Snow

by Party Poison

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Original Character
Length: 3981

Armada heads through the north looking for a certain book.

Armada was instructed by Twilight Sparkle to find a particular book up in the Frozen North.

Collaboration between me and one fine tumbleweed, Regidar.

Published 2013-01-02 08:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-21 02:09:42 UTC

Pulling into a Station of Troubles

Armada was standing at the cold train station in the arctic north. The wind bit at his exposed back end, and he shifted slightly to try and get his coat to cover it more thoroughly. No such luck was had, and a shiver vibrated through his body.

His coat was naturally a sandy color, but had taken a slightly blue-white color from the frost that was gathering on the exposed areas of his body. An earth pony, he was built strong and hardy, better equipped for the land. This is one of the reasons why his employer had chosen him for the job currently at hoof for the earth pony.

Armada was waiting for a certain mare to show up at the station. He had arrived a few days earlier, and was luckily graced with the kindness of of the only other pony who was up here, the trainmaster. He had slept in the little side room of the station for the past three nights, the furnace clanking loudly to provide heat for them. They had eaten their meals in silence, and almost never spoke, only for the most basic of things. Armada was never a pony for talking, anyhow.

The snow had been falling ever since he had gotten to the station, but this morning, it was falling harder than before. The winds were colder, and the ice was thicker. Armada attributed this to the fact that Hearth’s Warming Eve had been celebrated only slightly over a week ago. Equestria was heading into the depths of winter, and the north would be hit hard as always, if not harder.

Through the blizzard flakes, he saw the steel behemoth of the train pull into the station. A sickening crunch of ice breaking free from the rails was made available to everypony’s ears as the breaks were slammed, and the train rested to a stop.

The doors of the train slowly opened, and a blue mare with a purple scarf wrapped around her neck stepped daintily off. The winds blew her green mane about, snowflakes dancing their exoctic and twisting dance around her. She walked with careful precision, as if a false step would send her plummeting into an abyss.

Armada looked up at her with a faint smile. His lips parted, and slowly he spoke. “Ah, so you showed up then.”

The mare scoffed. “But of course, Armada. Did you think I would not?”

“One can never know.”

Another scoff. “Well, I want you to get into the habit of remembering that I always keep true to my word.”

Armada nodded curtly. “Duly noted.”

“As it should be.” The mare reached back her head, and deposited the grey saddle bag from her back onto the ground before Armada. Armada took the bag in his teeth, and plopped it down onto his back. The mare nodded, and turned away to return to the train.

“Wait!” His voice was nearly lost to the winter winds, cracking slightly. “You’re leaving? Already? Just like that?”

The mare paused her in her step, and she turned around to face the earth pony. “There is nothing more to be done here. There is a radio in the bag if you wish to talk to her.”

Armada opened his mouth, but she was already on the train. he considered, for a brief moment, running after her, boarding the train to escape. But he didn’t, and he stayed with his mouth open a bit too long. His saliva froze in his mouth, and he had to break the chilled spittled with his hard teeth.

The earth pony opened the pack, and observed his supplies. An insulated tent, roughly two months of trail rations, several jugs of water, and an insulated blanket. Armada scoffed at how the water jugs would most likely freeze in this weather, but ignored this and pressed on down into the rest of the bag. There were a few flares, and at the very bottom...

Armada pulled out the object. It was roughly the size of his hoof, box like in shape, and had knobs and buttons all over one side. It had a small interface panel, which was currently turned off.

It was a radio. Armada knew what he had to do with this, but now was not the time. he checked the bag, and sure enough, tucked behind the left water jug was three packs of batteries. He smiled a smug grin underneath all the layers of clothes which protected his muzzle from the biting winds. At least he knew he wouldn’t be totally alone.

He headed back into the train station. The stallion who ran the place was sitting down the small kitchen area, smoking a pipe while some tea boiled in a brass kettle on the stove. The younger one stood in silence for a few moments before being noticed.

“Eh? Whas’it you want?” The stallions voice was gravelly from years of smoking. Armada made a silent vow to never smoke.

The younger stallion was quiet for a moment, before mumbling something into the cloths that obscured his muzzle.

“What’s that? I can’t hear yah!”

Armada rolled his eyes, and pulled down the face coverage a bit. “I said ‘thanks for holding me up in here.’ If I didn’t stay here... well...” Armada trailed off at the end, the whistling of the winds outside and the tea boiling in the kettle the only noises.

“Yeh, it was no big deal. Now get a move on! I’ve got my tea to deal with.”

