The snow rose to just below their knees, slowing their stride and causing their movements to turn sluggish. Shining Armor relished in the cold feeling however, it was a welcome change from hard crystal floors and comfy pillows of his castle home. The wind rushing through his mane and the blistering chill upon his face was everything he had always expected and hoped being a royal guard would entail; adventures beyond the veil, thrusting yourself into the unknown. It was what Shining lived for.
The same could not be said for Flash Sentry, Shining’s trusted pegasus Lieutenant accompanying him at that time. “Ohh it's cold. Why's it gotta be so cold? Can't we just work some crystal heart magic or something? Make everything warm like back home?”
“Believe it or not, Sentry, but it gets cold up north, hence why we call it the ‘Frozen North.’” Shining responded humoredly before patting a snow covered hoof across Sentry’s back. “Besides, you complain too much. You're a royal guard, you're expected to go get your hooves dirty every once in awhile.”
Flash Sentry snorted and scoffed, his wings fluttering out to shake off the accumulating snow. “Dirty is not the problem, cold is the problem, specifically this cold,” he shot back shivering.
“Oh quit your whining, Sentry,” cut in one of two other earth pony crystal guards accompanying Flash and their Captain. “A bit of snow never hurt anypony,” he said with mock empathy, causing the other crystal guard to chuckle and snortle.
Flash just incoherently grumbled in reply before he turned back to Shining with a scrunched up face, attempting to ward off the persistent frost filled air. “What are we doing out here anyway? You in particular, Captain. I mean it's not like anypony can force you to do anything around here!” Flash said rousingly.
Shining fought the urge to smirk, looking towards the treeline just north of the Empire that laid behind them. “Be that as it may, Sentry, I just decided to get out for a bit. Plus Cadance wanted a bit of personal time with Flurry, her being a Princess kind of makes that difficult.” Shining dusted the snow off himself, the perpetual flakes floating down from the sky blanketing him. “As for why we're here… Same old same old. Some foals playing out by the trees said they saw a monster.” Shining emphasised with mocking dread.
The three other guards laughed in response, the specific scenario being a regular occurrence and something of an in-joke for them. The dark memory of King Sombra lingered on in the minds of many of the crystal ponies, particularly the foals, his legacy shadowing the Empire to this day. Every once in awhile a report would surface stating that King Sombra had returned, or a dark minion of his, or his malformed bride and on one strange occasion his half goat demon spawn.
Of course nothing ever came of these claims, the perpetrator always being revealed as a broken branch or mountain rat; the banes of Shining Armor’s existence. For the sake of public reassurance Shining always ensured that these incidents were thoroughly investigated, but after so many times dealing with the same old things, even the resident crystal guards were starting to tire of the regularity of King Sombra’s supposed resurrections.
But regardless, goose chase or not, the guards had a job to do and disappointing the populace was not an option.
Maybe this time won't be as far fetched? Shining thought with a snort. The once Crystal Empire resident and friendly changeling Thorax hadn't been such an exaggeration when he first turned up, so perhaps this monster that inhabited the Crystal forest wouldn't be either. Either way they would soon discover the truth, for the white trees of the Frozen North were soon upon them, stretching as far as the eye could see from left to right, wrapping around the distant form of Mount Everhoof looming so ominously above in the wild roaming clouds.
Shining paused, cheerfully appreciating the sight. It was not customary to leave the confines of the Empire, mainly because the weather was often too treacherous to brave. Guard patrols were carried out on occasion and Shining had taken the opportunity to be apart of one; so far the sights alone had been worth the effort.
“You ever wonder what's out there?” Shining curiously asked Flash, who looked to Shining with a raised brow. “You ever think about what's beyond those trees, over that mountain, past whatever it is after that?”
Flash just blinked. “Short answer? Nooo. Seriously, Captain, when has anything good ever come from somewhere outside Equestria?” Flash ostensibly rebut.
Shining broadened his shoulders. “The Crystal Empire isn't from Equestria, neither was the changeling that had been sleeping in my castle.”
Nervously stuttering and beginning to fiddle about, Flash quickly regretted his statement, mainly for it implying very different things than what he had intended. Shining did not appear to hold it against him, breaking out into a small smile as the two crystal guards began to approach the treeline ahead of them investigative.
“I do get what you mean though, Sentry,” Shining stated reassuringly, quickly soothing Flash’s fears. “But still, can't help but wonder sometimes… All that uncharted land, the creatures we haven't even discovered yet. Just imagine, one day we might be able to fly north and never stop; discovering new things, uncovering hidden-”
“Sir!”
One of the guards called out, drawing the remaining three over to him in a flash. Shining rushed up to the guard, who was currently staring at a thicket of snow covered bushes lying below the overbearing trees. He stared intently, soon being joined by Shining and Flash. The four stayed deathly silent, simply observing for anything of note; movement, noise, anything that might reveal something of out of the ordinary.
Nothing happened, and no noise was heard. Shining turned his eyes to the startled crystal pony and spoke in a hushed but authoritative tone. “What happened? What'd you see?”
