Secrets of the Forest

by Cloud Thunderhoof

Chapter 1

Of all the times he had to screw up, it just had to be now.

Five armed stallions made of living crystal perused him. They had given up yelling for him to stop; they all knew that if the stories about this pony were true then they should not be chasing him. The sound of their hooves striking the cobbles below was like the distant thunder of an oncoming storm. Frostbite was what he was commonly known as, but the stallion was known by many names and his real one was a closely guarded secret. It wasn’t that the guards scared him, they were just puppets; the puppeteer was who scared him. Under any other circumstances Frostbite could have slipped into the shadows or taken these goons out, but their puppet master knew his tricks and had warned them about it.

He ran as fast as he could, his heart pounded and adrenaline coursed through his blood. The road was exceptionally dark since the magical streetlights had gone out. His hooves struck the ground but made little to no noise, an ability he had taken advantage of many times before and planned to do again. The crystal fair was in its second day and the tents would be abandoned until morning. There was a massive blue tent in the center of the castle square, it was probably for the crystal pageant, and would prove a good hiding spot. He turned his head in an awkward way and saw the guards. He had a head start of about two minutes, he wasn’t sure it that would be enough time but it might be.

The five crystal guards ran into the tent after the criminal. Although none of them admitted it, they were all terrified. Stories had been told about this pony, he could kill you with a stare, he was a shadow who could fade into the nighttime, he once killed fifteen of the elite guards with nothing but his hooves. They didn’t want to believe the stories but the way their captain had given their orders made them a little edgy, especially what he said afterwards, “This is a very dangerous pony, if he is unrestrained and gets within a few feet of you then he will not hesitate to end you”.

Frostbite hung from the ceiling support poles. His unique physical attributes allowed him to shimmy up the poles and hang from the ceiling. The crystal guards below were searching for him. He would have would have chuckled if the blood rushing to his head didn’t hurt so much. They would never think to look up, most ponies would not get up here unless they could fly and he was an earth pony. Even if they did look up he would be invisible in the dark, the tent was the same icy blue hue as his fur. Hanging on to the support poles was agonizing; he only had hooves and an unusual skeleton to work with. The guards spend the better part of fifteen minutes searching the premises although it could have hours, the pain made it impossible to tell. To pass the time he imagined what they were thinking right now. Frostbite knew he was more legend than actual pony, which was good, legends could not be touched and the fear aided him.

The crystal guards filed out at last and he began to shimmy down the support pole. Scarlet blood oozed from the place where he had wrapped his forelegs around the pole. He took extra care to descend silently; he did not want to alert any of the guards. He shimmied down to the ground and laid down panting. Frostbite cursed his luck; the one time there was something he could not go without it had to be in the crystal empire. He did not know the landscape. Also the ponies here were not like the ones back home so he could not be sure his strikes would be nonlethal. He may be a thief, a rebel, and a wanted man, but he was no killer.

After he had caught his breath and gotten to his hooves he heard a rustling. Something cold and hard struck him in the back of the head. Frostbite’s last thought before blacking out was “I got played, I never get played”.

Lights, sounds, feelings, and the smell of blood all came back gradually. He became aware of his surroundings. He was in a small white room, armored guards stood around him spears pointed at him. A unicorn stallion seemed to be in charge of the three crystal ponies. The unicorn stallion seemed to have a small sneer on his face. The stallion spoke in a self-satisfied voice, “the terror of the night, let’s see if you’re as bad as the stories say” he was smug and sure of himself; frostbite would have fun breaking him. The blue earth pony took in everything around him. The leader began to walk towards Frostbite and remove his shackles.

The blue pony spoke quickly and in a tone that sounded grateful, “oh thank you, I might have chipped a hoof in those things”.

The red unicorn stallion seemed outraged and drew a dagger from a sheath on his leg. The blade was made of steel and curved forward, it was meant for killing. He held it in his mouth since levitating a knife was not reliable. The guards in the corners of the room brought their spears up. He swung the blade at frostbite with murder in his eyes. Armature, Frostbite thought as he struck the stallion in the jaw and neck forcing him to release the knife. The crystal stallions in the corner came forward to restrain frostbite.

