The Frozen Land

by jsk244

Chapter 2

Doctor Absolut grabbed the side of his glasses and tweaked them, the lenses flashing with memories. “When we first arrived the land and weather was harsh but not unexpected. We knew going into this that it would be a struggle to push inland for a suitable construction site, and certainly along the way you saw some of the natural wonders that could arise to block our path. After locating this site we unloaded the Runic Panels and built the research station, taking the first few days to adjust to the new life we would live over potentially an entire year. Then, with questions and hope in our hearts, we began to research.

“Initial results yielded nothing but questions. How could the storm sustain itself? Why was the land so frozen as to seemingly shift the very earth into ice? What caused the wildlife we encountered to spawn against all odds of life, be it magical or mundane? As we continued few answers were gleaned, but we did begin to see certain patterns. Magic was certainly afoot in many of the mysteries, and all things seemed to originate from deeper into the continent around what we’ve managed to identify as a giant mountain range that rings it. The storm is not centered above the continent as we initially thought but rather this region, which is slightly to the south-east more than directly south, and the mountains are all comparable to Canterlot in terms of scale and majesty. You would think the howling winds and ice would weather them away...but perhaps that just further emphasizes their sheer scale, if this is their size after several thousand years.” The Doctor rotated the map on the table around so Stark and Spearmint could observe it better.

Bending over the piece of paper, they could see very little detail aside from the shoreline, just like the maps they had seen back in Canterlot. A few places had new names scribbled in, landmarks like the ice river doodled across it, but again the inland segment was eerily blank. The only thing marring the surface around there was a few mountains in a ring, with a big ‘?’ in the center of them, and clouds surrounding that.

“Have you explored past this northern stretch of the continent?” Stark asked.

“No, we’ve simply never had the time nor the resources to. It was never planned for any of us to go on long-term expeditions past the research station boundaries.”

“How do you know the mountains are in a circle around there?” Spearmint tapped the paper over the question mark.

“Doctor Absolut and I did a lot of research before coming here on past Antrotica expeditions.” Keen Sense replied. “That was my main reason for joining the expedition actually - I’m normally just a weather pony who got transferred to the Crystal Empire by Princess Cadance, but my special talent and background actually does well with aiding research into the past.”

“What is your special talent?” Stark looked up.

“Understanding - specifically interpreting written texts.” Keen searched around in the pocket of his pants before pulling out a small little notebook. Flipping it open, he turns it to show off several pages full of writing, some in modern Equish but mainly a dialect alien to the rescue team members. “Everypony writes with some kind of emotion, or intent behind their words. Their magic often coats the words, so subtly not even the deepest magical scan can discover it. It’s more emotional, ephemeral in nature, but my talent lets me feel it just like how a pegasus can feel the wind and weather. Give me a research assignment and I’ll likely have it down pat in only a few hours to several days, unlike most ponies who would need weeks and several reviews of the subject.”

“I met Keen Sense by chance some months back as I first began to look into Antrotica as my next project. With the Crystal Empire residing in a lesser extreme to this continent, I looked around there first for applicants and discovered him one day in the library researching. A hobby as he claimed it, although he was passionate over even the simplest of topics.” The doctor spoke up, tilting his glasses which flashed with curiosity. Keen next to him blushed some and chuckled. “He has always had an interest in archaeology, but with the field having become somewhat celebritized by the likes of Daring Do, he could never make a profit from it and so settled into his current job as a weather pony. But he still likes to research the past, and with his help I was able to peruse the numerous old logs of past explorers to Antrotica and discover several patterns and notes of interesting features.”

“The biggest three being that the mountains are always in view, no matter where you are on the continent.” Keen counted off on his fingers. “The Frostwolf packs seem to always appear and attack any expedition, and finally there’s the...well, the wind.”

“The wind?” Spearmint frowned. “What about the wind?”

