For the First Time in Forever

by Emerald Harp

Chapter Two

Ponyville: Golden Oaks Library

Elsa found herself staring up at a tan-colored ceiling, patterned with numerous rings. She smiled to herself sleepily. It gave her the sensation that she was inside a tree. What an idea, living inside a living tree.

She moved to roll over on her side and go back to sleep. Her stiff limbs ached in protest. Odd, it seemed she was lying on a very hard wooden floor. She glanced around, trying to focus. Books lay in haphazard piles near her, and a yellow pony sat among them. Elsa thought the pony was a stuffed animal until it blinked its blue eyes at her.

“Um. . .hello,” the pony breathed timidly.

With a jolt, Elsa remembered. Her coronation, the fight with Anna, losing control of her powers. . . and the strange ponies and the lizard. Where was she? Frost began to form on her palms and she clutched the blanket nervously.

“Oh, um, please don’t be scared,” the pony said. “I’m not gonna hurt you. M-My name is Fluttershy.”

Elsa noticed the pony was trembling slightly. The creature may have been trying to reassure Elsa, but the poor thing was frightened herself. The pony really did remind Elsa of a stuffed animal. Elsa gave Fluttershy a cautious smile. Fluttershy—an odd but pretty sounding name.

“I’m P—,” Elsa stopped. No, not, Princess. Queen now. But did she want to tell this creature that? “I’m Elsa,” she finished simply.

The pony brightened at hearing her name. “Pleased to meet you.”

Elsa gingerly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her head throbbed painfully, and the room spun. She breathed out and waited for her vision to clear.

“Are you all right? You took a nasty fall,” Fluttershy murmured.

“I’m fine,” Elsa said. “Just tell me where I am. And. . .what are you?”

“That’s funny,” a new voice responded. “I have the same question for you.”

A short lavender lizard stepped out from behind a pile of books. His arms were folded across his pudgy belly, and his green eyes flashed at Elsa angrily. “Who are you? And what have you done with Twilight?”

Before Elsa could respond, an orange pony joined him. She placed a gentle hoof on his shoulder. “Now hang on a minute there, Spike. Don’t go accusing her of anything just yet. Not until we’ve heard her story.”

“Well, why not?” a bright blue pony flapped her wings above the pair. “Twilight vanished and she appeared. How do you explain that? I’m with Spike. She must’ve done something. I mean just look at her!”

“Now, now, Rainbow Dash,” a pristine white pony tittered. “One cannot judge a book by its cover. Unless it’s dusty, of course. . .”

An absurdly pink pony burst from the pile of pages. “Books? I thought we were talking about that weird-looking creature over there. She doesn’t look anything like a book. I should know; I’ve spent the last half hour making this awesome book fort!”

The ponies and lizard began bickering about what they thought of Elsa. Their voices rose over one another, arguing the finer points of whether she was evil or a book. Until finally Fluttershy stamped her hooves.

“Enough!” she shouted.

The others immediately stopped talking.

“Um, I mean, we agreed that I was going to talk with the new pony,” Fluttershy continued quietly. “You all were supposed to stay out of sight. . . so we wouldn’t scare her again.”

The five ponies and lizard turned to look at Elsa. Elsa glanced at the gathering frost on the blanket. She twisted the cloth around her bare hand and clamped down on her rising fear. “I’m fine,” she said. “I just need answers.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy smiled reassuringly. “You’re in Ponyville, and this is Applejack, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.”

Fluttershy motioned with a hoof to each of them in turn. The ponies either nodded or waved kindly at Elsa when their names were mentioned. Spike and Rainbow Dash gave Elsa disapproving glares instead.

“Ponyville?” Elsa repeated. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Funny, I didn’t think we were that small of a town,” Applejack muttered.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Well, you’re in Equestria. Every pony has heard of that.”

Elsa shook her head.

“What? Pinkie, find an atlas,” Applejack said.

Pinkie Pie saluted and burrowed into her book fort. The heap of books trembled and shook until she reappeared at the top of the pile.

“Found it!” she shouted, holding a large dusty book in her hooves.

Rarity levitated the atlas over to Elsa, shuddering all the while. “Disgusting.”

Spike muttered something about how he meant to clean those shelves Tuesday. Elsa took the open book. She scanned the Equestrian map quickly. None of the places were familiar. She flipped through more pages. Strange names and cheerfully painted places caught her eye but nothing of Arendelle. Elsa turned the pages faster, searching desperately for answers until she finally found the world map. Her wrapped fingers trembled as she stared at the drawings.

Elsa looked up at the strange figures. “If—If this book is to be believed, then I’m not just in a different place. I’m in a different world.”

“Look, snow!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

All of them looked up at the ceiling. Sure enough, tiny flakes of snow slowly drifted down in the room. Pinkie stuck her tongue out to catch one. Spike and Rainbow Dash glared at Elsa accusingly.

