What words she had caught in her throat, gaze focused on the mountains ahead of her. They dwarfed the Crystal Mountains and Unicorn Range, at least half the peaks taller than Mount Canterhorn and the rest on par. Along the face toward them, jagged rocks protected the coasts, waves of sub-zero water crashing into the spikes and dispersing into a foamy mist to join the veil of fog over the rest of the ocean.

“We’re almost at Galdon.” Twilight blinked a few times before turning back to Sombra who had his eyes focused on navigating the inconsistent waves. After the first seven times throwing up overboard, the bobs and crests got manageable. How did they travel the oceans with wooden ships? Icebergs were a constant hazard, and she heard the fish gnawing at the underside of the boat, making a breach one night that they had to repair.

And what of the city? Was it as impressive? Sombra said he’d tell her more once they arrived, yet her impatience kept her shifting on her hooves, eyes scanning the mountains for signs of civilization.

“Twilight?” She turned her entire body toward him, the king letting out a short laugh before returning to his steering. “Nevermind. It seems you’re preoccupied.”

“H-How come Queen Faustinia wanted to hide where we came from?” She walked over to grab the improvised side railing on the boat, keeping her balance as she stood next to him. Ahead there was a structure built into the mountain, made of solid- was it concrete? The pier jutted from the massive carved dock area, as smooth as the sidewalks in Canterlot with worn details along the edges. She could make out a yellow in the second-story window of the structure and vines creeping down it, the entrance long since rotted away.

“You’ll see why soon enough.” He angled the boat, coming up beside the dock. “Hook us up!”

Twilight did as asked and threw the vine rope to latch onto a metal docking peg, Sombra grabbing the saddlebags and taking them with him onto the surface, his companion lighting her horn and teleporting next to him. There was a sizable area between the front of the dock and the building, rusted bits of metal scattered and moss having grown over large segments. It was a mesh of green and gray coated in the light fog that seemed to coat the ocean, dispersing the further away from the water it got.

“Word of warning: Do not touch any fungi. I would rather you not get the Chillrend Blight and dying if I can prevent it. The worst colors are green, blue, red, and purple. If you see a glowing green, stay as far from it as you can. That one emits spores.” He floated down the pier followed by Twilight, the mare grabbing the saddlebags they prepared earlier that morning, leading Twilight to the building to let her light her horn and peek inside. Yellow covered much of the walls, a small blue patch along the doorway across what looked to be an old office based on the lumps of decayed wood in certain areas.

“T-That’s the Chillrend Blight? I thought it was worse.”

“It is normally, but it’s suppressed here. Still causes issues when it comes into contact with intelligent creatures, which is what makes it so deadly.” He turned and led her down the massive dock. Dozens of piers stretched out to make a full harbor, what looked to be a rusted metal boat partially sunk a ways down. “It doesn’t have a cure, and guaranteed lethal. Plus, it would reactivate with a new host and spread itself. Heavens above if it turns red and purple.”

“I-Is it naturally occurring here?”

“It’s an alien parasite from my understanding.”

“An... alien parasite? Like from another planet?!” She stopped in place, him turning his eyes back to her.

“You really need a textbook to tell you all this. I don’t know if it’s alien in that sense, only that they referred to it as an alien parasite. Given the old empire, it wouldn’t surprise me if it came from another world. Although where that world would be, I do not know.” He motioned one of his shadow tendrils for her to follow, taking her into a pathway carved into the side of the mountain, supported by pillars of stone and a rock railing.

“W-What was that about the old empire?” She asked as they started making their way around, her eyes widening at the first sighting of the buildings. A gargantuan dockyard was to her right now, tucked against the mountain lip of the bay, with a partial skeleton of a massive metal ship as large as the great iron vessels of the Equestrian navy. No... “T-That ship... C-Could it survive a thousand years?”

“It could survive ten-thousand.”

Her eyes ran over the skeleton, seeing how the vines curled up around it, yet there was no rust. The structure beyond was made of a type of stone she never had seen before, tinted red further down before transitioning into a white near the top, a tower of stone and metal protruding from the roof for a half-dozen stories. It looked damaged from the bent pieces and missing chunks, but it couldn’t have been...

As they came around the rest of the corner, she laid her eyes on the abandoned metropolis. More structures with varying tints showed themselves at the other end of the great bay they entered, the castle towering above the rest of the city. Each structure she saw had at least three stories, some going as high as ten with a curved architecture unseen in classical depictions, a grand statue of an alicorn in the center of the bay pointing their hoof outward while leaning on the spear with their other, a bubbling sense of affection spreading in Twilight’s stomach.

