Everything was cold and dark, very cold. I could hear and feel a frigid wind brushing past me and stinging my cheeks and snout. Once everything started to clear up I saw that we were in a seemingly endless wasteland of snow and ice. Beyond that lay mountains which were as blue as the sky, frozen over completely with ice. And to the left... A city. Large stone walls signaling us with a large spire jousting from the center of the stone city. I looked around and saw that buried partially in the snow laid twilight. She moaned and then climbed to her hooves. She took in her surroundings and then another wind blew causing her to shake and shiver.
"Oh god it's so cold here..." She said shivering. Her horn glowed with a purple hue as a purple barrier flashed around her and she let out a sigh of relief. "Much better..." She said.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Frost shield... It'll keep me freezing to death, but its still kinda cold." She said. " are you going to be alright crimson?" She asked.
"I'll be fine... The cold can't hurt me like it can you." I said.
" alright..." Said twilight. She trudged over to me through the snow and we both looked off to the city. "That must be the city." She said.
"We should get going..." I said. "We can't stay out here forever." Twilight nodded in agreement and we started walking.
"Wait said twilight." Making me stop. I looked back to see what it was and she started looking around the snow. She fixated her eyes on something in the snow and used her magic to pull it form the ground, it was the pendant the Minotaur gave us. She levitated it over and started carrying with her. "We can't forget this." She said walking over to me. I smiled and we started to make the drudge through the cold and the snow. It wasn't easy... Not in the slightest.
The snow was thick, very thick. It would reach up past my legs and brush against my stomach. The cold wind bit my nose and cheeks and snow fell down like rain and hail. Twilights frost shield, which is basically an external barrier of hear, was melting the snow in front of her, so it was easy for her to drudge through the snow. Another harsh wind cut through the air and I shivered and quaked as it stung every inch of my body. Twilight noticed I had called behind and looked back with concern. She could see that my skin was becoming discolor end and my face was bright red from the frost.
"Are you going to be alright?" She asked.
"I underestimated the weather... Normally I don't get cold, but this is something else." I said.
"Do you want me to put a frost shield on you as well?" She asked.
"No... Just focus on your own... No need to waste your energy on me." I said. "Besides... I've got more than just a few tricks up my sleeve." I said. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. When I exhaled I didn't breathe out air... But fire. I exhumed fire from my lungs towards the ground as it melted the snow and flickered back up to warm my own body. Once i was out of breath the fire stopped and the flames vanished, leaving only me in a wet puddle which used to be snow.
"Nice trick... What, are you part dragon now?" Se asked jokingly with a smile.
"Not exactly..." I replied back. "I can clear the path with this, it'll make things easier." I said taking another deep breath and blowing a jet of fire out infant of us to melt the snow and help clear the way. We started making our way don't the path I made and I stopped occasionally to warm myself and clear some more snow.
"It would be a good idea to stick with fire elemental magic while were here." Said twilight.
"Yeah probably." I agreed. We walked down the path some more and the city grew closer and closer. Soon enough the walls started to tower above us and the large iron gates closing the city off from the rest of the world became visible. The gates, however, weren't bars of iron or steel... They were solid iron doors, big enough to fit several whales. We kept walking closer and closer and soon enough before the gates was some kind of guards post. We started inching closer and closer and one of the guards outside of the post noticed us. He started calling out to other guards, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Soon a gate in the station opened up and five guards in armor came running out with spears. There armor looked like it was made out of ice with silky white cloth underneath which was probably made form tundra cotton.
"Halt!" Said the one in the middle which was wearing the captains helmet and holding a spear at us. They surrounded us pointing their spears at us. "What kind of trick is this?" He asked.
"What do you mean trick?" I asked.
"There are no ponies out in the wasteland... They would not survive, even the mightiest warrior... You two must be shades... Here to deceive us... It won't work." He said jabbing his spear tauntingly at us.
"We aren't shades... We're ponies, we need to get into the city." I said.
"That trick isn't going to work." Said the guard captain.
"We came from mordestand... With the Minotaurs... See, look." She said flashing the guard captain the gold seal. He looked at it and seemed confused.
"But... How?" He pulled the seal away and the guard captain lowered his weapon, the other guards did the same. He peered at the both of us and then once again at the seal. "Alright... You two come with me." He said pointing to us, lets get out of the cold before the storm picks up... That's when the winter wisps come out and feast." He said turning around with his frost blue cape blowing in the wind. It was torn and tattered. He started walking back and we followed him.
