FrostBound

by Azrael the alicorn

The tragic tale of the FrostBound

“Well, that went just as expected” replied Gloomy Dusk at the sight of FrostBound defeating and devouring the Mane 6.

“A necessary defeat. Sometimes, humility must be enforced, so that people will learn to not allow arrogance blind them to the dangers of the world”.

The ‘Unicorn’ and the caped figure were sitting on the roof the of Twilight castle. The extreme cold temperatures didn’t seem to be a bother for neither of them.

“That, and because it necessary for our plan to work that they got their flanks handed to them” added Gloomy Dusk. Despite the attempts to hide it, he was clearly worried for the Bearers of Harmony. “Do you think that they are fine?” he asked, allowing his concern to be heard. “I mean, I know that they aren’t dead, but what he has did to them looked very… painful”.

“Nothing that they cannot recover, I can assure you that. And through pain, they will become stronger. Trust me, I know for experience”.

I have no doubt of that thought Gloomy Dusk, nodded. There was something in his partner that radiated not only goodness and pureness, but also pain and melancholy at plenty. Whatever tragedy occurred to him, he hasn’t allowed it to acerbate his spirit .

“Now, I think we must do something about them” added the caped figure, staring at the airships.

“Leave them to me”. As he said that, the ‘unicorn’ horn lighten up of a blue/purple light. Gloomy Dusk knew that, if they came down there, the sight of all the ponies being asleep and the presence of two strangers (And one of them wasn’t even a pony) would have brought them way too many questions. And the last thing they needed now was a distraction. After a few minutes, the Sirocco and the other airship turned around and went to land towards a mountain chain a few miles to east. “There” said Gloomy Dusk, “This way we can be sure they will not be troubling us. Hopefully our giant buddy there won’t take notice of my little convincing spell”.

“He didn’t. He actually has other things in mind” the caped figure said, pointing a gloved finger towards the massive dragon. After watching the Sirocco and the other airship move, he got up and started walking away from Canterlot and from Ponyville. His pacing was slow, but he didn’t need to be fast to cover hundreds of miles with a few steps.

Gloomy Dusk knew where he was going. The wasteland where Twilight had that just as spectacular as preposterous fight with Tirek. “Good. The farther he goes, less chance that someone will die in the pending battle”.

“And then, it will be up to us to make sure that everything goes as planned. And if we fail--“.

“This world is doomed” concluded Gloomy Dusk.

***
Twilight was having an horrible nightmare; one of those where you just can’t seem to wake up from. In that nightmare, she and her friends were battling a monster, trying to prevent him from bringing forth the eternal winter. And yet, despite their best effort and despite having the power of friendship at their side, they still lost badly, getting devoured by the giant creature. It was all so absurd. And yet so real. The cold that surround her made everything feel authentic. She opened her eyes, hoping to see her familiar bedroom, with Spike sleeping in his basket. But what she actually saw was her laying in a ice cell, lacking any comfortable effects and nothing but Rarity clothes and her own fur to protect her against the bitter temperatures. In that moment, Twilight Sparkle realized that this was no bad dream, but the nightmarish reality. We lost she realized, as felt both her heart and her mind shatter to such unfathomable fact.

“Twilight, are you there?”.

“Rarity?”. Twilight ran to the vertical bars. Outside there was a circular room, with other prison cells caved in the ice walls near her. It was right in this one that the voice of Rarity came from.

“Thanks heaven you’re alright my dear!” exclaimed the white unicorn.

“Where are the others?”.

“Right here” responded Rainbow Dash.

“Same with us” said Applejack.

“I’m alive. Albeit freezing” jumped out Pinkie Pie.

“Where are we?” asked Fluttershy. Being the last three in order, Twilight could actually see her friends inside of them.

“Well, last thing I can remember is that FrostBound has eaten us” mentioned Rarity

“So we are inside his stomach?”. Rainbow Dash was shocked.

“Gee, I wonder if my stomach look the same” commented Pinkie Pie.

“Not time for joking, girls. We have to get out of here!” told them Twilight.

“We have tried, Twilight, but this bars won’t budge” said Applejack.

“And magic doesn’t even start to affect it” added Rarity, depressed, “How are we going to get out of here?”.

“You can’t” answered a voice that seemed to belong to a ghost. From the only entrance and exit of the room came three spirit like creature that until now they had just heard of: Windigos. The trio floated in the air, staring at the captive ponies with grim joy. “There’s no way out, ponies. This is going to be both your home and your grave” said the wraith like creatures, speaking like a single entity, with a voice so raspy it was unpleasant to listen at. “Watching you suffer is going to be--“.

