The story of a young unicorn from Canterlot and her experiences.
A unicorn named Peppermint Frost. She was from Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, and was taught in the same school Twilight Sparkle was taught in. She had a remarkable childhood and an exciting life, and she cherished it.
It was a sunny day in Canterlot, and the sound of chirping birds filled the crisp, morning air. In a big house, somewhere on riverside street, a young unicorn filly was eating her breakfast wearily. She yawned and set her pancakes aside, and tried to reach for the milk carton.
Her father lowered his newspaper and frowned. “Peppermint darling, what use is that horn on your head, hmm?”
Peppermint scowled, while shakily levitating the milk carton with her white aura. She poured the creamy milk on her glass, and tried to stuff her pancakes down her throat at the same time. A creamy white pegasus stepped down the stairs and stared at Peppermint in amusement.
"Ahem..." Lily Mint cleared her throat.
Peppermint blushed and kept her head down, while her father chuckled heartily.
After breakfast, Peppermint ran upstairs and began putting books inside a saddlebag. Her mother was waiting at the door.
She shouted, "Dear, you really must hurry up, you’re going to be late for school!”
Peppermint galloped downstairs with a saddlebag over her back and a grin on her face.
Lily soared through the air and Peppermint was on her back. The mare spotted a large building and glided down. When she reached the ground, she lowered Peppermint and they both trotted over to what looked liked a grand academy. Right next to it stood the west tower of Canterlot castle, glimmering in the sun.
The Mother and Daughter entered the building, trotting on the marble floor tiles, when they approached a large antique wooden double-door. Lily hesitantly shoved it, and both she and Peppermint walked in to a fairly sized hall. They were greeted with a sunshine of colors that were reflected from the stained glass windows on either side of the hall. Beautiful paintings and tapestries were hung near the ceiling, and a glass staircase led up towards it. Ponies were bustling here and there, some of them hurrying along a corridor at the corner of the hall, while others were carrying trunks and boxes with their magic.
While Peppermint gaped at her surroundings, Lily walked over to what seemed like the reception desk, where an elderly pony with glasses was ruffling through files and papers. She looked up and noticed the mare, and smiled warmly.
“Here for registration?” She asked.
Lily replied, “Yes, my daughter Peppermint Frost will be joining in."
“Peppermint Frost...” she pondered, ”Half a minute, dearie,” she added sweetly, while rummaging through her papers again. "Ms. Peppermint Frost of Riverside street, yes?"
Lily nodded, then asked Peppermint, who had appeared next to her, "Let’s get to your class dear, we don't want to be late.”
“Her classroom is next to the biology lab, down the further end of the corridor." The mare with glasses explained, gesturing towards said corridor.
That is how Peppermint Frost remembered her first day at Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns.
Peppermint pushed open the wooden door and entered her classroom. She gasped at its arrangement. The walls were painted in a deep, pink hue, which reflected against the lighter squares of the checked floor tiles. Dainty golden lanterns were held up by strings attached to the ceiling. Royal blue drapes hung over beautiful stained glass windows, which were glittering against the sun's reflection upon them. But what naturally caught Peppermint's attention the most, were the colourful books propped up on an antique wood bookshelf. Oh, think of the information in all those pages, waiting to be absorbed into one's mind!
She let her eyes wander over the rest of the room, and her sight came to rest upon the teacher's desk, and a tall pony next to it. She had a multi-colored mane with a pastel touch. It waved and swayed continuously. She noticed Peppermint staring at her, and smiled.
Peppermint was interrupted from her musings by a gentle, silvery voice. "Welcome dear! Why don't you introduce yourself?"
Peppermint turned her head and realised that it was the princess who spoke to her.
She wore a smile on her face and answered. "Your majesty, my name is Peppermint Icicle Frost."
Princess Celestia stared at her and murmured softly, "Peppermint... what a beautiful name." Then, she said aloud, " Why don't you take a seat next to Twilight here?" Gesturing to a lavender filly with her nose buried in a book.
Peppermint made her way to the small table, and sat on the chair next to Twilight. The unicorn smiled at her but went back to reading her book. Peppermint heard the voice of her teacher filling the room and sighed happily.
This school was one she had been yearning to attend since she was little. Her father used to urge her to learn proper magic, since he was a magically skilled unicorn himself. So she started reading any spellbook she could get her hooves on, and also historical books on magical events and sorcerers. In one of them, she read about Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and that it was the most wide-known magic school in Canterlot for a thousand years. So she practiced and worked hard to pass the entrance examination to enter.
When the day came, the inside of her stomach was swimming with snakes. It was a tough spell, to hatch a phoenix's egg. Every ounce of her magic energy was concentrated on the egg, but it refused to budge. Then, she remembered something she had read in a book about biology. Dragons blow fire on their eggs to warm them up and make them hatch faster. It might work on phoenix eggs too. Peppermint exhaustingly casted a heat spell, and surprisingly, a beak popped out of the egg. She started crying and laughing at the same time.
