The Break of Day

by Blackbird182

Bitterness and Cruelty

Copperhead was not misleading when he had said that the town to the north was experiencing bad storms.

Still, she felt the need to return and thwack him for not adequately telling her what he meant.

The skies were overcast, thick, dark gray clouds blotting out the Sun. Everywhere she looked, the snow covered the ground in heaps, and it was snowing still. Although not enough to constitute a white out, she couldn’t see into the far distance through it.

The wind wasn’t strong or consistent enough to quite qualify as a blizzard, but it was erratically gusty, which made the cutting winter winds worse because she couldn’t brace for them as they scattered snow and ice and cut through her traveling cloak as if it wasn’t there.

The cold, the wind, the ice, the snow… it was bitter, and chilled her to the bone.

Her phoenix companion, however, did abate some of it.

As the weather was too fierce to fly in, she had been forced to land and take the trip on hoof. Which was unfortunate, as the village was evidently situated on a mountainside, and it meant making a steep ascent through the area. As a result, her new friend had decided that, in between sporadic short flights, she would use her pannier as a roost. It was an awkward ride, at first (phoenixes were not small birds), but the two of them quickly adapted.

To a certain degree, she appreciated the beauty; it was like a winter wonderland, pristine fields of snow as far as she could see. The fact the storm was formed by nature and not by hoof and wing, though, left her feeling anxious to learn why.

The foul, palpable taste of darkness in the air also greatly dampened her ability to appreciate it, and no doubt contributed to the chill even phoenix fire couldn’t dispel.

She crested a hill, and stopped, stunned.

There, visible through the snow, was what was once a great waterfall. She was familiar with it. In the past, it was quite the sight; powerful, awe-inspiring, majestic. One could stare at it for hours.

It was still awe-inspiring. The awe she felt now was dread.

It was frozen solid.

Even with the most talented weather workers, working for hours, one could not stop or even freeze solid the falls. Block it temporarily, perhaps, or build bridges of ice, but the water never truly stopped. This freeze was unnatural, engineered, and incredibly power.

Only beings of immense power, a natural skill with water magic, or an eldritch creature beyond her knowing could perform such a deed. Suddenly the snow-covered land didn’t seem so pristine, and the darkness was all the more prevalent.

She trudged on.

It was getting darker. The day was moving into evening, and the meager light that pierced the canopy of clouds was fading away. The snow was not stopping, and she could feel the temperature drop. It would be dangerous to stay out in it for very much longer.

As she trekked through the steadily increasing snow, she swore she could hear something. Something as chilling as the howling wind, but alive and malicious. It drove her to speed up as much as she could afford. Thankfully, the village wasn’t far away.

“Hey, can somepony help‽” She heard though the snow, muffled by the wind. “Anypony, please!”

It was hard to pinpoint the source, but she tried her hardest. “A little assistance, if you please?” She requested of her phoenix. She squawked and took a shallow flight, fire whipping out from her wings. It briefly dissipated the snow, and she spotted a form though the snow.

“Oh, goodness!” She heard the figure cry. A mare, she was sure, from the sound. She approached as the flames faded and the bird landed back on her perch.

“Who’s there?” The mare asked as she approached. Through the snow and darkness, she couldn’t make out any details, especially wrapped in a winter cloak.

“A traveler,” she answered. “Were you calling for help earlier?”

“Oh, yes. Can you please help? I can’t get into my home, and the storm is getting worse,” the mare explained. She thought the mare was about to begin to panic.

She examined the house. A large pile of snow had either blown or collapsed, blocking the entryway. It wouldn’t take more than one pony to dig it out, but in this weather…

Golden light enveloped the snowbank, and she lifted a large square of snow and ice and set it aside, revealing the doorway. The mare almost hopped in place in satisfaction.

“Thank you!” She shouted. She quickly opened the door. “Come on in quick, before we catch something.”

The inside was cozy, as it was a small, one-room house. She slipped in quickly, ducking to let the phoenix fit through. The large bird hopped off and found a comfortable perch atop a hat rack, and the mare slipped in and closed the door.

The two of them removed their cloaks. The mare quickly lit a small stove, and the house was quickly lit in warm orange light. Her host was a pale blue Pegasus with a yellow mane and tail, with a swirly mark that she couldn’t identify in the firelight.

“Quite the storm you have out there,” she said to the mare, settling down and taking everything in. Beside the stove was a small counter and pantry, probably the kitchen. In one corner was a broad, low mattress, and a small cabinet that likely functioned as the wardrobe. There was a low table in the center. The size was small enough to make it seem cluttered, but not in a messy way, necessarily.

“You get… used to it, after a while. True Providence that you stopped by when you did; who can say what would have happened to me.” The mare looked at her, smiling kindly. “My name is Sky Chancer. It’s nice to meet you.”

“My name is Celeste.” The phoenix squawked. “And this is my friend, Philomena.”

“Never seen a bird like that before,” Sky Chancer said, awe in her tone. “Is she a phoenix?”

“Yes.”

“She’s beautiful.” The phoenix seemed to bask in the praise, head raised proudly. “I can’t thank you enough for coming when you did,” Sky Chancer continued. “What’s brought you into Grace?”

“I’m heading for the City of Light,” she answered. “I’ve been… away for some time.”

Sky Chancer frowned, a look of sorrow settling on her face. “What a terrible time into town, then. The town used to be quite beautiful, and we loved helping travelers when they came around. Now, though…”

“The storms? Somepony told me about them.”

