The Frozen Land

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue

Chapter 1

The frozen tundra of northern Equestria was a harsh and almost unlivable land. If not for the work of ponies and the magic they wield, few would venture beyond the start of the tundra as snow and ice locked the land in eternal winter. Yet life did bloom there, both within the Crystal Empire and elsewhere. Thanks to the powerful artifact known as the Crystal Heart, the crystal ponies were able to turn the warmth and love they all held within themselves into a palpable energy that banished and pushed back the blizzards that raged across the region and bring a cycle of seasons that made it habitable year-round. With pegasi lending the support they gave to Equestria to regulate the weather here as well, you could almost mistake it for a more tropical or temperate land, save for the still ongoing storms that blew across many of the mountains in the area.

But there were areas of the world where such things were still impossible and dangerous to attempt.

In a parallel to the frozen north, the frozen south was an untamed land of ice and snow that not even the best ponies could best. Legends say that long ago it was a lush and fertile land, much like the Crystal Empire emulated. Towering woods and vast plains, rivers that flowed from every corner of the landmass into the southern seas, animals that ponykind have not seen outside of a few museum exhibits. A paradise that has not been seen since a time before even the oldest of creatures could recall seeing, much less know about with records and eyewitness accounts to prove its existence. Not even Princess Celestia could claim to know of such a time when the frozen land was anything but that, and though nobody had dared to ask it of him directly, never had Discord. For the world it was what it is; an eternal tomb of ice over a land lost to the ages, with howling winds and an eternal storm raging across the entire region of the world. Few creatures aside from the most magical and dangerous could live there, such as Windigos and Frostwolves. The waters surrounding it were filled with deceptive masses of ice, some icebergs towering as large as any castle underneath the waves where only the peak showed above the surface. Temperatures reached into the minus ranges far, far beyond what any sane pony would tolerate even in the most bitter and chilly nights of winter in Equestria. If you were to step foot on this land, it was said that you would most certainly die.

So then why travel to it at all? Well, the answer was quite simple really: They wanted to know why. Why was this land so barren and cold? Why did it become like this, when supposedly it had once been like a second Equestria. Why did the storms never break? Why couldn’t they tame it even a little bit unlike the frozen north. A pony’s curiosity knows no bounds, and so as the years passed and civilization advanced, new ways were found that might allow a pony to venture forth into this tundra and at last search for answers.

The stallion who would do this for the current generation was Doctor Absolut Zero, a weather researcher of some renown. He had approached the diarchy seeking a royal grant to further his studies by exploring the southern land of Antrotica. His hopes were that he could better understand how nature grew to be so wild and apply it elsewhere like the Everfree Forest, as well as perhaps find a solution that would allow ponies to at last begin reclaiming the ice-locked land. Princess Celestia, worried over the health and safety of her little ponies, was initially reluctant. Doctor Absolut was hardly the first pony to attempt an expedition to the land after all, the last one in particular having experienced an especially grim fate. But Princess Luna, seeing the conviction and passion within the doctor, approved and personally aided him in selecting a team of ponies to travel with him to the lost continent. Doctor Absolut eagerly took the advice and aid of the lunar diarch, and together with six other ponies, moved to the south pole to set up camp and begin their work.

However...that was six months ago. Since long months, and now even Princess Luna was worried.

In the time that had followed their departure, reports were sent regularly between the research station and the alicorn, keeping her apprised on their status and progress in unravelling the mysteries of Antrotica. Little was found, the very land itself seeming to fight their efforts, but still they pressed on and hopes continued to stay high. It wasn’t until reports began to grow more spaced out, more infrequent, that any worry about them surfaced. Then all of a sudden there was silence. Concerned as to what this might mean, the princess wasted no time to prep a second smaller expedition force to set out and rendezvous with the doctor’s team and ascertain what was wrong.

To lead this group of three was an earth stallion by the name of Stark Winter. A veteran of combat, exploration and survival in the less tamed regions of the north, his skills would be invaluable at keeping everyone alive and safe both before and after they reached the station. His lack of magic was made up with his skill in the sword arts and although he operated by himself most of the time, he had on occasion collaborated with Shining Armor to better prepare the Crystal Guard to handle any threats that might wander into the empire from the tundra at any given moment. Unlike the other two members in fact, he had approached Princess Luna before she could ask him and volunteered his services, cementing his position as team leader upon learning of his past.

To act as the team medic as well as communication expert was the unicorn mare named Whisper. She also hailed from the north, the Crystal Empire to be exact, and was a crystal pony whose special talent was in enchanting crystals to ‘speak’ what she willed. With a pair of crystals she could transmit speech between them for over a mile, or record messages that would repeat if a touch of magic was applied. She had first been commissioned by Princess Luna to create the communication array that had left Doctor Absolut in contact with the princess for several months. Now with one possibility being that the system had failed, she was an easy pick for joining the team, her expertise the only thing that could repair it if required.

Finally, as the winter weather expert to round out the team, there was Spearmint the pegasus mare. As a member of the Ponyville weather team, she had an abundance of experience with wild weather from the Everfree Forest and oversaw many of the winter time storms. While dispelling the storm would be impossible, especially for just one mare, she could hopefully guide them away from the worst spots and spot anything that Stark might accidentally overlook in terms of natural hazards. She was well suited to this also because of her special talent and reaction to the cold. While most pegasi would slow or freeze up in such weather, Spearmint instead thrived. The cold actually resonated with her magic, speeding her up to the likes of the famous Rainbow Dash, with the downside being that the heat of summer would affect her far worse than most pegasi. If necessary this could let her scout ahead or even rush to the rescue should they become separated at any point.

The intrepid trio, having met and set out some four days prior, were just now approaching the coastline of Antrotica. They had spent the time getting to know one another, comparing skills as well as general histories, while simply waiting out the various transports and changeovers they needed in order to even reach the southern tip of Equestria’s land. The railway only traveled half the distance before they needed to swap to airship, and once on the coast they needed to meet up with the hired boatman to take them further into the choppy waters around the lost continent. A task that had been hard even with a royalty backed fee given to the captain prior to their arrival, since the waters were infamous for shipwrecks that far south. Still, the captain had relented, and for the last day they had been sailing deeper into the sea around Antrotica. It was close to night now, with the sun just setting on the horizon, and they were anchored here until morning so they wouldn’t have to brave the coastline in pitch black. Spearmint, being the most adapted to the cold, was out upon the prow of the boat leaning against the railing.

Tucking a strand of hair behind one ear, the mare gazed across the waters at the just in sight landmass that was their destination. The waters were beginning to grow choppy, in addition to the new masses in the water in the form of icebergs, which meant that this would be the last time she could look upon the scenery without having to battle a blizzard. Even from here the rolling, endless sky of storm clouds could be seen, thankfully with no thunder in them but that was made up for the hail she knew would randomly spawn amongst all the snow. Her pegasus senses were telling her plenty about what the storm was like, even miles away, and shuddered not from the cold but rather the fear that filled her at such a monstrous anomaly existing. Clothing would have to be changed; Spearmint preferred a light attire of her usual yellow wooly shorts and jacket, a short-sleeve shirt underneath of it, pink scarf and white wooly earmuffs around her head, and finally capping it off with long pink booties around her hooves. But the weather ahead was not going to accept such light attire, and already she was dreading having to put on more layers to stem against the cold she normally loved to feel across her fur.

“Beautiful.” Spearmint turned at the sudden voice, seeing her teammate Whisper coming up the deck. Like her name, she was a very soft-speaking mare, always seeming to take time between starting what she meant to say and finishing it to be sure of her words. She was taller than the pegasus by almost a foot and unlike the modestly pretty mare, was incredibly endowed in curves and classic beauty. She had an especially large horn and almost melon sized breasts, which combined with her warm brown crystal coat and long strawberry-blonde crystal mane that draped across most of her eyes, had made stallions all throughout their journey blush, drool and otherwise make an ass of themselves. “...The sunsets in the Crystal Empire are much like this, but somehow seeing it beside the stormfront is...haunting.”

“I’ve never been to the Crystal Empire, so this is new to me.” Spearmint remarked. Looking toward the sunset, she could see how the sun looked different, more orange and inflamed, than what was usual. “I guess this far south - or north like you said - that the sunlight comes at such an angle that the atmosphere distorts it. You’re right though, it feels kind of...eerie, seeing it like that.”

Whisper nodded. “Yes.” There was a pause, as the two mares watched the sun begin to dip past the horizon. A few lights on the boat began to flick on as the captain hunkered the ship down for nighttime on rough seas. “...Winter is coming soon. He said he wanted to make sure you were prepared with better clothing for tomorrow.”

Looking at her teammate, Spearmint saw that she was already wearing the special extreme cold jacket and pants that Stark Winter had brought for them. The thick red jacket looked a bit tight, specifically around the chest area, but did a good job of covering all of her body. The pants were tucked into her thick wooly boots, and instead of a hood she had wraps to make a shawl to leave her horn free. “I have it back in my cabin. It’s not that cold yet and I wanted to take one more look at…” She trailed off, turning her head toward Antrotica. “Hard to believe we’re going into that tomorrow.”

“Mmm.” Whisper wrapped her arms around her waist, which had the effect of pushing up her chest. Spearmint hastily darted her eyes away when she realized that the motion had drawn her attention. “...I’m a little nervous about tomorrow. I don't believe my original batch of crystals could have been damaged enough to break communication. What do you think we’ll find there?”

“My guess? Probably a bunch of ponies too swept up in their research to notice they’ve gone silent. Maybe their crystals are damaged, or maybe they just haven’t made anymore progress and have been hiding.” Frowning, Spearmint had to sigh and add, “But I can’t avoid thinking something’s gone bad too. I mean, I know Doc Zero from a few weather summits up in Cloudsdale. A nice stallion, but he’s dedicated to his work in ways that can be almost intimidating. He’s researched several additional branches of magic in addition to any weather-based ones simply to be able to cover all potential results it could have on weather patterns and distribution across Equestria. If anypony can solve the mystery of Antrotica it’s him, but for him to go silent? He would never be quiet over lack of results, heck if anything that would just have him asking the Princess for more help or suggestions.”

“Spearmint-”

“Please, just call me Minty. I think we’re friends by now.” The pegasus smiled up at her.

Whisper smiled back. “...Then, Minty, what do you think about this storm? Have you ever seen something like this over the Everfree?”

Minty looked back at the horizon, the storm clouds no longer in sight thanks to the sun having set. Even as the moon slowly rose in the east, its own illumination could not pierce the distance the same way to show their destination. “Never. Sure we get wild clouds and storms but usually we can break them up. Rainbow Dash sometimes does it herself even, and if it’s a bigger storm we can just call on the entire team to help wrangle it down. But this is...unreal.”

“I’m afraid it’s very real, Spearmint.” Came a deep, sombre voice from behind the two mares. Turning in tandem they saw the leader of their team walking up, his grey coat and black mane letting him blend into the shadows of the deck until he walked into a spotlight. Draped over his shoulders was a massive black cloak of feathers and fur lining, more normal winter gear underneath along with his sword strapped to a hip. His eyes held little warmth in them although it was not directed at either of them, and with the five o’clock shadow across his muzzle he was intimidating even on a good day. Both mares could always see how he was a warrior of some renown, and treated him with respect fitting his skills and age. “The Storm of Antrotica is not known to many, but its dangers are even greater than that of your Everfree Forest. The forest is simply wild, dangerous. With time you can co-exist with it and its inhabitants, just like Ponyville has. This however is deadly, merciless. It will kill you without warning or hesitation if you misstep.” Stepping between the two mares, who shuffled to the side to give him room, he spared the least dressed among them a critical glance of his eyes. “Spearmint, you should go back inside and change if you wish to stay out here any longer. The temperature is dropping rapidly and a smaller storm is approaching from the southwest. It should pass by morning, but tonight we should bunker down below deck.”

Spearmint nodded silently, letting an involuntary shiver rush down her spine. The cold didn’t bother her either way, even as it approached minus temperatures. What did bother her however was the sensations she kept having whenever she looked at the faraway storm long enough. To a pegasus adept at handling the weather, certain feelings began to relate with certain weather patterns or clouds. Rain made you feel sleepy or calm, lightning twitchy or energized, and snow was fuzzy or mute. Thanks to her connection with winter, she experienced warmth and comfort when handling the latter, but the storm over Antrotica was anything but that. If she had to put it into words, it was like staring at a wall of ice. Frozen, cold, hard and unwelcoming. She was afraid for the very first time to even think about tackling a snow storm, which sent another shiver through her that Stark thought was her feeling cold.

“Perhaps a cup of hot cocoa will benefit us all.” He said, wrapping an arm around Spearmint to give her some warmth.

Looking up at him, she smiled but shook her head. “I’m not that cold yet Winter. It’s just...the storm is really unsettling to my senses.”

“How so?”

“Cold.” Both teammates turned to see Whisper shivering as well. However, this had an effect on her heavy jacket that sent the front of it wobbling long after she stopped, something neither of them could avoid looking at as she once again wrapped her arms under her breasts and pushed them up. They quickly diverted their eyes to her face when they saw her turn to look at them. “...Frozen might be a better word. I feel some kind of magic in the air, and it’s making the air and temperatures even worse somehow to my senses.”

Spearmint nodded in agreement. “She’s right - I’ve been shivering just from the wind blowing over us from the shoreline even miles out. I’m starting to wonder if this is actually natural.”

Letting go of his teammate, Stark Winter stepped forward and braced himself against the iced over railing. His eyebrows furrowed as a deep and contemplative look crossed his face. “A few of the stories and reports of past expeditions mention the same sensations, but nothing was ever found to support this storm being artificial. Outside of its outrageous timespan of existing that is. Wild magic can do many things we still do not understand.”

“I wonder if we’re really ready for this.” Spearmint said quietly.

“That is why I volunteered for this mission Spearmint, Whisper.” Opening his cloak some, Stark slowly unsheathed his sword and held it before him over the edge of the railing. Turning it to the side, his eyes trailed over the polished edge of the sword, noting the various nicks that not even the best blacksmiths had removed. “In the mountains of the north I have faced countless monsters and beasts, braved many trails of nature. Sometimes on my own, often with soldiers and comrades in arms. All creatures faced felled by my blade or forced to flee where no pony would be harmed by their presence.” Tilting the blade down, he stabbed the tip into the deck and leaned into the pommel with a sombre look on his face. A powerful gust blew across the prow and pushed even his heavy cloak to the side as gentle bits of snow began to fall over them. “I have but one thing to say to this new land of Antrotica. Brace yourself, for Winter is coming.”

Looking at one another, the two mares felt heartened by their leader's courage and words. As the storm began to move in on them and grip the seas, they all reaffirmed their word to find the research team and save them. Nopony would be left behind, and if there was danger waiting for them they would stand side-by-side against it. As teammates and friends.

Once the moment passed, there was another filled by silence and the gentle rocking of the boat. As a yell from inside the galley came, Spearmint looked down and coughed as she realized something. “Um...that was really cool Stark. But...I think the captain won’t be too happy about the sword cut in his deck if he comes out and finds you doing that.”

In one quick smooth motion the sword was sheathed. “Ah. Yes. Well.” Turning quickly, Stark gently slipped between the two and marched off. Sharing another look, Spearmint and Whisper waited until he was out of sight before breaking out into giggles.

The ship and its passengers survived the smaller storm during the night and at daybreak weighed anchor to hit the far-off coast of Antrotica. As ordered, Spearmint donned a more protective version of her normal attire and put her favorite goggles on with her scarf covering her head. Flight would be forbidden without a tether to help her should an errant gust yank her away, especially given her average size but above average wingspan making her susceptible to this. All of them in fact were to have one to ensure if one stumbled and fell they would know and turn to rescue them. When they made landfall Stark Winter took the lead and once ashore, the captain of their boat left for safer shores. He would await them for one week before heading back, but warned them to not tally past four days if they could. By then it would be a fight between the ice and himself that he did not want to make a decision over if it could be helped.

To guide their way, the research team had laid out several tall spears with a glowing red crystal atop of each. Even after six months they stood out among the piled snowbanks and led them deeper into the continent. Following them led to what they thought was first a ravine, but upon observing the curvature of the craggy expanse of ice they realized it must be an ancient riverbed. It now was a howling system of overhanging stalactites and stalagmite icicles, the numerous formations causing the wind to twist and whistle in ways that chilled everypony who heard it. A reminder of what this land had become, if the preternatural darkness caused by the clouds didn’t do it enough. Thanks to the limited light being cut off hours earlier than outside this land, they had to camp overnight after clearing an overhang in the riverbed of dangers.

Piling into a single tent with an open-flame stove to provide light and heat, they huddled together to conserve body temperatures. Stark’s cloak proved to be big enough to be a blanket, and Spearmint shared her wings with the huddle as well. The dried and canned food was bland, tasteless, but ultimately all they could have. The company was the best part of it all though as they all talked, laughed and worked further on figuring their next step out.

“Everything hinges on the state of the research team and their outpost.” Stark explained. “If they are well but simply out of contact, we repair the relay system with the help of you, Whisper, and after a day or two of testing return to have the captain pick us up. If he is forced to leave before we arrive on the coast, we simply turn back to the station and radio him to come back. If the station has been damaged, or the research team injured, we assess the cause and move forward based on what we find.”

“We know that.” Spearmint protested. “We’ve been over a lot of this already Stark.”

“It bears repeating now that we’re experiencing Antrotica in person.” He counters. “I want you both to keep your eyes and ears open for anything.”

“Mmm…” They both turned to look at Whisper, who had to shift some under wing and blanket. Which in turn pushed her chest again Spearmint, who jerked back some into Stark’s chest. They quickly gathered their composure before the busty mare noticed. “I wish we had kept going. We could have made it before true nightfall.”

“The cold in the north and south will freeze a pony in minutes at night. Temperatures drop to record lows far past freezing, and with the wind howling as it is…” They all look at the walls of the tent surrounding them, listening in silence to the howling force making their safe haven wobble. “We would be dead in seconds.”