The guard gulped, not having realised that he had been holding his breath. He jerkily turned towards Shining, his eyes refused to leave the spot in the bushes for more than an instant. “I… I saw something. Something was there, I'm sure of it.”
“Yes, but what?” Shining responded with impatience. “What did you see?”
The guard stayed silent for several moments, his silver armour visibly and audibly rattling. Shining suspected it wasn't because he was cold. “I- I saw eyes,” he shakily spoke. “I saw its eyes and it saw me.”
Shining had heard enough. Was this guard overreacting? Had he perhaps seen a harmless animal? Had he even seen anything at all? In the end it didn't matter. Shining trusted his guards with his life, so he would trust this guard now. The stallion had seen something, something that had caused him to fumble over his words, and that was reason enough for Shining to call this search off for the time being and have them return to the Empire, if only to reassess the situation and better prepare themselves for the next venture out.
“We're heading back,” Shining announced to the collective of guards. “We regroup at the Empire and come back with maximum strength. I'm not taking any chances, especially seeing as the changeling queen is still on the loose.” He hastily hushed out as he ushered the guards away, occasionally glancing back towards the trees.
They walked in a straight line on either side of each other, the snow flying directly into their faces, blinding the view of their seemingly distant Empire home, appearing to almost be glowing in comparison to the dampening winds, dull cloudy sky and blank white ground. Their form soon began to resemble that of an arrow head, with Shining and Flash at the front and the two crystal guards at their rear. The howling winds picked up, pushing the four back as they fought to proceed.
Then something sounded out, something very unlike the crunching of snow or the swirling of wind. It was the sound of cracking branches. Branches breaking apart and swinging out as some unseen force pushed against them, and it was coming from directly behind them, at the exact spot they had all stared fixated mere moments ago.
Shining held out hope that it was simply the result of the violent winds batting against the trees; splinting the wood by the sheer forces of nature. Then more cracking began to sound out to Shining's left, further down the treeline than they had even reached.
Shining didn't dare look back as he ordered the others to run.
He sprinted as fast as he could, growing unnerved as far more hooves upon snow rang out then what should have. The sounds were seemingly coming from all around, directly behind them and even to their sides.
Shining looked left, and a fearful gasp escaped him. A lean, almost black, pony-like figure was sprinting through the mist, far more quickly than any pony Shining had ever seen was capable of. It was running ahead of them, circling itself out towards their front, veering directly into their waiting path.
Shining looked right and growled as he saw another black figure mirroring the actions of the first. He recognised what they were doing, and Shining knew that running was no longer an option.
They were surrounding them. Boxing them in.
His horn alit with a flash and a deep purple light shone out, flowing over the four huffing ponies. The other guards fell down in shock, gazing up as Shining’s magical shield grew around them. The black figures to their fronts almost collided at the ponies sudden and unforeseen stop, their forms becoming concealed even more from behind the shield’s shimmering wall.
“What'd you doing, Captain?!” Flash yelled in a fury at the panting Shining, barely able to see past the shield. “We gotta get out of here, those things are going to surround us at this rate!”
“We're already surrounded,” Shining harrowingly shot back, his horn continuing to shine as his guards looked to him dazed and in fear, waiting on his command. “They were circling around us on all sides, they must've been waiting for us to get close enough! Aargh!” Shining clutched his head, having not been able to aptly prepare for his spells casting so abruptly. “They're too fast for us to outrun, we need a new plan! Think!” He yelled out in pain, his knees buckling beneath him as whatever the things were outside began to beat upon the shield relentlessly.
Flash veered away as one of the figures drew close, it's blackened form warped and distorted behind the purple magic. The darkness of its body was obvious, but what made it stand out from the others was that while the those creatures beat and slashed upon the shield in a frenzy, this one simply stood, it's back arching high. It was also tall, and very large. Flash almost felt like it could see right through, staring right at him.
Flash gladly looked away as Shining shouted once more.
“Can't- hold it!” Shining strained out as the shield began to flicker around him, the force of the creatures’ attacking wearing him down. “Solutions would be appreciated!” He yelled in a frantic fury.
The two crystal guards stood back to back, preparing themselves for defence. Flash held himself hesitantly before a sudden thought came to mind and he yelled out in triumph. “Maybe we can't outrun ‘em, but I could fly! Alert the Empire and get help!”
A crack formed in the shield; it was being chipped away like broken glass.
While Flash’s suggestion may not have been the solution Shining had been hoping for, it was the only one he was going to get and was therefore their only option. “Flash, you spread those wings! The second I drop this shield you bolt! You don't look back, you hear!”
Flash nodded, but the exasperated voice of another guard distracted Shining from responding. “You're going to drop the shield? Can't you keep it up?!”
As much as Shining would have liked to explain that every time the shield was hit it felt like he was being punched in the face, the most he could manage was a weak “No,” before the shield finally gave way and shattered completely. Flash Sentry erupted into the sky before the shards of magic had even begun to fade away, shooting towards the green hills of the Empire like a bolt of lightning.