“Gusty of Galdon. Princess of the old empire, one of the great saviors of ponykind.”

“S-She was an alicorn?”

“Like her family likely was, yes. Believe me when I say that statue is a work of art. Wish I could have met her. I heard she was one of the greatest minds in the world.”

“I-I can only... G-Gusty. A-As in Gusty the Great?”

His eyes turned toward her. If he could express himself, it would have likely been smug satisfaction. “The same. The one who defeated Emperor Grogar with an army of two million ponies, who faced him down personally and separated the bell from his collar, to end him with his own weapon. A legendary story. Perhaps one for another time.”

Her mouth dropped open. “T-Two million ponies?! H-How?! How could so many ponies fight in a single battle?!”

“This continent once held nearly fifty million, before the Windigos came, at least.” He turned and continued forward, his tag-along appreciating the statue and the city. It was magnificent, a project that would have taken modern Equestria decades of dedicated effort. A work of art made reality on par with Canterlot. Why would they- Oh, right, the Windigos.

“H-How many Windigos are there?”

“From what I understand, four or five remaining. There used to be much more, but war has a way of reducing their numbers. I know for a fact one is still here in the Chillrend Mountains, and three more are trapped in the Great Wastes of Equinia.”

After fifteen minutes of traveling the mountains along the edge of the bay, they exited out onto a street that ran along the waterfront, walking down the paved cobblestones of white and gray, broken up by moss between them. Her eyes focused on the three-story structures with damaged windows and broken doors. Abandoned like everywhere else. Why wouldn’t ponies live in this city? It must have had room for at least a million ponies in relative comfort, with a fortress that could see who-knows how far.

“Princess Faustinia and Prince Nightflame used to live in that citadel.” He motioned a tendril at the towering castle two hundred poni high, a pyramid-like structure at the center surrounded by towers of white stone, disrupted by the occasional window or series of windows. “The royals from a long forgotten age. They kept a convincing facade, although it didn’t stop many from knowing the truth.”

“A-And what is the truth?”

“That Nightflame was an equal to Faustinia, with wings and a horn just like hers. An alicorn prince whose influence was equivalent to his wife’s. From what I saw in Equestria, it is only a reality known far in the north or deep in the south for the common ponies.”

“D-Do you have proof?”

He let out a deep laugh, taking her along the harbor. What looked to be a grand park was to her left, a boulevard beneath her hooves cleared of any objects beyond the occasional bits of metal and moss. Sombra led her down a road into the park, passing the sharp pine trees that now grew all around. Once they reached a set of statues, the king ignited his horn to tear the vines from them to reveal two alicorns standing together, the stallion with his head atop the mare’s. A dryness spread in Twilight’s throat as she stared at the stallion. He seemed... too familiar. Like a distant relative she knew from when she was a filly.

“I would like you to tell me something, Twilight Sparkle. Is your family of a noble lineage?” He looked to her, Twilight’s throat getting drier.

“Y-Yes? M-My mom’s side. House Sparkle.” She gave him a nervous smile, her body preparing for the bombshell.

“Prince Nightflame Sparkle is your ancestor. One whose lineage has been nobility since long before the modern incarnation of Equestria came to be.” He turned back to the statue. “The couple loved one another as much as they did their daughters and Equestria. Together, night and day were two equals. The queen who raised the sun, the king who raised the moon.”

Her mouth dropped open. “THEY WHAT?!”

“Something Luna hated to admit and Celestia refused to give truth to.” He continued to float along, Twilight taking one last scan of the statue before following him further into the park.

“B-But how?!”

“The same way the regal sisters do it: their cutie marks. I remember meeting the two a few years before my return. They had come looking to produce an enchanted clock capable of automating the process. Where they keep the clock, I wouldn’t know, only that it works.”

“S-So–”

“No, the sisters aren’t necessary for day and night to happen. They derived their authority from their gifts, true, but they are fools if they think they understand what their parents were like. Faustinia was a fiery force to be reckoned with, a mare one didn’t want to play games against, or heavens forbid making an enemy of. Nightflame, a leader who could convince a fervent tribalist to marry a pony of another type and conceive two dozen foals with them. Together, they were unstoppable. As the sun and moon are in the sky.”

“I-I...” Twilight’s mouth stayed open as she followed, unable to vocalize her thoughts. While the sun and moon moved through the sky naturally, they couldn’t... No, it wasn’t possible! “The horizon isn’t enchanted?!”