Armada scowled, and pulled his face protection back on. Slowly beginning his trudge outside, he took into account all that had been whirling through his life lately. How he came to be here, on this crazy mission, who he was doing it for, what the whole thing was about.

He took a look back at the train tracks, almost gone into the sea of white that had fallen from the sky. Even under all the layers of clothing, he still felt cold. It was special, this arctic wind. It really bit at you, it ate at you, hungry for more. It was as though it wanted your life essence itself.

The sandy coated pony turned his gaze towards the sky. It was black, but he was unsure if it were day or night. He doubted it would matter for a very long time.

With a final sigh and gaze at the train tracks, Armada set hoof out into the deep snow. He held his left hoof up, where a compass was tied securely around it. “Alright... heading... north...”

With that, he set out, the blizzard consuming him like a foal would a midday snack.

The Grove

The snow clung to Armada like ants to a drop of honey. The devouring winds tore at him, barely kept at bay by his apparel. His body shivered, the earth ponies drive kept barely on by his natural instincts.

Hoofprint after hoofprint was beat into the snow as he headed forward, soon covered up by the massive amount of snow falling from the sky. Armada coughed, causing his whole body to shudder. Yet he pressed on, determined not to fail just moments after he started.

His legs weakened, and he fell into the cold blanket beneath him momentarily. There was a good foot of snow to cushion him, and he would soon be covered up. Armada pushed against the ground, forcing himself back to his hooves. The cold was out to steal his life, and he mustn’t let it win.

With a deep breath, he forced himself on forward. Pausing for a brief moment to check his compass to make sure he was still heading north, something hard smashing into his face. His cry of pain was lost to the freezing winds.

Blinking stars from his eyes, he looked down to see the indent in the snow where the object had landed. Digging through the snow, he pulled up what appeared to be a very cold and very soggy journal.

He peered down at it, observing the black book which had been very weather damaged. Careful putting it into his saddlebag where it could come to no more harm, the earth pony set off further into the blizzard, ever northwards.

As he trudged along through the snow, Armada’s mind began to wander. He thought of his nice, clean, warm apartment back in Manehattan. He had such a lovely life their... why he had ever agreed to do this absurd mission was beyond his comprehension.

“Of course I was bound to regret this nearly immediately...” he snarked out loud, his words once again being kidnapped by the wind. The chills that had plagued him ever since the beginning of his journey worsened, and yet he pushed on. North was the only hint he had about his destination. He had not been described the appearance of the building he was supposed to be finding, only that it was somewhere north, and that it contained a very important book.

Armada wondered silently to himself if he was close to the Crystal Empire. Immediately, the idea of abandoning this mission, and running as quickly as he could to the fabled city that had just been recently resurrected rooted in his mind. He dismissed this therory for two reasons: One, he had no idea where it was in relation to him; and two, his employer would be very displeased with him.

Armada was not an earth pony that would break his word. He wasn’t the most honest equine around, but after arising to a challenge, he’d be damned if he didn’t complete it. He was more stubborn than honest, he supposed.

Pausing a moment, he looked around at his white surroundings. Vague shadows danced in the distant north-east, and what he assumed to be north-east. His sense of direction was terrible, so his most valuable companion on this adventure would be his compass. Everywhere else was a never ending show of white.

He took of his saddlebag, and extracted the radio. He popped in two batteries, and used his muzzle to press the button on the front. The panel buzzed to life, the green frequency flatlining.

“No signal...” he groaned. This radio would be the only chance he would ever get to talk to his employer. With a sigh, he put the radio back in his saddlebag, fastened the whole thing up, and slugged it onto his back. A thin coat of snow had covered him from his lack of moving, and he shook it off. Trotting as fast as he could to get the blood moving again, he headed off towards the shadows.

The winds died down a bit as he approached them, and as it turned out, they were pine trees. Tall, at least a hundred feet, and covered in frost and snow. Several icicles of varying sizes hung from the branches, breaking off now and then from the wind.

The earth pony adventurer gazed at the trees, wondering how they could still grow in this weather. He knew that the Frozen North was not always this bad, and that it was the middle of winter... but the shrieking winds, those that threatened to suck the life force out of any living thing that dared to be foolish or crazy enough to brave it...

Armada moved on, passing through the trees. It was a small grove, and offered little shelter from the snows. Icicles impaled the snow every few feet, daggers of frozen water to warn any from passing through.

As he wandered through the trees, he spared another glance at his compass. He had been traveling in a western direction. Sighed, and correcting his path, he exited the grove, and went on northwards.

