend I'm up for it." I told her.

She looked at me and blinked, "You wanna be my friend, really?" I nodded and she crushed me in a hug, "Thank you thank you thank you… but where are you going to stay?" she asked letting me go.

I looked to the house and shrugged, "I'll find a way to let you know where when I find a place. It was good meeting you."

"You too Chris, I'll see you later." She said before taking flight.

I shook my head walked to the door giving it a solid few knocks. I whistled a little song while I waited. When the door opened a small filly was in the doorway. "I… uh… hmm this has to be the wrong place… Say little one do you know where Ms. Fluttershy lives?" I asked her and she gave me a questioning look.

"MOM, THERE IS ANOTHER GUY HERE FOR YOU BUT HE'S A BIT WEIRDER THAN THE REST!" She yelled into the house.

I mouthed 'mom?' then I looked at the filly standing in the doorway more carefully. She was wearing a pink sundress and looked like a pony but she wasn't. She had slitted pupils, tiny fangs poking out, her legs ended in claws instead of hooves, and her tail was long and thick like well a dragon's it even had spines and ended in a drill shape too. Her eyes were sky blue, her fur (Which she had) was a pale blue, to match her eyes, and her hair was long and flowing and was a pale gold in color. Her spines on her tail were also pale gold. She also had horns that looked way too much like mine, she even had little dragon like wings that matched the color of her coat. Wait…. hold on lemme go back to the horns and the tail… they looked like mine… "No…" I said quietly

Then she came to the door, she was wearing a shirt and some pants with an apron on. Her hair was up in a ponytail but her bangs were being held back by the pin I made for her years ago, she still had it. "H-hello… how may I h-help you?" She asked nervously, uh well that was back.

I reached up slowly, "Fluttershy…" I said softly.

"Sh-should I know you?" She asked me cautiously, pushing the… I know there was a name for what she was… Krillin… no no… Kiran… no no… KIRIN! Right, she pushed the small Kirin behind her just in case.

I stopped, "Not in this getup no I suppose you wouldn't but I do know that I gave you that pin in your hair years ago." I said touching it lightly.

Her eyes widened, "I-Is that really you?" She reached up and grabbed the hem of my hood and pulled it back, gasping when she saw my smiling face. "You're back… you're really back." She quickly hugged me.

I hugged her back and held her close. "Yeah, I'm back Flutters. I'm back."

"I thought you were going to be gone for six more months." She said into my chest and I heard soft crying.

"It's ok, and I thought I was too, but Cadance told me everything that I needed to do was done and I hopped on the train as soon as I could. I couldn't wait to come home." I felt myself tear up a bit, "I missed you so much Flutters."

"I missed you too Chris…" she said nuzzling into me.

"Mom, who is this guy?" The little Kirin asked Fluttershy, tugging on her shirt.

Fluttershy pulled away from me hug and looked down at her and got on a knee, "Golden Skies, this is your daddy." She said looking up at me with a smile.

"My… daddy?" Golden asked looking up at me as well.

"Uh… hi." I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly.

"That's not my daddy; you said my daddy had horns and things like that, that he was a dragon." She said still looking at me.

"Well yes I did but… actually… Chris, what happened to your horns?" Fluttershy asked me.

"Ah right… forgot about that… uhm hmmm… where is it…." I rummaged around my pockets before I felt something round and heavy, "Aha, here we go." I took my cloak off and crushed the ball between my fingers. My horns, eye, teeth, and tail appeared. "I made that bad boy to hide these so when I went to other countries they wouldn't mistake me for a dragon." I looked down at my… daughter with a playful smile, "Is that more to your liking?"

She nodded, "You really are my daddy aren't you… wait here." She said before running into the house.

"So… she's really mine huh?" I asked Fluttershy.

"Yes, I had her a few months after we came back to Ponyville, one day I felt sick and went to the doctor and they told me, on that day I knew that the Cottage wasn't going to be big enough to hold all of us when you came back so I bought a house here in town. I felt bad leaving the animals but they understood and it's not so bad. We're closer to the school and our friends and we aren't as close to the Everfree." She said.

"That… was a good choice, what about Angel and Hedgy?" I asked.

"Oh we kept those two."

"Oh good… so a few months after you all left huh? That means she must be four… I missed four birthdays…" I said quietly.

"It's ok you'll be able to make it up to her. And I'm glad you came back when you did, her magic is starting to manifest and I don't know how to teach her anything or explain anything." She was holding onto my arm.

"Hmm I'll do what I can, I promise. So do you have any idea what she went to get?" She shook her head but a few seconds later I heard the sound of claws scraping against a floor.

Golden came out and was holding a large piece of paper. On that paper was a drawing of her, Fluttershy, and what I'm assuming what was me all holding hands with a big heart above us that on the inside said, 'I love you daddy!', of course her being four it wasn't that good but ya know it was the thought that counts. "I know it's not that good but I wanted you to have it." She said quietly.

I took it and looked at it admiring it, "It's great sweetie thanks…" I got on a knee and ruffled her hair and since I was at her height she surprise hugged me. I was stunned for a second before hugging her back. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here…" I told her.

"It's ok, you're here now and that's all that matters." She kissed me on the cheek and ran back inside.

"She's oddly smart." I said laughing.

"She hangs around Twilight a lot, probably because she has a crush on Spike." She said with a giggle.

I groaned, "Oh god it's Spike and Rarity all over again…"

She laughed, "Yes, I suppose it is."

I stood back up, "Speaking of, how is everyone doing? I've seen Twilight a few times since she became a princess but that's about it."

"Oh they're going to want to see you and they will be mad with you not letting them know you came back early, especially Pinkie." She said giving me a devious smile.

