The Frozen City
“LAND HO!” the ship’s lookout called out. Just on the horizon was the metropolitan silhouette of Manehatten. As they drew near, the cityscape looked more and more bleak on the horizon. A desolate breeze abraded through the air from the city like pollution from a landfill. Spikes of ice could be seen piercing out of the streets and buildings, and there wasn’t a soul in sight.
Fire Fight solemnly sighed. “Home, sweet home…” he muttered.
His dad walked up and patted him on the back. “I know, son…”
“Certainly looks as though our unseen foe is making themselves known.” Shadow Shroud said.
Zebota’s brooch vibrated as if it was agitated. “There is a great oppressive force quashing the natural flow here. It is the same as the windigos from before.”
Quantum scanned around with her glasses. “He’s right. There’s an energy signature emitting from the ice that’s the exact same as the ice titan we combatted on Heimr Island, except it’s far stronger and more concentrated.”
Frostbite swooped down next to them. “Should I scout ahead?”
“Not until we all get off.” Fire Fight said, and the icy drake stayed put without question.
At last, the ship docked at a cargo bay where there was little ice to impede movement. As the Battle Foals made their way towards the boarding dock, Fire Fight noticed that his parents were trailing close behind. He stopped. “Mom, dad… you shouldn’t come with us.”
His parents stopped after him. “Honey, why not?” His mom asked.
Fire Fight sighed. “It’s not gonna be safe for you out there. My friends and I are the most capable of fighting this thing.”
“C’mon, son. This ol’ Fist’s still got some fight in him!” His dad said. “Besides…” he gently put his hoof on his son’s shoulder. “I’ve left you once before. I’m not doing that again.”
Fire Fight smiled and held his father’s hoof. “I wouldn’t want you to either, dad; but right now, there are ponies on this ship who need you more.”
All Fist could do was crease a regretful smile as he let his leaned to hug his son, which Fire Fight eagerly returned. His mother did the same, but her anxiety made her hug more tightly. “Please be careful, sweetie.”
“I will, mom.” Fire Fight said.
Shadow Shroud walked up to them. “I’ll keep watch over him as I always have. You have my word.”
Cat looked upon the shadowy filly anxiously, but she managed to take a deep breath and ease herself. “Thank you… Shadow Shroud.”
“We’re not actually parting ways yet, you know.” Film Noir said as she rejoined the group. “We’re expecting to meet a carriage in the city with more refugees to bring aboard. We both have guards in case of emergency, but we could always use more protection.”
“Are you saying we got screwed into mercenary work?” Spiral Galaxy asked.
“Ugh… I hate escort missions…” Tidal Wave muttered.
“Sorry we didn’t tell you sooner.” Sky Strike said. “We were thinking about getting you home safe, but… Like it or not, we’ll have to ask for your help.”
“Oh, dear…” Cat said.
“Whaddya mean ‘like it or not’? We can totally gank some ice monsters for you.” Bullseye said.
“Well, us being concerned adults, we’ve had your safety in mind this whole time.” Cheerilee said. “But I think we’re able to come to the difficult consensus that you’re skilled enough fighters that we… perhaps against our better judgment, let you lead the charge.”
“Not to mention you have a powerful friendship that holds your strength aloft.” Twilight said
“Well we rightly appreciate that, y’all.” Kickback said.
“Anypony who can’t fight should stay here with the ship docked. All the evacuees need to stay as far away as possible, but you’d be sitting ducks waiting out at sea in case any of them can fly- we’ve seen it happen. That said, be ready to make an escape if everything goes to crap.” Fire Fight said.
“Well spoken, young colt.” Knight’s Soul said. “But at least a few of us should stay behind and guard the ship. Any volunteers?”
“Maybe I should.” Tidal Wave said. “All the water I can use is over here.”
“Aww… but that means we won’t shatter ice mites together.” Spiral said.
“Sorry, Spiral. The ship’s safety’s gotta come first.”