He walked over and entered the guards station and the rest of us followed. The gates closed as we were all in and it canceled out all the noise form outside. It was warm in here, very warm. I looked around and saw protective seals covering the walls. They must be keeping out the monsters and the cold. The other guard started taking off their armor and clothing. They all went into a lodge where they could relax, except for the captain. He motioned for us to follow him and we went with him into another room, it looked like an office. We both walked in and he took his helmet off and placed it on the desk. He was a grey stallion with ice blue hair and brown eyes. He had a scar on his left cheek and another above his right eye.
"So... You two are from... Mordestand...interesting." He said. He looked at the two of us. Me and twilight were both equally nervous as we had just recently been plunged into a situation we both know nothing about. "Now what's very interesting... And I mean... VERY, interesting... Is how you two made it here on hoof... In one piece... Untouched." He said. "Around here that's nothing short of a fairy tale."
"We uh..." Twilight stammered.
"So..." He said cutting her off. "What are your names?" Asked the guardspony.
"My name is twilight sparkle."
"And I'm crimson blast." I said. "How we got here... Is a very long and unbelievable story... But I promise you that we aren't here to hurt anypony or cause trouble... We need to get in the city, were expecting an airship from Equestria.
"Equestria?" Said the guard captain getting somewhat curious.
"We haven't heard from Equestria ever since they sent the prince over for some unexpected reason." Said the guard captain.
"Unexpected?" Questioned twilight. "We've been told that the prince was sent over because Equestria hasn't heard from neverspring in over four months." She said. "We're here to try and help out and reestablish trade between our two countries." She said.
"We were sent here by prince solar... We came here unexpectingly early... Which is wher dour long story comes in. If I'm right, there should be a ship coming in from Equestria in less than a week... At the most it should be here in two or three days." I said.
"Hmm..." Said the guard pony. "Well, you've peaked my curiosity to say the least. But I still want to keep an eye on you two." He said. "But where are my manners? My name is guard captain Donnic." He said holding out a hoof. I grabbed his hoof and we shook, as well as twilight. "So what is this story of yours... I'd like to hear it." He said.
"Well, it's kind of a crazy and ridiculous story." I said rubbing the back of my head.
"Well, when it comes to our two countries... There's a lot of difference." He said. "In your country ponies are pretty reluctant to believe in things such as ghosts and fairies, let alone dangerous or strange creatures living in the forest or something. In this country, if somepony told me they saw a pony get ripped in half by some kind of monster made completely of ice... I'd believe them, even if they were lying." He said.
"Okay then... The story goes something like this." I said. Me and twilight spent the next half hour telling Donnic about what happened on the ship and the snake woman we saw in the forest and about the harpies and the Minotaur. We told him about how she teleported us here and about the Minotaur that gave us the seal. Once the story was over he looked at us both with a strange look of deep interest.
"You uh... Probably think were crazy... Don't you?" Asked twilight.
"Yes... I do." He said. "But I believe you." He added. "In neverspring you can't think logically, this is an unpredictable place where you can only trust your instincts. So being crazy is a good thing here." He said. "So the snake Eazma teleported you here... In the middle of the ice and in the middle of this storm."he said.
"There wasn't much choice in the matter." I added.
"Well... You two are lucky we found you before the night fell and the storm picked up." He said. "Winter wisps like to feast during harsh storms like this
In the night." He said. "There's probably just as many wisps out there as there is snow... But don't worry, the city and this place are sealed with a great magic... Nothing can get in... But that doesn't mean they haven't tried."he said.
"What are these wisps?" Asked twilight. "I read that wisps are just spirits that died alone and have no reason to carry on, I thought they avoided others." She said.
"These wisps are different... But the same." He said. "The harsh climate here as made them cold and bitter. Now they cling to any wandering creature with a soul and tear off pieces of that creatures soul to keep them company since they are so lonely."
"Sounds terrifying, I don't think I really know what it's like to lose a piece of my soul." Said twilight.
"It's not a good thing." I said.
"You know what it's like?"asked Donnic looking curiously at me.
"I only know from books, not from experience." I said. "Losing a piece of your soul would make you forget memories and even stop you from feeling some emotions." I said looking to twilight.
"Mmm..." Murmured Donnic. "Had a poor bloke one who had a piece of his soul ripped out." He said. "He was a new recruit, stationed here... Made a severely poor mistake and a wisp took part of his soul. He completely forgot everything about being a guard and even forgot about his parents and a good part of his childhood. Poor bastard also lost the ability to feel pleasure."
"Sounds bad..." I said.
"Yeah... I think I'd rather loose a hoof or two than have that happen." Added Donnic. He stared off for a moment and started to gaze off into space but suddenly snapped back to reality. "Anyway..."he said regaining his thoughts. "It's too dangerous to enter the city right now with this storm... You two can stay here until tomorrow and I'll let you in."he said. "If you two were sent from the prince of Equestria then we can trust you, I'll have a few guards take watch at the docs for a ship coming in from Equestria, when it arrives I'll make sure they are made aware of your presence here."he said.