“Enough”. FrostBound stood by the passage, glaring at the Windigos. “You will have your chance to torment them. But first, you will let me have a talk with them” The spirits gave the ice dragon an annoyed look, but in the end they nodded in agreement and flew to his side, while still keeping their cold glares at the prisoners. “Good” said, while advancing to the center of the circular room. As he did so, the Mane 6 noticed a few things about him. First, his body wasn’t really a physical manifestation of him, but rather a spiritual representation of his soul. Second, the Windigos were bounded to his spirit by what looked like ethereal cords. Thirdly, while not as gigantic as his vessel, FrostBound was still at least twice as tall as Discord. Fourth, he was carrying Celestia in one of his massive claws.
The eldest of the royal sisters looked all but as the ruler that the Mane 6 had know. Without her royal necklace, crown and shoes. Her horn was covered in ice and so were her wings. Heavy handcuffs locked on her front and hinder legs and her neck, all tied up together by icy chains. To complete the awful sight, on her mouth there was a muzzle so tight that made it impossible for her to talk.
FrostBound dropped her in the center of the room, where new chains materialized from the ground, making sure that she won’t get away. Not that Celestia looked capable of doing that or any other kind of rebellious act. By how slowly she stood up, she looked drained of any strength and willpower to actually fight back.

Seeing their beloved princess in such an awful state, made the heart of the Mane 6 sunk. “What have you done with her? How dare you chained her as if she was an animal!?” demanded Twilight. Despite knowing that FrostBound could feed on hatred, they just couldn’t help be but being furious at him.

“Made sure that she will not be interrupting our conversation with other lies or weak excuses”.

“You want to talk? And about what?” asked Rarity, bitter like a basket of lemons “How to torture us? On how you’re going to kill all of our family and friends!?”.

“If you want to know all of that, you should ask them, not me” replied FrostBound, eying the Windigos that floated over his head, “No, the argument regards something else. But first, I want to ask something to you, Applejack”.

“Me!?” jumped out the orange earth pony.

“Yes, you, Applejack. I know that you are the Element of Honesty, so you must have a talent in spotting liars. The question is this: did you felt as if Celestia had lied to you, during the meeting?”.

“Well… yeah” admitted Applejack, her eyes jumping to the ice dragon and the ruler of Equestria. When her eyes met with the latter, the ruler of Equestria looked away in shame.

“And I guess that you have spoken about it with your friends, on the Monarch. Wondering about what was it that she’s was keeping you in the dark. Yes, I can see it from your faces that it is so”.

“And what exactly has she kept from herself?” asked Fluttershy.

“My origins”. At those words, the anger inside the ponies minds got suppressed by curiosity. “Part of my story was told right. Web Heart, the ritual, the Windigos, my captivity, those are true. Yet, she has let out a lot. I wasn’t created by the ritual. In fact, I was already there, although not quite out of my egg”.

“Egg?” repeated Rainbow Dash.

“Usually is in the norm from dragon to come out of an egg” explained FrostBound, sardonic.

“But how did Web Heart--“ made to ask Twilight.

“Managed to get his hand on my egg? Is not that hard, when you can buy one on the black market. Those places seem to reek of items that are both powerful and cursed. You should know, Twilight, given how you had to deal with the alicorn amulet”.

That detail surprised the Mane 6. “But how do you know that!?” asked the purple alicorn in disbelief, “You weren’t even there!”.

“Celestia told me. She told me very often about the adventures that you six and Spike, of your slice of life lessons. Once, I could have considered myself a fan of yours… before I came back to my senses”.

The eyes of the Mane 6 focused on Princess Celestia, staring at her with confusion. The white alicorn closed her eyes, cringing. “You… knew each other?” asked hesitantly Fluttershy.

“Why haven’t you told that?” added Rarity, just as perplexed as the others.