“I’ve been in...dangerous situations before. But not even when...” Spearmint trailed off. “It wasn’t like the threat was so alien, so foreign. This isn’t the winter weather I’m used to, and it scares me to think there can be snow and ice that I can’t just work with like I normally would.”

“Such is the way of the world beyond Equestria. Which makes it all the more crucial we ensure ourselves, and the research team, can one day return home.” Reaching out, he flicked off the stove to conserve fuel and they all laid down to rest for the night. When morning came they quickly brewed hot cocoa to warm themselves and get energy for the day, before heading out once more and following the path.

Like Whisper had expected, the journey was not much longer before the research station came into view thanks to a lull in the storm. Standing on a small hill of snow, they could see immediately that something was amiss. Much of the facility was meant to be made of quick-snap walls and tiles inlaid with runes, a common but costly material for expeditions into dangerous locations. The design according to the schematics they had read should have been a cross with four domes in the center and shorter tips to inhabit, the longer shaft being the main entrance as well as basic supply storage. However what they saw was more like a ‘T’ with the central pillar half buried in ice. The upper dome was completely lost; having seemed to have caved in, only snow and tattered fabric could be seen inside a huge hole in the roof with the passage leading to it missing. The main entrance had what looked like claw marks scarring the surface of the door, and part of the passage seemed to have been rebuilt with thick ice blocks in a similar technique that igloos utilized. The central dome was still intact but all of the instruments that had been on top of it looked bent, broken and ripped out of their moorings, explaining instantly to them all why the station had lost contact since one of the leaning towers was the crystal communication relay. Fearing that the station was abandoned, they all released a huge sigh of relief once they saw that lights were on in two of the domes still intact, showing signs of habitation.

“Let’s get inside.” Stark shouted over the wind. “Keep your eyes peeled for any monsters or animals.” Spearmint and Whisper nodded, and they all hurried to the entrance.

Closer up revealed that the markings were indeed jagged claw marks. At least four marks to each swipe, their spacing indicated that the paws of whatever monster did this was about as wide as a pony’s hoof and strong enough to gouge a few millimeters deep at each pass. Thankfully the door was several inches thick and after working the wheel to open it they all slipped inside, sealing it shut behind them with no trouble. The damage to the corridor was deceptive; the spot where they believed the snow had caved the passage was actually rebuilt with more of the ice blocks, with several lights strewn between the gap and some grating laid on the ground for stable footing. Lockers and sealed containers lined the wall, some left open as the contents were depleted, and to Spearmint’s worry she could see that one or two had blood around the edges, marred by handprints of the pony who had been hurt. Stark noted it too, but didn’t pause as he marched down the corridor to the central dome.

They found a second sealed door that prevented access to the main lounge, and working the wheel did nothing. It had been locked from the inside, or perhaps jammed given the leeway Stark was able to get out of it. Whisper then turned to a comm panel on the wall next to it and began to fiddle with the static emitting device.

“Hm.” The speaker buzzed and something began to murmur through the static. “...I think I have a connection to the inside. The crystal is out of alignment however, one moment…”

“This is Stark Winter, can anyone inside hear me?” Stark called from around her shoulder. “Please respond, is anyone alive in there?”

“Kzzz...Hel...Kzzz..”

“I repeat, this is Stark Winter, do you read?”

“Kzz...Yes this is...Zero...Station…”

“One moment Doctor, our expert is fixing the intercom.”

Looking back at her leader, Whisper then flipped a tiny switch on the inside and gave the small crystal a flick to make it spin. “...never worked from the - oh! I can already hear the static clearing up, wonderful.”

“Doctor Absolut Zero, correct?”

“Indeed I am, and who might you be?”

“As I was trying to say before, my name is Stark Winter. With me are Spearmint and Whisper, a team sent by Princess Luna to ensure the safety of everypony on your expedition after you went silent some time ago.”

“Yes, yes that makes sense. Once we lost the crystal antennae to the blasted storm...alongside the attacks by the Frostwolves-”

“Did you just say Frostwolves?” Stark interrupted, voice growing severe.

There was a small pause, followed by a sigh. “One moment, this would all be better done in person then with a doorway between us. Lupin, get the door please.”

There was a slightly muffled reply, and then several loud thumps as an object, or plural, were moved from the other side of the door. Taking a step back as the wheel turned, the door swung inward and a unicorn stallion with mottled brown fur, green mane was standing in the doorway with a beard lining his jaw. “Come on.” He said with a slight southern drawl. “Doc’s waiting for you and it’s a fair sight warmer in here.”

Once inside the team quickly removed their bulkier clothing as the heating began to kick in. Spearmint was the quickest, almost yanking all the additional padding and cover off to let her limbs breathe. Whisper was slower, but far more distracting as her coat caught in places and forced the stallions in the room to look away. Stark did nothing but open up his cloak, and after sweeping his eyes over the room, locked onto the stallion still standing near the intercom. He was a unicorn with slick black mane and a silver-blue coat, thick black-rimmed glasses causing an odd reflective sheen to cover his eyes from view. Garbed in a lab coat with baggy sweatpants visible underneath, he almost looked relaxed if not for how his jaw was stiff and even twitching at times under his own thick beard.

He stepped forward as Stark moved to talk with him, adjusting his glasses and causing a relieved flash of light to cross the surface. “Stark Winter I presume. Good to meet a new face after so many months.” He greeted, holding a hand out to shake.

“Doctor.” Stark gave him a polite nod, grasping the offered limb and pumping it once. “The pegasus is Spearmint and the unicorn is Whisper - the same pony in fact who created most of the communication crystals used for your expedition.”

“That would explain how she knew to repair it so quickly. We’ve certainly struggled with it ourselves - you are a master of your craft miss.” Whisper blushed at the praise, but Absolut moved on without waiting for a reply. “Let me introduce you to the rest of my team.”

The room was laid out like a lounge, with several couches and tables along the walls while the center held a roundabout covered with any electronics they’d need to cook or store food. At one of the larger table were three ponies, Lupin being one along with two earth ponies, a stallion and mare. They seemed to be in the middle of a poker game and despite the new faces weren’t looking to be ending it anytime soon. “At the table over there is Lupin, who you met and is my primary assistant. The other stallion is Quartz, an associate who wished to come and study some of the ice and earth in this land. The mare, Slick Slush, is his assistant and primarily does lab work while Quartz did the excavating or exploration. You can thank them for the ingenious repair job on the corridor you saw.”

“Simple frozen north ingenuity.” Quartz said with pride. “We never met but I know your name, Stark Winter. You once visited my village to give a demonstration on cold weather survival training.” Slick Slush merely waved, a smile on her lips that looked a bit weary given the bags under her eyes.

By one of the larger couches were two pegasi, one laying on their back across it while another sat in a chair and was inspecting bandages wrapped around the formers arm. Whisper, upon seeing this, moved over while pulling out her medical bag and began administering first aid. “On the couch is Rising Shine, an expert from the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale who specializes in storm disruption in case of emergency or wild weather outbreaks. Sad to say, her services have not been effective here, and when the Frostwolves attacked…”

“Was she bitten, clawed or breathed on?” Stark asked, Whisper letting out a soft gasp that had eyes looking over to her. The swordsman cursed as, after parting a few bandages, it could be clearly seen that the fur had all fallen off and the skin was looking blue. “A bite, should have known. She’s frostbitten - what have you been doing to treat it?”

“Soaking it in lukewarm water and ensuring she remains warm enough to sweat.” The stallion beside the injured mare answered, standing up to face the rescue team. “My name is Keen Sense, I’m the pony who rescued Rising from the Frostwolves and began treating her. Did I do it right sir?”

“You did - frostbites are like a poison that freezes the blood around the bite mark. If not treated or if you take too long to do so, it could lead to the loss of a limb, or worse, death from infected blood breaking off from the location and traversing through the body and causing clots. Did you happen to attend one of my lessons like Quartz?”

Keen Sense shook his head. “No sir, but I did read several books on potential winter and cold environment illnesses that we could encounter before leaving. It’s always been my motto to be prepared when travelling afar.”

Doctor Absolut adjusted his glasses, a proud glint to their lense. “Keen has been incredible help to the expedition and myself for some time now. I dare say we would be in far worse a condition without him.” As the pegasus blushed from all the praise, the doctor would look over the team again and jolt in recollection. “Wait a minute...Spearmint, from Ponyville yes?”

She smiled softly. “Hey doc, nice of you to remember me. Princess Luna asked for my help personally thanks to my skills with winter weather.”

“Yes, I thought your name was familiar. Hard to forget such a beautiful mare as yourself, especially with your usual attire.” Now it was Spearmint blushing. “Hm, with your team and mine, perhaps we can get some results going finally with our mission.”

“Excuse me doctor, but we’ve still yet to discuss exactly how the research station, or your team member, came to be like this.” Stark interrupted. “Maybe we should get to the explanation now before any further distractions hit us?”

“Ah, yes…” Waving them all over, Keen sense joined the doctor, Stark and Spearmint at another table and formed a circle. After clearing away a few errant bits of paper, the unicorn pulled out a crudely drawn map of the Antrotica coastline and levitated over a small sealed box. “Let’s start from the beginning then…”

In a distant section of the land, an ancient presence stirred and looked out across the tundra to the research station. It would sense new life mingling with the others that had come to this frozen wasteland, and it wasn’t happy. Worse was that it could clearly sense that one of them was of their kind, and in response the winds of the eternal storm above in the sky seemed to howl with greater intensity. Across some of the snow dunes, a howl began to echo as a pack of Frostwolves started their hunt. They too, knew of the fresh blood in their midst.

Chapter 2

Doctor Absolut grabbed the side of his glasses and tweaked them, the lenses flashing with memories. “When we first arrived the land and weather was harsh but not unexpected. We knew going into this that it would be a struggle to push inland for a suitable construction site, and certainly along the way you saw some of the natural wonders that could arise to block our path. After locating this site we unloaded the Runic Panels and built the research station, taking the first few days to adjust to the new life we would live over potentially an entire year. Then, with questions and hope in our hearts, we began to research.

“Initial results yielded nothing but questions. How could the storm sustain itself? Why was the land so frozen as to seemingly shift the very earth into ice? What caused the wildlife we encountered to spawn against all odds of life, be it magical or mundane? As we continued few answers were gleaned, but we did begin to see certain patterns. Magic was certainly afoot in many of the mysteries, and all things seemed to originate from deeper into the continent around what we’ve managed to identify as a giant mountain range that rings it. The storm is not centered above the continent as we initially thought but rather this region, which is slightly to the south-east more than directly south, and the mountains are all comparable to Canterlot in terms of scale and majesty. You would think the howling winds and ice would weather them away...but perhaps that just further emphasizes their sheer scale, if this is their size after several thousand years.” The Doctor rotated the map on the table around so Stark and Spearmint could observe it better.

Bending over the piece of paper, they could see very little detail aside from the shoreline, just like the maps they had seen back in Canterlot. A few places had new names scribbled in, landmarks like the ice river doodled across it, but again the inland segment was eerily blank. The only thing marring the surface around there was a few mountains in a ring, with a big ‘?’ in the center of them, and clouds surrounding that.

“Have you explored past this northern stretch of the continent?” Stark asked.

“No, we’ve simply never had the time nor the resources to. It was never planned for any of us to go on long-term expeditions past the research station boundaries.”

“How do you know the mountains are in a circle around there?” Spearmint tapped the paper over the question mark.

“Doctor Absolut and I did a lot of research before coming here on past Antrotica expeditions.” Keen Sense replied. “That was my main reason for joining the expedition actually - I’m normally just a weather pony who got transferred to the Crystal Empire by Princess Cadance, but my special talent and background actually does well with aiding research into the past.”

“What is your special talent?” Stark looked up.

“Understanding - specifically interpreting written texts.” Keen searched around in the pocket of his pants before pulling out a small little notebook. Flipping it open, he turns it to show off several pages full of writing, some in modern Equish but mainly a dialect alien to the rescue team members. “Everypony writes with some kind of emotion, or intent behind their words. Their magic often coats the words, so subtly not even the deepest magical scan can discover it. It’s more emotional, ephemeral in nature, but my talent lets me feel it just like how a pegasus can feel the wind and weather. Give me a research assignment and I’ll likely have it down pat in only a few hours to several days, unlike most ponies who would need weeks and several reviews of the subject.”

“I met Keen Sense by chance some months back as I first began to look into Antrotica as my next project. With the Crystal Empire residing in a lesser extreme to this continent, I looked around there first for applicants and discovered him one day in the library researching. A hobby as he claimed it, although he was passionate over even the simplest of topics.” The doctor spoke up, tilting his glasses which flashed with curiosity. Keen next to him blushed some and chuckled. “He has always had an interest in archaeology, but with the field having become somewhat celebritized by the likes of Daring Do, he could never make a profit from it and so settled into his current job as a weather pony. But he still likes to research the past, and with his help I was able to peruse the numerous old logs of past explorers to Antrotica and discover several patterns and notes of interesting features.”

“The biggest three being that the mountains are always in view, no matter where you are on the continent.” Keen counted off on his fingers. “The Frostwolf packs seem to always appear and attack any expedition, and finally there’s the...well, the wind.”

“The wind?” Spearmint frowned. “What about the wind?”

Sharing a look, the doctor and pegasus slowly panned their gazes to the small locked box. With a touch of magic the lid was lifted, revealing a few items on the inside, with the first thing being a journal bound in faded worn leather and thick string. Absolut took it out, rotating his hand to look it over, and then set it down in front of Stark Winter. “This is the journal of the last, and greatest, explorer to set foot in Antrotica. His name was-”

“Sir Dire Hilarity, yes I know of him.” Stark picked up the journal. “He was one of if not the greatest explorer of his time, about...two-hundred years ago? He successfully explored the north and catalogued many different mountains for the explorers league he was apart of at the time. He was even knighted by Princess Celestia for his service to the crown. They say he went mad on his final expedition, fading into obscurity in his twilight years. A tragic fate for one who traversed the harshest lands Equestria had to offer.”

“He didn’t quite go mad, so much as become cursed with hallucinations and insomnia. Outside of those moments he was still a great man...at least according to most official documentation. Regardless, Dire Hilarity began his ill-fated adventure into Antrotica by punching straight into the heart of the land, foregoing previous strategies of settling upon the coast first. It seemed to work as he avoided many of the dangerous monsters, and he even had a few ponies on his team that were able to form temporary underground structures to camp in as to avoid notice and most of the weather. However, just before they were to reach the mountains, disaster struck.”

“The storm occasionally whips up smaller, more intense pockets of weather, layering on top of the already dismal blizzard.” Keen piped up. “Most accredit it to the wild magic loose here, especially since a number of times it’s in the form of intense lightning storms. One of those struck the expedition and even went so far as to shatter the landscape and separate everypony. Dire yelled over the winds to head for the mountains, but nopony could except for him. He decided to venture forth to seek shelter as well as to continue the expedition, while the rest of his team took over three days to make it past and catch up. When they found him, he was inside of a cave huddled over a dying fire, clothing tatters or even discarded, with a wrapped up piece of ice being used to carve words into the rock. All he could say was nonsensical things about ‘the wind’ and how they hungered for him, they being something other than the wind to clarify.”

“The poor stallion.” Spearmints’ ears drooped. It was a terrible thought to imagine that such a great stallion had lost his mind like that. “What could have caused it? Hunger? Hypothermia?”

“Most certainly the latter.” Absolut confirmed, tweaking one side of his glasses. “He had moderate to severe hypothermia and took weeks to recover well enough from that to handle the other issues. His mind however never recovered, and he indeed retired with the aforementioned issues.”

Taking a moment to process this, Stark flipped open the book and read through some of the later journal entries. It did not take him long to find where Dire Hilarity had become separate from the expedition, and after a few pages things became disturbing. Erratic handwriting, strange sketches and markings, the repetition of various words like ‘wind’ and ‘eyes’, often accompanied or circling the most surreal pictures. “How is the wind connected to other expeditions?”

“They say you can hear a voice from anywhere on Antrotica.” Keen Sense said, voice dipping low as if afraid to be overheard. “A howling fury one moment, to the keen wail of sorrow and madness the next. Always carried by the wind, like a ghost or wraith. Every explorer has remarked on how the wind seems to hold this voice in it, although usually they wrote about as if personifying the weather. However, after reviewing all of their journeys, especially with Dire’s at the forefront...there might be some truth to what they hear.”

“A voice…” Everypony at the table turned as Whisper walked over, taking a chair and sitting besides Spearmint. “If there really is one, then have any of you heard it too?”

“How is Rising Shine first of all?” Doctor Absolut asked.

“Ah...sorry, she is well. If she gets home soon we can treat the rest of it. She might lose some feeling…” She looks back and sighs.

“She’ll live, and still have an arm that’s what matters. A sad fact but one we all can live with I feel.” Adjusting his glasses, they flashed with grim determination. “Now as for the wind - an unfortunate truth we must confirm after our experiences while living here. I wish it was not true, but even I have heard it. A terrible, haunting call that fills the air just beneath the howling winds. If you listen hard enough, you can even tell that it’s coming from the south-east...which is in line with the mountain range and the heart of the storm.”

“Hold on a second Doc.” Spearmint stood and leaned over the table, hands propped on the side. “This storm has been going for as long as recorded pony history! Not even Princess Luna and Celestia knows when it kicked up. You’re telling me - telling us - that something out there is behind it, and that it’s been around for...thousands...ten thousand...even hundreds of thousands of years?!”

There was a heavy moment of silence as her words lingered in the air.

“I believe…” Doctor Absolut leaned forward, chin resting behind his hands as his eyes flashed ominously. “That the timeframe we are looking at is indeed beyond the scale most historians know of for ponykind. Further back than even the Dream Valley Era, a time scarcely known of anymore in the wake of lost records from the Unification Era hindering our efforts. Twenty-thousand years is a good estimate.”

There was a trio of shocked exclamations from this. “Impossible.” Stark declared. “Even Dream Valley - a location and time of legend - has been said to have existed only around eight-thousand years ago!”

