A Storm of Frost

The skies above Canterlot were dark. Foreboding storm clouds hovered overhead with low rumbles of thunder every so often. Beneath this gloomy blanket was what remained of the once beautiful city. Desolation had befallen it after the arrival of the Storm King’s army. Cages cluttered the streets, filled with ponies. On patrol were massive beasts adorned in black plated armor and masks—The Storm Guards. The ponies not confined to cages were forced into labor, shackled and muzzled and tailed by the same monsters watching the rest of the fallen kingdom.

Watching from a castle balcony was the new king—A massive satyr-like creature who grinned at his accomplishment. The Staff of Sacanas held firmly in his hand as it glowed with alicorn magic. Taking over this kingdom had been such a breeze! Sure, there had been a few nuisances in his way, including his former ally Tempest Shadow, but when it was all said and done he was victorious. He was always victorious. He lifted the staff to get another look at the crystal, admiring the blue magical current flowing around it.

With a small giggle of glee, he turned back to the throne room. More of his storm creatures were inside assisting with redecorating. The old banners and tapestries were being removed—no need for reminders of the cutesy look the former rulers had. It made the Storm King sick to his stomach. He stepped inside to admire how things were coming along.

“Looking good,” he said, “Would you just look at it! Now this is what I call a kingdom. Everything looks much better than it did before, don’t you think?”

He meandered to the statues of the four princesses, still standing in place in the middle of the throne room. He stopped in front of the horrified look of Princess Celestia. From what Tempest told him, she was the prime ruler of this kingdom. That didn’t account for much now, did it? He flicked her nose.

“I will say I’m impressed. Even if it was only a few of your subjects that stood up to me, they put up quite a fight. You should be proud! But the outcome was inevitable. Just like all the other places that came before yours. It just goes to show how great I am at this.”

He gestured to the throne room around them. “Not to mention the redecorating! I’ve got quite the eye for this kind of thing. Maybe in another life I was an interior designer. But anything is better than those cute and bright colors that were here before. Not to mention the sun and moon themed stuff. Blegh!”

He went to the throne—his new throne that he replaced the ones belonging to Celestia and Luna with—and got settled in with a pleased sigh. “But this place will surely be looking more like home in no time!”

His eyes fell on the smallest princess, encased in stone with the terrified look she wore just before she shared the same fate as the other three. “Aww, don’t look like that, Princess of Friendship. I bet all your friends are gonna enjoy their new digs, too! Bet they’re in their cells right now giving each other manicures. Or would it be hooficures? Eh, whatever.”

To his right, miserably sweeping the floor was Grubber. He had been so gloomy ever since Tempest Shadow was swept away in the storm. It was so pathetic. “Grubber! Don’t look so gloomy, this is a time for rejoicing! Everything has gone so smoothly. So sweep with a smile!”

Grubber’s tired eyes looked at his king and he tried to force a smile. The act was painful. His chest and cheeks ached. He could only hold it for a few seconds before he went back to his job. That seemed to be enough for the Storm King, though. His attention was back on the staff—running one of his claws over the crystal that now lay dormant.

He hummed in thought. “You know, I might need to practice with this baby some more. Those pegacornicus’ had more power than I was expecting. And if I’m gonna whip up some of the greatest storms the world has ever seen, then I need to make sure I can really work this thing.”

He gave a side glance to Grubber, back to his sulking as usual. What a perfect target to start out with. He aimed the staff at him and shot a blast. A blue magical current erupted from the tip and hurtled toward the hedgehog. The impact sent Grubber flying with a shriek and the Storm King laughed in delight. From his spot on the floor Grubber looked up at him with hurt. Wincing, he pulled himself back up and grabbed the broom to continue sweeping quietly.

Wintertide Frost had spent years on her own in the wilderness. It had been hard adjusting, but kirin were used to living off the land. Her makeshift shelter had held up well through the seasons and she managed to grow her own food—Her primary duty back in the village. But the scenery had gotten old. She needed to explore the rest of the world. She had her time to more tactfully plan how to go about her goals and get more favorable results, including mastering her nirik abilities to the fullest.

It was time to show Equestria what the kirin could do.

