Eureka: The Last Pyromancerby a guy with many hatsChaptersThe Trial of a PyromancerThe Morning of a FarmerThe Day of a SoldierThe Exile of a MareThe Night of AshThe Trial of a PyromancerI stood before the jury and judges, Celestia herself presiding over my trial. I shifted my hooves out to stand tall and proud before our leader. I breathed slowly through my nose, respectful even in the face of execution. The ponies surrounding me were not my peers, unicorns, pegasus, and earth pony alike were to decide my fate, not my own kin. A loud tapping from the podium at the head of the room called everypony to order. "All to order," Celestia commanded, drawing the room to stunning silence. I felt goosebumps run across my forelegs as she spoke. The thunder carried in her voice rocked the stone courthouse. "Now ruling in, Equestria versus Eureka, charges are as follow: illegal use of magic, Pyromancy, endangering of a pagus, endangering of a village, burning of three square acres, spreading ash over the western hills and White Tail Woods, slaughter, and creation of a phoenix." She turned to face the caged bird, squawking and tossing smoldering feathers about like mad. She turned back to me with a harrowing glare. "How do you plead?" I took a deep breath. "Guilty." I looked up at her, dead in the eyes. "I plead guilty, if defense of my home and my family is a crime I plead guilty! If you will exile me, throw me to the wolves, so be it! I have sinned, I have broken your laws! But I broke only what I had to! I--" "Enough!" One of the guards surrounding me stomped his hoof. "By the admission of guilt you are--" Celestia's magic sent a pulse through the room, sending papers flying about and tossing my mane back in the process. "Captain...please." She turned to me, the glowing in her eyes settling down and revealing her gaze against me once again. "Eureka, as this may be your final hour, plead, sway my jury and sway myself. Your cause is uncertain to us, your crimes unforgivable, but perhaps your reasons fair. So I beg you, plead." I stared up at her, my eyes darting from her radiant form to the stern eyed ponies watching me from the stands. "Plead? Plead?! I shall not plead!" I looked up to her, keeping my head low. "Princess, I have nothing to plead! I have committed the acts leveled against me, but I have done each with no ill intent. I do not aim to plead, only to explain, not to excuse, to elaborate." I looked to the stands. "I fear my words will mean little, but if I must into exile, then may my deeds be known as purposeful!" Celestia bowed her head slowly, my heard aching to see our princess kneel to one as simple as I. "Then regail us, where have our failing left you? Where has our strength been too little, and your need so great as to turn to the forbidden?" I looked back to her, catching my breath as she sat back before me. "Winter...." Author's Note Inspired by this chapter Just a quick short I felt like putting to paper. It might come up later, and giving some story to side characters helps. Even if it's rather short. The Morning of a FarmerI woke to the whimpers of a dog. I looked over out of my window, the curtains tattered and worn down from the harsh winter months. The cracked window bled a cold air that sank to the floor. I felt my skin tense as I rolled onto my front and stood. "Hold on girl, I'm coming." I stepped out of bed, my hooves causing the floor to creak. "I know baby, I'm sorry." I hurried out of my bare room, the lowly oak walls painted a spoiled dank cream. I hurried through my hut over to the door, pulling it open to the sound of my dog hurrying over towards me. She scrambled inside and hid under my back legs. "Ooooh no, I'm sorry sweetie." I closed the door with a loud snap. "I know it's cold out." The usually mild winter on the western coast was turned icy and frigid by a bitter wind from the white ocean. I peeked out my window, the crack starting to split further from the snap freeze. "Forests don't like it either, fields are barren." I ran my tongue across my lips, the cold leaving them cracked and stiff. "We'll be okay." My dog raced around the room, shaking the snow off her back and across my floor. My single room hut was a mess, with only a bed, a stove, and a table with two chairs. Austerity served me well enough, as it did our seaside village. I looked out over the town, a blanket of frozen white gripping everything and everypony. The farming village was laid barren, without pegasus or unicorns to help regulate the weather. Even I was a rare sight for the ground walking ponies. The horn on my head leaving me with many jeers and jokes on my race. I bared it, knowing they were simple people with simple jokes. We were in kind, poor, but happy in the spring sun. I fogged the window with my breath and turned to my dog. "Mutt, you stay--" The dog barked at me. "Fine.... I'm going to head into town, you sit there." I pointed a hoof at her. "Sit." The dog just stared, cocking its head slightly. I didn't even know if it was really a girl, but I didn't care. "Stay." I turned to the door and flung it open, my red mane spilling out over my face as I tripped on a broken bit of pathway. I flipped it back and looked down, my white body already splashed wish slush. "Grand, why must the natural order find it so favorable to shit on me?" I kicked my leg and walked off towards the town center, the snow thin but turned to ice from the cold. The town was short, huts and homes not more than two stories. I stretched my neck, a loud snap echoing through the dirt streets, patches of mud frozen solid and rough against my hooves. I looked towards the west, the sky grey and swirling with blue light. An omen of magic at work. I felt the frost settle upon my back as I stood staring at the upset in the sky. So long as it stayed over the white sea we would be fine, and should it come east I could only trust in our guards. I walked along