Fire and Frost: a Tale of Vengance

A series of short knocks came from Star Light’s door.

Roused from her reading, she magicked her reading glasses over to a table, frowning as she wondered who it might be. She was expecting no guests and...she threw a quick glance to her calendar.

‘Could it be…’ she began to wonder, hopping down from her couch and cantering to the door. She peered quickly through the peephole, spotting white fur, golden armor…

She flung the door open with a smile, “Overch—” she stopped herself short.

While the armor and fur matched the pony she had expected, the eyes and mane didn’t.

“Oh...hey Frosty,” she greeted, dreading what the visit might mean. Her smile melted away, “Um ar-aren’t you normally running...drills at this hour?”

“Yes,” Frostbite said, letting out a quick sigh, “Would you mind if I come in?”

Light drew back, gesturing for him to enter. With a curt nod, he slipped inside, the door closing behind him.

“As welcome as it’d be, I doubt you’re here just to say hi,” Light said, brushing a bit of shiny, silver mane from her face as she hopped back onto her couch. Frostbite, setting his helmet on a short coffee table in the middle of the room, took a seat on a pillowy chair opposite her.

“No, I fear I bring...unhappy news,” he said, frowning in thought as he considered the best choice of words, “Word...just reached us that Lieutenant Overcharge perished at the hooves of Powder Burn.”

Silence filled the room like a tomb. Neither pony spoke, Light’s eyes losing their shine, suddenly losing focus to the world around her. Slowly, ever so slowly, her face contorted into a haven of sorrow, eyes tearing up. A single, shiny droplet dropped from her face, hitting the carpeted floor.

Suddenly, her eyes regained their focus, locking onto Frostbite as tears dripped steadily from them.

“He...How?” Light asked after a brief moment, wiping a torrent of tears from her deep purple eyes, “Are...are they s-sure?”

Frostbite took in a deep breath, trying to get a sudden knot out of his throat, it tortured him to see her like this, “Yes. They searched the wreckage many times over, only one survivor I was told, the pegasus lookout...I forget his name. It was Powder Burn that sank her.”

Light bit back a whimper, “But...I mean...how did Overcharge...” she asked, unable to finish.

Frostbite shook his head, “I do not know.”

“Bullshit!” Light snapped, anger flaring up from nowhere, taking Frostbite by surprise, “How did—”

“I don’t know!” Frostbite snapped back, startling his sister into silence with his own harsh tone, the room’s temperature dropping a few short degrees.

Silence filled the room for another short bout of time. Light’s sorrowful face continued to leak a steady stream of tears, conflicting emotions playing battle across her face. Anger flared up into a vicious snarl, only to be dragged into a hopeless frown, and back and forth again. She wiped her dripping nose.

“You don’t,” Light admitted, a light, if sad, chuckle breaking out of her maw before a choked sob chased it out, “You...you never were much of a liar after dad got you...that-that one time,” she said with a quick, nostalgic, smile, “Hell, I-I hardly did anything bad for a while after that.”

“I...I plan on hunting the pirate down,” Frostbite put in. Light’s ears perked up at the mention, “Admiral Tide was not so happy about the idea.”

“Well fuck him!” Light snapped, anger breaking through once more, “What’s he gonna do to stop you? Sink one of the top-of-the-line ships run by the best Captain in the entire Equestrian Navy? Go over that...that dumb old fart’s head!”

“He asked me politely to reconsider,” Frostbite answered, his face unhappy with her choice of words, “and to get input from you—”

“Well, yeah, then! Go get him! Geld the bastard and bring him back so we can watch him hang!” Light growled, tears of conflicting rage and sorrow dribbling from her eyes.

“—and from Purée,” Frostbite finished pointedly.

Light shut her trap, an annoyed growl rising from her throat as she tore her leaking gaze from her brother, hiding her eyes on the far side of the room as she wiped her nose again, “You...you know what this means to me.”

“It means just as much to me, Star,” Frostbite replied evenly, “Lieutenant Overcharge was a good stallion.”

“Mom and dad would want you to—”

“They are not with us anymore,” Frostbite stated.

Light’s lip trembled, she looked back to Frostbite as sorrow broke through once more, “I-I let him go, Frosty. I let him convince me to go after that pirate bastard, to bait him out, to try to kill him. I should...I should—”

“You did no such thing,” Frostbite asserted, leaning forwards as if to further assert the statement further, “Overcharge was a stubborn colt. Even if you had told him no he would have just gone over your head. You know that.”

