Prologue: The meeting in the snow
The cold winds whistled through the bleak-lands brushing through the thin, bare branches of the trees, the force driving along thick clouds of snow across the wasteland. Thick, grey clouds hung in the air, expelling their freezing payloads, covering the skeletal trees in blankets of white. Except for the whistling of the wind and the creaking of the trees, there was no sound in the frozen forest. The small stream, wending its way next to the path, was a frozen block of sapphire, with small fishes, frozen mid-swim. Here and there, weather-beaten boulders lay among the trees, as though some giant hand had placed them there at random. In this frozen space, it seemed impossible that anything could survive, surrounded by these blankets of snow and instant freezing winds.
Yet something was moving through the sea of white. A small filly appeared through the blizzard, her purple fur sticking out on end, patches of it smothered by sticking snow and her cutie mark, a small purple star with several smaller white stars, barely visible through all the patched fur and sticky snow. The filly's head was bent against the swirling clouds, her deep purple mane tossing about, flecks of snow sticking to the strands. Her tail, colored a similar purple, was bedraggled, practically stiff with the amount of snow it had caught, dragging across the ground. Sticking through the messy mane was a small, purple horn, the length cutting through the winds like a sharks fin through water. The filly's bright purple eyes were squinted as she tried to navigate through the swirling clouds of snow, unable to pinpoint exactly where the hay she was going. Though the filly was in no doubt that even if she could see, she wouldn't know where she was.
Twilight-Sparkle stopped, panting slightly as she tried to push her billowing mane out of her eyes. Just like last time, the filly's mane, helpless in the grip of the blizzard, fell back over her eyes, further obscuring her vision. The Unicorn sighed in anger, shaking from the bottoms of her hooves, to the very tip of her horn. Twilight was cold, hungry and getting rather annoyed with the whole ordeal. The young Unicorn wanted nothing more than to be back in her own bed, safe and warm. But no. She was here and she had no idea why. Twilight had been struggling through the snow and ice, trying hopelessly to pinpoint wherever she was, to no avail, for what felt like the best part of two hours. A logical Unicorn, Twilight had been trying to remember what she'd been doing before she'd ended up in this snowy torture. Again, to no avail. It seemed like she'd just blinked and ended up here. But Twilight knew such things didn't happen. It wasn't natural.
"HELLO!?" Yelled Twilight. Her own voice, echoing out in the silence, was all that answered her. Grumbling to herself, Twilight started moving forward again. She knew that if she stayed out in the harsh weather for any longer, she'd freeze solid. It was time to look for shelter, at least until the storm passed. But there wasn't even a cave for the filly to rest in. All she could see was more of the skeletal trees and thick mounds of snow and rocks. Not good. "Hello? Is any-pony there?!" Twilight called again, straining her ears for even the slightest response. But there was nothing to answer her, except for the loud whistling of the blizzard. Something crunched. Twilight stopped, fear shooting through her. The Unicorn had felt it. Something had snapped under her hooves. Twilight stepped back...and froze. It was a mouse. A small mouse was lying on its side right in front of her. Its' tail had been snapped cleanly in two. "Eurgh." Twilight mumbled, feeling disgust building up inside of her. "IS SOME-PONY HERE?!" Twilight shrieked feeling sick to her stomach. If she didn't find some help, she WOULD freeze solid.
"Hello there my Child." Twilight let a shriek of fright as a deep, male voice spoke, whirling around. Another Pony was standing behind her. There was no possible way that the Stallion could've walked up behind her normally. He must've moved rather carefully, using the loud whistling of the blizzard and the thick carpet of snow to cover the sound of his hooves. Twilight frowned as she took in the Stallion's strange appearance. The Stallion was covered in a patched, brown rag, as though the Stallion had attempted to pass the long rag as a cloak. The "cloak" seemed far too large for the Stallions thin, bony frame. Patchy, silver fur covered his body and tail whilst his mane was a pure white. A long horn, tapered to a sharp point, stuck out of the stallions head. Bloodshot-greenish-brown eyes stared down at her, with a kind of polite interest. His mouth was open in a small half-smile, showing a set of yellowing teeth. "This is the first time another pony has come to visit me," The Stallion said, looking Twilight up and down. He turned to look at the surroundings. "At least, no-pony has visited me here in the frozen forest."
