Rise of the Elements Part II: Return of the Avatars

Chapters

Chapter 2: Return of the Prince
Chapter 3: The Stars of Midnight
Chapter 4: Icy Death
Chapter 5: Frost's Saviors
Chapter 6: A Shattered Mind and Innocence Lost
Chapter 7: The New Enemy
Chapter 8: A Spectrum of Changes
Chapter 9: Reception Reunion
Chapter 10: Lost, but not Gone
Chapter 11: Meeting with the Ancient
Chapter 12: Powder Keg
Chapter 13: Preparation
Chapter 15: Light in the Shadows
Chapter 16: The Fires of War
Chapter 17: Home Sweet Home
Chapter 18: Together at Last
Chapter 19: Fishing for Sanity
Chapter 20: Black Dawn
Chapter 21: A Strike at Pride
Chapter 22: Meet, Greet, and Metal
Chapter 23: The Way Home
Chapter 24: Foresight
Chapter 25: The Seventh Circle
Chapter 26: Roar of Ages
Chapter 28: Blooming Shadows
Chapter 29: Back in the Action
Chapter 30: "It's not Goodbye."
Chapter 31: Shadows of the Titans
Chapter 32: The End isn't the End
Chapter 33: The End is just a New Beginning
Chapter 35: Through it All, We will Sing Forevermore
Prologue
Chapter 1: Return to Life
Chapter 14: Test of Fire
Chapter 27: Shattered Ice
Chapter 34: The Shadowed Road Leads to a Better Tomorrow

Chapter 2: Return of the Prince

I woke up to a stifling heat that threatened to permeate my very being. I threw the blankets off of myself and grumbled in annoyance.

Summer was going to blow here.

It wouldn't be anything like my beautiful tundra home back on Earth, but I could make due for another few months until winter came. Such is the life of an avatar of winter, I suppose. This would take some getting used to.

I sighed and quickly took a cold shower and brushed my teeth before taking flight towards Ponyville.

As I flew through the highest reaches of the sky - where it was still nice and cool - I looked down with happiness at my home. It may not be as cold as I'd like, but I loved it here. It was about time to reveal to everyone that I was alive and well - again - so I decided to have a little fun with it. Focusing on Frostre...my power over winter, I began to summon dark whispy storm clouds...

Perspective change - Twilight Sparkle

It had been three months and not a tear fell. Last night, however, I had a dream about him. I felt the way he used to kiss me, the way he hugged me tight when I felt bad...even his laugh. It opened up the floodgates and I cried like a filly.

So there I was, sitting on my bed as Applejack, Rarity, and Spike hugged me tight. Even with their care and love, I could only think one thing...one wonderfully horrible thing.

It just wasn't the same.

As the minutes ticked by, I finally opened my eyes only to find Spike had gotten up, and was now staring out the window at something.

"Um, girls? I really think you should all come take a look at this." he said with obvious nervousness.

Grudgingly, I stood up off of the bed and walked to the window. My friends gathered around me, and we all gasped at what we saw.

Hanging over Ponyville was a massive swirling dark cloud, and out of it was falling...snow?

"It's tha middle of summer! What tha hay's goin' on?" Applejack nearly screamed.

The four of us bolted outside to stare at the strange storm cloud. We weren't the only ones, as we saw most of Ponyville staring up at the sky as well. As I was looking I spotted Pinkie, Lyra, and Vinyl walking over to us with equally confused expressions.

Pinkie shook her long straight mane out of her eyes and asked with an uncharacteristically soft tone, "Twilight, any idea what's going on?"

I just shook my head, my tears of sadness thankfully being replaced by awe and intense thought. "I have no idea, Pinkie. Wait, where's Rainbow?"

"Here!" yelled the aforementioned pegasus as she landed gracefully. "I know what you're going to ask, Twilight...but it's not us. We'd never schedule a snow during the middle of summer."

Our deliberation as to the cause of this freak occurrence was cut short by the sound of massive wing beats and howling wind. That's when we saw it - a tall muscular alicorn with a steel-blue coat and a flowing mane that looked just like Steel's used to.

'Wait just a minute.'

I looked at my friends to see them apparently thinking the same thing. The stallion landed in front of us gracefully and smiled.

"Hi girls, it's been a long time." he said in a deep, calming voice.

I froze. I'd know that voice anywhere. "S-Steel?" I barely choked out.

The clouds dissipated into nothing and the alicorn pulled me in close, holding me in a tight embrace. "I'm here, Twi. I'm home."

I started to doubt this was really happening. This must have been a delusion brought on my my loneliness and intense feelings of loss. These thoughts were shattered when he kissed me, full and passionately. After a minute or so, we broke away from each other and I couldn't help but smile.

He came back to us.

Perspective change - Rainbow Dash

I was frozen and speechless for the first time in a long time. Steel was back, and just after I had accepted the fact that he was gone. The gods must have a really messed up sense of humor.

He released Twilight and looked over at me, and I realized just how much he'd changed. He wasn't the same delicate-looking pony he used to be, now he looked like he could really do some damage. Also, he seemed to have grown taller, and I was pretty sure he was taller than Princess Celestia now. Lastly, his eyes weren't the solid gold color they used to be. Instead, only an eight-pointed star shape near his pupil was still gold, while the rest was a pale, icy blue. He looked a lot like...

'Frostrender'

This must be what Lux meant when she told us "the ritual" made two become one. He wasn't just Steel anymore, he was also Frostrender. Even with how much his looks had changed, he still had the same warm smile, same hearty laugh, and same loving gaze.

"Dash!"

"Huh, what?" I said in a daze. Apparently during my thoughts I had gone off into my own little world, and now Steel was standing in front of me with a smirk.

"I know I'm hot, Dashie, but you don't need to gawk." he said with a wide grin.

'Wow, he sounds like me now.' I shoved him playfully and tried to tackle him to the ground with a hug. Instead, I slammed into what felt like a steel tower. I was dazed, but I felt a gust of wind and two hooves cradling me.

"I love you too, my Dashie." he said while standing up tall, holding me in his front legs. He leaned his head down and kissed me softly and slowly. Word's can't express how much I missed his touch.

Perspective change - Vinyl

The next hour or so Steel spent getting reacquainted with us all. We listened to his story of what he did back on Earth for the past six or seven months and we all shared what had been going on in Equestria. I have to admit, I got a bit squeamish when he told me he had to hunt and eat animals, but I got over it pretty quickly. It's not like he did it here, and it's not like he would be doing it as a pony anyway.

I hadn't realized how much I missed him when he was gone until he was back. It was like starving for a long time and then somepony giving you the most succulent gourmet meal in all of Equestria. Well...something like that anyway.

I hated to admit it - I mean I really did - but Steel was my inspiration for my music nowadays. I never had problems getting a show together or filling up the venue. However, before Steel came to Terra, I'd been having trouble coming up with anything new. And so, when he left, so did my inspiration. That of course wasn't the only reason I was glad he was back, but it was a significant part.

In my business I didn't usually have time for a relationship, but Steel wasn't my first...and I'm pretty sure he could tell that. I don't know what it was, but it seemed my past marefriends and coltfriends always would get too needy. Maybe they were afraid I was going to leave them or cheat on them or something...I don't know. I might be the party DJ of Ponyville, but I'm still every bit a loyal as any good pony should be. That was the reason that Steel and I gelled together so well, I guess. I was a part of his life, but not the whole thing.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy my alone time with him...

"Hey Vinyl, you alright babe?" he said softly, breaking me from my thoughts.

Besides Lyra, he's the only pony I don't mind - even like - calling me those "pet names". I did miss it though, so I smiled. "Yeah I'm fine, Steel. Just thinking about you, I guess."

He chuckled and stroked some of my mane out from in front of my glasses. "Well you don't have to just think about me anymore...you can touch me now." he said, putting extra emphasis on "touch".

That made me blush. I never blush. I swear in that time he was away, his personality changed. Not in a bad way at all, but still. He seemed more...playful, and laid back. I guess living alone in the wilderness with no one but a wolf to keep you company will do that do you.

I was giggling like a schoolfilly. Yep, it's all downhill from here.

"Well girls," he started, "I need to find my brother. Any of you know where he is?"

Twilight smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he's up at the training grounds in Canterlot. Are you leaving already Steel?"

He smiled that warm smile that I loved and nodded. "Yeah, I'm leaving. I promise I'll be back before nightfall though, okay? What say you all stay here at the library like old times? You too, Rarity and AJ. It'll be like a co-ed sleepover! Um, PG rated, though. We're not having an orgy or anything."

Applejack blushed but looked confused. "Uh Steel? Whaddaya mean by 'PG'?"

He chuckled and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "By that I mean don't do anything you wouldn't feel comfortable doing in front of Granny Smith."

Ah horseapples...he didn't...

AJ's face fell and all of us couldn't help but look sad as well. Steel's face became stunned and saddened realization.

"...she's gone, isn't she?" he said softly.

AJ nodded and let a few tears slip free. Steel pulled her into a tight hug without a second thought and cried with her. It was a good thing my glasses were still on, because I couldn't hold back from letting a few tears go as well, and all the others followed. Granny Smith was one of the last living memories of the founding of Ponyville, as well as the matriarch of the Apple family. That was a sad day, but we didn't blame Steel. He didn't know, after all. Steel pulled away from Applejack after a few minutes of hugging and kissed her on her forehead like a loving big brother would do. It must have worked, because she smiled.

Steel stood tall and flared his wings, which were now easily twice their original size. "Alright girls, sorry about that downer but I really do have to talk to my brother and then find the rest of my family."

Perspective change - Steelbreaker

I took off after saying goodbye and giving hugs and kisses - respectively - to all my marefriends and friends. My assumptions about my new body were right - I was slower than I used to be. The difference is that I could feel the extra power in my wings, and where usually the flight to Canterlot would tire me out, I felt like I could fly forever now. Well, if I was going too slow, that's what spells are for. I focused on the wing speed spell I'd used before and activated it. I felt a large drain on my magic, which confused me. Oh well, I'd ask Celly and Luna about it later.

After about a minute of flying, I arrived at the training grounds with a loud *BOOM* as I went subsonic again. A couple of the guards were training with Shining Armor and Ditzy, and I could see my brother off in the distance training with a few more of them with wooden swords.

Before I could go any further I felt myself stop, and I noticed a bright magenta aura around me. I looked down to see Shining Armor's horn glowing. He pulled me down to him and glared at me.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he growled.

I threw up my hooves. "Shining it's me, Steel, put me down!" His eyes widened and he dropped me on my back, knocking the breath out of me.

The guard captain stepped over to me with his mouth hanging open. "By Celestia, Steel? You're alive?"

I grunted and stood up. "I am now. Sorry if I startled you all."

I was nearly tackled to the ground by a gray blur with a blonde mane. "Steel! I'm so glad you're okay!" Ditzy hugged me tight and let slip a few tears before she realized all her guards were staring at her. She jumped off of me and cleared her throat. "Um, I mean it's good to see you are well, colonel."

I raised an eyebrow. "Wait...colonel? When did this happen?"

Shining Armor laughed and patted me on the shoulder. "You were given the rank of colonel posthumously. At my recommendation, of course."

"Oh...well thanks, captain. All the same, I'd rather you not salute me. Feels weird in peacetime." I said with a smirk. "Alright guys, well I need to see Darkflight. Things might get a little...heated. No pun intended. Keep your distance." They all laughed and I took to the skies.

As I landed near my brother, I decided to have some fun with him. Seeing as how he didn't know who I was yet, I thought I'd see just how hard he'd fight against a surprise attack. I activated a freezing aura around my body, making cold fog drift off of me constantly in the hot, humid summer day. I then created a full-body armor made completely of ice. Lastly I added a blue smoky energy effect to my eyes (eat your heart out, Lich King) to give myself an even more ominous appearance.

The two guards that he was fighting spotted me with wide eyes and stepped back. My brother turned around and shared a similar shocked expression before I charged him. He was caught completely off-guard and I broadsided him, knocking him to the hard ground. As he started to get to his hands and knees to stand up, I stomped my hooves, freezing him to the ground in a very vulnerable position.

I chuckled and dissipated my armor. "You know, you're lucky I'm straight because I could totally make you my man-bitch right now."

He stopped struggling and looked up. "Drew?" I released my hold on the ice and he broke it easily. He stood up and was shocked to find that I was now as tall as him standing normally. "Dude, what the fuck? Where have you been?" he said before launching a right hook at my jaw. I ate it...I kinda did deserve it after all.

I rubbed my jaw with a hoof and chuckled when he noticed a thick layer of frost on his hand. I dispelled my frost aura and smiled. "Still got those cement fists, I see. Nice to see you too, Mace."

He surprised me with a tight hug. "Dude...we all thought you were dead."

I returned the hug and patted his back. "Well technically, I was...at least here. On Earth, I was living on my own in the wilds of Alaska."

He released me and looked at me confused. "Alaska? You could have gone anywhere, and you went to fucking Alaska? It's cold as balls there!"

"That's exactly why I went there. Nice cool climate, not many people...it was perfect for me. Without you all on Earth, I didn't really have reason to stay around other people anymore. You all know I detest most humans." I said with a grimace.

"Okay that I can understand, but what's with all the cold and such? What happened to you?" he asked with increasing confusion.

I shrugged. "It seems that when Frostrender sacrificed himself to bring me back, we merged to be one person. I have his memories, as well as his power over winter. I'm thinking about changing my name to honor him, actually. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be back here."

He nodded and jerked his head towards Ponyville. "Mom and Jen are at Sweet Apple Acres right now. You should really go and see them next. Prepare for a long lecture, man. I don't envy you at this moment."

My happy demeanor deflated into one of loathing. "Yeah...I know. Not looking forward to that at all, but they both deserve to know I'm back. How have they been holding up?"

"Well ma lost her oldest son...how the fuck do you think she took it? As far as Jen, she wasn't much better off...but at least she had friends to distract her. I mean mom had Mac, but he's not the most talkative guy." he said with a sigh. I nodded to him and headed to the palace to grab Venn. He'd been left alone in my room for long enough.

When I arrived back to my room, I found a very frightened wolf dodging around the bed trying to avoid a guard.

"Stop! Leave him be, he's a friend." I yelled at the guard.

I recognized the guard as Brightwing. "And who are you exactly?" he asked with a tint of hostility.

I stood tall and glared at him. "I'm the recently returned Prince Steelbreaker."

He was unconvinced. "I don't believe you, stranger."

I chuckled. "Okay then...remember when we were training before the war and you thought you could take on Corporal Ditzy Doo? If I remember correctly she said, 'if your dick was as big as your ego, you'd be able to please a full grown white dragon.'"

His cheeks became red with embarrassment before he stepped forward. "Prince Steelbreaker? Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know." He immediately dropped to a knee.

I rolled my eyes and gestured for him to stand. "Come on, Brightwing. You know how I feel about bowing. No harm done, you didn't know it was me." He stood and smiled. "Anyhow, I have to go and see some friends to let them know I'm okay. I'd appreciate it if you could tell all the guards and palace staff that I'm back and such, so that they don't have the reaction you do." He nodded and left the room.

I looked down at Venn and sat down in front of him. "Venn I'm curious...can you understand everything I say?" He nodded and let out a small bark. "Really now? Any idea how? I could be wrong, but normal wolves where we come from don't understand human speech." He shrugged and stood up. "Alright then, that's good enough for me. Anyway, we're going to go see some friends of mine. They're ponies too, and I'd appreciate it if you could be civil with them. Also, I know you're probably hungry by now, but I have a proposition for you." He looked at me with an interested gaze and seemed to be smiling. "Well, I have the power to change your body to something more...fitting for civilized living. As well as the fact that you will be able to eat and process vegetables for nourishment, since eating meat is frowned upon in this society. Would you like me to do that for you?" He seemed to have a nonchalant look and shrugged. "Oh, right...not like you have anything to compare it to. Well, I'll have you meet a friend of mine then. His name is Moonfang, and I did the same thing to him. He's a wolf of sorts as well, but he looks quite a bit different than you. I have a feeling that you two will understand each other better than I could." He seemed to smile and nodded. I stood up and started the long walk to Ponyville, with Venn following me.

We arrived in the small town about two hours later, and I was thankful it was not even midday yet. We walked to Fluttershy's house and I motioned for Venn to wait while I went and spoke to my friends. I strode up to the door and knocked on it, hoping that Fluttershy and Moonfang would be home. A minute or so passed before the butter-colored pegasus answered shyly.

"Umm...h-hello. C-can I help you?" she said in a cute voice that made me want to "dawww".

I smiled and bowed. "Hello Fluttershy. I’m home."

Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and she launched herself at me, hugging me tight. "Oh Steel! I'm so happy you're back! I just knew you couldn't be gone, I just knew it!"

It felt weird that Fluttershy was showing such affection to me, but then again it was Fluttershy. You can't tell me that you wouldn't want to hug somepony so soft and loveable...and if you do, you're a heartless bastard of a donkey.

I returned her hug with fervor and nuzzled into her soft pink mane, causing her to giggle and blush. "I'm glad to be back, Fluttershy. I'm so sorry I scared you and everypony else." She nodded and nuzzled back against me before releasing me and floating to the ground. "Hey 'Shy, is Moonfang home?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, he is. I'll go get him for you! Please come in, and bring your friend too." she said while motioning to Venn.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're not bothered by my friend here?"

She shook her head. "I don't judge any animals anymore. Moonfang used to be a timberwolf, and look what he's become now. He's one of the most gentle beings I've ever met." she then scampered off upstairs.

I heard whispering from upstairs, and then an exclaimed "WHAT?" before she came back downstairs, Moonfang following close behind. As soon as Venn saw him, he started growling. Moonfang saw the wolf and growled right back, albeit deeper and louder.

"Hey, HEY! Behave, the both of you. You're both my friends, and I'd appreciate it if at the very least you could be civil with each other." I said, nearly shouting. Both wolves looked at me and relaxed, although they held a bit of a glare contest for a moment before Moonfang turned to me with a wide smile.

"Steel...it has been far too long. I've missed you, friend...we all have." he said with a shaky voice.

I smiled and stepped forward to hug him. He returned the gesture and we broke a second later with smiles. "Well Moonfang," I started, pointing to Venn, "this is Venn. He's a wolf from my world. I asked him if he wanted to become like you are, and he's not really sure about it."

Moonfang seemed genuinely interested. "Oh, is that right?" He then turned to the young wolf sitting next to me. "Well young Venn, I can tell you it is not only an honor, but a gift. I can tell you, I do not miss living the wolf lifestyle. Here there is no need to fight for survival, and there are always those who will help you if you are kind and willing to receive help."

Venn seemed to be mulling the thought over for a few minutes before turning to me and nodding. "Well," I said while gesturing to him, "I think that's an answer. Venn, I'll contact Princess Luna and have your change set about later today." The wolf nodded and looked towards Fluttershy, as did I. "Hey 'Shy, I have to go see my mother and sister. Think you can watch out for Venn until I get back?" The mare nodded and smiled, so I quickly turned and left the home, taking flight as soon as I got outside.

I landed outside of Sweet Apple Acres soon afterwards and saw Big Mac plowing the north fields. He spotted me and trotted up with a smile. "Well howdy, Steel. Been a long time, pardner." he said while patting me on the shoulder.

I smiled and returned the gesture. "I take it AJ already explained everything?"

He nodded and chewed a bit on the piece of hay he had sticking out of his mouth. "Eeyup. If yer here lookin' fer yer ma and sis, check inside tha house. They're waitin' fer ya."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh boy, I can't wait. Well Mac, it was nice knowing you." He chuckled and went back to plowing.

I entered the house after knocking only to be met with a fierce glare from my mother. She pointed towards the couch with a rigid leg. "Sit...now."

I complied without any argument and started to feel nervous. 'To think after fighting an army of gryphons, my mother still scares me.' Jen was already on the couch waiting for me. She didn't look mad at all. Instead my sister looked as happy as could be, and hugged me tight when I sat down. I hugged her back, enjoying the fact that only one of them was mad at me. After I released the hug, I was surprised by a hoof to the jaw. 'Ugh...that's gonna swell. That makes twice in the same place.'

"Now then, care to explain just where the hell you've been all this time?" asked the golden-maned mare, glaring at me.

I kept trying to make up some sort of excuse in my head before I sighed and just decided to tell the full truth. "Well, after I died - yes, I actually died - I somehow got sent back to Earth. I've been living there for the past seven months. Before you ask, no...I'm not really sure how I got sent back to Earth. I lived and survived in the wilderness of Alaska until Frostrender came to get me. Along the way, I made friends with a wolf I call Venn, and now here I am."

She stared at me confused before responding. "Okay, why were you in Alaska? And why didn't you just live in Virginia, where our house was?"

I chuckled and smiled. "Because for one, I hate Virginia. I grew up in Kansas...Virginia is a shithole by comparison. Also the fact that I could not keep up a house payment along with all the other bills on my own. Besides, something about me has changed. From what I can gather from Frostrender's memories, he made me the new avatar of winter. Heat has always bothered me, but now it's unbearable. Notice how much I'm sweating right now?" I asked, gesturing to the glistening sweat on my coat.

She eyed me with uncertainty, but then shrugged. "Okay then, why don't you just make yourself cold or something?"

"Well because if I do that, anything or anyone I touch would be frozen." I explained. I then stood up and smiled. "Well mom, I am honestly sorry for what I put all of you through, but I had to make a choice. No one should have to die simply because I was too chickenshit to do what I did."

She stepped forward and hugged me with a smile. "I forgive you, son, I'm just glad you're okay. Please try and keep from getting into that type of situation again, will you?"

I nodded and returned the hug for a moment before releasing and stepping back. "Well, I've got one more thing I have to take care of before the ceremony in the middle of town around three o'clock. I'll meet you all there, okay?" With that, I stepped out of the house and flew towards the mountains to the northeast of Canterlot.

I landed on a mountain peak overlooking a large lake in a valley and scanned the area, looking for Gilda. 'I hope she's still here.' I took to the sky again and flew around, looking for the young gryphon before spotting a brown and white feathered figure resting in a tree next to the water. She was sound asleep, and I smirked before bucking the tree hard, causing her to tumble out of it with surprise.

She screamed before landing on the ground with a thud. After shaking her head she looked up at me with fear. "Wh-who are you?"

I smiled and extended a hoof to help her up. "Is that any way to greet the stallion that's going to help you make things right with Dash and her friends? Sorry I'm late by the way. Some things...came up."

Her eyes widened in surprise before she smiled. "Prince Steelbreaker? I thought you were dead!" she said, her voice cracking a bit.

I chuckled and nodded. "Well yeah, I was dead. Thanks to Frostrender, I've got this new body and I've been able to come home. I know it's been a long time, but I hope things didn't go badly with my...disappearance."

She sighed and shook her head. "Well I mean since I wouldn't fight in the war, Highmount labeled me a deserter, so I've been stuck here. The princesses made sure I wasn't lonely, but I haven't really been able to go anywhere."

I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that Gilda. Anyway, I think we should get this over with right about now, since the longer we wait, the longer you have to stay here. That and the fact that I have a ceremony I have to attend in a few hours. You ready for this?"

She sighed and nodded. "Yeah. This is gonna be really awkward, but I gotta make this right. If not for myself, then for Dash."

We nodded at each other and took flight towards Ponyville.

We flew through the sky high enough so that anypony below would only see two dots in the sky, indistinguishable from a bird unless you were looking for us. After about twenty minutes or so, we arrived in Ponyville and landed on a cloud high above a field near Sweet Apple Acres. I then ordered Gilda to wait while I went to go get Dashie.

Perspective change - Rainbow Dash

Today was a pretty chilled out day, so I was napping on a cloud near the library when Steel landed on my cloud softly, waking me up.

"Hey Dashie," he said, leaning down for a kiss before continuing, "I got someone who needs to talk to you. Can you follow me please?"

I could feel the urgency in his voice, so I nodded and we flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres.
We arrived a few minutes later, and I stopped as soon as I saw who was waiting for us.
Gilda.

I eyed Steel with confusion and just a little anger. "What is she doing here?"

He sighed and shook his head. "She's not here to make trouble, Dashie. As a matter of fact, she's been spending the past seven months under the care of Celestia waiting for this moment. She wants to apologize and get rid of this bad blood between the two of you."

I was utterly shocked at this point. Apologizing was something Gilda had never done in all the years I'd known her...but to wait seven months for it? Had I not been so dumbfounded, I might have been flattered. I guess if she was willing to wait for Steel this long just to say sorry, I owed her the chance to explain herself. Reluctantly, I nodded and we flew over to the lone cloud, landing on it.

As soon as she saw me, I noticed her eyes light up with happiness, but that quickly faded as sadness overtook her. Spending so much time with AJ, I could tell when somepony was faking...but she was actually sad. My emotions were everywhere at this point - one part of me wanted to knock her off that cloud and beat her senseless...while another part wanted to hug her tight like I used to and tell her it was alright. With that in mind, I decided it would be best to let her speak first.

She held her head low for the longest time before finally looking at me, with tears in her eyes. Yet another thing I'd never seen Gilda do - cry...but she was crying. I couldn't control myself anymore at this point, and I stepped over to her to give her a big hug...but she stopped me. "No Dash...let me speak first." I nodded and sat down on the cloud in front of her. She took a few shaky breaths before speaking. "Dash, I know I haven't been the best friend to you, and I did make a fool of myself when I came to visit last time I came here. I just want you to know that I'm sorry, and I'm going to fix this. It's just that after I saw how you'd moved on so easily, I freaked out a little. I felt like you abandoned me. Still, I know that's not excuse for how I acted." She let a few more tears fall down her feathered face before continuing. "I know I might have lost you for myself, but I'm okay with that. Really...I am. I miss you though, Dash. My life feels empty without you in it, and I'm going to make sure that I become the kind of gryphon you'd want in your life so that I can have you back in mine. You were my best friend - my only friend, really - and I want that back. I just want to stress that I'm not just doing it for you, I'm doing this for me. Being a bitch isn't good no matter where I live, so I have to change that. You deserve a better friend, and I'm going to make sure I can be one." She smiled and nodded. "I'll be staying in the mountains around Canterlot. I hope someday you'll visit. Bye Dash...it's great to see you again." She then flapped her powerful wings and flew off towards Canterlot, soon disappearing in the wispy clouds of early afternoon.

Perspective chance - Steelbreaker

I smiled and hugged Dash close and kissed her forehead. "That was really big of you, Dashie. I'm proud of you."

She smiled and nuzzled into my chest. "Thanks for this, Steel. I hate to admit it, but I really did miss her a lot."

I nodded and smiled. "Well I'm glad I could help you out, Dashie. Anyways, we have a ceremony to get to, so let's get to the town square, okay?" Dash nodded and we took off towards the center of town.

We arrived a few minutes later to a large gathering of ponies, almost as many as were at my coronation ceremony in Canterlot. This made me a little nervous, but then again I was never good with huge crowds. We landed behind a building so that nopony would see us and stepped up behind the stage, meeting Celestia and Luna. I smiled and gave each of them both a big hug, which they happily returned.

"So Steel, are you ready for your ceremony?" Celly asked with a hint of a smile.

I nodded. "As ready as I'm going to be. Just let me get my regal-wear on while you speak to them."

She nodded and headed up with Luna to the stage to say a few words before I'd come on. I spent this time creating a royal regalia of hoof caps and a chest piece out of ice, as well as a small crown. Around this time I heard Luna announce me, and so I walked up to the stage. All the ponies in the audience gasped when they saw me, but I smiled at them all.