the slushy path into the market, closed down with stalls collapsed or rotted. The smell of rain had settled upon us and mixed with the biting chill. I turned to our pub, the tallest building in the town, our home in the cold months. The smell of hay fluttered out as I walked over and pressed the door open. The inside of the room lit up as ponies turned to meet me. A small cheer cried out as I stepped into the room, amongst the tables and drinking ponies. The bar tender slammed his hoof into the counter. "Eureka, you are alive!" I nodded to the sound of cheers. "Yes, what, did you think I was dead?" I walked up to the bar and hopped up onto a seat. "Hello Pint." Pint nodded and walked over to me. "You haven't come out to see us recently, I think we all assumed the worst." I shook my head and laughed. "The cold can't take me, it can try, but it won't." The room settled down, Pint adopted a rather grim expression. "Well I'm glad. There are some that aren't as strong as you." He poured a drink into an old silver mug and nodded sharply. "In her memory." I felt myself frown. "Rye?" The room bustled softly, Pint nodded. "Rye, Shoots, their little filly. Found em' frozen about a day ago." Pint slid the drink to me. "A drink to remember, aye everypony!? A drink for the lost!" He slammed his hoof, the room grunting like soldiers in response. "That's what I thought!" I stared down at the beautiful polished silver. "Pint, we'll make it through this you know." He looked up at me, thick eyebrows falling downward as he searched the floor. "Some of you will." He shook his head, features hardened by the creases in his face. "I don't know who it'll take next, but if it's me, let them remember me as generous." I shook my head and hopped down from the counter. "Then drink it yourself, it'll keep you warm." I turned to the door. "I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but somepony needs to call attention to this, pride or not I won't have my home freezing solid." Pint grumbled angrily as I pushed the door open. "Nothing's permanent Eureka, least of all ponies!" "Yes-" I swung around to face the old stallion behind the bar, "-but does that mean those young and weak, able to grow stronger, need to be cut down?" Pint laughed heavily. "I hope you're not insinuating that I'm either." I smiled back at him. "Maybe not, but my point stands. And who better to save the old stud than the fresh faced mare with a--" The door slammed against its hinges and back closed in an instant. A crazed mare with a coat pushed me aside. "Windigo! Windigo to the west!" She ran up to the bar and jumped up on it. "It's coming from the west! We have to leave! We have to leave now!" The room went still for a few moments. Pint huffed loudly. "Eureka, what say you of the young and weak?" I stared at him as the rest of the ponies inside turned to me. My stomach spoke loud cries of unease. "I say that the able must defend them." I turned to the door and walked out into the swirling icy wind now sending shards of ice against the pub. The Day of a SoldierI ran through the town, the blue lights in the distance had taken shape. A single spectral horse was swimming amongst the clouds, the wind could be seen carrying drifting ice against the western walls of every home. The ponies that lived near the coast were fleeing enmasse, running and ducking away from the cold. My heart beat like a drum as the windigo, bright and long enough to trail pure magic across the sky, slowly came near. My legs shook as I tried to move, pleading to turn and run. I stepped forward, one after another I stepped towards the shore. The cold was horrid, taking away any semblance of warmth with the wind. I felt ponies bump past me, running towards the eastern road. I was alone, I would be alone, facing a windigo, a demon of ice and frost. But I could not move, I could not run, I could only walk forward towards my death. The screams and cries of ponies and foals echoed around me as the windigo made landfall near the sandy shore. The seawater froze under the sky bound beast, trailing up and over a fishing hut. It dove, blasting a frozen ring into the earth and freezing a small herd instantly. The specter arose from the ground and another group was frozen instantly, left as statues and memories to what they once were. Ponies left frozen, eyes caught with terror as the monster brought frost in its wake. I lowered my head, the sound of a half frozen pony watching as their limbs were lost to the cold, then the creep up to their heart. Screams of agony, screams for help, screams for our princess, for magic, for anything. I kept walking down the road to the shore, terrified ponies rushing past me as I marched alone. The smell of clean air flew past as the windigo swiped a group to my right, the snap freeze causing the water in the air to crystallize and fall against the ground as ponies were turned to horrid statues. I marched on, watching the ground freeze around me, encircle me. The windigo overhead was toying with me, cutting ponies off from the road and leaving me stuck before it. The swirling beast overhead stopped before the shore, staring down at me with hollow glowing eyes, devoid of comfort, devoid of happiness, only searching for the eternal cold that would give it rest. "And they sent a mare to deal with this! Cowards they may be, or perhaps I'm a hero!" I screamed up at the equine monster. "So tell me, monster, why!?" The sky high monster snorted, a plume of fog falling down upon me, chilling me to the bone. "Answer me, beast! What purpose do you serve!?" I felt my horn rattle with static like energy. "The frost you bring only kills, only destroys!" I fired off a bolt of magic up at the beast, watching as the bright red bounced off and shot into the sky. "Not content to sit on the coast!" I fired again, the next bolt growing hotter. "Not content to siphon away the lives of ponies who deserve