"The Frozen-Forest? Is that where we are?"Twilight asked, frowning. She had never heard of such a place. As far as the filly knew, Equestria, the country where she lived, had no such place as the Frozen-Forest. The Stallion nodded, not looking at her, seemingly more interested in one of the dead trees than the filly shivering in front of him. Twilight shivered, feeling her teeth beginning to chatter. Her body temperature was dropping the longer she stayed out here. "E-E-Excuse m-m-me, m-mister?" She stammered, noting that the Stallion was barely shaking, despite his sparse covering. The stallion turned his bloodshot eyes upon her, his half-smile never faltering. "Is t-t-there anywhere w-w-where I can shelter?" The Stallion frowned, his eyes passing over the shaking form of Twilight again. "P-Please?" Twilight stammered, trying to convey the old fashioned, "Sad-Eyes stare." But the other Unicorn seemed unmoved by her plight, continuing to frown at her. He shook his head, prompting a small flurry of snow around his head.
"There is no shelter in the Frozen-Forest. Not from the blizzard and not from the eyes...of the Lich-Pony." Twilight froze. The Stallion was smiling again but it was wider than before. It was almost maniacal. Twilight could see that every single one of the Stallion's teeth had been sharpened to a point. The eyes had widened. The two bloodshot, green orbs were almost popping out of the Stallion's face. "Come with me Child." The Stallion took a step forward. Twilight couldn't move. It was as if her hooves had frozen to the ground. "I'm curious to know what sort of secrets you're hiding from me." Twilight screamed as the Stallion rushed at her. The insane smile was widening again, growing wider, almost impossibly wide. The yellow teeth were encompassing her whole field of vision. Each tooth was lengthening, each growing longer than Twilight's whole body. The Stallion was laughing now. A long, drawn out laugh that cut through Twilight's body, rebounding through the fillies skull, rattling her bones, making her frozen fur stand on end. The filly shut her eyes tightly, not wishing to gaze upon the terrible scene any longer. She knew she was done for. She could almost feel those evil teeth, getting closer and closer until....
Twilight jerked awake with a loud cry, straining against the tight, constricting folds of the blanket around her. Then she stopped. There was no snow, no skeletal trees and no crazy Stallion bent on swallowing her whole. Shaking with fear, the filly looked around fearfully, not knowing if the crazy Stallion was still near her. Her bedroom looked the same as it always had. The same bookcases, each stacked to breaking point with thick, heavy, leather-bound books. The same purple wall-paper, patterned with stars. The Unicorn sighed with relief, falling back against her pillow. Twilight turned her head and smiled to see the thin, watery sunlight filtering through her bedroom window. Today was a new day. Twilight smiled widely as she slipped out of bed. Staring through the window, out into the snow covered streets of Canterlot, sighing quietly again. It had just been a dream. Just a crazy dream. There was a knocking at the door and a quiet, female voice called to her through the door.
"Twilight! Twilight, It's almost time for you to go. You don't want to keep Princess Celestia waiting do you?!" Twilight smiled, turning away from the window, the dream already slipping from her mind. But as the young filly picked up her saddlebags, already planning for the day ahead, she failed to notice the Unicorn that had appeared outside her window. He had patchy, silver fur, a sparse white mane and bloodshot, green eyes. Covering his body was a ragged, brown cloak. The Unicorn gave a small smile, licking his lips as he gazed into the room, watching the filly pick up books and quills. Chuckling quietly to himself, the Stallion turned and walked off. As he walked, a small cloud of snowflakes gathered around his body, growing thicker and thicker until the swirling snow obscured his body. Then just as suddenly as it had come, the snow-cloud fell to the floor. Of the Stallion, there was no sign. Twilight-Sparkle continued packing her bags, the strange Stallion forgotten.