"Ponies, don't be afraid...I am the same prince you remember, though I may look different. I wish to make an announcement, however. Because of Frostrender's sacrifice to bring me back to all of you, we are now one and the same. To honor him, I will be changing my name to Frostbreaker from this day forth. Furthermore as the new avatar of winter, I will be sure that every winter from this day forward is one of beauty for all of you. I ask that nothing change between us, and that you look upon me as simply another friend to you all. Thank you for your time and devotion to the princesses, and may you all live a long and happy life."

The ponies stared for a moment before cheering and stomping their hooves in applause. 'Well, that went better than I expected.' I stepped off of the stage again to meet all my friends and family behind it. They were all talking about my new name, while Venn - whom Fluttershy had brought with her - followed close to me, not leaving my side for even a moment. Everypony seemed fine with him, so I assumed one of the princesses or Fluttershy had already explained everything.

As the day wore on, it became time for Venn's big transformation. Because my powers had apparently been severely drained the past seven months, Celestia and Luna set about changing him the same they had my brother. After the change was over, we all marveled at the new being standing before us. He looked a lot like one would imagine a werewolf looks, except that he easily stood tall and had a gentle expression, as opposed to one of feral aggression.

Venn stood on shaky legs before smiling at me. I stepped forward and smiled back. "Alright, Venn, what I'm going to do now is the same thing I did for Moonfang. I'm going to be transferring to you all the knowledge I have about common social etiquette as well as the knowledge of how to speak in our tongue. I warn you, this might hurt a bit...but the pain won't last long."

The wolf looked a little apprehensive, but nodded and braced himself. I let the magic flow through my mind and touched my horn to his forehead, passing the knowledge on to him. I had to lower my head to keep in contact as he dropped onto all fours, writhing in pain. Only a few minutes passed before it was over, and Venn panted for a bit before standing up on two legs again.

"Hello? Oh wow, this is great!" said the young wolf, a large smile on his face. I could hear Celestia giggling from behind me and I smiled at the wolf.

"Alright Venn, you'll be staying with me in the palace as my personal guest, if that's alright with you. What do you think?" I asked with a grin.

Venn smiled and nodded. "Sounds good to me. Umm...guards aren't going to be chasing me like that one this morning, are they?"

I shook my head and chuckled. "No, I'll explain everything to them when we get there. So long as you behave, there'll be no problem. Something else I want to mention is that you won't need to eat meat anymore in this form, so you can live just fine eating most of the same foods that we do."

He nodded and smiled. "Thanks. Yeah that's a good idea, because some of these ponies were looking really tasty up until a few minutes ago. I'm still hungry, though. Can we get something to eat?"

I chuckled and nodded, and we all began the long trek back to the palace.

It took us about an hour and a half to walk all the way back to Canterlot, so by the time we got there the twilight of early evening was upon us. The guard at the gate looked a little scared when he laid eyes on Venn until I explained the situation. He nodded and told me he'd pass the word on. We all then proceeded to the dining hall where meals were already prepared for us. I sat down to Celestia's right, and Venn sat beside me.

"Umm, Frost? What exactly is that?" he asked while pointing at some mushroom and carrot soup.

I smiled and gestured to the soup. "That is a mushroom and carrot broth of my own recipe that the kitchen staff make now. It's pretty good. Moonfang liked it, so I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it too. The mushrooms in it contain a large amount of proteins to account for there not being any meat. Dig in, I know you're hungry."

Venn nodded and clumsily grabbed a spoon, taking a spoonful of the soup to his mouth. He smacked his lips a couple of times before smiling and nodding, eating the rest of the soup.

After dinner, we all parted ways for awhile while myself and Venn made our way back to my room. When we arrived, I gestured to the room and looked at Venn. "Okay Venn, this room is now yours. I stay in Ponyville most of the time, so I rarely use it. Washroom is around the corner and has everything you could need in it, including a bath, which I recommend you use."

He smiled sheepishly and nodded. "Yeah...it's been awhile since I've been able to bathe properly. Not much running water in the tundra."

I nodded and chuckled. "Well now you have all the modern amenities to use in civilized society. Anyhow, I'm heading to Ponyville now. Do you need anything or are you good?"

He shook his head. "No, I think I'm good for now, thanks Frost. I'll meet you in town tomorrow then." I smiled and left the room, taking flight out of the palace and heading towards the library of Ponyville.

After another twenty minutes of flying, I landed outside the front door and walked in, only to be knocked to the ground by four mares of varying colors. After a few minutes of hugging and kissing, they let me up and I smiled at all of them.

It was good to be home.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, save for meeting Spike. He had grown a lot since I last saw him. He was now almost as tall as me, and had the same muscular build that my brother did. His spines and cheek ridges were now sharp, and he had two pointy canines sticking out of his mouth at all times. He had a large pair of horns growing out of the top of his head, facing back, and his claws were longer and sharper than before. He then challenged me to a hoof-wrestling match...and won. I now held a newfound apprehension towards the young dragon.

After things settled down, we all headed up to the observation deck, where I proceeded to make drinks for everyone. Rarity and Spike might as well have been connected at the hip, as they never left each other's side the entire night. My brother and Applejack were much the same, except they spent most of the time out on the balcony making out. Luna and Celestia both arrived a short while later, and all the ponies in the room welcomed them with hugs and smiles. After fixing a drink each for the princesses, I set about asking about my changes in magic. Apparently while my power with ice and winter-related magic was powerful, anything else would leave me feeling very weakened until or unless I built up my skill with them...which was why I felt so drained after using a simple wing enhancement spell. I'd have to keep that in mind for the future.

As the night wound down, Spike, Rarity, AJ, and Dark all retreated to their respective rooms within the house while the rest of us lay on the large bed on the deck. I closed my eyes for a moment until I noticed no one was talking. I opened my eyes to see six sets of eyes filled with what could only be lust and/or longing.

Oh boy...

Two hours...two hours! Walking thirty miles in the snows of Alaska didn't leave me this tired. I need to find some sort of exercise to do or something, otherwise these girls are going to kill me. Luckily all of them were tired out as well, as they each started to close their eyes and fall off into slumber. The last mare awake was Celestia, and she had the biggest smile on her face I'd ever seen.

"What?" I asked with a smile.

She smiled back and sighed contentedly before nuzzling into my neck. "Nothing Frost...I'm just glad you’re back. I was utterly broken when I lost you...and now it's as if the greatest gift I could ever be given has been bestowed upon me."

I chuckled and held her close. "Well I feel the same about all of you, Celly. You all mean the world to me, and I'd do anything to make sure you're all alive and happy. I promise I'll try and refrain from such drastic actions in the future. I don't want you to cry ever again, if I can help it."

She smiled and held me tight as I felt sleep begin to overcome me. She leaned close and kissed my cheek. "I love you, Drew."

I smiled and equally large smile with my eyes closed and held her tight as well. "I love you too, Celly. Goodnight, love."

A few minutes later I fell into the most restful sleep I'd had in months.

Chapter 3: The Stars of Midnight

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 4: Icy Death

Perspective change - Twilight Sparkle

I woke up again hours later after a very restful nap with Luna, and after speaking to her about my fears, I felt as though a great weight had been lifted off of me. I scanned the room and noticed her illusion spell on the room had dissipated as she slept, and I honestly missed it. I looked down at the slumbering princess and smiled.

She was cute when she was sleeping.

She must have felt me wake up because she began to stir a bit and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up and smiled at me, stroking my coat softly. I returned the smile and rolled off onto the ground, shaking the last vestiges of sleep from my mind. I walked out of the reading room with Luna following me to the kitchen, my stomach aching for a snack.

As I quickly fixed a small bowl of apples for myself and Luna, and then walked with her out to the front step of the library, sitting down with her in the warm summer air. As we sat, ate, and basked in the balmy atmosphere, I noticed the looks the ponies gave Luna...and smiled at it. Where once they were looks of confusion, apprehension, and even fear...now they were smiles. The ponies - of Ponyville and Canterlot at least - were very forgiving it seems, and were more than happy to have the princess back on this world. Luna still held some misgivings about herself, but over the past year they have started to fade, and this in turn made me happy.

As we finished our quick meal, I went back inside to study some more while Luna advised me she would be going to spend time with Princess Celestia. I gave her a hug goodbye and went to my books, suddenly wishing Spike was there.

Perspective change - Vinyl Scratch

With Frost back, I had shows going again. Tonight, for example, would be my return show at a club in the "fun" district of Ponyville. Not that kind of fun mind you, just more...animated.

Anyway, I was now running shows again, but I made sure to only run them on the weekends now, giving myself more time to spend with Frost and my friends. Weekdays were dead anyway at a club, so it wasn't any sort of loss...and with the extra time, I'd spend some with Tavi. I felt bad about neglecting her for so long, and aimed to make it up to her tonight. Sure we disagreed on things, but Tavi was one of the only friends besides Lyra that stuck by me all these years, and I couldn't afford to lose somepony so loyal. Much to my surprise, she accepted my invitation to come to the club with me tonight. Sure Tavi might act all high-class in public normally, but get a few drinks or two in her and she tops Pinkie Pie for crazy.

I was whistling a tune while walking towards Sugarcube Corner when a loud *BOOM* from overhead caught my attention. I looked up to see a blur of steely blue wrapped up with a large black one screaming towards Canterlot, and I felt something drop on my fur. I looked to my shoulder to see a bright crimson drop of what could only be blood...and that means.

Oh Celestia...

Frost had told me that he and his brother would disagree, but I never thought he meant like this. Without a second thought I focused a large amount of magic into my horn and disappeared in a flash.

I reappeared exhausted near the Celestial Palace to see the blur still rocketing overhead, another *BOOM* being heard. What I assumed was Frost and Dark was luckily flying towards the guards' training grounds, so I galloped as fast I could to get there. When I arrived, I could see both figures had landed in a crater, and were pounding the hay out of each other. As I got closer, I could hear shouting.

"I told you, dude...NOTHING HAPPENED! It was just a hug between fr-" Frost was saying, before being cut off by a knee to his ribs.

Darkflight pummeled away at his face with a fierce glare. "You're a fucking liar! I'm not an idiot! I've seen the way you two look at each other, and it PISSES ME THE FUCK OFF!"

I could understand not wanting to hurt his brother, but Frost was being ridiculous. However, as he took a few more punches to the face, I saw a glint of something in his eyes and he let loose a growl before throwing Dark off of him with a mighty buck. The dragon was stunned and lay on the ground, recovering his bearings. That's when I saw something happening to Frost. As time seemed to slow down, a heavy fog started to drift off of him and armor of solid ice formed around him. A smoky energy then started to seep out of the ice-helmet where his eyes were, and then I started to get scared. He no longer even looked like himself, and I could feel something in the air change. Frost started slowly walking towards Dark as the dragon started to get to his feet. Dark prepared to charge Frost again, but suddenly his legs froze. Not just frozen to the ground, his legs were actually now made of ice instead of flesh. He dropped to the ground with a new look upon his face: fear. Even in just the short time I'd known him, fear was not something I'd ever seen in his eyes, least of all because of his older brother.

"So," Frost said calmly, "you feel like beating on me simply because you're so insecure that I can't even talk to Applejack without you taking it the wrong way? Well fine...I have a way to fix that. I'll just make sure you aren't here to witness it anymore."

Something was wrong...that wasn't Frost. He loved his family, he'd never hurt them...and the way it sounded, he was going to kill him. Before any of us could do anything, a bright flash disrupted Frost and a blast sent him to the ground with a scream of pain. It was Princess Celestia, and she had a saddened look in her eyes. Frost was no longer moving, and the armor and fog around him dissipated. Celestia looked down at the frightened dragon and closed her eyes. A magenta aura covered his legs and they began to change back to flesh. As the spell finished, he gave his toes an experimental wiggle and smiled.

"Thanks, Celestia. I'm sorry about this...this is all my fault." said the dragon sadly.

The solar princess shook her head and looked at the downed alicorn with a solemn look. "No Darkflight, something is happening to Frost. You and I both know he would never harm you like this." She sighed and closed her eyes. "No...that was not the Frost I know. Something is very wrong, and I intend to find out what." She then turned to the captain, who had rushed in during all the commotion. "Captain, I want you to throw him in the maximum security unicorn holding cell, and get an inhibitor ring on him."

The captain blinked in disbelief. "Princess...are you sure? This is Frost-"

She stopped him with a stern glare. "I know who it is, captain. Please, do as I say." I saw a tear slip down her face as they carried Frost away.

I walked over to her and did something uncharacteristic for me: I nuzzled her leg softly. "Princess, what's wrong? Besides the obvious, I mean. What's happening to Frost?"

She shook her head and sighed deeply...painfully. "He made a mistake calling forth Winter, Day, and Night." She looked at me with a broken look on her face. "We must gather everypony in the throne room. The avatars of Day and Night know what is happening."

I nodded and left to go gather all my friends.

Perspective change - Darkflight

I was so confused and scared right now...and about my own brother no less. Granted I probably shouldn't have lost my temper so bad, but he was ready to kill me...I saw it in his eyes. My hands were bruised from the fight and pained me as I flew towards Sweet Apple Acres, and as I cooled off I began to think of the damage I had done to Drew. I was honestly surprised he was still conscious up until the princess came and broke it up, but that aside I felt like a shithead now. I had tried to beat my own brother to a pulp simply because he hugged my marefriend and smiled at her. The more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that I had been a huge dick - not at all in a good way.

I landed at AJ's farm about twenty minutes later to find her, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Rarity all having lunch together near the barn. AJ stopped talking when she saw my face and galloped over.

"Dark...what happened? Y'all look like ya seen a monster or somethin'." she said with panic in her voice.

I shook my head and tried to calm my breathing before speaking. "No AJ, it's my brother. Gather the girls, we need to get to the palace right now! Something's wrong with him!"

AJ didn't ask anymore questions. She simply nodded and galloped towards town without another word. I love that mare.

After gathering up the rest of the "gang", including Vinyl and Lyra, we all headed to the palace as fast as we could. When we arrived, we found two very upset princesses, as well as a gray pegasus with a blonde mane that I didn't recognize.

Princess Celestia walked towards me and frowned. "Come...all of you. He's in the dungeons."

Twilight looked like she was about to say something, but I just shook my head to silence her. She sighed, but followed us down into the deeper reaches of the palace.

Contrary to what I thought a dungeon would look like, this one was clean, and was colored white. Personally I thought it looked more like a hospital than a jail, but whatever. We walked for awhile going down multiple flights of stairs until we came upon a massive titanium door...but there was a problem. We could all see the door was covered in frost, which it obviously shouldn't have been. I noticed the two princesses and Twilight Sparkle all charged spells in their horns as I opened the door.

What awaited us caused us all to gasp in surprise. Where once there was a massive room with a cell on a platform in the middle, there was now a room that seemed to be completely made of ice. Before any of us could react, a broken blue chain-like object was thrown on the ground in front of us.

"The inhibitor ring!" cried Twilight. "But how? How could he get it off?"

Twilight was stopped as we all heard the sound of wingbeats above us. I looked up and saw my brother with a sad look on his face. Twilight took a defensive stance, as did the rest of us. Drew gently landed in front of us and sighed.

"Whatever you use to make that inhibitor ring, you need to make the metal able to withstand the cold without breaking, and you need to use whatever enchantment is on it everywhere in here, so I can't get out." he said with a frown.

Luna stepped forward and frowned as well. "You...you do not want to come out?"

He shook his head and sighed. "No Luna, I don't. I almost killed my brother, and had Celly not stopped me, I would have succeeded. Until any of you or I figure out what's wrong with me, I'm staying right here."

Princess Celestia stepped forward and let a tear fall. She took a deep breath before speaking in soft tone, "Frost...I will use all of my power to find out a way to fix this. I swear it."

He placed a hoof on her cheek and smiled, letting a tear fall before it froze on his cheek. "I know you will, love. I have faith in you. Now, you all should go. It isn't safe for any of you to be here for too long. I don't know what triggered my change of personality, but I'd prefer to keep you out of harms way until I figure it out."

"Frost...no. I'm not going to leave you." said the strangely soft voice of Rainbow Dash.

He just let another frozen tear fall and smiled sadly at her. "It's only for a little while Dashie, I promise. Besides, you have someone else who needs you more." He then spread his large wings and embraced us all in a wing-hug, before forcing us out of the door and shutting it.
As we all watched, a thick layer of ice covered the entire wall, and the ice progressively got thicker and thicker until the wall and door couldn't even be seen anymore. There was condensed fog coming off of the ice, kind of like a meat freezer.

I experimentally touched the ice, only to whip my hand back in pain, and I looked upon the ice to see scales and blood upon the ice. I looked at my hand to see that a few patches of scales and skin had been ripped away. Luna was luckily nice enough to heal it for me rather quickly, leaving only a slight burning sensation afterwards and a few scars.

The night princess then looked over at the ice. "I don't understand why he would do this. He needs our help and he knows it."

I shook my head. "I've known my brother for longer than you have, princess. He's doing this because he's afraid...and for good reason. He almost killed me in a blind rage, and he doesn't know why. Until one of us figure this out or he does, he's going to make sure he stays in there."

Twilight finally spoke up. "Well come on then! We need to find out what's going on and how to fix it!"

Perspective change - Celestia

I looked at my sister and nodded...now was the time to reveal what we knew. "All of you...please stop. I already know what has happened."

Twilight turned to me with a confused expression. "You do? Well, please explain."

I sighed and grimaced as I began to explain, "It has to do with the avatars. You see, my student, there were once a total of eight avatars, though until recently we only knew of six of them: four for the seasons, as well as one for night and one for day. Myself and Luna's avatars have informed us that there were indeed two others, however...the avatars of life and death. The two avatars of life and death were sealed away by their brethren on account of them at constant war with each other, but in doing so these avatars sealed themselves away as well. They were the key to their imprisonment, and in releasing Day, Night, and Winter, the avatars Death and Life have been released as well upon the world."

Twilight stared at me in confusion for a moment before responding. "Well okay, I guess that makes sense...but why is Frost affected like this then? What's his connection to these two avatars?"

Luna took the lead from there. "Twilight, has Frost ever told you about his father?"

My student shook her head. "No. He told me he never met his father."

"Yes, well there's a reason for that, dear Twilight. Frost's mother never met his father either. She simply woke one day and was pregnant. I fear she's never told him this, but I think it is a secret that must be known." she stated sadly. Luna swallowed hard before continuing. "Frost's father is Death."

A large collective gasp was taken by the ponies and dragon in front of us.

Darkflight stepped forward and eyed me with incredulity. "So you mean to tell me that my brother is the avatar of winter and is the son of Death?"

I nodded. "Yes, Darkflight. I understand this is all a shock, but it's true."

His demeanor changed to one of amusement. "Wow...if it weren't for the fact that he's now a danger to everyone around him, I'd say that's awesome."

Applejack rolled her eyes at her friend. "Figures y'all would say that. We still need to fix this though." She then turned to me. "Any ideas princess?"

I nodded. "I have a few, but they will take awhile to come to fruition. Luckily Death and Life are of no danger to anypony so long as they lack a physical body. I fear that is what is happening to Frost. Through his connection as father, Death is attempting to take control of Frost's mind and soul."

"Well, we all want to help, princess. If there's anything we can do to assist you or speed the process along, we're at your disposal." Twilight stated with gusto.

I smiled softly and nodded. "I thank you all for that. For the moment, however, I will need to research the problem. Twilight, I believe you would be most useful in this."

Perspective change - Lyra

After the princesses explained to us all what was going on, they told the rest of us to just go about our lives normally. This was going to be weird for me now, because most of my "normal life" was spent with Frost. Vinyl must have noticed this because she pulled me into a hug.

"It's gonna be alright, Lyra...I promise. We'll figure this out and Frost will be back to normal." she said softly.

I smiled and nodded. "I know Vi, I just miss him is all. I mean, I spend so much time with him usually that I don't really know what to do now."

She nudged me and smiled. "C'mon Lyra, we had stuff to do before he came here. It's not like we're never going to see him again. I want you to come out with me tonight, we're going to the club."

I raised an eyebrow. "The club? I haven't gone clubbing since I was sixteen."

She giggled at me and nudged me again. "Oh come on now, Lyra. You're only twenty-two. I'm older than you and I love to go. You'll have fun, I promise."

I sighed and shrugged. "I guess it couldn't hurt."

Perspective change - Fluttershy

I said goodbye to the rest of the girls and headed home to Moonfang. Over the past few weeks, I'd gotten really attached to him, and he to me. I had always loved my house and the animals I took care of, but somehow it felt more like home with him there. I thought it was strange at first that a wolf could be so gentle as he was, but I got over it when I realized that I didn't care. I had never had much of an interest in stallions, mostly because they were so "crude", as Rarity put it.

Moonfang was perfect though.

He was gentle, loving, kind, and noble. He was my knight in shining armor, and I even told him once. Well, at least he was in armor. Something has been happening to him over the past few months, as his wooden skin had been falling away to reveal sandy blonde fur and soft skin underneath. At first we were afraid he was dying, but after talking to Zecora, we knew he was going to be okay. The wood never bothered me, but I have to admit that I liked him better this way.

Moonfang greeted me at the door with a smile. "Well hello, my lovely Fluttershy." I blushed and he chuckled at me. "How are things in Canterlot?"

I couldn't help but feel a little sad when he said that. "You might want to sit down." He nodded and sat on the floor, looking up at me. "Something's happened to Frost."

His eyes widened in fear. "Oh no...what's happened? Is he okay?"

I took a breath before continuing in a gentle voice, "He's not hurt, but he's not okay. He almost killed his brother because of something that's trying to control him. He locked himself away until we can find a way to fix him."

He was visibly saddened, and he lay down on the ground. "There's not anything I can do, is there?"

I shook my head in defeat. "I don't know, Fang. The princesses will let us know if they need help. Right now Twilight is helping Princess Celestia research." I lay down next to him and nuzzled against the soft skin of his neck. "I promise if there's anything we can do, I'll let you know. For now, all we can do is hope for the best and live life normally."

Perspective change - Moonfang

"Live life normally..." I said as I pulled her close to me, causing her to release a little squeak of surprise. "I think I can do that."

The cute yellow pegasus smiled at me and lay her head upon my half-exposed chest, my wooden skin still covering one side. She then started to draw little circles in the new fur with her hoof, and I couldn't help but let out an hum in pleasure. Wooden skin didn't have much sensation when it came to touch, so the feel of her body against mine was an entirely new sensation, and I'd be lying if I claimed I didn't like it.

We were interrupted by a knock at the door, so I stood up to answer. Luckily thanks to Fluttershy and Twilight's efforts, there was no large ceremony to announce me to the town, as there was for the dragon, Darkflight. While some ponies were still afraid of me, most had come to accept me as a part of their town, and so I no longer was afraid to answer the door. As I pulled the door open, I was met by a panting Venn.

He stepped inside and sat down on the floor, catching his breath. After a few moments he looked up at me with a panicked expression. "What's happened to Frost? Is he okay? What's going to happen to him? What's going to happen to me?"

I stopped his rambling with a hand to his shoulder. "Venn...calm down. It's going to be okay. Getting all worked up like this isn't going to solve anything, okay?" He nodded and took a deep breath before standing again. "Okay then, to answer your question, Frost is unwell. I assure you however that the princesses as well as everypony else is working diligently to get him back to normal as soon as possible. As far as you, there is always a home for you in Canterlot. You are a good friend of his, and that will never change. Luna-forbid something happen to him, but even if he were no longer around, the princesses would make sure you were taken care of."

He nodded and let out a long, stressed breath. "Okay...thanks for that. I get a little worked up sometimes, so sorry about that."

Fluttershy stepped forward and smiled at Venn. "It's okay, Venn. We're all worried about Frost. You're not alone; we'll all get through this together."

I just hope she's right...

Chapter 5: Frost's Saviors

Perspective change - Ditzy Doo

It had been a little over a month since Frostbreaker had confined himself to the dungeons, and because of that it was a long, depressing month. Twilight Sparkle and the two princesses would often be seen studying in the Royal Library of Canterlot, doing little else during the day.

I couldn't really blame them...we all missed Frost.

Granted I didn't know him quite as well as the rest of his friends, but fighting with him in that one battle had made me feel closer to him somehow. And while I wasn't a part of his "group", I still felt lonely without him around.

Lately though, I'd been hanging around a pony I'd met in a field near the northern border. His name was Enigma Flare, and the first time I met him he was training with some weird weapons I hadn't seen before. I didn't really feel for him the way I did Frost, but he was a cool guy and was a lot of fun to train with. I remember the first time I met him I kinda snuck up on him and he almost set me on fire in surprise, but he quickly apologized and we spent the rest of the day training together.

He had made it very clear he held no love for the guard or the military in general, but I was still very impressed with his skill in both fire magic and martial arts. I wouldn't be surprised if he could give Dark or Frost a run for their bits, and that was saying something. Still, contrary to his skill, he was actually pretty calm otherwise. In a lot of ways he reminded me of the colonel, which was probably why I found it so easy to be around him.

The date was Wednesday, August 20th, 1203, and like most days recently, I was meeting up with Flare at the training grounds. The captain was at first reluctant to allow a civilian into the grounds, but I vouched for him and so Captain Shining Armor said it was okay, and so, I was walking from home towards the barracks when I saw the multi-hued gold-maned unicorn napping near the gate that led to the training grounds. I giggled when I saw him and walked towards the sleeping colt with a smile on my face.

I stopped right in front of him and spread my wings before throwing a strong gust of wind and dust at him. He stirred and I giggled. "You know Flare, you have few hobbies, it seems. They seem to only consist of training, eating, and sleeping."

He grumbled and stood up before opening his eyes. "This one is a bit aggravated you chose that exact moment to interrupt my nap. I was having a good dream. And for your information, I have plenty of hobbies. You're just not around when I'm participating in them."

I snorted a laugh. "To think you couldn't find a nice enough mare to do that for you..."

He looked at me confused for a moment. "Oro? Hey! Wait a minute, that's not it and you know it."

I giggled and turned on the feminine charm (thanks to Rarity). "Oh...do I?"

He just rolled his eyes and walked towards the gate. "Alright, we've played around long enough. If you want to play, show me what you got in a fight."

One of the things I learned really quickly about my companion was how much he hated violence. Training seemed to be a different situation altogether though, since we made sure we were in no real danger with each other. He sparred fiercely, and in doing so with him, I had gained quite a bit more skill in fighting in Frost's absence. I had made a promise to myself to be ready to fight valiantly should the threat of war ever come to Equestria again, and this new friend offered me a way to easily temper my skill and resolve.

And so, we were walking for awhile towards the far end of the training "arena" - which was really just a massive crater where Dark and Frost had fought - talking about, of all things, the Gryphon Encroachment battle.

"I'm telling you, Ditzy, I could do it. I swear, I'm just an inch away from being able to cast that spell." Flare said, with annoyance in his voice.

I shook my head. "For your own safety, Flare, don't do it. It killed the prince when he did it. How do you think it's going to affect a normal unicorn?"

He snorted and laughed. "Well he just wasn't ready, that's all. He needed more practice."

I stepped in front of him and glared at him. "Hey, I mean it. If you try and cast that spell, I'll snap off your horn with my own two hooves."

He held up a hoof and rolled his eyes. "Alright alright, geez. No need to get all threatening on This One." He then pointed over at the weapon rack. "You should grab a weapon if you want to last more than twenty seconds this time."

I rolled my eyes right back and instead grabbed steel rear hoofcaps and foreleg bracers. Before he had forced himself into exile below the palace, Frost had taught me all he knew about hoof-to-hoof combat, as did Dark, and so I felt much more comfortable just using my hooves.