"Just so you know, the ship that's traveling here is a military grade warship."said twilight.
"That's no surprise..."added Donnic. "They usually are, even in the air there are still dangers... That is how you ended up crashing down after all... And I can assure you that a snow storm is much worse than a regular one." He said. "You ever seen lightning during a snowstorm?" He asked.
"Uhm...no." We both said.
"Not pretty." He added. "Well... It's late, and tomorrow won't come any faster with us just standing around talking. Please, get some rest, it's been a long journey for you I'm sure... Just past that door is an empty guards quarters. A few guards got pulled back into the city from out here, so it's empty for the time being, pick and bed and get some rest... I'm going to do the same." Said Donnic.
"Thank you..." We both said. He just smile as we walked off to go into the guards quarters. We walked in and it was a larger room with beds laying parallel to each other in rows. There must have been at least ten beds in here. Me and twilight picked our beds and climbed right on in. They were considerable comfortable and very warm. It didn't take long for either of us to start drifting off to sleep. The storm outside raged on and on as we laid in the cozy little building by the large gates of the city.
In my dreams I could only think about how the others on the ship are faring. Scarlet and thunder are all alone on that ship, they probably think were dead... Well, thunder knows I'm not dead, and scarlet probably thinks I might have survived, but I'm not sure if they know that I was able to save twilight. I'm sure though that they are hoping and believing that the both of us made it safely. I just hope that they haven't diverted their path to find us, and I pray that without our help they haven't run into any kind of severe trouble. Once those thoughts started clearing out of my head I began to dream about crazy things. And I kept dreaming until I awoke the next day. My body soon woke me up on its own and I let out a deep yawn.
I looked around and started to remember everything about yesterday. I stretched my hooves as I let out another deep yawn. I looked over at twilight sleeping only one bed over and she was still wrapped up tightly in her blankets... Fast asleep. I shouldn't wake her up, I'll let her sleep. While I'm up I should go see what I can do around here. I got up out of the bed and used my magic to make the bed in an instant. I walked over to the door and opened it up. I ended up opening a different door than the one that was in the captains quarters and walked into some kind of lounge. There was a large fireplace with a roaring fire and a hooffull of guards sitting on soft couches and drinking coffee. There were three over at a small card table playing a game of cards with a small pile of coins in the middle of the table. They all looked over to me, even the captain was in here. Still wearing his armor, almost like he was sleeping in it... I hope he wasn't.
"Oh good, your awake..." Donnic, said. "Want some coffee?" He asked.
"Uhm... No thanks, I'm fine." I said. I walked over and the other guards looked at me.
"The captain told us about your story... It's pretty amazing how you survived a fall out of an airship in mid flight." Said a guard on the couch taking a sip of coffee.
"How'd you do it anyway... Some kind of trick... Or did you just get lucky?" He asked. "Did that unicorn use her magic to help break the fall."
"No I uh... Used my own magic." I said. The guards grew silent for a second and then they started laughing.
"That's a pretty good joke." Said one guard at the card table. They probably thought I was being sarcastic. I let out a deep sigh and looked around for something to prove myself with. Suddenly a guard opened one of the doors and walked in hauling something heavy.
"Hey... Is somepony going to help me with this or do I have to do all the work around here?" Said the guard who was hauling a pallet full of logs for the fire.
"Hey anders... Maybe this guy can use his magic to help you move the wood." Said one guard gesturing to me as he and the others began laughing again. I just rolled my eyes and focused my energy. I closed my eyes and thought for a second then when I opened them my eyes began to glow. One by one I use day magic to pick up all the logs and the pallet. I quickly moved the pallet over to the side of the fireplace and began placing the logs on the pallet in the same place they were in before. I placed down all but two which I threw into the fireplace. I blinked once and my eyes returned to normal. The whole room was silent... Not a word... Nothing.
"Well damn..." Said one of the guards after a minute of complete silence had passed. "I apologize." He said.
"It's fine..." I said. "It is very unbelievable that any pony other than a unicorn could use magic."
"So how'd you do that?" Asked Donnic.
"That's a very long story... It spans pretty much over a couple years." I said. "I can't really tell you... It's one of those things where you just had to be there." I said.
"Make sense... All minor misunderstandings aside, where is your unicorn friend?" He asked.
"Still sleeping." I answered.
"Alright... Why don't you come and relax before she wakes up." Said Donnic pointing to a spot on the couch next to him. "If she isn't up in an hour we should wake her, then we'll get you two into the city." He said.