A door flung open and a larger white unicorn stallion walked in and yelled “Stand down and restrain him”. Frostbite found himself being dragged back and strapped to the ground. The new unicorn stallion sat in front of Frostbite.

The blue earth pony spoke “So we meet at last, the brilliant military commander and the rouge he’s hunted for years. Well played I have to say, I honestly didn’t see that one coming”.

The white unicorn looked serious but uneasy; he spoke to the previous one in charge in a hushed but audible voice “I want every entrance to and exit plastered with guards, nopony gets in or out without me knowing”. The red stallion walked off to carry out his orders.

The white stallion sitting in front of frostbite wore purple armor with golden trim; he had a purple mane with a light stripe in it. Frostbite spoke in a calm and familiar tone “Five star Captain Shining Armor of the equestrian guard core, or Captain shining armor, but its prince Shining Armor now, isn’t it?”. He did not seem amused in the least bit, not that frostbite expected him to.

The white stallion spoke in an aggravated voice but worry was also present, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, tell us your next play and I won’t be forced to hurt you”.

Frostbite looked at him closely, his eyes pupils were shrinking in order to adjust to the lighting down here, and there was a small amount of mud clinging to his hooves. From this frostbite ascertained that it was morning and that they were somewhere out of the pristine crystalline city. He looked around, sawdust and dirt sat on the floor and he could smell wet paint. Judging from that and the fact that he could not hear any ambient noise from outside he determined they were underground in a recently constructed facility. He looked up and felt a draft coming from the ceiling.

Frostbite needed to buy himself more time so he continued with his banter, “fine, ya caught me, you many now proceed to banish me and lock me in a dungeon where you banish me”.

Shining armor called over one of the crystal guards and whispered something in his ear, the guard trotted out of the interrogation room without a word. Shining armor spoke in a calm yet assertive voice “I’m trying to be the nice guy here and give you a chance to tell us what you stole and where we can find it. If you tell me where the items you stole from the secret archives I might even let you go. Just be quick because when Captain Fidelis gets back he is going to have a turn and he won’t be as nice as I am. Now I have to go upstairs (confirming they were underground) in a few minutes so talk quickly”.

Frostbite rolled his light brown eyes and scoffed before saying in a dramatic, overly offended tone, “You honestly think any of this good cop/bad cop mind games bullshit is going to work on me? Hell, there’s not even a bad cop, your just trying to soften me up so your psychoactive drugs take effect faster”.

Shining Armor tried to hide it but a look of confusion briefly came to his face. Step one complete, time to move on to step two, frostbite thought. He didn't miss a beat when speaking again in another dramatic tone, “You honestly thought that the files on your interrogation of the Griffin Empire spies were well guarded? My school library had better security than your ‘secret military archives’. Even if you pump me full of the same concoction, I’ve built up immunity to it”. The last part was a lie, Frostbite knew he was deathly allergic to them but he needed to sustain the ruse. He knew he needed to be gone by the time the guard was back with the syringe or it would be lights out forever.

Frostbite saw the opening in Shining Armor’s mental walls and continued to wear him down. He did not like the next part but it had to be done he changed his tone to a more sinister one before speaking again, “I scare you because you don’t understand me, because I’m a loose cannon that could explode at any minute. I’m a rebel with no clear motives or patterns and nothing to lose versus you, a textbook military officer with a posh life”. The blue stallion continued with his tirade in an even more sickly sweet tone, “So, let’s even the playing field a little bit, I’ll give you a little piece of me for free. I’ve read your file; you have two loving parents, a great sister, and a beautiful wife. So, as my gift to you, I’ll kill them all once I bust out of here and send you their heads in a box. I’ll drag you down to my level and you may finally be able to understand me better”, Frostbite made sure to make unblinking eye contact with the prince.

If he was anypony else the statement would hold no weight, but frostbite was known for being unpredictable and unstoppable. It also helped that just to mess with the minds of guards he would warn them in advance of his next target and carry out his plan right under their noses. If he said he was going to do something anypony who had looked at his file knew there was nothing that could stop him.

