Prologue: Frozen
The chill of the bitter cold stung the mare’s skin even through her cloak and coat, and bit painfully and mercilessly at her bones. She was certain frostbite was on the way, if it had not arrived already, and not even heating spells would work anymore. Winter had always been ruthless, coldhearted, and cruel, but she felt on the verge of hypothermia. She was surprised she’d made it this far, and she could barely see in front of her. Tiny shards of ice clung to her eyelashes and snowflakes kept shooting into her eyes. Her nose was frozen, and she was sure if she managed to survive, any illness would not be a mere cold.
She dreaded the walk and her hooves, legs, and body screamed at her to stop. She’d been traveling for hours, from the Mountains of Borealis of course and she regretted not taking Madam Aurora’s offer. Even the lanterns lit every Winter, cast with a spell so they’d never die, were near invisible with the thickness of the Winter rage. She shivered, pulled her cloak tighter around her in a useless attempt to hide from the cold. Not even a cave would work at this point. She knew that not even Blizzard Heart or Winter Comet would be foolish enough to be out in this weather. “Please, Mistress Winter,” her voice was drowned out by the ruthless howls of the wind and her throat was dry. “Mercy,” she coughed horribly, her throat hurting and her chest burning.
Despite her plea, the rage did not die down but it did not grow either. “Gratefulness,” the mare bowed her head respectfully, knowing full well the winds would have grown worse. Frozen tears clung to her eyes as she continued on. ‘Equestrian folk must have better Winters than us...’ she thought bitterly but did not dare say it out loud.
“Madness must have overtaken your mind,” a unfamiliar voice made her jump, nearly out of her frostbitten skin.
Looking up, her dark blue eyes met a pair of silvery white ones. There was no true body, as it was a spectral form, but she had a feeling it was either a Windigo of legend, a Winter’s Spirit, or a Priestess of Lady Winter herself. But the colors were rather magnificent. Within that spectral form, she could see the palest of pale blue, paler than even Zephyr’s eyes, and it was wrapped in pale gray, dark gray, and even a fitting black tinted with silver. Its face, though translucent and hidden by the snow, was more horselike than pony-like. “Being out in this weather,” she could tell just by its voice that it was grinning.
“No other choice, might I know your name?” she asked, brushing the shards from her eyelashes and noting how around the two of them, the winds no longer struck but she was still near frozen.
“Wrongful, no? Not knowing the lovely, arctic, crazed, mare’s name first,” it grinned cheekily and she scowled.
“Where are my manners?” she rolled her eyes, which earned her a faint chuckle. “My name is Snow Jewel,” she answered and it nodded its head.
“My name, milady, is rather long,” she raised a frozen eyebrow.
“Oh?” Snow Jewel was not impressed.
The creature rolled its own eyes. “I am known as the Tempest of Winter, but the name given by Mistress Winter was Frozen Star,” he bowed his head to her respectfully. “Surprisingly you have not made a complaint,” Snow Jewel knew instantly that he was challenging her, and she would either be dead now or dead later on.
“I cannot complain, Winter is a natural cycle,” she was speaking the truth. “And rather, despite the chill I feel now, I know that her power brings new life to the land. Besides, in like the Lion and out like the Lamb,” it bowed its head again.
“You may pass,” it said cryptically before cackling madly and disappearing into the still storming sky.
She sighed and shook her head irritably. “Windigos,” she muttered before returning to her walk. She thanked Mistress Winter for lessening the power in her storms, clearly having been told by Frozen Star what she had said or having overheard it. She shuddered as she saw the frozen lake in front of her. She could walk around it, but it would take longer and time was of the essence. “Oh, by Faust... Please let this be painless,” she cast a spell around herself, and scowled at the thought. She could not even levitate herself over the lake, because her magic had been weakened by her chills and the inevitable illness that would surely follow.
Snow Jewel gasped and shivered as her hooves slid slightly on the ice. It was one thing if you were a creature with claws that could dig carefully into the ice, even if it was rather thick, but for a creature with hooves? It was like asking for bad luck to come down and smite you. A sudden howling caused her to freeze, but out of fear rather than the cold. She knew she could not run, because she would merely slip and most likely hurt herself, causing herself to be easier prey, but her magic was weak and the village was still past the lake and the rest of the forest ahead of her. “Back off,” she turned and faced a pack of Timber’s Wolves. She was outnumbered and they were vicious and most likely starving.
They growled at her and the biggest of them all, muscled and raggedy, scratched and scathed, stared at her and then the ice, its glowing green eyes darting between the mare and the death wish. “Why don’t you come back, little filly?” it grinned with sharp, yellow fangs.
“We don’t bite,” another of the pack said.
“Much,” came another and the rest giggled and cackled with a twisted delight.
“Back off,” she repeated, horn glowing bright blue.
“Please, you’re weak,” the Alpha commented. “We have claws,” it released its claws from their sheathing for emphasis. “And can claw,” it stuck its paws into the ice, slowly coming after her and some followed him while others went around both sides, ensuring no escape.
Snow Jewel hated herself at that moment for her stupidity for not staying with Madam Borealis and for not asking Frozen Star to stay with her the rest of the way. “Why don’t you come back?” the Alpha pressed as she slowly backed away, horn still glowing dimly. “Make this easier on all of us?” they were all coming in this time, even the ones from the side. She was the target of a circle of Timber’s Wolves, and they were all within leaping and lethal distance.
“You’re the pack of the Northern Forest,” she commented and he raised an eyebrow, but made the mistake of nodding. “You’re the Hunters and the Fighters, you left your Queens and Elders back at your den,” she focused her magic as powerfully as she could before forming a spell.
The Alpha growled and leapt as she struck her horn into the thickness of the ice. It gave her an instant migraine, and she was rather surprised her horn did not snap off, but her planned worked. Instantly the ice broke apart and some of the more unfortunate Wolves fell into the arctic, deathly depths instantly while the others clung to their broken ice pieces for dear life. The Alpha collided with her and the coldness of the bitter air had nothing compared to the water of the lake.
It shot into her nerves instantly and she was not cold. She was frozen. Yet her lungs burned and stung as they desperately needed air, and the worst part was that this was his lake during the Winter. She tried to swim for the surface, feeling her bones turn frozen and brittle and her fur seemed to either stick to her or help with the stinging pain. But the Alpha too was struggling and he pulled her down into the watery, black depths. The shadow lurking in the waters, the dark whispers of the shivering waves, and the black fog that surrounded her eyes and her mind helped nothing at all.
Blood red eyes glowing maliciously at her as she was beginning to slip out of consciousness. “A sweet little mare... With friends no less...” she coughed out water only to swallow more as she heard his voice. It was rich and silky, yet dark and filled with hatred. Like the venom of a belladonna flower wrapped inside of honey and sugar. Sweet and rich on the outside, but poisonous and deadly on the inside. She knew what he would do, and she felt that last bit of her magic and energy fading from her as her eyes began to close and the darkness was surrounding her magic and mind.
“Jewel of Snow, Wolves of Timber... Soon Winter shall last forever...” his mocking, dark laughter was the last thing she heard along with his cruelest words; “The Never and Equestria will be... Mine...” If she could, she would pray for not only her home within the Never. But for the Equestrian World as well. To Faust, for her home and friends, those she knew and had not met yet, she prayed.