Equestrian Eeveelution.

by Symphonicdysonince

Arctic Assault.

I moped on the seat back behind Twilight, lurking over her shoulder. I tried to read the book she had open, but my rudimentary Equestrian reading level meant that I only managed to read about one word in six before Twilight turned to the next page. From what I could gather, the book was about the history of the ancient empire. I caught parts of a royal lineage, old exports, a couple of lost traditions, even what I assumed to be a famous pony from before Sombra. I'm not sure, but I think it was Nurgle, Nergal? Fuck, it could've been Nigel for all I knew.

Whoever it was, it seemed that they only had a passing reference to them, if I judged Twilight's disappointed horse noises right.

The pleather crinkled down as Rainbow leaned beside me. "What'cha doin'?"

<<Failing.>> I grumbled. <<I'm testing my reading level by trying to read over Twilight's shoulder, but...>> I shrugged as Twilight turned the page. <<It's not going very well.>>

"Could you please talk a little quieter?" Twilight asked, glancing up at us. "You're a little distracting, and I need to read these before we get to our stop."

<<Sorry...>>

"Where did you even get those from, anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"When the Princesses gave me my mission, Princess Celestia also gave me a brief history and explanation of what we could expect when we actually get there. Afterward, Princess Luna had a guard give me these to expound on that explanation." Twilight sighed. "Even with the two tomes, there's not much that we have that escaped the Empire's curse. Can you believe that that tyrant's curse was strong enough to wipe almost all of the books associated with the Empire blank! Only these two tomes managed to be unaffected, and only because they were in Luna's personal chambers at the time!" She shuffled to get a little more comfortable. "Now, if you don't mind...?"

"C'mon, Leo." Rainbow chuckled as she picked me up and hovered towards the back of the car. We settled in and stared out the windows for a lack of anything better to do. After another hour or so, Rainbow started petting me. "Leo...? I've... been thinking."

<<A dangerous pastime.>>

My mare chuckled again. "I know, but..." She sighed, her hoof slowing. "Listen, whatever we end up having to do, things might... I mean, it's kinda like..." She rubbed her face with a wing. "Look, I've got this weird feeling like this "test" of Twilight's could end up like Discord or, or the wedding. Things can go very sideways, very fast, and I may not be there with you to do this, and-"

I cut her off with my paw on her muzzle. <<You're rambling, Rainbow. That's... that's not really like you. Just... tell me what you need to?>>

Rainbow took a deep breath, steading herself before gently pushing my paw away from her mouth. "If you need to, you can use your R move." I shivered as I felt something click in my mind. "Don't use it if you can, and try to hurt the least amount of innocent ponies, but you can use it if you need to."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. <<Cool. No pressure. Got it...>>

"Hey, listen." Rainbow gave my back a shake. "This is just a "just in case" thing. I'd rather you didn't use it, but, if I'm not around to tell you to use it..."

<<No, no. I understand.>> I tried to settle in. <<Just... as soon as we're safe, lock it back up, okay?>>

"Okay." Rainbow went back to petting me, and we both returned to staring out the window.

---

I snapped awake as the train slowed to a stop. <<What's... Are we there? How long was I out?>> I yawned.

"Well, there's no station out there..." Rainbow frowned. "And about four or five hours."

The conductor slid open the car's door. "Ladies? I'm afraid that this is your stop."

Rarity looked out the window on our side of the car in concern. "But, there's no station...?"

"Hey! There's a building over here!" Pinkie called out from the other side of the car.

"The platform is covered by the snow, miss." The stallion nodded.

Twilight worried at her lower lip. "Is this as close to the Empire as you can take us?"

"I'm sorry, miss," the conductor sighed, "but the last two stations on this line were lost when the Empire returned. Thankfully, the last one was a lightly staffed guard outpost..."

"W-what about the other one?" Fluttershy asked.

The stallion winced. "... It was a ski lodge."

"Wait..." Pinkie tilted her head. "Was it the Double Diamond Lodge?"

At the conductor's nod, Rainbow threw her hooves up with a groan. "Great! I always wanted to go, but I guess that's not happening anytime soon!"

"If it means anything, I've heard that the lodge is mostly okay, just slid down the side of the mountain..." The conductor coughed into a fetlock. "Still, I'm afraid that you'll need to get off here."