Sharing a look, the doctor and pegasus slowly panned their gazes to the small locked box. With a touch of magic the lid was lifted, revealing a few items on the inside, with the first thing being a journal bound in faded worn leather and thick string. Absolut took it out, rotating his hand to look it over, and then set it down in front of Stark Winter. “This is the journal of the last, and greatest, explorer to set foot in Antrotica. His name was-”

“Sir Dire Hilarity, yes I know of him.” Stark picked up the journal. “He was one of if not the greatest explorer of his time, about...two-hundred years ago? He successfully explored the north and catalogued many different mountains for the explorers league he was apart of at the time. He was even knighted by Princess Celestia for his service to the crown. They say he went mad on his final expedition, fading into obscurity in his twilight years. A tragic fate for one who traversed the harshest lands Equestria had to offer.”

“He didn’t quite go mad, so much as become cursed with hallucinations and insomnia. Outside of those moments he was still a great man...at least according to most official documentation. Regardless, Dire Hilarity began his ill-fated adventure into Antrotica by punching straight into the heart of the land, foregoing previous strategies of settling upon the coast first. It seemed to work as he avoided many of the dangerous monsters, and he even had a few ponies on his team that were able to form temporary underground structures to camp in as to avoid notice and most of the weather. However, just before they were to reach the mountains, disaster struck.”

“The storm occasionally whips up smaller, more intense pockets of weather, layering on top of the already dismal blizzard.” Keen piped up. “Most accredit it to the wild magic loose here, especially since a number of times it’s in the form of intense lightning storms. One of those struck the expedition and even went so far as to shatter the landscape and separate everypony. Dire yelled over the winds to head for the mountains, but nopony could except for him. He decided to venture forth to seek shelter as well as to continue the expedition, while the rest of his team took over three days to make it past and catch up. When they found him, he was inside of a cave huddled over a dying fire, clothing tatters or even discarded, with a wrapped up piece of ice being used to carve words into the rock. All he could say was nonsensical things about ‘the wind’ and how they hungered for him, they being something other than the wind to clarify.”

“The poor stallion.” Spearmints’ ears drooped. It was a terrible thought to imagine that such a great stallion had lost his mind like that. “What could have caused it? Hunger? Hypothermia?”

“Most certainly the latter.” Absolut confirmed, tweaking one side of his glasses. “He had moderate to severe hypothermia and took weeks to recover well enough from that to handle the other issues. His mind however never recovered, and he indeed retired with the aforementioned issues.”

Taking a moment to process this, Stark flipped open the book and read through some of the later journal entries. It did not take him long to find where Dire Hilarity had become separate from the expedition, and after a few pages things became disturbing. Erratic handwriting, strange sketches and markings, the repetition of various words like ‘wind’ and ‘eyes’, often accompanied or circling the most surreal pictures. “How is the wind connected to other expeditions?”

“They say you can hear a voice from anywhere on Antrotica.” Keen Sense said, voice dipping low as if afraid to be overheard. “A howling fury one moment, to the keen wail of sorrow and madness the next. Always carried by the wind, like a ghost or wraith. Every explorer has remarked on how the wind seems to hold this voice in it, although usually they wrote about as if personifying the weather. However, after reviewing all of their journeys, especially with Dire’s at the forefront...there might be some truth to what they hear.”

“A voice…” Everypony at the table turned as Whisper walked over, taking a chair and sitting besides Spearmint. “If there really is one, then have any of you heard it too?”

“How is Rising Shine first of all?” Doctor Absolut asked.

“Ah...sorry, she is well. If she gets home soon we can treat the rest of it. She might lose some feeling…” She looks back and sighs.

“She’ll live, and still have an arm that’s what matters. A sad fact but one we all can live with I feel.” Adjusting his glasses, they flashed with grim determination. “Now as for the wind - an unfortunate truth we must confirm after our experiences while living here. I wish it was not true, but even I have heard it. A terrible, haunting call that fills the air just beneath the howling winds. If you listen hard enough, you can even tell that it’s coming from the south-east...which is in line with the mountain range and the heart of the storm.”