“Because she’s responsible for everything” answered FrostBound, giving a cold glare at Celestia. “But let’s go with order. Thousands years ago, Celestia paid me unexpected visit in my cell, inside the heart of the resting volcano Ifrit. She claimed that she had heard of me and wanted to help me to control at least partly the power inside of me, so that one day I would be free from the Windigos presence and be allowed to get out of that damned prison. When I’ve asked the reason because this act of benevolence, she replied that it was just the right thing to do, and promised me that one day I will be cured from this curse. And so, for the next hundreds years, she passed to visit me every time at every chance she had; she brought books filled with information about history, magic instructions, pictures of magnificent places. But, most important of all, she brought company. And warmth. She treated me not as a monster as the guards outside, but as a normal living being. After a while, I had started to see her like the mother I never knew. She even gave me another name, one that didn’t had the same dreadful sound of FrostBound: Cryo”.

This sounds so familiar thought Twilight, shivering at the concept.

“Then, one day, after some time she didn’t visited me, she told me about Discord attempt to take over the world. And of how she and her sister defeated him with the Elements of Harmony. She described to me that the Elements as relics capable of doing the impossible, with a magic so powerful that nothing could stop them. Of course I mentioned that, maybe, just maybe, the Elements were the key to ward off the Windigos from my spirit. She agreed with me at the idea, but told me that she first had to make sure the Elements worked correctly mentioning how, given how rare my curse was and how still mysterious the Elements of Harmony were, she wanted to avoid killing me by accident. Me, being a faithful student, took her word for granted. Sadly, few weeks after that day, she returned in my cell with her mind and heart filled with grief, telling me that she was forced to banish her dear sister to the moon using the Elements of Harmony; after that event, the Elements of Harmony had stopped working, destroying any hope that I had for being cured. Yet, despite the gravity of her words, I swallowed my own disappointment, offering my shoulder for her to cry on, because I knew it was the right thing to do. And so, for the next thousands of years I had completely gave up on the idea of being cured and getting out from that cell, consoling myself that at least, with the help of Celestia, I could at least silence a bit the hate filled whispers of the Windigos. Or at least so I thought. Then one day, she came back with one big smile, telling me that the Elements of Harmony were back, discovered by a group of six ponies and were used to actually heal Princess Luna from her mad state”.

It feels like it was so long ago Twilight reflected, When times were far more simpler .

“Hearing of how you six succeeded into defeating Nightmare Moon and her return to her old self, I was more convinced than ever that the Elements could do the same with me. After all that time, I felt again hope grace my frozen heart. Yet, Celestia was still wary of using the Elements on me without any kind of test, so she insisted that she could make some test on it. This time, I couldn’t hide my irritation with her cautiousness. I would have much preferred if she just used the Elements right away. If I would have died, at least I would be free from the torment that was my life. And if not even the Elements could work, then I would have accepted that I was doomed to this miserable existence, but still being capable of feeling at least joy for the fact that, at least, outside of my prison I had friends. Still, despite my frustration, I still respected her opinion and intelligence, so once again I accepted. And I’ve waited”. As FrostBound talked, he started to walk back and forth. At the same time his nostalgic and sorrowful tone started to change slowly into spite and anger. “Three years had passed, since that day. Celestia started to visit me much less; only four times per month. For the first year, I thought it was because she was taking her time with experimenting on the Elements and, probably, she wanted to enjoy having her little sister back. But from the second year, doubts started creeping in my mind. At first I thought it was due to the Windigos presence, but soon I realized it that it was just cold logic at work. Every time that Celestia visited me, she talked about everything but the Elements. I had to remind her about the studies she was supposed to be having back at her palace. And all the times, her answers were vague or she asked for more time. For the third year, I just couldn’t take it anymore. When she entered in my cell, that day, her smile was even wider than ever. For a second I dared to think that she finally completed her study on the Elements. Oh, how foolish I was. She wasn’t happy for me. Her happiness was all for you, Twilight Sparkle”.

“You’re talking about my coronation” stated Twilight.

FrostBound nodded “She was so proud of you, for having reached your full potential. I? I felt that turning a pony into an alicorn so out of the blue for solving a problem of which Celestia made up, by sending you that scroll, was just an excuse to turn her protégé into one of her own. But I digress. When she told me about your ascension, I demanded (trying my best to not sound harsh) to her if she had arrived at any point in her research of the Elements. When she tried to tell me that she needed more time, I had to do my best to hold the frustration that was building inside me. I got straight to the point, telling her that I felt that she wasn’t being sincere. She tried to defend herself, saying that the Elements were not a simple rebus, especially given what they were supposed to work on my case. Just as she said those words, something in my instinct kicked in, telling me that there was more to it of this delays”. The ice dragon stopped moving, halting right in front of Twilight. “Tell me, Twilight Sparkle, what would you do when a person you trusted the most kept a secret from you? Would you persist to get the truth, or would you let your respect blind you, preferring a comfortable lie?”.