Almost as soon as I turned around, my sparring partner was sailing through the air with a staff in his magic's grip. He brought the weapon down on me with great force, so I rolled to the side as it hit the ground where I had been. He then whipped it to the side, leaving a strong stinging sensation in my ribs.

He chuckled and readied the staff again. "Come on, you gotta be faster!"

I growled and lunged at him. He flicked the staff again and brought my hooves out from under me, leaving me spread-eagle (as Dark called it) and completely vulnerable to attack. He then jumped in the air again to bring the staff down on me, but this time using his hooves for extra leverage. I had been waiting for this, and I placed my right hoof over my chest. Right before the staff hit, I whipped my hoof across, knocking both the staff and him into the ground beside me. His nose slammed into the ground, dazing him for a second, giving me just enough time to roll over on top of his back. This was his vulnerable position, as he knew I was much stronger than him, and he wasn't willing to use his magic to permanently hurt me. As mean as it was, I used this to my advantage and caught him in what Dark had called a "rear naked choke".

The unicorn started to struggle as he fell forward, completely helpless. Because using magic required focus - unless you had trained to make it completely second nature as Frost had - cutting off oxygen to the brain made most unicorns incapacitated. This fighting style had already been integrated into the guard's training program as means for non-lethal fighting, and as the unicorn "tapped out", I could see why. I let go of him and he started gasping for air, glaring at me.

"That wasn't fair! You know I can't focus when you do that." he stated in frustration.

I chuckled and smiled. "Frost taught me that in a fight, no holds are barred. That means in a situation like that, your job is to find a way to keep it from happening, or find a way to counter it."

He snorted in annoyance, but nodded. The young colt was very talented, but still had a lot to learn. That's not to say I didn't as well, - as the battle for the north border had taught me - but I still had more experience than him. Still, it was too bad he held such resistance to joining the guard or the military, as he'd make a hay of a EUS (Elite Unicorn Specialist) with his natural ability in fire magic. My thoughts were interrupted, however, by hoofsteps behind us.

I turned to see the two princesses approaching, along with the gifted unicorn mare, Twilight Sparkle. Flare and I both stood until they were standing in front of us, then bowed in reverence.

"Arise, my ponies." the sun princess said gently.

We did as we were told and I stepped forward. "It's good to see all of you. What brings the three of you here?"

The lunar princess then stepped forward with a warm smile. "Straight to business, hm? Very well, my faithful subject. We have found a way to possibly purge the darkness that currently plagues the prince...but we will need the help of this unicorn." she stated, pointing to Enigma Flare.

He raised an eyebrow. "Me? Why do you need my help? I'm just a normal unicorn."

Twilight Sparkle giggled and smiled warmly. "You may not be a royal alicorn like the two princesses, but you are far from average, Enigma Flare. Your strong affinity for fire magic is required to breach the prison that Prince Frostbreaker has made for himself. We have tried to break the defenses for days now, but to no avail. We need the raw, scorching power of fire to get past, and you are far more gifted in it than me."

For the first time since I've known him, Flare blushed and stared in disbelief. "What? N-no, that can't be true. You're the Element of Magic and the student of Princess Celestia herself. I know for a fact that I couldn't have taken care of an Ursa Minor like you did. I can't even teleport!"

Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder, still smiling. "It is true, my abilities in most forms of magic far surpasses yours. However, you seem to specialize in the elemental magic of fire. While your other forms of magic are lacking, your skill with fire far exceeds anything I've ever seen before, or ever dreamed of accomplishing."

Before he could come up with another retort, I just elbowed him in the ribs. "Flare, just accept the compliments and offer your help. They wouldn't have chosen you if they didn't have faith in you."

He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. Suddenly, he opened his eyes again and smiled at the princesses. "Alright then, if you think I can do it, I'll do all I can."

Princess Celestia nodded and turned around. "Thank you. Come this way please. Corporal, you may come as well if you wish."

Perspective change - Twilight Sparkle

As we walked down the winding steps leading to the deepest part of the palace dungeons, I couldn't help but think about Frost. I was well aware of the effect one day without us had on him...what would an entire month be like? The closer we got to the end of the hallway that led to his "cell", the more worried I became. The wall of ice was virtually unchanged as we reached it, and the young blonde-coated unicorn stepped up fearlessly.

He smirked and planted his hooves. "Alright...everypony stand back please."

We obliged and his horn began to glow not with normal magic like mine would, but with flames. He charged the spell for a moment before letting it go, and a large fireball slammed into the wall of ice, causing a large amount of steam. When the steam cleared, however, the wall was completely undamaged.

"This is the new avatar of winter and ice you're dealing with, Flare. You're going to have to kick it up a few notches." the gray pegasus mare said.

The chromatic gold-maned unicorn looked back at us and nodded. "Okay...for this spell, you all might want to just get all the way around the corner. Things are going to get really hot."

We nodded and stepped back to the edge of the corridor, stepping behind the corner of it. I couldn't help but peek around the wall to see what he was doing, however. As I watched, flames began to form around his horn again, but this time they slowly spread over his head and down his back. The flames continued to lick along the fur of his coat until he was covered head to hooves and tail in orange flames. I was worried at first until I noticed his coat was not burning whatsoever. Even so, I could feel the blast of hot air as the heat finally radiated down the hallway. The flames along his body - as well as his body as a whole - began to slowly pulse with a reddish color, the pulses increasing in frequency as he continued to charge the spell.

Eventually it became too hot to continue to look at him, so I hid my head around the corner. The next moment, a large blast was heard and steam rushed around the corner to us, covering the princesses and myself in a warm mist. I stepped back around the corner to see the stonework around the unicorn glowing a very dull red color, and as I stepped closer, I noticed the stone was warped and had actually started to melt. The wall of ice was gone, however, leaving only the titanium door barring way to Frost.

Perspective change - Celestia

As we stepped forward and opened the door we were hit by a blast of freezing air, so cold it actually left a thin layer of frost along my coat. I cast a modified barrier spell around us, so as to protect us from the cold, but what I beheld when I looked up at the room defied all my expectations. The room had been completely transformed into a place of howling winter wind, snow, and ice. As we walked forward, I could still feel just how abnormally cold the ground was to my hooves, and they actually began to ache from the permeating chill. Suddenly, the wind stopped, leaving the room clear to our vision. Upon a small hill of snow sat Frost, facing away from us. He looked vastly different from what I remember. His coat was still the same color, as was his mane and tail. Head to hoof, though, he was covered in strange markings that were glowing a bright cyan. Before we could reach him, he disappeared from sight. There was no flash of light, so I knew he had not teleported, but neither did I feel the ambient magic in the air of an invisibility spell being cast. It was then that I heard the sound of hooves in the snow behind us, and we all turned to see Frost standing there, a blank look on his face.

"What are you doing here, Princess? I believe I made myself clear that it was too dangerous for you to be here." he said to me, his emotion impossible to decipher.

This caught me completely off guard. Ever since we had become friends nearly a year ago, he had never referred to me by my title. Even with that being the case, I had to make known what we had found out.

"Frost," I started sternly, "we have found a way to purge the shadow that covers you from your essence."

He raised an eyebrow, but otherwise seemed unaffected. "Oh? Please explain, I'm listening."

'The sooner we do this the better.'

Where once I felt love in his words - in his very aura - there was now nothing. The feeling was very unsettling, but I forced myself to push the emotions away and I trudged on. "As I am sure you know by now, the shadow that hangs over your mind and soul is none other than the avatar of death...your father."

He nodded. "Yes...the being has made itself very well known to me. It is hard to ignore being by myself for over a month." he nearly growled. The same markings that had covered his illusionary self also covered him, and as his frustration heightened, so did the light they gave off.

Twilight stepped forward with a scowl and stomped her hoof. "Hey, don't blame this on us, Frost! You chose to lock yourself in here. We worked every day for the past month researching, testing, and deliberating over this. You should be thankful, because we didn't have to do this."

He now audibly growled and stood tall, his imposing figure for the first time actually intimidating me a bit. "Well you should have worked faster." He stated coldly. "And what do you mean you didn't have to do this? Were you going to leave me here forever? That's it, isn't it?"

It appeared the month he spent in solitude had done more damage than I initially thought to his psyche. This was not the Frost I remembered and loved. This was a hurt, damaged being driven insane by no contact with anyone but the dark entity within him.

We could only hope the damage was reversible.

Luna then strode forth and braved the stallion's glare. "This will get us nowhere, Frost, so let us get straight to business. There is a magical ritual we are able to perform that will purge Death from you. However..."

He raised his eyebrow again. "However?"

Luna took a deep breath before continuing. "However, the spell will give Death his own physical body. It is the only way to be sure he will not influence you again."

Frost still seemed apprehensive. "But wait, if he can influence me anytime he's in an energy state, won't he just kill himself to revert to that state?"

I shook my head with a smile. "No, my dear. If an avatar in physical existence is killed, it is banished to the elemental plane for thousands of years, until it has gained enough strength to break free. Death knows this, and so he would not risk it. Whatever he wishes to do that involves you, he wishes to do it now...in this time."

Frost finally let loose a soft smile and closed his eyes. "Thank the gods." He then opened his eyes and I could see excitement within them. "Okay, so what are we waiting for? Let's do this!"

I nodded and motioned for Luna and Twilight to take places around Frost, while Enigma Flare and Ditzy Doo stood far away.

Before we started I looked right into his eyes and advised, "Frost...I warn you...this is going to hurt more than anything you've ever experienced. I am sorry...but this is the only way.”

He nodded and I could see his muscles and jaw tense. "Very well, Celestia. I trust you."

For the ritual, we all had a part to play, and seeing as how I held the powers of the avatar of light, I was given the most important duty: to protect his living essence. Twilight readied her barrier spell to hold the soon-to-be two beings in this world, while Luna was to find the invading essence within Frost and disconnect it from him. As the ritual started, I could feel the large amount of magic in the room swirling about us.

I watched in horror as Frost fell to the ground in silence, writhing in pain so great that he couldn't even scream. It tore me apart to have to see him this way, but I reminded myself it was for his and our safety. As the ritual continued, I could feel the two entities within Frost's body start to weaken. I focused my magic - my very being - and acted as a tether to this world, holding Frost's being in the waking world. Sweat began to pour out of my forehead as the spell began to take its toll on me, but as I looked at Luna I noticed a rope of her magic pulling a dark, swirling mass of shadow out of Frost's body.

It was at that moment the entity decided to fight back.

We all felt it, as the entity in Luna's magical grip began to magically thrash about, causing Twilight's spell to falter for but a moment, but that moment was just enough for it to break through. Just as the mass of Death began to take shape into a pony, it exploded in a wave of energy, throwing all six of us to the ground, and shaking the walls of the room we were in.

We woke what must have been hours later, as I could feel the sensation of the sun wishing to retreat to the horizon. And so, Luna and I did our nightly ritual of lowering the sun and raising the moon, and then quickly rushed to see the fallen body of Frost. I was near a panic until I saw that he was breathing...but where was the avatar of death? I noticed Luna looking around the room, and realized she must be thinking the same thing. I did a quick "scan" of his essence, only to find that he was indeed alone. The avatar of death was nowhere to be found within him, but that still meant that somehow, Death had escaped.

We would worry about that later, however, as now we needed to tend to the prince. And so, pulling forth some magic from my exhausted body, I levitated Frost outside the room and teleported him to his bedroom in the palace.

Perspective change - Frostbreaker

I woke up in a soft bed for the first time in what seemed like forever...and I was warm, almost uncomfortably so. I was about to activate a bit of a cold aura around myself to cool down, but I noticed I was being cuddled to death by a white alicorn and a violet unicorn.

Okay, some things are worth putting up with warmth.

I thought I must be dreaming again, so I bit the alicorn's neck, causing her to moan softly and open her eyes. There, staring back at me was a beautiful, albeit groggy, pair of lovely magenta eyes.

"Dear Frost, I'm too tired to play right now. I'm sorry...tomorrow night, please." she said, a little annoyed.

I simply wrapped my hooves around her tightly. "I'm sorry, love. I just had to make sure you were real. I thought I was dreaming again."

She smiled softly and nodded. "I understand. Please, go back to sleep though. We will speak of everything in the morning at breakfast."

I nodded and settled back into the warm embrace of two of the most beautiful beings in the world right now, and before I knew it, I was falling back to sleep, my mind being untroubled for the first time in what felt like eons. I fell asleep that night with a genuine smile on my face.

Author's Note

Fan OC added, so everyone say hello to Enigma Flare, courtesy of AstralElebit.

Chapter 6: A Shattered Mind and Innocence Lost

The last week had been hard to say the least…for all of us, but because of me.

Being utterly alone for over a month – even though it was my own choice – had changed me. I was now terrified to be alone for some intangible reason, having panic attacks if a friend wasn't near me nearly every minute of the day. It wasn't a difficult issue to deal with at first, as I had six marefriends as well as other close friends that were more than happy to spend time with me, but this soon ended when I began to become a burden on them all. They had their own lives to attend to, and I was cutting into them all with my insecurity. Twilight had fallen behind in her studies, Rainbow Dash was slacking at work and at training, and even Pinkie Pie eventually told me she had to work to help her family at Sugarcube Corner.

Luckily the panic passed, but it instead gave way to depression. I knew they would never turn me away, but I began to feel guilty that I was keeping all my friends from living their lives normally. And so, I instead chose to limit most of my days to studying and practicing magic in the solitude of Everfree Forest – where my spell "experiments" would not endanger anyone – or training with the guard in Canterlot. My friends all noticed this change and withdrawal from them, which brings us to today…my "intervention".

We were all seated at the library that Rainbow Dash had practically dragged me to, and all my friends were gathered there as well. This in turn caused me to feel very nervous under their gaze, and I squirmed a bit as silence filled the air. Everyone was there: Applejack, Twilight, Lyra, Pinkie, Dash, Vinyl, Luna, Moonfang, Venn, my family…even Rarity, Spike, Ditzy, and Fluttershy were there. I knew I should have felt warm and cared for in their midst, but I just felt very uncomfortable. Not a word had been said yet, but I could feel their eyes upon me, and it made me even more nervous as the permeating silence enveloped me further.

Thankfully, the silence was broken by Luna clearing her throat and looking at me in earnest. "Well, I am sure you know why we have brought you here, Frost. We have all noticed you becoming increasingly distanced and reserved towards all of us…and it has everypony worried about you."

Twilight took it from there. "We're concerned, Frost. We all love and care about you a great deal…and we're worried that there's something you're hiding from all of us." She walked over and placed a hoof on my shoulder. "Frost…whatever this is that's eating away at you, you don't need to shoulder the stress of it alone. We're all here for you, so please…tell us what's wrong."

I continued to simply stare at the violet unicorn in front of me for a few moments before closing my eyes and sighing. "Well Twi, I'm afraid…I'm afraid for no reason, really. I don't know how to beat it though."

Pinkie scooted closer to me and wrapped a foreleg around my waist, nuzzling into my side. "Frostie…what are you afraid of?"

I chuckled a little half-heartedly before replying. "What I'm afraid of is easy to identify – I'm afraid of being alone. Why is something I can't identify, though."

Luna stood in front of me now, her soft cyan eyes filled with concern and love. "Frost, why if you fear being alone have you chosen to, in essence, exile yourself from us all?"

"Because dear Luna, I am allowing myself to become a burden on all of you because of my own insecurities. My will to keep myself from knowingly burdening you with my own insignificant problems far outweighs my own fear. A petty fear such as mine is unbecoming of a prince, let alone a Guardian." I finished solemnly.

My brother then stood up and growled at me, showing his razor-sharp teeth. "Dude, drop the whole martyr act, it's getting real effing old." Applejack glared at him and he shrugged. "What? I didn't curse." He then turned back to me, wearing a snarl again. "Seriously though, what's your deal? You did the same thing when that girl Ashley broke up with-"

I couldn't help but let loose a not-so-nice growl that made even the two wolves in the room shudder. I then continued with a voice that was dangerously calm and serene, like a powder keg next to a spark. "Don't you dare mention her. That topic is off limits and you damn well know it."

Perspective change – Vinyl Scratch

The growl that Frost let out was really scary, and completely unlike him. I mean I've never seen Frost actually angry before, but still. That wasn't what scared me the most though. No, what scared me the most was the amount of magic that was radiating off of him, creating a charge in the air that made the horn of every unicorn in the room spark a little, including the princess. The only way I could describe the feeling was that it felt like somepony was massaging every inch of me – inside and out – all at once. With how afraid I was, though, I made sure to hold in an almost involuntary moan from it, but Princess Luna wasn't so lucky, as she let out a small whimper and started panting lightly. The room became very warm all of the sudden and as I continued to notice the princess of the night struggling to control herself, I noticed little arcs of what looked like electricity dancing all over her coat. I looked at Twilight, Lyra, Rarity, and then myself to notice that the same was happening to all of us. Even though every pleasure receptor on my body being prodded very gently, I still kept my eyes focused on Frost, and I noticed some weird markings on his skin start to glow. With a bright flash he suddenly collapsed on the floor, the charge leaving the air and the temperature in the room returning to normal.

"Frost!" we all yelled in unison, save for the princess.

Princess Luna stood and walked over to Frost and stood silently for a moment before sighing. "I was afraid of this." She then turned and looked at all of us before continuing. "The markings that you all have no doubt seen on Frost's body are enchantments of his own creation, designed to incapacitate him should his anger begin to cloud his mind. The reason why he has done this is because of the "trigger" he found for when Death had control over him – rage. It appears even with Death being purged from his body, he still did not trust himself enough to remove the enchantments. While I do not think he would have hurt any of us, it is clear that his month in solitude has caused far more damage than I had imagined." She sighed again before continuing. "Death is not simply the avatar of his name, but he also rules fear. Fear can do drastic things to even the strongest pony, shaping him or her into somepony we wouldn't recognize…a monster even." She looked sadly at my fallen love (ugh…never thought I'd think that) and frowned. "It appears the corruption Death wrought on dear Frostrender has left wounds that will take time to heal."

What I heard shook me to my core. What if he never got better? I couldn't lie to myself…I loved Frost a lot. I didn't know how I'd react to losing that…to losing him, to himself least of all.

Perspective change - Rainbow Dash

It's always something. Just when we get Frost back, he loses his temper and basically shuts himself down without knowing. With work becoming more and more intense and Frost first being clingy, and then completely aloof, things with him and I were strained to say the least. Out of everything, one thought had started to dominate my mind in the past few months with all that's happened.

Is it worth it? Is he worth it?

I hated myself for even thinking like this, but the thought was always there. Certainly there were more stable stallions out there to be with, stallions that I wouldn't have to worry about what crazy thing was going to happen from one week to the next. I may not be the Element of Honesty, but I couldn't lie to myself. I did love Frost...but the stress from just being with him and caring about him was becoming too much. It was coming to the point where I was seriously thinking about "downgrading" our relationship to a "just friends" level, no matter how selfish it seemed. I had thought hard about it for a long time, and even tried sometimes to believe that there wasn't anything keeping me from doing that.

That was a lie though.

Frost had reunited me with Gilda, one of my oldest and best friends in my entire life. It was a selfless act on his part. He had nothing to gain from me or Gilda, simply stating to me that he did it only because he knew it would make me happy. I remember looking into his eyes that day trying to find the smallest hint of a hidden agenda...anything that would say he had something he wanted to get out of this. Instead, I saw only love and concern for my own well being.

That was part of the reason I hated myself for thinking these things about him. I mean, he was just so great, and a part of me knew without a doubt that there would never be another stallion like him again, no matter how long I lived. Maybe that's the reason why when he put himself in harm's way or was hurt, my heart would break a little.

It bothered me that I had fallen completely head-over-hooves in love with this guy in under a year. I never fell that hard for anypony before, and the fact that it happened had me wondering if he was using a spell on me. We once got in an argument about it and he surprised me by grabbing his horn with his hooves, preparing to break it off just to prove a point. Yeah, just to prove a point, no other reason. Luckily I stopped him, but the sincerity in his eyes told me everything. He was ready to do anything to prove to me that I meant more to him than his magic - the thing that made him so special in this world. It was remembering things of that sort that kept the dilemma going. I knew for a fact after some soul-searching that I wasn't going to be happy with anypony else, but at the same time I hated worrying about him all the time. It was different for Twi and the princesses, because worrying was what they did. Luna and Celestia were rulers, and Twi was just your average worrywart. Maybe that's why they had such an easier time than me, but I never worried about anything. The reason being was because I knew that no matter what happened, I would either come out of it with flying colors or I'd die. Either way, it'd be awesome and I would be remembered for it. It wasn't the same with Frost. Most times, there wasn't anything I could do to help.

I hated feeling helpless.

Once I was honest with myself, that's what really bothered me about this constant trouble with Frost. It wasn't so much that he was constantly under attack by something or other, it was the fact that I haven't been able to do anything about it. Was it really fair for me to want to leave simply because of a problem I had with myself? More truth...no, it wasn't. It wouldn't be fair to him, and in all honesty not to me either.

Even with therapy to help me get over the murder of my parents and...some other things, I was still not good with showing or wanting to feel emotions. I was not as bad as I once was, at least with certain ponies, but as a whole I hated feeling. Emotions could cloud your mind and make you lose focus, make you sloppy...make you weak.

But, at the same time...they could give me a strength I never knew I had.

The drive to do anything that needed doing if the situation called for it. There was no doubt in my mind that like Frost, I would be ready to put my own life on the line to protect him, or anypony else I cared about.

Even with this torrent of different feelings, I knew one thing above all else once I really thought about it with a clear, calm head (which was a rare thing):

He was worth it.

Perspective change - Princess Celestia

I sighed as I sat next to the sleeping form of Frost, focusing to try and decipher from his thoughts what has changed. As our minds connected, I picked up a few of his mannerisms and phrases from Earth, and the best way I could explain how it was trying to sift through his mind was dismantling a hydrogen bomb while skydiving with an angry monkey on your back and a self-righteous bureaucrat screaming in your ear.

I had time to study humans before bringing Frost to our world, but I never understood until this moment exactly how infinitely complex and vast the human mind was. However, I was unsure of whether it was all humans that were like this or simply him, but nonetheless I was intrigued greatly.

What I found was nothing like I expected at all.

Beneath the calm and often playful exterior of Frost was a battlefield within his own psyche, where the very best and the very worst parts of him were vying for control. I realized at that moment that this is what Death must have changed before we purged him from Frost. Where once these negative and dangerous emotions could be suppressed and controlled, they were now completely out of control, as they would be with myself or Luna. The damage was extensive, but with time and some luck I could repair it.

I only hoped my tampering would not cause further damage. 'Father, watch over me...'

As I began to touch his mind again, I was forced to link mine with his...in essence becoming one being in a way. The repair of his damaged mind was like a minefield. Every time I would come upon a painful memory or experience, I felt it...as if I was the pony it happened to. As I went further and further into his mind, I began to get an even better sense of who he was, and even though most of it was painful, I felt infinitely closer with him because of it. Frost had never hidden anything from us, so most of these experiences I already knew of, but it was an entirely different feeling to actually feel what he felt, and see what he saw.

As I repaired the last of the damage I had found, I left his mind and opened my eyes. It must have been hours later, as my sun was already heading towards the western horizon, and in a few hours it would need to be lowered. I was, however, very thankful that none of the guards or even Luna was present at the moment. Feeling all of those emotions and memories of Frost's firsthoof had left a lasting impression on me, and for the longest time all I could do was cry.

Fate, it seems, decided to introduce Luna at the moment my sobs were at their most intense.

The door opened slightly and then closed quickly, the sound of hooves hurrying towards me. Before I could look up, I was wrapped in the warm and strong embrace of my younger sister. It irked me to no end that the younger was having to comfort the elder, but at the moment I pushed the thoughts aside and simply lay my head against her chest, listening to the soothing and strong beating of her heart. As much as I hated to admit it, the very act of surrendering myself to being taken care of felt very good. It was a pleasure I rarely allowed myself to indulge in, mostly because of personal pride and the lack of somepony who would not judge their ruler in her time of weakness. Family and friends were different, it seems. They understood that while a deity of sorts, I still became stressed, became sad, and became angry. I would tire, I would worry, and I would sometimes utterly break under the pressure. My sister, however, would never judge, and even after my moments of weakness she would still admire me as an awestruck filly for my strength and conviction. Even though the both of us were some of the oldest living beings on Terra, things were exactly the same for us, even after all these years. I knew that no matter what, Luna "had my back", as Frost put it.

The very thought on its own could put a smile on my face on my worst days.

It still amazed me that even after having banished her to the moon for a thousand years, Luna forgave me without hesitation. When I once asked her why she was so quick to forgive, she simply stated, "It is in the past. What is done is done and neither of us are able to change it. The fact remains unchanged that you are Our sister, and We love you more than the moon and stars. Nothing will ever change that."

'Father...you would be so proud of her.'

Perspective change - Applejack

It was another hard-working day on the farm, but with Dark helping me on his off days - like today - the whole thing went a lot faster and was more fun. Even during work, he would crack jokes and have me laughing the whole time. Normally after work, I would want nothing more than to just take a shower, eat supper, and then head off to bed, but somehow having Dark around didn't leave me with the same exhausted feeling, and I knew it wasn't just because he was doing the heavy lifting for me.

He was a little rough around the edges when I first met him, and it was pretty clear to me that he knew how to talk to a mare, which meant he had a lot of practice. Still, something about him changed after his brother died. Dark became a lot more gentle, kind, and loving than I ever thought possible. I guess that's when I really noticed that I loved him as more than just a passing fancy. Unlike Frost though, Dark was perfectly happy with just me as his only marefriend. When I asked him why, he - being the sweet-talker that he is - told me that I was worth twenty of any other mare around Ponyville...even the princesses. I knew it was a lie, but I could see in his eyes that he believed it with all of his heart, and that made me fall for him even harder. I remember RD used to make fun of me for how attached I was to the black dragon, but she coincidentally shut up once I started talking about Frost.

Yeah...coincidence.

Still, I loved having Dark around. I'd never had a colt in my life before, because I'd always focused on the farm. However, after Granny Smith passed on, Dark had taken the spot that Frost would usually fill, making sure I was okay and that I didn't feel too alone.

But then that's what confused me.

Recently while getting to know Frost even better, I began to wonder what it was like to be with him...to be loved by him in that way, the way that my rainbow-maned friend was. I knew in my heart that I would never be unfaithful to Dark, but I still wondered. Even so, with me being the Element of Honesty I had guilt in my heart just from the wondering. Somehow it felt like cheating, and it bothered me. Of course with my honesty, I was a lousy liar and an even worse pony for hiding when something bothered me. Needless to say, Dark noticed right away and reluctantly, I told him everything and feared the worst. However, instead of yelling or complete silence, he simply wrapped me in a warm hug and kissed me like he always did.

"AJ, I don't care about any of that. You think my mind doesn't wander? It does...a lot. But what counts is that no matter where my mind goes, it always finds its way back to you." he had said.

It was corny, but I could tell he meant it. It was all I needed to hear to put my mind at ease. He still loved me...and that's all that mattered between us. Lately though, I was worrying about Frost a lot. He'd been through a whole lot, and in all honesty I didn't know how much more he could take before he just...broke. That and the fact nopony knew what happened to that Death guy, which scared me. Even with my recent thoughts about him, Frost was more like what Dark called "the gay friend" to me (which didn't really make sense to me since he was clearly not, but I guess it meant something different on Earth). I cared about him a lot, which is why I worried so much...but I was with Dark, so it stopped at "close friend". Still, my mind wouldn't let me stop worrying about the alicorn prince.

Something told me he wasn't as strong as he pretended to be.