I hopped down and started to help Spike with the luggage. "Um," My ear twitched as Twilight spoke to the conductor, "will you ponies be able to turn the train around safely?"

"Don't you worry none, miss. We've got a squad of guards to keep us safe."

"Alright..." Twilight waited for us to have grouped around her before she opened the side door. The frigid cold wind immediately started to pull at fur and manes. Everyone started to shiver as they stepped off of the train.

"Ha! And you all made fun of me for having so many scarves!" Rarity gloated, even though she was the last pony to leave.

"I didn't say a word." Spike grunted out from under his share of the luggage pile.

I could only carry a small suitcase on my back and a handbag dangled from my mouth. I wonder if she'll let me steal one... I quickly dropped both of them when Spike slipped on the ice. One of the larger cases popped open, and the wind started to blow a few scarves away. Both of us were so busy running down the errant fabric that we missed Shining Armor's arrival.

"We'd better get moving." Shining pointed off towards the Empire. "There are things we really don't want to run into after dark."

"What kind of things?" Fluttershy trembled, and I'm sure it wasn't just from the cold.

"Let's just say that the Empire isn't the only thing that's returned..." On that ominous note, Shining started to lead us into the snow.

<<We're all going to die...>> I mumbled around the scarves I had saved. Spike and I quickly repacked the opened case and hurried after the ponies. Rarity was the last to actually leave the station, after she had used her telekinesis to shove the majority of the suitcases back onto the train and ask them to hold them at the Canterlot or Ponyville stations.

Still, Spike and I ended up trudging along behind the mares, doing our best to walk in the trenches they plowed. It was a good two or three hours of hard marching until the wind finally died down enough for us to be able to yell over it.

"Something keeps trying to get in!" Shining called back to his sister. "We think it's the unicorn king that originally cursed the place!"

"But, Princess Celestia said that I was being sent here to find a way to protect the Empire!" Twilight yelled back. "If King Sombra can't get in, then it must already be protected?" We all stopped moving as a loud howl roared out from the snowscape.

<<We're going by Voldemort rules then?>> I muttered, nervously glancing around as much as the others.

"Th-that's one of the things, isn't it?!" Fluttershy's trembling worsened, even though she was in the midst of the herd.

Shining Armor turned to face back the way we came. "We have to get to the Crystal Empire, Now!" Another roar came from behind us as a large cloud of smog sprung into existence.

I dropped what I was carrying and blitzed up onto Rainbow's back while Shining pulled Spike along until he started running. From my perch, I could see a pair of green eyes with purple mist drifting from them form near the top of the mass.

<<It's gaining, Rainbow!>>

"Go! Go!" I glanced down at Twilight's yell in time to see her scoop Spike up onto her back. A bright blue glow appeared in the distance, a beacon shining through the snowstorm. I looked back to see Shining had turned to face what I assumed was Sombra, firing a few beams ineffectively into the smog.

I came to the same realization as Shining did. <<He won't make it...>>

"Whazzat?" Rainbow shouted back to me.

I swallowed my nerves and shifted on Rainbow's back. <<Get to the Empire! I'll be along right after ya!>>

"Wha-?" I shuffled until I was on Rainbow's rump and tensed up. "Wait, Leo!"

I jumped, dropping into an Extreme Speed. As I fell through the still snow, I couldn't keep an old chant my grandparents had taught me out of my head.

"Lo, there do I see my father." I could see a blackened beam frozen in its race towards Shining Armor.

"Lo, there do I see my mother," I started to bounce from one frozen snowflake to another on my way down to ground, "and my sisters, and my brothers."

I knew that I was going into a battle, one I may not walk away from. "Lo, there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning!"

It didn't matter.

"Lo, they do call to me." I had to save him. I had to save Shining. He was needed far more than I was to keep the Empire safe.

"They bid me take my place among them," if I could save him, maybe I could start to redeem myself from what I did in Canterlot, "in the halls of Valhalla!" My paws touched hard-packed snow, and I launched myself towards the white stallion.

"Where the brave!"

I rushed past him.

"Shall live!"

Turned.

"Forever!"

And rammed into Shining's chest, pushing him back. My Extreme Speed ran out after a few bounds, but I had pushed him far enough back that the curse only created a small patch of black crystals on the ground instead of on Shining's horn. <<GO!>> I yelled at him, headbutting his chest again before turning to face Sombra. I didn't wait to see if Shining would follow after the mares or not, I just launched myself at the overgrown fart cloud with teeth already glowing.

