The Frozen Soul Chronicles
A pony walked into town for his bi-weekly supply run. The sounds of doors shutting and locking could be heard as he walked by the shops. The pony sighed and held his head down in disappointment. He turned around and began to walk back the way he came. Once everypony was sure he was gone, they opened everything back up again and resumed what they were doing.
“Ah wonder why every pony is scared of that fellah?” A yellow Earth Pony Filly asked her friends.
“They say that he’s a dark omen that brings death wherever he goes...” An orange Pegasus said to her, “Isn’t that right Sweetie Belle?”
A white Unicorn filly nodded, “Yeah, they also say that there’s no head underneath that hood, only a skull!” She replied, her voice squeaked a little as she talked.
“Why would they say that?” Applebloom asked, giving Sweetie Belle a confused look.
“He looks scary, it makes sense he’s have a skull for a head!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, the thought of a pony with a skull head scaring her.
“This is almost as bad as Zecora...” Applebloom said with a hoof on her face, remembering how everypony had treated Zecora because she was scary.
“Well then, why don’t we follow him and see if he’s bad?” Scootaloo asked, “Like what you did with Zecora”
“But what if he does something to us?” Sweetie Belle squeaked. Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at her, barely able to contain their laughter. They never knew Sweetie Belle was such a scaredy cat.
“Don’t worry Sweetie, we’ll protect you!” Applebloom said while giggling, making Scootaloo burst out in laughter. Sweetie Belle glared at the two of them as they rolled around laughing, but after they finished she gave them a sweet smile.
“If you’re going to protect me then why don’t you go first?” Sweetie Belle said sweetly, making Applebloom and Scootaloo look at each other worriedly.
“Ah’m not goin’ first” Applebloom said defensively, “I went first for Zecora”
“That means you have experience!” Scootaloo argued.
“Uh, girls?” Sweetie Belle said quietly, getting angry looks from them.
“What?!” they shouted angrily, making Sweetie Belle shrink back.
The air around them seemed to get colder and colder. A familiar cloaked figure walked past them, an odd purple glow coming from under the hood, “Excuse me...” the figure said, his breath coming out as puffs. He continued to walk past them, walking farther and farther away from the trio.
“Woah...” Scootaloo said slowly as she shivered.
“What was with that purple glow?” Sweetie Belle said as she watched the pony walk further away.
“Maybe it was his skull glowin’” Applebloom said, looking at the pony as he turned a corner up ahead.
“Should we follow him?” Sweetie Belle asked tentatively, giving the other two a worried look.
“Of course we’re going to follow him, we have to find out what’s wrong with him” Scootaloo said arrogantly, starting to walk towards the pony.
“I guess we should go after her” Sweetie Belle said in defeat, getting a nod from Applebloom as they started to trot so they could catch up to Scootaloo.
The pony continued to walk, unaware that he was being followed by the three fillies. He continued his journey, eventually making his way towards a somewhat well kept house on the other side of the railroad tracks.
“Why does he live so far out of town?” Sweetie Belle asked quietly, her eyes going over every inch of the house.
“Maybe he’s like Zecora” Applebloom said innocently, before Scootaloo started walking towards the house.
“Let’s go find out what his deal is” Scootaloo said in determined voice as she stepped over the railroad tracks. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom quickly got up and walked after her when she stopped.
“Why is it so cold?” Scootaloo said with a shiver, quickly joined by the other two.
“Feels like winter right now...” Applebloom said as she moved closer to Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle doing the same on the other side.
“What are you two doing?” Scootaloo asked, being weirded out by her friends as they pushed against her.
“Getting warm” Sweetie Belle said, her horn touching Scootaloo’s chin as she tried to warm herself up.
Suddenly a cage made from Icicles sprang from the ground, ensnaring the trio of ponies.
The hooded figure came back outside of the house, “Who dares intrude upon my property?” He said the air around the house rapidly dropping, causing frost to form on the grass. As he walked towards the cage, he noticed the three fillies cowering in fear, “Oh... Just three young ‘uns...” He mumbled, “Let me get you out of there...” He said to them, an ice blue glow coming from under the hood. The ice cage broke apart into a fine powdery snow, “Now tell me, why are you on my property?” He asked.