Perspective change - Frostbreaker

"Ugh...why does my head always hurt?" I said, sick of waking up with headaches recently. My thoughts to anything else were immediately drowned out by the sound of crying close by, as well as a soft voice I recognized reciting "it's okay" over and over again.

'Luna...'

I opened my eyes and looked around the room, noticing I was in my room in Canterlot. Venn was sitting in the corner reading a book, merely nodding to me before going back to reading...but I then noticed Luna holding Celestia in a loving embrace as the older sister sobbed against the dark blue coat of her younger sister. Neither of them noticed me walking over to them, so I simply spread my massive wings and draped them over the two in a light hug. Celestia immediately shot up in surprise, nearly gouging me with her horn, but settled down when she saw it was me.

She was silent for a long time before she spoke with tears in her eyes. "I know everything, Frost. I'm so sorry..."

I cocked my head in confusion. "I don't follow, what do you mean you know everything?"

"Your mind was damaged by Death, which is why you reacted as you did. I had to repair all the damage, but in doing so I felt everything and experienced everything you ever have. Everything..." the alabaster alicorn explained softly.

I now completely understood why she was in the state she was. I never wanted her to know any of what happened back on Earth...it wouldn't be right. But instead she lived it, which was ten times worse. Not only that but instead of it being spread out over twenty-five years, she experienced it all at once. I could only imagine how she was going to cope.

She must have sensed what I was thinking because she kissed me softly, smiling when she pulled back. "Frost, I am not some delicate flower who is going to break. I will admit, it is very surprising and in all honesty I still do not understand how you lived through it sometimes...but I will be fine with time." She then kissed me on my nose with a concerned look. "Just please promise me that you will not hold so much pain inside of you...it isn't healthy."

I chuckled. "Yeah...says you and every shrink I've ever spoken to. I'll be okay, love...I promise."

She seemed a little discontented, but nodded. "I can't make you do anything you don't want to do, Frost. Just please promise me that you will talk to us if you need to, then."

I kissed her back on the nose affectionately, and she blushed. "I will. I promise, Celly."

"Hey, I am here too!" said Luna with a pout.

I surprised the midnight-blue alicorn with a strong kiss and a brush of the tongue, making her shiver. "Better?"

She nodded and giggled. "Much."

Celestia was exhausted from the work she had to do to fix me, so she simply lay on my bed and instantly fell asleep after lowering the sun. Luna raised the moon and stood with me as I gazed at the late summer sky.

She nuzzled my neck affectionately with a concerned whimper. "What troubles you, dear Frost?"

"It's just," I started, my voice catching for a moment, "I feel like this is all too much…for any of you. I mean things were calm before I came here…but now all of you have experienced my breakdown, my death, and now my fury. I just feel like it's not fair to you all…like I'm holding you back or putting you all under unnecessary stress." I explained sadly.

She interrupted me from continuing with a kiss on my neck, making me shiver. "Frost, do not blame yourself for any of this. It was not your doing, nor did you ask for it. I know better than anypony that things happen that we simply cannot control. Whether it involves you or not, it is not your fault." She then stretched a wing over my back, warming me. "Do not blame yourself…I do not, and neither do any of the others."

Her care warmed my heart, but I still felt guilty. "I know you don't, Lulu. Still…I just feel like me being here has become more of a burden than a pleasure lately."

She sighed in annoyance and used a hoof to pull my face to look at her. "Do you know what was thinking the whole time you were back on Earth?" I shook my head. "I was thinking about how much I missed you. I knew without a doubt that you were coming back to us, and so I did not worry about that...but it hurt to be away from you, Frost." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Whatever happens, I will not leave your side…ever. When I told you I would always be here for you, I meant it. I do not intend to take back that vow." She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before gazing at me again with those beautiful blue eyes of hers. "I cannot say how the rest of them will feel or what they will do, but I will always be here. You will never be alone, and no amount of little problems like this will change my mind."

In truth I still felt guilty about the whole thing, but knowing that this beautiful mare beside me loved me this much was very comforting. Maybe it was because she had never loved before or maybe it was because I just really was that great. Call me negative, but I believed the former. Still, I enjoyed knowing that someone cared about me that much, and it gave me hope for the future again.

The night was beautiful under Luna's crescent moon, but the stress of the day was taking its toll, and I was finding it harder and harder to keep my eyes open. Luna noticed this and nudged me towards the bed, giggling softly the whole way. As soon as I lay down, two radiant white hooves wrapped around me, holding me in a tight embrace while the lovely sun princess buried her muzzle into my neck while mumbling my name.

'If this were any sweeter, I'd have diabetes.'

Luna then proceeded to kiss me on my cheek softly and stroked it with her wingtip, tickling me. "I am going to night court, and so I cannot join you Frost. However, I will return before you wake." I nodded and she left without another word.

No matter how much I fought it, sleep soon began to take over, but thankfully for the first time in a week, I fell asleep at peace.

Chapter 7: The New Enemy

You know when you get startled awake you sometimes scream random things or even literally jump out of bed? Well this morning, Celestia found out the hard way that it's not a good idea to do that with me.

So there I was, enjoying my dream when Celly decides that with it being mid-morning, it's time for me to get up...which is understandable. Of course with how tired the previous day's activities left me, I was more than a little resistant to rouse myself from the world of dreams.

"Frost..." she whispered softly, attempting to be gentle at first. I didn't move, and so again she called my name, but louder this time.

No answer...

Finally she must have gotten upset, because the next thing I know, I feel a massive shock to my horn which scares me awake.

Bad move on Celly's part.

By reflex, I cast a spell I've come to call Absolute Zero, which instantly freezes everything around me - and by everything, I mean that molten steel would probably freeze solid instantly as well. Now normally I'm able to easily control the radius of the spell, but being frightened, I instead freeze the entire room, washroom, and part of the corridor outside.

After I calm my heart from beating out of my chest, I notice that the sun princess is frozen in front of me, everything but her eyes and her tail being frozen. 'Fuck, FUCK!' I start to panic for a moment before dispelling the spell on her, thawing her out but leaving her shivering and her teeth chattering.

"F-F-Frost," she started, her shivering making her stutter badly, "w-w-w-what d-d-did you d-do t-t-t-to m-me?"

I quickly grabbed my now-thawed bedspread and wrapped it around her, then wrapped my wings around her to further insulate her. With my natural heat radiating from my core, she starts to warm up quickly. "Sorry love, you scared me. I didn't mean to, I swear."

She nodded, having nearly stopped shivering. "L-lesson l-l-learned." she said with a warm smile.

After a few kisses that made her feel better, I walked with Celestia to join her for lunch in the dining hall, along with Shining Armor, another alicorn I didn't recognize, Luna, and a dark blonde-colored unicorn with a wicked gold mane color. I took my seat across from Celestia and next to Luna, while the other three guests nodded and smiled in acknowledgment. Luna couldn't help but lean against me and nuzzle me softly, which I chuckled at. I missed it.

Unfortunately before I could tear into the wonderfully smelling meal before me, Celestia stopped me. "Frost, I want you to meet somepony, well two someponies actually."

I sighed and stood. "Yes Celestia?"

First she nodded to the unicorn I didn't recognize. "Frost, this is Enigma Flare. It was because of him that we were able to breach the ice you had sealed yourself with.

The unicorn did a short bow and smiled. "It's an honor, Prince Frostbreaker."

"Oh please, the honor's mine. Only someone truly powerful could have broken through that. In all honesty I'm surprised neither of the princesses or Twilight Sparkle could do it." I said with a smirk.

Luna rolled her eyes and looked rather frustrated. "We all tried, Frost...believe me. In the end, we heard of this young pony here." She pointed at Enigma Flare. "It was his natural - and dare I say very powerful - ability with fire magic that allowed us to get to you."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and turned to the now grinning blonde unicorn. "Really? Well, I'm curious as to just how powerful you are. You'll have to show me someday, yes?"

He nodded. "It would be a pleasure, prince."

I looked back at Celestia and she then gestured to the petite pink alicorn next to Shining Armor. "And this is my niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

Wanting to make a good first impression, I stood and bowed my head in reverence. "My lady."

She giggled and waved a hoof at me. "Please, there's no need for you to bow to me. You're a prince, after all."

I shrugged. "Maybe, but you were a princess long before I was ever a prince. Besides, it's nice to finally get to meet Shining Armor's lovely wife."

I could almost feel Shining Armor smirking at me, so I made contact with him mentally.

“So, you're married to the Princess of Love?”

“Yep.”

“Nice work.”

“I know, right?”

To the others in the room, we were simply grinning like idiots while nodding, but Luna was grinning too, so I have a feeling she knew what we were doing.

We finished lunch rather quickly and Celestia set about her duties of going through royal paperwork and whatnot, while I took flight with Luna, just soaring through the air with no particular destination in mind. It was a good feeling not to have anything of real importance to address that day, as it felt like I had worked myself to the bone for the past month (which of course wasn't really that far from the truth).

Luna and I flew around aimlessly for awhile until we decided to go visit Pinkie and get a cupcake or two, so we veered towards Sugarcube Corner and floated through the air all the way there.

Because we took our time, we arrived about fifteen minutes or so later, to find that the lunch rush was still on. When I entered, every pony turned and gasped before bowing. I rolled my eyes and simply sat at an empty booth with Luna, waiting for things to die down. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were manning (pony-ing?) the front counter, which more than likely meant Pinkie was baking up a storm in the kitchen. Mrs. Cake noticed me and waved with a big smile before continuing to keep the line moving. I was amazed at just how efficient they all were, noticing that while Mr. Cake kept the place clean, Mrs. Cake was serving orders, while Pinkie was making all the food. It was a flawless system, where a customer was only waiting up to maybe thirty seconds before their food was served after paying.

It's like they were all born to do this.

The lunch rush was cleared out by about 14:00, and Mr. Cake was cleaning up the store again while Mrs. Cake was writing something down and counting money. Pinkie walked out of the kitchen with a cute little pink apron on that had all her friends' cutie marks embroidered on the front. She smiled when she saw myself and Luna, but I found it odd that she was walking on her hind legs, as easily as if she'd always walked that way. Then again, I figured in order to do things as fast as she did, she had to have her two front hooves free.

She arrived at our table and Luna and I both ambushed her with a kiss to each cheek, which she giggled at.

She recovered quickly and hugged us both before smiling again. "Hi Frostie and Luna, it's so great to see the two of you!" She then looked at me and surprised me with a deep kiss before hugging me tightly. I heard her sniffle a bit and when she pulled away she had tears in her eyes, though she was smiling. "Frostie...I missed you so much." She leaned in and hugged me again, and this time I returned it happily. "I'm so glad you're back."

I rubbed my cheek against hers and hummed happily. "I'm glad to be back too, Pinks. I missed my little bundle of fun."

She giggled and started hopping around with pure happiness in typical Pinkie Pie fashion, and I couldn't help but chuckle at her, Luna doing the same. I guess she's not just the Element of Laughter because she laughs, but because she causes you to laugh as well. I still don't know what it is, but this quirky little pink pony always makes me smile, and I love to smile.

My thoughts were interrupted when Pinkie gasped and raced over to me, looking me in the eye with her own vivid blues. "Oh, I almost forgot! Twilight says that her, Fluttershy, and Moonfang are all gonna be at the library today. You should go see them! I know they'll be so happy to see you're back and okay."

I nodded and pulled the party pony into another hug before standing. "That's a good idea Pinkie. I'll head over there next. I'm going to be staying at the library tonight and having a small get together, because I miss everypony. Will you be able to make it?"

The happy mare smiled and nodded furiously. "Of course, Frostie! I can always make time to be with my friends. I'll come by after work today, so I guess I'll see you around 18:00 then?"

I nodded and nuzzled her again affectionately. "It's a date. I'll see you there." With that said, I headed with Luna towards the library.

As we walked through town towards Twilight's library, I couldn't help but notice how happy all the townsponies looked to see me back. It warmed my heart to feel so accepted even after everything that happened. As we were passing by the central park, I couldn't help but hear a conversation between young ponies as they got progressively closer.

"...I'm telling you, that's him!"

"No it's not, there's no way. He died, remember?"

"Nuh uh, he came back! Ms. Cherilee told me so!"

I turned around when I felt a small hoof tap my rear leg, finding myself looking at a group of five fillies and a young colt, five of which I recognized. The ones I already knew were Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, my sister (who'd taken to being called Crimson Comet), and Pipsqueak. The other one was a young grayish lavender unicorn with a bright blonde mane and tail.

Pipsqueak was the one that was tapping me and I smiled down at him. "Why hello there, young one. What can I do for you?"

He looked down and shuffled his hooves nervously. "Ummm...we were just wondering, mister..."

I raised an eyebrow, but continued to smile. "Yes?"

Pipsqueak looked up at me and smiled nervously. "Umm...is your name Frostbreaker?"

I nodded and smiled. "Yes, I'm Prince Frostbreaker."

Pip looked back at his friends and smirked. "See? I told you it was him!"

I chuckled and looked over at my sister. "I take it you didn't tell them?"

"Tell us what?" Scootaloo responded, looking very confused.

Comet simply shrugged and grinned. "Nah, I figured this'd be more fun."

Scootaloo snorted and stomped her hoof. "Tell us what?"

"That Comet's my younger sister." I explained, getting a gasp from the other five ponies.

They all stared at her, but Applebloom was the only one to speak. "Y'all are his lil' sis?"

Comet nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I thought I'd let him tell you. I figured you wouldn't believe me."

Sweetie Belle eyed me suspiciously and fearlessly walked right up to me. "You know...you look really familiar."

"Well my name used to be Steelbreaker, does that help?" I asked, grinning.

The small white filly gasped and smiled, then started hopping in place. "I knew it! I knew I recognized you!" She then turned to her friends with a wide grin. "This is the stallion I told you about! This is Rarity's friend that got her and Spike together!"

Scootaloo gasped and her mouth dropped open in shock. "S-so you're the guy that Rainbow's always talking about?"

I shrugged. "Unless she's talking about Soarin from the Wonderbolts, I hope so...otherwise I'm going to have a very strong-worded talk with her."

The young ponies talked amongst themselves for a moment and I leaned in to whisper to Luna, "Since when did I become a celebrity?"

"Since you protected Equestria from the gryphons and bolted overhead fighting your brother." she giggled out.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that would do it."

I felt a tugging on my mane and looked down to see the young lavender unicorn smiling. "Um, um mister? Can you do a really cool trick for us?"

I turned to Luna and she shrugged, and so I looked back at the young ponies and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can do something cool for you." I then stepped away from the group, far enough that the spell I was about to cast would be of no danger to them. For effect, I cast my frost aura, donned my ice armor, and let my eyes glow blue. I then began to summon my snow clouds above us, letting our area of the park get drizzled in a light snow. I could tell the young pegasus filly was about to say something, but I just shook my head as I charged the spell.

Perspective change – Luna

As I watched, I oddly felt nothing as I saw Frost charging his spell. Normally I would feel magic flowing through his horn when he was casting any spell. His ice spells were different, as he could cast them directly from his body (which was why the inhibitor ring did not work on him). As we all watched, his hooves changed from their normal grey to a bright, glowing blue – the same as his eyes. He then jumped high in the air before forcefully slamming all four hooves on the ground. The ground appeared to erupt with large spikes of ice all around him, large and sharp enough to skewer anypony that would be around him.

His power was frightening sometimes.

Just as quickly as they appeared the ice spikes melted away, revealing Frostbreaker with a change to his armor. There was now not a place on him that was not covered in a layer of thick ice. The armor itself was wrought with jagged spikes, and his helmet was now covering all but his eyes. The clouds above us then dissipated, and his armor melted against his coat, leaving a damp steely-blue stallion smiling at all of us.

The pale lavender filly was the first to approach him, nearly bounding with each step in excitement. "That was so cool! How did you do that?"

He simply smirked, responding with, "Magic, my dear."

She giggled and smiled at him. "My auntie Ditzy was right, you're fun!"

"Oh, so you're Dinky Doo! Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, young lady." he said with a warm smile.

His way of dealing with the young colts and fillies of Ponyville had convinced me that he would be a great father one day, and while I was certainly warming up to the idea, I was still apprehensive for some reason. An odd feeling whenever I would think of it seemed to tell me that now was not the time. Such a feeling warned me of Phobos' attack on us all, as well as what would happen with Frost during his battle with the gryphons. The feeling was never exact – it was no sort of future-sight – but it did offer a sort of foresight in the sense that I would know that something would happen, though I knew not what. I had learned to trust the feeling, and so for the moment I pressed the idea of foals to the back of my mind for the time being.

My thoughts to myself were interrupted by a gentle tugging on my mane, and I looked down to see young Pipsqueak with a smile on his face. "Umm…Princess Luna? Will we all get to see you again for Nightmare Night?"

I smiled and nodded at him. "Of course, Pip. I would not miss the night for the world, especially if you will be there." I couldn't help but lean down and nuzzle him softly. "I always love to see my favorite little colt."

He hugged my foreleg and smiled. "I can't wait! You're my favorite princess ever!"

Even with so many of the ponies nowadays accepting and even loving me again as their princess, Pip was special to me. It was during my first Nightmare Night that he showed a great amount of love for the holiday dedicated to me, and this in turn caused me to favor him over others. I was worried at first that choosing favorites over my subjects would be counterproductive to my "rehabilitation", but Tia advised me that she too had her favorite ponies. While she loved all her subjects, she told me that certain ones were held in higher regard than others, namely Twilight Sparkle and Spike. And so, I did not feel bad in the least that among the ponies, I too had a few I cared for more than others.

Pip soon scampered off to his friends and Frost returned to my side with a smile on his face as we continued to the library. "You know, I never realized just how popular I am around here. They act like I'm some kind of superhero or something." He then frowned a bit. "I'm not sure I really like that though. I just want to be a normal pony, really. I mean I've made my peace with my status as royalty, but I don't want to be considered some kind of super-special pony."

I flashed a smile and nodded before responding, "Yes Frost, I understand how you feel. However, the young ponies of Equestria will always need a role model of sorts. While their parents should be the predominant figure for a good pony in their lives, another one cannot hurt. You have many qualities that we all find very noble and valuable, namely your kindness and care for all around you. You are brave, loyal, humble, honest, kind, generous, and forgiving of those who have wronged you or those you care for. These are all qualities we as beings who hold the ideal of harmony in high regard should strive for. I understand your humility, but let me be perfectly clear: you are in many ways the best of what this world is, as well as the best of what Earth could be."

He smiled sheepishly and blushed a bit. "All this praise is going to give me a fat head, Luna. I don't want to turn into some overconfident prick."

Perspective change – Darkflight

Today was a normal workday in the forge, which in all honesty I enjoyed. Because I got to experiment and make new weapons and armor all the time – as well as advance the forging technologies with dragon's fire – it was less work for me and more passion. The fact that AJ said she'd be stopping by today made it even better.

I was never the kind of guy to get tied down before, but I couldn't deny it…I loved her. As shitty as it sounds, I used to break up with a girl because she wouldn't put out. Now here I was, completely in love with a girl who I hadn't even done more than make out with.

I guess this world is rubbing off on me.

What I found the most odd was that my brother – who was one of the pickiest guys I'd ever known – was jammin' with six of the most attractive and desirable mares in all of Equestria. Had I been the same guy I was back on Earth, I'd be jealous. Instead, I didn't really care. I had AJ, and she was more than enough for me…more than I deserved, really. When I thought about it, it was pretty weird how much I'd changed since I first arrived here. I couldn't deny that Drew's death had nearly everything to do with that. I remember at the funeral I made a silent promise to myself to be someone my brother would be proud to know, and feel privileged to have as a younger brother. I still had things to work on, but I was worlds better than I once was.

Mason was a previous life…I was Darkflight now.

With my new name and body, I had another chance at life…and a second chance to be a better person. It was a liberating feeling to actually be able to be proud of myself for something other than being the biggest player in town, and I liked the feeling a lot. I chuckled as I thought that save for the fact that Drew hadn't changed at all concerning personality, our lives as a whole had basically swapped. Now he was the one all the females wanted and he was the one all the stallions and colts wanted to be. It was a change – a big one – but it didn't bother me. For the first time in my life, it didn't bother me at all to admit to myself – or anyone else for that matter – that I was completely in love and completely happy with just one girl. The rest didn't matter. My family loved me, as did AJ…and that was enough.

As I was breathing my new black flame on a sword I was making for Captain Shining Armor, I heard the door open and a very familiar chuckle from behind me.

"Ya know y'all look downraht sexy when yer workin', Dark." the voice said in a familiar southern drawl.

I turned around with a wide grin to see the blonde-maned orange mare wearing a cowboy hat. "Well howdy there, cowgirl, it's always a pleasure when you're here. Come here and give your dragon a kiss."

She blushed and chuckled again before trotting over and planting a strong kiss on my own lips. I couldn't help but run my hands over her body, and as usual, I found myself admiring her figure. From what I could compare to the other mares, she was definitely feminine in form. However, upon feeling her body, I could tell she was solid muscle. Back on Earth I was put off by women like her. I could finally admit to myself now that my past self had a lot of female enemies, so I made it a point to avoid getting into relationships with women who could kick my ass. This cowmare that I held in my arms was different though. Her strength and her no-nonsense attitude was what I found so attractive. I mean sure, she knew how to play and have fun, but when it came to work she worked harder than anyone I'd ever seen before.

I released AJ from the kiss and she smiled dreamily at me. "Whooey, Dark. Ya'll know how ta treat a mare. Ah'm feelin like Ah jus' ran a race with RD."

"Yeah, I have that effect. Of course, I know other things that would leave you breathless..." I said with a smirk.

She blushed and sighed. "Ah know what yer gettin' at Dark, but Ah'm sorry…Ah'm just not ready fer that yet."

I dismissed her with a wave of my hand. "AJ I already told you, I don't mind…really. I just like teasing ya."

She nodded but still looked a little forlorn. "Are ya sure ya really don't care about that? Ah mean from what Frost told me, ya'll have left girls fer that."

"AJ, that was the past. I'm a different person now, well…a different dragon. I'm going to make sure I'm a better dragon for myself…and for you. We both deserve better, and I'm going to make sure I am better." I explained sternly. I then grinned seductively at her as I massaged her neck muscles lightly. "I mean I'm not going to lie, AJ…if you told me right now that you were ready, I'd take you in a hot second. I love you and I'm sure you can tell I am quite attracted to you. Still, it's because I love you that I can and will wait for as long as you need to. I've made the mistake of pushing a girl to do something she wasn't ready for before, and I won't make that same mistake with you. I care about you too much."

She let out the laugh I loved so much to hear and stood up to embrace me with a smirk. "Yer a big ol' softy, you know that?"

"Yeah yeah, don't tell anyone." I remarked with a grin of my own.

She dropped to the floor again and looked over at the forge, noticing the sword I was working on. "So, what's the sword for?"

I picked up the blacksteel straight sword and held it in a firm grasp. "This sword is something Celestia commissioned me to make for Captain Shining Armor. This is a very special sword for a few reasons. First of all, it's sharp enough to cut through even stone with ease." I then demonstrated by cleaving through the ceiling with blinding speed in four strokes, making a near-perfect cube of stone fall to the floor in front of me, leaving a gaping hole in the roof. "Secondly, if I've got the forging process correct, it'll never break or dull." I then handed the sword over to her and she sat down, holding it in her hooves.

Her mouth dropped open in awe and her eyes shined as she looked up at me. "It's so light. It's like Ah'm holdin' a feather."

I nodded with a grin. "That might have something to do with how strong you are, but yes, this sword is a lot lighter than normal swords, but every bit as dangerous."

She hoofed the sword back to me and eyed me with confusion. "Why did ya make somethin' like this? We don't need nothin' like this in Equestria…least not anymore."

I shrugged. "I don't know, babe, I just did what the princess asked me to." In all honesty, the fact that Princess Celestia asked me to make a weapon like this was unnerving, but it wasn't my place to question. Drew was the prince, after all, not me. Without a doubt if there was something going on, the princesses would tell him about it, and if he thought I needed to know, he'd tell me. So for the time being, I just let it go.

I then grabbed the scabbard – which I'd decorated with a dragon's head at the base breathing fire that formed into the sun on one side, and a crescent moon on the other – and AJ and I headed to the throne room next to deliver the sword.

When we got there the two celestial princesses were waiting with the Celestial Guard – personal bodyguards of the two princesses…like secret service – as well as Captain Shining Armor and his wife, Princess Cadence. AJ and I walked in to the throne room and stood in front of the two rulers of Equestria. While AJ bowed all the way to the ground, I placed a fist on my chest and bowed my head in a salute. I could feel some of the Celestial Guard glaring at me, but their looks of distaste quickly disappeared when the sun princess stepped off of her throne to me and pulled me into a hug.

"Ah, thank you so much for coming, Darkflight. I assume everything went as planned?" she asked while releasing me.

I nodded and took a knee, presenting the sword. "The sword is called Blackfang. This is the finest weapon I've ever made."

The sword was removed from my hands by a dark magenta aura as Celestia levitated it in front of her, removing it from the scabbard. She marveled at the black-as-night sword and then held it out to me. "Care to give a demonstration?"

I nodded. "With pleasure, princess." I then stood and took the sword in my hand before heading past her and into the garden, where a target range had been erected for this occasion. Logs were standing vertically in front of a stone wall, and I took a stance with the sword sheathed in my left hand and my right on the pommel. Quick as lightning, I drew the sword and whipped it horizontally to the log closest to me. The log fell over with a perfectly clean cut and I sheathed the sword.

"Very good, Darkflight. You've outdone yourself again." Celestia said with a smile.

I grinned back before responding. "You haven't seen anything yet. Shining Armor, come here please."

The mentioned captain stepped over to me and smiled. "What's up Dark?"

"Well Shining Armor, this type of sword is special. It reacts to magic, and you'll notice some rather large differences when someone such as you uses it. So please, I ask you to do a quick horizontal slice through the air from standing here." I explained.

He raised an eyebrow. "From here? I won't be able to reach the logs from here."

"Just trust me." I coaxed.

The captain shrugged before taking a stance and grabbing the sword with his magic. He held the sword against his body before quickly slicing the air from left to right horizontally. However, his jaw dropped when he noticed what happened. Instead of a normal swing through the air, a wave of energy flashed out of the blade traveling at a speed that made it difficult to see. The wave dissipated once it passed the wall, and everyone stood in awe of what happened. Then, the other two logs fell over, split in half…and so did the stone wall. I turned around to see all the guards and all the princesses staring slack-jawed in awe, and I just laughed.

"What the hay was that?" one of the guards asked.

I chuckled again and pointed at Shining Armor. "The sword he's holding is made of blacksteel. It's basically just steel heated a certain way to make it thinner and thus lighter than ever before. What made it do that, though, was a new magic flame I discovered. My black flame has the ability to absorb, store, and release magic. I used it instead of normal fire when forging the sword, and so imbued the sword with a permanent ability. When he used his magic to hold it, the sword absorbed some of it. Then when he swung the sword, he released the energy as a blade of pure energy."

Luna then stepped forward and smiled. "Amazing, Darkflight. You have truly outdone yourself."

I nodded. "I mean my black flame doesn't need to be used only for weapons. Imagine a shield or armor made that could absorb a spell, and then turn it back on the attacker. So you see, the applications are endless."

The solar princess nodded and smiled before turning to the guards. "Very well, you are all dismissed. Thank you." The guards nodded and dispersed. Once the guards left, Celestia turned to me. "I take it you wish to know why I would need such a weapon, yes?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I mean from what I understand, Equestria's pretty peaceful. That and Lux doesn't really like killing. So to answer your question, yes…I'm curious as to why you'd need a weapon this dangerous."