“That’s my boy.” Sky Strike said. “Good thing you’ve got another skilled lancer with you!” he said as he twirled his royal lance.
“Don’t think we’ll expect any less of you just ‘cause you don’t have water powers, dude.” Valkyrie said.
“Hey, I am kinda the one who trained him!” Sky Strike said.
Knight’s Soul chuckled. “I’ll have Obsidian Needle and a few other Bladerunners remain here with you.”
“Princess Twilight and I shall accompany you into the city.” Luna said. “You may be powerful, but having an alicorn or two never hurts, right?” she said with a wink.
“Y’all don’t see me complainin’!” Turf War said.
“Then it looks like we’re ready.” Fire Fight said. “Alright. Let’s go!” And they followed the fiery unicorn.
Before she left, Spiral walked up to Tidal Wave. “Be careful, ok?”
Tidal Wave blushed. “Hey, it’s me. I’ve enough water to wrap this whole ship in a bubble if I have to.” He joked. The two gazed at each other for a second before sharing a quick kiss, and then he watched his lady march out into the frozen wastes. He sighed. “I miss her already.”
*****
“Ok, Frostbite.” Fire Fight said.
Without a word, the icy drake nodded and took flight ahead of them. The cityscape was desolate, frigid, and incredibly eerie. They knew the enemy was around them; they just didn’t know what exactly to prepare for, especially given that they were brazenly wandering into its territory.
“So where exactly were the refugees supposed to meet us?” Greensprout asked.
“In front of the train station, my dear. They planned to arrive by coach, then by carriage if the tracks froze over.” Luna answered.
“Then clearing a way from the docks to there should be our priority.” Air Slash said. “That said, any and all resistance should be quelled without prejudice.”
“Speaking of resistance…” Sky Strike started.
“My boy, don’t jinx it!” Turf War said.
Just then, Frostbite came from around the corner of a building, looking shaken. “Umm, guys…”
Kickback drew his guns as everypony readied themselves. “What is it, partner?” They followed their draconic friend around the street corner.
“Holy s***!” Turf War exclaimed.
“Turf War, language!” Quantum Tech said, but then she saw what startled him. “Oh… Oh my word!”
Scattered across the street were ponies frozen solid. They weren’t encased in ice, however; instead, their bodies somewhat become ice. Their coats had visibly lost color while having an icy sheen and seeming to overtake the ground beneath their hooves as flowing ice would, and icicles hung from the manes. Their postures were that of pain and panic, crouching in fear, reaching for a helping hoof, holding their arms up as if to block something attacking them… all the while with sheer terror in their eyes, which had lost as much color as their coats.
“Are they… dead?” Valkyrie asked.
“I’m… not sure.” Quantum Tech said. “There are signs, but… I wouldn’t call them life.”
Zebota’s brooch glowed again. “It is as if their deaths have been… paused, trapped on the threshold of life and death itself.”
“So they can be saved?” Knight’s Soul asked.
Suddenly, the glaciers protruding from the buildings started glowing aggressively, which was accompanied by an oppressive vibration that reverberated around them like a swarm of bees. Minutes felt like hours before it subsided, but seconds later, the feel of the frozen ponies went from unsettling to threatening.
Their frozen fear on all the ponies’ face simultaneously relaxed into a neutral, blank stare as they slowed turned towards the Battle Foals, the ice around them cracking and their eyes nearly devoid of any color left. And then they broke out of their imprisonment entirely and began slowly marching towards them.
“Oh no! Not registered voters!” Crazylocks blurted.
Luna cleared her throat. “Ponies of Manehatten!” she said in her royal voice. “Do not fear! We are here to cleanse your fair city of-”
“GREAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”
The frozen ponies all let out a soul-rending howl before their bodies flash-froze, cladding them in icy knight armor. Pockets of air around them froze into shields various weapons.
“Well, I tried…” Luna muttered.
Before anything else, Twilight promptly casted a magic force field around them, just in time for the horde of ice knights to furiously, mindlessly beat and slash away at it. “Everypony ready?” she asked.
