Frozen Heart

by Reviewfilly

...May Yet Be Thawed.

For a moment there was silence. Sunny braced herself and reflexively closed her eyes. No impact came. She slowly opened one of her eyes. The Windigo hovered in front of her, one of its hooves hovering mere inches from her face, but it wasn’t looking at her anymore. The armored figure gestured slightly and the creature reluctantly moved back.

“Sunny Starscout,” the armor rattled in a way that almost sounded like hollow laughter, “you are indeed correct about the identity of my minion. However, the Lord of Chaos I am not. Still, it is curious that you know these names. I must know, how are you aware of them?”

“I... I learned them from my father’s diary,” said Sunny. She noticed that her transformation also melted the frost from her hooves and she could move once again. She leaned back and took out her diary. The sight of the six-pointed star made the armor flinch and take a step back.

“What is the meaning of this? How can this bear Her insignia?” asked the being, however, this time its voice sounded less hollow and, as Sunny realized, almost alarmed. Suddenly its eyes lit up in flame once more.

“You don’t even realize the significance of this item. This is not yours to read. Unlike these others, you aren’t merely a trespasser. You are the daughter of a thief and you are a thief yourself,” the voice sputtered with unmistakable rage.

“I fully know its significance!” Sunny didn’t allow herself to be intimidated. Not when it came to the protection of her father’s most important memory, “I don’t know who you are, but this journal was my father’s and now it is rightfully mine. I may not know where he got it from, but I do know, that there wasn’t a single pony who deserved to read Princess Twilight’s thoughts more than him, who believed in her so much! It was only because of this diary that we were able to convince the three tribes to finally put their differences aside!”

The helmet’s flames suddenly evaporated.

“Could this... Could this all be part of Auntie’s plan?” it asked itself quietly.

To Sunny’s shock, the middle horn of the helmet was enveloped in a soft, yellow glow, which soon spread to the entire helmet. It twisted slightly, then began to float off its wearer before landing on the floor nearby with a very soft clank.

Sunny stared with her mouth left agape. In front of her stood a mythical alicorn mare. Her coat was a very faded pink and her ethereal mane, which flowed freely despite the lack of wind, was a mix of a pale blue and soft purple. Her beautiful, eternally young face was twisted into a frown. Even without flames, her blue eyes stared with piercing coldness at the earth pony in front of her.

“Who are you?” Sunny found herself asking again.

“My name is Flurry Heart,” she replied in a somber, yet strong voice, “I am queen of this frozen empire, daughter of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor, niece of Princess Twilight Sparkle. I am the defender of Equestria.”

Sunny's heart skipped a beat. She felt like a train just hit her. Not only was the being in front of her a pony just like she was, she was also a flesh-and-blood alicorn and on top of that, a relative of Twilight Sparkle?! Yet, despite the awe she felt, what the queen said didn’t sit with her right.

“How can you claim you’re the defender of Equestria when you turned everything outside a small portion of it into a snowy wasteland?” she cried out, “how can you say this while you hurt my friends and nearly killed me?”

“You are mistaken on all three accounts,” Flurry Heart said with a small smile as she shook her head. The smile didn’t reach her eyes, however. Those were betraying her true emotions of pain and hurt. Her smile dropped before she continued.

“Just like with every other pony that wandered out here before, I merely intended to scare them and then allow them to return home, so that your kind will learn its place and stop interfering in my matters. I only wanted to do the same to you as well. That warm world of friendship and laughter is not familiar to me anymore, so I cannot know why you even bothered to come outside, Sunny Starscout. This world of mine isn’t one you wish to take part in. There is nothing out here for you, except death and suffering.”

She sighed.

“You have called my Windigo a ‘creature born of pure hatred.’ Indeed, eras ago they were the biggest problem Equestria had to face. Back then things were so much easier. If you knew of the horrors which lurk beyond my tower, you would wish you faced merely a Windigo.”

“I don’t understand,” stammered Sunny, her anger evaporating.

“Of course you don’t. How could anyone expect otherwise? You’ve spent your entire life in ignorance, prancing and singing about friendship with your friends, without a care in the world. That’s what all ponies do. That’s what I used to do,” she cast her eyes over the ground, before looking back at Sunny, " yet today the only reason you still have a world to even call home is because I’ve been holding vigil over it for centuries," the queen slammed her hoof down, which echoed loudly in the chamber, "you dare accuse me of being the source behind this chaos, yet it is only my magic that keeps the everlasting winter out of your realm and it is only my mastery over these creatures you so abhor, that you weren’t yet overrun by real nightmares.”

“Even if what you say is true, I don’t understand, why are you doing this for us?”

Flurry Heart scoffed, “for you? Don’t be ridiculous. I serve an oath I swore many years ago.”

“An oath?”

“Yes. I promised to my aunt that I will always look after her subjects. I held myself to this word, even after she disappeared.”

“The Princess? What happened to her?”

“That is something even I do not know. Regardless of the reason, my aunt’s disappearance thrust the world into an all-encroaching chaos. As far as I know, this is the only segment of the world that survived.”

“And you have been standing here alone ever since...”

“Yes.”

“You must be very lonely,” Sunny said quietly, casting her gaze towards the floor.

“What?”

“You seem like a good pony to me, Flurry Heart. You have protected us for centuries, without anyone ever thanking you for it or taking part in your strife.”

