The King of Kings and The Future Foretold
“Come closer little one... let me look at you...” the older and younger sister were now facing what seemed to be an older pony wearing a king’s outfit. The younger one stayed closely behind the older one as the older one got closer to the old king. “Yes... I can see you now.”
“What are you nearsighted or something” the older pony joked.
“NOT YOU!!” The old king shouted startling both the older and younger ponies and causing them to step back a bit. “You...” the king said as he pointed at the younger pony. The younger pony, still obviously frightened by all of this, hid completely behind the younger pony. “I can see within you. I can see your fear, anger, and hatred. Yes... but more than that is your love, compassion, passion, and trust. I can see it all within you... it is shown through your eyes...”
“M-my eyes?” The younger pony said while hesitantly peaking out from behind her older sister. Her rainbow eyes shown towards the old king.
“Yes... those eyes... the very same that have kept me here. The ones that I hold responsible for my current state. I want revenge. Yes... I WANT THEM BACK!!” The old king exclaimed as skeletal ponies rose up around them. And the older pony grabbed her younger sister’s hoof and ran away from the king. Back down the hall of the blue flames.
“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have brought us here! He even claims that you hurt him in some way. I know you wouldn’t do that would you?” The older sister said while running and leading them through the halls.
“No, it’s okay! I don’t blame you for this. Just please get us back to mommy and daddy.” The little sister replied they made it most of the way before the younger sister tripped and fell on a pressure plate. The older sister turned back to see the ceiling rumbling a little bit as the hallway behind and in front of them had the ceiling caving in.
“Look out!!” The older sister exclaimed as she ran back for her little sister in a desperate attempt to save them both and shoved both of them against the wall.
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Cold woke up again the same day. This time she confirmed that it was her room that she was sleeping in. She wasn’t as tired as before and her headache from her hangover had gone down. She got out of her bed and checked the time. The fortune teller was supposed to be at the casino in an hour. So she took the extra time to take a quick shower, and get dressed in her favorite hoodie, something given to her by Blaze. She walked down to the elevator and rode it down to the floor level before getting out passing the room service on her way down. She walked quickly through the main lobby so she wouldn’t have to talk to anybody and made her way down the road to the casino. The streets were crowded and everyone was making noise everywhere. There were carriages, talking ponies, screaming ponies, and one or two quiet ones. The walk to the casino felt long and obnoxious despite the fact that it wasn’t that far away. Once she walked in she could smell the scent of cigarette smoke and could hear the sounds of dice rolling and lots spinning. Cold groaned and attempted not to pay attention to them.
“This is why I live in Ponyville.” Cold walked over to the counter in the middle of the main room. “Excuse me. I would like to know where the new fortune teller is.” The pony over the counter looked over at Cold with a confused face.
“Fortune te-“ another pony came over and shoved the first one out of the way.
“Go and work the register if ya don’t know what they’re talking about.” The second counter pony, a mare, looked at Cold and whispered. “You looking for Madame Shining Orb? Worker of miracles and determiner of fate? Black market dealer in fortune telling because of her methods.” Cold scoffed and looked back at her.
“You tell everyone that talks about fortune tellers that?” The mare smirked at Cold’s response.
“Only the pretty ones that look lost. Looks like you know where you are though. The name’s Golden River. Right this way.” The mare came out from behind the counter and lead Cold into the back and through a series of hallways. The first few were empty but the last one caught her eye. It was a series of photos. They were all pictures of various ponies with various titles next to their names. There were a few stallions with the title of gambling champion a few with the title of manager, but one stuck out. It was an empty photo with an out of place title. “Refractionary Blaze: Greatest Halo” Cold looked over at Golden River confused.
“Hey. What’s this?” Golden River turned back and looked at what Cold was pointing to.
“What? Are you interested in other mares now? Cheating already? Oh. Yeah that’s been here since I started working here. They said that it was an amazing mare with so much talent. Raw gambling ability and alcohol tolerance aside she was an amazing brawler. Nobody knows her face though. Or even remembers her coming here. Must have been a long time ago.”
“Huh...” she made sure to remember the picture just in case, and the pair of them kept walking. Blaze didn’t show up in any more pictures despite the fact that most of the other ponies were in many pictures. Eventually they came to a trapdoor that lead down some stairs. Golden River looked over to Cold.
“Now listen closely, there are three tarps that lead into separate rooms you want the one on your left. See ya soon beautiful.” Cold nodded and jumped down into the trapdoor and through the tunnel before her. The smells were a mix of smoke, most likely from the cigarettes above, and air freshener that wasn’t exactly doing its job well at all. The hallway was dark but that didn’t pose much of a problem because of the bit of light that shown through some small cracks above. After a good five minutes of walking, she finally came to two tarps; one on the left and one on the right. She assumed the last one was at the end of the hall. She peeked into the tarp on her right first and... pretended not to see what she did before walking into the room on her left.