Sky Chancer nodded. “They’ve been going on for months now, since early last fall. We thought it just an early winter, but now it’s almost summer. It’s a miracle we’ve survived this long – or, perhaps not.”

She frowned as Sky Chancer stared off, caught up in thoughts. “Does anybody know the cause? It must be something terrible if the waterfall I passed was so frozen solid.”

The other mare glanced at her, a dark, almost angry look in her eyes. “Yes, we’re quite familiar with the cause,” she answered, bitterness in her voice. She didn’t elaborate.

Conversation paused, she glanced around, trying to think of something to say. It was such a small village, she wished she could do something.

A small village.

“I have to ask: why didn’t your neighbors help you? I could hear you from outside the village. Certainly the other villagers could?”

A myriad of emotions crossed Sky Chancer’s face. First, bemusement, then something like realization, then more anger, then finally sadness and resignation. “It’s this cold,” she said, voice heavy with sadness and regret. “It’s been so long since we’ve felt true warmth, we aren’t the same. If I was safely inside, and somepony else was trapped in the cold, I don’t know if I would help.” The mare slumped, looking lost and dejected.

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, realization dawning. The darkness was thick, swirling all around them like the snow outside. It wasn’t truly visible, but she could sense it. It swirled around Sky Chancer like a cloud. It wasn’t so much that the mare was wicked, she thought, but that she was poisoned by it.

“Do you mind if I ask what the cause is?”

“Hmm? Oh, I suppose,” Sky Chancer answered. She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think we should start from the beginning, and that includes a story I’ve been told since I was a filly. It goes like this…”

---

Many years ago, the village of Grace did not have its name, nor was it very large at all, not even worth marking on a map. The villagers had little, but were satisfied in life, tending to crop and field.

Then a monster came. It was a fearsome thing, a living nightmare. It settled in the caves above the village, and every night it would howl and shriek, keeping the villagers awake with its terrible cries. With no true need or cause, it would strike at the village at night, ruining fields and killing animals. Some stories tell of it stealing away foals and destroying homes. All attempts to fight the monster proved futile, as it seemed nothing could harm it.

The villages rightly became fearful, not willing to even leave their homes at night. During the day, the villages erected a wall of stakes, and wrapped it in briars to ward off the monster, but still it terrorized them.

The one spring day a traveler visited the village. The villagers thought a warrior princess had visited their little village. She proved to be a balm on a wound, lifting the spirits of the villagers, caring for them and encouraging them.

Still, the villagers were terrified of the monster, whose attacks seemed to worsen every passing night.

One day, after a particularly terrible night, the warrior princess decided that she must do something about the monster if she was to help the village. The villagers begged and pleaded, tears in their eyes, for the princess not to, as it would surely mean death, but she was adamant, and early one morning, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. But the villagers, too terrified to even see her off, did not go with her.

After she set out and disappeared into the cave, slowly the villagers gathered at the edge of the village, gazing up towards the caves, hoping to see signs of the mare. Hours passed, with not even the faintest sound.

Then, finally, a sign.

The small stream that flowed from the cave mouth, which had run dark and filthy since the monster arrived, started to run bright and clear as it once did. Invigorated, and fearful for the life of the mare, the villagers braved deep into the lair of their tormentor.

In the deepest recess of the caves they found the mare. The monster, to their salvation, was reduced to ashes and dust. But the mare had suffered, injured terribly by the monster, her life ebbing away.

In their remorse, they apologized to the mare for not trusting her, or helping her after she had done so much for them. Ever kind and forgiving, she didn’t begrudge them, even as she passed away.

Grateful and saddened, the villagers turned the cave into her resting place, the monster’s lair into her burial chamber, swearing to never forget the kindness she showed.

---

“Just a few months ago, another monster has taken residence inside that cave, and we’ve had nothing but freezing cold ever since.”

She thought about what Sky Chancer told her. It was not a legend she could say she had ever heard, but it tickled at the back of her mind, as if she should have been familiar with it.

“But why the story? How does that relate to the current problems?”

“A monster has moved in there again. For as long as anypony remembers, the caves have been a sacred place. I don’t know how much of the legend is actually true, but I have definitely seen the burial chamber, at least from the outside,” Sky Chanced said. “And a few years ago, a unicorn from the City of Light came into the village, hoping to study the cave. I remember him saying that there was something he called ambient magic there, although he left not long after the elders told him he couldn’t enter the burial chamber itself.”

The monster could have been the return of the one from the story, depending on how much was true, or it could be something using the caves knowing the villagers’ reverence for it. Either way, the culprit had to be an incredibly strong water elemental to cause such devastation in a few months’ time. And incredibly malicious and cruel, if it would subject the village to a long, slow death by freezing.

The howling of the wind broke her out of her thoughts, and for a moment she almost believed something else was making the sounds. Sky Chancer, though, reacted quickly.

“Oh dear, not again,” she said quickly, grabbing the table and positioning it against the doorway. Then she started piling things against it.

“What’s the matter?” A loud pounding against the door answered her question, causing the door and the block to rattle and shake. It continued for a few minutes, and she heard it more clearly now, something that sounded like a cross between the harsh winds and a barking animal.

“The monster?” She asked quietly, watching the door.

“We don’t know,” Sky Chancer answered. “They come every night, but we never know what they are come morning.” A look of terror crossed her face. “They have gotten into homes a few times before.”

She didn’t need to say anything else – the consequences were easily imaginable.

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Things are getting even more interesting and things are slowly starting to be revealed. Can't wait for more!