better!" My heart beat hard, sending my blood boiling through my veins. "Not content to kill! You come and you destroy all you touch!" I shot again, red sparks shooting off before my face. The windigo continued to stare at me, barely phased by the shots. "If this is how I die, let them know I died fighting!" The massive creature simply stared, a lone monster, the kind that took our home from us all those years ago. Magical beasts born of deception, hatred, and malice. "Come then!" I screamed, stomping my hoof and shooting at the beast again, the clouds parting away from the snake like creature. "Kill me if you can!" I shot again, the air dripping soft patches of rain as my magic cracked the air like lightning. The windigo's tail straightened out towards the west. I shot again, my lightningesque shot tearing through the windigo's head and causing it to split. A bone chilling cry flooded the ground, causing the earth to shake under my hooves as the creature reformed. "That's right! Not fear nor weakness will stop me from killing you!" I fired again, grazing the windigo. "I am Eureka! Learn my name! Remember me in your oblivion!" I shot again, my head starting to burn from the exertion. "I say fight!" The windigo stared me dead on, tail whipping around behind it as it charged. Dead on, streams of clouds and frosted air rang its approach. I fired, and fired, and fired again. My heart slowed as the charging monster remained. "Come then! I stand before you fearless and ready--" I was flung away, sent flying towards the south. The sky was grey, scattered with red lightning and the blue glow of the windigo's trail. My hooves fell out from under me as I tumbled through the air. I went limp as I flew, unable to do better. I watched as the windigo dove through the ground, a single pony standing with his head raised, hoof lifted from the ground, stood frozen eternal. "Pint," I whimpered, landing away from the ring of ice that had enclosed me. I could hear my ribs break as I landed, a soft snap coming from the meat of my side. "Pint!?" I screamed, laying on my side and left in horror as the windigo crested from the earth. "Pint?" I called again, unable to trust my eyes. The greying stallion was locked forever in the pose of war heroes, body upraised after throwing me away from harm. I hobbled upright, my horn burning white hot as the windigo looked back to me. "Pint, why?" I felt my eyes burn as the stallion stood alone and strong. "Pint?! Answer me!" I turned to the windigo as it flew towards me. "How dare you!" I screamed, my voice growing hoarse. I fired a shot, the air sending off an ear shattering bang as I did. "My friend! My family!" I fired again, the sparks from my horn curling around the air into puffs of smoke. "Die!" I fired again, the tip of my horn numb from the heat. "Die!" I fired again, the magic shooting from my horn burning the air and tearing into the windigo. "Burn! Burn you monster!" I watched in awe as my horn spit fire into the air, stopping the windigo's charge and causing a sudden storm to clash between us, showering the frozen ground in fresh rain. "Burn!" Each new shot sent torrents of fire into the air, enveloping the evil beast, causing cinders to join the rain. "I said burn! For Pint! For Rye! For everypony!" I felt tears turn to steam upon my cheek. "Manta-rott-viss!" I screamed in an old unicorn tongue. "Die!" I watched the fire spilling from my horn block out the sky, a plume of fire surrounded me, encapsulated me, and burn away the frost in the air. "Die I say! Burn for your crimes!" The windigo was tiny, darting through the red. The blue glow of the creature faded as a red flare shot through the sky. The two clashed, and the blue was no more. Now, trapped in a bubble of fire charring nearby homes and bodies to cinders, there was I, and an orange flare. The creature darted out of the sky, towards me, burning and bright. A phoenix chick slammed into the ground before me, turning to ash in moments. The fire overhead slowly faded, give the bright blue sky back to me and the village. Houses were burning, ponies were reduced to charcoal, the nearby woods were ablaze, and all around me the smell of damp ash drifted through the rainy air. I turned to my right. "Pint?" I walked over to the cracked circle in the ground where the windigo had trapped me. "Pint?" I whispered, looking towards a body laid against the ground, turned black and burnt. "Pint...I'm sorry." I dropped onto my stomach before the once proud pony. "Pint?!" I touched him with my hoof, causing the body to fall apart into soft ash. I jumped upright, my skin crawling as I looked around. "All around me the world looked as it would in summer, but the wood and flesh that had been fleeing or was unlucky enough to be stationary was burned and charred. A few ponies trapped by the ice had been turned to coal, and the statuized ponies were nothing more than ash now. I had not done this. I had not intended to do this. The Exile of a Mare"Guilty." The verdict was passed with a solid snap of a gavel. Only a soft ringing fluttered along past my ears, overtaking me, consuming me. I could only watch as the ponies in the jury stepped away. I was alone, I was an exile, and soon enough I would be sent to my death by a simple boat. The ringing was all there was. My sight locked on my pure white hooves. I had sinned, and soon I would face the punishment fit for me. I could only wait now, and pray that the death I had earned would be quick and painless, although more than I deserved. "Rise, my little pony." I felt something rest on my forehead. "Look to me." I slowly lifted my head, Celestia herself was standing proud before me. She removed her hoof and raised me onto my haunches with her magic. I slumped back down and kept my head towards the floor. "Rise." She called again. I shook my head. "It's done, I've pleaded and failed." "Rise." Celestia pulled me upright