“Hold on a second Doc.” Spearmint stood and leaned over the table, hands propped on the side. “This storm has been going for as long as recorded pony history! Not even Princess Luna and Celestia knows when it kicked up. You’re telling me - telling us - that something out there is behind it, and that it’s been around for...thousands...ten thousand...even hundreds of thousands of years?!”

There was a heavy moment of silence as her words lingered in the air.

“I believe…” Doctor Absolut leaned forward, chin resting behind his hands as his eyes flashed ominously. “That the timeframe we are looking at is indeed beyond the scale most historians know of for ponykind. Further back than even the Dream Valley Era, a time scarcely known of anymore in the wake of lost records from the Unification Era hindering our efforts. Twenty-thousand years is a good estimate.”

There was a trio of shocked exclamations from this. “Impossible.” Stark declared. “Even Dream Valley - a location and time of legend - has been said to have existed only around eight-thousand years ago!”

“But ponies have existed long before that Mr. Winter.” Keen argued. “If you look into the history, legends and myths of other cultures you can always find hints that ponies have been around and even impacting the world for far longer than we know. Even dragons, whose records are at best carved in crumbling stone, non-existence at worst, have tales of unicorns and pegasi showing up and swiping some of the most valuable artifacts from elder dragon hoards.”

“But…” Whisper frowned, a hand rising to her mouth. “Ponies would have been...primitive, back then, right?”

“The stories about Dream Valley are always about powerful monsters and magic.” Spearmint said softly, still trying to wrap her head around things. “A lot of it sounds impossible compared to today’s magic. The Rainbow of Light was...unreal…”

“I have a theory about that.” Keen Sense reached into the still open box, pulling out something wrapped up in cloth. “And it has to do with something Lupin, er, found one day.”

Peeling back the cloth, he gingerly revealed something that looked at first glance like a rock. As he rolled it over however the now face-up side of it could be seen to have something etched on it. Time and the weather had worn it down horribly, but everyone at the table still had a sense that they were looking at letters of a dead language.

“We were all outside repairing the corridor when we heard a cry of pain. When we rushed over, Lupin was sitting down cradling his head. This stone had flown through the air thanks to the powerful winds and struck him from behind.” He explained, rolling it over again and again to let everyone take in the details. “We almost wrote it off as a rogue piece of debris swept up into the storm, but then I picked it up and felt the touch of magic upon it.”

“The magic of language, your special talent.” Stark noted, and got a nod back.

“Yes. These markings are Ancient Equine - specifically the Pegacian line, which was used almost exclusively by pegasi. It was already falling out of use by the time of the Unification Era, the more universal Old Equish coming in due to the three tribes living close together. Of interesting note is that it disappears along with the unicorn and earth pony branches when you look further back at the Dream Valley Era, having used an entirely separate language called English. Nobody is really certain where it came from-”

Absolut Zero coughed, looking pointedly at the pegasus.

“Ah...right, apologies for getting off-track. My theory is that perhaps there was a time that ponies were highly more advanced than first believed. A disaster - maybe by their own hands, or by nature such as this storm - caused a reset of civilization, one that English became dominant during as the three pony tribes united after the disaster. There’s not many points of evidence to this of course, but another alternative is that whatever civilization that was present at the time could have perhaps been overwritten by some form of invader or visitors that-“

Another cough.

“T-The point is, this language is rare to be found anywhere, and for it to suddenly appear on a piece of debris in the middle of Antrotica?” Keen Sense placed the cloth and rock down besides the map. “We might be standing just outside of a major, world-shaking archeological find. One that will finally answer questions as to where ponies, if only pegasi, originated from.”

“And yet we know nothing.” Stark sternly declared. “Nothing of what is out there, what is possibly attacking us with snow and Frostwolves. Nothing of what dangerous perils will impede us, try to kill us, for what could very well be nothing but worn stone and mounds of snow. I respect the desire Doctor, Keen Sense, but I cannot approve of this plan you’re clearly favoring.”

“Huh? What are you saying Stark?” Spearmint turned to her team leader in confusion. Weren’t they just here to make sure the team is safe and take them back?

