Cold as Ice

by CamoBadger

What Comes Around

Chapter 13: What Comes Around

The night wind rippled across the feathered wings of the griffin king, providing him with a pleasant flutter for his trip. The ground beneath him was hidden far below the cover of the clouds, which gleamed with the pale light of the moon.

Everything was going just as he had planned; he had finally gotten the blind unicorn, the infamous Elements of Harmony were in his custody, and he had even gotten the Princess herself as icing on the cake. There was nothing to stop him now.

A cold burst of air shot over his body, threatening to knock him out of the air as he flew. After a moment of recovery, he looked around to see the air filled with shining specks of ice. A smirk grew in the corner of his beak, and a slight chuckle crept out of his lungs. That must have been it, he had actually felt it!

The rest of the flight was spent in silent jubilation for his assumed victory as he congratulated himself on his fantastic plan. Once he thought he was close, the griffin dove through the clouds, pulling up just below the fluffy canopy. Before him was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen; a jagged block of ice jutting from the mountainside, right were Canterlot once was.

A small wing of warriors appeared from the clouds around him, fully clad in their shining black armor. “It worked Highness, awaiting further orders” the leader of the group spoke with him as they flew.

“Excellent work” Typhoon commended his warrior. “Now, push down the boulders so I can get to the castle.”

The warrior rendered a quick salute before waving the rest of his team to follow. The group peeled over to the city and rose to the mountainside above the highest spiral of ice. A cluster of large boulders rested precariously on the edge of the ridgeline, just far enough from the edge to ensure they would not fall without a proper push. Preparing the stones had been a long, delicate process, once which was vital to their king’s plan, and which had almost been discovered on multiple occasions.

The guards took their places behind the boulders and awaited the signal from the flight-leader. Once he was sure they were all in place, the leader let out an ear-piercing screech.

The boulders rocked slowly off the ledge before tumbling down to the ice below, landing on the slicked surface with a loud thud. At first, Typhoon didn’t notice anything, and thought perhaps his plan had failed. But sure enough, the ice began to recede as wisps of moisture returned to the air. The boulders sank deep into the evaporating ice, coming to rest on top of one spire or another before they could reach the ground.

After almost a minute, the ice disappeared into the castle, placing pegasi and griffins which had once been suspended in the air onto the stone roads of Canterlot. Most of the bodies lay still in the streets, though one or two stirred for a moment before succumbing to hypothermia. Whether they had fallen unconscious or dead, Typhoon wouldn’t be losing any sleep tonight.

The griffin dove to the main stairway leading into the castle, landing with hardly a stop before walking into the marbled foyer. The air inside the castle still felt like an ice box, and small trails of evaporating ice could still be seen in a few corners. He strode into the main hall, following the trail to the throne room as he knew his daughter had done.

In the center of the hall he found three bodies lying motionless on the floor. Only Gilda stirred at the sound of his steps, looking up to her father proudly. The king stopped momentarily beside the fallen Princess of the Moon. Her mane had reverted to a solid blue mass, no longer flowing with the magic from her weakened body.

After a moment of taking in the sight, he turned to the blind unicorn beside his daughter. The pony was lying silently on the floor, her mane disheveled and coated in thin layer of frost that gleamed in the pale light from the window. He lifted the collar from beside her and strode back to Luna, locking the metal ring around her neck with a satisfying click.

He had no worries about Ice Crystal having access to her magic, after all, it wasn’t like she could control the power filling her body. The king walked away from the scene, striding toward the throne room at the end of the hall. Behind him, his daughter beckoned for help, but was met with no reply. Typhoon was focused, he finally had what he always wanted in sight, and no one was going to keep him from it.

Gilda frowned as a tear came to her eye. She done everything her father had asked, and completed her mission, yet he ignored her condition. It had all been for him, and he showed no thanks.

The door to the throne room flew open as the darkness filled her mind, throwing her into unconsciousness with the rest of Canterlot.

---

The days following his forced takeover of Equestria had been quite busy for the former griffin King, now the self-crowned Emperor of Equestria. His first task had been to ensure that any of the old Royal Guard were quickly imprisoned or banished from Equestria under threat of death, eliminating the greatest threat to his new throne.

And yet, that wasn’t his favored task, that had yet to come, and would start with the town which he believed would be the most difficult of any to control. While the entirety of Canterlot had been introduced to Typhoon and his forces in the most brutal fashion possible, he could not continue to exploit the same method with every city in Equestria. No, he would simply show them their new ruler with a grand entry, and use Ice Crystal as a threat to any who would attempt to stand against him.

As the town grew closer, the king turned his head to look at the pony sitting beside him, her limp blue mane flowing in the wind behind her. “Now Luna, try not to look so sad.”