That question was too much for the Element of Magic. She couldn’t decide what to say, not with her own mind torn between her respect for Celestia, or the cold logic of the fact proving that her beloved teacher and sovereign had some shady secrets in her. “I would trust her” she uttered, knowing full well that she was lying to herself.

And FrostBound knew it as well, “You’re lying to yourself, just to defend your own belief of Celestia. I couldn’t expect less, given how much time you passed together. Not that I can blame you, really. Your teacher is good at getting under the skin of her subjects and knows very well how to get their trust. But she couldn’t do it with me. So I decided to insist on the argument with her, resolute to have an answer. I had to beg her, like the most humble of servant, to finally make her admit the bitter truth” He said, towering over the white alicorn. “And the truth was that she never really wanted to cure me”.

As the words sinking into the minds of the Mane 6, a grave silence fall on the room. “What?” murmured Pinkie Pie.

“You’re lying!” shouted Rarity, “Princess Celestia would never do something so unworthy!”.

“I’m not lying. But if you don’t want to believe, ask your friend Applejack. Tell me, Element of Honesty, am I lying to you?” asked FrostBound, moving around Celestia, without taking away his glaring eyes from her captive form.

The orange earth pony remained silent for a few seconds, before letting out a weak “No”.

“What?” shouted the rest of the Mane 6.

“No” repeated Applejack, louder. “He’s telling the truth”. The Element of Honesty already knew that Celestia had lied to them, but she couldn’t believe that she could be so deceitful, not just to them, but to a desperate creature like FrostBound.

The rest of the Mane 6 couldn’t believe what they had just heard. At first, they thought that maybe FrostBound odd powers could allow him to deceive Applejack lie-detector. But then they watched at their beloved sovereign, hoping to see her give a sign that would prove this fact. But instead, she looked at them with the teary eyes. Eyes beseeching for forgiveness. “Why?” was all that Twilight Sparkle could say.

“Because, before she ever visited me, Stars whirl the Bearded asked her to do so, on his death bed. He made her promise to never release me, because the power I wielded could have caused a disaster at the slightest lapse” told them FrostBound. “Apparently it didn’t mattered that I was just a victim, that I never had a choice in my life, that I always tried to behave and ignore all the words of violence the Windigos whispered in my soul. Nothing of all that mattered. Not to Star Swirl, much less to Celestia”.

“But why did she even made you a promise, if she never intended to fulfill it?” asked Pinkie Pie, livid.

“Because, apparently, she thought that it was better to be deceitful and give me a false hope, than honest and offer me a bitter truth. But I guess the latter wouldn’t have made me trust her just as much” replied FrostBound.

“That must have been terrible for you” commented Fluttershy.

“You have no idea how much” hissed the ice dragon, “When she actually told me that, I could feel rage and hatred grew in my heart, obfuscating my mind. I tried to control it, I demanded that, now that the truth had been finally revealed, she could take her leave and never come back to me. But, instead of accepting her faults and obeying my will, she started to making up many excuses; like the ones she told you before, of how the Elements could have indefinite effect on my powers. Or that even if I could be freed by the Windigos, I couldn’t be sure that the cold energies inside of me could be entirely controlled. That she didn’t want to lose me and so on. All pathetic attempts to save her face, trying to have the last word, to be considered fair when she was unjust. Hearing all those insults to both mine and her intelligence, I couldn’t take anymore. The rage, the hatred, were just too much to bare. The mysterious cold element, combined with the power of the Windigos, made me give a sudden and violent outburst of energy, activating the magic defenses that Clovis the Clever had casted so long ago, activating the volcano. I remember roaring at Celestia to leave, my voice distorted by the energies unleashing and the voice of the Windigos. And this time, she listened. Uttering a weak apologize, I watched her following the guards outside, as what was supposed to be the absurdly hot heart of the volcano started to consume the room. I wasn’t bothered by it in the slightest, my main attention was to reclaim control over the storm inside. It took all my restraint to push back the Windigos in the most deepest part of my mind and contain the power outburst. But I couldn’t avoid to unleash a part of it, which is why the volcano got frozen over”.

“I knew it” said Fluttershy, with a sweet smile.

“You knew what?” inquired FrostBound, towering over the yellow pegasus

“That there was more in you than a monster” explained the Element of Kindness, without showing a hint of fear. “Deep down, you’re still the kind dragon that didn’t wanted to hurt anyone”.