“I”, Flurry Heart replied her voice losing much of its strength, “admit the years haven’t been kind to me,” she shook her head and her voice regained its power, “it doesn’t matter. I do this merely to uphold my oath. And just like the others, you too will forget you ever met me and things will continue as before. Even if you are a disciple of my aunt and even if you mimic the appearance of one of our kind, I cannot allow anypony to endanger themselves out here.”

As she said this, her horn began to glow, enveloping Sunny and lifting her off the ground. Yet, unlike what Flurry expected, Sunny did not collapse, but held her head up high. Her eyes shone resolutely.

“Queen Flurry Heart, as representative of the Equestrian Union and unifier of the three tribes, I offer you my and my nation’s friendship.”

The alicorn’s grip softened on her, yet her eyes remained just as piercing. She remained silent.

“I may not know the extent of the hardship you have faced over these years, but you do not have to face them alone anymore. If we were able to unify the tribes, there is no way we cannot help you!”

“No,” Flurry Heart shouted suddenly, tightening her grip twice as powerful, “this is and has always been my burden alone!”

“Is that really what Princess Twilight would want?” Sunny asked, struggling to breathe. She could not allow her chance to slip, so she pressed on, “no. She would want you to be happy and surrounded by friends.”

“I am the product of a by-gone era. Nothing more than a forgotten folk tale. I have nothing in common with your kind anymore. The only thing I'm still good for is protection.”

“That is not true. You are a pony, just like me, and that means you possess the magic of friendship in yourself! Even if you consider yourself guilty of the Princess’ disappearance, it’s a crime you’ve long repented for!”

The alicorn relented her grip, gently placing the earth pony down.

“The magic of friendship..." she whispered. Tears began to leak from under her closed eyelids. "Sunny Starscout, do you mean the words you have said?”

Instead of answering with words, Sunny just walked up to her and hugged her. For a moment there was silence. Then, as the two mares embraced each other, Flurry finally broke down and began uncontrollably sobbing into Sunny’s mane.

“It all happened so quickly. My family... They all disappeared. I cannot even remember how many centuries I’ve stood guard. Only their horrid assaults. My entire empire was gone in days,” she drew rugged breaths between each sentence, as she spoke, “I utilized the darkest and strongest magics I knew to try and save them. I entombed myself in this cursed armor, befit only a tyrant. I conjured up Windigoes. I became a mockery of everything my mother and aunt stood for and yet even with all my sacrifices, my subjects still died. The only thing I could ultimately save were you.”

“Shh” Sunny cooed. The Windigo, which until now hovered behind its master, turned its head away in utter disgust, before evaporating into small puffs of cloud. As they hugged, Sunny didn’t feel so cold anymore. Indeed, even if the chamber was still less than warm, its temperature now was more of akin to a cold breeze, rather than the previous bone-chilling frost.

After a few moments that felt like eternity, they separated. Sunny looked deeply into the mare’s eyes. They too seemed less icy than before. Her tears glistened like crystals.

"Now, tell me, Sunny Starscout, why did you come here?"

"We came to find a cure for the pegasi that ventured here before us. They are dying from a frost that cannot be thawed."

The queen froze.

"I... I went too far. I... I never meant to hurt anypony. Scare them, yes, but this? Oh Sun, Moon and Stars, how much needless suffering have I caused?" she whispered with a pained voice. She closed her eyes and lit her horn for a few seconds in silence, before speaking again, " your friends suffer my frost no longer. Oh, Sunny Starscout, can you ever forgive me?"

She hung her head in shame. To her surprise, however, an orange hoof reached out and gently raised it back up.

"It is done," the young mare replied.

Flurry Heart let out a breath, she didn't know she was keeping in.

"I don't deserve this, but... Thank you, truly," she whispered. A sad smile played about her face, "I suppose your quest is finished. Is this our goodbye?"

Sunny just smiled.

“The reason why those pegasi came here in the first place is because we are looking for new places to settle. Perhaps we could work together to revitalize this dead empire.”

Flurry Heart’s eyes widened a bit at this idea.

“I... I suppose the remains of the town are safe," she said, her voice quivering with a mix of hope and disbelief, "Those creatures from beyond don’t dare to come close anymore. But who would even want to come here? It would be massive work to breathe any life into the city. Even with my magic, I cannot keep the snow out. That would require an artifact I do not possess anymore.”

“You underestimate our combined strength,” Sunny laughed and nodded towards her friends, some of whom blinked blearily as they slowly woke up, “I saw it with my own eyes how resourceful we can be.”

At this point the alicorn couldn’t help but laugh a little herself and this time, her eyes shared her joy.

“Sunny Starscout, you truly are an inspiring mare.”

“Please, just call me Sunny.”

“Very well, then I must insist you call me Flurry.”

“I am very happy to have met you, Flurry. My friends and I must return home to deliver the news, but we will come back. This is my promise to you.”

“I shall eagerly await your return. May I accompany you until the border?”

Sunny looked back at her friends who were staring at them with varying levels of shock and awe.

“Yeah, I think that would be great.”

Comments

[Samey90]

Huh, I kinda expected Windigoes, but I thought Sombra was behind it rather than Flurry.

[MatTheBook]

[MatTheBook]

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING FLURRY