Her journey across the land was a long one. She traveled strictly by hoof, preferring it to the more unknown types of travel even if they might be faster. And this way, she was able to more accurately take in what she and the others had been missing out on. In truth, she wasn’t sure where she was going, but she knew she would find her destination when she got there.

What was strange to her was that, throughout her travels, there was unrest and fear among the ponies. Every town and every city spoke of the same thing; Canterlot was taken over by an evil conqueror. Wintertide knew nothing of Canterlot, and hardly anything of the princesses she also heard whispers of. She knew they existed—At least the celestial sisters—But it was rare for word to reach the kirin within their village.

It was nightfall when she made it to her next destination. Ahead of her was what looked like a castle standing on a cliff’s edge, above it was a swirl of storm clouds that seemed to be focused on that one spot. Her thoughts told her this must have been the Canterlot everypony had been talking about. A wise kirin would have chosen to avoid this place, but Wintertide Frost wanted to know exactly what had happened there. So she made her way along the trail that would lead her to the gates of the once grand city.

Without the light of the moon above the city had an eerie feeling to it. There were no lights in any of the buildings as far as Wintertide could see. Stepping inside would be like allowing shadowy jaws to clamp down and engulf her in their grasp. But after a moment of consideration, she stepped inside and welcomed that mouth to swallow her whole. Her horn lit up along its stripes—light blue magic giving some illumination to her surroundings.

Everything had been destroyed. Windows were broken, debris littered the ground around her cloven hooves that she carefully stepped around. Graffiti and posters of a white beast covered walls. She stopped to take a look at one of the posters. She snorted in reaction. If this was the king she had heard so much about, he was a rather unattractive one. She resumed her investigation with a flick of her leonine tail.

It was deathly quiet, making her senses go on high alert. She was sure she would have run into someone—or something—by now. But all around her was still, causing even her hooves to sound much louder on the pavement. Far ahead of her, Wintertide thought she could just make out something out of reach of her magic’s light. She squinted as she drew nearer. When her magic was close enough to show what she found, her eyebrows rose. A cage, with a few ponies inside it. They were sleeping, so Wintertide had an opportunity to circle their prison and examine the situation further.

They looked worn and famished. It appeared to be a family; a stallion, mare, and foal. The stallion was a unicorn, with a contraption on his horn that was foreign to the kirin. If she were to guess, it must have been a way to keep him from using his magic. Her head drew back from the bars. At the same moment her ears picked up the sound of heavy footsteps that made her tense.

Wintertide whipped around and saw three black masses with small blue eyes approaching her. Her horn glowed brighter, her magic intensifying in warning, yet it made little difference. The creatures got closer, wanting to corner her. One carried a lasso, the others held spears. It didn’t take a genius to know what their plan was, but Wintertide refused to be captured as easily as these ponies were.

She reared up on her hind legs, slamming her front hooves back down hard. Upon contact her body was suddenly engulfed in blue and red flames. Her ivory coat became dark like charcoal, fangs growing elongated and her eyes turned a bright glowing white. The storm creatures drew backwards from the display and Wintertide knew she caught them off guard. She charged forward, knocking one of the beasts down while she made her escape. Spears were flung at her that she just barely dodged. She could hear them calling for reinforcements and knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

On the rooftops more creatures appeared. More spears were thrown at her as she weaved through the assault. Others appeared to block her path and caused her to veer down another direction. The creatures were pushing her deeper into the city, blocking off her chances to escape. One of them had nearly grabbed her but singed its hand on her fiery mane causing it to howl in pain as she got away. She passed several more caged ponies as she galloped on, all woken up by the commotion and some hollered for her to flee.

She didn’t know how long she had been running for, but she could feel herself becoming worn out. The flames making up her mane and tail were beginning to sizzle out. She was running out of time. Suddenly a pair of large gray hands reached for her and caused her to stumble. A rope choked her neck and she flailed as she tried to take in a gulp of air. More rough hands grabbed her and in the next second Wintertide collided head first with the bars of her own cage. Her head was spinning—body returned back to its original self.

The cage was lifted from the ground by a group of those creatures and they carried her away. Wintertide tried to stand up but collapsed back on the floor. The throbbing in her head and the overexertion of her magic was taking its toll. Before long she succumbed to unconsciousness on the cage floor as she was brought to the castle to be presented to the king.