Dark Frost

by BlueColton

Night

Dark Frost

One day, the night did last forever…

On the day the sun set over Ponyville, never to rise again, Twilight Sparkle and Spike were heading home after leaving a party at Sugercube Corner. Of course, the party was still going on. Pinkie went all out whenever a colt or filly obtained their cutie mark. Given that the hyper pink pony had achieved her cutie mark when threw her first bash ever, cutesiñeras held a special place in her heart.

“Tired, Spike?” Twilight asked her dragon protégé as he gently dozed on her back.

Hearing her voice, Spike jolted as if shocked. He blinked his eyes open, seemingly confused by where he was. Twilight had found him half-asleep beneath a table. Naturally, it had been the one where all the cupcakes had been. A veritable pile of crumbs littered the floor on which Spike had slept. Taking this as a cue that it was time to leave, Twilight thanked Pinkie for the invite, picked up Spike, and left quietly. The party was already winding down as ponies began to take their leave.

Spike’s reply to her question was a loud snort, which made Twilight chuckle. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She walked slowly so as to not disturb the dragon. “Don’t worry. We’ll be home soon.”

But Spike’s head was already plopped on the back of Twilight’s neck before she could finish. Snoring loudly, Spike had drifted off to whatever dreamland little dragons wandered off too. Instinctively, he snuggled into her, the rocking sway of her steps and her body heat lulling him into a slumber from which he never wanted to come out of.

Twilight yawned. In truth, she was tired as well. She just got back into town after attending a seminar in Canterlot. The seminar was fascinating, but it went over schedule and Twilight had to rush to catch the train to Ponyville if she wanted to be back on time to for the party. She could have stayed a little longer, but she had a busy day tomorrow and an alicorn princess required her beauty sleep.

One of the drawbacks of her new home was that it was situated at the far end of town. Twilight could have flown, but the jerky motion of her less than stellar flying technique would have no doubt woken Spike and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Besides, she was feeling lazy and a good walk through the pleasant town she now called home seemed more appealing.

Her eyelids were halfway down when she finally reached Friendship Palace. Closing the door as quietly as possible with her magic, Twilight immediately went to Spike’s room and placed the dragon in his bed. “Good night, Spike. See you in the morning.” Kissing him on the forehead, Twilight shut the door and proceeded to her private study. Sleep called, but duty required her attention first. Twilight Sparkle was many things, but she was never tardy.

Magical candles came to life upon her entering the study. Twilight paused long enough in the doorway to take in a deep breath. She loved the smell of books. Her eyes scanned the shelves of some of her favorite books: The Art of the To-Do List, Bygone Griffons of Old, The Migration Patterns of Wyverns, Legends of the Everfree Forest, How to Train Your Baby Dragon, Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone, If These Books Could Talk, How to Fly: For Dummies (the first and only book given to her by Rainbow Dash), The Secret of Neighm…the list went on and on.

At the far end of the expansive room was a solitary book which she opened up with her magic. Flipping to the last page, Twilight casually read the elegantly-written script, the words bringing a smile to her tired face. She quickly formulated a response, using her magic to dip the quill into the ink before writing back:

“Dear, Sunset Shimmer,

It seems like no matter where you are, Pinkie Pie is just a bundle of energy. I don’t know how she does it sometimes. Perhaps our destiny is the same in every universe. There seems to be something that connects us to our alternate selves. I mean, your version of Twilight’s an intellectual just like me. She loves books and reading and studying. Plus, she’s got an adorable sidekick! I just put mine to bed. He was so tired after the party.

Oh by the way, there’s a new pony in town. She just had her cutesiñera and Pinkie invited us to Sugercube Corner to celebrate. Her name is Tater Tot. She and her family just moved to Ponyville a few days ago. She was so excited. Do you remember when you first got your cutie mark? Didn’t it make you feel like you were on top of the world? I’ll never forget the day Princess Celestia pointed mine out to me. It was the best day of my young life.

It still perplexes me how the creatures in your new home—humans, I think they’re called?—don’t have any cutie marks. How exactly do they mark a rite of passage into marehood? I swear there is still so much about them and their world I do not understand. One day, you have to give a class on their strange customs and rituals. I just came back from a seminar in Canterlot and I just know every pony would be fascinated to learn what you’ve discovered.

How’s Rainbow doing? Is she still sulking after spraining her leg in that hoof, I’m sorry, football match? I’m sure she’ll be fine. She just needs to stay in bed and recuperate. Have her take up a hobby in the meantime. When my Rainbow Dash got hurt, I introduced her to the magical world of reading. Now she’s a close-closet egg-head. Don’t tell any pony, okay? She’d kill me if it got out.

It’s getting late over here. I wanted to write to you first before turning in. I’m so glad things are working out for you at CHS. Just don’t forget that you’ve got family here as well. My friends ask about you all the time. Maybe someday, perhaps soon, they can all visit you and our Wondercolt friends. I know they’ll enjoy it.

Well, it’s time for me to hit the hay, as Applejack would say. Does yours say that? Anyway, good night, Sunset. I can’t wait to hear from you again.