The alicorn continued to stare straight ahead, having refused to speak to Typhoon or even look at him since she awoke early in the morning. Unlike her sister, she had never even attempted to use her magic to escape, having recognized the feel of the collar around her neck within seconds of waking, knowing that even she could not undo the hex she created. The griffin was slightly disappointed that he never got to watch her squirm, but her silent submission was more than enough to keep him happy for the moment.

As the chariot set down in the center of town, flanked by dozens of heavily armored guards, Typhoon took off and landed upon the stage just outside the town hall. Within minutes ponies began to gather around, having left their homes to see the small army of griffins which occupied the center of their town.

Before he began to speak, Luna was led to the stage beside him, the symbol of his victory. “Ponies of Ponyville!” he began proudly, having recited this speech within his head for hours that morning. “My name is Typhoon, at one time, the King of the Griffin Nation.

“I come before you today out of respect for your kingdom, believing that you deserve to see the face of your new ruler, your new Emperor.”

At this a small ruckus spread through the gathered ponies, who showed no hesitation voicing their discontent.

“Though I may not appear as regal as your former Princesses, and I do not share their power to raise the sun and moon,” as if to demonstrate his point, the griffin motioned above, to the moon still hanging in the sky even as the clocks in town showed the time late in the afternoon, “I am no less a powerful ruler, who will do everything in my power to ensure your lives go on as before.”

“Then give us the sun!” a random pony from the crowd shouted out, and was quickly echoed by many others as the guards attempted to spot whoever had spoken out.

“I regret to inform you I cannot do that. But I have no doubt that you will be able to perform this act yourselves. Long ago, simple unicorns like many of you, were the ones to raise the sun. You never required a Princess to do this for you then, and now you may once again be the ones to give that gift to your fellow ponies.”

Though the crowd calmed slightly at this comment, many continued to protest. Before the guards could grab those that continued to push the argument, Typhoon waved them down, and glared into the crowd with narrowed eyes. “I am a just and fair ruler little ponies, but mark my words, if you should continue resisting like this, I will ensure your quaint town becomes nothing but a glacier.”

At the threat, the crowd fell silent, even if many did stare at him in confusion, as if trying to see if he was lying or being truthful. Rather than confirm his threat, Typhoon dragged Luna back to the chariot, quickly taking off as he left the ponies below to contemplate whether he could hold true on his final promise.

---

A sharp pain shot through her ribs, jerking her back into the real world again. She spun her head from side to side until she was sure the vision from before had been an illusion; she was surrounded by darkness again. The familiar burn of the collar shot from her neck, revealing a slight tingling within her stomach.

“Finally awake huh?” a deep voice said above her, “Must have been a good dream with all that jerking and mumbling you did.”

Another burst of pain shot through her body as a set of talons punched the top of her head. She held in a squeal of pain as the tingling in her belly increased and surged to her horn again before being pushed back by the burn of the collar.

“Stay awake pony, the Emperor will be here to see you soon.”

A grinding noise pierced the air, accompanied by the squealing of old hinges as the door to the cell opened. A quiet whisper was shared between two griffins across the room before the new arrival addressed Cryssy, “It’s about time you woke up, three days seemed like a bit much for such a young, lively pony.”

Three days? It didn’t feel like she’d been out that long, it only felt like a few minutes, or maybe a few hours at most…

“I can’t believe you would sleep like that with how busy I was. Letting every pony in Canterlot and Ponyville meet their new ruler was the easy part. I only wish you could’ve seen it, everypony was awestruck that a mere griffin such as myself had overthrown the great and powerful Princesses which they knew and loved.

“Luckily for you, they have no idea that you were even involved little one. As far as they know, I just found a magical artifact of some kind. True, it’s a bit cliché, but the truth is so much more sinister, and honestly I doubt they would allow me any peace if they knew about you.”

Even if it was from a lie, a brief moment of relief passed over Cryssy as she lay in the dungeon. Despite her hopes that ponies would forgive her for all that she had done, especially after the latest addition to her list, deep down she knew that nopony would be very happy with what she’d done, and what she could do in the future. Even though she couldn’t control it, they would never believe her, and she would be exiled as the one who destroyed Equestria.

“But,” Typhoon continued after a moment of silence, “I cannot trust the ponies in that town to stay content for long. So, unfortunately for you my dear, I’m going to have to get that wonderful magic in your body all worked up again.”

Cryssy shrunk back from the griffin, trying to shield her body from the beating she anticipated from an encouraged guard. As much as she hated causing pain to others with her magic, feeling the pain of claws was much worse to her.

“Aw, don’t do that little one, I would never hurt you physically. That’s not nearly as effective in roweling you up, I need to mess with your emotions for you to be at your strongest” Typhoon told her with fake sympathy. “Which is why I’m going to tell you a story about everything your last performance caused in Canterlot.”