Shining armor spoke with barley restrained fury, “everypony in this room is dismissed, I need to have a private word with the prisoner”. The other armor clad stallions in the room exchanged worried looks but didn’t budge. “GET OUT!” the now purple faced stallion screamed and the others filed out. They now stood fact to face, Shining armor purple faced and enraged, Frostbite with a smug smile. “I’ll kill you first!” the prince screamed as he swung with one of his forelegs at Frostbites head.

The next moment was a chaotic blur; Shining armor had not realized that Frostbite was free of his restraints and able to move. Then the blue pony caught the foreleg in between his and forced him to the ground, then he rolled over and heard a cracking noise. The bone broke easily and left shining armor in considerable pain. Frostbite wasted no time in dragging the now immobile pony in front of the door. Then Frostbite struck shining armor in the center of the forehead, knocking him out and hopefully scrambling the memory of the last few minutes.

The blue pony went to where he had felt the draft and reared up on his hind legs. He knocked out the small ventilation grate and climbed through it. He was more flexible than anypony he had ever seen before and it let him shimmy up the vent to the surface. He was somewhat right, it was around noon and they were outside of the city limits. He ran to the center of the city to find his belongings and get out as soon as possible.

He had chosen to come during the crystal fair because it would let him blend in easily. The streets were packed with crystal ponies and normal ponies tourists. Ever since the empire had been opened to civilians it had become a major tourist trap especially during the crystal fair. There was a vender selling souvenirs by the road. There were paintings, and toys, and necklaces, but what caught his eye was a grey fedora with a black stripe and an orange crystal feather. He managed to produce the money from a wallet he had swiped from one of the city guards on his way into the city from the interrogation room.

The vendor turned over the hat and didn’t question his patron’s injuries, business had been slow and he had foals to feed. Then Frostbite retrieved his belongings from their hiding place and continued on his way.

Frostbite put the hat on his head to conceal his spikey white mane. He needed to get out of the city before shining armor could inform the guards of his presence. He knew that during the crystal fair trains would leave and arrive every half hour, and the prince should be out for at least two. What he had said back there left a sour taste in his mouth; he had said what he needed to, not what he would really do. Despite the legends the blue stallion had never killed another pony. It was strictly against everything he stood for to take another sentient life, especially an innocent one. Even if he had intended to kill them, the military record did not name any family members, just numbers. The identity of his family would remain a secret.

The train station sat on a hill outside of the city gate. It was small and the station was packed with both arrivals and departures. He bought a ticket and filed onto the train along with others. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest when a guard said “step to the side”. He whipped his head around to see the guard was addressing another pony in line. After giving his ticket to the conductor he went to find his seat. He wanted to look as inconspicuous as possible so he chose a seat next to a purple mare with her muzzle in a book. He pulled the maps he had stolen out from his bag and began to inspect them. Then he pulled out a worn notebook and wrote some things down.

“Those look like the maps of the ever free forest from the crystal archives”, Frostbite looked and saw that the mare he was sitting next to was looking over his shoulder.

A lie flowed out seamlessly, “they were selling copies”.

“Oh” she said. Frostbite considered moving to another seat but he felt like she would follow him. Her cutie mark, a six point star with smaller white stars around it, suggested she was some sort of scholar or intellectual. “What brings you to the crystal empire?” she asked.

“Business, im a historian. And you?”, he said, trying to get her to talk about something else.

“My brother moved out here after he got married, he wanted to get away from Canterlot, I was just visiting for the weekend”, the mare replied. “What’s your name?” her questions were getting more and more personal but Frostbite wanted to sell the illusion.

The stallion had to invent a new name for himself on the fly since the name Frostbite had entered the pop lexicon as a synonym for evil. “Mountain Snow, but you can just call me Snow”, he said hoping it would be an acceptable answer. The purple mare replied “I’m Twilight Sparkle, but you can call me Twilight”.

The newly named Mountain Snow knew he needed to lie low for a week or two while the most recent heat died down. He had chosen the sleepy backwater town for two reasons; it had no guard presence and it was on the edge of the Everfree forest. He needed to solidify his new identity and it probably would be best to learn a little about the town before he got there.

The two ponies kept up their small talk for the four hour ride back to their stop. It turns out that Snow couldn't have picked a better pony to sit next to, even if the mare didn't know it she would help him carry out his plans.

Comments

[setablaze53]

I love it!

[Closet-Bronie-333]

love it