again, this time holding me in place while she looked me over. Her gaze was burning, an overwhelming sense of dissapointment racked my body and burned my skin. "Princess please--" I was cut off as I felt a hoof swing around my back, pulling me tight against our royal leader, our regal mare. I felt my breath go shallow and heavy as she squeezed me. "Please...don't." I felt a hoof travel up and down my back. "Shh.... Calm." She set me back down onto my haunches, standing proudly before me as the phoenix I'd created sat on her back. She looked at it, the creature now free of its cage. "I had these eradicated...to my knowledge none survived." The phoenix bounced up and down her back. "I'm glad to see my hasty judgment did not doom them." I took a quick breath and looked up at my princess. "A demon, yet you're willing to touch it? You're willing to touch one as sickly and rueful as myself?" The princess closed her eyes and nodded. "Ruin is not your card, nor is death. And exile is only a word my ponies use." She reached her horn down and tapped me on the forehead. A heavy thud hit the base of my brain and burrowed into my neck. "No...what you have done is a brave act, turn vile by laws to protect." She stepped back and looked me over. "How long ago it was, to watch villages burn and bodies turned to coal. To think it was my doing, to think it was my word." She hung her head. "To think one so soft would break my laws in such a way." I lowered my head, resting my chin against the floor before our princess. "I'm sorry--" "To break such a law for the betterment of others. To break my law in a time of only the most critical of moments. To understand and comply with the ramifications." She stamped her hoof. "No...exile will not be your punishment, but your cause." She turned her head to the western window. I stood up, wiping the tears from my eyes and I stood beside her. "I have commited an unforgivable--" "Far to the west, in a land lost to the ice, lost to the frost of the windigos and the over saturation of magic, I believe there is a home for one as brave as you." She turned to me with a stern gaze. "And I believe none other can survive the perils it holds." She nodded once at me. "I have a mission for you. One that will cost your life, your love, and your every fiber." She turned to me head on. "To save Equestria from the ice, to hold the windigos at bay, to stem the ice with rightious fire weilded in my name and the name of life." She tapped me on the tip of the horn. "But, will you agree? After our choices, and our judgment, I fear we may have lost your favor." I stomped my hoof. "You have purpose for me!? Then direct me!" I stomped my hoof again. "Send me to fight! I will redeem myself in your eyes!" Again, this time sending a small crack into the floor. "My life is your--" My eyes burned as a loud drip took back my hearing. "--I am nothing! I am--" Celestia threw a hoof around me and pulled my against her chest. "You are my everything. My subject, my friend, my little pony." She nuzzled my head with her lips. "And I fear I may never reward you as you deserve." I took a deep breath and let my hooves wrap around her sides, resting myself against her. "Purpose...life...it's reward enough. Now use me as you see fit...for I am nothing--" "Hmm." Celestia held my close. "But you are my everything. And, perhaps in time an unsung hero will save us all from the ice, lead by fire and sent by the sun." She pulled me close and nuzzled the back of my head with her chin. "In time you will fight for us all, I only hope you deem us fit for the struggle." "Always." I squeezed her back. "Forever eternal, eternally loyal." And so mare made immortal, Eureka was sent to hold the ice at bay. Her fire lights the western sky, and provides us with the warm winds from the cold land to the west. All nameless. All silent. Burning embers amongst a blizzard, she protects us from the frost. Author's Note Now with sequel. The Night of AshI stared out from my perch on the pub roof. The phoenix to my side now fully grown and causing ciders under its perch. It looked up to me, newborn and confused. "I can't help you demon." I shook my head. "I don't think I can help anypony." I looked towards the north, the trees I'd set ablaze had spread until a large patch of forest was sitting in ash and fire. The sky was dark, coated with ash and smoke. The town had not fared much better. The port was a mix of ash and frost, twin magics torn into the earth and air. Ponies turned to ice statues and crumpled forms of coal dotted the road. The sea sported a large line of ice heading to the western land. I rubbed my eyes, the strange mix of temperatures clashing in the air was horrid, sudden flashes of cold and fiery heat unsettled me. I watched as the darkened sky drifted east, the ash I'd kicked up looming over Equestria, slowly drifting down to meet the damp earth. "Hail!" A stern shout called my vision east. "Royal guard, we've--" I took a deep breath. "You're late." I pointed to the shore. "The dead rest yonder." The guards, clad in gold and silver, stared up at me. "Ma'am, what is that bird?" I turned to the newborn chick. "Phoenix." The guards bustled softly, a pair of silver armored pegasus flew up to meet me on the roof. "Ma'am, you--" "I know." I held my hooves out. "I did what I had to, nothing more." The guards looked at each other. Then one walked to my side and took my hoof. "Not for us to decide, nor you to acquit yourself." I took a deep breath and looked out to the ravaged town shore. "Then take me to my judgment. My crimes are written against the earth, written in this creature." I turned to the phoenix. "Take me, punish me then as you wish." I turned to the guard, staring him dead on. "May be both be judged on our crimes, lax stallion of silver." The pegasus shook his head. "Nothing was reported sooner, we--" "Your breath is wasted, now take me to my punishment." I turned to the bird. "I am at peace with my actions, now let the law be as well."