“That dragon is dead. Killed by the harsh reality that is the world. A reality of which you ponies have no true idea what it is!” countered the ice dragon, unfazed by the affirmations of Fluttershy. “What do you know about being an outcast? Of having no family? Of being saw by a monster by everyone?” he asked, bitterly, “What do you know what it feels to have the only warmth in your life being revealed to be an illusion?”.

“Nothing” had to admit Fluttershy. “But you shouldn’t allow others to dictate your judgment”.

“Says the one belonging to a species that follows what came up on your flanks” he replied, pointing at their backsides. “You ponies follow everything that your Cutie Marks display, claiming to be a sign of your destiny. Let me ask you one question: what would you do, if a pony got a Cutie Mark that showed a planet being destroyed… would you let him accomplish what fates had in store for him, or would you stop it?”.

“We would stop him, of course” answered Applejack, being her usual honest self.

“Ah so when it suits you, making you look like the paladins of Harmony, is fine to believe that destiny is right, but when the cards are pitted against you, you don’t like it”. At that, none of the Mane 6 could find a good reply. “Celestia used to say that you can’t fight destiny. A claim of which I never agreed on, because I didn’t liked the fact that victims are fated to suffer in the battle between good and evil, and people are forced to be the monsters that the heroes slay. But after her unfaithfulness I understood that, just because you don’t like something, it doesn’t make it any less real. It took me all this time to realize that I just can’t fight what I am. But now, enough talking about me” With a movement of his claws, the muzzle of Celestia disappeared, finally allowing her to talk. “Now, have you something to say to your dear little ponies, Celestia?”.

“Like what? There aren’t words that can wash away my errors” she said, shivering. “I can only hope that you may understand the reason behind my choice” added the white alicorn, turning her attention to the Mane 6, “Even though I doubt that any of you will like it”.

“And you would be darn right” told her Applejack, giving to Celestia a stern look. “How could you lie to all of us?”.

“There’s nothing bad at making more than one promises. But you can’t give your word on two different things like that. That’s like trying to bake a cake and eat it!” added Pinkie Pie.

“Usually I wouldn’t ever think to side for the bad guy. But now I can actually understand his reason!” uttered Rainbow Dash.

“I expected better from a princess!” shouted dramatically Rarity. “Freedom is the greatest gift… and you’ve taken away that from his grasp!”

“You shouldn’t have played with his emotions” said Fluttershy, giving her famous stare at Celestia.

Celestia felt her already proved heart ache at the accusing words and glares of the Mane 6. “Twilight” she said, fearing what her most faithful student would tell her.

“Since that day” started Twilight Sparkle, “Since when you turned me into an alicorn and made of me a Princess, I always wondered why it was so necessary for me to have this wings. But I always tried to ignore my questions and doubts, because I thought that, given your experience and insight, things would have turned for the better. But I can’t ignore my doubts anymore, not when your actions are the reason why Equestria and the whole world are on the brink of annihilation!”. As she concluded her speech, her eyes threatened to drop tears.

At those words, Celestia fell on her knees, the accusations of her most faithful student hurt her deep within. The worse thing was that she was right. “I…” the white alicorn uttered, incapable to respond to any of the Mane 6.

“Well, would you look at that, Celestia” said FrostBound, almost grinning at the troubled princess. “It seems like your dear warriors hates you”.

“We don’t hate her” added then Twilight Sparkle. At that, the ice dragon turned to watch her with genuine surprise. “Yes, she did an awful thing to you, but that alone can’t take away all the actually good things she did to us”.

“And she regrets this situation. Just look at her eyes and you know that she does lament having turned her back to you” added Applejack.

“See, FrostBound” hissed the Windigos, to the ice dragon, “Just as we told you, these ponies will side with Celestia, even after hearing her crimes”.

“We aren’t siding with anyone” clarified Twilight Sparkle. “While we can understand the reason behind her acts, we don’t agree with it, much less like it. We will have long and due talk with her on this argument, you can be sure of that. The point is that, for how terrible your life is, that doesn’t justify you to bring the eternal winter to this land. We won’t allow you to do it”.

FrostBound stared at the Mane 6 with inscrutable eyes for a few seconds, before speaking again. “You really left your mark, Celestia. They are just like you, making statements that they cannot carry out” he said to Celestia, before turning back to the Mane 6. “Your arrogance blinds you, ponies. Your rulers have fallen, your army are scattered and vulnerable and your special weapon has failed against me. You have lost, Bearers of Harmony. And soon Equestria and the rest of this world will be mine for the taking”.