The grove had been somewhat peaceful. It still had been dark as night, and cold as ever, but it was somewhat less windy. The shrieking, destructive winds had not dared to spread their tendrils on through the trees. Armada wished that he could have kept on his westward direction, but he had a destination to reach.

He plunged on forward into the white expanse, the ground gradually sloping upward as he went.

Summer Dreams

The ground arched up, ever forward. Armada stumbled a few times over the cold ground, rocks or tree roots that were buried in the deep snow tripping him up. His breath formed small clouds of steam that were soon dissipated by the thick snow flurries that hounded him at every moment.

It was hard work, his legs tiring as he wore on. Every step he took was beginning to cause him more pain, but he knew he had to press forward.

The hill he was surmounting was gradually heading upward as he went on and on through the freezing snow to reach his destination. He glanced down towards his compass, and yet he garnered nothing. The snow blasted away any visual of his compass, and he could safely assume that it was covered in frost anyway.

As he climbed through the blinding weather, his mind began to wander. Later, he would attribute it to a need of escape the treacherous and torcherous cold, but at that moment he could have sworn something that wasn’t him was causing this.

He lay stretched out under a tree, staring up at her. Her green mane blew swung back and forth gently as she bobbed up and down on the low hanging springy yet strong branch that held her.

“Bet you I can climb all the way to the top!” Her voice was demanding, and powerful. He smiled as she spoke.

“Bet you five bits ya can’t!” He sprung to his hooves, and began to climb up the tree after. “Hay, I bet you ten bits I’ll beat you!”

“Oh, this is easy money,” she scoffed, and took up the tree. Not wanting to look like a fool who couldn’t keep his place, he shot up after her, hoof after hoof grabbing the branches as the two bolted up the tree.

She was older than he was by a few years, but by no means was he slow. Still, it was almost no surprise when he heard her cry out in triumph.

“That’s ten bits to me!”

He scowled a bit. “I wasn’t really trying...”

This was met with an off-hoof laugh. “Sure you weren’t...

“I wasn’t, I swear to Celes-” He stopped upon his head breaking through the top oak leaves. This particular hill that the tree grew on was situated slightly higher than the few others, and it overlooked a large woods full of oaks and maples. The summer sun basked the two of them as they overlooked the gorgeous sight.

“Wow...”

Armada kicked a rock that had been obscured by the snow. Cursing, he fell forward, the snow burning upon contact with his exposed flesh. He thrashed pulling himself upright as fast as he could. He shook himself free of any remaining snow, and shivered. The wind still howled around him, forever hungering. He spat at it, his saliva freezing into the snow.

He had been walking in some sort of autopilot mode that his brain had set him in when he began to reminisce about that summer day so long ago. He had not realize that he had reached the top of the hill until he nearly walked over the edge of the icy cliff.

Jumping back, the earth pony nearly lost his balance once more. Now not only shivering from the cold, Armada cursed his stupidity. What had he hoped to accomplish by heading up this hill? Did he expect the snow not to be as thick up here?

He sat down on his haunches, the wet coldness of the snow biting into his flank. He does so with quite a bit of force, and his saddlebag spilled open. Sighing, Armada turned to his side to pick up the fallen items, when something caught his eye.

It was the radio. It had fallen a few feet away from him, and the interface was on. Reaching out his hooves to pick it up, he held it gingerly.

He was almost afraid to speak into it... he hadn’t talked to anypony so far on his journey, and he didn’t want to waste batteries. Besides, he doubted anypony would pick up.

He set the radio aside, and instead set his mind on gathering up the other things that had spilled from his saddlebags when he had sat down. Two of his water jugs, along with some of his trail rations had spilled. He wasn’t hungry, but instead opted to drink some water before it froze solid.

Putting all of his items back into their respective places, Armada opened up the jug with his strong teeth. The cold water felt like tiny pins heading down his throat, but he ignored this. H wasn’t about to die from dehydration out in the snow.

After a few gulps, he replaced the cap and the jug back into its rightful place in his bags. Again, the radio invited him to use it, the interface blinking in the snow tantalizingly.

Armada sighed, and picked up the communication device. The knobs and dials used to confuse him, but he had learned how to use them properly. He used his stallion’s hooves to adjust and fiddle with them.

Static could be heard faintly under the sound of the shrieking winds. He honed in on the correct frequency, and waited.

All he was granted with was the sound of the ravenous winds.

“I knew it,” he muttered to himself scornfully. “What do you do, Armada? You build yourself up, only to let yourself down...”

“Hello?”

Armada’s heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t sure if the cold had finally gotten to his head or not, but one thing was for certain.

Somepony else was on the line.