Your friend,

Princess Twilight Sparkle”

Her message complete, Twilight placed the quill back in the ink bottle. Raising a hoof to stifle her yawn, Twilight closed the book and left the study. She didn’t remember walking to the bedroom or even climbing into bed. Her eyes shut the moment her head touched the pillow and sweet oblivion embraced her.

---

Twilight felt a familiar pair of claws shaking her. “Twilight. Twilight.” Spike’s voice was low but urgent. “Wake up, Twilight.”

Groaning, the Princess of Friendship slowly opened her eyes. “What is it?” Her vision blurred, she eventually focused on the tiny purple dragon whose eyes were wide and panicked.

“Twilight…there’s something wrong with the sky.” Spike could barely keep his voice steady. “I think…I think something’s happened to Princess Celestia.”

That brought Twilight out of her stupor. “What are you talking about?” She sat up, brushing her matted hair out of her face with a hoof. “Did something happen while I was asleep? Did the princess contact you?”

Spike shook his head. “It’s the opposite. I wrote a letter to Princess Celestia and…”

“Wait! You did what?” Twilight was out of bed now. “Spike, you know letters are only for official royal business. The princess can’t be bothered with mundane,”

He cut her off. “It’s not mundane.” Indignant, Spike grabbed Twilight by the wing and pulled her toward the window. Heavy silk drapes adorned the window, keeping the room in darkness. The only light was coming from the hallway where Spike had left the door open when he came in.

“Spike!” Twilight complained as he tugged at her wing, nearly pulling off several feathers. “What’s gotten into you?”

Spike grabbed the drapes. “This.” He pulled it open.

It was snowing.

Approaching the window, Twilight could see her confused face staring back at her, caught in the translucent reflection of the glass. From her viewpoint, all of Ponyville was covered in it. The houses, the bridges, the fields and everything beyond was a blanket of freshly-fallen snow.

“You see?” Spike said. “It’s snowing.”

“Hmm.” Twilight raised a hoof to her muzzle while in thought. “I don’t recall snow being in the weather schedule for this week. Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything.” Twilight opened the window. Cold air invaded the room, but she ignored while she looked up at the sky. “I don’t see any pegasi up there. Then again, I doubt she’d be up this early. You know how Rainbow loves to…”

“Twilight,” Spike cut her off, “it’s eight-thirty in the morning.”

“Like I said, it’s too early for…” She stopped, a sudden realization coming to her. They were in the middle of Spring. Glancing up at the clouds, Twilight searched frantically for… “The sun? Spike, where’s the sun?”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you. Celestia hasn’t raised the sun. That’s why I tried to contact her before I woke you.”

“But why?” Twilight asked, truly flabbergasted. “In a thousand years, the princess has never been late.” Catching Spike shivering, Twilight quickly closed the window. She walked back to the middle of the room, concern and confusion plain on her face. “Has,” she shuttered to think, “has something happened to her?”

Spike came up beside her. The little dragon was silent, hoping that his teacher would figure things out on her own.

She looked to him and asked, “How long ago did you send the letter?”

“Not long. A few minutes, I guess.”

Twilight inhaled sharply. “And she hasn’t responded yet?”

Spike shook his head.

Glancing back out the window, Twilight felt a chill grip her, but it was not because of the cold. “Something’s not right. I know the princess. If there was something wrong she would have contacted me. No sun in the middle of spring followed by snowfall? This is unnatural.”

“Could it be a new bad guy?” Spike asked tentatively. “Someone out to get revenge or take over the world or something?” Spike tiredly rolled his eyes. “We never get a shortage of those.”

Twilight was only half-listening. “All the more reason for Celestia to have warned me.” She began pacing around the room, head lowered, eyes narrowed. She was in her analytical mode, her brilliant mind piecing together every part of the complex puzzle before her.

“Regardless, no matter how powerful the evil, there isn’t a force on this world that can prevent her from raising the sun. She’s the guardian of all ponydom!” Closing her eyes, Twilight took a deep steadying breath. It was part of the breathing exercises that Cadence had taught her, a means to settle the mind in times of duress. “We need to get the others, Spike. Ponyville, if not all of Equestria, is in terrible danger.”

Outside her window, the snow continued to fall.

Author's Note:

Hello bronies and pegasisters!

This is a story I began writing a few months ago but never finished as it has gone on far longer than I had anticipated. Plot bunnies multiply if you leave them alone in a dark room, and the story was starting to reach Game of Thrones proportions in terms of side stories and character interactions. Later, when I came back to re-read it, I decided to trim the fat and rewrite most of it.

I found that posting short chapters helps me write better, so don't expect five or ten thousand-word installments. If it garners enough interest, I may just finish the story, but if not, it's better than wasting away in my digital files.

I really want to focus on the drama in this concept, whereas the ponies face not some ultimate evil or monster, but in nature itself...pony nature, that is. Word of warning: Friendships will be tested and a lot of un-nice things will be said. May get darker as the story progresses.