Sombra's gloating chuckle cut off with a roar of pain as I chomped down on his smoggy form. He threw me off into the snow, losing the mouthful of smoke that I took with me.

"So, you have a summon." Sombra's deep voice rasped from the cloud. I looked at who he could be talking to, hoping it wasn't Rainbow. "And such an interesting one too."

Shining had taken the opportunity to back away, but he hadn't left yet. "You won't get into the Empire!"

I launched myself back at Sombra, but a tendril swung around and slammed me back into the snow. The old fart continued to speak. "Maybe not today, but soon. You will not keep me from what is mine. I will take it back." Another tendril smashed into me, and held me down. "Starting with this." A lance of black mana speared towards me. "Father taught me how to usurp control of your precious summons."

I struggled to get out from under the smoky mass, but I couldn't avoid the beam-

OBEY.

Pain wracked through every muscle. <<No...>>

SUBMIT.

I grit my teeth and growled. <<N-never!>>

SURRENDER!

I cried out in pain, distantly aware of the black mist lashing off of me keeping Shining away. <<I'm not->> I focused on my connection to Rainbow.

YIELD!

Red lightning started to crackle through the mist. <<- Some thing you can control! Rainbow...>> I growled through the pain, pulling harder on my Soul Bond.

YOU BELONG TO ME NOW!

<<I belong to RAINBOW DASH! NO OTHER!>> To this day, I swear that I felt Rainbow's wings curl around me as I finally shoved Sombra's curse off of me. I stood panting in the middle of a cooling pool of water. <<...You don't have enough badges to control me.>>

"Impossible!" Sombra roared, multiple tendrils of smog arcing to smash me into submission.

I jumped into an Extreme Speed, dodging through the forest of attacks. As I leapt from one mass of semi-solid mist to another, I glanced over at Shining, seeing Rainbow latched onto him. A final leap sent me towards Sombra's main mass. I swapped moves to Bite him, and began flailing about as soon as I had latched on. I could see Rainbow flying Shining away out of the corner of my eye.

A blast of dark magic swatted me back down. "You insolent pest!" Sombra rasped. A wave of magic spread from the fog, leaving behind circles of crystals. "I don't have time to deal with you." With far too many crackles, a small army of Sableye clawed their way out of the rings. Sombra waved dismissively at me. "Kill it."

I had not been idle, building up a Solar Flare. I launched it at the closest group, but aimed too high. I Bit the first of the gem gremlins that lunged at me. I gave it a shake and threw it back at its fellows. My Solar Flare landed at that point, blooming into a hemisphere of ice spikes. A few Sableye were frozen inside it, and a couple of the slower ones were impaled on the spikes. I pounced forward and Bit down on one of the recovering Sableye's arms. Using my momentum, I pulled it around and tossed that one away as well.

Several Sableye threw a strange black lightning at me that sunk into my fur. I felt a wave of pain flash through me as I let go. Shaking it off, I lunged at the next of the ghosts, but phased through it, teeth clicking on air. Those things have Disable?! Shit! I dropped into an Extreme Speed to gain some distance. I dropped out within sight of Sombra and his gremlin mob.

Didn't want them going after Shining Armor too soon, after all.

Alright, Brain, let's review. I thought as I started building up and launching volleys of Solar Flares. They've disabled my Bite, Solar Flare seems to be Ice type up here but needs distance and time to be effective, and my everything else is Normal. I'm fucked, aren't I?

"Right in the down under. Unless..."

I fired off another Solar Flare, and gulped as some form of Protect shield sprung up. Welp, some of them have TMs... Your "unless" had better be good!

"Well, this is a target rich environment, with a great backstop, and no innocent ponies to get caught in the crossfire..."

But, how would I charge up the rage?!

"Well... Who says that you need to be out of PP to Struggle?"

I'm going to be out of commission once I do this, I hope Rainbow can come find me before Sombra or his Sableye do...

I took a couple of deep breaths, and started to Rage. I Glared towards the oncoming horde, and had to force myself to not charge towards them. Instead, I threw myself against the ground and any nearby exposed rocks. As angry as this all made me, I still forced myself to remain calm.

Or calm-ish.

The wind started to howl around me, flurries of snow whipping up between me and Sombra's horde. I took a deep lungful of the sub-artic air, and, following my instincts, infused it with all my rage and mana.