Chapter 1: The winter visitor
Chapter 1: The winter visitor
PONYVILLE: SOME YEARS LATER
Twilight-Sparkle frowned as she stared out of her window, watching the blizzard lash outside. The village of Ponyville was in the grip of one of the worst winter-storms to date. The Unicorn sighed, watching the giant flakes of snow lash the window. She was bored. Incredibly bored. In the several months since coming to Ponyville, Twilight-Sparkle had seen and stopped a Dragon attack, prevented an eternal night and stopped a mountain-sized bear from crushing the town...but now, she was, stuck inside the Golden-Oaks Library, in the middle of a blizzard. The Unicorn sighed again, attempting to prop her head, which had been drooping from boredom, on the writing desk she was sitting at. Several books lay open on the desk, alongside several scrunched-up bits of parchment. For the first time in living memory, the vast amount of books contained in the library had failed to stem the studious Unicorn's thirst for knowledge. She'd been reading for the best part of the day, though any-pony who knew Twilight-Sparkle, knew that the Unicorn's lust for knowledge was insatiable and no library could ever satisfy it.
Twilight groaned, pushing herself away from desk. The Unicorn knew that moping about was a surefire way to build up her temper. The Unicorn turned to look at the Library that had been her home for the last few months. Built into a thick tree, with bookcases lining the circular walls, a warm fire burning in the hearth, several cubby-holes filled with quills and notepads...a real home away from home. Of course, the Ponyville library couldn't compare to the Canterlot Library but still...Twilight chuckled to herself. The Unicorn considered any place-of-learning as a home-away-from-home. To many of her friends amusement no less. Twilight smiled, amusing herself with the thought of the looks on some of her closest friends faces at this time. Rainbow-Dash, the brash, Rainbow-Maned Pegasus would be bouncing around the walls with impatience, joined, no-doubt by Pinkie-Pie, the poofy-maned, pink party pony. Chuckling to herself, Twilight pushed herself onward, hoping that a cup of strong tea would wake her up.
"Twilight? Twilight, where are you?" Called a voice. Twilight smiled, turning to look at the stairs. A small dragon, covered in purple scales with green spines had appeared, hopping down the stairs to meet her, a bright glimmer in his emerald green eyes and a smile on his face. Her assistant, Spike, was holding what appeared to be a small scroll of parchment, tied with a length of red ribbon and secured with a small golden seal. The baby-dragon panted slightly as he came to a stop in front of Twilight, his scaly tail wagging slightly behind him. "This just came for you." The dragon said, waving the scroll. "I think it's from the Princess." Twilight smiled, taking the scroll from her assistant. The dragon turned, moving over to the small kitchen. "I'll make us some tea. It's so cold upstairs, there's frost on my scales." The Unicorn rolled her eyes at the dragon's exaggeration, slitting open the letter with her magic, Twilight unrolled the letter, smiling as she recognized the hoof-writing of her mentor, Princess Celestia.
"To my most faithful student, Twilight-Sparkle. I hope this letter finds you in good health. As I am sure you know, Ponyville will be entering the first stages of Winter-Wrap-Up in the coming weeks. I have therefore decided to delay my next royal parade till then. I am very pleased to announce that my sister, Princess Luna, will also be joining us."
"Huh." Twilight huffed, tossing the letter onto the desk with a soft snort. "That's a shame, now I won't see her for another three weeks." The Unicorn whined, disappointment rising up inside her. As Princess of the entire country, the Alicorn Princess did not have a lot of free time. Now that she'd fully moved into Ponyville, Twilight didn't get many chances to speak to her mentor. A loud whistling noise coming from the direction of the kitchen snapped the Unicorn out of her thoughts. "Spike!" Twilight called, noting the small cloud of steam that was pouring out from the kitchen. "What in Equestria are you doing in there?" She demanded angrily, striding over. Spike, who was so small he could not reach over the counter, was stood on a stool, a large, whistling kettle in one claw and a small tin, container of biscuits in the other. The kettle was clearly the source of the steam, as thick, white clouds were spraying from the spout, leaving large spots of damp on the ceiling and the windows. "SPIKE!" Twilight shouted, using her magic to take the Kettle from the baby Dragon, setting on the counter and peering inside. "You know better than to boil the water at that temperature. Now I'll be..." But Twilight stopped as a loud knocking noise sounded.
