Sins of The Past

"Forgive mah askin', but ain't it foolish to trust this outsider?" Applejack asked, casting a suspicious look at the glacial pony. "Ah mean, ain't his kin responsible for the deaths in Appaloosa an' all that?"

"My 'kin' as you so charmingly put it, were suffering. Without being able to feed on the lost and the damned, their powers were fading away. Killing was the only way to get the souls they needed for nourishment," Frost said, nibbling at his salad. "I don't use soul essence to fuel my power, hence why my hooves aren't bloodied."

Twilight's ears perked at this, and she asked,

"If not soul essence, then what? As I know it, outlanders cannot tap into the natural flow of magic." Subtly, she closed Rarity's mouth, who was enamored with the way the icy stallion's coat gleamed in the light, scattering rainbows across the wall.

"I require nothing more than the air itself to survive. As you know, there is water vapor all around us. I simply draw it out and freeze it, whether as a concentrated blast of ice or to repair my body."

"Like a pony snow cone machine!?" Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down at the thought of the sweet treat. Frost smiled and said, "Yes, I suppose that's a fitting description, though I can make a lot more than snow."

"So, where do we come in?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, this is cool and all but why do we need to be here?"

"Your jobs are to make sure no one gets in or out of the six cities marked here." Frost unrolled a map and swept a hoof over the neat annotations. "As for the baby dragon, he need only provide a sample of his blood."

Spike shook his head, pulling himself away from the bowl of gems for the moment.

"I'm not going to just go home. If Twilight's in this, I am too."

Frost shrugged.

"So be it. I need only your blood, but if you wish to accompany your mate, I don --" Twilight quickly slapped a hoof over Frost's mouth.

"He's not my mate. He's my number one assistant," she corrected, a blush spreading over her face. "But, why do you need his blood?"

"I don't suppose you know where we can obtain another dracoequus? No? That's why. Your princess, Celestia, has graciously offered to provide the other half of the blood sample."

"But, why?" Twilight was too curious to let Frost off the hook, a trait he was beginning to grow tired of.

"The main tower of Wulfhelm is protected by a runic door," Frost started.

"And runic doors can only be opened by the blood of one of the same species. Since she was the last of the dracoequui, she assumed she'd be safe."

"Bingo."

"But, I still don't see where we come into play ..." Rainbow said, shoving her plate aside. Celestia set hers aside as well and patiently waited for Frost's answer.

"You are to keep the citizens of the six cities in the city walls. When you are given the signal, you are to lock down the gates and prevent escape. We," Frost gestured to himself and Celestia, "will take care of the rest. After you've locked them down, you are to run. No matter what you see, what you hear, keep running if you wish to live."

In a grave tone, Celestia said,

"Indeed, all is as he has said. You are not to look back after you've completed the lock down. No matter what you hear, do not look back. I need my little ponies to be safe."

The six ponies gathered in the hall nodded, willing to take any risk to save the country.

In the dark of night, a squirming burlap sack was smuggled into Canterlot Castle, precautions being taken to assure that none but the intended recipient saw the delivery. Celestia received the sack with a heavy heart. She set it down in the back of her chariot, laying it neatly on top of the other. She sighed, handing a large bag of bits to the dark-coated earth pony. They were to move out tomorrow, with no more delays.

Celestia trotted back to her room, collapsing onto the bed in a heap. Luna waited for her just outside the door. The darker princess watched the night sky with the fascination of a filly. Dragging herself back to her hooves, Celestia joined her sister.

"We're leaving tomorrow," Celestia said, looking up at the moon. "Will you come with us?"

"You know we cannot, sister. We have lost ..." Luna looked at the place where her wings should be and silently cried. "We are of no use to the expedition."

"The sickness was not your fault. If you wish, you may come with," Celestia countered, "We need you, sister. What is the Sun without the Moon?"

"Who will rule in our absence?"

"We will not be gone long enough for that to be an issue."

"When you awake, we will be waiting."

"Thank you, Luna," Celestia said, stifling a yawn. Leaving her sister to her astronomy, Celestia went back to the comforting embrace of her bed. Sleep claimed her almost immediately.

Twilight checked her bags; once, twice, three times. She couldn't afford to forget anything -- were she to, she would have to hope that she could find it there. Nopony was allowed in or out of Hajahact, so requesting that it be delivered would be a no-go. A tight feeling clutched at her heart.

She hoped that Celestia knew what she was doing with all this blood seal business.