“Minty…” The pegasus turned toward the crystal unicorn. “The doctor seems to believe that we should head in-land to find whatever ruins are out there. Possibly in the center of the storm itself. But that’s not what their expedition was about, and we’re only supposed to be making sure they’re safe and out of harm's way.”

“Which if they continue forward with this idea of theirs, will be the exact opposite.” Stark crossed his arms and stared at Absolut. To the doctors credit he didn’t flinch, head tilting and making his glasses flash with stubborn will.

“We’re hardly discrediting the dangers sir.” He said sharply. “We have spent six months in this Tartarus-damned place dealing with everything it’s thrown at us. Rising Shine is injured, our base damaged, Frostwolves nip at the surrounding lands with blood in their mouths. I more than anyone will happily declare this expedition over with, pack up, and head home with you and your team. But at the heart of these ruins might lie the very answer we’ve come here for - why the storm still rages without end.”

“Not to mention...we’re running out of time.” Keen added ominously.

There was a pregnant pause.

“...What?” Spearmint felt a shiver down her spine. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s not as severe as Keen might have made it sound.” The doctor hastily explained, hands spreading in a disarming gesture. “But as we explained earlier, we’ve looked over the various expeditions performed in the past, and we found something we neglected to mention earlier in our haste. There is a very plausible time limit that hangs over this entire continent, ticking down by the day - neigh, the hour - as it has for over twenty-thousand years or however else as long.”

“What could possibly be so important as to make us hasten into the jaws of this frozen wasteland?!” Stark slammed a hand down on the table, garnering the attention of everyone in the room.

“In the earliest expedition, recorded by Mercurial Copper, he noted how the mountains ‘climbed to the stars and pierced the eternal grey’ when he spotted them. When he left even he could just about make out the caps of them over the cloud level when a few of his pegasi took flight. Dire Straight on the other hand, noted that they were ‘like the fangs of an angry god, gnashing and snarling under his gray tongue as it spits lightning upon the foolish’. He could only see them once they moved in-land during his push for the base of the mountains. Their expeditions were around two-hundred years apart, and after another two-hundred years to our own time…” Reaching into the box for a third time, he took out a photograph and showed it to them. It was blurry from snow and the white landscape outside, but a few distant objects could be made out. “The mountains are impressive to be sure, but compared to the high atmosphere storm they would have to be about one and a half time their height now to match Dire. Easily twice if not more to compare to Mercurial’s account of them.”

“Several hundred years of erosion…” Spearmint began, only to trail off as she looked at the picture. Something was nagging the back of her mind about their words and the importance of what the size of the mountains meant. “It’s not erosion?”

“Correct.” The two researchers chorused, looking at each other afterwards. “These mountains couldn’t possibly have been as large as they would have needed to be in order to survive after endless millenia. Especially with things like salt and even the rocks themselves being swept up during the more violent moments of the storm.” Absolut started. “They seem to be somehow immune, or at least heavily resistant, to the effects of the storm, perhaps due to the magic at their center causing all of this. What we think is happening is something more...well, outrageous.” Keen finished.

“If it’s not erosion...but the mountain’s are shrinking…” It took a moment, but then Spearmint gasped. “They’re not shrinking - Antrotica is sinking!”

“What?!” Stark and Whisper exclaimed.

Absolut sighed, glasses falling down his muzzle with a forlorn shine. “Aye...and core samples actually prove this. Samples of the ground beneath the current layer of snow indicate a rising sea level that swallows the land, is covered in snow and ice, and then repeated after a few years. We cannot even find the original landmass, not with the tools we have with us. What’s more the process is speeding up, heavily. Quartz and Slick Slush can confirm this.”

“We first thought we were simply atop an ice shelf, but no matter where we looked there was just nothing below us.” Quartz spoke up across the room. Turning to look at the stallion, they all saw him idly pushing a few cards atop one another as Slick Slush rubbed her forehead. “We were able to date back thousands and thousands of years, even to the Unification Era, but still - snow and iced salt water. And we definitely weren’t close to the bottom.” He laid a card face-up atop the rest of the deck.