The Trial of a PyromancerI stood before the jury and judges, Celestia herself presiding over my trial. I shifted my hooves out to stand tall and proud before our leader. I breathed slowly through my nose, respectful even in the face of execution. The ponies surrounding me were not my peers, unicorns, pegasus, and earth pony alike were to decide my fate, not my own kin. A loud tapping from the podium at the head of the room called everypony to order. "All to order," Celestia commanded, drawing the room to stunning silence. I felt goosebumps run across my forelegs as she spoke. The thunder carried in her voice rocked the stone courthouse. "Now ruling in, Equestria versus Eureka, charges are as follow: illegal use of magic, Pyromancy, endangering of a pagus, endangering of a village, burning of three square acres, spreading ash over the western hills and White Tail Woods, slaughter, and creation of a phoenix." She turned to face the caged bird, squawking and tossing smoldering feathers about like mad. She turned back to me with a harrowing glare. "How do you plead?" I took a deep breath. "Guilty." I looked up at her, dead in the eyes. "I plead guilty, if defense of my home and my family is a crime I plead guilty! If you will exile me, throw me to the wolves, so be it! I have sinned, I have broken your laws! But I broke only what I had to! I--" "Enough!" One of the guards surrounding me stomped his hoof. "By the admission of guilt you are--" Celestia's magic sent a pulse through the room, sending papers flying about and tossing my mane back in the process. "Captain...please." She turned to me, the glowing in her eyes settling down and revealing her gaze against me once again. "Eureka, as this may be your final hour, plead, sway my jury and sway myself. Your cause is uncertain to us, your crimes unforgivable, but perhaps your reasons fair. So I beg you, plead." I stared up at her, my eyes darting from her radiant form to the stern eyed ponies watching me from the stands. "Plead? Plead?! I shall not plead!" I looked up to her, keeping my head low. "Princess, I have nothing to plead! I have committed the acts leveled against me, but I have done each with no ill intent. I do not aim to plead, only to explain, not to excuse, to elaborate." I looked to the stands. "I fear my words will mean little, but if I must into exile, then may my deeds be known as purposeful!" Celestia bowed her head slowly, my heard aching to see our princess kneel to one as simple as I. "Then regail us, where have our failing left you? Where has our strength been too little, and your need so great as to turn to the forbidden?" I looked back to her, catching my breath as she sat back before me. "Winter...." Author's Note Inspired by this chapter Just a quick short I felt like putting to paper. It might come up later, and giving some story to side characters helps. Even if it's rather short.
The Morning of a FarmerI woke to the whimpers of a dog. I looked over out of my window, the curtains tattered and worn down from the harsh winter months. The cracked window bled a cold air that sank to the floor. I felt my skin tense as I rolled onto my front and stood. "Hold on girl, I'm coming." I stepped out of bed, my hooves causing the floor to creak. "I know baby, I'm sorry." I hurried out of my bare room, the lowly oak walls painted a spoiled dank cream. I hurried through my hut over to the door, pulling it open to the sound of my dog hurrying over towards me. She scrambled inside and hid under my back legs. "Ooooh no, I'm sorry sweetie." I closed the door with a loud snap. "I know it's cold out." The usually mild winter on the western coast was turned icy and frigid by a bitter wind from the white ocean. I peeked out my window, the crack starting to split further from the snap freeze. "Forests don't like it either, fields are barren." I ran my tongue across my lips, the cold leaving them cracked and stiff. "We'll be okay." My dog raced around the room, shaking the snow off her back and across my floor. My single room hut was a mess, with only a bed, a stove, and a table with two chairs. Austerity served me well enough, as it did our seaside village. I looked out over the town, a blanket of frozen white gripping everything and everypony. The farming village was laid barren, without pegasus or unicorns to help regulate the weather. Even I was a rare sight for the ground walking ponies. The horn on my head leaving me with many jeers and jokes on my race. I bared it, knowing they were simple people with simple jokes. We were in kind, poor, but happy in the spring sun. I fogged the window with my breath and turned to my dog. "Mutt, you stay--" The dog barked at me. "Fine.... I'm going to head into town, you sit there." I pointed a hoof at her. "Sit." The dog just stared, cocking its head slightly. I didn't even know if it was really a girl, but I didn't care. "Stay." I turned to the door and flung it open, my red mane spilling out over my face as I tripped on a broken bit of pathway. I flipped it back and looked down, my white body already splashed wish slush. "Grand, why must the natural order find it so favorable to shit on me?" I kicked my leg and walked off towards the town center, the snow thin but turned to ice from the cold. The town was short, huts and homes not more than two stories. I stretched my neck, a loud snap echoing through the dirt streets, patches of mud frozen solid and rough against my hooves. I looked towards the west, the sky grey and swirling with blue light. An omen of magic at work. I felt the frost settle upon my back as I stood staring at the upset in the sky. So long as it stayed over the white sea we would be fine, and should it come east I could only trust in our guards. I walked along the slushy path into the market, closed down with stalls collapsed or rotted. The