“Open the roof.” Bullseye said drawing her bow. Twilight did so, and Bullseye fired a golden arrow through the opening. It burst in the sky, and light arrows hailed down onto the horde, stunning them under the barrage. “Now open the floodgates! Time for some action! RAAAAHHHH!!!!”
“I’m gonna keep this up so you all have a place to retreat!” Twilight said.
“Alright then! Stay close to Twilight!!” Fire Fight shouted.
Immediately, Zebota began chanting after sending Shrapnel after them, Kickback furiously fired his guns, Quantum Tech began an scan analysis of the ponies while putting her mech turrets and railguns on autopilot, Valkyrie ignited her Valhalla, and Greensprout gave everyone a vital pulse to boost their parameters.
Air Slash, Sky Strike, Bullseye, Valkyrie, Frostbite, Luna, and the few Pegasus Bladerunners took to the sky for a dogfight. Sky Strike impressively thrust his lance right past an enemy’s shield and skewered their armor, allowing him to fling it into another. Startlingly, a few of the possessed pegasi exhaled cold clouds that condensed into ice spike that they telekinetically launched at him. He twirled his lance, shielding him from the projectiles as they shattered on the spinning metal. However, one managed to sneak up and surprise him with a sword ready to slice him, but Bullseye rammed into him with her bladed bow and put an arrow in their wing, sending them falling.
Luna fired powerful magic beams at the airborne horde while Valkyrie furiously swung her greatsword, launching brilliant blade of golden light. A great number them congregated and simultaneously exhaled a mass amount of cold air. The princess and knight dodged, but saw that it created a tower of ice on the building behind them. They tried again, but Frostbite swooped in front them and took the hit.
“Dude!!” Valkyrie shouted as she watched Frostbite become encased in an iceberg. However, not even seconds after it started falling, Frostbite burst out with a ferocious roar and vomited ice spikes at them.
Noticing that the horde was tired from the big attack, Luna took the opportunity and blasted them out of the sky with huge magic blast.
Air Slash and his flying clan members found themselves in ferocious parry fests with one or two of the flying horde. The little Pegasus himself had to stay close to his brethren as he juggled between an ice sword and an axe. He parried them both effectively, but they were stronger than they appeared and began to wear the colt down; he tried to launch sword beams at them, but they swiftly dodged. Even so, he stayed strong. When his two opponents both rushed him into a combo attack, he took a deep breath and waited for the right moment. When that moment came he launched himself forward and thread himself between the two, furiously spinning as his swords slashed them and sent them careening. He then swiftly launched sword beams that helped his comrades fell their foes.
“Never lost your touch, huh?” a female Bladerunner said to him.
Air Slash shook his head. “No. Not while the wicked are restless.” He said. “But what of my father?”
Down below, Knight’s Soul focused his horn onto his big, singular blade as he slashed away without mercy. Every pony he challenged parried him, but he remained ever steadfast. When he did manage to stagger one, he sliced so hard that it split the ice helm of the pony, and he bucked them right in the temple, knocking them out. However, they got back up like nothing had happened. “Rrgh! They’re resilient!”
A large crash resounded beside him, which turned out to be Fire Fight flame dashing into the horde. The first one he came upon, he uppercut and bucked in the stomach while charged with intense fire. A unicorn launched a light above him that formed big icicles that dropped towards him, but he jumped out of the way and nailed her in the head with a fireball.
Another unicorn tried to crash icicles onto him, but the massive ice spike were shattered when Turf War threw his shield in such a way that it hit the points, knocking them off kilter and letting him smash them with his hammer. The street pony then blocked in an oncoming ice ball headed straight for Knight’s Soul.
“You have my thanks.” Knight’s Soul said.
“It ain’t over, my dude!” Turf War said.
Fire Fight launched a serpentine flame into the horde, but even the intense heat barely fazed the ice-charged zombies. A puff of smoke suddenly erupted, and from it appeared Shadow Shroud with her kamas drawn. Skilled as she was, even she had a hard time landing a good hit on the horde as they parried her most calculated strikes; Fire Fight had the same trouble with punching and kicking away as the two were now back to back.