“But ponies have existed long before that Mr. Winter.” Keen argued. “If you look into the history, legends and myths of other cultures you can always find hints that ponies have been around and even impacting the world for far longer than we know. Even dragons, whose records are at best carved in crumbling stone, non-existence at worst, have tales of unicorns and pegasi showing up and swiping some of the most valuable artifacts from elder dragon hoards.”

“But…” Whisper frowned, a hand rising to her mouth. “Ponies would have been...primitive, back then, right?”

“The stories about Dream Valley are always about powerful monsters and magic.” Spearmint said softly, still trying to wrap her head around things. “A lot of it sounds impossible compared to today’s magic. The Rainbow of Light was...unreal…”

“I have a theory about that.” Keen Sense reached into the still open box, pulling out something wrapped up in cloth. “And it has to do with something Lupin, er, found one day.”

Peeling back the cloth, he gingerly revealed something that looked at first glance like a rock. As he rolled it over however the now face-up side of it could be seen to have something etched on it. Time and the weather had worn it down horribly, but everyone at the table still had a sense that they were looking at letters of a dead language.

“We were all outside repairing the corridor when we heard a cry of pain. When we rushed over, Lupin was sitting down cradling his head. This stone had flown through the air thanks to the powerful winds and struck him from behind.” He explained, rolling it over again and again to let everyone take in the details. “We almost wrote it off as a rogue piece of debris swept up into the storm, but then I picked it up and felt the touch of magic upon it.”

“The magic of language, your special talent.” Stark noted, and got a nod back.

“Yes. These markings are Ancient Equine - specifically the Pegacian line, which was used almost exclusively by pegasi. It was already falling out of use by the time of the Unification Era, the more universal Old Equish coming in due to the three tribes living close together. Of interesting note is that it disappears along with the unicorn and earth pony branches when you look further back at the Dream Valley Era, having used an entirely separate language called English. Nobody is really certain where it came from-”

Absolut Zero coughed, looking pointedly at the pegasus.

“Ah...right, apologies for getting off-track. My theory is that perhaps there was a time that ponies were highly more advanced than first believed. A disaster - maybe by their own hands, or by nature such as this storm - caused a reset of civilization, one that English became dominant during as the three pony tribes united after the disaster. There’s not many points of evidence to this of course, but another alternative is that whatever civilization that was present at the time could have perhaps been overwritten by some form of invader or visitors that-“

Another cough.

“T-The point is, this language is rare to be found anywhere, and for it to suddenly appear on a piece of debris in the middle of Antrotica?” Keen Sense placed the cloth and rock down besides the map. “We might be standing just outside of a major, world-shaking archeological find. One that will finally answer questions as to where ponies, if only pegasi, originated from.”

“And yet we know nothing.” Stark sternly declared. “Nothing of what is out there, what is possibly attacking us with snow and Frostwolves. Nothing of what dangerous perils will impede us, try to kill us, for what could very well be nothing but worn stone and mounds of snow. I respect the desire Doctor, Keen Sense, but I cannot approve of this plan you’re clearly favoring.”

“Huh? What are you saying Stark?” Spearmint turned to her team leader in confusion. Weren’t they just here to make sure the team is safe and take them back?

“Minty…” The pegasus turned toward the crystal unicorn. “The doctor seems to believe that we should head in-land to find whatever ruins are out there. Possibly in the center of the storm itself. But that’s not what their expedition was about, and we’re only supposed to be making sure they’re safe and out of harm's way.”

“Which if they continue forward with this idea of theirs, will be the exact opposite.” Stark crossed his arms and stared at Absolut. To the doctors credit he didn’t flinch, head tilting and making his glasses flash with stubborn will.

“We’re hardly discrediting the dangers sir.” He said sharply. “We have spent six months in this Tartarus-damned place dealing with everything it’s thrown at us. Rising Shine is injured, our base damaged, Frostwolves nip at the surrounding lands with blood in their mouths. I more than anyone will happily declare this expedition over with, pack up, and head home with you and your team. But at the heart of these ruins might lie the very answer we’ve come here for - why the storm still rages without end.”

“Not to mention...we’re running out of time.” Keen added ominously.

There was a pregnant pause.

“...What?” Spearmint felt a shiver down her spine. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s not as severe as Keen might have made it sound.” The doctor hastily explained, hands spreading in a disarming gesture. “But as we explained earlier, we’ve looked over the various expeditions performed in the past, and we found something we neglected to mention earlier in our haste. There is a very plausible time limit that hangs over this entire continent, ticking down by the day - neigh, the hour - as it has for over twenty-thousand years or however else as long.”

“What could possibly be so important as to make us hasten into the jaws of this frozen wasteland?!” Stark slammed a hand down on the table, garnering the attention of everyone in the room.

“In the earliest expedition, recorded by Mercurial Copper, he noted how the mountains ‘climbed to the stars and pierced the eternal grey’ when he spotted them. When he left even he could just about make out the caps of them over the cloud level when a few of his pegasi took flight. Dire Straight on the other hand, noted that they were ‘like the fangs of an angry god, gnashing and snarling under his gray tongue as it spits lightning upon the foolish’. He could only see them once they moved in-land during his push for the base of the mountains. Their expeditions were around two-hundred years apart, and after another two-hundred years to our own time…” Reaching into the box for a third time, he took out a photograph and showed it to them. It was blurry from snow and the white landscape outside, but a few distant objects could be made out. “The mountains are impressive to be sure, but compared to the high atmosphere storm they would have to be about one and a half time their height now to match Dire. Easily twice if not more to compare to Mercurial’s account of them.”

“Several hundred years of erosion…” Spearmint began, only to trail off as she looked at the picture. Something was nagging the back of her mind about their words and the importance of what the size of the mountains meant. “It’s not erosion?”

“Correct.” The two researchers chorused, looking at each other afterwards. “These mountains couldn’t possibly have been as large as they would have needed to be in order to survive after endless millenia. Especially with things like salt and even the rocks themselves being swept up during the more violent moments of the storm.” Absolut started. “They seem to be somehow immune, or at least heavily resistant, to the effects of the storm, perhaps due to the magic at their center causing all of this. What we think is happening is something more...well, outrageous.” Keen finished.

“If it’s not erosion...but the mountain’s are shrinking…” It took a moment, but then Spearmint gasped. “They’re not shrinking - Antrotica is sinking!”

“What?!” Stark and Whisper exclaimed.

Absolut sighed, glasses falling down his muzzle with a forlorn shine. “Aye...and core samples actually prove this. Samples of the ground beneath the current layer of snow indicate a rising sea level that swallows the land, is covered in snow and ice, and then repeated after a few years. We cannot even find the original landmass, not with the tools we have with us. What’s more the process is speeding up, heavily. Quartz and Slick Slush can confirm this.”

“We first thought we were simply atop an ice shelf, but no matter where we looked there was just nothing below us.” Quartz spoke up across the room. Turning to look at the stallion, they all saw him idly pushing a few cards atop one another as Slick Slush rubbed her forehead. “We were able to date back thousands and thousands of years, even to the Unification Era, but still - snow and iced salt water. And we definitely weren’t close to the bottom.” He laid a card face-up atop the rest of the deck.

“We don’t have the records but if we did, we could probably see a rise and fall in sea levels around the world as the island sank and piled on snow over the years.” Slick sighs. “And going by the core samples, like Doctor Absolute said it’s been speeding up.”

“We have no idea when the straw that breaks the camel’s back will fall, but obviously whatever is beneath us is starting to give up.” Doctor Zero sighs as well. “Taking with it the entire continent, likely destroying whatever ruins are behind those mountains, and although the storm might finally die off...it could also somehow transfer from sky to sea, disrupting everything for miles around, along with of course the sudden flood of coastlines as the entire collective mass of Antrotica sinks to the bottom of the ocean.”

“A total disaster, one that could upset the balance of nature even more across the entire world, forever.” Stark got up and paced for a moment, everypony letting him think in silence as they processed the facts themselves. For many of them, this was far beyond anything they’d expected. Spearmint especially felt the pressure, likening this to something only Rainbow Dash and her friends should be dealing with. She wasn’t somepony who tried to save the world every Tuesday like they seemed to. “A large part of me tells me to take this back with us to the Princesses. This isn’t something a group of scientists and three rescue ponies should tackle, especially with only one of us trained in the art of combat.”

“But…” Whisper got up, a hand clutching the front of her shirt in anxiety, sinking into the valley of her bosom. “If we leave, it might be too late. We don’t have any idea when Antrotica might sink, do we?”

Everypony on the research team shook their heads or made noises of agreement.

“I know Whisper, which is why...against my better judgement...I feel the doctor and Keen Sense are correct. We must push for the mountains.” Stark stopped pacing and turned to the table. Pulling out his sword, he pondered the reflection in his blade before resting it against the floor. “But we’ll be doing this my way. Only those who should be coming with us, while the rest pack up and head to the shore. Our ride can be radioed to pick up…” He looks around the room. “Rising Shine, Quartz, Slick Slush and Lupin, while the two of you follow my team to the mountains.”

“I want to come with you!” Slick Slush suddenly stood up.

“Slush?!” Quartz gasped.

“I know how to build igloo’s, and besides maybe my knowledge of geology and geography will help us.” She explained. “Something like what we’re looking for must have been well protected, right? Maybe we’ll need to find a secret passage through the mountains, and what if there’s no writing for Keen to sense, or a strange formation you don’t notice because you don’t know it’s out of place for the environment? Besides, why take Doctor Absolut?”

“Because he has the second most extensive knowledge over this entire matter it seems, outside of Keen Sense. What’s more his skills are in weather research, and along with Spearmint and Keen, we should be able to avoid the worst patches of the storm on our journey.” Stark explained. “I won’t deny your point, but I want as many of us off this continent as possible. I’m sure with a bit of work we can-”

“I second Slick Slush joining us.” Absolute spoke up.

“Doctor-”

“We must optimize our chances of success without further risking lives needlessly. Miss Slush has a brother in the Royal Guard who trained her in armed combat. She used this skill actually to help fight off the last Frostwolf attack and saved Rising’s life.”

“...Having more than one pony capable of fighting would be helpful.” The cloaked stallion begrudgingly admitted.

“Ah...and I can try to help too, even if I’m sorta only good at being in the air when I fight.” Spearmint raised a hand, lowering after a second when she realized how silly it was to do. “My friend Rainbow Dash taught me a few moves…”

“Very well - Rising Shine will be watched over and taken to the shore by Quartz and Lupin. My team along with Doctor Absolut, Keen Sense and Slick Slush will head to the mountains and, against all odds, try to find the magical source of the storm and save Antrotica from sinking and disrupting the natural order of our planet.” Stark declared.

Everypony nodded, and then there was awkward silence as they again processed the situation. Nopony spoke for a time.

“...Did we just end up on a ‘save the world’ mission?” Spearmint mumbled to herself.

“Ah…” Whisper smiled at her. “No pressure, right?”

Chapter 3

Preparations for the journey of both teams took up most of their time afterwards, especially with time counting down for when the captain of their boat said he’d leave. A quick radio call at least confirmed that he would be there as planned, but there would be no pickup for Stark Winter’s group. They would have to reach the mountains, do what they needed, and then return to the research station to hold out until another boat could arrive in about two weeks. Thankfully the supplies were ample enough to allow for this, but some of the ponies were worried about what might try to follow them back when they did. Stark went outdoors often to scout and scan the local area for any signs of Frostwolves until the last minute, and when they set off thankfully the coast was clear.

The riverbed supposedly flowed up toward the mountains, so both teams picked this as their joint destination before splitting off. It would be perilous to traverse the jagged icicles and howling wind, but also it could shield them from any monsters roaming above on the tundra. As they climbed down and readied the sleds, hugs and farewells were exchanged by all, knowing that a chance existed that either team might not make it. Lupin was given a sword by Stark; how exactly the stallion had a spare hidden away nopony knew, but the unicorn lifted it in a salute and promised to keep his team safe. From there the rescue team and their support moved up the riverbed, their path widening as the ancient path laid out by the water deepened. It allowed for a small breather to their concerns, as some of the spires and formations looked to be so large and thick that not even the worst of the storm could shatter them. They were also more spaced out, letting them move the sled and themselves around the sides of vast pillars, even able to set up camp without worry of piercing the insulated walls.

Approximately two days later, long enough for the shorebound team to have made it safely to the boat, the mountains were at last in reach.

“By Celestia…” Spearmint breathed in awe. The mountain range shamed any that she had seen or heard of across Equestria. Not even the Macintosh Hills could compare, and they were able to rival Canterlot Mountain in some locations on the range. Their dark and snow-hewn cliffs rose up into the darkness and clouds, horrific shapes seen from the shadows dotting it to make them look even more uninviting and inhospitable. The only noises besides their own was the wind and rumbling clouds above, which flashed with lightning as the agitated atmosphere broiled with rage and fury. The wind howled with an unearthly wail hidden just below it, the tales confirmed as everypony in the team could hear it clearly now. A voice, filled with madness and lust for their deaths. It was no wonder that Dire Hilarity had gone mad, if this was all he could hear while slowly starving and freezing to death. It took everything she had to not turn tail and flee, but knowing her companions and friends needed her kept the pegasus firmly rooted on the spot. “We’re not going to climb those.”

“Agreed.” Stark shouted to be heard. “If there’s really passage to the other side of these, it must be down here, by the base. We’ll need to-”

“Split up?” Keen Sense suggested.

“No. Splitting up now could be suicide. We’re deep into the territory of whatever’s making that...noise. We stick together, even if that extends our stay here at the mountains. We need at least four days to return to the station, so that gives us just under a week to explore.” They all nodded and took another look around the surroundings. “Whisper? Set up a relay crystal here so we have a point of reference.”

Nodding, Whisper pulled out a palm-sized crystal that would resonate and let them find this spot again no matter how far out they wandered. It would also act as a transmitter in case they did get split up, a precaution that everypony was happy they had. However as she lifted it in her magic and prepared to put it into a small inset on the cliff face, the wind grew still. Something that should have been impossible, especially when all of the startled ponies looked up and saw the storm still raging overhead. It was only at ground level that it had stopped, which made them all turn and brace their backs against one another in a panic.

And then the wind returned with a furious howl.

Screaming, Spearmint felt herself being yanked and pulled into the air by the storm’s rage before Stark Winter grabbed her leg and dragged her down. Keen Sense was also saved by Whisper and Slick Slush, but then Whisper seemed to be struck in the horn and fell to the ground. Doctor Absolut, similarly being struck, fell into Spearmint, who fell into Stark, but the winter warrior remained standing and grabbed them both. Lightning flashed above, far too close and loud to be safe, but then if the storm’s sudden ferocity was not bad enough, Stark managed to pick up one last sound among the cacophony. The howls of a Frostwolf pack.

“They know we’re here!” He cries, helping Whisper up with a strong hand. “With me - Run! We need shelter!”

Sticking close to the mountain, they began running parallel to it as the winds and howls chased after them. Everypony stumbling through the thicker snow piles and ice, dodging errant icicles and miniature avalanches as the wind battered the cliffs and slopes above them. More than ever Spearmint wished she could take flight to try and help everypony, feeling useless with her wings forced shut like this. Maybe then she could put the wind at their backs, or blow it over the monsters coming after them. But even if she could fly it would have been no good, not with how searing cold the weather felt to her magic. It felt even worse now as whatever force behind it was focusing on them, weighing them down with frost building on their limbs. Only Stark seemed to be managing well, but he was slowed by the rest of them not able to keep up with his long strides.

From their left side, shadows began to emerge from the blizzard in the shape of tall canines. Icicles clung to their backs and shoulders like jagged spines, their surface a deathly blue against coats so white as to be mistaken for bleached bones. Eyes that glowed and seeped out mist around the edges framed a muzzle lined with fangs of crackling ice. Spearmint could see some vague resemblance between them and their northern cousins the Timberwolves, but these beasts towered over them. Timberwolves usually could only outgrow a pony by combining into a Dire Alpha, and although these were not quite as enormous, a single paw swipe would likely cripple them if struck. And there was easily a dozen of them closing in.

“LUNA TAKE THEM!” Stark roared, seeing the pack and turning to face them. His black cloak flapped dramatically in the wind as his blade sung out of its scabbard, and to the shock of the team it even began to crackle with red fire. So hot that it even banished the chill in a radius around him. “RUN, KEEP BY THE MOUNTAIN, FIND THAT PASSAGE.”

“But Stark-!” Spearmint began.

“NO! These beasts are greater than even I expected. We will die if we all stay.” He turned his muzzle slowly, a deep frown on his face. “I will hold them off, and take them into Tartarus with me if needs must.”

“No.” Turning, Whisper had also twisted around to walk over to the stallion. Her shimmering coat began to gain an even brighter luster as she called upon her magic, and from within her coats’ pockets flew out several gems that pulsed angrily and began to emit shrill noises. “...I am not weak, and neither am I leaving you here Stark. I will fight too.”

“Stark...Whisper…”

“Are you certain Whisper?” Stark asked sternly. The mare gave no quarter in her stare. “...Very well, then Spearmint - take the rest and go.”

“But-“

“No. Go.”

Biting her lip, Spearmint felt a well of sadness and self loathing overcome her. Here were her teammates, ponies she had only known for so little time, bravely standing against a terrible danger. And she was helpless to aid them with the weather against them like this. Worst of all was that she knew that Stark’s order made the most sense. She was the last one of the rescue party with any chance of protecting the civilians, and she also knew where to take them along the shoreline if they had to flee from Antrotica. So with a heavy heart she nodded and turned, waiting until the others began to move before looking over her shoulder. “Please be safe.” She said.

“And you as well.” Stark nodded, and then the Frostwolves howled and he turned back to face them. Charging with a yell as Whisper glided along behind him.