“And you haven’t got the stones to go over Tide’s stupid head?” Light snapped back, tears freely flowing down her blue-grey face and coat.

“I have not got the stupidity to rush into things without considering all my other options,” Frostbite replied evenly, “As much as I want to serve judgement, doing it in this manner may not be the best of choices.”

“Same thing,” Light sniffled dismissively, blinking at her tears.

“No, it is not.”

Light sighed, looking away, “Fine, I guess it’s not,” her eyes lit back to Frostbite, “You know, I told him not to go. I...it was stupid going after him...at least like that.”

“I know, you said earlier,” Frostbite replied.

Light nodded, rubbing at her drippy nose again, “I told him he was gonna get himself killed doing this,” she grew quiet for a second, “You know what he said to that?”

Frostbite remained silent.

“What point in there in living...if you don’t have anything you’re willing to die for?”

<~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~>

‘What point in there in living if you don’t have anything you’re willing to die for?’

The words rang over and over in Frostbite’s head as he made his way back home, eyes cast inwards in thought.

‘What point in there in living if you don’t have anything you’re willing to die for?’

They’d rung constantly throughout the day after he’d returned to the Crown’s Judgement, running his crew through drills and taking the ship out on another boring coastal patrol.

‘What point in there in living if you don’t have anything you’re willing to die for?’

They continued to ring back, over and over, even as the sun drew closer to the horizon and ponies across the city went home for the day.

‘What point in there in living if you don’t have anything you’re willing to die for?’

Did the words justify what he wanted to do? What was he willing to die for, Frostbite wondered.

‘Purée, certainly, and our unborn child,’ he told himself, ‘I would risk my life for Star Light, for my crew and country,’ he continued.

‘But justice? Vengeance? Is it even truly vengeance...or merely a form of compensation for a wrongdoing?’ he mentally debated, ‘and in this way?’ he continued to wonder.

His hooves stopped of their own accord.

‘What point in there in living if you don’t have anything you’re willing to die for?’

Looking up, he noted the home he shared with Purée.

It was a rather modest home set in the upper middle class area of Baltimare. Easily purchased with his payroll and lacking any gaudy or expensive-looking expansions, it seemed spartan to many of the homes he knew others at and above his ranking owned.

He halted only a moment before entering.

“There’s my super-special-stallion,” Purée greeted him with joy as he trotted into the kitchen, a concoction of delicious aromas filling the air. Food sizzled as it was cooked, Frostbite walking up to his mare.

“And here is my magnificently-marvelous-mare,” he replied, sharing a quick smooch.

“How was work?” she inquired, tending to a thick slice of tomato, flipping it with a spatula clutched in her magic.

Frostbite floundered at the question, worry crossing his muzzle, ‘Do I dare tell her now?’ he wondered, “It was…” she turned to him at his pause, not certain whether to be curious or worried, “Perhaps we can discuss it after dinner,” he said.

Purée frowned with worry, but nodded her head understandingly, “Well, dinner will be ready soon,” she smiled suddenly, “It’s a new recipe: pan grilled tomato salad with lemon dressing.”

Frostbite nodded in turn, giving her another quick kiss before turning and heading from the kitchen. He stripped out of his armor, allowing his natural colors to take hold, and had a quick shower.

‘May be the last one I have for a while,’ he noted as the warm water poured over him.

Now cleaned up, he headed back to the kitchen in time for Purée to set out two plates and assorted silverware. She smiled at him as they sat.

She had set the food up to look more like it belonged in a classy restaurant than on their mundane dinner table, garnished with tufts of alfalfa sprouts and juicy green beans. The food, as Frostbite already knew it would be, was delicious and ripe with flavor.

“You know,” Frostbite smiled between bites, dabbing a bit of the lemon dressing away with a napkin, “I think that I would run off with all your cookbooks if I did not love you so.”

Purée burst out into a fit of giggles, “What a scandal that would be! ‘Renowned Royal Guard Caught in the Kitchen with Wife’s Cookbooks,’” she let out another giggle, sharing his warm smile, “You silly pony.”

