Chapter 15-2: Winter Season brings ill tidings.
With the events of the unexpected Royal Visit behind us, our duties went on as normal even with four alicorns currently residing in the Crystal Castle.
Tension in the air left me startled, and irritable the hidden emotions circling the upper two floors while the rest of the castle upset my stomach with the guard and staff's anxiousness. Princess Luna understood my condition first followed by Princess Cadence, and after some reassurances my subordinate could handle my duties I was commanded to take a day. Seeing an opportunity for some rare ‘bonding time’, Topaz invited me to join them for the day, and with my schedule clear the invitation was accepted.
Unstoppable Force tagged along at the request of the nymph, and unable to properly provide a reason not to bring the massive unicorn along, I allowed it. With her escort in tow, Cersus was given permission to visit the candy store on the condition she'll either remain there or return to the school.
Now, I found myself at Topaz’s office in The Institute of Crystallography & Assorted Magics main building, up on the second floor with a window that overlooked the campus plaza which connected to one of the main roads.
The few students of the Crystal Empire displayed none of the mannerisms their Equestrian counterparts predominantly displayed, since the student body was still heavily reliant on scrolls to keep written records of their knowledge. This meant the very few books on the campus were under lock and key to everypony except the Department Heads, which now included Topaz, and many of them were the very books she had brought from Equestria.
Probing the reasoning for the severe lack of books discovered it stemmed from the traditional belief to only trust Empire made products. Further probing revealed it manifested from their time of near isolation when certain products were near impossible to acquire, or were of an inferior quality for one reason or another. The only explanation for Equestrian products even being sold in the Empire at all stemmed from two main reasons-Princess Cadence, and their own version being sold beside the Equestrian version.
Having spent months in close proximity to the Crystal Heart, and taking part in their culture as per my job I’ve found the Crystal Ponies’ belief to hold some merit. The crystalized mixture commonly used in the creation of their products was equally beautiful as was it durable. Plus they had the unique advantage of having certain goods locally produced when compared to their Equestrian counterparts imported by train.
My thoughts return to the students outside using scrolls, and to my shock realize the guard has been doing much the same. There were other factors involved like cheaper, and easier materials, but I couldn’t remember seeing any books in the castle that weren’t brought over from Equestria.
“The Board needs to purchase their own printing press if they’re to provide a better service, until the crown can procure their own.”
Topaz continued her examination of three related scrolls for another moment before shaking her head left to right, and before I could ask, she shook her head again.
“Already suggested it. The Board is insistent not to bump hooves with the Princess and Prince, especially if they don’t have to spend the bits. They see it as the crown’s responsibility to provide for their citizens, and to purchase a printing press before them would be seen as a challenge to Cadence and Shining Armor’s ability to rule.”
“So, they would rather hinder their students than seek a faster resolution of purchasing one themselves?” I felt my hidden head fin rising as Topaz nodded.
“And they will continue to wait until another organization makes the plea for one first, or is successful in taking a vote to approach the crown for one. Neither will likely happen since the other big groups are as stubborn headed.”
She shifted to adjust her sweater and scarf before giving one big sigh and leaning back into her chair. I envied her ability to dispel the cold so easily while I had to dress in multiple jackets to retain what little heat I could produce. Taking a quick look out the window still showed the dome shimmering high in the sky, and I began considering relocating what few pegasus we had to fully devote them to the maintenance of the Empire’s weather.
“And as good friends, we’ll not abuse our connection to the crown to speed this up.” I rested my head against the window, and quickly fixed that mistake. The window was very cold.as was everything else today.
“Well we could ask for a favor, and repay them later like any real friends would do.” Topaz suggested.
The warmth in the way she said it let me know she didn’t mean it, and I had just turned away from the window when a loud explosion shook the city and Topaz’s office. Wasting no time, I fumbled my way to her as she began hiding under the desk as protocol commanded, and after a moment I managed to join her under the desk.