“No? It’s not magical. That would require a ridiculous amount of magic to even produce the illusion of.” He gave another laugh, leading her deeper into the city streets. The buildings only got taller as they went, approaching six stories high when the castle loomed over them. A million... No, at least TWO million could live in this city. It was a Crystal Empire sized metropolis, except even more impressive than the already jaw dropping beauty of the old city.

“S-So C-Cloudsdale came from h-here?”

“Is that Pegasopolis?” He asked, Twilight humming in agreement. “Yes. It came from here along with Thestrialis. I doubt you’ve heard of the city. It was in southern Equestria patrolling Arimaspi.”

“T-There’s a second one?” Her ears fell back on her head, hooves stopping in place. He floated forward a bit more before turning back to her dejected expression.

“They really don’t tell you anything, do they? Please tell me the four tribes are still holding strong.”

“F-Four...?”

“They must have turned against their night brethren.” He hummed, floating up to her to lean down to stare into her eyes. “Thestrals are a legitimate tribe of ponies, as much as the pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies. Or at least they were when I was around.”

She blinked a few times, gulping. While she didn’t exactly like thestrals because of their... reputation, if she was wrong about everything else, why wouldn’t that be another one to add to the pile? It was impossible to deny there was something wrong about modern history.

“I-Is the F-Founding of Equestria still true? T-That the Windigos separated the pony kinds and forced us to flee our homeland?”

“No.” He let out another chuckle, turning and moving back down the street. “Ponies haven’t had severe tribal conflicts in thousands of years, long before Equestria was made. The Windigos forced the surviving population to flee from here, that is true, but it was a war between two massive kingdoms that attracted them.”

He paused for a moment, stopping in place to turn back to her. “Archon Star Swirl the Bearded, the regent for Princess Platinum, approached the other major leaders about fully using the ships still in the docks. The five settled on an evacuation plan and contacted Queen Frostbite, preparing before making a push to free the trapped refugees from the mountains. They took to the seas north of us where they found Equinia and traveled to the Great Divider, founding the queendom around Mount Everhoof.”

“S-So...” She wobbled on her hooves, falling onto her rump. It... made a lot more sense now. It was an entire history forgotten, of wars waged and secrets buried. Cloudsdale - Pegasopolis - was a relic of their history. Star Swirl wasn’t only a wizard, but a regent for the unicorns...

“T-The thestrals... Q-Queen Frostbite was their ruler?”

“Their most powerful ruler, yes.”

“W-What about the other three? C-Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie, and Private Pansy?”

“Clover the Clever... She was the apprentice of Star Swirl, from my understanding, one who served as a close advisor to Faustinia and Nightflame. Chancellor Smart Cookie was the first Archon of Equestria, and Private Pansy was a war hero, the one who slayed a Windigo on their own, the champion who founded the Royal Guard.”

“I... Shit...” Her goofy grin turned up, letting out a giggle that turned into an open laughter, her body tumbling onto its side as she tried to get used to the numbness coursing through her.

He floated over and settled next to her, reaching out a tendril. “We can rest at the edge of the city. I know this is hard to accept. The history books were rewritten by the time I went to school, so I had to find this out on my own. I understand the feeling.”

“T-Thanks.” She accepted his help back up, both moving forward once more.

Luna slammed shut another book to float the next into her vision. Thousands of spells, hundreds of authors, three-thousand years of history preserved, and not a single one on what the Crystal Heart even is. An artifact of immeasurable power, far stronger than the Elements of Harmony, weaker than the Fire of Friendship, yet an enigma to even the most informed ponies in the entire world.

What would Sinabeak have said about it? She might have been able to decipher it, assuming Princess Amore didn’t host her during that breakaway phase. Although...

“Tia.” Luna lowered her book, her sister across the rotating heart, closing her own book. A full privacy curtain had been setup on the sides of the spire, guards patrolling around them to ensure their experiments went without interruption. “What happened to Sinabeak?”

Her older sister took a deep breath, setting down the book and looking to the ground. “She went mad. I had to kill her.”

“A mage as talented as her doesn’t ‘go mad’ without some indication how.”

“I don’t know. She wrote her notes in Old Script and encrypted with some sort of cipher. It... was gradual.” Celestia picked up the one book the Crystal Empire had on Sinabeak’s work, flipping through it. “Believe me, if there was another choice, I would have taken it. About fifty years before the Yoriff Conflict, she reached out to say she’s distancing herself from enchanting affairs. Ten more later, she started getting harder to contact before cutting ties. When she attacked Starfield, it was a stab in the back.”