Fluttershy placed a reassuring hoof on Elsa’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”

“How?” Rainbow Dash asked. “How is everything going to be okay? Twilight is missing!”

“What are you talking about?” Elsa asked, struggling to remain calm.

“Twilight Sparkle is our friend,” Spike said. “She was doing this winter spell in the room and then it just went out of control. She disappeared, and then you showed up instead.”

Rainbow Dash flapped over to Elsa and spoke in her face. “So, what have you done with Twilight?”

“I haven’t done anything!” Elsa said. More snow began to fall. “I. . .I lost control of my powers and then the next thing I knew, I was here.”

“Sure,” Spike scoffed.

“You expect us to believe that when you’re making it snow right now?” Rainbow asked.

Applejack bit down on Rainbow’s tail and yanked her backward. Rainbow landed in a heap beside her. “Y’all ought to be ashamed of yourselves,” she said glaring at the pegasus and Spike. “We need to be helpin’ each other, not fussing like a couple of roosters in a hen house.”

The pair harrumphed but said nothing.

“There, there, darling,” Rarity said soothingly to Elsa. “If you’re really from another world, I have just the answer. We’ll take you to see Princess Celestia. She’ll know what to do.”

“That’s right!” Fluttershy added. “She can tell us how to find Twilight. And how to get you home.”

The ponies and dragon smiled at each other with this hope. Elsa couldn’t help but feel some of that same hope herself. The snowflakes dissipated.

“Who is Celestia?” Elsa asked.

“Only the most kindest, wisest, beautiful-est, magic-est, awesome-est Princess in all of Equestria!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed waving her hooves. “Well, I mean, aside from Princess Luna. Anyway, Princess Celestia helps everypony! So, I’m sure she can help a pony like you!” Pinkie Pie nodded to herself and then seemed struck with a sudden thought. “Wait, you’re not a pony, are you?”

“I’m a human.”

Fluttershy shrugged. “Even I’ve never heard of a. . .human before.”

Rainbow Dash shook snowflakes from her mane. “Sounds pretty fishy to me. Do all of you humans do weird snow stuff?”

Elsa looked helplessly at her hands, “No. Just me. I don’t even know why I have this power. I was just born with it. It . . . my emotions make it worse. Gloves help but . . .” She closed her eyes remembering Anna, clutching her glove. “I lost one.”

“Hmm, let me see that.” Rarity stepped forward and examined Elsa’s gloved hand. She smiled brightly. “Luckily I always leave emergency sewing materials at my friend’s houses. You never know when they may need an extra dose of fashion. Spike, get The Kit.”

Applejack looked stunned. “You left what at my house?”

Pinkie Pie shouted, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get to sewing so we can get going!”

Arendelle: Castle

Twilight tried to take in the scene around her. She was lying on her belly in a huge room surrounded by tall two-legged beings. She had never seen anything like them in Equestria and couldn’t remember ever reading anything about them. All of the creatures were wearing fancy dress clothes and were absolutely terrified. They kept screaming and shouting, clinging to each other and cowering near the walls. Several of them were pointing at her. Twilight stood, wanting to calm them. To her horror, she felt magical energy draining from her. She looked up.

Above Twilight winter storm clouds were growing and magic was still streaming from her horn. Starswirl’s spell was still active. Snow and patches of ice formed across the floor. She had to stop it before anypony got hurt. Twilight tried to concentrate, but she couldn’t. Not with all this noise.

“Monster! Monster!” a wiry short man yelled above the crowd. “Someone seize that thing! It’s taken the queen!”

Two of the larger creatures advanced toward her menacingly. They drew their swords.

“No, w-wait! You don’t understand!” Twilight cried out backing away.

The guards gasped. “It can talk?” one of them asked.

“I don’t care what it can do!” the wiry man pushed forward. “Kill it!”

A red-haired woman grabbed the arm of the guard. “No! You can’t!”

Twilight turned and ran. These beings were crazy. What in Equestria were they? Winter clouds and ice trailed behind her as she galloped down hall after hall. Something had gone completely wrong with the spell. She needed to get somewhere safe and figure this out. Twilight burst through a set of doors that opened on a vast courtyard. Hundreds of pale faces turned to gape at her. She ran down the steps into the crowd, freezing the ground as she went. The beings gave her a wide birth, gasping in shock.

“There she is!”

Twilight turned. The wiry man stood in the doorway with two guards. “Stop her!” he commanded the creatures.

“Please!” Twilight said, struggling to contain her magic. “Just stay away from me. Just stay away!”

A bolt of ice flew from her horn and shot out at the stairs. The wiry man and his guards were blasted to the sides.

“Monster,” the thin man muttered. “Monster!” he cried out louder.

“No,” Twilight said turning to the crowd. They backed away, frightened. A few children shrieked. Twilight gritted her teeth as storm clouds brewed above the sky. Thunder rolled and the temperature plummeted. Her horn fizzled and cracked, magic seeping from it. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Maybe she was a monster. . .

She galloped away.