Even after the tremors had ceased, we remained embraced as we listened for anything else when a faint(muffled) cry from outside caught our attention. Hesitantly, we separated and rushed to the now cracked window, and using a bit of magic removed it, setting it on the ground inside when a torrent of frozen air took our breath away. It was after recovering from the shock did we see ponies pointing toward the sky…
“What happened to the dome?” Topaz whispered, the fear heavy in her tone as we kept watching the darkening clouds appearing over the Empire.
Something had happened and we needed to get back to the Castle, but there was one very important thing that we had to do first.
“Cersus.” I whispered. Topaz’s own worry morphed into a sickening sea of despair that left me feeling sick to my stomach. This wasn’t Topaz’s fault, and she couldn’t have known the effects her worry would have on me, but I blamed myself for the weakness.
I was left unresponsive as she bolted out the window, using the increasingly hostile winds as a boost to take flight. She faltered against its strength, but managed to keep in the air as she flew down the street toward the candy shop, yelling for the nymph the whole time.
“CERSUS!!!”
Everything went wrong after that.
I tried following Topaz out the window, but had to restrain myself because of the lack of a bridge and law breaker to break my fall. This meant taking the stairs was the only viable option without revealing my wings, and this slowed me down greatly.
The ponies in the building had already evacuated to the plaza, leaving my hurried hoofsteps echoing down the rapidly cooling corridors. The cold air only got worse with each passing second, and with the barrier gone it would only continue to get worse which made finding Cersus even more crucial. Topaz’s reckless flight into the storm winds left me more frustrated because it meant I needed to find both Cersus and Topaz at the same time.
“Order and Harmony…”
By the time I made it outside into the plaza, the storm had gotten worse with the citizenry huddling together as the frigid air danced around us. The storm clouds above had grown darker, and strangely enough I could sense a deep anger from within them as stray bolts of lightning announced their arrival.
“TOPAZ!” I yelled for her, but the neighing wind refused to carry my voice any further than a few ponies away. The wind had just started carrying snow flakes when a bright flash from the castle over took my senses.
“CITIZENS OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE! SEEK REFUGE WITHIN THE CASTLE PROPER!”
“That was Luna’s voice.” I muttered to myself as the ponies wasted no time fleeing toward the castle.
As a guard, it’s my duty to provide aid, and protection to the common populace as described in the ‘Code and Ethics of a Guard’ Manual. I’m bound to these oaths, and required to offer aid during this unknown attack as per duty, but…
“Forgive me, Luna.” I thought as I began running to Cersus’ last known location.
Topaz had already taken off, and if I’m quick enough I might be able to meet up with the both of them before heading to the castle. I was thankful before, but now I’m even more so for the bond Cersus and her new personal guard had formed over the past several weeks. Knowing the nymph and Topaz had somepony watching over helped ease some of my fears knowing the massive unicorn hybrid ought to be enough to fight off the cold.
Freezing air filled my lungs, and rattled my transformation to a point I had to slow my pace lest I rip the fur right off my chitin in front of the already panicking ponies. This became necessary as the cold continued to build, and the air around us further dropped another several degrees a minute. I was missing my armor, but was thankful for listening to Topaz’s demand and left it back in the castle as the metal plating would have only further impeded my mission with its frozen weight.
Some of the ponies briefly stopped and offered me assistance, but reluctantly left when I told them of my reasoning. The Empire and Equestria continually impressed me with their ability to retain some magnificent citizens. Each day I found it harder to want Cersus to return the hive like a proper changeling, but instead played with the idea of not bringing it up again.
‘A discussion for another day..find them first.’ I thought, and taking one more big gulp of that burning air continued at a slower trot than a gallop.
Somehow I still reached the street’s end faster than normal, and almost smiled as I saw the shop on my right, but frowned instead when I couldn’t find Topaz or Cersus. Bolting through the opened door only deepened my worries as the shop was uncomfortably bare of any warmth- ponies and ovens included. The wind had extinguished the candles and oven flames while the frost creeped over abandoned candies, gluing them to the counter like permanent fixtures.