“Hello?” She whispered into the dark room before walking in and sitting on the cushion on the floor. The sconces around the room lit up revealing a hooded pony sitting across from her behind an orb looking shape. “Are you Madame Shining Orb?” The mare in question just stared into her orb.
“...” No response. Cold just looked back at her.
“I’m kind of in a hurry and was wondering if you could help me...”
“I see a wandering soul...” Cold was set off by her sudden remarks. “Uhh...”
“You’re Searching for a spirit that doesn’t even know where they are. You want to take them and bring them back to where you consider “Home”. Your journey started in a land far away. Even now this journey of yours is all you can focus on. But what you haven’t realized is that the answers you need to turn your page is sitting right on your desk. You just need to clean it off. It’s funny though, I can see the past, present, and future of everypony but never have I seen a story quite as interesting as yours. Now. You may ask your final question.” Cold was impressed. Most of the details were kept vague but she was correct with everything she knew.
“I want to know about your enchanted ice.” She said wearily.
“No. You want to know how to tame it. How to escape it. The one you have. Inside of you. I can help you with what you want, but everything you have comes from your lost kitty. It made her who she was. So do you want to erase a part of her?” Cold hesitated. She understood basically what she was saying but that just means that she has to keep this pain in her chest? There were footsteps above them. Hard. And they could hear shouting.
“We......Cold.......Looking......here...... princess..... return” was all that they could hear through the floor. Shining Orb looked at Cold with a smile.
“It seems that you were tracked and followed here Miss Cold Hart.” Cold looked back at her slightly panicked but you wouldn’t be able to tell just by looking at her. Of course, the fortune teller could tell. “Do not worry. I will call my assistant and she shall help you to escape unseen.” Cold looked skeptical at this.
“What’s the catch?” The fortune teller smiled knowingly at this accusation as she saw it coming a mile away.
“I told you that your story was the most interesting one I have seen so far. So in exchange for this extra favor, I want to see your lost kitten when you find her. Who knows? Maybe I’ll help you then.” Cold, still skeptical at this, stared at the Fortune Teller for a second before she could hear the hoofsteps above them.
“Fine. But please hurry up.” Shining Orb nodded and pressed a button on the desk before speaking into the microphone.
“Golden River, please make your way over here immediately.” A familiar mare then suddenly appeared before them. Cold, not caring before, now noticed the horn on the flirty mare’s head. Golden River ignored Cold and faces Shining Orb waiting for something. Shining Orb then gave her orders.
“Golden River, take our guest here out through the back door. And give her “it”.” Golden River nodded at this and handed Cold a wrapped up package and took her hoof dragging her along.
“Hey! Wait!” Golden River turned back to Cold.
“Shhh. Or they’ll hear you.” Gold ran off with Cold in tow. Shining Orb sat back down and smiled to herself. Being blind meant that she could hear exceptionally well. The ponies chasing after Cold had already found the trapdoor from what she heard.
“I wish you luck in the days to come Cold. May we one day meet again.” Gold and Cold ran down the hall toward the third and final tarp. As they rushed in, Cold realized that it was a storage room.
“So where’s this secret tunnel huh?” Cold whispered with her need to hurry rising. Gold moved a stack of boxes revealing a stone wall and pushed one of the stones in.
“These tunnels were created by a group of robbers. They failed with their plan but the casino decided to keep the tunnels as a safety precaution.”
“Huh... well then. I guess I’ll see ya later?” Gold laughed at this response. “Oh don’t worry. I’ll come and see you soon. Wanna give me your address?” Cold smirked back
“How about this: Lets leave it up to fate. It must be fate if you end up on my doorstep” Cold was confident in this response until Gold smirked back.
“Is that a challenge? I’ll see you in two days then.” Gold then proceeded to shove Cold through the stone wall and then closed it up. Gold turned and put the boxes back to conceal the path before walking out with a random box off of he shelves. Two ponies ran at her in some sort of odd secret agents. They ran past her as she brought the box back to Shining. Shining smiled as she walked back in. “Were you interrogated?” Gold asked. Shining just smiled and nodded her head. Gold hesitated for half a second and said “Hey... can I take a few days off?” Shining just smiled and nodded again.
After being closed in, Cold turned toward the dark tunnel. Unable to see, she held her hoof out and a tiny flicker began to show out above her hoof. The flicker quickly grew into a ball of fiery light causing a bight glow through the tunnel before her. The light in her hand belonged to her sister. So did the ice inside of her. The ice that pierced a hole in her heart and wedged a cold spike inside it, a flame colder and brighter than any other, and a pair of fangs. All "gifts" from her missing sister. As she started walking down the tunnel, she started to remember when she had first gotten them.