She nodded to me and sighed. "We have trouble in Terra, Darkflight."

"Gryphons again?" I asked.

She shook her head with a solemn expression. "No, something far worse. The enemies we face now fear nothing, and are as numerous as the stars in the sky."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "What are they, zombies?" The princesses just stared at me for a moment. "No…come on, you have got to be joking."

The princess of the night shook her head with a frown. "This is no laughing matter, Darkflight."

"How?" I asked, in utter confusion.

Perspective change – Celestia

I could put it off no longer…he had to be told, as Luna had told Frost already. With a heavy heart I sighed before continuing. "Death has power over his element and the now-lifeless bodies of beings that once lived. The life essence of these beings is no longer for this world, but the bodies have been reanimated with powerful magic and now march against the world of the living. These enemies are more dangerous than anything we have ever faced, as they do not negotiate, they do not even think…they simply kill. We are also not the only ones who will be under attack either. I have received word from the zebra tribes across the sea and even from some friendly gryphons that these undead armies are massing in numerous areas. This defilement of the corpses of beings laid to rest has thoroughly angered Lux, and so she gives her blessing to strike down and destroy these abominations. That, dear Darkflight, is why we need weapons such as this sword." I finished, pointing to the sword in his grasp.

"I swear, if Death looks like the Lich King, I'm going to flip…something. Insert vulgar word for feces there." the dragon mumbled.

Luna sighed before continuing where I left off. "I understand your apprehension, Darkflight. However, the living world will fall to Death unless we contain or kill him, banishing him to the elemental plane."

He eyed us both suspiciously. "I thought you said destroying him would cause a universal cataclysm, yada yada yada..."

I nodded. "Destroying him, yes...simply killing his mortal body, no. You have to remember, when an avatar's mortal body is destroyed, he or she is banished to the elemental plane until he or she has recovered enough strength to break through the Celestial Veil into our world, which can take several thousand years. This is why Death is massing this army. He knows we will attempt to destroy his body, and so he intends to destroy all of us instead."

He nodded. "Okay, I get it. What do we have to use against him though? I mean if what you say is true, that means we are massively outnumbered here. And if he can really resurrect any dead body like this, that means we could be fighting undead dragons by the thousands. We need something that's going to be able to defend against that."

Luna couldn't help but smirk at this. "Against an enemy such as this, the purifying blast from the Elements of Harmony is all but useless. However, we have our own weapons. You for one are one of the legendary black dragons of the unexplored northern continent."

"Wait wait wait...black dragon is kind of obvious, but legendary? Why did you make me some legendary entity of lore? And what does that even mean, exactly?" the mentioned dragon asked.

I smiled and shook my head. "We didn't. When we change the form of a being as we did you, we only choose the genus, not the exact species. Either the High Gods or even Terra herself chose to make you what you are. As far as what it means, you already know most of it. Like a gem dragon - like Spike - you can use many different types of fire breath, all having its own unique abilities. Unlike Spike, however, you can also fly. Before the first alicorns came to this world, black dragons were worshiped as gods. Last of all, black dragons are well respected in the draconic community. I cannot say if they would answer a call for aid from us, but you would be the only one who could approach them unafraid and receive instant respect, simply because of what you are."

He stared at me with a shocked expression, silent for the longest time. He swallowed hard and responded with a simple, "Wow...that's a lot to take in."

I nodded in agreement. "I apologize for springing this on you at such short notice, but I thought you should know. In addition to you, we also have your brother, the avatar of winter. Along with him, we have the avatars of night, day...and life." He looked at me confused until I pointed to Cadence, at which his eyes widened and I simply nodded. "Yes, my niece - the last pure alicorn - is the avatar of life and love."

Perspective change - Frostbreaker

What Luna told me about the undead armies and my brother had me thinking of war strategies now. Thankfully for this upcoming conflict, I could pull out all the stops because I wouldn't have to worry about casualties on the enemy's side, as they were already dead. That meant that Death, along with all my other potential enemies, was going to see just how lethal a pissed-off avatar of winter could be.

Oh...this was going to be fun.

I had been spending the day after my talk with Luna planning war tactics, as well as learning and teaching of them from Twilight. Surprisingly, Twi was very knowledgeable on the subject, which when I think about it makes sense with how many war strategy books she has. While I was honestly excited about the prospect of actually unleashing myself on an enemy that would do my loved ones harm, I held no illusions about Death. He was the avatar of death itself, and my father. His specialty is death, murder...anything having to do with killing. It was quite possible that he was far more experienced in war than I was, as well as in combat, and so I planned accordingly by hopefully overestimating my opponent.

By the looks of things, we still had plenty of time to plan, as while Death was clearly massing forces, he hadn't made any movement towards any of the populated areas of the world. This meant one of many things. He might not be as intelligent as I thought and may simply be foolhardy and arrogant. Or, perhaps he will attack all areas at once after massing enough forces, effectively overrunning our defenses. Or perhaps even scarier, he could be planning some sort of surprise attack that we would never see coming. Twilight and I had both decided that we would need to take preemptive action against the undead masses, so as to keep numbers down. That was the obvious. What I was worried about was that he was perhaps using this tactic to draw us out into the open. Still, we had to do something or many innocent ponies would die. Still, for today we were done with strategy, as both myself and Twilight had gotten headaches, and so we simply settled for cleaning up in preparation for our friends coming over.

Shortly after we had cleaned up, Rainbow Dash arrived with a full case of hard apple cider, although she completely forgot about it when she saw me. She nearly tackled me to the ground as she slammed into me, embracing me in a bone-crushing hug.

"Ugh...Frost...I missed you so much. Please don't leave us anymore, I can't take it." she sobbed into my neck. She then flung herself over my back, laying against me while still holding me tight.

I smiled and chuckled. "I love you too, my Dashie. I'm sorry I put you through so much."
I felt her shake her head while still nuzzling against the back of my neck, and she mumbled something that I couldn't hear, but she kissed the back of my neck and sighed happily. Somehow I knew that she wasn't going to be leaving my side the whole night, but in all honesty I was perfectly fine with that.

The next ones to arrive were Fluttershy, Venn, and Moonfang. All three of them embraced me at once, Fluttershy crying a bit in happiness that I was okay, and the two wolves smiling broadly. I noticed that Moonfang was now nearly completely a normal wolf, save for a last piece of his wooden skin that covered his left eye. Still, his personality was the exact same, and I noticed that he and Fluttershy were now very close. This made me happy, as I always thought they'd be perfect together. 'Now I just have to get Venn a girl and we'll be set!' Rarity and Spike walked in next, bringing even more cider...oh boy, tonight was going to be very drunkenly intense.

We all started drinking and talking while we waited for the rest to arrive, and luckily everyone arrived by about 19:00, even Ditzy, who I was happy to see. Outside of the training grounds, Ditzy and I hadn't spent a lot of time together, but she was cool and I admired her for a lot of reasons. She was a powerful and smart fighter, born to be in the military...and yet outside of the barracks, she was fun, playful, and had a good sense of humor. She about tied with Dashie as far as being a tomcolt, but it suited her well. Like my rainbow daredevil, she was every bit feminine, but was also not going to let a male best her in anything if she had a say in it.

We spent most of the night getting thoroughly drunk, while Vinyl and Pinkie pumped out some tunes for us all. In essence this was no longer a simple get together, but a party. It was all good though, because I was able to catch up with all my friends. At around 21:00, Celly and Lulu finally arrived with great big smiles on their faces. Everyone greeted them as friends, even Ditzy, and the party continued.

By the time it reached 23:00, we were all tired and either laying in bed or winding down. For the first time I wasn't joining my girls in bed just yet, as I was out on the balcony talking to Ditzy. We had a long conversation about the coming conflict before getting to more personal issues.

She was clearly intoxicated as I was having to hold her up to keep her from falling. She smiled at me and nuzzled into my mane. "Mmm...you're sho shoft, Frosht. I could just shleep with you all the time..." Suddenly she blushed at the realization that what she said could be interpreted the wrong way.

I shook my head before she could respond. "I know what you meant, Ditzy. It's okay."

She nodded and smiled, but was obviously still nervous. "Y-you know Frosht, I wish shometimes I could be your mare."

She was either completely oblivious she'd said that out loud or didn't care, but I figured just to be safe and cover all the bases, I'd contact my group and see what they all thought about her.

“Girls? What do you think of Ditzy? Would she be cool or not?”

I gained positive responses from all of them, especially Twi, which probably meant she had too much to drink. All the same, I was glad that was cleared up, so I focused on Ditzy again with a smile. "Well you know Ditzy, I would be perfectly fine having you as my mare."

She looked at me with her bright yellow eyes and smiled. "Really?"

I then leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her lips, causing her to moan a bit. She opened her eyes and looked at me with a dreamy expression before I responded, "Really."

After "inviting" Ditzy, we headed to the bed and lay down next to all my other girls. Ditzy decided to sleep right next to me while Celestia was on my right and Dash was - of course - right on my chest. I could honestly say I missed this a lot, and it gave me a warm feeling of love that I hadn't gotten anywhere else. As everypony settled in, I received a chorus of "I love you" from nearly all of them, save for Ditzy and of course Lyra, who had passed out. I relaxed quickly and smiled a large smile as sleep overtook me.

Chapter 8: A Spectrum of Changes

The next month passed very quickly, but there were quite a few things that happened. First and foremost, my mother and Big Mac got married. After two divorces, I was unsure if she was ever going to marry again, but apparently it took a guy from a different world to make her fall in love again. Good for her.

On a more serious note, the undead horde was growing. Though we did not see nor hear of them, cemeteries across the continents were being found dug up, with the bodies missing. Needless to say it was more than a little unnerving for the ponies of Equestria, so we started building up the military immediately. Ponies from everywhere began to join, most from right in Ponyville. The only friends of mine who didn't join were Fluttershy and Rarity. Because of this, we now had a formidable defense force, which was in the process of being trained by myself, Shining Armor, my brother, and others who I trusted.

Today however, something most important is happening for me and a special somepony.

Rainbow Dash and Luna somehow talked me into marriage...and today was the date that had been set. Needless to say with this being only the second marriage of an alicorn that most of the ponies in Equestria could remember, it was a momentous occasion. Thousands had poured into Ponyville, and in doing so even more joined the Equestrian Royal Military. While the gesture meant a lot to me, right now I was being dressed in my tux with one very excited Rarity.

"Oh darling, this is just so exciting! I've always dreamed of creating garments for my friends, and for royalty. I never ever thought I would be doing both at once!" she rambled.

Spike was sitting in the corner with a huge grin while Rarity did her thing. The young dragon had surpassed all expectations as far as growth was concerned. At seven feet tall, he was now taller than both myself and my brother. Being a magical ground dragon, he had become very muscular, and there was no doubt in my mind that he could easily beat any one of us when it came to strength. His spines on his back had changed as well, now becoming clear like emerald, with his eyes to match. Lucky for himself and Rarity, he was near full-grown, if not already so. I was so happy when he chose to join the military with us all, as we would have great use for his protective instinct, magic, and physical strength. With training, he could easily become one of our elite warriors on the battlefield, with very few that could match him.

I smiled as Rarity was finishing up some last-minute changes to my suit, thinking about how much things had changed in only a month. Marriage...that was not something I'd expected at first, but now that I thought about it...I was glad. I was marrying Rainbow Dash today, and once I actually thought about how much I cared about her, I was surprised I hadn't done it sooner. I only hope she was less stressed about it than I was though.

Perspective change - Rainbow Dash

Nervousness.

It wasn't something I felt often in my life. Usually, I was one of the most confident ponies around, and for good reason.

This was different though.

I was getting married...married. Married to the stallion I loved more than anypony else, and I was ecstatic. At the same time though, I was unbelievably nervous. I mean, what if I get up there and he decides he doesn't want to do this? What if I decide I didn't want to do this? So many things could happen, and the fact that I was worrying about it this much just worried me even more. It was weird to me that one thing could change the way I act so much.

My nerves were put on edge again when I heard the door to my dressing room open, revealing Luna. I had Luna to thank for all this. After all, she was the one that helped me talk Frost into it. While he definitely wanted to marry me, he wasn't the most active when it came to bringing it up. As Luna walked over to me, I felt my nerves start to dissolve, and somehow, she filled me with confidence and a feeling of calm.

She smiled warmly at me and sat on her haunches in front of me. "Dear Rainbow Dash, you look stunning. Rarity has done fine work, as always."

I nodded. "Yeah, Rare's always been great at making dresses."

She nodded in agreement before her face changed to a more serious look. "I take it you accept then what this means, right? Marriage with an alicorn, I mean."

Luna had explained to me just how much was riding on this. Marrying Frost would make me an alicorn...and in doing so would make me immortal. I remember when she spoke to me about it, she almost seemed like she was trying to talk me out of it. But no, I wanted this more than I'd ever wanted anything...even more than being a Wonderbolt. I had taken a few days to think about it of course though. I mean...living forever is a big deal after all, and I wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into. One of the things most ponies would have thought about was how they'd have to watch their family and friends grow old and die while they just kept living. I was so afraid at first of what that meant, but Luna promised me that they'd always be there with me, and that I'd never have to be alone. That was all I'd needed to hear. As much as I made it a point to be all independent and whatnot, that didn't mean I wanted to be alone. The fact that I knew that I'd never be alone again made me sure I was making the right choice.

Snapping myself out of my little reverie, I just nodded and smiled. "Yep, I've thought all about it, Luna. I'm sure about this."

She pulled me close in a hug for a moment before pulling away with a smile. "I had to be sure. Remember what I told you...you will never be alone."

I nodded and continued fitting my dress and accessories on.

Perspective change - Darkflight

My older brother...getting married.

What. The. Fuck.

I remember the day he told all of us it seemed to come out of nowhere. I mean, I know they were together and all, but it's only been a year. Then again on Earth, some people don't even last that long. I guess a year makes sense then, but still. If I were in a jealous mood - which I'm totally not - I'd be shitting myself right now. I mean not only is he getting married to the Element of Loyalty, but he's also now the envy of nearly every stallion in town...no, in Equestria.

But not that I'm jealous or anything.

I really had been wanting to pop the question to AJ, but now it seems like I need to wait. Too soon and she'll think I wouldn't have thought of the idea myself, so for now I'd just grin and bear it. I just hope she'll say yes.

Lately, I'd been training Spike in combat and such. He couldn't fly like I could, but he was a hell of a lot stronger than me, which was weird considering he didn't look it. Because of that, I'd been training him on the different types of magic fire I'd learned, as well as hand-to-hand combat. Once he got the basics down, he easily overpowered me, so instead I switched to judo, where his power would mean next to nothing. Twilight Sparkle and his marefriend Rarity had been a little apprehensive about him joining the military, but they warmed up to it eventually. Spike's pretty much grown after all, and he deserves to be able to make his own choices.

Right now, however, I had more important things to worry about. It was my job to make sure the new royal necklace, hoof caps, and crown were ready for Rainbow Dash. I decided to make it Greek-style, because something about her just screamed Greek goddess.

Maybe it was her house...

Anyway, I set about making the hoof caps first. The metal itself would be an alloy of gold and platinum, making a bright, shiny gold color. I would temper the metal with my pink flame to add strength so it wouldn't bend or melt. Lastly, I added little lightning bolts swept back on all the caps, to give it some flair.

The necklace was going to be harder. It would be completely different from the other alicorns' wear, but I still had to make sure it held a royal quality to it. From what Frost told me, she had a fighter's personality at heart, so I made the necklace into a sort of breastplate. Because it wouldn't be worn when she was actually trying to fly fast, I could make it as royal and gaudy as I wanted. I made the piece itself into a basic shape not unlike Princess Luna's, but that was where the similarities ended. I had magesteel settings put in the chest, and added a different dragon's flame for every color of the rainbow. I had to reinforce the blue to make sure it didn't melt, but after that I was done.

Lastly was the crown. I was told she wasn't much for something huge and regal, so instead I settled for a golden olive branch design with a simple sapphire on the back. As I was putting the finishing touches on the necklace, I heard the door open behind me. I turned to see Princess Celestia and immediately saluted her.

She giggled and waved me off. "At rest, sergeant." I complied and relaxed, stepping back so she could look over my work. She stepped over to the table I had set the finished pieces on and looked over them, a grin on her face. Once she came across the necklace, however, she gasped. "Darkflight, this is amazing. How did you manage this?"

I chuckled and stepped forwards. "Well, it wasn't easy princess. The blue flame is hotter than most, so I had to reinforce the setting to make sure the heat was contained. The violet was the hardest, though. The violet flame has the power to be picked up and thrown like a hardened projectile, but only affects non-living substances. This means that while it's perfectly harmless to us, it could do massive damage to a building. With that being the case, I had to imbue the setting with a white flame to create a barrier that would keep it in place."

She nodded and smiled. "You've done well again, Darkflight. I wish I could make you a prince."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah, I'm good, believe me. If the dragons wanted to make me royalty, that's different. Among ponies though, I'm good just being a regular old dragon."

"You are far from average, Darkflight. You have shown this in many ways." she stated with a smile.

Oh...if only she knew.

Perspective change - Luna

There was little to do for the few hours before the ceremony began, and so I simply sat with Rainbow Dash and a few of our friends as we waited. There was stress because of the danger looming on the horizon, but today was a happy day...and not even what was to come could ruin the joyous atmosphere. The only one who had not seemed pleased was Fluttershy. She had smiled and nodded when the marriage was announced, but I could tell it was forced. Luckily I did not have to go all the way to her cottage to get her, as she was sitting right beside me at the moment.

She had not lifted her gaze from her hooves the entire time we had been sitting, and I had to find out why. I stood and looked down at her, a smile on my face. "Dear Fluttershy, would you mind coming with me for a moment? There is something I would like to speak to you about." All her friends eyed her with curiosity, but I ignored the looks.

She seemed visibly nervous now, which was to be expected. "Um...o-okay Princess Luna." She stood and followed me down the corridor to the gardens, where I sat near a tree in the shade. Almost immediately, birds began to land around Fluttershy as she sat down in front of me. I had always found her way with animals a form of magic on its own, and it excited me to actually come across something I did not fully understand.

We sat in silence for a few tense moments before I spoke, trying to sound as gentle and inviting as possible. "Fluttershy, I know this is all making you tense." She flinched at this, but I continued. "I admit, I do not know why. Could you please tell me why this is all making you so uneasy?"

She lowered her head a bit, hiding behind her silky pink mane. "Um...I-I'm sorry...it's just..." She fell silent again.

"Just what, my little pony?" I coaxed, getting a feel for the warming tone of voice Tia was skilled with.

She closed her eyes and sighed before continuing. "I feel like once this happens, I'm never going to see Rainbow Dash again. She..." She started to tear up a bit as she swallowed hard. "She's my best friend...and I don't want to lose her. She just means so much to me, and I feel like..."

I stood up and walked over to her, wrapping her in my wing as Frost would me when if I were feeling sad. "Dear Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash is getting married to Frost. However both of them think the world of you, and neither one would ever hurt you in such a way, that much I can assure you." She looked up at me with her ocean-blue eyes and I smiled at her. "Until the day you leave this world to the great beyond, Rainbow Dash will always be your friend. That will never change."

She looked hopeful, which was better than sad. "A-are you sure?"

I nodded and smiled again at her. "I am positive. Both of them care a great deal for you...you will never be left alone."

She sighed happily and pressed herself against me, reveling in the gentle embrace of my wing. "Thank you, Princess Luna. I feel so much better now."

"You are a friend, Fluttershy. I would have you simply call me Luna, if you wish." I stated with a smile.

She nodded. "Okay Luna. Well our friends are probably wondering where we are, so we should get back."

I nodded and released the small pegasus, watching her as she walked away. It was strange that one so small could hold such love for her friends. Her kindness and care is something we all could learn from.

Perspective change - Twilight Sparkle

Everything was going wrong, and I couldn't figure out why. It was just a simple spell I was supposed to cast, but for some reason I couldn't get it right. The spell was supposed to be like a firework show, but made of magic instead of blasting powder. For some reason, whenever I'd get it to the part where it was to break into the seven colors of the rainbow, it would end up backwards, with violet first instead of red. It was a simple issue, but with everything going on it was stressing me out. It shouldn't have, but it was. I mean, it was a marriage between one of my closest friends and Frost, so I had to make sure everything was perfect.

Perfect just wasn't in the cards today it seemed.

Lucky for me, before I could stress myself out anymore, Spike walked in my room. It had been weeks since I'd seen Spike for more than a few minutes, and I missed him a lot. He was like a brother to me...and having him gone most of the time now was a big change. The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that maybe that was why I was getting stressed out so easily. There was just something about him that calmed me down. A feeling of security, and love.

I missed it so much.

"Hey Twi, how's it going?" he asked nonchalantly.

I could tell he knew I was stressed and he was just trying to make conversation, but for the moment I just let it go. I sighed and sat down, rubbing my temples with my hooves. "It's going just fantastic, Spike. The wedding is in a few hours and I just can't get this spell right."

He shrugged. "Well, maybe you're trying too hard."

I raised an eyebrow at him in a mixture of confusion and frustration. "Trying too hard? Is there such a thing?"

He nodded and walked over, sitting himself next to me. He was no longer the small little dragonling I raised from an egg. Now, he was a big powerful dragon that looked...regal. His changes to his body had given him a regal appearance...one that should be both revered, and feared. Still, to me he was my closest friend in the world, and a brother that wasn't a pony.

He smiled at me and nodded again. "Yes, there is such a thing as trying too hard. It's true that you have to focus when you're casting a spell, but if you focus too hard, you won't be able to feel it as well."

"Feel it? What are you talking about?" I asked in utter confusion.

Perspective change - Spike

I loved Twilight to death, but when she was being like this was when I would start to lose my patience. To think that a pony so smart could forget the most basic things sometimes.

I just stood behind her and massaged her shoulders lightly. "You need to relax, Twi...you're too stressed out. You're not going to be casting any spell right if you don't relax."

She huffed in frustration and lowered her head. "I'm sorry Spike...I've just got a lot on my mind is all."

Contrary to what Twilight thought about me, I was every bit as smart as she was, though it was a little against my will. When I was younger, she made it a point to have me study with her, reading, testing, and writing all sorts of things. Now that I had awakened most of my dragon abilities, I have to admit that the extra intelligence came in handy. All the same, I could now tell exactly what was wrong with her, and it was as obvious as if she had a giant sign glued to her horn.

"It's about me, isn't it?" I asked softly. She flinched a bit and I removed my hands from her, moving around to kneel in front of her. "Isn't it?"

She was silent for a long time before nodding. "I'm sorry Spike...I just miss you is all. Even with all my friends coming by all the time the library just seems so...empty. It's felt like that ever since you started sleeping over at Rarity's. I mean do you realize this is the longest time we've spent together in almost two weeks?"

She was right of course, and while I did have a good reason, it was still my fault. "Sorry Twi...the training's been keeping me pretty busy, and afterwards I want to make sure I see Rarity. I mean, you can always come visit us." It was at that moment I realized I'd made a mistake.

"Well why don't you visit me? It's like you don't even care about me anymore!" she shouted.

The fact that she felt this way just made me feel worse. I mean now that I thought about it, even Rarity had suggested I visit Twilight. Maybe I had been neglecting her more than I thought. "Look Twi, I'm sorry. Things have just been really crazy is all. I still care about you the same I always have though. Just because I'm not around as much doesn't mean I'm not still your friend."

Her expression instantly changed to one of embarrassment, and she shifted a bit before replying. "I…I'm sorry Spike. You don't deserve this...I just miss you so much. I mean, we've lived together for five years. It's just so strange not having you around anymore, and it hurts sometimes. I can't just call for you when I'm feeling sad or stressed…" she trailed off, tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes.

I stepped forward and hugged her tight, stroking her mane in a comforting way. "Twilight, I have no reason to ever leave. I'll follow you wherever you go, and that's a promise. I love Rarity a lot, but you…you're family. You're like my sister, and you come first. Just like Sweetie Belle comes first for Rarity, you come first for me. It's always going to be that way, and that's never going to change." Finally being tall enough to do so, I kissed her on her forehead and smiled as she looked up at me. "I'm going to be moving out soon, as I've begun building my own home near the forest, but you'll always know where to find me. I'd never just leave you, and now you know that."

She finally smiled, albeit through tears, and rubbed her cheek against my chest. It was weird with Twilight technically being older than me that I was the one to comfort her like this, but I just ignored the feeling. She was obviously missing me, and I realized that it was mostly my fault. She needed me, and I was going to be the best dragon I could for her.

After a few minutes of hugging, she spoke, though softly. "Spike?"

"Hmm?" I hummed in acknowledgement.

She pulled away and smiled at me. "I'm so proud of you. You've turned out to be a strong, caring dragon. I couldn't have asked for a better friend."

I chuckled and ran my fingers through her mane. "Well you could ask, but you wouldn't find one."

She rolled her eyes and giggled. "Okay Rainbow Dash."

Perspective change – Vinyl Scratch

A year…have they been together that long already? I mean it seems like yesterday that Frost came to Terra, and already he was getting married, to Rainbow Dash no less. I mean don't get me wrong, I loved the mare to death, because she was every bit as plucky as I was and was fun to boot. Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous. Yeah I know it's weird to know that Vinyl Scratch of all ponies was thinking about marriage, but still…the idea of it being with Frost made it seem a lot more awesome than normal. It's okay though, I'd have my turn with time. Besides, I was in no hurry really. I knew Frost loved me and I loved him back, and for the time being that's all that mattered.

At everypony's request, I was going to be taking care of the music at the wedding, save for the Wedding March song...that would be Tavi's responsibility. I'd already let both of the princesses listen to the music I had planned, and they were pleasantly surprised. I'd chosen a lot of ambient music for most of the wedding – which was a change for me. What really excited me was the reception though. It was going to be one hay of a party...me and Pinkie Pie were going to make sure of that.

Who knows, maybe we'd get to see the princesses dance.

The thing that was in the back of my mind was the reason why we were doing this. I mean, everypony had already heard about the monsters that were gathering all over Terra, so it wasn't like it was a secret. That's the reason I had to make sure this party went well. This party was meant to raise the spirits of everypony to make sure that whatever was to come, they'd be able to push through it. I was never one for fighting, so I instead chose to use my skills to keep up the morale of everypony in the coming days.

What worried me the most was that most of my friends were going to be going to war. Lyra had decided to stay, but most everypony else was going. Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow Dash…even Pinkie Pie had joined the military. Needless to say the two wolves and two dragons had joined as well, and while at first everypony was afraid of them, they now felt pride and courage well up within them. We thought of it this way: sure, they looked scary…but just imagine how much damage they'll do to the enemy. Lastly but certainly not least, nearly every royal was going to be fighting, with the exception of Prince Blueblood. It was going to be strange having the three princesses going to war, but they assured us that it was for us that they were doing it. Everything was coming together now, so I had to make sure I did my part too.

I was busy setting up the last of my equipment when Pinkie Pie walked over with a bright smile. "Hiya Vivi!"

The pet name was her own creation, and while it bothered me a little at first, I couldn't help but love it now. It made me feel special that my friend would come up with a unique nickname just for me, and I liked it.

I smiled and nodded back, pushing my glasses up to rest on my horn, revealing my bright crimson eyes. "Hey Pinkie, it's good to see ya girl. What are you up to?"

"Oh you know, just checking to make sure everything's going okay. I want this party to be just perfect for Dashie and Frostie, so I have to make sure that Equestria's best DJ is doing okay." she answered with a wide smile.