It was too cold to cry, but Spearmint’s heart did it in place of her eyes as she moved. Grabbing Keen Sense’s hand, she dragged him along, and with them moving it spurred the other two as they hurried on. The sounds of battle and howls filled the air behind them, the raging screeches of the storm above them fading as they ran. With them pulling away from the center of combat the storm seemed to weaken a little its hold over them, the focus of whatever entity likely drawn to the fight and intent on winning its grizzly prize. It was because of this that only a few moments later they noticed a darker section of the cliff outcrops, the storm fading enough to show more than just white, and Slick Slush made a happy noise as she realized it was a cave. “We can hide in there! Come on, get in get in!” She beckoned.

The inside of the cave was scarcely illuminated, but with a few flares they soon had it bathed in eerie red light. Walking in deeper, Slick Slush began to note that the rock here was different and began running a hand over the walls in wonder. “This is definitely not natural. It’s like they tried replicating it, but there’s no way these walls should be this smooth with all the erosion around the entrance. Hmm...”

Keen Sense walked over and crouched by a small nook in the rock. “Hey, I think there’s something written here.” Everypony gathered around him, using their light to help him read. “This looks a bit dated, but it’s definitely not Pegacian. I...I-I think it might be written in blood too.”

Doctor Absolute’s glasses flashed in the light ominously as he adjusted them. “What does it say?”

“It’s...mostly rambles, things about the wind, and the snow being...tears? I…” Looking around, he reached down and picked up what appeared to be a strip of tattered cloth. Turning it over in his hand, they could see that it had some blood staining it but had a portion of some kind of symbol on it. “I think this is a part of an old explorer coat...this symbol…”

“The Royal Equestrian League of Explorers, Archaeologists, Scholars and Educators. Otherwise known as R.E.L.E.A.S.E.” Absolut said, bending down to pick up another scrap near him. This one had a tuft of lining on it, and it gently began to fall off as he disturbed it. “In more recent years they’ve been more the latter two than anything, but back in the day they were the premiere organization. A gathering of gentlestallions and gentlemares who revolutionized Equestria’s understanding of countless fields not limited to but including History, Science, and Education for all ages. Their uniforms are familiar to anyone who knows their history, even when in tatters like this. I think we’ve found Dire Hilarity’s cave.”

“If this is the cave he was in all those years ago, then he could have unknowingly been right by the entrance to the valley. Sad.” Slick noted.

Spearmint looked to the entrance, and then to the back of the cave. “Slick Slush, do you think you can find it for us? I’m worried…”

“No problem Spearmint. Just give me a moment and some light back here.”

Together the quartet poured over the walls of the cavern, finding nothing a first glance besides more of Dire’s passing rambles and notes. But as they moved deeper they found that the stone changed subtly in color, the markings vanishing until a small, almost missable nook lead them into a second chamber between two rocks. In here the walls were adorned once again, but with art and ancient carvings. Several unblemished motifs as well as what they all assumed to be the general outline of some kind of entrance. The stone was worked into rounded edges, almost like pillars, with a deeper indent in a notable arch shape around them. Markings on and outside this imprint were confirmed by Keen Sense to be written in Pegacian, and after translating it he said, “‘To enter Her kingdom, offer Her gift to us.’”

“What does that mean?” Spearmint and Slick Slush chorused, looking at each other briefly afterwards.

“I’m not sure...the word ‘Her’ is clearly meant to denote importance and station. But...it doesn’t say who or what their gift was. Some kind of enchanted jewelry perhaps?”

“That would make sense if this were a unicorn settlement, but pegasi were never ones to adorn themselves needlessly correct?” The doctor tweaked his glasses, the light of his flare making them glint curiously. “From what I recall of old tales of Pegasopolis they actually practiced a rather spartan lifestyle, so I can’t imagine there were many things that an entire society might have held.”

“That’s implying the practice existed twenty-thousand years ago. The timespan could have easily caused countless social shifts, including any taboos or practices regarding personal property and beauty.”

“That’s true, however…” The two scholars stepped closer and began talking rapidly. Slick Slush, sighing with experience, leaned against a wall and crossed her arms.

“They’ll keep this up for a while if we don’t do something.” She said.

“We don’t have the time for this.” Spearmint bit her lip. The idea of simply standing around the cave was absurd to her, not with what, who, was outside in the storm facing terrible danger. Walking over to the wall herself, she lifted up her flare even higher and looked over the motif adorning the doorway. At the very top was a single regal pegasus, the detail suggesting it was a mare of great beauty given the size of the wings and long tail. She had her hands spread and from her wings rained down countless feathers, merging with a thick line of clouds just beneath where it became rain to the left, rays of sunlight in the middle, and snow to the right. Below that was a city with several pegasi flying and standing with their hands lifted up toward the regal one above the clouds. Squinting, Spearmint looked closer and saw that despite the weather taking priority, there was still a few feathers being depicted, one apiece falling to land in a pony’s hands. Panning her sight down to the final section, she saw something that made her eyes widen. Several ponies, none of which were pegasi, were all aligned from left to right in various poses of prayer. Each of them holding a feather in their hands, and as she rolled her sight over it she saw wings slowly sprout out of the backs of the worshippers, horns shrinking and bodies thinning until the last in line was a pegasus, hands empty but clasped together in thanks.

Looking back to Keen Sense and Doctor Absolut, they were still talking with Slick Slush tapping a hoof nearby. Nothing had changed, and so with none of them looking she unfurled one wing and gently reached into it to find a feather to pluck out. It stung, making her wince, but holding up a pristine primary she twirled it around in her fingertips before kneeling down and clasping it between her hands.

“Please…” She whispers. Unknown to her the storm outside stuttered as the feather in her hands began to glow with magic. A mystical energy permeating the air that had not been felt in an eon. Eyes closed in focus she didn’t see the magic gently fly off of the feather as if caught in a breeze. Sticking to the outline of the doorway and illuminating several runes carved into it. When the arch was completely lit up it pulsed once, twice, three times before fading, and then the horrible grinding of stone filled the air.

“What the heck?” Looking over, the three other ponies all gasped as they saw the ancient gateway part before the kneeling Spearmint and breathe out the dusty, dry air of an ancient passage. Standing up, the pegasus noted that her feather was gone now, but seeing the open passage she smiled. “Spearmint, what did you do?” Keen Sense asked with his voice but a whisper.

“A feather. Her gift, whoever she is, is apparently symbolized by our wings.” She says, looking back to her fellow pegasus. “Maybe they worshiped somepony who was like the Mother of Pegasus ponies, and believed that it was her that made our kind. The mural showed ponies accepting the feathers and praying with them, so I thought I’d try that myself.”

“But that shouldn’t have worked. Granted you have magic like myself, but it’s internal unless expressed in weather.” Doctor Absolut said with a frown. “There’s no way a single feather could have held enough magic to move that door alone. Do you feel drained perhaps?”

“Never felt better, now that we can move on.” She replied with a bit of pep in her voice. Turning back to the passageway she took the first step through it and beckoned for the others to follow. After the narrow opening it widened out so that they could walk two abreast of each other, although Spearmint continued to head the group alone. The walls were blank and smooth, only a few indents along the way for what must have been torches to break up the monotony, which grew along the way as minutes passed with no end in sight. It was after nearly an hour that something new appeared, wind blowing across their faces. A faint light began to shine ahead; the exit was near.

As they left the passage they spread out to take in their surroundings, which seemed to consist of a small valley between two of the monolithic mountains. On this side of the range it was even clearer just how gigantic they were, their passageway being set atop an artificial outcrop of carved stone that led down far below to the actual valley. Thankfully they found the construction to be as sturdy as the work in the cave, and after stepping onto the frozen soil below they craned their necks up until they simply couldn’t anymore. None of the peaks were in sight even with the clouds still further above, the distance and hazy air of the storm obscuring them.

“No pegasus I know of could scale these mountains.” Keen Sense exclaimed in awe. “They must reach as far as the stratosphere if the continent wasn’t sinking. How could they have possibly been made, much less have remained untouched like this?”

“Likely because of whatever stone these steps are made of.” Slick stomped one to emphasize her point. It made barely a sound, not even a solid thunk like expected. “I’m not sure but I want to say this stone has never been seen before. There should be some erosion but I’d swear they were carved yesterday. And it feels oddly soft, like clouds only...not, blegh.” She looked unhappy with the poor comparison.

“They don’t feel particularly cold either.” Doctor Absolut rubbed a finger over a railing that had been carved beside the steps. “Curious - could this civilization have somehow manufactured some kind of solid cloud for their construction? Or perhaps it is an as-yet undiscovered stone, perhaps native to only Antrotica due to some strange magical field?” He looked up slowly. “But...wait...tell me, do you all hear that?”

Puzzled, the other three looked between each other and then stood quietly as they listened. Turning their ears and heads, they tried to pick up on what the doctor was talking about as they stood atop the ancient walkway. “I don’t...and that’s worrying.” Spearmint said as she looked around nervously. It took Slick Slush and Keen Sense another moment to figure it out, but once they did they reached up and lowered their hoods...to silence. Standing together, the four ponies looked over the valley from their position and found it to be unnaturally still. No wind, no distant echoes, and even their own breathing felt muted. As if it could barely reach their ears to be heard. Lifting up her hands, Spearmint clapped as loudly as she could, and although they heard it, there was no echo. “Hello!” She shouted, and her voice seemed to be sucked up about a yard from her face. “...This is really creepy. The air is dead here, almost like we’re in the eye of a storm.”

“It’s even warmer - not by much but I dare say we could open up our clothing some to stop ourselves from overheating.” The doctor unzipped the front of his coat, feeling a small bit of chill sink in but barely enough to undo his action. The others followed his example and to their amusement got a sigh of relief from Spearmint for it. “Something has frozen the weather here much like it’s frenzied the weather outside. Perhaps a counter-balance in the magic to allow for it’s endless run?”

“The snow’s not all that deep too.” Bending down, Keen Sense rolled up a perfect snowball and then looked at the hole it had made. He could actually see a patch of frozen soil just peeking through just an inch or so beneath. Slick Slush moved off to explore the nearby landscape, being sure to stay in sight in case of any surprises. “It’s like...this entire valley has been frozen in time. Everything just stopped right before the storm struck the outside, or shortly after. That shouldn’t be possible.”

“Uhhh, guys?” Hearing the distress in Slick’s voice, they all turned to the earth pony and saw her looking at something on the other side of a large rock. Her eyes were wide, hands trembling by her throat as if ready to scream as she looked back to them. “Y-You really should take a l-look at this!”

Moving quickly they found what she had; a corpse lay resting against the backside of the rock, a layer of frost coating it but otherwise untouched. A slight bit of mummification had preserved the no doubt ancient body to astounding levels, facial details and colors still there save for some fading. They all noticed that it was a unicorn by the horn opening on its helmet, and that the armor it wore was neither familiar to them or made of common metals. It was almost as if crystals had been used to shape the breastplate and large pieces, while what looked like veins of gold and silver molded and fused the parts together and decorated it with incredible splendor. Kneeling beside the body, Doctor Absolut reached a hand out, and paused.

“There is magic here…” He said, tilting his hand down to touch a round orb in the center of the chestplate. “Here, and I can just about sense it coursing slowly through the strange seams leading from it. This is...magical armor, enchanted and somehow functioning after...tens of thousands of years. That’s impossible.”

“Considering everything else we’ve seen so far?” Spearmint shook her head. “I’d believe you if you told me Discord an alicorn. Who...who is this pony?”

“One moment.” Keen, along with Doctor Absolut, searched the corpse while Slick moved closer to Spearmint and turned away. The pegasus lent a comforting wing to her as she shivered, but didn’t turn away herself. She felt a strange familiarity at the sight of the soldier, like an old dream that she might have had in her youth. It tingled the back of her mind like the last remnants of a lightning bolt she’d just kicked from a cloud. Then she blinked, and the feeling was gone and the two stallions were holding something together.

“Is this…?”

“I believe it may be.” Doctor Absolut grabbed the edge of his glasses, a shocking flash of light crossing the lens. “But...surely out of all things, this can’t be real.”

“What is it?” Spearmint asked.

“A legend beyond legends. The undefeated legion, the conquering kingdom, the rulers of ancient times immemorial and lost to history.”

“Some ponies think they didn’t exist at all, that the few records that do exist are merely ghost stories and lies.” The historian among them added. “If they did it was long before even the era of Dream Valley...just like...this supposed pegasus civilization come to think of it. Perhaps this is the missing link we’ve always been looking for?”

“Care to tell us what they were called?” Slick Slush snarked, finally turning back with her arms crossed.

“Sorry, yes - they were known as the ‘Dominium De Magia’, an ancient empire comprised almost solely of unicorns. They mastered magic long before the great sorcerers and wizards like Starswirl the Bearded, and took it to levels beyond even today’s wildest imaginations. Teleportation at any time, total control of the sun and moon, the ability to combat any and all sickness, supposedly even death itself. Some of this we’ve gotten close to today, and of course Princess Celestia and Princess Luna control the celestial bodies. But these were things the average citizen could do, so great was their power and control. Some of the more fanciful rumors even suggest that they had colonized the moon and were exploring the heavens beyond before they were erased from history.”

Spearmint looked up at the storm above, trying to imagine the moon in the sky above. “You say...erased, not defeated or lost?”

“At some point thousands of years before the Unification Era began, before Dream Valley, a terrible blow was struck to the records of almost every civilization. The more fanciful theories suggests this was a conspiracy by the species of the world to erase the Dominium completely and wholly. That their horrible reign of terror was too much to forgive, yet could not be allowed to be recalled in fear of a mass genocide of the unicorns. I’m more of the belief that Discord himself did it, likely as a prank or trick of his.” Doctor Absolut huffed, crossing his arms. “What Keen Sense also hasn’t mentioned is that many of their supposed achievements were founded upon the backs of everyone the empire crossed paths with. They had lain claim to all magics of the world and sought to control and rule over all species that had even a lick of it within themselves. Even the dragons, strong and proud as they are, caved to their terrible weapons of war and sinister rituals. But they were by far worse with their own kinds - other pony tribes suffering under them a hundred times worse than anything the Pre-Unification Era could throw at the tribes. As if they were inferior, flawed things.”

“Regardless of how true any of this was, what can be confirmed is two things. One - that they did, in some fashion, exist. And two - that this was their symbol.” Holding up what they had been looking at, the two mares could see a small, barely arm-sized shield that bore a symbol on the front. An inverted triangle within a circle, the shield’s own magical core making up the inside of the triangle. It however was cracked and broken, unlike the one on the chestplate. “Nopony is sure what it means - the interpretations are numerous - but it’s what every scholar has ever found in relation to the Dominium De Magia.”

“If they were here, be it as rulers or conquerors, it would perhaps explain the storm surrounding us. Their legacy of powerful magics could perhaps explain it away…”

“What about the voice? The presence in the wind and blizzard?” Spearmint shivers at the mere thought of it.

“Who can say? There are paths in magic that are still unknown to us, and some are I think best left forgotten as well.” Looking to the corpse again, he let his words sink in before the doctor shook his head and turned back down the direction of the path. “Come on, we’re not going to get anymore answers. This was just a foot soldier by my guess, he won’t have anything worthwhile on him.”

Nodding, the quartet set off again in silence through the eerie valley. As they moved the stillness of the air and environment continued to weigh on them like a heavy shroud. Their footsteps and breathing were all they could hear, not a single sign of natural wildlife rising up to meet them. Not even the storm blew down across their ears, too distant and focused outward as it was to pay them any heed. At first all they could see was a small cluster of trees that made for a natural pathway from the stairs, but as they slipped past those they began to encounter other signs that this place had once been inhabited. A road under the snow made of stone, trees that had been planted into neat rows, faded carved stone that acted as markers or perhaps small walls. What began as winter forests turned into winter roads, shifting to the outermost forms of civilizations as they encountered a long abandoned hut just tucked out of sight of the main road. The roof and door were gone with the interior dark and empty, so they did not linger long save for noting that the walls looked scorched and cut from what might have been battle. As they stopped at a fork in the road they found a second corpse to examine, this time a pegasus in more open and yet still oddly advanced armor. They were unfortunately speared along a fallen branch in one of the trees, but whatever blood might have been there was long since dried up.

“This material almost resembles leather, but...note the silken texture.” Absolut rubbed some of the flaps along the skirted armor. “It’s like they somehow refined pegasus feathers into a single, solid strip of material. It feels incredibly light.”

“They probably focused on the mobility of our species. The few pieces of harder protection sewn into the fabric however feels...odd.” Keen lifted a hand and looked at the guard. “I can’t even begin to guess what it might be. It looks almost like it was somehow spun given the odd grain on it. Some kind of wood? Silk?”

“Does he have any kind of identification?” Spearmint asked softly.

“No…” Keen paused as his hand touched something along the breastplate. Looking at everypony else, he then carefully began working the straps of the small plate to try and pry it off.

“What are you doing?!” Slick Slush looked pale, extremely so once the grind of frozen flesh began to sound out as the armor was removed. “That...urgh...I’m not cut out for this part…” She turned and walked a few feet away to breathe deeply.

“I sensed something for a moment - the touch of language.” He was hastily explaining, trying hard to respect the dead soldier. With a small grunt the plate finally snapped off, allowing for what appeared to be a perfectly preserved piece of paper to tilt out. Having been nestled for all these long, cold, silent years over the heart of the pegasus. Pulling it out, the stallion carefully unfolded it and held his breath. Eyes darting rapidly over the words there, translating and trying to grasp the insight it gave. “...This is...a report, written by this pony before he died. He seems to have been a scout on patrol over the passage before he was struck down. This writing even mentions fighting a unicorn before hurrying back. Our two corpses seem to be linked, likely both scouts who struck and killed each other. This poor stallion simply lasted longer...”

“Does it say anything, well, important?” Spearmint’s eyes were wide, walking over to read over Keen’s shoulder. He shuffled a bit to let her look, but all that she could read was a bunch of squiggles. “Wow, and I thought Rainbow Dash’s writing was bad…”

“It...hold on…” They all wait. “Yes, it gives me two things. For starters it confirms that the unicorn was part of an invasion force by the Dominium to try and conquer this land and the pegasi in the mountains. But more importantly we have a few names - Cloudthage, which I believe is the name of this kingdom or settlement, and...Queen Elysium.”