I sat down on the couch next to Donnic and warmed myself by the fire with the others. The mood started to get more comfortable after a few minutes and we sat around talking and telling jokes. The guards even offered me to join them in a game of cards... But I didn't have any money. Donnic gave me ten bits to play with and said he expects me to pay him back. I agreed and I played a game of cards with the other three guard ponies. It was good to know that neverspring uses the same monetary system as Equestria. About ten minutes later after playing cards with the others I had won. Which was good, because now me and twilight have some money to use once we get into the city. I paid back Donnic his ten bits and ended up with 137 bits in my pocket.
I didn't have anywhere to put the money, but Donnic gave me a small money pouch along with a side bag to put my stuff in. With that in mind I put the money in there as well as the seal the Minotaur gave to me. They fit in well and I closed the bag and thanked Donnic. I offered to pay him for the bag but he said that watching his guards loose a game of cards to stranger was payment enough. I honestly thought one of them might have flipped the table. After a while we heard a door slowly start to creak open and we looked back to see twilight lazily walking out of the other room. She had bags under her eyes and her mane was a little messy. She let out a yawn and looked around the room.
"Oh good, twilight your awake." I said smiling.
"Yeah I'm awake..." She said groggily.
"Good morning miss... Would you like a cup of coffee to help you wake up?" Asked one of the guards walking over to twilight.
"You know... Coffee sounds pretty good right now." She said lazily. She followed the guard and he got her a cup of coffee. We all sat down and relaxed for a little longer while twilight drank her coffee. Some time passed and twilight took her final sip of the coffee. She swallowed ether coffee and let out a warming sigh of relief and she closed heir eyes and smiled. She seemed more lively now that she has had some time to wake up. She put the cup down on the small table in front of the couch and smiled.
"Felling better now?" Asked Donnic.
"Much better..." She said. "Thank you for the coffee." She said turning to the colt who offered her some.
"So, are we going to be going now?" It asked looking over to Donnic.
"Yes... C'mon, we'll accompany you to the gates, it's a bit of a walk... But it's relatively safe." He said getting up. "Morgan, Ron... C'mon, lets go." He said calling out two guards. They immediately jumped up from the card table with a salute and bolted into another room. We walked over to another door and walked through it. We were In the main lobby now. We followed Donnic to the door leading outside and just as he placed his hoof on the door the two guards from before came rushing out of a room adorned in full armor. They took either side of us and we started our way outside.
We got outside and it was frigidly cold. The guards were able to stay warm because of their clothing which was perfect for retaining body heat. Twilights horn glowed and she recanted her frost shield on herself. We started making our way through the thick snow until we reached a small path which was only partially covered in snow. We started making our way down the path as a frigid wind blew past us and chilled me to the core. I shivered and grit my teeth. I felt something welling inside of me and all of a sudden I let out a sneeze. Which was surprising... That's the first time I've sneaked in a very...VERY, long time. Even twilight seemed somewhat surprised to hear it. The guards looked back at me with curiosity.
"You aren't going to last unless you keep yourself warm."said Donnic. "How
Is it the two of you survived already without any kind of protection from the elements let alone the dangerous beasts that lurk in the wasteland.
"I've put up a frost shield... It makes the cold much more bearable." Said twilight.
"Alright... That helps... What about you, I know you can use magic... What have you got?" Asked Donnic.
"Well I specialize mostly in general and offensive magic, I dont have a frost shield... Just a normal all purpose shield." I said. "But I do have a way of keeping myself warm." I said.
"What is It?" Asked one of the guards.
"Yeah, show us." Added the other guard. I rolled my eyes over to twilight who just gave me an indecisive look.
"I'd still rather not." I said.
"Alright then... Just don't freeze to death." Said Donnic turning around and continuing us down the path. We followed him down the path a grew closer and closer to the city gates. Instead of breathing fire I just started to breath heated air out of my nose a let it blow back into me to keep me warm. Soon we were at the city gates. There were a few guards stationed outside of it as well as keen eyes archers all the way on top of the city walls. The guards saluted Donnic and we continued to the gates. Instead of the large gates opening up there were smaller doors cut into the larger ones. "Well here we are." Said Donnic.
"Thank you Donnic." I said.
"No problem." He said. "Now, when your in there go and see knight commander Meredith. She's on the top of the top, the only one above her is the king."
"so he's an important pony." I suggested.
"Well yes... SHE... Is." He said.
"Oh... So she's and important pony." I repeated fixing my error.
"Yes, crossing her would men death, she is a savant in both the magical arts and the skill of swordplay... She also probably the scariest mare to ever walk the face of the earth. Just be sure not to make her mad when you meet her, other than that she's a pretty nice mare." He said.