"I...think there's some-pony at the door Twilight." Spike said timidly. The Unicorn sighed angrily, striding away from her assistant and back into the main part of the Library, making a mental note to have a word with the baby-dragon when she'd dealt with the visitor. Twilight tried hard to compose her face into a welcoming smile. But then, just as she reached out a hoof to pull the door open, she stopped. Turning her head slightly, Twilight checked the cloak, situated next to the door. The hands were pointed at: 10:50. Surely No-pony in their right minds would be looking for a book to read, this late at night, in the middle of a blizzard....would they?
The Stallion had been walking for the best part of three hours. Wandering through Ponyville, he had been searching, almost frantically for the Library. The Library where SHE lived. Where that Unicorn who'd let him out lived. After years of searching for her, he'd found little-miss-Sparkle. The Unicorn smiled coolly, feeling the patchwork cloak flapping around him, in the grip of the powerful blizzard. Flakes of snow whistled about him, some sticking to his patchy fur, soaking the silvery fur. Despite the cold, the Stallion was not shivering. Indeed, the stallion showed no sign that he was cold, nor did he show any sign that the wintry atmosphere was affecting him. Such weather was no bother to the Lich-Pony He continued to stride through the thick banks of snow, his bloodshot, green eyes staring around at the cottages around him, sealed against the raging storm.
"Where is it?" The Unicorn pondered, his voice, whisked away by the winds. Then he saw it. A large tree stood in a plaza of sorts, with an small wooden door set into one side. Several small windows, each window ledge piled high with snow, obscuring the lights. Each branch, was bare of leafs, some tossing and turning in the wind. The stallion smiled to himself. "How nostalgic," He muttered, striding over to the door. "Oh how it reminds me of the frozen forests." But the Stallion froze, one hoof raised to knock at the door. How to go about this? If she recognized him, then...A revelation hit the Lich-Pony. Of course! What better way to get inside the home of his target, than to play the victim? And the weather was certainly a convenient excuse. The Lich-Pony smiled, raised his hoof and knocked on the door. He only had to wait for a few seconds as the door swung open. The Lich-Pony felt elation as he saw who was standing in the doorway. Dark-Purple mane, light purple fur with a pair of bright violet eyes, widening at him. It WAS her! Forcing himself to remain calm, the Lich-Pony opened his mouth, making his teeth chatter for the effect. He may as well be convincing. "E-E-Excuse m-m-me? Could I t-t-trouble you for a p-place to s-s-stay?"
"Have we met?" Twilight mumbled, staring in surprise as the shivering Unicorn spoke. The silvery-grey fur and those bloodshot green eyes...She'd definitely seen this Pony somewhere before. She continued staring, even as the new arrival continued speaking. It was only when the Stallion waved a shaking hoof in front of her face that she snapped out of her thoughts. The Unicorn was staring at her through nervous eyes, shaking from horn to hoof. "S-Sorry!" she stammered, "I thought I recognized you for a second." The Mare smiled nervously, extending a hoof. "My name is Twilight-Sparkle. Would you like to come in? It's freezing out here." The Stallion smiled, nodding vigorously, taking a step into the house. Then his eyes rolled and the pony collapsed. "Spike!" Twilight shouted, shaking the unconscious Stallion. The Stallion was ice cold. She never felt any-pony so cold. "Spike!" She shouted again, just as the dragon came running out, the biscuit tin still clutched in his claws, the question dying on his mouth as he stared down at the unconscious pony. "Spike, go get some blankets, this Stallion is freezing!" Twilight shouted, wheezing slightly under the weight of the Stallion as she dragged him over to the fire. As the Dragon ran out, Twilight gazed down at the unconscious stallion. One thought raced through her frantic mind as she continued to watch him. "No-Pony could be that cold...could they?"