I grinned and raised an eyebrow at her. "You know Pinkie, any other mare might think you're flirting when you say something like that."

She smiled mischievously and hopped up on the stage beside me. "Who says I'm not?"

My mouth dropped open in shock, and I stuttered as I tried to find a response. "Um…w-wow…was not expecting that at all."

She stared at me for the longest time before bursting out laughing. Oh…oh Vivi, you should have seen your face!"

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Nice one Pinkie, good joke."

"I said your face was funny, I never said I was joking." she explained with a grin.

Yet again, I was shocked. I couldn't honestly say I didn't find the pink mare attractive on a number of levels. I mean, she was just so fun. She loved music, she was playful, and she was just all around happy. I mean who wouldn't love that? That doesn't mean I was any less surprised though that my secret crush for a number of years was actually flirting with me, and I started blushing like mad.

Having a white coat sucks sometimes.

When she saw me blushing, she started to giggle that wonderful, bubbly giggle that always made me smile. Even with my embarrassment, I couldn't help but grin as her laughs tickled my eardrums.

She placed a hoof around my neck and pulled me against her side. "Oh Vivi, you're so cute when you blush."

"N-no I'm not!" I retorted. It was weird that she could get this behavior out of me after knowing her for so many years. I mean I couldn't help but act the same way around Frost, but I'd only known him for about a year now. Pinkie was different. Everypony knew her, knew who she was, knew what she was like…but only her closest friends knew what she was really like. On the outside, she was always happy about everything and lived for the party, but recently I'd found out that inside she was just as damaged and cynical as I was. I guess her dad hanging himself would do that to her.

The day she told me that story was the day I felt a warmth and strength I'd only felt a few times before in my life. It was a sad story, but the fact that she trusted me with something so personal and so painful…it changed our relationship from that moment. I was trusted and cared for, and this was reinforced when Frost told me that only he and a few others had ever been told the story. Only a few other times in my life had I felt so special…so trusted. I mean sure, Frost told all of us everything, so there weren't any secrets with him, but somehow a pony having a secret and then trusting me enough to tell it just felt much more special. I mean I didn't have as dark a past as Pinkie did, but I have my own share of secrets…some of which not even Lyra or Tavi knew.

I bumped my rump against the fluffy-maned pony with a grin. "Well I'd be lying if I said you weren't cute too. I mean that mane…those eyes…mmm…" She blushed furiously now, the red of her cheeks showing through the pink of her coat. I did a hoof pump and giggled. "Aw yeah! Vinyl's still got it, baby!"

Pinkie giggled and bumped back against me. "Oh Vivi, you're silly!"

The next hour was pretty uneventful. Pinkie went back to making sure the wedding and reception would go off without a hitch, and Lyra had arrived shortly thereafter. We all sat on the stage just talking as the hundreds – no, thousands - of ponies started pouring in the open field. Everyone was calm until Frost's guests arrived.

Then all Tartarus broke loose.

Here in Ponyville, we had all become very comfortable and even friendly with the two dragons and two wolves, but apparently the rest of Equestria was not so open-minded. Mares and fillies were screaming, and even some colts and stallions were running as well. All of the ponies of Ponyville simply stared at the rest of them in annoyance, while I just grinned.

Perspective change – Luna

I was now galloping along with Twilight towards the field that was to be the place for the wedding, but things were taking a turn for the worse. As Moonfang, Venn, Darkflight, and Spike arrived, most of the ponies not from Ponyville were in an uproar.

When I arrived upon the scene, the four that were inadvertently causing the panic were sitting quietly away from the ponies, while Twilight and Rarity were attempting to restore order. Unfortunately, they lacked both the numbers and the presence to evoke such peace in the panicking masses.

I stood tall on the stage and cleared my throat before amplifying my voice. "SILENCE!"

Immediately all the ponies turned their eyes to me and I stepped off of the stage towards Darkflight and the other three. When I arrived, the black dragon smiled weakly at me and stood tall.

He saluted me, placing a fist on his chest and bowing slightly before standing again. "Good afternoon, Princess. I'm sorry that this happened. I was really hoping the ponies here would be more understanding."

I nodded and turned to the others. "All of you come with me please." We all headed towards the stage and stepped upon it, the group taking place around me. I looked out over the crowd as they chatted quietly amongst themselves. I amplified my voice again, albeit at a lower volume so that everypony would hear me without being afraid. "Dear ponies of Equestria, do not fret. These four pose no danger to any of you. They are personal friends of myself, Princess Celestia, and Prince Frostbreaker."

A pale brown stallion that I recognized as Filthy Rich stepped forward with a near-snarl on his face. "Princess Luna, you cannot truly expect us to believe that these four…miscreants…are friends of yours. Two ravenous dragons and two mangy wolves? It's preposterous."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't call my best dragon and three friends mangy or ravenous, thank you." said a booming baritone voice from above.

Myself and everypony else looked above to see Frostbreaker in his ice armor with a menacing aura radiating off of him. He descended and landed directly in front of the pompous foal of a stallion, causing the entire crowd to drop to a knee.

Frost rolled his eyes and sighed. "You may all stand, please." Everypony then stood again and stared in awe at the battle-ready prince. Filthy Rich stood as well, though he was now trembling in place.

"Prince Frostbreaker, I did not kn-" he attempted to explain before he was cut off by the angry alicorn.

"I don't care what you know or didn't know. The fact that you blatantly insulted three of my best friends and my brother is more than enough information, thank you." He deadpanned. The crowd gasped and he nodded. "I know you've all heard rumors about it, and so I will put the rumors to rest right now." He pointed at Darkflight with a hoof. "That dragon is my younger brother," he then gestured to Venn, "and that wolf is a friend from my world." The crowd collectively gasped again and he nodded. "Yes, you heard right, I'm not of this world. I could explain to you what I was and where I came from, but it would only frighten you. This is meant to be a day of celebration, so does anypony else have any more questions?" The crowd was silent. "Good, then on we go." The crowd calmed down and sat on the lawn in front of the stage, but Frost wasn't done yet; he pointed a hoof at Filthy Rich. "You, Mr. Rich, can leave. You aren't welcome here anymore."

The stallion in question gasped in surprise. "Y-you can't do that!"

Frost sneered at him and stood tall before him, using his very presence to intimidate the smaller stallion. "Excuse me good sir, but do you actually presume to tell me what I can and cannot do at my own bucking wedding? Now I'll say it again, leave. If you do not comply this time, I will have the guards forcibly remove you."

Defeated and humiliated, the pony gathered his family and left. A white unicorn with a stunningly styled blue mane and suit then approached Frostbreaker with a smile. "Well done, boy, well done. I'd been waiting for somepony to tell that stick-in-the-mud what was what."

"Umm, thank you sir. And you are?" Frost said with a small smile.

The pony then looked embarrassed. "Ah, forgive my lack of manners. I am Fancy Pants, father to Silver Spoon and husband to Onyx. It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Frostbreaker."

Frost smiled wide and took the unicorn's hoof and shook it. "Likewise. It's always nice to find that the rich aren't all pompous windbags."

The unicorn stallion smiled and shook his head. "Unlike Filthy Rich, I wasn't always well-to-do. I worked hard for what I have now, so that may be why I am less like that horrendous foal."

Frost nodded and continued smiling. "Well then, it will be a pleasure to have you here on one of the most important days of my life. Contrary to Filthy Rich, you are more than welcome to stay and enjoy yourself. Thank you for coming, sir." Steel then spotted me and trotted over with a smile. "Well hello, my lovely lunar goddess. How does this day find you?"

I blushed at the compliment and nuzzled him affectionately. "I am well, Frost, thank you. And how are you? That was some display you just made."

He shrugged. "I mean he was already making the whole thing a tense atmosphere, so I had to get rid of him. I'm nervous as hay right now, and you know how Dash is. She doesn't do too well with things like this as it is, so she's probably a nervous wreck at this point."

Perspective change - Celestia

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh..." rambled the nervous cyan pegasus.

Call it my innate mischievousness, but I couldn't help but grin at first when she was doing this. By now, however, it had not abated, and she had been doing it for over an hour. In another twenty minutes, she would need to be ready to walk down the aisle...so I had to put a stop to it. Coaxing hadn't worked, yelling wouldn't work...so that really only left me one option besides sealing her mouth shut.

I mean if Luna could do it, surely I could.

As Rainbow Dash turned around to walk towards me again, I grabbed her face in my hooves and kissed her the same I would Frost, full and on the lips. Her eyes shot open in surprise and I released her.

Well, she was no longer rambling at least.

"W-w-what w-was that f-for?" she asked, her voice shaky and utterly confused.

I sighed. "To get you to calm down." I then sat next to her and rubbed her back softly with a hoof, taking care to avoid her wings. "Rainbow Dash, you are ready for this...I promise you. Do you love Frostbreaker?" She nodded. "And do you want to spend your life with him?" She nodded again and I smiled warmly at her. "Then you're ready."

She looked up at me curiously. "A-are you sure?"

"Rainbow Dash, you have made it through his coma, his death, and his corruption. You have been able to handle those with relative ease. All a marriage says is that even through all that, you still love him and want to spend your life with him." I finished with a gentle brush of her mane.

She smiled softly and nodded, heading towards the tent that would "hide" her until she was to walk up the aisle. Before she left the doors, however, she looked back at me with a grin. "Thanks, Celestia."

Perspective change - Frostbreaker

It was finally time, so I stood up on the stage with my brother, Venn, and Moonfang, waiting for Dash. I marveled at the tux Rarity had made me, quite pleased that she had it so perfect with both my tastes and the color...but then again, she was Rarity after all. I could see my mother in the front row leaning against Big Mac, bawling by now. My sister however felt the need to make stupid faces in an attempt to get me to laugh, and she almost succeeded.

I was thankful that luckily a marriage here seemed to be pretty much the same as the ones on Earth, save that apparently there were no need for vows, as they were to be done in private after the reception. I was thankful of this, because I wouldn't be able to say my vow in front of thousands of ponies, most of whom I didn't even know.

I must have been zoning off, as I felt my brother jab my side with a spiked elbow. I glared at him before he nodded towards the small tent set at the other end of the aisle. The music had already been playing and I wasn't sure how I'd missed it, but I looked to the tent just in time to see Dash step out of it.

By every god everywhere in every dimension...she was beautiful.

The gown she wore was made of the brightest white fabric, and I could swear it was glowing. However, the end that was supposed to trail must have been enchanted or something, because it swayed softly in the wind, like Celly's tail and mane did. When she walked, the fabric shimmered as if it were imbued with rainbows, and the dress itself draped over her figure perfectly. I'd have to remember to thank Rarity for such a beautiful dress.

I couldn't see through the veil over my bride-to-be's face, but I could tell she was smiling. I felt a surge of energy behind me, and I could tell Celestia had teleported there, but I kept my gaze focused on Dash. After what felt like an eternity, she was now standing on the stage in front of me. We smiled at each other and then turned to the sun princess, who smiled back at us.

The princess cleared her throat and stood tall, amplifying her voice so that all could hear. "Dear ponies, we come here to celebrate the union of two lives becoming one. This union was wrought from struggle, some pain, but most of all...from love. May we all strive for the connection these two have found, and may we all find it." She then turned to Dash and smiled. "Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty...do you solemnly swear to love and protect dear Frostbreaker, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

Dash nodded without hesitation. "I do, princess."

Celestia nodded and turned to me, her grin getting even wider. "Prince Frostbreaker; Element of the Guardian, avatar of winter...do you solemnly swear to love and protect Rainbow Dash, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

I nodded as well. "I do, Celestia."

She then closed her eyes and raised her wings, Luna taking place beside her and doing the same. Both of their horns began to glow and their power encompassed both myself and Dash. The feeling was warm, comforting, and tingly. I could swear I heard Dash giggling (she's very ticklish). The light became so intense, but not so intense I had to shield my eyes. After the light began to die down, I looked over at Dash, to notice that she was now a giant ball of light with a cyan and gold beam connecting the two of us. Before my eyes, the light began to take shape. As the shape began to become more defined, I saw that it was as tall as Luna, with a long flowing mane and tail like the rest of us. The figure spread its wings, immediately dissipating the light.

Standing in front of me was Rainbow Dash. Save for being taller and more muscular, she was every bit the same she always was, save for her longer tail and mane...and the new magic horn sticking out of her forehead. Through some sort of spell that Luna had used, she was wearing her royal necklace and such, and so was I.

Celestia then raised her wings and smiled at the both of us before looking out over the crowd. "Citizens of Equestria, I present to you Prince Frostbreaker and Princess Rainbow Dash!"

The cloud roared with applause, and that's when I saw a slew of magical rockets shoot into the sky, and I could spot Twilight with a strained face, her horn glowing brightly. Looking up at the sky, the rockets burst into the usual firework displays. One of a starburst, one of a palm tree effect, and another of the "sparkling" effect. The last one, however, was different. The last rocket was a massive multi-colored ball of energy that was spectacular to watch, but all my awe increased tenfold when it exploded. The design was my cutie mark with Dashie's inside of a heart, and lastly backed by a massive magic rainbow.

I heard a gasp beside me and looked to see Dash with her mouth hanging open. "Sh-she made a rainbow with magic? H-how is that even possible?"

I kissed her on the cheek and wrapped a wing around my new bride. "It's Twilight, Dashie. If it's magic and it's physically possible to do, she'll find a way."

She smiled and planted a kiss on my lips, lingering for a moment before pulling away and looking deep into my eyes. I noticed a new power within her, and with her ability to use magic now, I was sure she was going to be quite the fighter in the war to come. She smiled at me and nuzzled my neck, giggling a bit. "I love you, Frost."

I leaned against her a bit, enjoying the feel of her coat against mine. "I love you too, my princess."

Chapter 9: Reception Reunion

Perspective change - Rainbow Dash

This is going to take some getting used to...

Not the princess part, as I'd already made my peace with that. No...the 'new body' part. I mean, going from four feet tall up to six and a half...it's a pain. Let's just say that I'd be looking rather stupid tripping all over myself were it not for Frost standing right next to me during this reception. A good thing is that I don't have to stand on my rear legs just to hug Frost anymore, so that's a plus.

The good news is that I can fly just as easy, if not easier. I couldn't help but show off a bit, feeling awesome with my new long mane and tail flowing in the wind behind me. Maybe I can't walk all that great yet, but I was born for flying, no matter what body I have. I noticed that now I leave a soft rainbow contrail in my wake, even if I'm not performing a Sonic Rainboom.

Oh yeah...I'm still awesome.

After a few minutes of letting Frost entertain the guests, I landed next to him, stumbling a bit as I did so. He pressed up against me to offer support, and I nodded in thanks.

"Ugh...how do you get around so easily? I mean, these legs are so long...it's like I'm walking on tree trunks!" I said out loud.

He chuckled and smiled at me. "Remember Dashie, you're talking to a guy that used to use only two legs for walking...and used to have hands. It took about a whole week of practice before I was comfortable with it. Luckily for you, you already know how to walk on four legs, so all you have to account for is the change in stature. Take your time with it, and I'm sure you'll have it down by the end of the day." He then grinned and motioned to a gathering a ways away. "On a lighter note, Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot are here. Want to go say hi?"

I tried to act cool, but I couldn't help but let out a little fanmare squeal quietly. "Would I ever! Come on, Frost, let's go!" He chuckled and walked slowly with me through the crowd towards where the Wonderbolts were.

As we wormed our way around the many ponies, greeting and smiling to them as we passed, Spitfire noticed us right away. I mean I was double the size of the average pony, and Frost was even taller than me.

"Oh! Your highnesses!" she greeted with excitement. I have to admit, it was a little weird getting such a response out of my long-time idol, but I played it cool and soon we were standing in front of her. As I expected, she bowed and I just nodded politely as she did so. Once she stood, I saw probably the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face. She looked at me and gasped. "Hey, you're the same pony that saved us a few years ago during the Best Young Fliers' Competition, aren't you?"

I nodded and grinned warmly. "Yep, that's me."

"And now you're a princess? Wow...that's intense. Well, it's a pleasure." she said politely, though I could tell she was a little nervous. This was also weird for me. You see, I had always seen Spitfire as the most confident pegasus I'd ever seen. I spent most of my life learning to fly like her...wanting to be her, so this was odd to see her acting so nervously.

I decided I was going to find out what this was all about, so I nodded to Frost before turning back to Spitfire. "Hey Spitfire, do you mind if we talk in private for a moment?"

She was a little surprised, but nodded all the same. "Um...sure." She turned to the other two ponies in her group and smiled. "Hey guys, I'll be back in just a sec, okay?" They nodded and I led Spitfire off behind the building, where it was just the two of us.

When we got there, I could swear I saw sweat beading on her forehead. "Umm...I have to ask, Spitfire...why so nervous?"

She cringed a little when I asked her this, but she took a few breaths and settled herself into a sitting position. "Let me guess, you're going to try and use your royal push now to try and weasel your way into the Wonderbolts, right? Well that's why I'm nervous, because I have to tell you no. You see, we can't just let anypon-"

I cut her off with a gasp. "Wait a minute, you think that's what me wanting to hang around you is about? I have to be honest, I'm a little offended you think I'd pull something like that."

She looked embarrassed now, and afraid. "Oh, by Celestia, I swear I didn't mean it to come out that way. Please forgive me, princess..."

She was shaking now in fear, so I softly placed a hoof on one of hers, and she instantly stopped. She looked up at me and I tried to copy the same warm smile Celestia would always give us when we were sad or worried. It must have worked, because she calmed down. "Look Spitfire, I'm not all 'wrath and anger' here...I'm just not that kind of pony, and I'm not going to be that kind of princess either. First of all, you don't need to be nervous around me at all. I mean," I let out a small sigh before continuing, "do you even know how much I trained to be able to fly the way you do? I mean, you're my bucking idol! Princess or not, that hasn't changed at all. I still look up to you a lot, and you'll always be what I shoot for." She blushed a bit at this, so I smiled again before continuing. "Something you need to know about me is that I have a lot of pride in my abilities, but only because I've worked so darn hard to get to where I am. Simply being given a spot on the Wonderbolts just because I'm royalty would make me feel cheated. No...if I get into the Wonderbolts with you someday, I want it to be fair and square, just like every other pony."

She finally relaxed and let out a breath she'd been holding. "Whew...that's a big load off of my chest. I'm so happy you're not like most of the nobles, all wanting things given to them simply because they're upper class."

I shook my head and smiled. "No, I'm not...and Frost is the same way. Both of us grew up having to work for what we have, and I prefer it that way. If I get something handed to me for free, I feel like I don't deserve it."

Spitfire smirked at me and stood, flapping her wings to float so she could look at me eye-level. "Well after this whole thing with Death is over, I think you've earned a shot to try out and put your skills to the test. I mean, you are known as the fastest thing in the air, and you did save our lives at the Best Young Fliers' Competition. Whaddaya say?"

I couldn't help but feel giddy and giggle a bit, but quickly composed myself and nodded furiously. "That would be great, Spitfire. I don't want you to go easy on me though. When I finish, win or lose, I want to know that I was judged fairly, and that I gave it my all to get through it. Deal?"

She nodded and grabbed my hoof, shaking it firmly. "Deal." She then smirked again, nodding towards the crowd that surrounded Frost. "So...what's he like?"

I raised an eyebrow, confused. "What do you mean by 'what's he like'?" She raised her eyebrows twice suggestively, and I blushed in realization. "O-oh, umm...wow. I wasn't expecting that question at all."

She giggled and nudged me with her shoulder as we sat side-by-side. "S-sorry, I was just curious is all. I mean he is from another world, and I've heard quite a few rumors about him."

I looked at her, confused. "What kind of rumors?"

"I'm sorry...you don't have to answer if you don't want to." she added quickly.

I shook my head and smiled. "Nah, we're both grown mares here. No harm in a little question like that. So what rumors did you hear? I'll confirm or refute them for ya."

"Well...one says that he uses his horn to..." she trailed off bashfully.

I giggled and shook my head. "Untrue...although he does use a lot of magic."

She nodded. "How about orally? I've heard he's about as gifted with that as he is with ice magic."

The question set off a little pleasurable twinge in me as memories surged forth. I smiled dreamily and nodded, blushing a bit. "Oh yeah, that's true."

"What about that he can please six mares all at once?" Spitfire asked, blushing herself now.
I giggled at the memory and shrugged. "Well, that was only one time, and he was pretty drained from it. I mean he's a hay of a stallion all right, but he's not all-powerful." I then looked at her in curiosity. "Why all the questions, if I might ask? Aren't you and Soarin..."

She gasped and looked nervous again. "You know about that?"

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Of course I know about that. I mean I only saw you two kiss once, and that was in private. Still...friends - drunk or sober - do not kiss like that." She looked nervous still, so I placed a hoof on her shoulder and smiled at her. "Don't worry Spitfire, my lips are sealed. I don’t know why you want to keep it a secret, but I'm not going to tell anypony about it either."

She breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, motioning back to the party. "Well thanks for that, Rainbow Dash. What do you say we get back to the party, eh?"

I nodded and flew back with her to the reception.

Perspective change - Luna

I could not help but smile non-stop at the reception party for Frostbreaker and Rainbow Dash. Part of it was because of the joyous occasion in itself, while the other part was because of the bride's awkwardness with ponies bowing to her, as well as the obvious awkwardness with her new body. Tia, myself, and Twilight all stayed seated on three makeshift thrones, Twilight between Tia and I. Thankfully even with all the ponies that attended, only the ones not from Ponyville or Canterlot made it a point to attempt to flatter Tia or myself, so most of the party was rather quiet for the three of us, which was just how I liked it.

Suddenly, during the gift-giving portion of the party, I felt something was off for some reason. I couldn't explain it, but something just felt...wrong somehow. Like a foreboding feeling that something was going to happen, though I knew not what. I had always had a good sense of things like this, so I chose to follow the feeling and made contact with Tia.

“Sister...something is amiss.”

“What do you speak of Luna? The party is going wonderfully.”

“Yes, it is...but that is not what I speak of. Or perhaps it is...I do not know.”

“Luna? What's wrong?”

“I do not know, sister...but I feel like something is going to happen. I know not what, but the feeling is strong and all around me.”

“...Very well, Luna...I trust your instincts. Gather the guard. I will make contact with all the Elements and advise them of this. Meet me back here in a few minutes.”

“Understood, sister. Be careful.”

“You as well, Luna.”

Perspective change - Frostbreaker

I noticed an uneasy expression on both Luna and Celly's faces as they got up to do something, but my answer was given to me as Celestia made contact with me.

“Frost...Luna feels there is something amiss here. I need you to fly with Rainbow Dash overhead and try and spot if anything is coming this way, or if you see anything out of the ordinary.”

“Understood, Celestia. Will do.”

Rainbow Dash had just returned with Spitfire, and I could tell she knew something was wrong as soon as she looked at me. I spoke first, so as to avoid any questions.

"Hey Dash, care to take a short flight with me?" I asked, faking a smile.

The smile fooled the ponies around us, but Dash knew me too well for it to fool her. She faked a smile as well, then nodded. "Alright Frost. Let's go!" With a strong flap of our wings, we were soon high above everypony. We both landed on a small cloud floating overhead, and when Dash saw we were alone, she looked at me worried. "Okay Frost, what's up?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I'm not sure, Dashie. Celly just told me that Luna feels something is going to happen here, but we don't know what. Celestia asked me to take you and scout the skies, looking for anything out of the ordinary on the ground."

She gasped, obviously thinking the same thing I was. "Do you think..."

I nodded. "Think about it for a second: large open space with a whole lot of ponies all in one place, along with both princesses, me, and all the Elements of Harmony...it's a definite possibility."

"How do you figure?" she asked, now worried even more.

I sighed and hung my head low for a moment in realization. "Because it's what I would do." I stood up again and traded my worried look for a stern one. "Dash, I need you to get the other girls to help and get everypony out of here. Move them to the Whitetail Wood, and have Fluttershy look after them. I'll make contact with the rest and tell them to meet us all back here. now go!" She nodded and sped off, using her superior speed to quickly round everypony up and start herding them off to the forest.

I looked towards the Everfree Forest, noticing a great number of birds flying away from the treetops as something disturbed them from their roosts. I clenched my jaw and summoned my ice armor.

So it begins...

Perspective change - Twilight Sparkle

Thanks to the training I'd done in military tactics, I'd already planned for just such an attack, so I had all the guards as well as my friends don their armor and weapons that I'd made sure was brought with us. Yes...with the coming conflict, Darkflight had created armor and arms for all of us who would be fighting in it, including myself.

My 'armor' was actually a scaled robe, made of what Darkflight called pseudo-dragon skin. Oddly enough, the robe actually did look like dragon scales, but was made of an alloy of magesteel and titanium that was very light, so as not to impede my movement. It was colored black with silver trim, and it seemed to glow with an ominous energy.

Applejack wore full plated armor, suited for her head-on attack tactics. She looked downright frightening, but she was every bit the kind friend we knew her as. Her armor was bright red with bronze trim, and an imprint of her cutie mark was on either side of the flank.

Lyra wore a robe like mine, except hers was colored silver, with turquoise trim. I was surprised that she had chosen to join, but brushed the thought off. We were going to need all the help we could get.

Pinkie was the biggest surprise so far. First of all, I had never expected her to even be in this conflict as a fighter. The largest surprise was her armor and arms, however. Pinkie had trained to fight on two legs instead of four, and was incredibly talented at it. She wore leggings and a shirt made of something akin to leather, but then I saw her mane. Her mane was straight, and a determined and serious look was in her eyes. On her back she wore a very large mace, spiked with a long chain attached to it, anchoring it to her at her wrist by a steel bracer. I had never been downright scared of Pinkie Pie before...but there's a first for everything.

My brother and all the guards had already arrived dressed in their best armor, but the last to arrive was the five royals. I had never seen either of the princesses or Cadence in battle armor before, but the sight was breathtaking.

Celestia was in full golden armor that covered every inch of her, with a pair of axes on her back. Her mane and tail had been braided tightly so as to keep them from impeding her during battle, and her entire form was glowing with a golden fiery aura.

Luna was a completely different story altogether. She wore nothing but a solid black cloak and bracers as far as armor went, but when she shifted I could see a wide array of throwing knives, daggers, and two small swords tucked in a belt around her waist. Her mane and tail had somehow been magically shortened, and they held tight against her body. Had the situation not been dire, I would have told her she looked downright amazing.

Last of the princesses was Cadence, and she wore bright silver armor. Her armor was separated into several plates, and although it was clearly strong, it seemed to be somewhat lacking as far as protection went. I assumed that she would be outfitted for something other than direct fighting, so I let the thought go for now.

The next to arrive was Rainbow Dash and Frost, who came from the palace. Frost was wearing the icy armor he preferred to anything else, as well as two black swords labeled "Void" and "Abyss". Rainbow Dash's armor had been reforged and refitted to accommodate her new body size. She looked absolutely incredible in it, as the sunlight of midday made the armor shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow. She had been fitted with two forearm blades, as well as blades on her wing tips.

With all of us gathered, we waited for the enemy to arrive. It didn't take long, as we could start to see movement from within the trees of Everfree Forest, as well as several animals and even a manticore come scampering out in fear.

"Get ready!" Frost yelled to us all, and I noted that two familiar wolves - now clad in full armor with a sword and shield each - stood next to him at the front.

We all readied ourselves for attack, but then the area became unnervingly quiet. The only sound was each other's breathing, and it started to scare me. Suddenly, however, I saw Frost tense up as a lone figure stepped out from the treeline.

It was a tall alicorn stallion, pure black with pale silver eyes. His mane and tail were a very dark red - the color of blood.