“You really don’t know why?” Luna’s ears fell back, her sister glaring at the crystal pavement.

“No. She didn’t have any magic by the end. I... S-She was so weak, and I killed her.” Her face scrunched up, now returning her eyes to her sister. “I did what I thought was for the best. If I had known she had lost her magic, I would have kept her imprisoned. But it was a valuable lesson in fortifying the defenses of the colony. Maybe it could have gone a different way.” She let out a deep sigh, eyes trailing back to the books. “I wish I could have saved her.”

The other regal sister swallowed the lump in her throat, returning to the books. Spells on the usage of artifacts and... No. She can’t forget the loss of one of their last ancient friends. Who was there left? Discord...!

“Tia! What about Discord?”

“What do you mean ‘What about Discord’? He’s sealed in stone.” Celestia moved her gaze back to her sister.

“I know he is, but what if we can make use of his power? You know he isn’t irredeemable. Is there a way we could... reform him?”

Her sister thought a few moments, picking up several of the texts into her golden magic to levitate around her, flipping through them. “We would require the Elements of Harmony for it to work, but yes. And I did come across a spell I believe can modify the Element of Magic. However, it is... lossy. I will need Cadance and Shining Armor to help me with the activation of the artifact, and will need to spend some time getting to know the five bearers if they’ve failed their mission.”

“Wait, we can use the elements against Sombra!” Luna facehoofed. “We can trap the heart and then use the elements against him when he tries to seize it. It doesn’t require us to know what it does in order to set up a barrier around it.”

“That... is a great idea, actually.” Celestia rubbed her chin, humming to her herself before shrugging a hoof. “And if all else fails, a reformed Discord could immobilize Sombra.”

“I believe I already have the spell in mind, too!” She picked up her books and move around to the other side, reaching out a hoof. “I’ll need Cadance’s help. If you would like, you can return to Canterlot to begin planning the reformation of Discord. I’ll continue looking for methods to defeat Sombra, but Equestria needs one of us to be there.”

Celestia took one last look through her books before relenting, accepting her sister’s help up from the ground. “Are you certain you don’t require me?”

“Between our niece and myself, it shouldn’t be a worry!”

“Alright.” She cast a smile to her little sister, seeing that giddy excitement she always got when she was the one to get something right. “When you return for the Summer Sun Celebration, we can talk about having more duties moved to your office. Sound like a plan?”

“Of course!” The lunar princess picked up the rest of the books in her blue glow, providing her sister with one last hug. “You’ll see me again before you know it!”

“I’m certain I will.” Celestia gave a short giggle, hugging back.

Yes, it was a good idea. Reform Discord, use the Elements of Harmony to finish King Sombra once he tripped the trap, give Luna more responsibilities. If there was one good thing to come out of Twilight’s foalnapping, restoring her little sister’s confidence would be it.

If there was one bad thing to come out of her ‘foalnapping,’ it was the weather. Twilight huddled as close to the fire without burning herself, trying to get every bit of heat she could. Sombra stayed nearby in the darkness, his eyes being visible for her at all times. Despite being tucked away from the frigid winds that blew over the walls, the temperature was still well below freezing. How could ponies survive in weather this harsh? This unforgiving?

Or was it the doing of the Windigos?

“S-Sombra.” His eyes snapped to attention at her word, a small smile coming to her face. “Was the Chillrend Mountains always like this?”

“Before my time, I would guess not. The temperature wouldn’t have been much better than this, although certain areas got far colder than others. Deserts went from a warm heat to freezing, swamps froze over, forests... wouldn’t have changed much.” He let out a chuckle, the smile on his companion growing ever so much.

“How do you know all this? I-I understand if you don’t want to tell me, but it’s going to be hard to convince other ponies without some sort of evidence.”

His eyes stayed on her, eventually moving forward so she could see his tendrils within the fire’s light. “Like I mentioned in Equinia, I received formal education. It wasn’t simply on magic, but history and technology as well. Consider it like an extended education for foals, except lasting centuries and involving advanced concepts and entire millennia worth of historical knowledge. My teachers were some of the best. Together, they taught me the truths of the world and how to discover more. They directed me to seek knowledge on my own, to write reports back to them, and to never accept that the world is immutable.”

“So you had more than one teacher?” She tilted her head, a chuckle escaping from the shadows.