"Where is she?" Asked twilight.
"East wing of the castle." Said Donnic. "Here take this." He said passing me a letter with a wax seal on it. "Give this to her once you find her, it's got all the details about the ship coming and your arrival, if any of the guards give you trouble, just show them the seal... They'll back down." He said.
"Thank you." I said as the smaller metal gates started to open up to the city.
"No problem, just don't cause any trouble... And enjoy the city." He said smiling as me and twilight started making our way into the city. We passed through the metal doors which were at least ten to twelve feet thick... Where they got all this iron is beyond me. When we entered the city me and twilight were greeted with a beautiful sight. The gates closed behind us and me and twilight took in the beauty of the city.
The houses were made of stone with small windows and straw roofs. Ponies walked around wearing nothing at all despite the weather. They were all pretty grey with little to no color, but they had smiles on their faces and cutie marks like the rest. They did seem a lot bigger than most ponies though. Beneath us was the road which was just cobblestone paths spiraling through the city. Beyond the small building were smaller buildings in the distance and the castle towered behind them all. The castle stood in the center of the city and towered over the rest. And the huge spire we saw before stood in the very center of the whole city. It towered over everything and seemed like it could touch the clouds. The air here was warm which was strange. The city must be protected by great magic, it's very cozy here, and its got a very homey feel to it.
"This place is amazing." Said twilight looking around in awe. I could already tell we were going to stand out like a sore thumb here. "This place seems like a pretty good place to live." She added.
"Yeah, despite the fact that everything that moves outside of the gates wants to kill you, this is a great place." I said.
"I can't even begin to imagine how much hard work, time, and effort went into building this city." Said twilight.
"Well... It probably took a few generations." I said.
"So... What should we do?" Asked twilight.
"Well, the days young so we can head to the knight commander now, it would probably only take us a few hours... Or we can look around, find a place to stay... And go tomorrow." I said pointing out suggestions.
"I think we should go to the castle now, we can probably find a place to stay later." Suggested twilight.
"Alright... Sure." I said. "If we just head straight we should probably get there eventually."I said. I gestured to move forward and we started making our way through the streets and city buildings. It didn't take us too long to get into the thick of the city and the streets became wider and more and more full of ponies. We had to brush past and make our way through the crowds. There were stores and stalls set up on the sides of the road and homeless ponies sitting on the ground with a tin can held out. Street performers also started to become frequent as we got in deeper. Ponies made circles and crowded along a pony playing the violin in the middle of the street. She had an open case full of bits. We walked by and kept on towards the castle. The buildings started getting taller and taller. Instead of making large buildings, it looked like they just stacked the smaller building on top of each other and built staircases up to the doors.
The crowds started growing thicker and thicker as we started getting into darker parts of the city. There were a lot of untrustworthy alleyways and lots of suspicious character hiding in said alleyways. Not long after the shops and stalls began to fade, and so did the crowd. Soon the homeless ponies and street performers stopped showing up and the roads became less crowded. This must be the nicer part of town. The buildings remained the same, but seemed more decorated and intricate than the rest. The ponies we saw here wore bright and fancy cloth clothing and seemed to walk in groups or pairs. It had only been an hour or so and the castle wasn't far. We continued to make our way through the streets and we often got some strange looked from the wealthier ponies walking around. I suppose that's to be expected since we don't exactly look like nobility. I'm still a bit frost bitten, and I'm surprised that even with my immunity, I still haven't gotten a cold or something.
We walked forward a bit longer and suddenly there was a break in the houses. We walked through to see the castle was rot in front of us. There was a huge courtyard before us with glowing plants and green shrubs. There were guards walking all around the place and some very, very important looking ponies walking with their noses in the air. The spire reached up to the heavens with a different wing branching out in each direction. Each with was then connected by another outer circle used for traveling quickly between wings. It was a very beautiful castle. Not like most that we have in equestria... But it was nice. Of course, if that spire were to fall it would probably fall down and take out half the city with it. Not, really thinking me and twilight started to wander into the castle grounds and look around at the sights.
"Halt there... You two." Said a voice from the side. We both jumped and froze at the voice. We looked over to see a guard walking over looking a bit cross. "What do the two of you think your doing here... Not just any pony wan enter the spire grounds... Do you have permission to be here?" He asked.
"Oh yes... Sorry." I said guiltily. I reached into my bag and pulled out the letter with the seal. "We are supposed to meet up with night commander Merideth, we spoke with guard captain Donnic outside of the castle earlier."I said handing the guard the letter. He grabbed it and looked at it. Once his eyes grazed over the seal a look of surprise engulfed his face.
"My word... This is the vidican seal..." He said.