“We were, just, uh...” Sweetie Belle stammered, not sure what to say to the mysterious stallion.
“How, how did you do that?” Applebloom asked, looking at the snow around her.
“Ice Magic...” He said flatly, “I use Ice Magic.”
“Ice Magic?” Scootaloo asked innocently, raising an eyebrow at the stallion.
“Yes, Ice Magic... I use magic to control the temperatures around me and cause the water vapor in the air to solidify and shape it the way I want it to.” He explained to the young Pegasus.
“Wow...” Sweetie Belle said slowly, amazed at how nonchalantly he explained his magic.
“So do you start winter every year?” Applebloom asked, poking the snow around her inquisitively.
“No I don’t, my magic isn’t that strong. The Pegasi still do that.” He told Applebloom, laughing a little.
“Awww, I was going to ask if we could skip winter this year...” Applebloom said sadly, kicking the ground lightly.
“So you want to skip winter? Why so? Because it’s too cold?” He asked, wondering why the young Earth Pony didn’t like winter.
“Eeyup...” Applebloom said with a blush, making her friends giggle.
“Hmm... So you’d deny a creature the cold it needs to survive just so you could stay warm?” The stallion asked, giving her a difficult question to answer.
“Uh, yeah, forget I asked...” Applebloom said, looking at the ground in embarrassment.
“It’s okay, you can tell me the truth. Just know, all four seasons exist to match each other. They work in harmony to allow the planet to live on. Just as Spring brings life and Fall let’s it go away... Winter allows the planet to absorb nutrients for the Spring and Summer growth.” He explained to her.
“Ok, so I guess winter isn’t that bad” Applebloom said quietly, “You’re really smart”
“Well, when you study such a dangerous art as Ice Magic... You kinda have to be smart.” He said to her, drawing more questions to the young ponies minds.
“How dangerous is it?” Scootaloo asked innocently.
“Very...” He said, his mood darkening quite quickly.
“Are you okay?” Sweetie Belle asked, getting an ominous feeling from the stallion.
“Well... most of me is...” He said to Sweetie Belle, glancing over at her, the purple glow starting to emanate from under his hood.
“Uh, mister?” Applebloom said slowly, as she tried to look under his hood.
“Yes?” He asked, looking over towards Applebloom.
“Uh, okay...” the three fillies said slowly, giving each other worried looks.
“What is it? Is something wrong?” He asked the three of them, looking at each of them.
“Uh, it’s...” Sweetie Belle started, looking at the other two for help.
“We just remembered something, that’s all” Scootaloo said quickly, giving the stallion a sincere smile.
“Ah... Well, I guess you’ll be on your way then.” He said to them, slowly turning around.
The three fillies watched as the stallion went back to his house, leaving them alone outside. Just as he closed the door Scootaloo turned to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.
“We need to figure out what’s wrong with him” Scootaloo said, determination in her eyes.
“But I don’t think he wants us to...” Sweetie Belle said, looking at the house worriedly.
“He doesn’t have to know we’re doing it” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes, “Are you in Applebloom?”
“Uh, sure I guess” Applebloom said with a shrug, and the two of them started walking towards the house. Sweetie Belle quickly followed after them.
“This is a bad idea” Sweetie Belle said, only to be shushed by Scootaloo.
The stallion sighed, as he walked through the empty house, unaware that he had three sets of eyes watching him, “It’s always the same... They all get scared because of what happened... To Tartarus with you Trixie, you caused all this to happen to me...” He said, shouting a little. He cast his cloak off to the side, revealing the scars on his body and on his face. However, the most disturbing feature the three fillies saw was, instead of a normal left eye, there was a piece of rounded purple crystal in it’s place. In a fit of rage and anger, he caused the house to start to freeze from the inside out.
The Frozen Soul Chronicles
Ice spikes slowly began to form along the outside of the house, the weight of the growing ice spikes began to make parts of the house break off and shatter on the ground, “Why must I always be judged by how I look!” The pony shouted, his horn glowing even brighter. After a while, the ice stopped forming. The three fillies looked inside the house and were shocked, the entire inside of the rooms were filled with solid ice, trapping the stallion inside a frozen tomb.