I gulped, "Please don't remind me…. Pinkie is terrifying when she doesn't get to plan a party."

"Oh I agree, but we can save that for tomorrow, today you spend with us." She said, "Now come on in."

The rest of the day was pretty fun, I loved my daughter as much as I loved Shy, she was very understanding and very smart. She also had my sense of humor which was good for me but not so good for everyone else. But she was very caring like her mother. During dinner though…

"Hey daddy, Can you do this?" She breathed an icy flame over Angel who was eating a pile of lettuce reluctantly and froze him solid.

"Golden Skies, what have I told you about freezing Angel!" Fluttershy scolded.

"Not to…" she mumbled out.

I just laughed, that bunny had it coming. "So you can already breathe Icy Fire?" it looks like she was developing more like a dragon than a Drako. "Well that's good. I'll teach you a lot of things I know, but when you're older. Right now they're a bit too dangerous."

She pouted, "That's not fair."

"Oh come on don't pout, my heart can't handle so much cuteness in one room." I said faking like my heart was about to fail.

She pouted even harder, "I am not cute." She protested with a little hmph.

That was it, "Oh no… cuteness overload… can't keep going… tell my bed… I'll miss it… blegh." I dropped my head on the table.

"Very funny daddy, I know you aren't dead." She said, I didn't respond. "Daddy… daddy?" She got up and poked me, looking at her mom, scared. "Mommy, I killed daddy when I just met him!"

I jumped up and grabbed her, she screamed, I started tickling her and the screams turned to laughter, "I AM THE TICKLE ZOMBIE AND I FEED OFF OF TICKLING LITTLE KIRIN! MUAHAHAHAHAAHAAHA!"

She squirmed, "No-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho….. stoooooop." She whined out, I kept tickling her.

"Alright alright, that's enough for tonight. Tomorrow is your first day of school young lady and you need to get some sleep." Fluttershy said.

We both looked at her, "Aww but mooooooooom~" Golden cried out.

"But Shyyyyyyyyyyyyy~" I whined out.

She giggled, "No buts now come on you two, time for bed." We both groaned then laughed.

We put Golden to bed but she wanted to talk to me for a bit longer and Fluttershy agreed.

"What'd you want to talk about Goldy?" I asked her.

"When you were tickling me what did you call me?" She asked.

"I called you a Kirin, it's what you are. Half pony half dragon, maybe a bit of human thrown in there too." I said, sitting on the edge of her bed, I looked around her room and it was blue, good choice. She had a mixture of girly and boy things, also good.

"I never heard of a Kirin, even from Twilight and she knows everything."

"Obviously not everything, but I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't find out. That's a word from my world." I told her.

"Can you tell me about your world?" She asked me.

I thought about it, "Sure, but tomorrow, your mother is right you do need sleep. Trust me being tired and going to school is no fun."

"Aw alright daddy, good night." She yawned, "I love you."

I leaned down and kissed her forehead, "I love you too." I walked out her room, turned off the light, and closed the door but left it cracked open. I made it back to the room and saw Fluttershy lying in bed reading… something.

"I'm glad to see that you two get along so well. I was so worried she wouldn't like you or you wouldn't like her." Shy said.

"Flutters, you worry too much, you know that? But I'll be honest I thought she wouldn't like me either when I heard her call for you at the door. But I would love any child that came from us." I said getting into bed.

"That's good to hear because I want a few more." She said.

"W-w-w-what?" I stammered out.

"At least four more." She said quietly leaning on me.

"I… uhm…. Yes?" I was confused.

She giggled, "Maybe in a couple of years." She suggested.

I nodded, "That'd be good."

We sat in bed for a while, she was reading and I was writing in my journal.

"Chris."

"Yeah?"

"My parents want to meet you."

"Oh, that's nice."

"Really?"

"Mhm."

"I was thinking we could go to Cloudsdale this weekend to meet them." She suggested.

"Sure, sounds like a plan." In 5…4…3…2…1 "WHAT?!"

She giggled, "I was wondering when that was going to sink in."

"S-shy, why didn't you tell me earlier?" I asked her, my face going white.

"Well you were having so much fun with Golden and I didn't want to ruin that." She explained.

I moaned in displeasure and sunk underneath the blankets, "Why me, you're dad is going to kill me."

"No he won't my dad is a very understanding pony. My mom will kill you though." She said with a snicker.

I just went completely under the blankets, "Nope… nope… nope."

"I'm playing Chris, you'll be perfectly ok."

I peeked over the edge of the blanket, "You promise I won't die?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye. I'll protect you forever." She said.

"FOREEEEEVVVVVEEEEEEEERRRRR!" We heard a voice come from nowhere.

"That sounded a lot like Pinkie…." I said, worried.

"It probably was, which probably means she knows you're here."

"You're evil, you know that? Some Element of Kindness you are." I stuck my tongue out at her.

"You love me though."

I sighed, "I do… I'm tired though, can we get some sleep?"

She nodded, closed the book, and turned off the light cuddling up against me. I let out a happy sigh and closed my eyes. It's good to be home. Sleep didn't last long though, an hour later I heard a knocking at our door. I sat up, Fluttershy making a cute mumbling noise. Golden was at our door holding her blanket and rubbing her eyes.

"Nightmare?" She nodded. "You wanna sleep with us?" another nod. "Alright come here." She made her way to my side of the bed and held her arms up. I picked her up and put her in our bed, she made her way between Fluttershy and I and snuggled into Shy's chest, bah instincts. I laid back down on my side my arm around them, pulling them close.

"Night daddy." Golden said. "Night Goldy." I said running a hand through her hair. "Night mommy." She said to Shy. "Good night my little icicle." She kissed Golden's ear. I pulled them closer and held them tight.