Their dinner finished with interspersed bouts of pleasant silence, between which the simple banter of two lovers reigned. But a cloud hung over Frostbite, one that he doubted Purée missed if her worried eyes told him anything each time they met his own.

It was only once they’d finished, silverware clinking back down onto porcelain plates, that Purée’s other features finally grew troubled.

“Frostbite, dear,” she said as both sides sat at their respective sides of the small dinner table, “What’s the matter? What happened at work?”

Frostbite was quiet for a few short seconds, eyes contemplating a small stain on his plate. He finally turned his gaze up to his beloved, “News reached us today: Lieutenant Overcharge perished aboard the Majestic Pride, all hooves but one lost to Powder Burn.”

The worry splayed across Purée’s face doubled in a heartbeat, “Goddesses, no,” she murmured.

“It is sadly so,” Frostbite countered with a quiet sigh.

“Does Star Light…” Purée trailed off, stricken.

“I brought the news to her this morning,” Frostbite replied, ‘and now for the hard part.’

“Oh, the poor thing,” Purée sniffled miserably, staring down at her own plate with teary eyes.

“I plan on outfitting the Crown’s Judgement and completing what Lieutenant Overcharge wished to accomplish,” Frostbite stated.

A silence filled the room. Purée looked up at him from her plate, a tear dropping from one sorrowful eye.

“Admiral Tide is against the idea and wanted me to consult with both you and my sister about it,” he added, “Star Light was…” ‘Well, yeah, then! Go get him! Geld the bastard and bring him back so we can watch him hang!’ Light’s words echoed back in his twitching ears, “...adamant that I bring justice to the villain.”

“And now you need my input,” Purée stated the question.

Frostbite nodded.

Purée held his gaze for a few short seconds before standing and magicking the plates after her as she headed over to the sink. She began to scrub away at the grime littering them, eyes and mind set to the task.

Frostbite sat and waited.

Purée halted her task, “What can I say that will satisfy your desire to avenge Overcharge?” she inquired, eyes still set on the dishes she cleaned.

Frostbite contemplated the question for a while, trying to come up with an answer, “I don’t know,” he replied when he failed to do so.

Purée gave a nod and returned to cleaning the dishes. Once they had been set out to dry, she moved back over to Frostbite. She gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the neck as he sat still.

“Then I need you to promise me something,” she finally replied, brushing at his mane with a hoof, “Come home. Even if it means you have to abandon this mission then I want you, I need you, to come home,” she gave him another quick peck, “Okay?”

Frostbite turned to her, smiling reassuringly, “Okay,” he agreed.

<~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~>

It was a chilly day aboard the Crown’s Judgement, but it always was somewhat chilly so near the windy shores. Frostbite had gathered his crew before him on deck, his two lieutenants to each side. Staring down at the many faces, he spoke.

“Many of you certainly wonder at what it is we shall be doing. I will tell you. We are to take after the villain known as Powder Burn of the Sacrilegious Saint for his crimes against society!”

Worried murmuring sprung up among the assembled ponies, if only briefly before Captain Frostbite spoke up once more.

“A wound must be encouraged to bleed a bit before it is sealed,” Frostbite said, “I will bear no ill will against any who decide not to come with us on this quest and you will all be welcomed back aboard when,” he drove the word home with a solid stomp, “we return.”

Silence fell across the deck of gathered ponies, guards and sailors alike waiting like statues before a coming storm.

Then, after a moment or two’s hesitation, here and there one or two turned and began to make their way to the gangplank leading back to safe shore. Some of them were newer recruits who had hardly to cast a spell outside of training drills, others the more seasoned sailors and troops. All of them knew the legacy—if one could call it that—of the pirate they would be chasing after. They filed quietly off the ship, many of them whispering apologies and granting wishes of good luck to those brave enough to stay aboard.

“As will I, I expect that all of you will hold your tongues and keep what slanderous thoughts that you have to yourselves concerning those who choose not to go,” Frostbite began again, looking over the faces of his remaining crew, a vast majority of what it had been without the desertions, “It takes great courage to stand and take to the seas against this criminal, but it too takes courage to stand against the majority as those now leaving did. I shall not hear their names spat about aboard my ship, is that understood!?”

“Aye, Captain!” the assembled mass before him coroused.

Frostbite gave a single nod, “Then let us not tarry, we have judgement to bring to the foul depths of this world!”