“A queen? For pegasi?”

“Apparently so sir - the report is made to a Commander, but it mentions her as the recipient for these details. They also say lines like ‘if the Goddess wills it’ in regards to holding the defenses against the Dominium, so they must have had a divine figure like you thought Spearmint.”

“This alone revolutionizes almost everything we’ve ever known about pegasus leadership and culture.” Doctor Absolut sounded excited, a gleam in his eyes that made his glasses shine with wonder. “Think of what this could mean, of our knowledge of ancient histor-”

“We can’t keep looking around.” Spearmint suddenly cut in, sounding apologetic as everyone startled and looked at her in shock. “I’m sorry guys but...we have to remember what we’re here for! Stark Winter and Whisper are back there, fighting off a pack of Frostwolves. We have to find the center of the storm and somehow turn it off, if we even can. We can’t keep pausing like this just to unlock whatever mystery might be here about the past.”

“I...I, yes, y-you’re right. I’m so sorry Miss Spearmint I almost forgot about - This place is…” Shaking his head, the doctor looked at Keen, who carefully tucked the piece of paper away. They both then took care to remove the body from the branch, setting it down gently and putting things to right with its armor. A final service they could do for the long departed. “Let’s push on. We’ll only stop if we absolutely must from now on.” Assuming that the path the invaders must have taken was the best inroad to the center of the mountains, they set off down the one they found damage on until the road began curving toward a large gap in the mountain range. The damage to the road became larger and more destructive as the occasional crater or smashed tree fell over the path, and bodies too started to pile up in clusters of both opposing forces.

Keen, not breaking stride, tried to take all of it in and narrate. “It looks like the Dominium managed to breach the mountains and push through the woods without much struggle at first. The...Cloudians? The pegasi must have tried to form various ambush points, only to be overwhelmed by the magical firepower their enemies had. There’s so many destroyed landmarks around here, and the bodies nearest all of them appear to be pegasi.”

Slick Slush looked up as they passed what appeared to be a lone defense tower, stripped to the base which was littered with the once proud and smooth stones of the walls. “They don’t seem to have many towers or walls here. Were they really so lax in defense? The Pegasopolis ponies were legendary warriors during the Unification Era.”

“A different time, a different people. Given how large the mountains are and how tightly packed, they probably only had to block off smaller passages like the one we went through to really stop invaders.”

“A perfect, natural shield to nestle their home into.” Absolut noted with a hum. “They must have hidden themselves from the sight of the Dominium here for generations. Perhaps after first fleeing their oppressive regime?”

“Most likely doctor. The empire was always at war with someone, so a group or several smaller ones fleeing to a faraway location like this could have easily slipped past them. I wonder what finally clued them in to Antrotica.”

“The Dominium De Magica...it was everywhere.” Spearmint said softly, looking at what might have been farmlands long, long, long ago. They were now torn and some gigantic siege weapon lay in pieces over a once fertile field, the epicenter of which looked as if a mighty lightning blast had gone off to destroy it and the forces manning it. “Everyone knows about them, their legend, so who’s to say they didn’t just realize at some point there was a whole continent untouched by them? Maybe they...chased others and stumbled across the pegasi here?”

“What boggles me is just how in the name of Celestia they even became so powerful. Magic’s potent and pretty handy, but no offense doc, I could take you in a second flat.” Slick lifts an arm to flex and prove her point. “Earth ponies are tough as heck, and I’ve never met a pegasus that can’t just take to the skies and blast somepony with a cloud or windstorm.”

“Some say the Dominium had help, that they were blessed by an accursed god who favored only the unicorn tribe. Recently they even suspect it might have been Discord, or at least his predecessor given the timeframe.” Keen answered. “Control of the Sun and Moon probably also helped them exert control over the more primitive people of the time, although how primitive is up for debate considering their own advanced crafts and magic. Oddly, did you know there’s a supposed document found a few years ago by Daring Do that implies that it was the Earth ponies of the ancient past that controlled the Sun-”

“Wait.” Stopping, the group looked to Doctor Absolut, and then past him to the massive makeshift barrier set over what seemed to be the exit of the valley. It was using two still standing pegasus towers as the edges, with various pieces of stonework and hastily harvested tree trunks to form a barrier. Soldiers covered the field around it, many unicorns, but the walls were marked with the bodies of pegasi and the center had a massive hole burnt out of it. The cause clear as the group carefully skirted around a gigantic cannon that screamed of the arcane by all the crystals adorning it and pointed tip. “If I were to guess, I’d say that just beyond lies the city. We should make sure we’re completely ready before pushing in.”

As they had little on them, this was more for them to mentally prepare for what might come. Focus was sharpened, worries buried or handled, and motivation re-ignited as they looked above at the storm. Once done the group looked at each other, and after a nod shared between them all they pushed on.

Further into the mountains, within a great palace of cloud and stone, holding vigil over a silent and dead civilization, the voice of the storm opened its eyes for the first time in an eon.

Chapter 4

“By Celestia…”

“Incredible…”

“Whoa…”

“...This...is not just some city. It’s a freaking kingdom.”

Standing side by side, the team looked from atop a hill that slanted deep and long into a valley that stretched across the entire range. Overhead the storm continued to rage, more violent than ever before yet barely more than a soft rumble in the air of this silent grave. It limited their sight, casting the land beneath in pale greys, but the fallen civilization frozen in time here was clear as daylight. Farmland was predominant near their little hill, the fields torn by war making it a no-pony land of destruction. Then began the little villages and clusters of houses, all set to flame long ago or shattered by the weapons still left in their empty streets. Beyond those came the forests, gutted for resources, many of their trunks strewn just beyond after crossing their gazes over a giant river that divided the valley from east to west. On the far bank was a giant wall made of wood, stretching not the entire length of the river, but enough that clearly it was meant to be a great deterrent. Further signs of defenses and assaults filled the area, but as their gazes were drawn by an eerie blue glow over the remainder of the valley, the gasped as they took in the target of their efforts.

By their estimates the large wall by the river was the size of Ponyville, yet the city beyond so utterly dwarfed it that they could scarcely believe the sight. It spanned both heaven and earth, separated into four tiers that climbed up the mountains it was nestled between below on the ground, and cloud districts that still hovered above in clumps. In the highest tier, center of it all was a great plaza and palace made of what seemed to be crystal. It was certainly as splendorous as the Crystal Empire castle, yet was shaped like swirling clouds, a great cumulonimbus that capped itself off with a large tower and rounded balcony. It was from the center of that balcony that a blue glow emitted, held within an open room just barely notable thanks to the glow, and shot up into the heavens to stir the clouds and fuel the storm. This was Cloudthage, the city and kingdom of Antrotica’s lost past. The end of their journey was in sight.

“This is…” Spearmint trailed off in thought. “This has to be at least as big as Canterlot Valley. You could...probably fit everything from Canterlot, to Ponyville, heck even some of the Everfree Forest in here! I thought we’d find just a city, but this is…”

“An entire kingdom, yes. Farmland, villages and towns, a central metropolis, even cloud constructs.” Keen said, noting several irregularly shaped clouds that hovered several dozen to a hundred feet off the ground. “They never had fear of running out of space, not when you could just build up.”

“Cloud structures blow away after a few years though.” Doctor Absolut almost sounded like he was whining. “How could the magic be holding them in place, even when half torn from what must have been the siege all those years ago?”

“So nopony is going to comment on the giant glowing pillar of light over there?” Slick Slush pointed to the palace. “I’m gonna take a guess and say that’s our ticket to getting out of here and ending the storms.”

“What will happen when we turn it off?”

The unicorn shook his head, refocusing on the task ahead as his glasses flashed into focus. “A good question Miss Spearmint. Unfortunately I’ve been guess-working everything for quite some time now, so all I can give you is the slimmest of hopes. The storm seems to act upon a strange counter-balance of stillness and turmoil, so if we were to suddenly turn it off we might have anywhere between a few minutes to several hours before both sides began to reverse. What do you think Keen?”

“Well…” There was a pause, long enough that the other three ponies turned to stare. “I hate to say it sir, but we’re effectively sitting in a pressure bubble. The magic keeps pushing everything out, making an almost vacuum-like space. It would explain the still weather here, the remarkably preserved bodies and structures…” Keen Sense gulped as the measure of what might happen hit home. “If we turn off the magical...whatever, all of that stormfront above us could suddenly just...collapse inwards. And it would include a heavy pressure front as the air stabilized. This entire valley would be...crushed.”

Slick Slush looked faint. “What about us?”

“We could probably survive the pressure change, but it’s not what we should worry about. There’ll come a point when we’re surrounded by the storm itself, as well as whatever of everything inside the valley is ripped up and tossed around. It would be like a gigantic bomb going off…”

Now Spearmint looked faint, wings twitching anxiously. “Can we stop talking about this? Maybe...maybe there’s a way to turn it off slowly?”

“We’ll just have to find out.” Sighing, Doctor Absolut noticed something nearby and began to walk toward it. “Look here - I think these might be some form of cart or sled? What do you three think?”

They all followed him over, noting that the spot looked to be some kind of station set up by the Dominium as several low crystal walls were surrounding it along with the now common bodies of the deceased. In the middle of the light defense post was two large sled-like objects capable of holding several ponies at once. Walking around it and trying to find how to move it, they discovered that there was a driver’s seat one could climb into, but that instead of straps for pullers there were just buttons and levers. Keen Sense took to sitting there, as he was the only one who could read some of the small script, while the others piled on. The journey would take too long by hoof and were hopeful that like many things here, this too could return to life with a little nudge.

Thankfully, after a few moments they were proven correct as with a strange hum the two long skis under the cart began to glow with magic and the entire cart began to slowly spin in place. Frantically the pegasus grabbed a wheel to make it halt, and after a few more careful tests, nudged it to begin moving down the slope, which it did while picking up speed. By the time they reached the bottom they had somehow begun to hover, which helped them avoid the various bumps and obstructions as they zoomed across the fields as fast as a Pegasus could fly.

As they passed battlefields and homes, Spearmint tucked her wings in close to avoid them being snagged by an errant branch or piece of architecture. Her eyes roamed over the valley, taking in more of the sights as they slipped by. This entire place felt familiar, yet alien, as if calling to her from a dream long ago. It was a feeling that the soldier they first found had invoked and yet this was much stronger, lingering as her eyes tracked what appeared to be still standing cloud pillars in one portion of the sky. Her mind played tricks on her, illusions of what might have once been playing across her vision and the sky turning bright as the sun shone overhead. She could hear the laughter and chatter of pegasi from all walks of life going about their days, and then screams of battle as their once proud civilization was terrorized by outside conquerors. An old foe that had at last found their sanctuary and sought to claim dominance of the sky once and for all. Unconsciously, her hand tightened into a fist as anger sent her feathers bristling, but then they made a sharp turn on the road, and that little bump knocked her out of the daydream and she relaxed. Barely acknowledging that she had felt that way at all, only feeling sorrow now for all the things lost within this valley.

As they reached the wide river they were surprised to find that not all of the water had frozen over like they thought. Between wide gaps in the sheets of ice water could still be seen flowing, albeit sluggishly as if uncertain of where to go. A bridge of that same hardy unknown stone allowed them to pass over unhindered, but then they came across a barricade of sharpened wooden spears and halted the cart. Stepping down from the back, they worked to remove the smaller ones but it only provided enough clearance for them to pass through. They would have to hoof it again, but thankfully the walls of the city and palace were not far. They were getting close to journey’s end.

“I dare say, aside from the danger, this has awoken an old part of my spirit.” Doctor Absolut said, tilting his glasses back up with a flash of intrigue. “I suppose every young colt and filly dreams at least once of adventure - of finding lost civilizations and treasures - but so few actually enjoy it.”

Slick Slush snorted. “Probably because we grow up and realize how dangerous it actually is, doc. I’m just a geologist, not Daring Do. My job was finding us a way in here, now it’s getting back out.”

“Often, ancient structures of importance were made with emergency exits and escape tunnels.” Keen Sense said softly. “If not for everyone then at least royalty or high authority figures. I just realized - If we find the throne room or private quarters of their Queen, we can probably escape through the mountain the palace seems to be built against.”

“I’m starting to get tired of all this walking.” Spearmint flapped her wings, letting out a disappointed sigh as the wind refused to budge. “No offense but I’m way more used to being up in the air instead of walking. My hooves are killing me…”

This got a chuckle out of the group, but they grew silent as the massive front gates of the city loomed overhead. They were massive sculpted slabs of stone and metal, the same ornamental motif from the cave set into them only with more detail and precious stones scattered across it. What’s more the bottom held an extra section that depicted the valley and city surrounded by radiant beams of light, as if to say ‘This is our Home’ to all who entered. Unfortunately the gates, although intact, were forced open with giant rams that stood as tall as towers before it. Hundreds of soldiers lay dead around them, the structures themselves looking weak and brittle from whatever blows the defending pegasi had rained down to try and stop them. The group made their way carefully around them, fearing an errant bump might cause them to collapse, and upon stepping into the city proper held their breaths.

Bodies littered the ground, pegasi in the hundreds laying slain and mummified from the long years lingering here. But what was so different from before was that there were not just soldiers among the fallen, but women and children too. Some had arrows riddling their backs, others the marks of spellwork and sword having struck them down. It was obvious that even with the very doors of their kingdom being battered that they had not seen fit to flee until it was too late. Perhaps it had been confidence in their defenders, or confidence in their Goddess, or worse of all perhaps it was simply because there had been nowhere else to go. The valley had been claimed by the Dominium settlement by settlement until only the river and metropolis had remained, and then even that too fell as the four explorers now could see.

“...I wish the storm hadn’t preserved this place so well.” Keen Sense said quietly, not wanting to speak above a whisper. “For all the wonders we’ve seen, even the bodies, this is just…”

Spearmint nodded silently, while Slick Slush broke down and started to cry.

“The Dominium earned their place as the ancient monsters of civilizations everywhere for a reason.” Absolut touched the underside of his glasses, making them shine with anger and remorse. “Their demands and command over magic could not be sated, not as long as something remained unknown or beyond their reach. Not even the ponies that embodied it...truly barbaric.” They moved past the houses and began to see shops and demolished market stalls as the street began to widen. “If I had to guess, this was the tier where most of the citizens lived on. The next one will perhaps be where the traders and merchants lived. It’s common enough that the wealthier you were, the closer to the top you lived.”

They all nodded at that, although it didn’t make better the grim scene by the gates. Ascending some large and wide stairs they came up to the next tier where indeed larger and more lavish housing sat. However instead of ornate architecture this tier seemed to favor cloth and colors, with many tattered overhangs shadowing the place as they moved along. Faint, lingering odors began to trickle into their noses, making them pause or move quickly as they assaulted their olfactory senses. “Maybe this was also a place for them to drink and party.” Keen suggested, noticing at one still standing table what appeared to be several bowls of dried herbs around an apparatus. “Definitely not what Pegasopolis did - they were quite strict on recreational activities - but there’s an air of celebration and revelry here. Some of the words I see indicate it too - see that sign? It’s actually a communal bath.”

Not pausing to look around, they swiftly moved through this tier and climbed to the next. It was here that the architecture took on the predominant decorations of the buildings again, with the streets narrower to allow for gardens and patios that ponies could sit on. Overhead, the residue of countless clouds hovered, looking like houses that had collapsed or become lost over time judging by twisting stairways left exposed to the air or doors that lay between two other clouds. Nothing was said between them on this level, namely because they were too busy having to brave yet another obstacle on their path. The mass of bodies had grown too thick and were piled up upon one another, likely choked by the narrow streets, forcing them to move some to advance. They each took to it in silence; It was not an easy thing, but it got done and gradually they made it to the stairs up to the palace tier. Here the houses and buildings faded away in favor of a massive parade ground and plaza, and it was here that the final battle had clearly been waged.

Climbing onto a large platform built by the Dominium for its commanders, they had a perfect view for the full scope of the final conflict. Thousands of unicorns had taken to the plaza to siege the palace and its gate, with barely a few hundred pegasi it appears manning the defenses. Here, in the tighter quarters of the city and its seat of power, the giant weapons the Dominium De Magia had brought could not be utilized, and so it had turned into a war of attrition and more standard attacks. Scorch marks from spells and lightning alike littered the once pristine motif of tiles that dotted the ground, with various barricades scattered around for the few ranged weapons and their users to stand behind. Some of the palace windows and pillars could be seen to have pegasi leaning out or against them, archers taken out and left in awkward positions at death. It had been a bloodbath with how little cover the unicorns had, or until their magic gave out for whatever shields they likely used. And yet given that everyone was dead, and in such numbers, it would appears that the defenders had held them off until the end. The problem was...the doors to the palace were still shut, meaning that both sides had died to the last. The last great fort of Cloudthage had survived yet still the civilization had fallen and become locked into the eternal storm above it.

Taking a deep breath, the doctor coughed and shook his head. “This is terrible...to think this was what our people once did for so much of our history. This is why-”

“Hey guys, look at this weird thing.” Slick interrupted. Ignoring the glower from the stallion, she stood over a table which had several dried up pieces of parchment and a strange crystal orb that pulsed faintly at the core of it. Giving it a poke, the crystal pulsed once and then resumed its low glow. “I don’t know about you, but this makes me think of Whispers’ crystal magitech. Maybe it was some kind of communication orb?”

“And again, something that shouldn’t still works.” Keen marveled over the orb, picking it up and making it glow a little brighter and steadily. “It’s responding to my touch, or maybe my magic? Doctor, why don’t you try channeling magic into it?”

“I don’t see a reason why…” Still, the doctor obliged, and as his grey magic seeped into the orb, its internal glow grew brighter and stronger until the surface flashed. To the shock of everyone, a message long buried within the orb began to play out, the voice clear and strong of a serious sounding stallion giving orders with the sounds of battle behind him. Images also played across the surface, but if it was meant to show the sight of the orb during the message then clearly whoever was holding it had not been still. “Well, I really shouldn’t be surprised at this point, now should I?”