“Wait!” a female voice reached Twilight’s ears.

Twilight didn’t wait. She had to get away from these . . . whatever they were. She was only a danger to them. She ran out of the courtyard and down a set of stone steps. Twilight skidded to a halt. A huge dark body of water stretched out before her. She’d never make it across with her magic going haywire. She was trapped.

“Wait! Stop!” the voice shouted.

Twilight backed away and one of her hooves touched the edge of the water. It crackled and froze beneath her. Gasping, she looked down at the newly-formed ice. It spread slowly around her. A woman in a green dress appeared under the arch of the steps. A man stood at her side clad in white.

“Wait,” she implored once more. “Please!”

Twilight shook her head and took another step. The water froze under her hooves. Decision made, she plunged forward onto the ice, running as fast as she could. It was hard going. She was galloping on ice, and it was all she could do to keep herself upright. She ran past boats in the water, and the ice spread out to them, cracking ominously. Twilight finally reached the other side of the bank and turned back to look at the fjord. It was completely frozen. She gulped, breathing hard.

Snow began to fall. She shivered and walked on.

* * * * * * * * * *

Anna shivered walking through the courtyard. She couldn’t believe it. Not any of it. First, her sister had refused to give her blessing for her marriage with Hans, which was stupid because he was a super-sweet guy. Then Elsa got really angry, and a blizzard spewed from her hand in the middle of the ball room, which explained, like, a lot about Elsa never wanting to leave her room and why she always acted so cold . . . no pun intended.

But now she was gone. Elsa had disappeared, and a pretty unicorn showed up in her place. Anna totally thought it was just a huge stuffed animal, but it turned out the thing could move and talk and had crazy ice powers just like her sister. The whole thing was just . . . so bizarre.

“Are you alright?” Hans asked following her.

“No,” Anna said.

“Did you know?”

She looked at him helplessly, “No.”

“Oh, no. It’s snowing. It’s snowing!” The Duke of Wesselton called out hysterically, “That monster has cursed this land! It must be stopped.” He turned to his guard and clung desperately to him. “You have to go after it.”

“Wait, no.” Anna said.

The duke hid behind his bodyguards. “You. . . I saw what your sister did. Is there sorcery in you? Are you like her and that monster, too?”

“No. No, I’m completely ordinary.”

“That’s right, she is,” Hans said. Anna gave him a look. “In the best way.” He added.

“And that thing isn’t a monster. She’s a unicorn.” Anna said.

The duke glared at the princess. “It nearly killed me!”

“You slipped on ice,” Hans said.

“Its ice!” the duke insisted.

“It was an accident. Can’t you see that?” Anna asked. “She was scared. I don’t think she meant for this to happen,” she gestured at the falling snow.

“But that thing took the queen! For all we know the queen is dead!”

Anna glared sharply at him. “My sister is not dead. She’s just. . . not here. Some sort of magic happened tonight, and that unicorn is the only one who can possibly tell us what. I’m going after her.”

“What?” Hans asked.

Anna walked away and waved to a servant. “Bring me my horse.”

Hans put a caring hand on her shoulder. “Anna, no, it’s too dangerous.”

Anna gazed up at him. He really was a sweetie. “I don’t think that unicorn is dangerous. She just looked so scared. If I approach her alone, maybe I can calm her down and talk to her. Figure out what’s going on and where Elsa is.” She stepped away from Hans, “I’ll bring Elsa back, and I’ll make this right.”

“I’m coming with you,” Hans insisted, taking her hand.

Anna shook her head. “No, I need you here. To take care of Arendelle.”

A servant gently placed a cloak on Anna’s shoulders. Hans let Anna go. “On my honor.”

Anna fastened her cloak and swung up onto her saddled horse. “I leave Prince Hans in charge,” she called out to everyone.

“Are you sure you can trust such a creature?” Hans asked. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“She’s a unicorn,” Anna smiled. “I’ve read enough stories about them when I was younger. They always help maidens in need.”

With that she flicked the reins and spurred her horse onward through the gates.

Comments

[Jigoku Luna]

YAY! An update!

You have no idea how much I have been waiting for this to be updated. Good read too!

[DullDragon2070]

Hooray! A new chapter has been added!

So, Elsa's first encounter with the Mane 6 -- minus Twilight -- and Spike has had mixed results. Let's hope her meeting with Celestia goes a little better.

Meanwhile, Twilight's intro to the people of Arendelle has been met with fear and hostility, with the exception of Anna. And to top it off, Twilight's out of control spell has begun to freeze Arendelle.

Great stuff, irish_cat! Looking forward to the next one!

[NobleValor]

Very nice read.

[masterblotart]

about time i though you noa make anymore chapter but i guess i'm wrong, but anyway be sure you write more chapter soon okay and just tell us when you are going make chapter

[Awesomo3000]

More! Now? Please?!

[Dusty Chance]

Man, I am so happy this was updated, and I can't wait to read more!