“Twilight, you must understand by now that there are ancients far older than Celestia and Luna, much older than even Faustinia. When you have all the time in the world, you find things to do. Those with the will to see through a problem will eventually solve it.”

She blinked a few times, taking a breath of the warm fire air in. “S-So, how do they know all they do?”

“Millennia upon millennia. Masters of every discipline, at the forefront of magic and technology on a terrifying scale.”

A silence settled between them, a smile slowly coming to her face as she thought of something. “D-Do you think they’d be willing to teach me?”

Her crooked grin back to him faltered as he stared back, Sombra letting it sit for several moments. “You believe that teleportation is ‘advanced.’ I was taught day one of being enslaved that teleportation is foal’s play when every metal cage is enchanted to electrocute those that try.”

“E-Enslaved? You were...” She cut off the thought as he raised a tendril.

“Two weeks. I had been there long enough to get the idea of what they expected of me and branded before I broke free to keep my journey on the move. That was the first time, at least. The subsequent times were much shorter until I intentionally got myself caught to infiltrate on the fourth. That lasted about five months before I got what I wanted and broke out.”

“You...” Her muzzle scrunched up. “W-What were you looking for?”

“The soul of a certain individual at the camp. I required it for a tracking enchantment.”

“A-And it took you five months to collect?”

“It took me five months to get transferred into the same pen as them. It took two days to collect and break out, and another six months to shake the slavers from my trail. Stories like mine are ordinary as far as the land went.”

Twilight stayed silent, moving her eyes to flames. He... was enslaved. The near-invincible, dangerous, and ‘vile’ king was branded as a slave and had to go on the run for his life. He really wasn’t joking about the land being harsh. Again, assuming it was truthful.

And the only way to find out would be to stick by him.

“S-So you got interested in magic because of fireworks?”

“What else? With a foal who couldn’t even cast light from their horn seeing colorful explosions made with that same magic, what would you expect?” He let out a quiet laughter, the grin on his friend growing with every second. Would he lie to her? A cheerful foalhood, seemingly honest answers, and personal struggles he dismisses out of hoof. It was nothing that somepony looking to get pity or sympathy would say.

“Do you regret leaving the Crystal Empire? You said you were gone for centuries, but did you leave anypony behind?”

He stayed silent for several seconds, pondering the answer. “I left a friend or two. Seeing the city’s light one last time hurt the most. It was a piece of my life I would never return to. The innocence. It is that innocence I would like for others to experience for the rest of their days. Despite my heart aching to turn away from my home, I knew I had to set out on my own journey. If I never left, I never would have come to believe in a greater cause than only my personal gain. The elderly stallion that turned away from their old life would become Sombra, a king-in-waiting.”

“You didn’t always believe what you did?”

“No. I was relatively young, selfish, and only looking forward to making others bend to my will. Other ponies couldn’t understand, or so I thought. I believed that my destiny would come by proving magic as supreme, to institute a rule of mages. The methods and result shifted as I trained under my new tutors. My soon-to-be principal instructor taught me that while the world is varying shades of gray, there is a path forward that would be brighter than any other. I would request a transfer from my instructor at the time to study light and harmony under them.”

Twilight stared at the eyes, trying to think of what she could say to that. It made sense. All the doubts she had disappeared with the knowledge of his scholarship. He was powerful and ambitious, true, but cared about his subjects, like a harmonic monarch. Except there was something still that bothered her since the day they set off, something Rarity told her.

“I-I hope you don’t mind me asking, but, um, did you kill the old princess of the empire?”

He took a moment to stay quiet, eyes moving to the flames. “It wasn’t a peaceful takeover. Many lives were lost on both sides to take the Crystal Spire from their grip.” He floated up another piece of wood to toss onto the fire. “They were all buried in the Imperial Memory Gardens, including Princess Amore. Despite being my enemy, she still had family who cared. They all did.”

Her eyes shifted back to their light source. It was true. He killed his opposition. “W-What about the mines? D-Did you use slave labor?”

“I used undead labor. They were ponies that had agreed ahead of time to serve in the mines until no longer needed. They couldn’t feel what they went through, nor did they even understand what was happening. I made sure their minds were wiped and families paid for their relative’s sacrifice.”

“A-A-And what about experiments? D-Did you... N-Never-mind.” She let out a sigh. “Sorry.”

“What prompted this line of questioning? Has Luna been visiting you in your sleep again?”