"What...uh, what does that mean?" Asked twilight.
"That means the two of you are top priority at the moment." He said. "Please, come with me... The night commander will want to see the two of you, she is this way... Please follow." He said returning the letter to me and turning around. He started walking and we followed him as I put the letter back in my bag. We walked through the courtyard and a lot of the important looking ponies gave us awkward looks. A lot of the guards seemed curious as to why this guard was escorting us around... But they just kept to their own. We walked into the outer circle which was just long triangular roofing held up my stone pillars and columns. We walked onward around the outer circle and eventually entered one of the wings. We waked past a large open entrance and into a large room.
There were doors to the side along with golden statues of pony angels on their back hooves. The carpet was red velvet and at the bases of all the statues were candles that burned lightly and covered the ground in wax. We followed the guard and he took us to a staircase which passed by a large golden statue of an angel in armor with a large sword. There was another staircase on the other side where we saw other guard ponies, this time in different armor. They looked like they should be royal guards or something. They were wearing black and gold plate armor, and they had wings which were covered in sharp coverings. They wore hoods with metal masks, kind of like the way I dress when I put on my armor. Intact their armor was very similar. It didn't take us long to get to the top of the stairs and then then guard led us over to the second door on the left. He stopped and turned back to us.
"This is knight commander merideths office and private quarters." Said the guard. "She is in charge of both the city guard and the royal Templars. She takes orders from the kind only and is a very powerful mare... Show respect at all times. Address her as ma'am unless directed otherwise and do not talk out of place." Said the guard. "Is this understood?" He asked. Me and twilight both nodded and he stepped out of the way. He knocked on the door and waited.
"What is it?" Asked a mares voice form behind the door. It was a very powerful sounding voice with a lot of temperament behind it, but it sounded somewhat kind.
"Knight commander Merideth, there are two ponies here to see you."said the guard.
"I'm not taking visitors at the moment."she said.
"They have the vidican seal with them." Said the guard. There was a brief pause and complete silence.
"Send them in..." She said. He opened the door and gestured us to enter. We walked in and looked around. It was a large office with a lot of decorations. There was nopony in here though. On the walls hung paintings which seemed very old. In the middle of the room was a solid mahogany desk with quills and ink and a load of paperwork. There were antique swords hanging on the walls and windows which had red velvet curtains pulled open to let in light. Suddenly a door to the right opened up and a mare walked out of the room. She had icy blue fur with long blonde hair and a suit of armor. Her eyes were icy blue and looked both friendly and threatening.
Her armor was solid black with blue and gold trimmings. It was spiked and curved to her physique and she had a tattered blue cape on her head she wore a golden circlet with thorns on it. She looked over to us with a judge mental gaze and that's when I saw her weapon. A large broad sword which glowed with magical runes and mystical energy. It had a leather bound grip and was made form some strange metal, almost like the guards , ice like armor, it was reflective and transparent to a point. She kept her gaze on us and walked over behind her desk. She didn't sit down but just stood behind it.
"So..." She finally said. "Two ponies... I've never seen before in my life, you don't even look like you belong in this place. You waltz up to the castle with the vidican seal and a letter... Now how is that, and it better be one hell of a story, because I've had a bad day today and could use with the entertainment." She said. I reached into the bag and grabbed the letter and held it over to her. She didn't take it but just looked at it. "What am I supposed to do with that?...read it? I've got no time for that, just tell me the story." She said.
"Uh... Yes ma'am..." I staggered. I took in a deep breath and told her our story. Everything from the falling out of the airship, to the naga and the harpies. I told her everything about the seal the Minotaur gave me at the hot spring and how the naga healer sent us here. I told her about finding guardsman Donnic and then eventually we ended up here, in her office. I didn't tell her about why were here... I figured the letter would do that part. So once I finally finished our story I looked over at her and she just glared at us. "And now we're here... That's it... The whole story. Nothing left out, no details exaggerated... Everything."I said now somewhat out of breath. She glared at me for second... And then a small smile spread across her face.
"Damn... Not even my mother told me such great stories."she said. "That was pretty good, alright... You've got my attention, now why are you here?" She asked, her voice more gentle and agreeable than it was before when it sounded cold and judgmental. I guess all it took was a good story to lighten up her mood.
"I'm sure this letters good for something." I said holding out the letter again. "I'm sure it has Donnic's official report or something on it... I don't really know, but he said it was important we give this to you." I said.