“Is this a message from the commander here, or somewhere else?” Spearmint asked, leaning in to try and make out anything familiar. She could see bits and pieces of the surroundings past the stallion’s head, but the movement made it hard to focus on any one object at a time. “How incredible...it’s a live recording of events from...er, from all those years ago. This orb probably is the most valuable thing we’ve seen, right Keen?”

“Considering I’ve never heard of someone finding something like this before? This is practically the Rosey Stone all over again. This could...wait, something’s…”

They all went silent, watching as within the orb’s video, something was occuring. The stallion had stopped talking and moving, pulling back to look over the battlefield which they could now see was the plaza itself. A few pegasi were still alive behind the main barricade, holding off the unicorns and their spellwork, but that was not the focus. Instead, all eyes, unicorn and pegasi alike, had begun to pan their gaze upward, and after a pause the orb moved as well. An eerie and ominous rumbling could be heard as, far above the palace’s peak, the same beam of light now emanating from it today was starting to form. Punching into the clouds that had been raining lighting down upon the invaders, it began to form the same terrible storm that would soon curse the land to eternal ice and snow, as a howling shriek of rage echoed out from the palace. It was so loud even that the four ponies watching the orb had to cover their ears, and then to their shock a strange wave of air began to shove out from the palace walls and wash over everypony. Each pony struck by it suddenly collapsing, clawing at their mouths and throats, until it hit the commander as well who gasped and then went eerily silent. The orb fell, at least in the video it did, and landed where it had been found by chance as a stack of papers caught it. The last sight it transmitted was the commander, his face growing veined as blood vessels burst in his eyes, and died while falling over the edge.

Shivering, Keen Sense took the orb and put it away in his pack to bring with them. They all then looked down where the commander newly identified lay, one of many bodies across the battlefield, but now knowing his fate none of them could stay near. They hopped off the platform quickly and moved away before talking among themselves again.

“Vacuum…” The pegasus said, voice hitching before pausing to think clearly. “It’s not as bad as I feared then. There used to be a total vacuum here, when the storm was first formed. It must have been intentional - a way to enact revenge on the entire Dominium force that came here. Wipe out every last one of them inside the valley, sealing it and letting the mountains themselves hold it in somehow until they started sinking with the continent. The pegasi soldiers manning the palace must have volunteered to bar access while the ponies inside enacted the ritual, probably with the last of the civilians and soldiers escaping via a tunnel. Once it was sealed...the spell went off like planned.”

“Who was that...screaming, near the end?” Slick Slush asked, rubbing her arms as if a chill had overcome her. “It sounded familiar…”

“I want to know how pegasi, no matter how advanced as this civilization seems to have been, managed to cast a spell this powerful.” Doctor Absolut looked toward a Dominium soldier. Their armor was shattered, punched through by no physical object discernable. ”And those lightning strikes were nothing like the ones cast today. They could destroy entire houses I’m sure of it, whereas even the best Wonderbolt could at most hurt a pony.”

“I think the answer for both is the same pony - Queen Elysium.” Spearmint looked up to the palace’s tower. “She must have been helping the defenders somehow, and when it was time to cast the ritual, she poured all her anger and hatred into it because of all she lost, and what she had to do. Her very soul must be powering the storm now, mad and lost to her own fury after so long.”

“Y-You really think so Spearmint?” Slick shivered and rubbed her arms, looking around. “Then again, with how...everything, has been…”

“Yes, yes but how did she cast it in the first place? Unicorns-”

“Are not the only pony tribe with magic, doctor.” Keen Sense interrupted. “Even if I myself doubt the magic here, I think you’re holding too firm to the beliefs of today, ones that I know for a fact came from the Unification Era first. It’s barely even talked about because of how long ago it was, but the days of Dream Valley included tales of magical earth ponies and pegasi just as much as any unicorn. That’s not including all the other stranges species that supposedly lived at the time.” Looking between Slick Slush, Absolut and Spearmint, the stallion continued. “You didn’t understand what he said, but I did. He was talking about the siege being too long, that they needed to prepare something they called ‘The Crescent Armada’ to be used. The way he talked about, I think it was a super weapon they used on only the toughest of foes and fortresses. What’s more, he kept calling Queen Elysium the ‘Witch-Queen’, and if I’m not mistaken the way he worded it was implying she was some kind of heathen.”

“A heathen?”

“Remember Spearmint that these ponies believed in a Goddess, one that oversaw their kingdom if not pegasi as a whole. With the rumor of the Dominium having some powerful god of their own, it could be that they saw these pegasi - the Cloudthage - as denouncing their god in favor of their own.”

“Are you suggesting Keen that these gods were real?” Absolut tilted his head down, glasses flashing in doubt. “The closest things to gods ponies have ever had are the alicorns, and we all know how far they are from such beings. They are hardly all-knowing or all-powerful.”

“But they’re still powerful. Strong enough to raise the sun and moon for thousands of years, and Princess Celestia did it alone for one-thousand. We don’t really know how strong Celestia is, or Princess Luna, so why couldn’t a Queen from a civilization tens of thousands of years ago that could fight the Dominium be easily as powerful if not more? Perhaps to them she was an incarnation of the Goddess.”

“Commander Hurricane was a powerful pegasus who had mastery over storms and martial combat unlike any pony of his era.” Slick Slush surprisingly chipped in. “Everypony knows about him, even an earth pony like me. He had the respect of the old unicorn royals despite them being so demanding and controlling. Now just multiply his strength and we’ve got this Queen.”

“I-”

Suddenly, the palace screamed. An unearthly wail that sent them to the ground from the sound and volume, crying out in pain as their brains felt icy fingers clawing into them from the magic that seeped through the air. It rose into the heavens, the storm thundering aloud with renewed fervor, and the echo lingered for minutes afterwards. Nopony could move for quite some time, the suddenness and shock of it rendering them mute and still. Then, slowly, Doctor Absolute pushed himself up and shakily picked up his glasses from the ground. The lenses cracked with terror as he tried to straighten them back on.

“Y-You may have a point. By Celestia and Luna, that was no pony scream. I-It was monstrous and raw.”

“The air...it feels...heavier. I can breathe easier.” Keen Sense mumbled, flapping his wings and looking around. “The seal on the valley is weakening. If I were a betting stallion, I’d guess that when it falls, so will Antrotica.”

“What even c-caused it?” Spearmint groaned, her wings flapping madly behind her. She had wanted to take flight and flee to the other side of the valley, but thankfully the air was still too weak for her to do so. “She’s been quiet the whole time we’ve been here, what made her just...scream like that?”

“Do we really want to know? Maybe it’s a sign we’re nearly out of time. It’s been thousands of years so she might finally be struggling to keep this storm going” Pushing back up, Keen helped the two mares back up and then patted the doctor on the back. “Let’s go - into the palace, up to the very top. The architecture tells me that’s where the throne room is anyway.”

Nodding, they all hastened over to the palace doors, forcing the ancient wooden beams to splinter and crack on the inside with some magic through the gap. One they entered the palace and began to climb, they stuck to the main staircases they found and hurried to the very top. It was time to at last finish their journey.

Chapter 5

The palace interior was a maze of looming arches and immense pillars. The entire structure left open as much as possible to allow for a pegasus to fly around, including several junctions that had been left without stairs. It took several attempts just to find a proper passage once the main staircase broke up halfway to the top due to such alcoves and halls, but after nearly an hour they could at last see what appeared to be the final stairway. A long, elegant piece spun from what looked like crystal ropes and stone, spiralling up to an exit that glowed with the light above. The feel of magic was strong in the air, and although no screams had come again, they all felt the fur on the back of their necks stand on end as something seemingly watched them.

“This is it...is everpony ready?” The doctor asked. “Once we’re up there, be vigilant and find anything that might aid us in dispelling the storm.”

“I’m more than ready doc.” Slick Slush held up a fist, but a gulp betrayed her nerves. “Let’s go be heroes...or at least just survive this.”

Keen and Spearmint, both oddly silent, nodded in agreement and they all moved. The stairs swayed slightly but it appeared to be apart of the design. The oddly frail looking material easily holding their weight as they climbed to the top. Upon reaching it they were all blinded by the glow present and had to shield themselves from it. Gradually they adjusted to the new light source, and as they lowered their hands they saw something frightening and incredible. The room itself was a large basilica-like area, a balcony filling half the space outside a circle of immense pillars that held a great domed roof overhead. The roof itself was obscured by an immense cloud of magic that wavered and swirled, something in the material gathering it and then shooting up into the heavens as the beam they had seen since first entering the valley. Trailing down the countless wisps of energy that fed the cloud, they could see that opposite the stairs was a large elevated platform leading up to a large throne...and it was there, sitting with hands upon the sculpted armrests and looking regal even now, was the form of Queen Elysium.

Despite having clearly changed some in her death, the beauty of the mare before them had only thinned and grown gaunt, not vanished entirely like the mummies far below. Her skin a light blue like the clear skies of a sunny day, her long and lush mane and tail flowing slowly in the magic wafting from her body like the ethereal manes of Princess Celestia and Luna. It flowed down and across the upper stairs to her throne, a giant curtain that had grown long after her passing or perhaps having been that lavish even in life. Atop her head was a crown that looked like clouds decorated by elaborate depictions of weather, with a small lightning bolt, a drop of rain, a beautiful snowflake and more wrapping around her head. Around her necklace was a gorgeous sapphire stone, glowing and pulsing faintly. Her robes were of the highest calibur imaginable, and even they too glowed with power as faint markings and designs flowed with magic. She could very well pass for an ancient unicorn queen...but her head was bare save for her regalia, and upon her back were two giant, majestic wings that put her body to shame. Each wingspan easily twice that of her own height, and as they moved closer they realized it was not a trick of the light that they saw her climb above them. This mare, this queen, was a giantess. Easily as tall as two stories, leaving them like foals before her as they halted halfway.

“By Celestia...look at her.” Doctor Absolute whispered. “She is gigantic...and those wings! How...is it the magic?”

“I couldn’t begin to say doctor. The Princesses are quite tall themselves, but…” Keen looked around, but found nothing save for the throne to gawk at. “Maybe the magic enlarged her before casting the spell? It’s a natural enough phenomenon when a living creature becomes empowered.”

“That throne is telling me she was always freaking huge.” Slick Slush pointed out. “Just look at it - I know royalty can get a little elaborate or grandiose, but her butt’s pretty nicely sized for that seat there. Maybe she was like their Goddess after all.”

“It...the high ambient magic at least explains why she is so startingly...preserved...but…” Taking his glasses off slowly, the doctor looked down as they reflected the light in bafflement. “Incredible..”

“We should probably spread out and try to find how to...ah, Spearmint? Is everything alright?” Following Keen’s words, the doctor and assistant both looked over at the other pegasus. She was standing, hands crossed before her chest as if praying, staring up at the Queen with her face blank. Her wings were halfway extended, as if about to take flight, and as they swapped between staring at their teammate and the ancient ruler they realized something interesting. For all intents and purposes, she actually looked like Elysium. The pegasus much slimmer and smaller of course, but there was no mistaking the same shade of fur and mane they shared, as well as even how their clothing seemed to match colors and coverage. It was eerie, which combined with her odd pose and silence, made the entire scene feel wrong. They just knew that they had stumbled into something and it had ensnared their friend Spearmint.

Then, Slick Slush gasped.

“Look!” She scream-whispered, a hand covering her mouth. Darting their heads over to Queen Elysium, both Doctor Absolut and Keen Sense recoiled and took a step back. For as blinded as they had been by the magic, they had not noticed at all that Queen Elysium’s eyes were open. And that they were aglow with white power, staring down at them, specifically Spearmint.

Slowly, with a great rumble of the storm above, the ancient queen’s corpse stood. Bones and flesh crackling as they moved from their eternal rest, wings shaking off a coating of frost that twinkled like hail upon the floor. Keeping them fanned out to full and blotting out the light, her hoofsteps thundered across the atrium like distant thunder as she slowly stepped down to the ground, her motions slow enough that everpony could move away. Everyone that is except for Spearmint, who stood there still in muted worship. As Elysium halted before the tiny pony, she continued to simply stare and watch her, head tilting down, then to the side, and then the other. The wisps of power from her body increased in number and size, swarming over the throne room and letting out little whistles of wind as they whizzed and zipped past. Slowly, both pegasi extended a hand to each other, fingers opening to touch. The world itself seemed to hold itself with bated breath over the alien moment that had graced it.

To the side, Doctor Absolut, stuck as the others in merely watching, did not watch how tightly he gripped his glasses. They slipped free of stunned fingers, falling and clattering to the floor like the final bell echoing over a valley. The sound heard across the entire basilica and throne room, which meant that Queen Elysium heard it and snapped her head over to him so fast they thought it had broken off. The silence grew somehow even stiller, all of them waiting for her reaction. They prayed and hoped that she would see them as subjects too, or ignore them for Spearmint.

But she didn’t. Upon seeing a unicorn in her presence, her angelic face twisted into the most demonic and feral mass of unholy rage that they had ever seen. The magic in the air spiked, thunder roaring outside as lightning struck against the edges of the balcony. Then, her mouth dropped open, distending far beyond what any living thing could have managed, and what came out was a howling blizzard and the scream of a banshee. Rising in pitch and fury until it clawed at their brains and made them want to curl up and die.

“DOC, RUN!” Keen Sense screamed, and the doctor obeyed. Rushing for the nearest pillar, he barely managed to duck behind it before a hand of ice and claws swiped through the air where he had been moments before. The gigantic mare’s movements swift as the wind, ice and snow howling from her mouth and coating all of her with black ice that crackled and shattered with every step. Her hoofsteps leaving cracks in the stone like ice atop a lake, she hunted the unicorn as he continued to run, swiping and flapping her wings for little hops that kept her on his tail no matter how fast he ran. Slick Slush and Keen rushed into the center of the room, trying to dodge out of the way of the rampant queen, but also trying to get Spearmint to respond where she still stood frozen.

“Speamint...Minty, Minty c’mon this isn’t funny girl.” Slick said in a rush, hands shaking the stiff shoulders of the mare. “Come on Spearmint, wake up! Keen, what’s happening to her?”

“I-I...I don’t know! She must be somehow entranced by the Queen, but why?” He said, trying to think amidst all the crashing and howling. “They were about to touch, why? Did they resonate because of their looks? Their species? Why not me then - gender?”

“Gah, don’t think, do! We’ve got to wake her up and get out of here!”

“We can’t! Don’t you see - we woke her up. Queen Elysium is awake, there’s no telling what she’ll do if we leave her here. She’s beyond the living and the dead, locked into this state by whatever was done long ago!”

Nearby a column shattered, sending debris through the air and across the ground. Slick screamed, but Keen shielded her with a wing and the small rocks bounced off his feathers. Looking over, they could see that the doctor was keeping ahead still, but that the Queen herself was growing more fierce and determined. Her swipes clawing and gouging out the stone that had remained untouched for so many thousands of years, her hooves soon cracking the very stone itself instead of whatever permafrost she was emitting. “Is...is she...getting bigger?” Slick choked out.

“I...think so...her power is awakening. She must be calling upon the storm!”

“Isn’t that a good thing? I mean we - DOC DUCK!”

Absolute dived to the ground, sliding for several feet before using his own magic to pull himself up. The spot he had dived through crackling with icy residue from a frost breath blast that the unholy queen had unleashed. “I could use a solution here you two!” He called in a rather shrill voice.

“We’re working on it!” Looking back to Spearmint, the earth pony bit her lip and groaned, before rearing back with a fist and punching the stunned pegasus.

“Ow!” Wings flapping furiously, Spearmint blinked and rubbed at her now swollen cheek. “Who...what? Slick Slush, did you just…?”

“Punch you? Yeah - doesn’t matter, we’ve got a bigger problem. And she’s getting bigger!” Turning the mare around, they all watched in shock and fear as the now four story Queen Elysium stopped for a moment and screeched. Her voice echoing and making the storm broil and roll outside in anger. “What the heck were you two doing just now before she turned into a living nightmare?!”

“I...I don’t know! I just...everything felt...so right…” The weather pegasus grew silent, watching Elysium as began to crawl on all fours, wings smashing and crashing into the pillars as she dug into the stone to charge Absolut Zero. The tips of her feathers began to grow ragged and sharp, odd bony protrusions pushing through to let her stab hundreds of times per beat of her wing. Something was splintering off her back along her shoulder blades, and going by the skeletal shape of it they could only assume it was a second pair of wings. Despite the increasing strike capabilities, the stallion luckily was no elder pony and could still zig and zag, but with the size difference rising it was only a matter of moments before he would be in range no matter how he tried. “It felt like...she was speaking to me...or...something…”

“What was she saying? Did you understand any of it?” Keen grabbed Spearmint and turned her to face him. “Think hard - we’re surviving on seconds here. Did she say something, anything, even in Pegacian? Can you think of the words?”

Spearmint thought hard about it, trying to not focus on the crashing, screams, cold or anything else. “I..I heard a voice...somehow past her…” She began haltingly. “The Queen...she was...empty...a void. She’s been lost for eons now to her anger and madness, but there was...something else...somepony else…”

“What? What the heck are you saying?” Slick looked ready to punch someone again. “Speak Equish girl!”

“I-I don’t know…!” He lips moved slowly for a second in silence. “Sertum...sertum...and dolor. I-I think there was another...but…”

“Sertum, and dolor? That’s...diadem...and pain.” Keen translated. Looking over, he could see the now massive five story Queen smashing her head into a pillar to try and knock it into the unicorn, causing the crown atop her head to crackle with magic and ring like a bell. Her muzzle was now as long and jutting as any canine, jaw still distended but now full of shards made of ivory and ice. “Could her crown be some kind of artifact? A crown to control the weather...could be possible.”

“So what? We take it off?” Slick looked at the Queen as well. “That’s...not going to be easy.”

“What choice do we have? If we don’t move now, the doctor could die, and then she might come after us. Celestia knows we’ve been lucky so far that she’s ignored us for her ancient enemy.”