The remaining trio of guards backed up into each other, standing firm against the creatures that now surrounded them entirely. They had backed off once the shield had collapsed but were quickly regaining their senses, veering closer to the three ponies with every rotation of the circle they made. There must have been at least twenty, probably more, but Shining did not expend the effort to count. What had become apparent however was what exactly these creatures were, with Shining drolly muttering out a single word to the two guards flanking him.
“Wolves.”
Snarling, growling and glistening their teeth, the wolves tilted their heads and pointed their snouts as Shining spoke aloud. They looked ready to pounce and Shining attempted to prepare himself for it. They did not however, they just continued to circle with evident impatience. Some lurched forwards, their teeth baring wide, but they did not dare strike and Shining did not know why.
The wolves then looked away, over the shoulders of the ponies and back towards the treeline. Shining whipped his head in that direction, risking the move if only to discover what had grasped the other wolves attentions so completely. He could barely see through the fog but the colour of this wolf’s coat stood out plainly, as did its piercing golden eyes that shone against the snow. It's back was arched high and every tilt of its large and frizzled head held weigh to it, with the eyes of every other wolf following with expectancy.
It’s neck lurched back and it released a monstrous roar. Within seconds all the other wolves turned feral, leaping at the three ponies with their sharp teeth aimed to precision.
Shining shot two wolves back with two consecutive blasts of magic and attempted to turn back to help the other two guards. He adjusted his aim but another wolf pounced and Shining had to fire at it. Two more were bearing up on him so Shining turned and ran, he ran and he fired, never for a second allowing the creatures to reach him, growing sick at the prospect of their teeth upon his flesh.
He continued to run but the snow was too thick, he didn't even know if he was running towards the Empire, he could've been running back towards the trees and further into the fray for all he knew. He'd lost the other two guards in the snow, surrounded by wolves on all sides. Shining hadn't meant to leave them, he had just been so confused, so desperate. They were all around him and if he didn't run they would get him.
But Shining knew he couldn't outrun them.
Ahead he saw two more dark figures, shielded behind the winds and falling frost. Shining stood his ground, rage building and manifesting itself as searing magic, practically leaking off his horn. “Come on!” he shouted at them. Other wolves had followed and were all around him again so Shining adjusted his aim, almost grinning at how they seemed to shy away from his blazing horn. He fired off a shot, with it impacting against the ground and causing the snow to steam away. The wolves just continued to growl and snarl.
Then they were silent, as silent as the wind, their calm breaths being their only distinctive noise.
Shining grew perplexed, but refused to lower his horn. Shuffling sounded out behind him and Shining spun with a grunt, his spell faltering slightly from sheer fear as the massive wolf from before; the wolf who had growled so monstrously, stepped through the ring of wolves and steadily met Shining’s eyes.
It was enormous, its size greater than the other wolves by far. It must have been as tall as Princess Celestia, it's chest only reaching up to Shining head. It peered down at him unreadably, it's necked bolt upright, undeterred by the threatening shine of Shining’s horn.
Shining’s rage melted away with the snow and his bravado failed him. The wolf drew closer, step by step, so Shining drew away at the same pace. The wolves behind him snarled in response. There was no way out of this for him. Surrounded by wolves, confronted by one that seemed to intimidate the rest, there was little Shining could think to do, made all the more harder by his blistering horn, pounding head and burning lungs.
The giant wolf began to growl.
In that split second before it pounced everything seemed to grow calm for Shining. He saw his wife, he saw his sister, he saw his Flurry. Even the cold was forgotten by him, melding away with the image of his family. The wolf appeared to fly, leaping at Shining with an unearthly roar that echoed across the landscape.
But Shining refused to be afraid.
His spell fired off, blasting against the wolf’s chest. It faltered, prematurely diving for the earth. It sunk into the snow up to his neck but before Shining could even begin to well more magic into his horn the beast erupted out of the earth, showering them all in a cloud of thick snow. It leap at Shining again, who instinctively stuck out his foreleg high.
Shining grew numb as he felt the wolf’s teeth sink into his leg, the agony so great he couldn't even yell out. It held him high in the air, but it didn't shake him or bite any harder, it simply held him up and stared him down.
Shining’s met its eyes before shutting them tight and finally screaming out.
It felt as if it held him there for so long. Dangling in the air.
Then it released him, threw him to the side and let out a low howl. Shining caved into the snow, which cushioned his fall and blanketed him in a broken layer of flakes. The sounds of padded feet crunching upon the snow was muffled, but it was there. The wolves were leaving, their pace increasing until they were well beyond the trees, the sounds of their paws and the cracking of the branches echoing out once again.
Shining was too distracted by the pain in his leg to care.
As winged silhouettes passed by in the sky, Shining felt that calming feeling again. His pain faded, as did the rising sounds of yelling and shouting, but Shining just continued to lay, the image of his wife and daughter clouding his vision once more.
Then a howl screeched out into the sky, and Shining Armor realised he had almost lost his family forever.