Frost stepped forward towards the stallion, meeting him midfield, and the two began to speak, being only a few paces away from each other.

Perspective change - Frostbreaker

I stood a few paces away from the stallion, restraining myself from lunging at him and killing him right there and then. Something told me that would be very stupid, so I followed my instincts and stayed put.

"Ah Drew, it's been so long since I've seen you. What has it been, a month? My, how time flies." he stated smugly. "By the way, wonderful wedding. So sorry I had to crash it, but duty calls. You know how it is."

I wasn't sure what kind of mind game he was trying to play, so I just kept my mind cool and my expression unreadable. "What do you want, Death?"

He snorted in a short laugh, then smirked again. "Well I think it's obvious, don't you? I want Terra, my dear boy."

"Why? What do you gain from ruling over this planet?" I asked, still holding a stoic face.

He shook his head and grinned. "Why, what anyone gains by ruling...power. Surely that bitch of a mother taught you that much."

I had to restrain from flinching at his remark, but instead grinned as well. "Well, I hope you don't mind being banished to the elemental plane for a few thousand years then. You've overstepped your bounds, Death...and you're going to be punished for it if you don't back down."

He frowned in mock offense. "Now, is that any way to talk to your father?"

I growled and glared at him. "You're not my father. I don't give a shit if you planted me in my mother's womb...that doesn't make you my father."

"You forget, boy...I need you." he said before grinning menacingly and looking at the ponies behind me. "I don't, however, need them."

He blinked, and before any of us could react, seven skeletal gryphons leapt from the ground and tore into the nearest guard, nearly instantly killing each one. My friends got a hold of the situation quickly, however, and dispatched the undead horrors.

"DEATH! YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR TRESPASSES!" shouted a loud voice from behind me.
I turned to see a tall pink alicorn with a long flowing mane of crimson. I was confused at first until I recognized the armor it was wearing.

It was Cadence's armor.

"Life? No, this is not possible. How?" Death responded, with just a bit of fear in his voice. He turned back to me and growled, "You got lucky, boy. I will return, however...and next time I'll make you wish you were dead." He disappeared in a flash of light, and the area was suddenly teeming with the sound and feeling of life again.

I turned to look at the damage, noticing that five guards - four stallions and one mare - had been killed by the undead before we could react, but luckily other than some scrapes and a bruise, the rest were unharmed. I did recognize one of the guards, however...

"Brightwing...no..." I mouthed in a whisper.

I could see Twilight looking a little green before running off, Lyra with a similar expression right behind her. I walked up to the avatar of life and nodded.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Life. I do wish it were under other circumstances, however." I stated solemnly.

The glowing avatar nodded and let loose a tear as she looked at the five dead ponies. "I agree. I wish it did not have to come to this, but Death was always the greedy one of the two of us." She sighed and lowered her head in shame. "I am sorry all of you have been drawn into this."

I shook my head and tentatively placed a hoof around her shoulder in an effort to comfort her. "Life, it's not your fault. Your brother would have escaped his imprisonment eventually, and because he controls one of the elements of nature, we can't simply destroy him. We're all in this together, and we're all going to get out of it together."

Life looked at me and smiled, nodding. "You are right, thank you for that, Winter." She stood proudly again and smiled. "Well so long as Death knows I am around, he will not attack Equestria. It is safe to assume until he figures out a way around me, he's going to stay quiet for awhile." She then motioned to Celestia, Luna, and me. "The three of you will need to make contact and keep in contact with all of the other territories and provinces throughout Terra, so that we can track Death's movements. Though they are not a part of Equestria, the rulers will need assistance if Death decides to attack them to get to us. We must be ready for that."

I nodded and sighed, the adrenaline of the near-battle wearing off. "Understood. Well, we should all rest and recuperate then...as well as prepare a memorial for these five that have sacrificed themselves. We must be sure that it was not in vain, though."

Life nodded. "If it is no trouble, I would prefer if I were to be the one to do it. I wish to imbue the bodies so that they cannot be raised against us."

I nodded again and smiled. "Good idea. The rest of us are going to get some rest. Life, you know how to get ahold of us should you need us. Don't have Cadence back home to Shining Armor too late, now." I then gasped and facehooved. "Ah crap, I just remembered that Cadence is about to enter a coma because of your awakening." Life seemed worried at first, but I waved a hoof off. "Don't worry, Death won't know that. I placed a hold on my memories when I first felt myself invaded by him in my mind, so thankfully he'll be none the wiser. All the same, we are still vulnerable, so make sure to tell Cadence everything you know while she's out, okay?"

Life nodded and smiled back at me. "Yes, I will. Thank you, Winter."

Ugh...what a day.

Chapter 10: Lost, but not Gone

What a way to ruin what was supposed to be a great day. I mean, my righteous tool of a father just had to come and fuck shit up. You know when you're watching a good movie and they always have that bad guy you just love to hate?

Yeah...well that's him.

Now that the guests and the rest of our friends and family had been herded out of the Whitetail Wood, the reception began again. No pony save for family were told what had happened, so the party continued as if nothing had happened. I knew though...and although I tried my best to keep up a brave face for everyone, I found my resolve slipping slowly but surely. Eventually, I had to excuse myself.

I was resting on some icy cirrus clouds some twenty or thirty-thousand feet above everyone, using the relaxing chill to ease my mind. It was working up until I heard powerful wingbeats from below, which could only be Dash, Celly, or Lulu...none of which I wanted to see right now. As unlike me as it was, I would rather wallow in self pity at the moment. I mean, I was right there in front of that knob-jockey...but I didn't even do anything. I don't even know why...I just stood there.

"Frost? Frost, what's going on?" she said. It was Rainbow Dash. I mean, of course it was her...I did just leave her alone at our own reception...which just made me feel more shitty.

I hung my head in shame and sighed. "I'm really sorry about just leaving you, Dashie. Really...I am."

She shook her head and sighed. "It does bother me a little, but I'm more worried about you. I mean, for you to just bail and go off by yourself...it's not like you. So I'm going to ask you again: what's going on?"

I fixed a stern gaze off into the open air and took a shaky breath. "They're dead, Dash. Those five ponies are dead...and I just stood there." I dug deep inside myself and let the powerful black armor cover me...feeling the power that came with it. I sighed and turned to look at my beautiful Dash. "I mean look at this...I don't deserve it. It would have been different if I'd been fighting Death and they died in the crossfire...but I just stood there, and didn't do a damn thing. What the hell kind of Guardian does that?" I dissipated the armor in a flash, and felt with it a slight weariness.

Dash stepped forward and kissed my forehead softly as she sat beside me and slung a foreleg around my shoulder. "The kind of Guardian that does that is one that knows what he's doing, and knows that it would have been stupid to just attack the force of death on a whim." She then used her free hoof to turn my face to look at her. "You want to make sure they didn't die for no reason? Then you're going to train and get stronger, like we all are. You're going to make sure that whoever dies in this war doesn't do it for no reason." She let a silent tear fall as she gazed into my eyes. "Brightwing believed in you, Frost. If you want to honor his memory, fight for what he believed in. Fight for Equestria...and for yourself." She then smiled and kissed me softly. "We'll all be behind you the whole way, Frost. Until the day we die, we'll stand behind you."

It was then that I had a second wind of sorts, and saw things for what they really were. Dash was right...about everything. She was right about me, and about what I need to do. I don't know whether it was becoming an alicorn or something else, but she seemed wiser...and more experienced. It just made me love her all the more.

I placed a hoof on her cheek and kissed her deeply, looking into my bride's beautiful rosy eyes. "Thanks, Dashie. I love you so much."

She giggled and shoved me lightly. "I love you too, you big softy. Now come on, we have ponies to dazzle!"

I nodded and we took flight, each going into a steep dive.

Perspective change - Venn

I was worried about Frost...a lot. I mean, from what I've heard and what I know about him, he probably doesn't take death too well. He wasn't as close to Brightwing as he is with his mares, but the stallion was still a close friend to both of us, and I'm gonna miss him.

I'd always found it strange that I had such a unique mind, even back on Earth. For example, while the rest of my pack wanted to just hunt and live simply, I always wanted more than that. Looking back, it doesn't make sense. Wolves are supposed to be just animals of instinct...but I thought like a human did. I guess that's why when I found this weird human named Drew out in the middle of the frozen tundra, I was drawn to him.

For Moonfang, it had been different. I mean the guy is awesome and all, but I still don't understand why Frost did for him what he did. Moonfang has told me a few times already about how simple his mind was before Frost changed him, but I couldn't say I had that same experience.

As a wolf that had the intelligence of a human, but couldn't talk, I was destined to sit around and wonder if there was more to life than just hunting and surviving.

And then I met Drew.

I guess that's why I was worried so much about him. Frost gave me a new life in a place that I didn't have to just survive...I could live. And so, he wasn't just a friend to me...he was like a father almost. I mean, I knew that was far from the case, but that's often what it felt like when I thought about what he's done for me. More than that, though, he was a brother to me.

I don't know what this war coming up was going to do to Equestria or where it was going to take me, but I knew for sure that I was going to fight for everyone's safety, and the continuation of this world that I've come to love.

I looked up at the clouds in time to see two blurs hurtling towards the ground. I was about to cry out in panic when a tremendous noise caused me to duck in fear.

Perspective change - Ditzy Doo

A burst of color...that's all that I was staring at now. One dazzling white, the other a rainbow. The entire crowd was staring up at the sky as two glowing forms danced through the sky around each other, putting on an amazing display of color and skill.

I of course knew it was Rainbow Dash and Frost, but that didn't stop me from staring with my mouth wide open. It was the first time I'd ever seen Frost perform...whatever it was he called that boom-thing, but to see both of them flying at supersonic speed around each other...it was breathtaking. I mean, I'm not the most sappy mare out there, but it was really beautiful to see.

A familiar colt made his way to me, also looking up at the sky with a smirk. He shook out his multi-hued gold mane and looked at me with a smile. "Just figures they both had to show off to everypony, huh?"

I giggled and nodded. "Yeah. I mean come on, the Wonderbolts are here. I knew that Rainbow Dash wouldn't be able to help herself...and of course Frost is always more than happy to have fun too." I then turned to the colt and raised an eyebrow. "So, have you decided yet?"

He shrugged. "I mean I can't say my opinion is all that great, but it's getting better with time. I'm always more than happy to train with you though."
I nodded softly and smiled. "Always happy to have your help, Flare." I then smirked. "So...when are you going to get hooked up with a filly?"

He flinched a bit. "Umm...I'm not really interested at the moment..."

"Ah come on, Flare. I know you're not into colts, so there's got to be some special filly you have your eye on." I said with a grin.

He shuffled his feet a bit. "Well...there is one pony..."

I clapped my front hooves together in excitement. "Ooh, tell me, tell me!"

He looked even more nervous now. "Well, it's T..." he said, trailing off.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that, Flare. Speak up a bit."

He sighed and closed his eyes. "It's Trixie, okay?"

I gasped by accident, instantly regretting it as I saw him glare at me. "Oh...I-I'm sorry, Flare. It's just that...well...you know what happened here with her, and no one's seen her in over a year."

He nodded, but still held his glare. "Yeah, I know that...but don't you think all the ponies were a little hard on her? I mean sure, she was pretty arrogant...but running her out of town and ruining her livelihood was messed up." He dropped the glare and actually looked a little sad now. "It wasn't fair to her. I just wish we could find her and make sure she was okay and all."

I grinned. "Well...you know I am a guard, as well as a corporal in the military. That means that I have connections that might be able to help with that."

The colt smiled wide at me. "Really? You could do that?"

I nodded. "Look Flare, in all honesty, I agree with you. What was done to her was not fair at all...and if you want to find her, I'll help you out." His smile got even wider and he lunged at me. Luckily I caught him with a hoof before he could touch me. "Easy there, cowcolt. Ixnay on the ughay."

He smiled sheepishly. "Heh, sorry about that. I just got really excited is all. So, um...when do we start?"

"How about tomorrow? I'm not doing anything." I said with a shrug.

He nodded furiously. "Sounds great! I'll meet you at the barracks at 8:00!"

As the colt walked away, I couldn't help but regret my decision.

What had I gotten myself into?

Perspective change - Lyra

Way too much fun was what I was having. I mean come on, Vinyl and Pinkie put this party together, so I knew it would be fun...but still...this tops all my expectations. I mean, great music, alcohol, and awesome snacks. It's like going to the club with Vinyl, but even better! And I don't have to feel bad about thinking that either, since Vinyl is the one playing the music. I danced with Pinkie (who, by the way, is an amazing dancer), I got hit on by a bunch of stallions (what? I may be taken, but an ego boost is always nice), and I got to hang out with Bon Bon after so long.

It had been months since I'd seen her for more than a few minutes, and in all honesty I missed her a lot. But, I got to meet her new coltfriend, and she got to meet Frost. The young pegasus colt was getting pretty jealous over just how much Bon Bon was gushing over Frost, but I couldn't help but giggle. I mean come on, it's the first time I've known what it feels like to have your best friend fawning over your coltfriend...and I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel really good.

Am I evil? Yes I am.

Perspective change - Celestia

I sat next to the slumbering body of a certain pink alicorn, as I pondered the cost of this war already. The true battle had not even begun, and yet it had cost me four of my most trusted guards, and a close friend.

Brightwing.

As I thought of my fallen friend and advisor, I couldn't help but let slip a few tears. I could not allow myself to break character in front of my ponies, but here - hidden away from the prying eyes looking for guidance - I could finally allow myself to mourn.

To be an alicorn means loneliness, and pain...and yet forcing yourself to overcome it. And yet, this one young stallion was different. Seeing him grow up through the years, I had grown closer to him than I had allowed myself any other guard, and because of this, it made saying goodbye that much harder.

In the silence and security of the hospital room, I covered myself in my wings and wept.

“He is not truly gone, Celestia. You know this.”

I recognized the voice from within me as the soft comforting voice of Lux. Awakening the avatar within me was in many ways the best thing that could ever happen to me. She knew me, often times better than I knew myself, and was aged even more than I was, which gave her the wisdom to speak words of comfort.

“Yes Lux...I know. He lives on through all of us.”

“He does indeed, Celestia. To mourn is to say goodbye...and so it is natural. However, his strength and teachings still live within you.”

“Yes...I know this. Many a time has his words given me, the elder, wisdom and have shown me a different view that was previously unseen or ignored. I...I will miss him greatly.”

“f course. However, if you wish to truly show your fallen friend honor, live by his example of service to the people...and do not forget that he did it for you. His life was lost so that you might live. Be sure that his sacrifice was made for a better future for the land he loved.”

As always, there was wisdom in the words of the much older, and much wiser avatar within me.

I had realized at the beginning of the coming conflict that ponies were going to be lost...but it would be for a new dawn for Equestria...for the continuation of our world. The brave souls who had chosen to take up arms against this new enemy - an enemy that did not know fear, nor hunger, nor love - would know that in life or death, they would be fighting for not me, but for their home. This very thought was what had prompted me to participate in the war as well, as a princess is nothing without her ponies. If they were to fight, I would as well. My life would be their life, and their pain, my pain.

Only a coward would sit in a secure throne room while she sends young stallions and mares to their possible deaths...and that was not me.

Perspective change - Rarity

Death.

It was not something I was accustomed to or acquainted with.

And yet, my friends were going to be putting their lives on the line to fight for the survival of ponies everywhere. I am no fighter...and everypony knows this.

And yet...

I feel as if I am cheating somehow. I feel as though by not actively participating in such a brutish thing, I am somehow failing my friends. Even my beloved Spike would be taking up arms for Equestria, even with me imploring him to reconsider. Spike - ever the gallant knight of my heart - had gently shot down all requests from me to avoid the conflict, simply stating that he was every bit a pony as Fluttershy or myself, and that he would fight to protect his home...and me.

The very concept of what it all meant became frighteningly real to me with each passing day, and though the marriage between Rainbow Dash and Frostbreaker was to be a time of celebration, I could not help but feel as though it were a sad day. It was, in fact, a sad day for the whole of Equestria. Ponies would die against such a despicable enemy, and I felt utterly helpless to stop it.

"Rarity..." called a voice from above.

I shook my head to clear the ghastly thoughts swimming within my head and looked up. There, in all her newfound glory was our friend, Rainbow Dash. She looked absolutely stunning, with a long flowing mane that sparkled ever so slightly, and yet still held the choppy, unkempt look that showed her unique style.

I cleared my throat and stood with a smile. "Yes dear?"

She rolled her eyes and landed before me, now dwarfing me in size. "Rarity, drop the act. I know something's got you down. Now tell me what it is so I don't have to do something mean...like mess up your mane."

I gasped at the prospect. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me, Rare. Tell me what's up. Now." she stated with conviction.

I glared at the imposing pony before me for a moment before sighing in defeat and sitting back down. I looked up to see two light violet eyes staring back at me. "Rainbow Dash, dear...it is simply this dreadful war that is upon us. I..." I had to swallow to keep from sobbing openly, even as tears slid down my face, starting to run my mascara. "I do not wish to lose any of you...and yet most of you will be in the path of danger. I just feel like I am an absolutely horrible friend for not joining all of you."

As I buried my face in my hooves to stifle the sobs, I felt a hoof pull me close as the larger pony embraced me in a half-hug. "Rare no offense, but we all know you suck at fighting. Because of that, we actually prefer that you don't join, because you'd just get yourself killed. Do you think Spike would want to worry about you all the time?" As I looked up at my beautiful friend, she smiled softly with a warm expression. "No Rare...you need to stay here and do what good you can. You're going to have probably the most important job of all: watching over the ponies who have had to say goodbye - possibly forever - to sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, husbands, or wives. You've always been the best one at dealing with the mushy-feely stuff, Rare, so we need you and Fluttershy to keep ponies' hopes alive until we come back. Can you do that?"

The fact that such a powerful and loyal friend was putting her trust in me for such a thing was awe-inspiring in itself. Rainbow Dash and I had never been as close as, say, her and Fluttershy...but still, she was now trusting me with what she deemed an important task...and I resolved to myself at that moment, I would not let her down. I turned back to look into the amethyst eyes and nodded curtly. "I can, Rainbow. I swear I will not let you down."

Now wearing her usual smirk, Rainbow Dash nodded. "I know you won't, Rare. I know you won't."

Why did this feel like goodbye?

Perspective change - Luna

I was a lie incarnate.

On the outside, I was smiling and happily greeting ponies as they mingled. Within, I was a sobbing mess. Brightwing had been killed, and Nightwing had lost a brother...and I had lost a friend. My sister's heart was broken at the loss of one of her oldest friends in Equestria, and worrying about Tia had also put me on edge.

I did not want to be here, but sister was always the one to be strong and put on the brave face, so I forced her to leave and check on young Cadence. I knew of course that was not what she would be doing - not in full, at least - but I knew it would give her at least some time to grieve in private, not having to worry about appearing weak in front of our subjects and friends.

It was one of the things I admired about my sister, even after all these years. I was always the one to wear my emotions on my hooves, and was never afraid to weep or show anger...or fear. In contrast, Tia was always the iconic stoic leader. Perhaps this had something to do with her being the eldest or that she was forced to rule alone for the thousand years I was banished...but even I knew it was unhealthy to retain all emotions within. Still, I understood her reasoning for being as she was. It was after all much more useful to be diplomatic as opposed to a ravenous beast, even when seething with hatred and anger.

I remember she once asked me why I forgave her so easily for what she was forced to do when Nightmare Moon took over, and I couldn't help but smile and hug her tight. Once I was calm enough to look objectively, I realized had become a monster that could destroy Equestria as it were. Nightmare Moon was unleashed, and so I was no longer myself.

“We do not envy thee, dear sister, for the decision you were forced to make. It was not one We would have made correctly, if We were in your position.”

That was what I had said to her when she asked about what she had done to me, and though she did not understand how that allowed me to accept what she did, I like to believe she trusted me when I advised her that all was forgiven. We are family, after all...and I will only have one sister in all my life. Eternity is too long a time to hold a grudge against those bonded to us in blood.

Perspective change - Frostbreaker

The reception had finally ended hours ago, and I was exhausted. Contrary to normal dancing, Dash and I instead chose to dance in the cool air, using our skills in flight to put on a memorable display for all watching below. We shared a customary kiss thousands of feet in the air before falling faster and faster towards the ground, pulling up at the last second to glide hoof-in-hoof just inches above the ground at break-neck speed. Dash later told me that what we did was a display of utmost trust and intimacy between two pegasi...and I couldn't have agreed more. To trust somepony with your very life for those few seconds as you hurtle lip-locked towards the ground - it was a feeling beyond anything I've ever felt before.

Still...all that flying had tired me out, and now as we flew back to the library I felt more than ready to simply drink the rest of the night away with my friends and my lovely wife.

Celestia had opted to watch over her niece, Cadence, and Luna had chosen to do the same, so that just left myself, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight in the library after everypony else had left. I made sure to kiss my marefriends all goodbye as they left, but was more than happy to spend time with just two of them right now.

"So Dashie, what did you think of it all? Besides that little skirmish at the beginning of the reception, of course." I asked with a smile.

Dash smiled as she lazily lay with her head in my lap, nursing a bottle of hard cider. "It was great, Frost. I'll have to remember to thank Pinkie and Vinyl for putting on such a great party too."

Twi, who was sitting beside me, nodded with a rosy-cheeked grin. "Yeah...it was amazing, Frost. I -hic- think we should go to parties more often."

I grabbed the bottle of hard cider she was holding and gulped it down, before turning to Twi with a smirk. "No more alcohol for you, young lady."

She whimpered and pouted. "W-hic- well fine then...you're no fun."

I rolled my eyes and leaned down, trailing the tip of my tongue along her neck. She shivered and looked at me as I smirked. "Okay, you wanna say that again?"

"I didn't say stop, Frost." Twi deadpanned.

The mare laying in my lap giggled and nudged me. "Twi's fun with a few drinks in her, huh?"

I looked down and nodded. "Yeah. I just don't want her to start puking is all. I do not feel like cleaning up vomit tonight."

The named violet unicorn stood up and shoved me. "Hey, I can hold my alcohol just fine!" She then stumbled up the stairs to the bedroom, and Dash giggled the entire time.

"Yeah...she's a lightweight." the rainbow alicorn said with a smirk.

I nudged her to stand and I stood myself before motioning to the stairs. "Well, I'm beat. What do you say we head up to bed then?"

She shrugged. "Well Twi's probably sleeping in the bedroom, so what say you and me go up to the observation deck and have a bed to ourselves?"

I nodded. "I was thinking the exact same."

We both headed upstairs, snickering and bumping into each other the whole time, arriving a few minutes later at the utterly empty observation deck. I opened the shield and lit a fire before joining Dash on the bed.

Before I could do anything, she rolled over on top of me and grinned mischievously. "So, what do you have in mind for your wife, handsome?" She then ran her tongue along my neck, and breathed a warm breath on it. I shivered so hard it could almost be called a convulsion.

I grinned and kissed her with fervor. "You have learned well, Dashie. A little too well, perhaps."

She straddled me and sat up straight, spreading her magnificent wings and letting her mane fall back behind her...

She looked like an angel.

The cyan pony grinned with half-lidded eyes and rubbed my chest. I lay back and enjoyed the rubdown, letting out a little groan or moan of pleasure every now and then until she stopped, causing me to open my eyes and look at her.

"I'm glad it's you Frost." she said simply.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

She grinned softly again and blushed. "I'm glad it's you that has me and not somepony else. I mean, I could've ended up with somepony who was mean or neglectful...or that didn't really get me."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah, I'm pretty sure you'd beat them to a pulp for something like that, and if you didn't, AJ would. I'm the lucky one here. I mean, do you even know how many stallions want you? Geez...that's all I hear about when I'm up at the barracks. I can always hear the guards talking about how hot you are or how awesome you are...and I know it's only going to get more intense now."

She shared a confused look with me for a moment. "It doesn't bother you?"

"Why...should it?" I responded quickly.

She shrugged. "I guess. I mean, there's a bunch of other stallions-"

"And mares." I added.

She continued. "Oh...um, well there's a bunch of ponies who are talking about me like that. I mean that doesn't bother you at all? Celestia knows it would bother me."

I shrugged lightly and smiled. "Why should it? I mean, it's not like you're an ex that I'm pining over and everypony's talking about you like that." I rubbed her cutie mark with a hoof and she let out a soft moan, looking at me with intensity. "You're mine, and so I don't see it as offensive...I see it as a form of praise. Not that I have anything to be proud of, I mean you could have chosen any other pony...but you chose me. Like I said...I'm the lucky one, here."

She let out a breath, now a little heated. "You sure know how to talk to a mare."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Believe me, I used to be awkward as hell. You have my brother to thank for this kind of talk. He tutored me so that I don't sound like a complete jackass." She stared at me for a minute before bursting out in hysterical laughter. I just rolled my eyes and nodded. "Yeah yeah, the great Frostbreaker was awkward as hell at one time. Laugh it up and get it out of your system."

As requested, she did laugh it up...for another ten minutes straight.

I had finally gotten sick of just being laughed at, so I pushed her off of me and got up, making my way to the balcony and closing the door behind me.

A few minutes passed as the house grew quiet, and then came a knock on the door behind me. "Frost? Come on, open the door. I was just joking around."

I'm not sure if it was just to spite her or if the fact that she laughed at me really had that much effect, but I instead tapped my hoof on the door, covering it in a thick sheet of ice. "No, I think I'll stay out here, thanks. At least no one's laughing at me for something that's actually a sensitive subject, Dash."

There was silence, but then I heard a window opening. 'Yes, Frost...the library does have windows...' Dash landed next to me looking a little ashamed and frowned.

"Look Frost, I'm sorry I laughed at you. I just didn't think it was possible that you weren't always this way is all." she said with a sigh.

I shook my head. "Nope, in school I was like Twi used to be - all work and no fun. I mean, I didn't even get my first date until I was seventeen, and no first kiss until eighteen." I then turned to look at her, noticing the hurt in her eyes. "I mean, do you even know how many times I've been laughed at, or ridiculed by women for being weird, or awkward? Too many to count." I sighed and closed my eyes. "I'm sorry, love. I don't mean to take it out on you. It's just that when you laughed at me like that, it brought back a lot of painful memories. I'm not going to hold it against you though...you didn't know."

She stepped next to me and leaned on my shoulder. I enjoyed the warmth that emanated from her as she spoke. "I didn't mean to upset you, Frost. I'm really sorry."

I turned to her and stroked her mane with a smile. "Nothing to be sorry about, beautiful. I love you and you love me back. You're ten times the girl any of the ones in my past ever were, so you're nothing like them."

We made our way back inside and closed the shield before laying in the large circular bed. After doing so, Dash grinned and took the same seductive facial expression she had earlier, again mounting and straddling me.

"Now...where were we?" she asked with a lick of her lips.

I grinned right back. "I think you were about to try and outlast me."

A competitive streak flashed on her face and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh...it's on, Frost."

As she leaned down, I turned out the last light, draping the area in darkness, save for the soft glow of both of our horns.

Chapter 11: Meeting with the Ancient

A woke up a certain morning after to a certain princess's sunlight decided to start shining in my eyes, and I groaned without meaning to. As I sat up, I shivered as multiple vertebrae popped into place, and I sighed when finished. I looked down at my bedmate and smiled. Rainbow Dash was always cute when she was sleeping, though I'd never tell her that. Her long and messy sparkling mane seemed to glow in the morning sunlight, and I couldn't help but grin as she twitched a few times in her sleep.