“I would...really appreciate...some help!” Doctor Absolute shouted between breaths, screaming as two claws wrecked the back of his coat. “NOW PLEASE?!”

“I...could try stopping her.” Spearmint spoke up, face growing determined. “S-She was focused on me before, maybe I could get her to look at me long enough for you to steal the crown Keen? The air...it’s returning to normal. We can probably both fly now.”

“Good as anything. Go!” Breaking up, the three ponies raced ahead of the rampaging Queen and tried to get into position. As Doctor Absolut ducked behind another column to catch his breath, having luckily dodged out of Elysium’s sight for a moment, Spearmint began to flap her wings and gather the wind beneath them for flight. Slick Slush, not having a role per say at the moment, rushed around the throne room gathering as many of the rocks now strewn over it to throw in a pinch. Keen Sense meanwhile, coming up from behind the giant pegasus, flapped his wings and took to the air with a small struggle.

As the Queen roared, the force of which shook and rattled the palace, Spearmint made her move right as a giant clawed hand wrapped around the column and prepared to rip it out from behind the stallion. The little pony, barely the size of her head, was almost swatted aside until the Queen somehow realized who it was and went still. Her power and size continued to swell but for a brief moment, the demon was calm as the same trance-like state seemed to fall over them again. Shaking her head, Spearmint held her hands out to show she was unharmed, which made the monstrous Queen rock back slowly onto her hooves. Like an unhappy cat rearing up, but not ready to strike. Spearmint moved closer to the gaunt face of the queen and held her hands in prayer.

“Please...Queen Elysium…” She said softly. “The war is over...it has been for millenia. The land is dead, your people gone, the continent suffering. Please, find it within yourself to calm your rage, your sorrow. I know it’s hard...but hasn’t it been long enough? Haven’t you been here, alone, for too long?”

The Queen said and did nothing.

Biting her lip, Spearmint moved in closer, wings gently flapping to stay aloft as she pressed a hand to a cheek. “You’re not going to find peace like this. Please...let us help you…”

Although the flesh was dry and cold as ice, for a brief moment Spearmint felt as if something deep within the Queen responded to the touch. Something warm, and old, tired and strong. But then it passed, and the glowing eyes flashed with anger. Turning slowly she began hunting down the unicorn again, only for Keen to cry out as he slammed into the crown and knocked it off her head.

In a flash things changed, the storm and palace both rumbling ominously, lightning flashing as magical arcs of power began to spark from the crown. The Queen howled, rearing up onto her hooves and gripping her head to claw at the spot the crown once was. Keen Sense luckily dived out of the way, flying down to the crown, but the magical output kept him at bay as it turned unstable. Stomping her body around and around in a circle, the Queen began to shrink and grow in fluxes, smashing into all the pillars then falling to the ground and rolling around as something within her started to truly snap. The necklace she bore glowed and turned an agonizing red.

Looking between the Queen, the crown, and the necklace, Spearmint gasped as something clicked. “The other words! Keen! What does ‘lapis meam’ mean?!”

“What? Uhhh...soul! Soul stone!” He shouted back, yelping as magic whipped across his stomach. “I-I can’t grab the crown! It’s too big, and the magic…”

“Uhhh guys?! She’s going to bring the roof down on us at this rate!” Slick screamed, grabbing the Doctor. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

“Agreed. Spearmint, Keen - leave the crown and flee!”

“But the mission-!”

“The storm outside is growing worse. The entire valley is going to be destroyed, I just know it!” He cut the stallion off. “We must find the escape passage and hurry to the coast! Now, before the entire kingdom becomes our grave as well.”

“But…” Looking hurriedly between her friends as they rushed to the steps, the crown, and the screaming Queen, the pegasus had only seconds to decide before making her choice. All of her emotions rolling around in her heart like the storm, she made a decision as she thought back to that moment in the blizzard. When Stark Winter and Whisper had stood their ground to give them a chance. “...I’m here to rescue them, I can’t leave. Even if it’s a guess…” She said to herself, and dived toward the queen.

“Minty!” Keen called out, but he was too far away to do anything. As the Queen screamed and began to emit even more light from her eyes and mouth, the tiny little pegasus swept in and crashed right into her chest. Grunting as the Queen bucked back against her, she found purchase around the enlarged rope holding the angry red stone and used it to press her hooves against the queen and pull. Tugging and yanking upon the stone no matter how it hurt to touch, how hot it grew in her grip, until with a satisfying snap the ancient thread gave way. As she flew back, Spearmint felt something within her change as a new presence, a spirit, flew into her and made itself home within her heart. But there was no rage, no anger or sorrow. Just relief and a feeling of finality at something at last coming to an end.

With the Queen’s necklace gone, the giantess began to slow in her motions, the light fading from her eyes as the magic cut off and began to dissipate from her form. As she fell forward, the floor booming from the impact, her skin and hair began to flake away like glowing snow being blown away in a wind. An ethereal form was hidden under the mummified skin, smaller and more youthful, but clearly still Elysium as she may have been long ago. Like this the similarities between Spearmint and her were startling, a pair of mother and daughter even if one ignored the tens of thousands of years separating them. As she began to float and look over the ruined basilica, she smiled sadly at all that could be seen destroyed and then turned to look at the trio by the stairs. Her eyes locked onto Doctor Absolut Zero, then Slick Slush, then Keen Sense. Her mouth saying ‘I’m sorry’, even with no words coming forth, and then she turned to look at Spearmint.

Standing up slowly, Spearmint looked at the Witch-Queen of Cloudthage and bowed. The queen bowing back lower, before floating over and gently touching her chest. A warmth blossomed there, something stirring at the familiar touch, a farewell between two spirits long forced together by an act long forgotten to the annals of history. Tears flowed from their eyes as shared history was remembered, the good times and the bad. And then the giant spirit faded, Queen Elysium finally passing on to the other side to reunite with her subjects, leaving the crumbling throne room silent.

Or rather, almost silent. As the storm continued to destabilize and threaten to bring the entire continent down in mere moments, Spearmint turned silently to the giant crown and took long strides to its side. The magic struck her but didn’t phase her, and laying a hand upon the snowflake it began to glow with her own magic, slowly and gently overtaking the angry remnants of the queen’s rage that had powered it. Shrinking down slowly it soon rested in her hands like any old diadem might, and smiling sadly she ran a thumb over its surface as alien memories played in her mind.

“Spearmint?”

Turning, she smiled at Keen, who unlike the other two had braved walking over. “It’s...it’s you in there, right?”

“Mmhm.” She nodded, but it was distracted, distant. Like she couldn’t focus on the here and now, eyes dancing as they saw something he couldn’t. They flashed gold and she nodded. “...You might want to leave. She says I’ll have a lot of trouble handling it at first...I’ll need a lot more room than this.”

“What?”

“Go down one flight, take a left, and follow the windows.” She instructed, hurrying as the storm caused a portion of the balcony to collapse from a thunderstrike. “You’ll find the Queen’s Quarters, and once there touch the second mirror’s frame to open the passage. It should take you straight to the other side of the mountain. You should be safe there...I think. I’ll watch my step.”

“W-What?”

“No time - Go.” She said, repeating the same finality that her teammates had given their own orders hours ago. Lifting up the diadem, she set it upon her head and gasped as her eyes turned white.

Turning to run, Keen gave her one last parting glance over his shoulder and saw that she was moving over to the throne to sit. Her body glowing with a pure white aura of magic that built and built, her wings spreading out as some strange transformation began to overtake her. Grabbing Slick and Absolut, he followed her orders and found the queen’s bedroom in no time. The furnishing immaculate despite being made of wood and cloth, perhaps an enchantment placed upon them long ago. The mirror was found, the passage open, and as they rushed down it they could hear the palace behind them begin to rumble and shake even worse than before.

Back inside the throne room, a powerful transformation was underway. The diadem was a powerful artifact, its magic connecting Spearmint to the very air and space above Antrotica from coast to coast. It could reach further than that even, the surrounding oceans open to her to view, likely even to the nearest coastlines of the other land masses. It was clear this was how the Queen had kept vigil over Cloudthage, keeping it clear from Dominium invasion for so long. Memories not her own whispered about how terrible storms used to ravage any fleet that approached, building legends of the terrible cursed island to the south. About how, as madness overtook the Queen she had begun slacking on observing the outside world. How it led to the first invasion force, the withdrawal of the pegasi into the mountains. How years of siege whittled the already unstable mind of the Queen into the frothing, raging madmare that thought up the horrible final plan to kill everyone in pyrrhic victory. Now, back in the hands of a stable mind the crown could be used for good again, but first it needed to fix what it had already unleashed.

Focusing back on the continent, Spearmint’s vision saw how the storm was tearing the land apart across the ice and snow. In a fit of irony, all of this destruction could very well undo some of the strain on the land, let it stay above the waves. But only if the heart of the storm didn’t collapse, which was so far along now that there was no stopping it. She could merely mitigate it, redirecting or de-fanging its impact with something else in its place. Which her body was already growing in size and empowering itself like the Queen had been for. Having formerly been of normal pegasus height, Spearmint could hear the throne creak some as she sat her now gigantic body down into the well fitting seat. Her wings flared up and sighed loudly from feathers stretching larger, an odd sensation that she found pleasant as they doubled in size. Her looks were starting to shift and match that of Queen Elysium, something she didn’t miss but didn’t mind. The Queen had been gorgeous after all; as long as her mind remained safe and strong there would be nothing to worry about. And if she had to really do what she had to next at least there would be a small perk to it all, she thought with a wry chuckle.

Before that part however, there was something personal she had to do. Looking to the mountains, she roamed her gaze across it until she found the cave that they had slipped in through. Then further along where a battle was reaching its climactic finish. To her shock, joy and fear she saw that Stark Winter and Whisper were somehow still alive! Their bodies battered and bruised, bleeding from countless cuts, some even cauterized from what she could only assume was Stark’s sword in moments of necessity. They were back to back as half the pack circled them angrily, the rest down or half-melted in the snow. Neither pony would survive the next strike, this she knew, and so reaching through the crown Spearmint used another new power of hers to stop it. All beings born from the crowns powers also had a connection to her through it, which was why the Queen had been able to sick her hounds upon the numerous visitors to Antrotica over the millenia. The Frostwolves sensed her, stopping their prowls, and with a strong order they backed off until they could turn tail and run. Stark Winter collapsed as the threat passed, but Whisper still had some strength left in her to tend to him and so Spearmint left them alone. She was running out of time and the pressure rising in her could not be denied any longer.

Pushing off of the throne, Spearmint walked to the center of the room and looked around one last time. The floor was pulling away from her, her height swelling again to even greater levels, and the magic swirling in the air was thick enough to choke a normal pony. All of it pouring into Spearmint, the only way she could safely disarm the ticking time bomb that was the eye of the storm. Lifting a hand up to the domed roof, she willed the storm’s power to come to her, and it obeyed. The cloud rolling around in the center of the dome shot down into her, breaking up from cloud to dust, then little shimmery sparkles that clung to her form and made her swell faster. Her figure increased further, wings expanding bigger and wider, curves thickening to rival a princess. As the last of it swirled into her she lowered her hand and looked down at her form. Only to cry out in pain a second later as she surged up and banged into the dome. She was growing too fast!

Kneeling down, she bought the throne room a few more seconds as she tried to figure out her height. She had to be easily one-hundred feet tall, perhaps greater. The power of the storm was too great for even the Queen’s former size to contain, having gorged itself for thousands of years and even stealing from the world’s natural magical fields. It was enough to make her grow pale at the veritable ocean resting above her, but she also knew that it could all...fit. She just needed to let the process go on undisturbed, not try to hold anything back! Although, as she felt herself start to burst out of the tower, she realized that maybe holding back would be a good idea.

“Come on, we’re nearly there.” Keen yelled. They had rushed to the end of the tunnel and found themselves blocked by a massive overgrown wall of ice. It had taken them precious minutes to chip and smash away at it, but with Slick Slush’s strength they had broken a large chunk of it and were working to widen the gap.

“This is really...starting to drive...me nuts!” Slick protested, grunting as she swung a large rock to bash the ice. “Can’t something for once...just go our way? I want off of...this crazy continent!”

As the rock shattered at last on the next strike, the earth pony let out an enraged shriek, before choking it off as something outside blasted the mountainside. There was a loud rumble, both from far behind in the tunnel and just beyond the ice, before suddenly a wall of tumbling rocks passed by and struck the blockade. The weight and force shattered the ice completely and freed their escape, and they all piled out into the bitter cold air with relief.

“Perhaps we should take small favors like this as a sign it wants us off too.” Doctor Absolut remarked, before going silent as the rumbling increased from behind. “That...doesn’t sound good.”

“Oof!” Landing hard on her rump, Spearmint blushed as the castle was nearly wiped out by her collapse. After outgrowing the throne room and upper tower she had tried to climb down, but another surge in size had put her comparable to the palace itself. Which also had resulted in her tripping, sliding, and crushing most of the palace’s front under her now pleasantly plump rear. Standing up slowly to not ruin even more of the ancient ruins, she gulped as bones crunched loudly under her hooves, followed by the various tiles and stone to crack apart as hooves tried to find purchase. “Got to move out...get away…”

With slow measured steps she walked forward through the large parade grounds, but froze as she came upon the dense and clustered upper district. There was no way to walk through it at her size, now several hundred feet, and she could feel in her feathers that the power was coming in faster the longer she channeled it. Looking for a solution, she finally realized she would have to jump and bunched up her legs to surge into the air. The landing was as disastrous as she had expected but by some luck she crashed down outside the city walls. It decimated the countryside as the shockwave battered the walls, before finally settling as she took a few steps and crushed several pieces of the siege weapons and defenses underhoof. The walk through the valley was eerily quiet, the storm growing silent above as her own sounds began to overtake the stilled air. Thundering booms, howling winds, all just from her passing through as she made for the river. When she reached the riverside, her stride was so long that her hooves partially plunged into the ice as she climbed to over one-thousand feet. The chill barely affected her, but she still looked down and watched as the ancient waters shattered and began flowing free again from her touch. Her hoof diverting much of the flow, bending around it until her size choked it off too much to keep moving. She lifted her hoof and the water filled the new lake until it resumed the flow. “I’m changing the landscape...just by walking around.” She muttered out loud, wincing as her voice echoed back to her. “I’m like a storm myself now...I have to be so careful.”

Just then a powerful shudder wracked her body, and with a surge of vertigo she grew! Bigger and larger, doubling in height before tripling that too. She took a step back to steady herself and nearly crushed the city walls, then a step forward to avoid that which wiped out one settlement. Spearmint was beyond large, climbing into miles and easily the largest thing besides the mountains. Even those were starting to dwindle; very soon she would see over them, and there was still so much magic that she knew it wouldn’t be the end. Fearing for what was left of the once proud civilization, she hurried to the most clear section of the mountains and began to climb. The task made easier as hand grips became entire cliffs or rocky outcrops, then whatever her hooves slammed into to make one. Her head burst through the stormy clouds with a tingle of electricity as she gasped, then flaring her wings out she blew them all away and straddled the range to get over it.

“Ow. Dammit…” Stark winced, feeling the sting of alcohol as Whisper dabbed his wounds.

“Shush.” She scolded and put a bandage on his cheek. “...That should be the last one anyway. I’m almost out of supplies now, so we’ll have to reach the shoreline like this.”

Grunting, the stoic stallion pushed up onto his hooves and braced himself with his sword. The two fighters had luckily kept most of their insulated clothing intact despite the claws and fangs, but still there was enough bloodloss that other concerns could crop up if they weren’t careful. With the long trek ahead of them, they certainly needed all they could get. “Thank you Whisper, for everything. You fought well despite the odds.”

Nodding, she stood and tried to pull her coat closed. A large swipe from one of the Frostwolves had torn it open, thankfully missing her flesh but leaving it open. The shirt underneath even was sporting some tears, which made her sizeable chest even more noticeable much to Stark’s embarrassment. “Stark…” She paused, looking up as something rumbled loudly over the mountains. “Do you hear that?”

Lifting his head, Stark eyed the storm clouds above and grimaced. “Yes, and I dare say our friends have found the heart of this storm and done...something, to agitate it. The land is crumbling, and if the Frostwolves retreating is indication of anything, I’d say we’re in trouble. We-” Whatever he was going to say was cut off as a massive storm of wind and snow suddenly blew across the land from the west.

Turning their gazes in that direction, they stared in shock and fear as a gigantic creature lumbered over the mountains far above and beyond. The clouds parting from massive wings that blotted out the weak sunlight above them, as hooves as big as some cities shifted over the edges of the mountain tops. They could barely define the features of this giant being, the distance and size obscuring what they could actually see of it, but as one hoof came down on this side of the range they realized at last that it was a pony. A massive pony miles tall, and growing! Even as they came to stand on two hooves it lurched bigger and bigger in powerful spurts, something that in turn made the storm above the continent visibly weaken as they drew it into their bodies.

“What in Equestria…” Stark gulped. “I’m going to need a bigger sword.”

“No!” Whisper let out a startled gasp, hands rising to her mouth. “It can’t be...that’s Spearmint!”

“WHAT?!”

“Oh boy…” Speamint rumbled, noting how deep her voice had become. “I’m...freaking huge.” Looking nervously around, she took a cautious step past the mountains and winced as she felt it punch through several hundred feet of ice. The growing pony was now into the double digits of miles and still climbing higher, her growth rate now miles a minute and still rising as she did. The storm was weakening, the implosion finally averted, but now she was the biggest danger. She had to clear the areas she knew Stark, Whisper, Keen and the others were at. And the only way to do that was to walk around the continent and perhaps even dip into the ocean. But every step proved how dangerous the land still was, even to a being like her. False ground and icy traps crumbled with her hooves and weight, making her move at a sluggish pace that barely made ground over her growth. She was almost locked into place even, and groaning she felt herself climbing into the chilly upper atmosphere long before she could get her hooves wet again. “I can’t even move...will I sink Antrotica myself?!”