There was no one liner.

There was barely an intonement.

<<R move unlocked.>> I spoke with an extra inhale, then let it all out with a drawn out sigh. <<Frost Fall.>> A massive fog of misted breath drifted up to cover the sky above Sombra and his Sableye. I sat down, and raised a paw. When I judged it to be ready, I clenched the paw into the best approximation of a fist I could make.

With the sound of a thousand mirrors shattering, the sky broke. Giant shards of ice came crashing down from the mist I had made. The battlefield was quickly entombed in a frozen hell, the flashes of banished summons refracting through it in a ground bound aurora. I could even see a massive ice shard with Sombra frozen inside. Even as I started to fall over onto my side, I knew that that wouldn't hold him for long.

I stared listlessly at the tableau in front of me, barely even groaning as a few ghostly hands popped up from the ground. I didn't have the energy to really care as the last few Sableye clawed their way up to the snow's surface.

This is how I die, huh. I sighed and consigned myself to oblivion. I felt something snap as the darkness closed in. Worth it.

Comments

[Joe Toon]

Tactical nuke, Incoming!

[FurryBrony]

Leo's brain was right. You don't need to be completely out of PP to Struggle. You can also Struggle if the only moves you have access to have been blocked, like through Disable or Torment. Also, based on the effect of Frost Fall, I'm thinking under normal circumstances, the user would need to know Sheer Cold first.

[Black--Soul]

Tactical rainbow nuke incoming

Great chapter ♡

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

So Leo is finally evolving?

Hmm... so it seems Leo unlocked a new ability... but did she have to get the cold shoulder for it? XD

[chibilink]

So the R-Move is moreso an overcharged Weather Ball it looks like? Neat.

I wonder what that snapping at the end could mean, is Leo to evolve? Is it simply a loss of consciousness? We'll have to wait and see.

[Chrome Masquerade]

I took a couple of deep breaths, and started to Rage. I Glared towards the oncoming hoard, and had to force myself to not charge towards them. Instead, I threw myself against the ground and any nearby exposed rocks. As angry as this all made me, I still forced myself to remain calm.

The wind started to howl around me, flurries of snow whipping up between me and Sombra's hoard. I took a deep lungful of the sub-artic air, and, following my instincts, infused it with all my rage and mana.

Wrong kind of horde.

[Chrome Masquerade]

After a move like that, Leo should evolve, when he awakens. Maybe as a Glaceon, considering the environment. Or a Jolteon, considering who Leo's Tamer/Trainer/Master is.

[Frostgear]

Evolution? Or Rainboom drive by pick up?

[Symphonicdysonince]

11824560
Fixed, thanks!

[Symphonicdysonince]

11824486
More like Z moves that are powered by rage.

[Chrome Masquerade]

11824592
No problem.

Now, a large group of Crystal Ponies... Either would be appropriate.

[Herald of Opera]

11824486
In addition to what the author said, it looks like Solar Flare is an overcharged Weather Ball. I don't know off the top of my head whether that move's type changing actually extends to Z-moves, but I don't see why we should let the facts get in the way of a good yarn.

11824562
11824575
Or the ghost-type Eeveelution they half-joked about. It would tie into Leo's badass speech earlier. The actual badass speech, not the meme.

[Booster Spice]

Pity feeding Leo Scooby Snax dont give him the temporary Ability, Scrappy.

[Akira Dragonborne]

*BEEEEEP!* Nuclear Launch Detected!

[Greenhorn]

I could even see a massive ice shard with Sombra frozen inside.

Leo gave the Black King an ice treat. He didn't seem to like it.

[Miqote]

Ooh boy, this is gonna be INTERESTING!

[Master king]

This went left fast and has my heart pounding and me on the edge. I really hope 🤞🤞1 that the crystal heart evolves Leo into a Glaceon ,2 I hope Leo is going to be ok.

[Arcanum -Phantasy]

<< I belong to RAINBOW DASH! NO OTHER! >> To this day, I swear that I felt Rainbow's wings curl around me as I finally shoved Sombra's curse off of me. I stood panting in the middle of a cooling pool of water. << ...You don't have enough badges to control me. >>

"Impossible!" Sombra roared, multiple tendrils of smog arcing to smash me into submission.

Cast in the name of Loyalty, ye are guilty