smell of rain had settled upon us and mixed with the biting chill. I turned to our pub, the tallest building in the town, our home in the cold months. The smell of hay fluttered out as I walked over and pressed the door open. The inside of the room lit up as ponies turned to meet me. A small cheer cried out as I stepped into the room, amongst the tables and drinking ponies. The bar tender slammed his hoof into the counter. "Eureka, you are alive!" I nodded to the sound of cheers. "Yes, what, did you think I was dead?" I walked up to the bar and hopped up onto a seat. "Hello Pint." Pint nodded and walked over to me. "You haven't come out to see us recently, I think we all assumed the worst." I shook my head and laughed. "The cold can't take me, it can try, but it won't." The room settled down, Pint adopted a rather grim expression. "Well I'm glad. There are some that aren't as strong as you." He poured a drink into an old silver mug and nodded sharply. "In her memory." I felt myself frown. "Rye?" The room bustled softly, Pint nodded. "Rye, Shoots, their little filly. Found em' frozen about a day ago." Pint slid the drink to me. "A drink to remember, aye everypony!? A drink for the lost!" He slammed his hoof, the room grunting like soldiers in response. "That's what I thought!" I stared down at the beautiful polished silver. "Pint, we'll make it through this you know." He looked up at me, thick eyebrows falling downward as he searched the floor. "Some of you will." He shook his head, features hardened by the creases in his face. "I don't know who it'll take next, but if it's me, let them remember me as generous." I shook my head and hopped down from the counter. "Then drink it yourself, it'll keep you warm." I turned to the door. "I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but somepony needs to call attention to this, pride or not I won't have my home freezing solid." Pint grumbled angrily as I pushed the door open. "Nothing's permanent Eureka, least of all ponies!" "Yes-" I swung around to face the old stallion behind the bar, "-but does that mean those young and weak, able to grow stronger, need to be cut down?" Pint laughed heavily. "I hope you're not insinuating that I'm either." I smiled back at him. "Maybe not, but my point stands. And who better to save the old stud than the fresh faced mare with a--" The door slammed against its hinges and back closed in an instant. A crazed mare with a coat pushed me aside. "Windigo! Windigo to the west!" She ran up to the bar and jumped up on it. "It's coming from the west! We have to leave! We have to leave now!" The room went still for a few moments. Pint huffed loudly. "Eureka, what say you of the young and weak?" I stared at him as the rest of the ponies inside turned to me. My stomach spoke loud cries of unease. "I say that the able must defend them." I turned to the door and walked out into the swirling icy wind now sending shards of ice against the pub.
The Day of a SoldierI ran through the town, the blue lights in the distance had taken shape. A single spectral horse was swimming amongst the clouds, the wind could be seen carrying drifting ice against the western walls of every home. The ponies that lived near the coast were fleeing enmasse, running and ducking away from the cold. My heart beat like a drum as the windigo, bright and long enough to trail pure magic across the sky, slowly came near. My legs shook as I tried to move, pleading to turn and run. I stepped forward, one after another I stepped towards the shore. The cold was horrid, taking away any semblance of warmth with the wind. I felt ponies bump past me, running towards the eastern road. I was alone, I would be alone, facing a windigo, a demon of ice and frost. But I could not move, I could not run, I could only walk forward towards my death. The screams and cries of ponies and foals echoed around me as the windigo made landfall near the sandy shore. The seawater froze under the sky bound beast, trailing up and over a fishing hut. It dove, blasting a frozen ring into the earth and freezing a small herd instantly. The specter arose from the ground and another group was frozen instantly, left as statues and memories to what they once were. Ponies left frozen, eyes caught with terror as the monster brought frost in its wake. I lowered my head, the sound of a half frozen pony watching as their limbs were lost to the cold, then the creep up to their heart. Screams of agony, screams for help, screams for our princess, for magic, for anything. I kept walking down the road to the shore, terrified ponies rushing past me as I marched alone. The smell of clean air flew past as the windigo swiped a group to my right, the snap freeze causing the water in the air to crystallize and fall against the ground as ponies were turned to horrid statues. I marched on, watching the ground freeze around me, encircle me. The windigo overhead was toying with me, cutting ponies off from the road and leaving me stuck before it. The swirling beast overhead stopped before the shore, staring down at me with hollow glowing eyes, devoid of comfort, devoid of happiness, only searching for the eternal cold that would give it rest. "And they sent a mare to deal with this! Cowards they may be, or perhaps I'm a hero!" I screamed up at the equine monster. "So tell me, monster, why!?" The sky high monster snorted, a plume of fog falling down upon me, chilling me to the bone. "Answer me, beast! What purpose do you serve!?" I felt my horn rattle with static like energy. "The frost you bring only kills, only destroys!" I fired off a bolt of magic up at the beast, watching as the bright red bounced off and shot into the sky. "Not content to sit on the coast!" I fired again, the next bolt growing hotter. "Not content to siphon away the lives of ponies who deserve better!" My heart beat hard, sending my blood boiling through my veins. "Not content