“We don’t have the records but if we did, we could probably see a rise and fall in sea levels around the world as the island sank and piled on snow over the years.” Slick sighs. “And going by the core samples, like Doctor Absolute said it’s been speeding up.”

“We have no idea when the straw that breaks the camel’s back will fall, but obviously whatever is beneath us is starting to give up.” Doctor Zero sighs as well. “Taking with it the entire continent, likely destroying whatever ruins are behind those mountains, and although the storm might finally die off...it could also somehow transfer from sky to sea, disrupting everything for miles around, along with of course the sudden flood of coastlines as the entire collective mass of Antrotica sinks to the bottom of the ocean.”

“A total disaster, one that could upset the balance of nature even more across the entire world, forever.” Stark got up and paced for a moment, everypony letting him think in silence as they processed the facts themselves. For many of them, this was far beyond anything they’d expected. Spearmint especially felt the pressure, likening this to something only Rainbow Dash and her friends should be dealing with. She wasn’t somepony who tried to save the world every Tuesday like they seemed to. “A large part of me tells me to take this back with us to the Princesses. This isn’t something a group of scientists and three rescue ponies should tackle, especially with only one of us trained in the art of combat.”

“But…” Whisper got up, a hand clutching the front of her shirt in anxiety, sinking into the valley of her bosom. “If we leave, it might be too late. We don’t have any idea when Antrotica might sink, do we?”

Everypony on the research team shook their heads or made noises of agreement.

“I know Whisper, which is why...against my better judgement...I feel the doctor and Keen Sense are correct. We must push for the mountains.” Stark stopped pacing and turned to the table. Pulling out his sword, he pondered the reflection in his blade before resting it against the floor. “But we’ll be doing this my way. Only those who should be coming with us, while the rest pack up and head to the shore. Our ride can be radioed to pick up…” He looks around the room. “Rising Shine, Quartz, Slick Slush and Lupin, while the two of you follow my team to the mountains.”

“I want to come with you!” Slick Slush suddenly stood up.

“Slush?!” Quartz gasped.

“I know how to build igloo’s, and besides maybe my knowledge of geology and geography will help us.” She explained. “Something like what we’re looking for must have been well protected, right? Maybe we’ll need to find a secret passage through the mountains, and what if there’s no writing for Keen to sense, or a strange formation you don’t notice because you don’t know it’s out of place for the environment? Besides, why take Doctor Absolut?”

“Because he has the second most extensive knowledge over this entire matter it seems, outside of Keen Sense. What’s more his skills are in weather research, and along with Spearmint and Keen, we should be able to avoid the worst patches of the storm on our journey.” Stark explained. “I won’t deny your point, but I want as many of us off this continent as possible. I’m sure with a bit of work we can-”

“I second Slick Slush joining us.” Absolute spoke up.

“Doctor-”

“We must optimize our chances of success without further risking lives needlessly. Miss Slush has a brother in the Royal Guard who trained her in armed combat. She used this skill actually to help fight off the last Frostwolf attack and saved Rising’s life.”

“...Having more than one pony capable of fighting would be helpful.” The cloaked stallion begrudgingly admitted.

“Ah...and I can try to help too, even if I’m sorta only good at being in the air when I fight.” Spearmint raised a hand, lowering after a second when she realized how silly it was to do. “My friend Rainbow Dash taught me a few moves…”

“Very well - Rising Shine will be watched over and taken to the shore by Quartz and Lupin. My team along with Doctor Absolut, Keen Sense and Slick Slush will head to the mountains and, against all odds, try to find the magical source of the storm and save Antrotica from sinking and disrupting the natural order of our planet.” Stark declared.

Everypony nodded, and then there was awkward silence as they again processed the situation. Nopony spoke for a time.

“...Did we just end up on a ‘save the world’ mission?” Spearmint mumbled to herself.

“Ah…” Whisper smiled at her. “No pressure, right?”