“We’ve got to do something!” Sweetie Belle panicked, her voice squeaking in fear, “H-He could freeze to death if we don’t!”
“Yeah, you’re right Sweetie Belle, I’ll go and tell Applejack.” Applebloom said as she galloped back towards Sweet Apple Acres.
“I’ll go and find Rainbow Dash. Surely she can rescue him with her amazing speed!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she too dashed off to find the speedster pony.
“I-I guess I’ll go and find Rarity.” Sweetie Belle said to herself before running off to find her older sibling.
Applebloom ran through the acres and acres of trees, searching for her stetson wearing sister. Unable to do so she went and found Big Macintosh and asked him where she was, “Well... I think she’s over at Twilight’s for somethin’...” He told the little filly. She thanked her brother before running towards the Library. After arriving at the library, out of breath from her hurried running, she quickly began to tap a hoof on the door.
“Twilight, you in there?” Applebloom asked, listening for any sign of Twilight inside the library. After a few seconds of waiting the door opened, Twilight standing on the other side.
“Hi Applebloom, what can I do for you?” Twilight asked cheerfully, happy to see the filly at the library.
“Big Mac said my sister was here” Applebloom said as she tried to look behind Twilight for her sister, but couldn’t see her anywhere. Twilight smiled and let Applebloom go inside to look for Applejack, and when the got inside Applejack made her way up from the basement, covered in what looked like pieces of apples.
“Phew, Twi you really oughta-” Applejack started before noticing Applebloom, “Why are you here?”
“I need your help with something, can you come with me?” Applebloom asked quickly. Applejack quickly looked at Twilight, looking to see if it was okay for her to leave, and after a nod and a smile from Twilight the sisters were off.
~~~
Scootaloo dashed through town on her scooter, her small wings propelling her quickly along the ground, shouting for Rainbow Dash. She occasionally threw a small pebble at any lingering clouds to see if she was sleeping on one. Eventually a cloud let out a small yelp of pain when it was hit by one of the small stones.
“Hey, watch where you’re throwing things!” Rainbow shouted as she looked over the edge of the cloud, only to see Scootaloo looking up at her. Rainbow quickly jumped off the cloud and gently floated down to Scootaloo, scruffing up her mane as she landed.
“Hey Scoots, what’s up?” Rainbow asked, apparently forgiving Scootaloo for interrupting one of her naps.
“I need you to come with me, somepony is in danger!” Scootaloo said dramatically, knowing that Rainbow would come along if her heroics were going to be shown to everypony.
~~~
Sweetie Belle ran towards the Carousel Boutique, dodging ponies along the way. She barrelled into the door, tumbling on the ground a little, causing Opal to freak out a little.
“Ah!” Sweetie Belle shouted as Opal started to claw her face, trying to get back at Sweetie Belle for surprising her. Sweetie Belle fought Opal off until Rarity came downstairs to see what all the commotion was about, finding Sweetie Belle with Opal rolling around on the floor.
“Sweetie, what are you doing to Opal?!” Rarity exclaimed, running forwards to rescue her cat from Sweetie Belle.
“She attacked me, it’s not my fault!” Sweetie Belle whined angrily, flaring as Opal smirked at her.
“Oh well, what brings you home so early, should you be out crusading?” Rarity asked as she let Opal go, who quickly ran to her room.
“Well, yes, but we saw this strange pony, his head was all purple glowy, and then after we followed him we found out he can use Ice Magic” Sweetie Belle said quickly, nearly running out of breath by the end of it.
“What do you mean his head was ‘all purple glowy’?” Rarity asked, looking at Sweetie Belle in confusion.
“From under his old cloak he wore, his head glowed purple!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, somewhat annoyed that Rarity had even asked that question.
“So why did you come to tell me this?” Rarity asked, still not sure what was so important.
“Before we left, his house started to freeze, and we think he might get stuck inside!” Sweetie Belle cried while yanking on Rarity’s leg. After a few minutes of Sweetie Belle begging Rarity to come and help she finally caved in after Sweetie Belle said, “He could use a new cloak anyways!”