“The Elements have failed?” asked Princess Celestia, her voice made a whisper by her astonishment and fear.

“Indeed. They hit me without having any effect” told her FrostBound. “This body of mine is wholly immune to any kind of attack, even by the most powerful magic of the world. Ironic just as it is tragic, isn’t it? If you just kept your word, you would have still get what you truly wanted. But instead, your attempt to avoid getting me blasted by the Elements is what doomed this world”.

At hearing that, Celestia could only turn her head down, staring at the floor with shrunken pupils.

“Is not over yet, FrostBound!” claimed Rainbow Dash, “We still have Discord and a whole army of dragons on our side! I bet that as we speak their arriving here to stop you”.

“They will try and they will fail. Also, if the books I’ve read about my species are correct, then I will be facing an army of stupid or downright savages or idiots, filled with animosity towards me. Do you know what that means?”

“More hate for you to absorb” realized Twilight Sparkle, horror in her voice.

“Exactly. And Discord will do his part. Especially when he will hear of how I killed his dear Fluttershy”.

“Oh no” said the yellow pegasus. For how much terrible Discord rage would have been at hearing of her apparent death, FrostBound would have just ignored his fury, absorbing all the hate he could give her.

“But we aren’t dead yet” couldn’t help but notice Pinkie Pie.

“Not yet” was the chilling reply of the ice dragon.

“So what’s going to happen to us? Are you actually going to kill us, like Celestia and the rest of the planet?” wanted to know Twilight Sparkle.

“Do you think death is the worst thing that could happen to you? No, there are worse things than death, child. I’m going to do with them the same thing I’ve done with the ponies in Canterlot, trapping their body into ice, forever cursed to feel the most bitter cold for the rest of eternity, while I feed on their emotion. For Discord and his dragon army, I guess I will that burning them to ice dust will suffice. And for Celestia… well, let’s say that I’m going to make her feel what I’ve felt for all this centuries, but far more painful. Almost as bad as what is going to happen to you six”.

“What do you have in mind?” demanded Rainbow Dash, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

“Not what I have in mind, but what they have in mind” précised FrostBound, giving an aside glance at the Windigos levitating over him. “While I have felt respect towards what you did in the past, the Windigos felt the complete opposite way. They see in you the same group of ponies that have ruined their feast, spreading friendship and peace to the creatures of this world. And for such, they wanted to make sure your death would be excruciating. This cage won’t make you feel hunger or thirst, but they will also start to get colder and colder over time. And not at the same time”.

“You want us to see each other die” mumbled Twilight Sparkle, petrified.

“Exactly, you pathetic ponies” said the Windigos, smiling ominously at the trapped Mane 6, “We’ll see how this time your power of friendship will save you now”. And then all three of them moved near to Fluttershy cage, “Tell us, Element of Kindness, do you still believe that there’s good in him?”.

“Yes I do” insisted the yellow pegasus, managing to keep her emotions on check. “But it won’t never come out, until you will infest his soul, corrupting him!” she said, glaring at the icy spirits.

The Windigos eyes narrowed at Fluttershy and for a second, they looked like they were about to attack her. But FrostBound stopped them on track. “Let the Element of Kindness believe what she prefers, it won’t change her or the fate of her friends” said the ice dragon, as he picked up Celestia, grabbing her by the neck. The white alicorn dangled from his claws, almost lifeless, with her eyes staring at the horizon without really seeing much. “We need to be prepared for when Discord and the others arrive”.

“Right” agreed the Windigos, before giving one last malicious grin to the Mane 6, “Don’t you worry, you little ponies. We won’t be away for long. Just the time necessary to crush you dear friends, like the maggots they are. Be sure, we will tell you all the details of their undoing!” promised the frost spirits, following FrostBound to the passage.

“Wait a darn second, FrostBound” shouted Twilight Sparkle, “What was even the point of telling us your past, for then just kill us?”.

The ice dragon stopped on his path, but didn’t turned around to look at the ponies. “I thought that you deserved to know the truth, so you would know for what kind of ruler you threw your life away” said FrostBound, with distant voice. “I gave you the chance to die a quick and painless death, but instead you wanted to play the hero. And now you will pay the price”. And with that said, the ice dragon walked out of the room, leaving the Mane 6 alone in the cold.