Frosty Fates

by Storm Vector

Chapter 1

It was another lovely, sunny summer day in Ponyville, as Celestia’s sun reached the height of its ark just shy of noon. Its warmth enveloped the town, and many a pony was spending their noontime basking in the glorious sun. By all accounts, most ponies there would have loved to spend this kind of day outside. But not Winter Whisper. She was content to sit in the local ice cream parlor watching the summer day pass from a far cooler environment, the only way she could survive. Her icy white coat, snowflake cutie mark, and season-themed name weren’t the only giveaways that she much preferred the wintertime; she had an extra special way to demonstrate her icy affiliation. She was literally colder than anypony around her, her core body temperature unnaturally lower, making everything around her far warmer than anypony else would experience it. On summer days like today, she had to take shelter in buildings to avoid direct sunlight, hopping between shadows in an enormous sunhat that covered the entire front half of her body, or simply sit in her magically chilled home and wait for the heat to pass her. But today she couldn’t just sit in her home, as much as she wanted to. Today she had something important to do, something she was dreading, but just couldn’t avoid. Today, her parents were going to be in town.

The unicorn sighed as she shifted the pineapple swirl scoop in front of her with her magic. Not even her favorite fruit in sweet desert form couldn’t improve her mood with parental anxieties lingering on the horizon. She’d deliberately spent the last three years free of contacting her parents, save a cursory Hearthswarming card assuring them they were still in her mind; even then she’d been so paranoid about them finding where she was, that she’d traveled far out of town and posted the cards in towns nowhere near her actual home. It was silly, she’d thought, trying hard to convince herself that her parents would never have thought a mare of her former status would be living in…well, frankly, a very rural town. But Winter loved it here, and couldn’t think of living anywhere else, especially with the three ponies she’d bonded with so well. One of them, a pegasus a few years older than her named Midnight Storm, sat across from her now, looking worriedly up at her. “Not usually the one to sigh,” he said, a weak smile on his face. This was out of his depth, Winter knew it: he was so used to being helped emotionally, and having to help somepony else was one of the many, many things he constantly doubted he could truly accomplish. But what he didn’t know was that just him being there was enough, just having him tell her she wouldn’t have to face her parents alone, offering to come with her today despite him having a busy shift the night before, had done more for Winter’s spirits than she’d thought possible. “You really that worried?” he asked

Winter shrugged, but looked back up and smiled. “I guess a little," she said, her hint of a Canterlot accent seeping into her speech more than usual, thanks to her poorly-restrained worry. "I just…I don’t talk to them for a reason. And on top of it all, I found out yesterday this exhibit they’re bringing is the same one that was around when I was born. I’m fine dealing with one part of my past at a time, thanks.”

Midnight smiled and flexed a dark blue wing, nudging the spoon in his ice cream as he made a feeble attempt to grasp at another bite. “Is this exhibit really so terrible to you?”

“I don’t even know,” said Winter, sighing again. “I just…I mean I never saw this before, I wasn’t nearly old enough to remember anything even if I did, but…” She faded out as she tried to think of the right words. Thankfully, Midnight seemed to catch up quickly and helped.

“Your issues with your folks started so young, having something that’s as old as you being the reason you have to face them is an added slap in the face?” Winter only nodded in response, before taking a large bite of her swirl to keep her mood from dipping much further. “I’m really sorry about this…”

Winter looked back up at Midnight and gave him a slight grimace, one eyebrow cocked in disbelief. “And exactly why are you supposed to be sorry for this? You told my parents, ponies you’ve never met, where I was, and suggested they bring this ancient exhibit to my front door just to spite me?”

“I thought sarcasm was my and Vlyka’s thing,” Midnight responded with a near-mirrored expression. Winter couldn’t keep her act up any longer and giggled, making Midnight smile sweetly in return. Once again, the little things he did helped Winter more than anything the stallion might have said to her. She watched as Midnight raised a hoof and brushed part of his bangs out of his eyes, his hoof accidentally following one of the stormcloud-grey streaks in his mane perfectly. Winter smiled goofily as she focused on the motion, unsure why it was so amusing to her.

“You know me, I just gotta keep you from feeling bad about yourself.” Midnight smirked and rolled his eyes, leaving Winter to turn back to her ice cream swirl for a second. “It’s funny really,” she said absently, trying to keep her mind away from obsessing over the upcoming meeting. “I don’t know anything about this exhibit, I just got so fixated on how this was its twentieth anniversary, and couldn’t read anything else on that flier.”

“Something about old pony settlements around the area, I read,” said Midnight, hoof to his chin as he tried to recall what he’d seen. “There was a lot about a society in the Whitetail Woods I think, some ancient cult from centuries ago. It could be interesting to know what was around here, at least.”