“Well I am not one to leave somepony without proper attire,” Rarity said dramatically, “Let me get my things and we shall be off!”
~~~
The three fillies met back at the stallions house, notice a startling discovery, the house was completely covered in ice. The house began to groan and creak from the weight of the ice. Strain cracks could be seen on the wood of the house. A blue glow could be seen from the inside of the house. The ice on the house continued to grow and spread, causing more and more ice to form on the ground. An unpony-like wail came from inside the slowly crumbling house. The house cracked apart to reveal an opaque Ice creature, it let out another wail. A silhouette of a unicorn could be seen inside it’s body and seemed to feed the creature energy to act on it’s own, unwillingly powering the beast.
“What the hay is that thing!” Applejack said as she reared back, startled by the creatures sudden appearance.
“Whatever that thing is it’s got somepony inside it!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew towards the creature. Out of the corner of it’s sight, the beast saw the multi-colored mane of the Pegasus and raised one of it’s clawed arms at her, knocking her out of the sky.
“Woah!” Rainbow Dash said as she was tossed into a tree.
“Go... Away.... Let... Me... Be... ALONE!!!” It shouted, ice forming along the tree’s branches. The glow from the stallion’s horn intensified as a ball of ice began to form in the creatures mouth.
“Watch out!” Came a goofy voice from above as a large boulder landed on the creatures’ head, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
The six ponies looked up to see a grey Pegasus with her eyes crossed and a goofy grin on her muzzle, “Sorry~” She said, thinking she was in trouble.
“I can’t believe that I’m saying this... But thanks Ditzy!” Rainbow Dash said to her.
Their victory was short-lived as the sounds of ice cracking filled the air. Every pony looked back towards the fallen beast as it’s head slowly began to reform.
“Oh... COME ON! How can it survive that!” Rainbow Dash shouted in a mix of anger and despair.
“Help... me....” A voice softly said, almost drown out by the creature’s reforming.
“What was that?” Rarity said, looking over at Sweetie Belle.
A dark laughter began to ring throughout the area, causing everypony to stare at the beast’s head, “You really thought you could end me with such a pitiful trap...” it said, “The only way to kill me is to kill my source of energy...” It told them, pointing one of it’s clawed limbs at the stallion trapped inside.
The seven ponies gasped, kill a pony to save hundreds... or risk hundreds to save one... the ultimate delma. The creature began to laugh again, knowing that it’s victory was sealed.
“No... I won’t give into you...” A voice rang out inside each of their minds.
“Wha? How are you able to communicate!” The beast howled at the trapped stallion.
“Because, Eldrich... Even though you may have trapped my magic... you never trapped my body.” The stallion replied, “And since you didn’t do that... I can do this!”
A sharp sound reverberated inside the creatures body as the stallion forcefully broke his horn off his head. The beast let out a scream of pain as it fell to the ground, writhing in pain. As it writhed in pain, the stallion forced his way out of the beast’s body and limped over to the group.
“I wish we could’ve met under less grim conditions...” The stallion said as he looked at them, “My name is Frozen Icewind...” he said, coughing up a small amount of blood as he spoke, “... pardon me... It seems that was more lethal than I expected.” Frozen told them, placing a hoof over his false eye, “You may wish to look away...”
“Now why would we want to--” Applejack started to ask, her voice dying in her throat as Frozen ripped his false eye out. A sickening wet shlurp was heard as it slid out.
“What the Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted at him, “Why’d you go and do that?!”
“Because... It’s my last resort....” He replied to her, placing the eye on the ground, “Obsecro magica glaciem animas... concede mihi forma deo... Obsecro magica glaciem animas... concede mihi forma deo!” He said as he brought his hoof down on top of the eye, shattering it into a hundred pieces. A white light erupted outward from Frozen’s body. Ancient runic circles could be seen beneath him as the runes imbued in the circles floated into the light.
~~~
Author Notes: Hello everypony, just to let you know this chapter is going to be split into two parts.... And in other news, I'm looking for an editor and a proof-reader for my stories. If you think you're up for the task, send me a message. Bonus points for whomever can tell me where I got the name Eldrich from.