(Nice Dream?)

The wind’s constant whining and complaining was beginning to annoy Armada. His mind already damaged from the insanity invoking cold, he was unable to determine how much more of this he could take.

A flurry of snow assaulted him, causing him to fall down on his flank. He scowled underneath his protective wrapping. A weariness was swimming all around him, inviting him to just let the cold take him and freeze him away.

He tried to sit up, but his energy was sapped. He was too tired, he was too weak. This expedition was determined to make sure he didn’t escape this alive. Armada grit his teeth, and fell onto his stomach. The cold snow was both cold to the point of pain and inviting at the same time.

Armada struggled to keep his eyes open, but soon he was too drained. The cold was a living force, an entity that needed to consume to live, and it had been so long since it had eaten anything...

There there...

He sat up, and took a look around. He was in a bed at the end of a small room. The door was open slightly, casting a bit of light into the dark. Armada let the blankets fall from his body, and he hopped to the floor.

Opening the door slightly, he noticed that this lead to the hallway that his foalhood home had harbored. His hooves pattered against the wooden floor softly, the noise oddly comforting. There was something at the edge of his vision, almost as though it were encompassing him entirely. It didn’t feel bad, but... it wasn’t something he wanted.

He had reached the end of the hall, where a staircase lay. The black was slowly growing, trying to envelope him and force him into a second sleep.

Armada looked down at himself. He was much smaller than he remembered... he must be a foal again! A memory, most likely, since this was the house he had lived in when he was young.

He set his hoof on the first stair. There was no creak. Cocking his head, he put a second hoof onto the stair. Still no creak. There had always been a creak at the top of the stairs...

The black had receded slightly, but now it was growing again, like a horrible fungus on his vision. He felt his heart skip a beat. He shouldn’t care so much about a creak, but it let him onto a very creepy truth about this memory.

It wasn’t his house.

He wanted to turn back. The bottom of the stairs was shrouded in blackness. The only light was a lantern in the hallway, the one that had shed light into his room. But Armada was determined to head on forward into the gloom. He wasn’t quite sure why yet, but he needed to move forward.

He slowly descended the stairs, his breath coming out in short bursts, heavy in his ears. He would have heard his heartbeat, had his breathing not drowned the sound out.

The blackness was sitting there, one step away. Armada took a quick look up the stairs again. The lantern light continued to dance up there.

He took a step forward.

What's the Frequency?

“You’re there?” Armada gasped. “You’re really, really there? I’m not just having some frost based hallucination?”

Giggling came from the other line, and then a burst of static. When it cleared, a voice answered him. “Yes, Armada. I’m here.”

“I can’t believe I’ve gotten this homesick already,” he grumbled. “I haven’t even been out for that long and I’m already grasping for any contact I can manage.”

“That’s perfectly alright, Armada. I just don’t want you to loose site of what you need to be doing.”

“I know,” Armada told his partner on the other line of the radio. “So, how have things been back in Equestria proper, Twilight?”

Twilight Sparkle didn’t answer back immediately. “Things have been... stable.”

“That’s a safe answer.”

“Depends on how you look at it.”

Armada sighed. The cold wind continued to bite at him. “So, Twilight. Where’s the place I’m supposed to be going for again?”

“You’ll know when you see it,” she answered him. “I remember how beautiful it had been in its prime. It was grand, a wonderful crystalline city...”

Armada let the howl of the wind fill his ears, choosing not to respond to her. The silence let a bit of him slip away into the great white expanse all around him.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Well, are you going to keep searching for it? I can’t imagine you’d still be moving while you were talking to me.”

Armada glanced around at the great snowy world around him. “Yeah, I’m not. Still, I’m not sure how much longer I can press on through all of this. It’s REALLY cold.”

A sharp little laugh came from the radio. “Oh, Armada...”

“Well it is!”

“Armada, you know how important this book is to me. Just... once you find the city, contact me, ok? I’ll let you know where the library is then.”

Armada snorted some frost out from the inside of his nose. “Y-yeah.” Teeth chattering, he turned the radio off, and looked around again. Cursing his apparent situation, he gathered all of his things back up into his pack, save for his compass.

The freezing earth pony took a look down at the compass, seeing that north was going to be taking him off of the hill. He trudged on forward, sighing once more. The cold air continued to lash at his, prying into the warming clothes, wishing for a bit of the life that was contained within them.

He wasn’t going to give it the satisfaction of himself.

He continued to shove through the snowy expanses before him, likening it to wading through a blinding cold powdery stream. The icy cold wind screeched defiantly as he went on in his search.