“TOPAZ! CERSUS!” I shouted, and got the angry wind in response.
I couldn’t sense any emotions within the candy shop, and reluctantly left its frozen innerior for the harshness of the streets that had only gotten colder. The wind and hatred in the air made me sick as I tried looking for any signs of them, but nopony except myself was in the street. This was bad. Very bad. My training was telling me to stay on the road, and head for the castle for the best chance of locating them, but I was scared, and with the hatred fogging my rationality…
I ran back toward the university campus with no intention of heading for the castle ,hoping Topaz had found Cersus and made it back to her office. The odds of this happening were lower than me becoming a Queen Changeling, but higher odds than me retiring, meaning I was already liking these odds more than I did a moment ago. They weren’t the best odds, but they’re all I had in hoof.
Just as expected the plaza was empty while the building itself was already succumbing to the frost. The hate delivering clouds were spreading faster, and had now covered most of the area with only the castle as the last refuge from the cold, but ignoring this, I rushed toward the university.
“I have to make sure they’re not there.” I kept telling myself as I approached the desolate building, my disguise doing little to prevent the cold as I rushed across the plaza. The cold was becoming too much, but I forced myself to continue.
Once inside, I already knew nopony was in the building.
Looking back outside, the clouds had already taken over most of the city creeping forward like an early morning fog over Canterlot. A few stray blasts of magic sailed overhead only to be consumed by the hatred turned malice, feeding their wickedness as they whinnied back, unleashing even more of the bitter cold onto the city.
The cold was too much for me to combat, and if I stayed within the building I stood a better chance of making it through the barrage until the princesses could drive this cold back. But Topaz and Cersus were still out there, and in that split second my choice was clear.
“TOPAZ! CERSUS!” I cried once more as I left the ICAM building, and into the now freezing cold once again.
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Who could it be now?
Sounds like a windigo or two slipped in ...
So the heart got shattered and the cold pours in. Now a Father is searching desperately for his wife and daughter in the storm.
Topaz and Cersus. The only two people that Idol would put above his oaths.
11102378
I mentioning again, the order of the show will be slightly off. So right now we're having the Season six premiere during early Season 4, is basically what it comes down to.
11102852
Right, forgot the evil smiling emoji.😈
I wonder if he might consider a mana-draining spell of warmth (on the clothing) to prevent hypothermia from slowly killing him? I'm not certain he even knows such a thing but it seems like Fate conspires, again and again, to reveal himself with the direst of situations...
If nothing else, a decent fire from "conscripted furniture" would do in a pinch?
The whole thing is giving me flashbacks to that movie, The Day After Tomorrow with the lethal quick-freeze.
Feels like important was meant to be imported?
11103318
'Looks at post, and than looks at story.'
Fixed, thanks brother.
Guessing Flurry scream the Crystal Heart to pieces?
11132837
Yep, this is around that time so the next few chapters will be set during that time.
11102852
But Twilight is still a unicorn, according to that scene at the station?
11507700
That is indeed correct. I'm rearranging certain details to keep the story moving, so Twilight becoming an alicorn won't happen until later in this story. It was issues like this I encountered the more I wrote that made me quietly retcon a few events.
Unstoppable reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger as a pretent teacher in a preschool class in that movie he did. The tile escapes my memory but that's what Force reminds me of. I feel for him too with my german jew background.
11652298
Hey, glad you seem to be enjoying this story better then the first one!
The movie you're thinking about is Kindergarten Cop, and I haven't seen that movie in years.
As for Unstoppable Force, he doesn't belong to me as I put out a request for OCs to use in the story a while ago. They provided me a name, and a description , and based of that little bit are where most named OCs( Unstoppable Force included) got their personalities.