to kill! You come and you destroy all you touch!" I shot again, red sparks shooting off before my face. The windigo continued to stare at me, barely phased by the shots. "If this is how I die, let them know I died fighting!" The massive creature simply stared, a lone monster, the kind that took our home from us all those years ago. Magical beasts born of deception, hatred, and malice. "Come then!" I screamed, stomping my hoof and shooting at the beast again, the clouds parting away from the snake like creature. "Kill me if you can!" I shot again, the air dripping soft patches of rain as my magic cracked the air like lightning. The windigo's tail straightened out towards the west. I shot again, my lightningesque shot tearing through the windigo's head and causing it to split. A bone chilling cry flooded the ground, causing the earth to shake under my hooves as the creature reformed. "That's right! Not fear nor weakness will stop me from killing you!" I fired again, grazing the windigo. "I am Eureka! Learn my name! Remember me in your oblivion!" I shot again, my head starting to burn from the exertion. "I say fight!" The windigo stared me dead on, tail whipping around behind it as it charged. Dead on, streams of clouds and frosted air rang its approach. I fired, and fired, and fired again. My heart slowed as the charging monster remained. "Come then! I stand before you fearless and ready--" I was flung away, sent flying towards the south. The sky was grey, scattered with red lightning and the blue glow of the windigo's trail. My hooves fell out from under me as I tumbled through the air. I went limp as I flew, unable to do better. I watched as the windigo dove through the ground, a single pony standing with his head raised, hoof lifted from the ground, stood frozen eternal. "Pint," I whimpered, landing away from the ring of ice that had enclosed me. I could hear my ribs break as I landed, a soft snap coming from the meat of my side. "Pint!?" I screamed, laying on my side and left in horror as the windigo crested from the earth. "Pint?" I called again, unable to trust my eyes. The greying stallion was locked forever in the pose of war heroes, body upraised after throwing me away from harm. I hobbled upright, my horn burning white hot as the windigo looked back to me. "Pint, why?" I felt my eyes burn as the stallion stood alone and strong. "Pint?! Answer me!" I turned to the windigo as it flew towards me. "How dare you!" I screamed, my voice growing hoarse. I fired a shot, the air sending off an ear shattering bang as I did. "My friend! My family!" I fired again, the sparks from my horn curling around the air into puffs of smoke. "Die!" I fired again, the tip of my horn numb from the heat. "Die!" I fired again, the magic shooting from my horn burning the air and tearing into the windigo. "Burn! Burn you monster!" I watched in awe as my horn spit fire into the air, stopping the windigo's charge and causing a sudden storm to clash between us, showering the frozen ground in fresh rain. "Burn!" Each new shot sent torrents of fire into the air, enveloping the evil beast, causing cinders to join the rain. "I said burn! For Pint! For Rye! For everypony!" I felt tears turn to steam upon my cheek. "Manta-rott-viss!" I screamed in an old unicorn tongue. "Die!" I watched the fire spilling from my horn block out the sky, a plume of fire surrounded me, encapsulated me, and burn away the frost in the air. "Die I say! Burn for your crimes!" The windigo was tiny, darting through the red. The blue glow of the creature faded as a red flare shot through the sky. The two clashed, and the blue was no more. Now, trapped in a bubble of fire charring nearby homes and bodies to cinders, there was I, and an orange flare. The creature darted out of the sky, towards me, burning and bright. A phoenix chick slammed into the ground before me, turning to ash in moments. The fire overhead slowly faded, give the bright blue sky back to me and the village. Houses were burning, ponies were reduced to charcoal, the nearby woods were ablaze, and all around me the smell of damp ash drifted through the rainy air. I turned to my right. "Pint?" I walked over to the cracked circle in the ground where the windigo had trapped me. "Pint?" I whispered, looking towards a body laid against the ground, turned black and burnt. "Pint...I'm sorry." I dropped onto my stomach before the once proud pony. "Pint?!" I touched him with my hoof, causing the body to fall apart into soft ash. I jumped upright, my skin crawling as I looked around. "All around me the world looked as it would in summer, but the wood and flesh that had been fleeing or was unlucky enough to be stationary was burned and charred. A few ponies trapped by the ice had been turned to coal, and the statuized ponies were nothing more than ash now. I had not done this. I had not intended to do this.
The Exile of a Mare"Guilty." The verdict was passed with a solid snap of a gavel. Only a soft ringing fluttered along past my ears, overtaking me, consuming me. I could only watch as the ponies in the jury stepped away. I was alone, I was an exile, and soon enough I would be sent to my death by a simple boat. The ringing was all there was. My sight locked on my pure white hooves. I had sinned, and soon I would face the punishment fit for me. I could only wait now, and pray that the death I had earned would be quick and painless, although more than I deserved. "Rise, my little pony." I felt something rest on my forehead. "Look to me." I slowly lifted my head, Celestia herself was standing proud before me. She removed her hoof and raised me onto my haunches with her magic. I slumped back down and kept my head towards the floor. "Rise." She called again. I shook my head. "It's done, I've pleaded and failed." "Rise." Celestia pulled me upright again, this time holding me in place while she looked me over. Her gaze was burning, an