Surpassing ninety miles, Spearmint moved for the ocean one last time. Her legs stretching over the horizon, all eyes in the vicinity of Antrotica were now on her. Even the far-away captain of their transport ship could see her, slack-jawed in disbelief as he recognized the even more beautiful pegasus he had brought to the frozen shores some days ago. She managed to at last reach the coastline even as it vanished under her steps, and looking back she let out a startled shriek as she saw ice on the far side of the continent start to rise up. She was making it tilt! She quickly hopped into the ocean and prayed it didn’t cause too much damage, and although waves hundreds of feet tall did erupt from it, they mostly died against the land or icebergs littering the area. A huge sigh of relief from the pegasus signalled her surpassing five-hundred miles, and holding her hands close to her chest she gazed over the planet’s surface as she continued to grow on.

After another minute or two the growth came to a halt. Her size was unknown, at least in finer numbers, but turning slowly Spearmint could see Antrotica cast into her shadow and saw that it stretched as long as the continent. Knowing faintly that the land was around seventeen-hundred miles in diameter, she whimpered lightly and pulled her long tail closer to wrap safely around herself. Her form was as buxom, wide and thick as Princess Luna, and her wings were so large they stretched across the ocean and dangled their tips over the coastlines of two other continents. “I’m massive...a goddess…” She whispered, voice echoing over the world. “How am I ever going to get small again? There’s so much magic to get rid of, where can I put it?”

Crouching over the continent, she peered with her new senses and giant eyes to try and find all her friends. She could ‘see’ them peering up at her, agog, and with a deep blush on her cheeks she chuckled weakly and waved back to them. “Hi guys...I think I’ll take a different route home. Go on without me, eheh.”

Slick Slush fainted, making Spearmint facepalm and get laughed at by Keen Sense. “Why me…”

“Some would call it Fate, my little pony.”

“!!?”

Although the voice spoke ahead of it, Spearmint watched in fear as a giant shadow formed overtop of hers and stretched far, far beyond to almost the other side of the world. It was so wide and large she couldn’t even make out much of its shape, just that it was clearly behind her and far, far bigger than she was. Given her current height that was a terrifying thought. Turning back around slowly, she found herself staring at a pair of thighs and knees that were nearly as wide as her, with no gap between them to even see behind the figure. Tilting her head back, she paled as she saw a stomach toned by abs and two mighty mountains for a chest, with a toga-like garb barely covering any of it. Arms equally toned and buff, yet soft with supple flesh were resting on wide hips as whoever looked down posed in front of the empowered pegasus. “W-W-Who are you?”

Giggling, the force of their voice was felt even by Spearmint as the titanic body over her shifted and moved. Thighs folding back down to rest on legs that were more nestled in the ocean than on land itself. As they moved, the light of the sunset began to shine faintly around the edges of the wide, thick rump that spread and smushed against her rather large bottom-heavy figure. Yet still she was too big to let much of anything be seen, save for what a soon-seen glowing mane allowed for. The entire curtain of hair shimmering like a curtain of living rainbow, a curious fusion of what Spearmint saw every day from Rainbow Dash, and Princess Celestia herself. Yet there were also stars and other glowing objects shimmering in the depths of the mane that suggested this pony was somehow even greater than the Princess of the Sun. As if she held the cosmos in her mane and bathed it with light.

Wanting to take a step back to see her better, yet fearing where her hooves might fall, Spearmint gulped and just tried to crane her vision past the swell of the breasts. An action made easier by her strange visitor bending over some, allowing for a regal, long muzzle to be seen with a warm smile on her lips and in her glowing gold eyes. “Just call me Seraph dear, we’re all but family now. Oh, but it’s so good to see you too.” Reaching down, the pegasus had barely a second to squeak before two large hands grabbed her gently along the sides and lifted her up like a child. Holding her up to the mares head, she could finally see that she was an alicorn, not that there had been much doubt given she had seen wings earlier around the side of her waist. But the resemblance between her and Celestia was growing more and more unsettling, especially as without warning the ‘tiny’ pony was crushed into a bone-cracking hug between two breasts bigger than the mares head. “I just had to come down and welcome you in person!”

“Ack! Help...air…” Spearmint wheezed.

“Oh you don’t have to worry about anything silly like that hun. Just relax your muscles, there we go. Would be impractical to have to worry about that considering your size, hmm?”

“I-I don’t understand...who are you?”

Pulling Spearmint away, the self-named Seraph continued to smile with a now mischievous tilt to her lips. “I’m surprised, has it really been so long that nopony knows me? Surely my champion has mentioned me, no? Well given how my sister was treated, perhaps it’s for the better.” Sighing, she looks down past the mare in her arms, down to the continent below them and between her thighs. “We’ve been admittedly very absent ever since the fallout between the tribes. A shame it came to this at all, especially given the strain it placed upon my sister for so long.”

“I’m a little confused.” Spearmint said nervously. Something about the alicorn’s words were unsettling, sparking faint memories from the spirit. But the spirit was now at rest, their task of taming the storm done.

“Don’t worry about it dear, all of this I’m sure will be explained in time.” Looking back to the pegasus, the alicorn planted a soft kiss on her forehead and set her back down. “You have enough on your shoulders dealing with all of this below us. An entire continent has opened back up for the races of this world to explore. You embody the power of Storm and its spirit - I imagine you’ll want to shrink down at some point too. Ponies will have questions...and I think my being here is something best left until later. Don’t you think so?”

Somehow, Spearmint found herself agreeing readily with the suggestion by Seraph. It was bad enough there was one titanic pony straddling a part of the world. The much larger one, even if clearly the, pun not intended, bigger danger, could probably be ignored in favor of just letting the pegasus handle her own immensity. Nodding slowly, this seemed to make the alicorn happy as she slowly stood again.

“I’d love to see how big you can get once the power of Storm fully recovers. My sister never did like being ‘small’ around mortal races.” She giggles. Taking a few looks around the planet, Seraph then waved and winked. “Sorry to greet and run, but I must really prepare things for next time. Tell Twilight Sparkle that I’m waiting in Patria Primo, within the city held by the depths. I’m sure she’ll figure it out...in time.”

Then in a flash of sunlight she was gone. The land unmarred by her existence, yet both Spearmint and countless others would remember seeing that towering, gigantic alicorn. Looking around herself, the mare gulped. Suddenly she really wanted to get small and hide. But it wouldn’t be for several hours, maybe even a day, before she could get down in height enough to even move.

“This...is going to take a while…”

Epilogue

Another day in Ponyville began, and Spearmint was already in the sky above the town. Circling lazily in the early morning updrafts as she surveyed the ground below and looked for a place to land. It had been a month now since her adventure into Antrotica, and things were still unsettled from the aftermath of events down south. Equestria was abuzz with all the news about Cloudthage and the hidden valley, of Spearmint’s growth and the strange encounter atop the planet. She along with the other members of her team had been called before the Princesses multiple times to understand what exactly occured, as well as Doctor Absolut and his team about their experiences and research results. So far little had been learned outside of what they themselves had gathered on the way to the palace, but the biggest mystery hanging over all of their heads was the existence of yet another alicorn. The self-named ‘Seraph’ had drawn deep concern from Celestia and Luna, with the former especially troubled though she had never explained why. So for now they were all told to return to their lives and forget about it, but Spearmint most certainly could not.

After finally shrinking back down to a moderate height, the pegasus had actually flown back to the nearest port and met up with her friends. Still several dozen feet tall, she had made for quite the spectacle upon landing, but had ignored it at the time in favor of hugging her teammates and checking in that everyone was fine. She still had yet to lose those extra feet, and the extreme new curves she’d gained even after a month. The resemblance to Queen Elysium was almost perfect save for her more monotone mane and tail, and it had begun to draw countless eyes to her despite the extreme height difference many stallions had now to her. It was a bit embarrassing really, so lately Spearmint had taken to flying alone in the early morning and late at night to try and relax. The spirit still resting inside of her seemed to like those moments, vaguely coming to the surface to experience it, but always it would settle back down and vanish after she landed.

Speaking of the spirit, she had been told by Princess Luna to not be alarmed by its presence. The spirit had been inspected by her one night in Spearmint’s dreams and deemed peaceful, but also the cause for countless new abilities that the pegasus had to juggle. Such as the extreme awareness to all the weather of Equestria and the ability to conjure storms of any kind at a moments notice. Even without the crown these powers were available to her, and speaking of it that too was being studied in Canterlot by the best unicorn scholars. She felt like an entirely different pony at times, but as the sun began to rise and heat up the day, she felt that familiar weariness that came with hot summer days and smiled faintly. She still loved the cold more despite the chilly reception she’d had in Antrotica.

After another half-hour Spearmint came to land down in one of the open squares and folded her wings. The eleven foot mare looked around, waving to the early morning ponies out and about, and then started walking to her home. Only to be interrupted by a friendly call.

“Spearmint, there you are!” Rushing down the street, the still newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle hurried to catch up to the mare. Despite having gained some height of her own after ascending, the six and a half foot mare was still much smaller than the pegasus, which made Minty feel a bit awkward. Not to mention her curves, which Twilight had not gained much of if anything. The former unicorn however had never shown any awkwardness over these ideas, so the pegasus tried to keep her own mind clear of them. “I thought I saw you flying around. I could really use a follow-up on our questions from last time.”

“Hello Princess.” Bowing slightly, Spearmint sighed and nodded. “No offense but...I’m pretty sure I’ve told you everything I know by now. Just like I did with the other Princesses.”

“Well yes, but I just wanted to confirm and see if anything might have come back to you?” Lighting up her horn, Twilight called over a small notebook and quill from her library and opened it up. “I’m unofficially assigned to helping you recall and learn anything new that might come up from the spirit inside of you. This will be my first report on it to Princess Celestia, and…”

“And you want it to be perfect.” Chuckling, Spearmint nodded and turned. “Alright, let’s find someplace to sit down then.”

They moved over to a cafe that had just opened, taking a table outside so Spearmint could sit on the ground. Setting the book on the table, Twilight stirred some sugar into her tea before beginning. “So let’s start at the beginning. Antrotica was ruled by Cloudthage and the pegasus tribe, correct? Their ruler - Queen Elysium - was not just a ruler, but some kind of champion?”

“That’s correct.” Spearmint nodded. “They had a...kind of religion. Everypony there revered a Goddess, who helped all ponies in the land become a pegasus and controlled the weather. Queen Elysium was...a champion...an avatar? It’s unclear, but the spirit inside of me seems to think of her as both. Whatever the case, she was the one who used the crown, and because of her size and beauty, everypony loved her as if she was the Goddess.”

“Hmm, almost like how early ponies revered Princess Celestia and Luna.” Twilight flipped a few pages and jotted something down. “The crown itself, the Storm Crown, was it the source of her madness? According to your story the Queen went mad over several hundred years before the Dominium attacked.”

“It...didn’t help I think.” Spearmint took a moment before replying, thinking hard. “Queen Elysium was...she had extended her life by sealing the spirit inside of her necklace. I get the feeling that it was a mutual decision, to help the Queen rule and protect her ponies as they escaped the Dominium and settle into the new land. But they didn’t know what it was going to do to a mortal pony. Her mind got older while her body didn’t, and as time passed both she and the spirit began to lose their sanity. She became eccentric, mostly a harmless condition since the two minds kept a loose control over her actions. But when the Dominium attacked...they fractured. The Queen fell into sorrow over all her ponies dying, while the spirit was enraged by the Dominium again imposing their rule on ponies.”

“And as the years passed, they merged their feelings together until they could barely function.” Twilight said softly, eyes downcast. “Which led to their final plan...I see.” They took another moment for Twilight to jot that down and recover from the sad topic. “Who is the spirit?”

“I still believe it might...possibly be the Goddess.”

“You still think that somehow…?”

Spearmint nodded. “What else could it be? That alicorn...Seraph, she acted like she knew me. The only thing different about me then was having the spirit inside of me. If...if Seraph was to turn out to be a Goddess herself…?” She shrugs. “It just fits, right?”

“Even if I believed it’s the spirit of a goddess, how or why would she be inside of you now? Why bind herself to Queen Elysium?” Twilight asked sceptically.

Spearmint just shrugs. Idly fiddling with her empty cup, she looks at her sizeable breasts and tries to imagine the spirit resting in her heart looking back. “Who knows? I can feel a few thoughts...feelings...memories from time to time. But she’s still recovering, still pulling herself back together.”

“Okay, then last question. The Dominium - with Antrotica and Cloudthage, we finally have concrete proof that they existed and were a dangerous threat several thousand years ago. New discoveries and realizations are being made all across the archaeology and historical communities save for the biggest one of all. How did they fall? Is there anything you might have remembered now that connects to that?”

Spearmint remained quiet for a long moment, thinking on how to answer it. While she didn’t ‘know’ the answer, the spirit’s strong hatred for the Dominium had let some things bleed in odd ways into her own mind. “Just ideas and theories that the spirit believed in. She didn’t focus on anything after the Queen went mad, but she still remembers feeling...or I guess seeing...some kind of odd desperation in the Dominium’s actions. That the numbers didn’t add up to what they remembered from the past - they invaded Antrotica and pushed hard to breach the mountains into Cloudthage. Some of the weapons used were so powerful that they must have been some of their best. It was like they were desperate to conquer the pegasi, but nopony knew why.”

“That’s strange - given that the Dominium was the greatest power of their era, it stands to reason they could send a sizeable force no matter what. They were also remarked as being very controlling over other ponies, so could it have been a personal affront to them that Cloudthage had escaped their notice for so long?”

“If it was, it definitely caused them to do some stupid things. During the entire war Queen Elysium never stopped the stormfront she had long used on the coastline to ward off intruders. Dominium fleets had to fight through it every time they brought reinforcements or supplies, and even if one ship sunk they just sent in three more next time. There...I can’t begin to count how many were sunk. I just know it would horrify most commanders in this day and age over how much was lost.”

“If the Dominium sent that many…” Twilight trailed off and noted a few things. “Okay, well this does help me out Spearmint. Thank you so much. There’s nothing else to note, so I should be able to take it from here.” Looking up, she smiled and closed her notebook. “Now - how about yourself? Are you faring well?”

Chuckling, Spearmint nodded and stretched her wings some. “To be honest...I’ve never felt better. The Storm is still lingering inside of me, so I always feel energized and ready to just fly off. It’s like I’m a completely new pony.”

“How are Stark Winter and Whisper, or the other ponies from the research team? I know Doctor Absolut is back to his work at least.”

Shuffling a bit, the giant pegasus stretched a wing up into the air to relieve a cramp building and then folded it back into place. “They’re all well. Stark Winter is heading some of the security around Antrotica at all the new bases. I might have told the Frostwolves to back off but...well, they’re wild animals. Whisper is trying to build a network of communication crystals down south, she seems to be enjoying herself. She says they might try to expand her work to the rest of Equestria after a test run in Antrotica, and everypony I hear talking about it seems excited. She actually gave me a crystal I can charge with my new magic to talk to her from afar - it’s a little draining even for me, but I love it. I’ll definitely get some more if they sell.

“As for the rest of the team...well you know about Doctor Absolut. Slick Slush and Quartz are back to work too, so I haven’t heard from them much. I think Slick is a bit scared of me to be honest.” Spearmint sighed at that. “Apparently my...hoof, got scary close to burying her. I’m trying to apologize, but it’s not easy to put into words. Lupin’s talked with me a few times, but he’s busy with the Doctor so we’re just acquaintances. Rising Shine I’ve worked with a few times actually, given her job and my new skills. She seems to like how much I can help her with her own job, and I honestly don’t mind.”

There was a small moment of silence, and then Twilight asked, “What about Keen Sense?”

“He’s...kind of vanished.” The pegasus admitted. “We were talking for about a week - he actually stayed at my home too. But then he said he had...I’m not sure...an idea? A hint? He was so excited - I couldn’t stop him and the next thing I know, he’s gone.”

“A hint? To what?”

“To - oh!” Spearmint gasped, her memory suddenly jolting her with a lost piece of knowledge. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I forgot! Twilight, there is something else actually I forgot to tell you. I’m so sorry, there was just so much going on…”

“What? What is it?” Leaning forward, Twilight took a hold of one of Spearmint’s hands. “Spearmint, what did you forget?”

“The...the alicorn...Seraph…” She began. “She was very unclear, but she said your name specifically. Said that she’ll be waiting.”

“What?! Waiting where, what are you talking about?”

“In...in...in Patria Primo. In the city held by the depths.”

“Patria Primo. That means...the first homeland?” Twilight Sparkle looked confused, but like a lightning strike she stiffened and gasped. “T-The FIRST?! B-But that’s...no, that’s impossible!” Getting up, she started to fly, froze, and before she could fall from lack of flapping, teleported away. The flash accompanied by an unexpected ‘bang!’ from the speed and force of her magic. Blinking owlishly, Spearmint was left there with the notes still on the table across from her, and an oddly deep sense of joy from within her soul. Calmly calling the waiter over to pay for the bill, she looked down at the papers and neatly gathered them up to take to Twilight Sparkle later, or maybe her assistant Spike. Clearly she had unknowingly set off a new, perhaps even stranger adventure with that message from a Goddess.

“...I guess things are just going to get even more interesting from now on.” She chuckled.

Author's Note

And that was The Frozen Land fillies and gentlecolts. This is ultimately what took up a huge chunk of my writing time over the last year or so, and I'm glad to have gotten it done and up finally. Like I mentioned in the comments of an earlier chapter, this originally was meant to be a purely fetish story. Big mare and lots of growth, that sorta thing. But then it became this and frankly, I enjoyed making it more than it was. I've always enjoyed my friends OC, Spearmint, and decided to give her a bit of an epic tale to wrap up the first half of his adventures with her. Sorta like a movie if you will.

Will there be a sequel? Yes - Eventually. That one will follow in the steps of another OC of his from the same universe - Eclipse Star. What happens in there however will have to wait, now that this is done I'm going back to The Black Digi-Knight and finally resuming its tale. Please feel free to like, comment etc on this!