Shadow Shroud was panting. “These guys are swift!”
“And heatproof!” Fire Fight said.
Shrapnel had an easy time clawing and tossing the horde like ragdolls, but they were completely unfazed from being mauled by the wooden titan. Even so, he fought. Zebota finished his incantation and drew his sling. “Look out, my friend!” He volleyed an earth-charged rock that exploded with great magnitude, scattering those caught in the blast. However, even they got up.
Kickback noticed this as his guns were blazing, each headshot pushing the ice zombies back. “Ms. Quantum Tech, I surely you’ve found a weakness!” When a mob started getting too close to the force field, he pulled out his whip and twirled it furiously before unleashing a mega sonic boom, blowing them back.
“It’s coming! It’s coming!!” Quantum answered. All she could do was watch her mech blast the horde away while she carefully read her readings, which were less than clear. “P-P-Patience is a virtue, they say!”
Meanwhile, Spiral Galaxy used gravity wells to control the crowd and rapidly fired small nova blasts at them. She took care not to overexert her powers so as not to wreck the city, but Crazylocks was there to pick up her slack.
“GIVE ME LIBERTY, OR GIVE ME ICE CREAM!!!” The manic filly used her unicorn magic to fling debris into the horde and followed by using her pigtails to beat them senseless. However, just like with the rest they got back up.
Fire Fight noticed that everyone was getting fatigued while their foe remained seemingly undamaged. “EVERYONE! RETREAT!” And so they did, back into the force field.
“We need a new strategy! Brute force is failing us!” Knight’s Soul said.
“Quantum, I really hate to rush you, but…” Fire Fight said.
“I’m trying, but these readings are complete balderdash!” Quantum said.
Luna gasped. “Look at them!” Everyone noticed that all of the ice zombies they’d knocked out were back up, but they’d sustained visible amounts of trauma. They still deep lacerations, huge bruises, burns, etc. And yet they continued to attack in spite of the agony they surely were in.
“We’re still hurting them!” Greensporut said. “If we’re not careful, we… we may kill them.”
Frostbite shot into the air. “I’d better go warn Tidal Wave about that.” He said. Suddenly, a raging waterspout erupted in the bay area. Ice zombies were visibly being swept into its grasp. “LIKE RIGHT NOW!!” And so, he rocketed that way while everyone else was left to think, think hard about how to fight their fellow pony with minimal lethality.
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yay you and it alive!
10201436
You know it!
Yay, a new chapter! I also noticed that mos of the fights up between recruiting Frostbite and now are brute force. Previous chapters had some strategy. Who's the tactician of the Battle Foals?
Huh, ice zombies. That's neat. Once this story is finished, did you thought that you could make an anthology about the past enemies of the Battle Foals. Showing their origins and such. Or maybe instead a Bestiary about the monsters they fought with some bios. Just an idea.
Good chapter!
10201954
Interesting idea indeed.
10202060
Just something you may can do between major projects to relax and have some fun without the need keeping up with a schedule, like a bunch of separate slice of life chapters brought together, the only link between them is the universe in which they exist.
10201763
Would say it's Firefight as he's the leader, with assist in statistics from Quantum. However at the end of the day I wouldn't say any of them are trained soldiers with battle tactics. Few come close though. Air Slash, Tidal Wave, and Shadow Shroud were taught how to fight in terms of combat, but you couldn't say any of them could be battlefield tacticians. I think because Fire Fight is the leader it defaults to him, though at times they all seem equal.
10202976 Oh. The plot of the Battle Foals for some reason reminds me of Fire Emblem, even though the characters themselves are inspired by Battleborn.
10203174
10202976
Sometimes you don't need strategy if you have enough numbers or power/quality... very rarely though
10208510 You can only do so much zerg rushing before you run out of people to do that with.
10208583
Increase quantity 10 to 1