Blaze had run away from their kingdom, HER kingdom, and a while after that, had vanished without a trace. Cold remembered the feeling of sudden dread she sensed when it happened, and the letter that she discovered on her bedside table soon afterward. That night, she ran away from her kingdom too. She ran away to look for her younger sister. Tracing her sister would have been a pain, if the letter she had received hadn’t given her specific directions to a house in Ponyville. The house that she now had possession of.
The tunnel lead out through a hole in an alleyway from the city. The painstakingly noisy city. Once she made it out, she put her hood up to keep her from being noticed in case she passed someone that would recognized her. The streets were slow territory, but as she looked back at the casino and remembered who was after her. That made her kind of glad they were as crowded as they were. The agents from her kingdom were too scared to let her out to look for her sister, and even now they were still out looking for her. She couldn’t let them find her yet or they would drag her back. Not when she finally had a lead after all this time. She clutched the things she was given by Golden River before leaving. As soon as she got home she would look at it. She didn’t have time to right now.
Focusing, she could hear some ponies trying to force their way through the crowd and the disturbance they caused. She turned and saw that they were a ways behind her, but they were still unmasking everypony on the street with a hat or hood. The ponies they revealed were obviously displeased with how they were being treated by strangers in suits. As soon as she made her way out of the city, the road went from busy and bustling concrete to quite dirt. She looked back one more time to make sure that no one was following her before jumping into a fly. Watching the road from above as she soared through the air was almost relaxing for her, and since it would be a while till she made it home, she let herself space out and think about what she’s missing. The dirt road below her started her down thinking about Ponyville.
She remembered how, when she first entered the town, nopony could remember who lived in the house before she did. She remembered how her sister’s name was never spoken of, or even heard of. She also couldn't forget the obnoxious, pink, bundle of childishness that greeted her when she first stepped hoof in the town. It was a pain to watch that earth pony in action. She remembered how talk about the six heroes of the town. The six good kids that protected from the light and snuffed out the evil in the shadows, spreading their light as far as they can see. They were some of the ponies that Cold hated most. The kind of ponies that thought that darkness was something that must be brightened without hesitation. They think with the side of their brain that believes that friends and love are the end-all be-all.
She blinked while spacing out and accidentally smacked into a light pole. Falling back to the ground, she rubbed her head and looked up at the metal stick that she hit. She kicked it and sighed in frustration before turning back toward the road. The sound of creaking metal behind her made her tense as the light pole slammed on the ground beside her. She then picked up the pace and speed-walked away. Her super strength was a side effect of her fangs. She had to be incredibly careful with whatever she touched or she would break it. Jumping back into a fly, Cold tried to get away from the pole as soon as possible.
After about a half an hour of flying, Cold looked up out of the corner of her eye and saw Canterlot on its hill. Canterlot was a potential ally for their kingdom as it was a place that only relied on friendship to sustain itself, and therefore had no reason to betray an ally. There was no reason to think about that now though. Politics were put behind her in the world and the entire world became a personal battle. However, she remembered Canterlot coming up when she read through the journals in Blaze’s basement though.
Blaze visited Canterlot a long time ago in order to maintain a central intelligence. She’d work from the shadows and eavesdrop on everyone she could. She’d make a note of everything everypony said, and do her best to keep peace for the country while remaining underground. What she actually used it all for and who she spied on wasn’t ever specified, and that kind of pissed Cold off, however, it wasn’t like she could ask ponies in Canterlot about her. They wouldn’t know about her even if she did exchange a word or two with them. Hell, the fact that Shining Orb remembered her was curious in itself.
Ponyville finally came into view after an hour more of walking, her secret base of operations. They say the brighter the light, the darker the shadow it casts. Well, Blaze’s house is a strange kind of example. In the shadow of the town hall sits a small, two story house with a strangely well kept yard, out of sight and out of mind of everyone that walks by it. Upon entering the threshold of this small abode, a mysterious aura automatically filled the air. Something already familiar to Cold, and something that she felt was almost starting to grow on her. Within the house resides an assortment of nick knacks and objects. These would include her alchemy lab, her fridge of blood bags, and most mysterious of all, her basement. The basement held rows and rows of useless books and journals with a mirror at the end of each row. The room also held a desk with strange pictures on it. Cold stepped inside the house. Setting her reward on the kitchen table, she collapsed on the living room couch, and, exhausted from her travel, she fell right asleep.
Harsh Winters and Home Outside Of Home
“I-it’s FREEZING out here sis!”