overwhelming sense of dissapointment racked my body and burned my skin. "Princess please--" I was cut off as I felt a hoof swing around my back, pulling me tight against our royal leader, our regal mare. I felt my breath go shallow and heavy as she squeezed me. "Please...don't." I felt a hoof travel up and down my back. "Shh.... Calm." She set me back down onto my haunches, standing proudly before me as the phoenix I'd created sat on her back. She looked at it, the creature now free of its cage. "I had these eradicated...to my knowledge none survived." The phoenix bounced up and down her back. "I'm glad to see my hasty judgment did not doom them." I took a quick breath and looked up at my princess. "A demon, yet you're willing to touch it? You're willing to touch one as sickly and rueful as myself?" The princess closed her eyes and nodded. "Ruin is not your card, nor is death. And exile is only a word my ponies use." She reached her horn down and tapped me on the forehead. A heavy thud hit the base of my brain and burrowed into my neck. "No...what you have done is a brave act, turn vile by laws to protect." She stepped back and looked me over. "How long ago it was, to watch villages burn and bodies turned to coal. To think it was my doing, to think it was my word." She hung her head. "To think one so soft would break my laws in such a way." I lowered my head, resting my chin against the floor before our princess. "I'm sorry--" "To break such a law for the betterment of others. To break my law in a time of only the most critical of moments. To understand and comply with the ramifications." She stamped her hoof. "No...exile will not be your punishment, but your cause." She turned her head to the western window. I stood up, wiping the tears from my eyes and I stood beside her. "I have commited an unforgivable--" "Far to the west, in a land lost to the ice, lost to the frost of the windigos and the over saturation of magic, I believe there is a home for one as brave as you." She turned to me with a stern gaze. "And I believe none other can survive the perils it holds." She nodded once at me. "I have a mission for you. One that will cost your life, your love, and your every fiber." She turned to me head on. "To save Equestria from the ice, to hold the windigos at bay, to stem the ice with rightious fire weilded in my name and the name of life." She tapped me on the tip of the horn. "But, will you agree? After our choices, and our judgment, I fear we may have lost your favor." I stomped my hoof. "You have purpose for me!? Then direct me!" I stomped my hoof again. "Send me to fight! I will redeem myself in your eyes!" Again, this time sending a small crack into the floor. "My life is your--" My eyes burned as a loud drip took back my hearing. "--I am nothing! I am--" Celestia threw a hoof around me and pulled my against her chest. "You are my everything. My subject, my friend, my little pony." She nuzzled my head with her lips. "And I fear I may never reward you as you deserve." I took a deep breath and let my hooves wrap around her sides, resting myself against her. "Purpose...life...it's reward enough. Now use me as you see fit...for I am nothing--" "Hmm." Celestia held my close. "But you are my everything. And, perhaps in time an unsung hero will save us all from the ice, lead by fire and sent by the sun." She pulled me close and nuzzled the back of my head with her chin. "In time you will fight for us all, I only hope you deem us fit for the struggle." "Always." I squeezed her back. "Forever eternal, eternally loyal." And so mare made immortal, Eureka was sent to hold the ice at bay. Her fire lights the western sky, and provides us with the warm winds from the cold land to the west. All nameless. All silent. Burning embers amongst a blizzard, she protects us from the frost. Author's Note Now with sequel.
The Night of AshI stared out from my perch on the pub roof. The phoenix to my side now fully grown and causing ciders under its perch. It looked up to me, newborn and confused. "I can't help you demon." I shook my head. "I don't think I can help anypony." I looked towards the north, the trees I'd set ablaze had spread until a large patch of forest was sitting in ash and fire. The sky was dark, coated with ash and smoke. The town had not fared much better. The port was a mix of ash and frost, twin magics torn into the earth and air. Ponies turned to ice statues and crumpled forms of coal dotted the road. The sea sported a large line of ice heading to the western land. I rubbed my eyes, the strange mix of temperatures clashing in the air was horrid, sudden flashes of cold and fiery heat unsettled me. I watched as the darkened sky drifted east, the ash I'd kicked up looming over Equestria, slowly drifting down to meet the damp earth. "Hail!" A stern shout called my vision east. "Royal guard, we've--" I took a deep breath. "You're late." I pointed to the shore. "The dead rest yonder." The guards, clad in gold and silver, stared up at me. "Ma'am, what is that bird?" I turned to the newborn chick. "Phoenix." The guards bustled softly, a pair of silver armored pegasus flew up to meet me on the roof. "Ma'am, you--" "I know." I held my hooves out. "I did what I had to, nothing more." The guards looked at each other. Then one walked to my side and took my hoof. "Not for us to decide, nor you to acquit yourself." I took a deep breath and looked out to the ravaged town shore. "Then take me to my judgment. My crimes are written against the earth, written in this creature." I turned to the phoenix. "Take me, punish me then as you wish." I turned to the guard, staring him dead on. "May be both be judged on our crimes, lax stallion of silver." The pegasus shook his head. "Nothing was reported sooner, we--" "Your breath is wasted, now take me to my punishment." I turned to the bird. "I am at peace with my actions, now let the law be as well."