Spike clambered onto her back as she boarded the carriage, which would follow the chariot bearing Celestia and Frost, arriving shortly after them. A tiny puncture mark burned red under his hand, the palm of which was one of the few bare patches on him. Normally, she would see Celestia off, but for some reason, this time, Celestia wanted her as far from the chariot as possible. Her worrisome thoughts were distracted by the sight of her friends waiting in the carriage for her.

The land sped by just as quickly as before, perhaps more so, and in mere moments it seemed, they were again at the gates of the city. Frost waited for them, the guards having been dispatched a while before.

"Alright, so here's your assignments," he said, handing scrolls to the six ponies. "You two," he pointed at Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "As you're, physically, the strongest of the group, you have the furthest outposts. I suggest leaving now -- it's easily a three hour trip for the average pony." The two ponies nodded, going northwest and northeast respectively.

"Dusk, you and the white one over there," Rarity snorted with contempt, "are headed for the two cities east and west of here." Twilight glossed over the name mistake and prepared a teleportation spell, urging Rarity to do the same.

"And you two are taking the two nearest here. They will put up the least resistance, but don't let your guard down. I have things to take care of here. Best of luck to you, all of you." Frost opened the gate and trotted in, disappearing into the mass of ponies.

The group assigned, he was free to deal with the major problem at hoof. Celestia was waiting for him when he trotted up the steps. Bound in chains in front of them was Mythic Oath. Celestia took the nails from her pack and busied herself with preparing the gallows.

Wrapping Mythic in a golden glow, she lifted him, rump-side up, onto the wooden structure. She bit her lip and drove a single nail through the joint connecting hoof to leg. The stallion tried to scream but his tongue was still on the ground, bathing in a puddle of its own blood.

Pinning his forelegs behind his head, she drove a longer, thicker nail through the joints, missing slightly and cracking through bone. Blood flowed freely into the bowl that contained his tongue. At this point, the stallion had given up trying to scream, simply whimpering. Frost dipped his hoof into the bowl and began to draw a sigil on the ground.

"Go to the Queen's tower and retrieve what is hidden there," Frost said simply, handing Celestia the mixed blood sample. Celestia nodded, looking away from the horror she had wrought. The door looked like any other, but required blood to open. She poured the sample over her hooves and pressed them against the door. It glowed a brilliant purple and faded away, the illusion broken.

She climbed the spiraling staircase, quickly reaching another door. This one, to her relief, was not enchanted. The room it lead to was sparsely furnished, but the object she sought called out to her like a lighthouse at sea. It was a razor-sharp hand scythe, generally used for cutting crops. Its true purpose, however, was stained on the blade. It was a sacrificial knife.

Celestia grabbed it, careful not to cut herself, and took it down to where Frost was waiting.

"Cut his throat and drain his blood. One clean stroke, Celestia." Frost moved out of the way, granting her direct access to the quivering stallion. Repressing the urge to vomit, she walked up to him and drew the blade across his throat. The wound gaped and dumped blood from his body. His head was barely connected any longer, a thin strip of skin keeping him whole. She couldn't repress the nausea any longer. Celestia rushed to the window and vomited, until her throat hurt and her legs were barely able to keep her standing.

She turned to find Frost drawing more symbols with the blood. He lifted the bowl into the air and set it down beside him. After several minutes, he simply said,

"It's done."

"What do we do now?" Celestia asked, staring off into the skies. It was an unusually calm and clear day. Any other day, she would have called it beautiful, but there was no beauty on this day.

"Before I can tell you that, you must promise me one thing."

"What is that, Frost?"

"When this is all said and done with, you must kill me. Sever my head from my shoulders and my feet from my legs."

"Why?" Celestia looked over at the bloody stallion, who shook his head.

"Can't say. Just do. Now, you need to send the signal so they shut the cities down. Then, we run like hell." She looked back at the sky, using all of her might to lower the sun and bring night to the midst of day. Minutes passed before the symbols started to glow brilliantly. She ran, flying fast away from the capital. Bright blue flashes alerted to Frost's fleeing as well.

Against her better judgement, she looked back to see what she had done.

Ponies writhed on the ground, clutching at their skin, as the very thing which made them unique was sapped from them, leaving them hollow husks. Screams cut through the air, cries of fillies and foals for their mothers, whispers of love. All of it surrounded Celestia, taunting her. Soon, there was but silence.

She landed softly, unable to see for the tears in her eyes. What had she done? The ground crackled, crumbled, sunk, nearly dragging Celestia along with it. She kept flying and eventually met up with her little ponies, Spike, and Frost. Slowly, they made their way back to Canterlot, a pregnant silence in bloom the whole way.