She flicked her eyes to his a moment before returning to the flames. “M-My friend told me about what Celestia and Luna thought you did. I guess... I guess they didn’t have the full picture.”

“No, they didn’t. I can only hope we can change their mind together.”

Twilight cracked a smile, tingles spreading through her before she closed her eyes and settled in. Yes, he was a good pony.

And she would be there for him, like he would be for her.

By this point, it seemed every step she took through the woods was its own trek, her companion able to float along for hours without rest. The weather was shuttering levels of cold, yet the sparse animals and massive pines seemed to not notice. Her horn brimmed with latent magic energy, as though the entire continent was enchanted from the rocks to the critters, the forest a mixture of light snow, the green pine needles, and the orange planet matter laid on the ground beneath her hooves.

That was at least one good thing about the forest: it was soft. Not in the sense of distance, hills, or even creatures, but in terms of the physical softness she stepped upon. Ever since leaving Galdon, her mind had been swarming with questions. Every abandoned village or town another that added to that pile.

Exactly how advanced was ancient Equestria? The technology was pre-industrial, but further ahead than Faustinian Era archeology suggested. Great windmills, with hundreds of steel gears in perfect condition even after thousands of years, dotted old farms across the land, farm tools made of magic alloys commonplace, every town a dedicated magic lodge, be it enchanting, alchemy, or wizardry. Then there was the question of the occasional grand castle they discovered of the white metal-rock that they made Galdon of. It seemed the entire continent was littered with reminders of the past.

“S-Sombra?” She cleared her throat, another blast of wind passing overhead to send chills through her body. “C-Can we rest for a minute or two?”

He let out a groan, halting in place and turning back. “It’s not safe here, Twilight. We can rest in the next village we find.”

“But we haven’t seen a single dangerous creature since arriving.”

He paused, turning back to leading her forward. “In ancient Equestria, before the Windigos arrived, they dealt with all manner of wild manifestations. Golems, spirits, the mutated and deranged, real runaway nature magic that formed nests that could eat towns whole if given the chance. Once the Windigos came, that changed little. Last time I was here, I nearly lost my life to the Chillrend Blight, ambushed when traveling in the open, attacked at night by bats the size of ponies, and faced a major void spawn on my own. This isn’t a continent one wants to live on without overwhelming superiority.”

“S-So when the Windigos came, they made it worse?”

“They made it different. When they were active, yes, it was much worse than–“ He stopped speaking, halting in place and motioning his tendrils for her to get down. She did as instructed, Sombra moving forward a bit more before turning back, motioning her ahead. Twilight followed him as he kept up his slow pace forward, his eyes moving around him to look in different directions.

It felt like everything was getting colder as she walked, hooves now shaking as she tried not to–

Sombra snapped his gaze back, pushing Twilight to the ground before sparking his magic alight, raising four dark crystals around them. “Now you get to see what the ponies of old fought against.”

“W-What’s...” Her teeth chattered as the temperature dropped again, winds howling above. Sombra’s crystals glowed red, heating her back up as they transferred their energy into his horn. A beast flew overhead, crashing into the trees a short distance away, a creature made of ice in the shape of a pegasus twice as large as herself rising from the indentation it made, turning its glowing blue eyes toward them.

The temperature sharply rose, all four crystals shattering into shards that dissolved away, a single blast of fire magic searing Twilight’s fur before impacting the beast and erupting the woods into flames. Sombra now moved forward into the flames as they flickered out, the half-melted creature howling before the king grabbed around their neck with his tendrils, snapping their head from body. The corpse stumbled backward as the king cast flames onto the head, melting it further.

Once the body collapsed, he let up, throwing the remains of the head as far as he could. His strength was impressive, getting above the trees from what Twilight could see. Not surprising given he could carry logs with relative ease.

His eyes turned back to her, the purple wisps trailing further from the green, which had now started to glow. “Do you understand now?”

“W-What was t-that?” She stood back up, the king floating over to check her over. “I-It looked l-like a pony but...”

“A snow-pony, as they were called. A somewhat misleading name considering how dangerous they are. They can drop the ambient temperature to negative eighty and direct temperature to near negative hundred-fifty. They have the strength of a manticore, the magic of pony, and the temperature of a winter titan.”

“W-What’s a w-winter titan?” Twilight gulped, trying not to think of what that could be.

“Something that could kill both of us as easy as an ursa major could.” He took a quick look around. “There are many dark secrets hidden from known history. The danger is only one of them. It is best we keep moving.”

Author's Note

Cut down on the content. Is it still a problem?