Peppermint had made new friends at the end of the day. Twilight was really helpful when it came to making potions, and was a really talented filly in Peppermint's opinion. Lemon Hearts and the others showed her around the school, and what fascinated her most was the huge library with its endless bookshelves stretching out on the hall ways. Combat duels were her favourite, and she showed a great interest in them. Princess Celestia smiled knowingly when Peppermint eagerly fired a spell at a training dummy. She also paid attention to Princess Celestia's lessons about legends.
In one of the lessons, Princess Celestia explained on how an empire in the far north was cursed to disappear for a thousand years by an evil king who forced his subjects to become slaves. She lead an army to fight the king and his bewitched soldiers, but before the king was defeated, he placed his curse upon the empire and it vanished.
When school was over, Peppermint slowly trotted towards the gates of the school, when an elderly guard walked from the direction of the Canterlot castle and came over to her. When he saw her, he smiled and walked over to her.
She slowed down and uttered in a confused tone, "Um... can I help you, sir?"
"I'm sorry miss, I just wanted to ask if you belong to the Frost family."
"Yeah... I'm Gleaming Frost's daughter."
"I can surely see the resemblance. Your father and I are friends since he served the Royal Guard Service. My name is Storm Shield."
Peppermint was about to answer when she saw Lily Mint landing on the stone path outside. So she said, "I hope to meet you again, Sir Shield." And she waved goodbye to him and trotted over to her mother.
Lily Mint was panting as she nuzzled her daughter. "How was school dear?" She asked.
A young mare walked around a dark bedroom, which was faintly lit by a few rays of golden light piercing through half-closed curtains. She eventually settled herself on a bed and reached out for an album on her desk.
Her house, which was beside the Crystal Empire, was quite like a library, with book shelves in many corners. In her study, books could quite often be seen on the floor and on furniture. Stacks of papers and files were also among the mess. Occasionally, a few strange objects would be brought, and she would spend hours studying them.
Peppermint sighed. Time had really flown over the years. Her hoof softly turned over the pages of the album, until she stopped at a worn out photo filling the whole page. It was an old photograph, on the day she graduated from Magic school, posing with all her classmates. Her former teacher, Princess Celestia was also standing there, and so was her mother, who was putting a hoof around the mint-blue mare. A tear splattered over the photo cover, and Peppermint wiped it away and smiled vaguely.
But soon enough, that feeling was washed away with grief and anger. She scowled, and slammed the album before tossing it on the bed with her magic. Then, she threw her saddlebag over her back before leaving her house. She looked at the meadow in front of her and took a deep breath.
"Hey Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced into Twilight's room. "Whatcha looking at?"
"Oh, just rummaging through an old photo album Pinkie," Twilight sighed. "A yearbook from the wonderful days I had spent at Magic school."
Pinkie stared at the current page Twilight was in. "Oooh, who is she?" She asked, pointing to a large photo that looked more creased then the rest.
"Well, the ponies standing next to Princess Celestia are my old classmates: You know Moon Dancer, Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts and I." She smiled, before pointing to a different pony. "And the last mare is Peppermint, but we call her Icicle."
"I don't think I've ever seen her before," Pinkie said as she pointed towards the turquoise pony in the photo.
"Oh, Icicle moved away from Canterlot," Twilight sighed sadly. "Somewhere near the Crystal Empire, she'd said before leaving. We all miss her."
"I'm really sorry about that Twilight."
Twilight smiled. "You know what Pinkie, I've been sitting inside here long enough. It's a nice day, we should be outdoors. Why don't we head to Sweet Apple Acres and get some cider?"
"Sure thing, Twilight! Oh wait- I've got freshly baked vanilla-caramel cupcakes, we could eat them on the way there!"
Commander Gleaming Frost scanned the area for his allies, but they were not to be seen. The dragons had also vanished, which was unusual for creatures as large as they were. He was slightly worried about their absence for some reason. It could either mean that they had retreated and left, or had a more sinister plan in mind. If so, he needed to find his soldiers quickly, and wait for further instructions from the Princess.
While brooding over the matter, his eyes caught a moving body below the cliff. Was it a dragon or a pony, he couldn't distinguish. Teleporting down the cliff, he squinted at the rocky land. At first, he didn't spot her, but a while later, he could make out that it was the princess. She was flying towards the volcanic hills, and by her side were two of her royal guards. Frost hurriedly teleported after them, and with more wariness, watched out for the ferocious dragons. The princess stopped haltingly, and Frost caught up with her. But there was no time to talk, for they both heard the unmistakable roar of the dragon lord behind them.
Suddenly, as if on cue, the barren valley was filled with dragons of all sizes, appearing from caves and hollow rocks. Frost looked at the scene with astonishment, while Princess Celestia's horn instantly glowed. Nothing happened. She turned her head towards the entrance of the valley, and her horn glowed once more. This time, a galloping of hooves could be heard, and swarms of ponies marched into the valley. Soon, the valley turned into a battlefield.
