Short Shorts

by Coranth

68. Cold (You Brighten My Day AU/Batman: TAS)

He shouldn't have done it. He really shouldn't have done it. But he did. A noblepony – an arrogant fop by the name of Gold Bullion – managed to bribe one of the Royal Chefs to slip poison into the food of our beloved Princess-Consort, Daniel. It took a single night for him to die, a single night of utter agony, but when he faded – and our Princess awoke to the feel of his cold body in her bed – the howl of agony she expelled was soul-wrenching. Those whom were loyal to the Royal Family investigated his death, but during it all, Celestia secluded herself, taking no part in what was to come.

Little did we know… something dark had taken root within her. When at last she emerged from her quarters, a terrible change had overcome her. No longer did she wear regalia of gold; instead it was made of crystallized ice. No longer did her mane swirl with all-manner of bright, sunlit colours; instead it was a single colour - a shocking white – whilst her coat was an icy white-blue. But it was her eyes that told the story. White. Pupiless. Cold. Dead. At first, we were overjoyed – our Princess had returned to us at last – but little did we realize that her return was the coming of the end times.

Upon being presented with those whom had done the terrible deed of murdering beloved Daniel, Celestia gazed at them impassively… before inhaling and freezing them with breath as cold as her now icy form. Then, one by one – with not a hint of emotion – she shattered them with her hooves… except for the ringleader, the noblepony Gold Bullion. Him she froze and shattered piece by piece, joint by joint. It was as she was 'working' on his last intact leg and hoof that he screamed the reason why: power. That a stallion of 'good stock' should be with the Princess rather than a filthy human. Celestia took his skull and drove it onto an ice-spike, one of the decorations of her new throne.

Since that time… things have changed. The sun still shines upon Canterlot, but its feeble light cannot penetrate the Great Blizzard that enshrouds the City. We ponies now have to bundle up warmly – very warmly – or we will die from exposure within minutes of going outside. The Royal Palace isn't a palace anymore, per se; now it might as well be an icy tomb for the broken Alicorn Mare who dwells within. Nobles are no longer permitted to attend Court; they risk being frozen to death by our Princess… if she even is that anymore. Were it not for Luna taking the reins, Canterlot would be an icy ruin, though the Mare of the Night herself has become cold and harsh to us, as she was a thousand years ago. Such is the price for our folly.

Our Princess will still speak to common ponies, however—at least, those whom are still brave enough to enter the Palace of the Living Windigo. That's one of our new names for her: the Living Windigo. Some call her the Cold Mare, others the Avatar of Winter. Her student, Twilight, is the only one whom calls her by her original name anymore; the only mare whom even tries to speak to her, to penetrate the icy prison about her heart. It is useless. As the days go by, I feel the weather getting colder and colder, hear more and more reports of ponies dying every day as the heart of our Princess as well turns cold. Should anypony find this message your best bet is to head underground; the Cold Guard don't venture down he----

I failed you, Daniel. I wish there were another way for me to say it. I cannot. I can only beg your forgiveness and pray you hear me somehow, someplace... Someplace where your warm hand waits for me.

[This message - scrawled with desperate hoof upon old vellum – was found deep beneath the ruins of a once-grand Palace, located on an ice-covered world. The last, tear-stained lines are written far more eloquently, in a completely different style.--Hardy Heron, Planetary Surveyor for Sector 2184]

Comments

[Taliesin of the Forest]

[Zamairiac]

Is that a Mr Freeze Quote I see there?

[Coranth]

3424537 It is...

[Darthvader578]

Now I feel like crying!

[Orca19904]

Truly, a tale told in the finest traditions of tragic theater, in which reckless mortals pay the greatest price for their hubris in meddling in the affairs of the ones who control their world. May those who come in their wake learn well from the mistakes of these pathetic fools.

[JaydexTheShadowKnight]

Wow, that was brilliantly executed. On one hand I can't see Celestia doing something like that. But then, that's going off purely canon Celestia. Now looking at how things are going between her and Daniel in my story, I certainly could see her reacting that way. To have her beloved so harshly taken away from her..it's like the saying goes, "So ye sow, so shall ye reap." And for Gold Bullion he got what he deserved as did his co-conspirators. My only woe is that there is no one to quell the alining Celestia and melt her now icy heart. That alone brings a few tears to my eyes. Another stirring short.

Oh, I do have one question, who was the pony that was supposed to have written this?

[Coranth]

3429244

Oh, I do have one question, who was the pony that was supposed to have written this?

Ah, that's part of the mystery, isn't it? Perhaps it was one of the 'old' Royal Guard... or perhaps the note was the final words of a last, desperate survivor. We may never know. The only one who might is Celestia herself. It is said she still sits upon her throne, in her Palace of Ice, waiting for the Time of her Ending, when at last she may be with her beloved again...

I was thinking of the story of Mr. Freeze from Batman: The Animated Series when I wrote this...

There should be a scene when Daniel and Celestia return to Equestria (in the sequel to "You Brighten my Day") where, in Court, one of the Nobles does make an off colour remark about Daniel and her being together... and Celestia blasts the Noble for it verbally somehow...

[HIEfan]

A mare looses her lover, goes insane and makes the whole World suffer.....a truley morbid and at the same time Beautiful concept.