"Alright... Let shave a look." She said taking the letter and falling back in her chair. She flapped her wings and got comfortable. That was the first time I saw her wings, the plating over them helps them to blend in with her armor. "You two can grab a seat... I'm starting to feel a bit better now after that riveting tale." She said kicking her hooves up and opening the letter. Me and twilight sat down on two seats by the door and looked around as she read the letter. She was definitely a lot more friendly now that we took a bit of time to get on her good side. The guards were right about her going both ways and being nice once you get her to calm down. She did seem rather terrifying when she was angry. "Huh... So the both of you are from Equestria." She said.
"Yes that's right... The prince sent us." Said twilight.
"So your here to fix the trading problem, and your looking for the lost prince moon." She said. "As well, you are expecting a ship of companions within the next three days. I'm going to guess this is the ship you fell out of... Correct?" She asked.
"Yes... Donnic said that he had a few guards stationed there on lookout for the ship." Said.
"Well... It's about time help arrived... Tough I'm not sure how much there is... But at least we have two more brains to help with this predicament."she said.
"So you definitely know that something is wrong?"asked twilight.
"Are you kidding. Trade ships come into equestria every week. Then suddenly one day a few months ago ships stop coming in. And just to add more to the shit storm, that same day an entire mountain goes missing...I mean...how the hell does that even happen?" She said curiously.
"Wait... Your missing a mountain?"I asked curiously.
"Oh that's right... The two of you don't know about that detail." She said. "Come over here." She said getting up from her chair and walking over to the window. We walked over and looked out the window. "What do you see?" She asked. Beyond the city lies the ocean, covered in a deep mist. Though it is possible to see three large curved mountains jetting out from the ocean a decent ways beyond the coast. They seemed to block off a line of smaller sharp rocks and mountains.
"There's three curved mountains." Said twilight
"That mountain range is called the four horns gate." She said. "For ships traveling by sea, they have to enter through the gate into the port, there's no other way."she said.
"But wait... Four horns gate... There's only three there."said twilight.
"Exactly."added Merideth. "One day, the mountain is just gone. The day before was very foggy, so nopony saw anything, then the next day it's gone... Like it was never there. So sight that it was destroyed. There weren't any strange noises or shadows lurking in the water... It just... Got up and left. There was no change in tide, no quakes or cracks... It was just gone."she said.
"That's definitely not something that should happen." I said.
"It used to be on the left of the solitary mountain. They used to be in pairs, then the gap... Not anymore."
"Have you went over to see the problem?" I asked.
"We sent a ship out... It never came back. It was just gone." She said. We've deemed the waters to be unsafe since then. The only way now to check on it would be to travers the seas teeth to get over to it... And that's pretty much next to impossible." She said.
"What are the seas teeth?" Asked twilight.
"Those are the sharp, smaller rocks connecting the four horns gate to the mainland, it basically a wall of razor sharp rocks that keep ships from entering. Walking across that would be like trying to walk across a floor of upright swords."
"Has there been anything else strange happening?" I asked.
"Well to the east you probably saw the great mountain range." She said. "We call those mountains the great ice shards. Not long after one of the four horns disappeared and ships stopped coming through avalanches began appearing occasionally behind the ice shards. We can't see what it is that's causing them, but some ponies think that it has to so with the third horn disappearing. Me and a lot of other ponies just think its a heard of ice walkers startled by the radical change." She said.
"This definitely is strange."I said.
"So with all the facts out of the way I'm glad to say that the both of you are now part of this investigation. In that time you'll be temporary members of my guard accompaniment... Is that alright?" She asked.
"Uh... Sure, that's fine."said twilight.
"Works for me."I said.
"Now I don't really expect you to suck up to me like my subordinates, but you get the authorization of a palace Templar... Here, follow me, we should probably get the two of you some armor... Or you won't survive long in this place." She said. "Just follow me." She said opening the door and walking out. We followed her and started making our way down the hall to a room with a sign above it that read 'armory'. She opened the door and we walked in. It was empty with a few suits of armor on mannequins.
"Wow... This place has some serious equipment."said twilight.
"Here... Unicorn... There are armored mages robes on that mannequin there."
"Thank you... And my name is twilight sparkle." She said.
"Alright twilight... Good to meet you, and your name is?" She asked looking over to me. It was a bit late for introductions...but whatever.
"Crimson blast..." I said.
"Alright crimson blast... There's a Templars armor over there."she said pointing to another set of armor.
"Oh, no thank you, I have my own armor..." I said. She just looked at me with a strange look while twilight was in the corner finding her way through her robes.
"I... Think the cold might have gotten to your head... Are you alright?" She asked.
"I'm fine... And I'm not wearing the armor now of course... But I do have my own." I said.
"Uh huh... And where is it?" She asked still confused.
"That's uh... Difficult to explain really..." I said.
"Well, I believed your other story... So impress me." She said.