The Pegasi were firing arrows and striking the dragons from above while the Earth ponies were attacking the dragons down below. The unicorns were firing spells at the beasts and teleporting injured soldiers to a safe place, erecting magical barriers around them.
Amidst the chaos, Frost saw a group of injured pegasi lying on a hill who couldn't fly to safety. He teleported himself there and lifted them one by one towards a small cave. As he was doing so, a large roar filled the cave, making a few stones shudder. He turned around quickly towards the source of the sound. Suddenly, he saw the princess fall to a strike of the largest dragon on the battlefield.
The princess saved herself by floating gently to the ground, but the dragon had not lost focus on her. He was about to strike again, when he felt a shock on his scaly back. The dragon roared and turned around to find his aggressor, who was on the edge of a cliff.
He roared at Frost with his fire breath. Frost cast a shield on himself, yet he could feel heat around him. He released his shield and fired another spell at the dragon, who was now amused by the stallion. Dragons and ponies stopped fighting and stared tensely at the duo. Princess Celestia tried to join in, but other dragons began to obstruct her.
Frost was exhausted by now, yet he used all his energy on fighting. Firing spell after spell, he grew dizzy. Knowing that he wouldn't last long by attacking, he tried to back out, but the dragon's eyes were on him. His eyes searched around urgently for a way out. Caught off guard, he was attacked by the dragon again. This time, the dragon defeated him. A giant claw swept and threw him over the cliff towards the ground. He landed with a thud, coughing blood out. Soon, he lost consciousness.
When he woke up, he saw the princess looking at him with concern. Frost was having difficulty breathing. He was in a bed and he was surrounded by several of his guard friends. He also saw his wife and daughter looking at him with tears in their eyes. Frost beckoned his daughter to come closer to the bed. He whispered to her.
"Peppermint... look after yourself now. I ... I can't watch over you anymore."
Peppermint Frost wearily closed a book which she'd been reading. Yawning, she shuffled to her bed, trying not to stumble on her way. As soon as she pulled the quilt over herself, she fell asleep.
It was a crisp and sunny day, with a mild breeze to cool it. Peppermint was woken up by the bright rays of sunlight that pierced through the gap between her curtains. As she opened her eyes, she saw her clock read half past eight.
"Oh, no!" She exclaimed. "I'm late for the faire!"
Today was the day of the Crystal Faire, an annual event held in the Crystal Empire. Peppermint had planned to go as early as possible as she lived on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, and this year, the crowd of visiting ponies would have been increased.
Peppermint hurried over to the crystal berry juice stand. A lot of ponies were around her, pushing and trotting, trying to cut in on each other. Many of the visitors were trying to catch a glimpse of the Crystal Heart. Foals were running around, laughing and playing, and their mothers were calling out after them.
Above, on the balcony of the castle, were Princess Cadence and her husband Prince Shining Armor, with their foal, Princess Flurry Heart. They were waving down to the crowd. When they arrived at the faire ground, a large herd of ponies circled around them.
Peppermint spotted her friend Amethyst Shard, whose eyes shone with excitement. She walked up to her friend.
"Peppermint, you finally made it! I thought you'd overslept with your late-night reading!"
"Amethyst, you know I wouldn't!"
Amethyst giggled.
The two mares walked towards the Crystal Heart, trying to squirm out of the crowd. Suddenly, trumpets were heard and a carpet was seen rolling out. Eventually, the crowd split in half on either side of the carpet. A golden carriage was at the end of it, with flags next to it. Everypony tried to get near it. Then, somepony stepped out of the carriage. Somepony with a flowing mane and tail.
Peppermint coughed on the juice suddenly before she turned pale. She turned around and sped away in the other direction.
Amethyst Shard stared at her friend as if she was mad. "What's wrong with that pony?!"
With that, she disappeared into the crowd.
Not today, I can't. I can't face her, were the words muttered by Peppermint over and over again. As she kept murmuring, she realized that she was running around in circles.
Suddenly, she stopped.
A certain purple mare was waving at the ponies around her and they smiled and bowed. A mare that Peppermint vaguely remembered from her past. It was none other than the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle.
With a jolt, Peppermint stood still like a cockatrice had petrified her. The Princess, having met her eyes, was also behaving the same way. This continued for a while.
"Icicle, is that you?" Twilight whispered at last.
Peppermint snapped out of her trance when she heard her old school name being called. She couldn't believe that she was in front of her old school friend, not to mention that she was a princess now. Of all the memories that came flooding back, she remembered how Twilight had helped her efficiently in her studies, how she had stayed overnight at Twilight's reading books with her, and laughing with their friends when attending the annual Grand Galloping Gala.
"Yeah. T-Twilight?"
"Yeah."
She was suddenly hugged by Twilight, feeling tears slowly trickle off her cheeks. At last, when Twilight drew back from the hug, she smiled at Peppermint and her eyes were also watery.