Winter smiled and nodded, and glanced at a nearby clock before she turned back to finish her ice cream. By now the exhibit had opened, but one of the few things she did remember told her her parents weren't due to be around for another hour or two more. She wanted to limit her outdoor time and stress as much as she could, saving the real anxiety for confronting her parents much earlier than she'd been planning. But by now the stress was eating her alive just being awake to worry about it. "Maybe reading up on some of it would calm my nerves," she thought, taking one final bite of her ice cream to finish it off. "Shall we go take a look then?" she asked, nodding towards the door.

Midnight blinked, surprised. “You really want to go now? That’s a lot of…” he began, but Winter frowned at him as she reached magically for her sunhat. “Ok, I’m not that socially inept. Let’s get going then,” he smiled, gently pushing Winter’s hat closer to her head as he passed it levitating in the air. Winter spun it theatrically before setting it on her head, dropping a few bits on the table as a tip before following her friend. He’d waited at the door and held it for her like a proper gentlecolt…or just like Midnight, who was that kind of a pushover for just about anypony. Winter still loved it though, even as he fumbled to get his sunglasses on in the blinding summer sun after letting her out. She very gently put a hoof on his shoulder, testing both of their comfort zones a bit, as she tried to lead him away from the door until his sensitive sight returned to him. “Thanks Whispy,” he smirked at her.

Winter turned away, tipping her head so her hat’s brim cut Midnight’s face off from hers. “It was nothing,” she replied, trying to hide the light blush appearing on her muzzle. “Now we’d better go before that ice cream wears off.”

“I don’t think even you can sweat out that much that quickly,” he said, causing Winter to giggle. But he didn’t object as the two of them started trotting towards the end of the street, heading to the outdoor exhibit three streets away. "You know, there's talk of needing a thunderstorm in a few days," he said casually.

Winter smiled and looked at him knowingly. "Already planning, or is it too early in the day for you to handle?" she asked.

"If I'm honest both," he said, and Winter giggled. "But Sunny wants me on it, prevent another unscheduled lightning strike wrecking our reputation."

"Don't tell me they're making you work with that featherbrain again, the one who took down that tree last year?"

Midnight sighed, but smirked and shook his head. He went on to talk about the storm preparations and his plans, successfully distracting Winter from her personal fears, right up until they passed the road leading to the new Castle of Friendship, right where the exhibit had set up.

Winter stared at the exhibit for nearly a minute before she moved to her bag to grab the tickets, her hooves shaking. "I know this might not help," Midnight said hesitantly, "but you don't have to do this. If it hurts this much then maybe there's another way."

Winter gulped and exhaled sharply through her mouth, before shaking her head. "Maybe, but its not going to happen soon enough." She finally found the tickets and pulled them out, but lost her grip on them just as they left her bag. Midnight was fast as ever though, and snatched them out of the air with a wing, while simultaneously taking Winter's hoof in his.

"Then let me help, as much as you need me to. I'm here for you." Winter sighed, but only nodded in response. She couldn't look Midnight in the eye, couldn't even bother to pull her hoof back from his grip when her bubble of personal space felt threatened, though it did get her to smile while Midnight presented her tickets and the duo were let past.

The ordinarily restful street was now crowded with eye-catching displays and ponies crowding about them. Display cases in dozens of sizes lined the road, alongside covered models and wooden stands of pamphlets, with informative plaques plastered on almost everything in sight. Winter recognized the styles of many of the cases, having spent quite a few of her early years in various museum backrooms; Winter's mother had been a curator since just before Winter was born, to the point this very exhibit had been her first. At least the memories of the minute things were outnumbering the stressful memories surfacing from her foalhood, letting her calm down just a little as they walked in.

"Anything here ring a bell?" Midnight asked cautiously, but Winter shook her head. She knew he was talking about the exhibit's contents, and nothing here seemed familiar. Nothing except a strange rock that seemed to be the centerpiece of the entire show. She couldn't take her eyes off it.

Without realizing it, Winter changed course, headed straight for the strange stone formation. She was just conscious enough of her surroundings to avoid bumping into anypony else, but the closer she stepped towards the rock, the more it enveloped her whole mind. Something about it enticed her, beckoned her, told her to reach out and grab it. Her front right leg reached out past the rope barrier, reaching closer and closer. There was a whisper from far away, something that sounded like a friend calling "what are you doing?" but she ignored it, as her hoof nearly grazed the stone structure.

A deep blue hoof suddenly grabbed Winter's and yanked her back, snapping some sense back into her. But Winter only had a second to feel ashamed of her actions, before she suddenly wasn't in Ponyville anymore. Her eyesight dulled as strange and menacing stars blinked into view, a massive blue glow growing steadily stronger, closer. Her body didn't respond to her frantic writhing efforts to move, her screams of terror silenced, as the light completely engulfed her, only for darkness to come crushing down around her. Winter gasped and faltered, shaking violently until both her body and mind gave out. She collapsed in the dirt as the world faded to silence.

Comments

[emeraldhuskydragon0]

Wow, the name Winter is used a lot. I myself have used it. Good story so far!