"Alright... Just don't freak out."I said. I closed my eyes and started to focus my energy through my body. Golden light began seeping out from me and solidifying into titanium tough armor. Pates of metal began growing design and leather and cloth started intermingling under the plated armor. My cape and hood formed, being woven out of light to create silk and all of the attachments appeared on my armor. And in one final flash my transformation was complete and I stood there glowing in my golden white armor. The black symbols etched themselves across my armor and made intricate designs as I stretched my plate covered kings out as sparkling dust fled from my body and twinkled as it fell to the ground. My put white hood and cape settled and a halo started shining above my head. I didn't conjure my mask, only because I didn't want it to cover my face. I opened my eyes and the light around me started fading and becoming more dull as the halo and glowing symbols on my body started to fade until I stood there in all white and gold trimmed armor with black runes running an aesthetic pattern across the armor.
"That's... Uh... Well..."stammered knight commander Merideth. "It's... Well...I... That's definitely something." She said somewhat dumbfounded.
"I can see now that I left out this minor detail in the story... It probably wasn't in the letter either." I said.
"The letter said that both party members possessed magical abilities..."said Merideth. "I thought that something was wrong when only one of you was a unicorn... Apparently I was that something." She said. "Interested... This fact has been heavily noted." She said.
"Hey crimson... How does it look?" Asked twilight walking over. She was wearing black robes with grey spiked plates of metal on some parts. In the back was a long skirt, so it seemed more like a dress than a robe, but the hood and cloak was there and it seemed very nice.
"Not bad..." I said. I looked over to Merideth and watched her walk over to a small lockbox on a desk near the back. She got up to it and then took a ring of keys she had on a strap on her armor. She shifted through the keys and found the one she was looking for. She unlocked the box and opened it up. She shifted around the box for a second or two before pulling out a badge. It was a gold crested badge with an ice like diamond in the center of it. She walked over and looked at me.
"Here... Take this." She said passing it over to me. I used my magic to grab it from her and held it up. "This will get you anywhere... Even to see the king. Normally we only give this to the most important high class citizens or visiting royalty... But as the need arises I'm giving it to you. Without any trade our nation is now starting to suffer economic losses. You might have seen so on the streets as you made your way here. The poor and homeless litter the street and ponies will do anything to make money." She said.
"Sounds terrible."said twilight.
"It is, if this doesn't go uncorrected then this could easily be the end of this country... So for the sake of saving the country and making sure this mission is done, you've been granted full access to the kingdom. The only three ponies you take orders from now are me, the king, and the tower Mage." She said.
"Who's the tower Mage?" Asked twilight.
"His name is Rune Star."said Merideth. "He's a direct desciple of starswirl the bearded... He's a Mage unlike any other, and he's over two hundred years of age... He's a relic."
"Did you say starswirl?"asked twilight excitedly with a big grin on her face and a gleam in her eyes.
"Yes... Rune star is a direct desciple of him. He's the most powerful Mage in this region and even parts of Equestria." She said. "He keeps the biome shield running above the city so it doesn't freeze and so the creatures outside don't get in."
"Crimson... We need to go and see him." Said twilight practically begging me like a ecstatic child.
"Yeah sure..." I said.
"We should go now..."said twilight.
"Uh... Alright." I said. She smiled and started hopping around in glee. I looked over to Merideth and she was somewhat surprised with twilights behavior. She looked over to me hoping I could give her an explanation. "She got really into studies and magic, she was a private student for the prince, and loves anything with reading and magic. This is basically the closest she can get to meeting her idol."I said.
"Well I won't keep you two from exploring, just make sure you do your job. The rune star is often very lenient with ponies going to see him, the only hard part is getting past the guards, but with the badge it should be fine. If any guards or Templars give you any trouble just come find me and I'll beat them into shape for you." She said giving me a wink. I smiled and we started making our way out of the armory. We walked back down the hall and the knock commander went back into her office. Me and twilight waved down the hall and I fastened the badge to my armor so I don't have to carry it everywhere.
Twilight and I walked down the hall and she was absolutely ecstatic. She was very excited to meet rune star. And to be honest, I was excited too. This guy is over two hundred years old, so he must be very powerful. He also must be very wise, or he could be one of those mages that is barking mad, but I'm sure that can't be it. So I was looking forward to meeting him, and I'm sure a pony as wise and powerful as him must know something about this, or has some kind of idea about what's going on here. So at the least this should be a very good lead.
But still... He could be barking mad...
-Authors Note: hey guys, here's the new chapter of reborn, i hope you all enjoy reading it and ill get right on the next one. be sure to favorite and follow the story or myself... leave a review of what you think, i openly invite criticism, and all in all have a good day.
(shortest, Authors Note... EVAR!)
~Stay Shady