“Just tough it out! We’re almost there!” The two Pegasi walked in the freezing blizzard. One of them trying to see past the snow around them, and the other following closely behind. The younger one was curious as to why they were walking out in the freezing cold. The older one was pleased by her confusion, and kept the surprise to herself.
“How much farther?!”
“We’re here!” The older pony said as they looked up at the ruins of the castle as it towered over them. Icicles hung from the enterance like the teeth of a great monster hungry for food. As the older one walked in, the younger one kept complaining about how they should go back home. The older one giggled at the younger one’s fear and kept walking.
“If you don’t wanna get left behind you had better hurry up!” The younger one picked up her pace at this point.
“Sis... this place doesn’t feel safe.”
“Oh stop worrying so much. It’s not like this place’ll kill you.” The older sister’s confidence showed brighter than the torch that suddenly lit up to the left of them. Then another on their right. The torches kept lighting up with blue looking fire and led down the hall.
“Woah...” the older one said in astonishment as she followed the path that the torches made for them. The younger one stopped her.
“Sis, I’m scared. I think we should head back home now...” the older one ignores the younger’s restraints. And proceeded down the hall, enchanted by the look of the flames. They could hear a voice whispering to them before the younger one hid behind the older one.
“Bring her to me...”
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Cold woke up to the sunlight streaming through the window. She was always super sleepy and not much of a morning pony. So much so, in fact, that it took her a minute to realize that this was not her room. She noted the mare sleeping next to her as she slowly got out of bed. The mare seemed mostly undisturbed as she placed the covers back over her and took a second to collect her thoughts. She remembered this mare from the night before. She was a unicorn that she had met at the bar just outside of town and had decided to take their fun back to her house. As Cold stared at the sleeping mare, she began to wake up and looked back at Cold.
“Have fun last night? We could go for round two my little vampony~” the mare teased seductively. The mare came and wrapped her hooves around Cold before Cold turned and stood up.
“Better not. My job tends to keep me busy during this time of year so I had better get going.” Cold lied while preparing her stuff. The mare sat on her bed giving a frown.
“Fiiiiine. Then where do you work?” Cold smiled sleepily to herself and looked back at the mare.
“I could tell you that. Or we can just leave things up to fate and see if you can find it.” Then she left the bedroom and her house.
As she left she didn’t really have anywhere to go. She didn’t know where exactly she was or where her home was in relation to her. So she flew up into the sky. It wasn’t always smart to fly without fully being awake, especially after drinking one too many drinks, but Cold didn’t care. She looked around as she flew up looking around for any places that she recognized. As she flew, she noted that she was nowhere near Ponyville, meaning that it was going to be a pain to get back.
“Well. I guess that’s what I get for going to a new bar outside of town.” After a bit of flying she did recognize a few landmarks. A hotel, restaurant, and casino all stuck out to her. Therefore, she confirmed that she was in Las Pegasus. That’s when she remembered that she came here for a bit of lead hunting. She had heard something about a strange pony that could tell the future from the jewelry shop owner in Ponyville. That in itself wasn’t that big of a deal, but the twist was that the pony in question, instead of using crystal balls, uses pieces of enchanted ice as focuses. And that peaked Cold’s interest. You see, it is an enchanted ice shard that has been causing Cold so much pain since Blaze went missing. So she wondered if, at least, she could figure out where it came from. The fortune teller was said to be in town, from the clock that Cold passed on her way to the hotel, in 5 hours and staying the night. Since she had time to spare, she decided to go and double check her board. She landed right outside the hotel, which looked pretty fancy and pleased her. She made her way over to the elevator, too sleepy to greet anyone on her way up, and went up to the 7th floor. She went up without any extra stops and got off on her floor. She walked down to the end of the hall and walked into room 716. Inside the room was a nice desk with a quill and pen, a couch, fridge, and sink on the side, a pretty looking bathroom, and a fluffy queen sized bed, which Cold decided to flop on after tossing her stuff on the couch. Her level head and pain tolerance had gotten her this far, but her entire body was screaming at her. She just wanted to sleep, yet she rolled over and peeked at the board she has leaning on the wall. The board looked like something a conspiracy nut would create and if you asked her, that’s what she would say. But a closer look at it and you’ll see that the ponies on this board don’t have anything to do with conspiracies. And what’s written on it is plans and solutions for what looks like murder problems. Cold makes sure no pony sees this. After reading over it once and confirming that nothing is wrong, and grabbing a glass of water to help her hangover, she finds out that almost no time has passed before falling back asleep staring at her board.
Author's Note
Special thanks to Xaire for proof reading and helping me go over my chapters for this book. You've been a great help :)