Not wanting to wake her, I stood up gently and closed the door on my way out. I then did my morning grooming and cleaning, taking extra time to brush out my mane, tail, and coat. As I stepped down the stairs, I saw that Twilight was already up with a cup of coffee, reading a book in the main room of the library. Oddly enough, there had lately been an influx of patrons to check out books, and this morning was no different. There were several ponies in the main room looking through the books, as well as a few others reading.

Twilight noticed me finally and smiled. "Good morning, Frost. Sleep well?"

I chuckled and nodded. "Oh yeah. I mean it was only a few hours, but it was a great few hours."

Surprisingly, the lavender unicorn didn't blush, but just giggled in return. "So I heard. Did you enjoy the reception yesterday?"

I shrugged. "I mean the day as a whole was kind of a downer after what happened, but the reception was awesome. It livened me up quite a bit, and all in all it was a great day." I looked down at the floor now in disappointment. "Brightwing and the others didn't deserve this, though. We need to make sure that they didn't give their lives in vain."

As I sat down next to her, she nodded and took a sip of coffee. "We will, Frost. For now though, we need to train the recruits and ourselves. You have to remember that the ponies of Equestria aren't used to this kind of violence or killing. Granted we can't really kill something that's already dead…but the violence is something you're going to have to train out of them. And the threat of death…" She lowered her head in fear. "I'm scared, Frost."

I leaned in and hugged her close, causing the patrons of the library to eye us curiously. I ignored the looks and kissed her on the cheek with a smile. "Twi, I get scared too…but that's what courage is for. The reason I overcome my fear is because I'm not just doing any of this for me…I'm doing it for thousands of ponies everywhere. I also know that until we handle this ourselves, it's never going to stop." I pointed to the ponies in the room with us, some of them not much older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "We're doing this for them…and for each other."

The lavender unicorn nodded and looked up at me. "How bad is it going to get, Frost?"

"Well do you want to be comforted or do you want the truth?" I asked.

"The truth, Frost. I don't want to be under any illusions about the situation." She responded resolutely.

I nodded and frowned a little, letting a deep sigh out. "It's going to get bad, Twi…really bad. Even a war with the gryphons wouldn't be this bad. Sure, they're stronger and faster than us, but they still have that little bit of reverence for life." I then looked out the window into the distance…knowing that our enemy was out there somewhere, watching us. "What we're going to be defending ourselves from is annihilation, Twi. These things aren't going to take prisoners, and they'll never stop on their own. I'm not going to lie to any of you about this Twi, because if you're joining me, you need to know what you're getting into. Ponies are going to die…probably lots of them. I'm going to make it clear to everyone we train that they might not make it back home from this war. Those of us on the front lines are going to be in the most danger…but if I die, I want the ponies that remember me to know that I was fighting side-by-side with my soldiers." She was now more fearful, but I pressed on. "This is one of those times when the ends justify the means, Twi. A sacrifice by one pony can save thousands…and it may very well come to that."

To avoid the stares, we went to the kitchen and closed the door. Twilight looked up at me with teary, yet stern eyes. "I don't want to just be in the intelligence committee…I want to fight, Frost."

I had never thought that Twilight would willingly request such a thing, so I couldn't help but gasp. "R-really? I mean, are you sure? You do know what that means, right?"

She nodded curtly. "I do. Nearly all of our friends are going to be putting their lives on the line. I will not be the one that sits back in safety while my best friends risk their lives for my safety. No…that isn't what a good friend would do. Besides, the princesses have told me all the time that I'm probably the most magically gifted unicorn in all of Terra. You all are going to need my help."

"Very well, Twilight. You're going to be training with the rest of us, then. If you're going to do this, I want to make sure you're in top shape both physically and magically. It's going to be difficult and downright painful sometimes…and it's quite likely you're going to be cursing at me some days. However, I'll only do it because I want to give you the best chance to come out of this. Live or die, I want to make sure that every pony gave everything possible for their world. If we can do that, Terra will survive. Are you ready for that kind of commitment?" I asked with an impassable expression.

I saw a fire in her eyes, one of determination and unbreakable spirit…an expression I'd never seen in her before. She smiled and nodded gently, yet powerfully. "I am, Frost. With all of us together in this, we can do anything. I truly believe that."

I smiled and pulled her into a hug. "So do I, Twi. So do I."

Perspective change – Darkflight

Deathdragons.

These decaying, horrid monstrosities had started being sighted across the continents…and the numbers they were appearing in was disheartening to say the least.

I was sitting in my study in the palace, looking over scout reports from across the entire planet. Slowly, all territories were being surrounded, and it looked like we had maybe another few months at the most before Death had enough forces to overrun us by sheer numbers. Gryphons and ponies I had prepared for, but dragons? This wasn't something even my weaponry and armor could handle on their own.

We needed help…lots of it.

I sighed in frustration and stood, donning my armor and weaponry as I prepared to depart for a certain meeting with some very powerful beings. I was to meet with the dragonkin of Drakkhenmyst, a fog-shrouded continent to the extreme northwest of Equestria. The high temperature of the continent was caused by multiple active volcanoes, and this made it the perfect place for the majority of the dragons of Terra to call home. Ponies didn't dare get close to it, but even with me being as nervous as I was, I didn't have a choice. I just hoped the respect being a black dragon was supposed to enact would come, otherwise this would be a waste of time for me.

As I donned my blood-red armor, I heard the door open from behind me, and I turned to see Princess Celestia standing there with a hopeful expression, wearing full armor.

"I appreciate this, Darkflight. You have no idea how much this means to Equestria." She remarked.

I shook my head with a toothy grin. "You act as if what I'm doing isn't something I'd do on my own. Equestria is my home now as well, and I'm going to do whatever I can to assure she's safe." I chuckled heartily at the irony of it all. "You know, this'll be the first time in my life that my skin color will have positive results. Let's just hope we get the help we need."

She nodded and smiled. "We will, Darkflight. Have faith." She then walked around me once my armor was on, checking to make sure it was snug and in proper alignment before smiling. "It seems we are ready. The flight will take a few hours, but we will have a good tailwind, so it will be a long, but easy flight."

"Why can't you just teleport us there, princess?" I asked in confusion.

She sighed and shook her head slightly. "I have to be able to picture my destination in mind to do so. I have never been to the island, so I can't do that. Luckily, I will be able to send us back here magically once we finish our business there, so fear not."

I nodded in agreement before gathering Force Edge and Yamato, putting them in their scabbards along my back and waist. I checked to make sure they were secured before walking with the princess to the landing bay and taking flight into the sky.

The flight to the draconic continent was uneventful, just endless waves with a few uncharted islands here and there. Mostly it was boring, but I was thankful that the tailwind allowed me to simply soar on the high-altitude jet stream the whole way there. This allowed me to nearly fall asleep as I just held my wings open and relaxed.

I must have actually dozed off, because the next thing I know I'm being nudged by the princess as a shrouded landmass appeared before us. We landed on a beach, and I could already see a few dragons flying through the foggy sky with curious expressions on their faces.

Before I could go further, however, the princess stopped me with a stern look. "There are a few things you need to know about how you need to behave here, Darkflight. First of all it is true that as a black dragon, you instantly command a great deal of respect here. However, age is just as important. Many of the dragonkin on this island are decades or centuries older than you. A safe course of action for you is to bow to any we meet if they do not bow to you first, or if you see me bow, follow suit. Strength is valued in dragon society, but arrogance will get you killed. So be careful, be humble, and don't do or say anything stupid." She then sighed and shook her head. "I apologize for how that sounds, but we may only have one chance at this. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "I do, princess. I may be the more playful one out of my family, but I can be serious when I need to. Don't worry, I got this."

She nodded. "Very well, let's go. Follow me closely and do not speak unless spoken to."

As we walked through the rocky area of the beach, we soon entered a dense undergrowth of forest. I noticed dragonkin of all sizes, shapes, and colors. None of them approached us thankfully and I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, until we exited the forest towards a cavern and were approached by a massive bronze dragon. The princess immediately bowed, so I followed suit, kneeling and bowing my head.

The dragon chuckled and stepped forward. "Arise, Princess of Equestria. You are a friend here." I felt a tap on my shoulder. "And you as well, young one. Any friend of Celestia's is a welcome guest here." I stood as he asked and removed my helmet, bowing my head with a fist against my chest in a salute. The dragon's hearty laugh echoed through the cavern behind him again. "I like this one, princess. Where did you find him? I do not recognize him."

The princess smiled at who was obviously an old friend of hers and nodded towards me. "He is Frostbreaker's brother."

The dragon looked at me with his piercing silver eyes and smiled. "Ah, so this is the soon-to-be legendary dragon of Equestria. What is your name, young one?"

I was fighting hard not to tremble in the shadow of the imposing dragon, but smiled and looked into his eyes. "My name is Darkflight, sir."

"A name chosen for yourself, no doubt." He remarked, to which I nodded. He eyed my armor curiously. "That is very interesting armor you have there. Where did you acquire it?"

I shrugged. "I made it, actually."

The bronze behemoth looked surprised for the first time. "A metalworking dragon? There has not been one to work the ancient craft since before I was hatched. But does it stand up to dragon specifications?"

I allowed myself a smirk and extended the hand that held my helmet out to him. "Go ahead. I bet that no matter what you do, you can't crush it."

Without hesitation, the large bronze dragon took my helmet, placed it on the ground, and stepped on it with a mighty stomp of his foot, causing the ground to shake. When he lifted his foot, however, there was a hole in the ground…in which lay my helmet, completely unscathed.

The much older dragon looked very impressed now. "I must say, I did not expect this. It appears you have mastered your craft, Darkflight. Well done…you have earned my respect." The dragon's gaze then went back to the princess and he took a stoic expression. "I know why the two of you are here, Celestia. Come with me and I will lead you to the high council. You need to speak with them about this."

As we walked, the princess eyed him in confusion. "I thought you were on the council, Tilak."

He chuckled as we continued walking, the air slowly getting warmer and warmer. "I was Celestia, however, I tired of the politics. I am a warrior at heart, not a diplomat."

I followed in silence, tuning out the conversation as I followed the two of them through the cavernous depths of the mountain. Before I knew it, however, we had arrived at a large natural cave within the mountain, lighted by a plethora of torches burning with cyan, smokeless flames. I had come across the magic flame a month or two ago, but had passed it off as useless because it didn't create heat and didn't spread like normal fire. I was now mentally kicking myself, realizing the applications of this were literally endless. Smokeless lanterns that never burn out, for example…I mean come on, why didn't I think of that?

My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed Celestia and the bronze dragon bowing as they entered the chamber, so I did the same.

A deep, rumbling voice caught me by surprise, almost causing me to jump in fear. "Greetings, Princess of Equestria. Long has it been since you have last graced us with your presence. Please rise." She did as the dragon asked, but because I had not been addressed directly, I stayed in a bow. Thankfully, my instinct seemed to prove correct, as the dragon then addressed me. "And this must be the Obsidian of Equestria. Rise, young one."

I did so and removed my helmet in respect of the chamber and the ten or so other dragons in it. The voice that had spoken was an obviously very old dragon with a scaled body of blue and one broken horn. He had scars covering much of his face and chest, and it was obvious to me he had seen combat many times in his life.

Another dragon, who I assumed was the blue one's mate, sat next to him. She was a brilliant white, and her scales sparkled as if made of diamonds. She giggled as she looked at me and smiled, leaning to the elder blue dragon. "He's cute, father. Why don't we have dragons like him around here?" Okay, not mate…daughter. And she thinks I'm cute…awesome…

I raised my hand as if I were in school and the elder blue nodded to me, giving me permission to speak. "Umm, I might as well just tell you now that I'm happily in a relationship."

The diamond-esque female pouted her lips. "What a shame…I could have made you very happy. Who's the lucky dragoness?"

I fidgeted nervously and cleared my throat. "Umm…she's not a dragon…she's a pony."

This took the entire chamber by surprise, as a collection of gasps sounded. The elder blue was the only one to speak, thankfully. "A dragon and a pony, hmm? Well…this is most unexpected. I…I cannot say I approve of this, young one."

This instantly put me on edge. Who the hell did he think he was? I now glared at him and couldn't help but set my jaw as I responded, "With all due respect, elder one, I am not asking for your approval. I was simply advising you."

Perspective change – Celestia

At Darkflight's response, a large red dragon stood and flared his wings while baring his teeth. "You will show respect to an ancient, you sad excuse for kin!"

This was one of the things that made dragons so feared…their "diplomacy". Heated arguments were settled in duels, and I was not sure Darkflight was ready for that.

To Darkflight's surprise, the elder blue was the one that settled the tension in the air. "Silence, Trezera. You would do well to remember respect when addressing an Obsidian. Sit down and be silent, or you will be forced to settle this with him."

The obstinate red growled and glared at Darkflight. "I think I'll take my chances. Outside…now."

The black dragon now looked at me curiously as the entire chamber began to file out. "Umm…what's going on?"

I laughed haltingly with a false grin. "I may have forgotten to mention that disagreements are settled by force in dragon society."

"Great…it's like high school all over again. Wait…I don't have to kill him, do I?" he asked.

I shrugged with a look at the red. "That's up to him." I then gazed back at Darkflight with a look of caution. "Do not stop unless he gives in or cannot fight any longer."

He grinned and nodded. "I think I can do this. I don't even need my swords for this one." He followed the rest of the dragons outside and I did the same.

We arrived outside in a clearing of bare dirt, the dragons all gathering around anxiously. The red was now standing on his hind legs, easily being taller than Darkflight by at three times his size. Darkflight, however, looked oddly unconcerned. He simply stepped into the makeshift "ring" and stretched out his arms, wings, and legs.

He then smirked at the red and motioned to him. "So are you just going to stand there or are you going to try and attack me? I don't have all day, and I'm getting a little hungry."

The larger red dragon growled. "Your arrogance will be your undoing, fool." He then took a deep breath and released a massive gout of orange fire at Darkflight.

The smaller black dragon stood completely still, simply raising a gloved palm towards the flame. As soon as the flame hit him, it engulfed him completely. However, as I watched, the flame slowly receded to one point – the place where he was holding his palm up. As the fire receded into the glove, I noticed that the rest of the armor was covered in black scorch marks, but was otherwise unscathed. The glove that had absorbed the flames, however, was glowing a bright orange.

Darkflight formed a fist and smiled. "My turn." He gave a strong flap of his wings, and before the opponent could react, he planted a strong punch right on his nose. As soon as his fist connected, an explosion happened at the point of impact, knocking the larger dragon to the ground in a heap. The dragon shook his head before getting to his knees, while Darkflight smirked. "Had enough, or do you want some more? I have plenty more to give."

The dragon called Trezera stood again, a scowl on his face. "I'll kill you for your insolence, you ignorant son of a pony."

"Hey man, uncalled for!" Darkflight retorted. "You wanna fight, let's fight…but leave my mother out of this."

Trezera grinned and chuckled. "Oh, have I hit a soft spot? Don't worry…I'll be sure to bring your broken body to her. And then maybe, just for fun, I'll let her join you." The dragon then lunged forward and grabbed the smaller dragon in a bone-crushing embrace, and I did actually hear a loud snap of a bone breaking.

Every instinct in me screamed to save him, but I knew I could not interfere…so against my better judgment, I stayed where I was.

I shouldn't have worried.

Darkflight screamed in pain once, then feigned unconsciousness, forcing himself to go limp in the arms of Trezera. The overconfident dragon released his grip for just a second, which was enough time for Darkflight to scramble up and bite down on the soft scales of his neck. The red dragon roared in pain and was about to grab Darkflight, but then the black dragon pulled back with all his might, ripping a large bloody chunk of flesh out of the dragon's neck. A howl of pain was heard from the larger dragon before he fell to the ground, beginning to bleed out. The sight was almost enough to make me ill, but I stood fast and watched what happened next.

Darkflight hopped off the dragon and took a deep breath, blowing orange flames on the wound. The downed dragon howled again in pain, but the wound was cauterized nearly instantly. He then put his foot on the dragon's head and growled. "Submit, or I'm going to fry you."

Even in the position he was, Darkflight's opponent was still obstinate. "Hah, do you believe this would stop me?"

Darkflight smiled maniacally and laughed. "No, I didn't...but I know this will." He then breathed a flame I'd never seen him use before…one of the deepest red onto the neck of the dragon. It flowed around it like a liquid.

I was confused as to what he was doing, as Trezera did not flinch or show any sign of pain. Darkflight then breathed the same flame on his hand, and slowly started to close it into a fist. As he did so, a force started to physically crush his opponent's throat. Trezera began to furiously claw at his throat as his breathing was constricted, causing some scales to drop off and drops of blood to flow.

The obviously superior black dragon smirked as his writhing victim eyed him pleadingly. "I can make it all stop, just tap the ground three times to signify you submit, and you'll be free. You might want to do it quickly, because if I squeeze much harder, your neck will snap…and I'm feeling a muscle spasm coming on…"

Trezera's eyes widened and he immediately pounded the ground three times. Darkflight immediately opened his hand, which caused the red dragon to gasp wildly for air. Darkflight shook his hand, as if shaking off water, and the flames dissipated off of his hand and the other dragon's neck.

Darkflight was wincing in pain with each breath, but stepped forward and extended a hand to his defeated opponent. Trezera eyed the hand warily, expecting a trick, but Darkflight smiled warmly and pulled the dragon up off the ground.

The blue ancient chuckled deeply and smiled. "When I warned of you having to settle this with him, Trezera, it was for your safety, not his. Never underestimate the power of an Obsidian." He then gestured to Darkflight with a grin. "Had this been an immoral one, you would have lost your life here today."

Darkflight nodded towards his previous opponent. "I never wanted to fight you, man...but if you start a fight, I'm certainly going to finish it." He then offered his hand as a gesture of goodwill. "Can we put this behind us?"

Trezera stared at the extended hand for a moment before taking it firmly and shaking it with a smile. "Of course. You have proven yourself here today. I apologize it came to that in the first place, but it appears some good has come of it. Thank you for humbling me, Darkflight."

We all then headed back into the meeting chamber, where we all took our places again. The blue ancient cleared his throat before speaking, "Well, now that we have that out of the way, we can get to the reason why you both have come here. Please explain, young Darkflight."

It was a first for me to have one so young respected more than I was, but then again Darkflight was a dragon, where I was not. And so, I simply stayed silent as he spoke. Darkflight nodded solemnly and stepped up to the central stone table, standing upon it. He looked around the room at all the dragonkin present and sighed. "I'll not mince words with all of you, as I'm sure your time is valuable. I'll get straight to the point: a powerful and malevolent force is threatening Equestria as well as the rest of Terra. To put it simply, we need your help...any and all of you."

An aged female golden dracoknight cleared her throat. "And how exactly does this affect us, hmm? We have seen none of this creeping darkness of which you speak."

Darkflight sighed and shook his head. "The avatar of death is what I speak of. He is planning for conquest over the entire planet, effectively destroying the world of the living." The Obsidian then took a deep breath before continuing. "He's resurrecting dragon corpses as well, by the dozens."

The gold female still remained stoic. "That is all well and good, but how does this affect us?"

"Well after he destroys Equestria, where do you think he'll set his sights on next? As long as you all live, you're a threat that will need to be dealt with. The only reason you haven't been targeted yet is because the ponies of Equestria are a greater threat." he explained.

The gold laughed loudly. "Ponies? A threat? This is nonsense."

"You would do well not to underestimate them. You all believe I'm powerful? You should see my brother, Frostbreaker. He single-handedly decimated the entire gryphon army during the Gryphon Encroachment, and by decimated, I mean that the gryphons couldn't even bury their dead because there was nothing to bury. He has now been reborn as the avatar of winter. We also have Night, Day, and Life." he explained with a bit of a growl.

The ancient blue spoke again. "Four elemental avatars? Hmm...it has been so long since I have seen Life."

Darkflight nodded. "I also have a feeling we may very soon have Spring as well. However, even with that being the case, we will still need help. This is your world as well, after all. What say you...will you help fight for your world, or will you let it fall to the looming threat that will plague us?"

I held my breath for the answer, as a yes or no could change everything...

Chapter 12: Powder Keg

Perspective change - Celestia

"They'll deliberate? Are they serious? I just got three broken ribs and almost killed another dragon so that they can think about it? For all their age and strength, apparently giving a straight answer isn't one of their strong points."

The Obsidian beside me was ranting loudly as we walked through the halls of the palace, drawing a great many odd looks from the guards, especially with the fresh coat of blood that was caked to his armor and skin. After meeting with the Draconic Council, our answer from the ancient was less than satisfactory, but I understood his reasoning. As I did, he had to think of his people and what war would mean for them. Equestria's enemy was bearing down on her, and so we did not have a choice. I can only hope that with time the dragonkin will see that in truth, neither do they. War will come to all the races of Terra, even Equestria's enemies.

Perhaps in the chaos, alliances can be formed, even among mortal enemies.

"Sister!" called a familiar voice from in front of us. I looked up to see my younger sister galloping towards the two of us. She stopped and caught her breath before speaking again. "Sister, grave news has arrived from Zebrica - the Zebra nation from across the sea. Whoazambique has been completely obliterated!"

'No...not now.'

I was in utter shock, as this was much sooner than we had expected for an attack. I quickly composed myself and set my mind to wartime matters now. "Luna, contact Corporal Nightwing and tell him to prep his H.O.S. team for transport to Zebrica. They leave at oh-six-hundred hours tomorrow." Luna nodded and dashed back down the hallway towards the barracks.

Darkflight tapped my shoulder, causing me to turn to him, and when I did so he was smiling. "Tell the team to meet me at the steelworks today, actually. I've got a new weapon for them."

I couldn't help but feel more confident now, as I knew what he had been working on. I just smiled and looked at him for a moment before speaking. "Is it ready?"

He nodded. "It is...and our H.O.S. team is going to love it."

Perspective change - Frostbreaker

What was supposed to be a chilled-out day was instead hectic, as the news that Luna had passed on to me about Whoazambique put me into training overdrive. In all honesty, I had slacking on training both myself and the other recruits, but now all of us were there...including all my friends that would be fighting with me in this war. Things progressed slowly, to say the least. Right now was not fun for me, though it was necessary.

"I can't do it, Frost!" the violet unicorn screamed at me, tears in her eyes.

I grit my teeth and growled. "You better not give up, Private Sparkle! If you do, you'll be doing laps for the rest of the day, now MOVE!"

Twilight was currently dragging a five-hundred pound weight attached to a harness, while also levitating a quill, inkwell, and scroll and writing her name over and over again. She truly was gifted when it came to magic, but I knew for a fact that when it came to physical strength, she was the weakest out of all of us. That was something I was going to force her to overcome, whether she liked it or not...for both her safety, and ours.

I did warn her about committing, after all.

Luckily for her, fear of running laps for the rest of the day caused her to find extra strength, dragging the weight the last fifty feet to me, promptly dropping her levitated items and collapsing in a heap.

I leaned down to her and smiled, even though she was sweating profusely and even crying a bit. "What was that you were saying about how you can't?" I hooked the harness up to myself and proceeded to run, dragging the weight behind me. I stopped in front of her after taking a lap around the track, still smiling. "If you do what I say, how I say, and when I say it, by the time you're done training with me, you'll be strong enough to do that."

She shook her head and sat up, albeit a little sloppily. "I don't see why I have to do this anyway. My skill is with magic, not physical combat."

I promptly cast a magic inhibitor spell directly on her horn, then rushed at her, pinning her to the ground below me. "Well now you've got no magic. With a weak body, you're completely helpless...and you can't stop me from killing you." I then backed off of her and let her up. "That's why you need to train your body. Should something happen to your magic, you need to be able to still defend yourself. You're always going to be stronger in magic than you are in physical combat...but that doesn't mean you can't close that gap between the two." I then motioned towards the bench, where the rest of our friends were watching. "Go have a seat and get some water. Private Dash, you're up." The unicorn took a place next to Applejack while the new cyan alicorn stepped up next, in full armor. I donned my ice armor as well and took a fighting stance. "Alright Dash, you don't need to work on your strength or anything, because you've been training basically your whole life with that. As far as magic, we'll cover that later. For now, you're going to fight me one-on-one. I'm not going to use magic except to maintain my armor, so we'll be on even terms. Your job is to get me to give up or knock me out...got it?"

She nodded and smirked. "Yep, I got it Frost. I'm not gonna go easy on you just because we're married, you know."

I smirked. "You better not, because the same rule applies for you. Ready?" She nodded and charged at me faster than I ever thought possible.

I guess they don't call her Dash for nothing.

Before I could even react, she slammed both hooves in a hammer motion at my head, instantly shattering my helmet and dazing me. I attempted to recover, but felt two rear hooves connect with my face, knocking me back a few feet and downing me. It was clear that she was much faster than I was...but then again, I was stronger and more experienced. I quickly got to my hooves just in time to dodge another hoof to the head, but I was then caught by another hoof to the face, followed by another one that swept out my front legs. This battle was clearly not going my way, and I was starting to fear I had vastly underestimated her.

I had to do something quick, or I was going to lose really fast.

I pulled back just in time to see both of her front hooves smash the ground where my head had been, but she was wide open for an uppercut, which I gladly delivered. She used the momentum and backflipped, kicking me square in the chin with both rear hooves, and knocking the lights out.

"You killed him, Rainbow!"

"I didn't kill him, Twi. He's still breathing, see?"

"Whooee, RD, Ah never thought you'd beat 'im on yer first try. Tha' was some mighty fine hoofwork there."

"Yeah yeah, I'm awesome. Umm...do you think he's gonna be mad at me?"

I opened my eyes to the blurry sight of AJ, Dash, Twilight, and Pinkie. My head hurt like I'd been hit by a truck, and I could taste blood in my mouth. I sat up and spit a mouthful of blood out, coughing a bit.

I then looked over at Dash and smiled. "No Dash, I'm not mad at you. That was a hell of a good fight. It's good to know that you've already got hoof-to-hoof fighting down, because that's one less thing I have to train you in." I quickly cast a minor heal spell to stop the bleeding, though my head was still in a massive amount of pain. I just stood up and smiled at the group. "Okay, it is now official that whenever I'm not around, you are to train with Private Dash, as it's clear that her hoof-to-hoof combat skills rival or exceed my own. That means that you, Private Dash, need to be every bit as intense on them as I am." I then patted the rainbow-maned alicorn on the shoulder. "In addition, you're being promoted to Private First Class Dash now, so you're going to lead the training with Captain Armor and Corporal Doo whenever me or Dark aren't around. Is that understood?"

Dash nodded and saluted. "Yes sir, thank you sir."

"Good. Now the rest of you start going through the obstacle course while Private Applejack and Private Pie spar. Get started and don't stop until you can't stand anymore, got it?" I bellowed.

"Yes sir!" they all responded unanimously before heading off to their respective areas.

Pinkie was a big surprise when it came to physical activity, as she was easily as strong as AJ…but then again with all the bouncing she did and how fast she could be, I guess she'd have to be. I had always noticed that she had a playful and youthful bounce in her step, which I always attributed to her personality. Now, however, it appeared that it was because of her hidden physical strength and ability.

The fun-loving Pinkie hated to fight, so in her mind she created an alternate persona that she dubbed "Pinkamena" – using her birth name. Contrary to the bubbly, giggling, fun-loving Pinkie Pie, this "Pinkamena" was highly focused, had a straight mane and tail, and could be downright scary. Using Pinkie's natural ability to stand and move about comfortably on only two legs, Pinkamena was able to learn martial arts from my brother, making her a much more capable fighter. During the few training sessions I'd had with her, Pinkamena's unnatural aptitude for combat – as well as her ferocious behavior when sparring – earned her the title "The Beast of Equestria" from the recruits. However, after training was over and she removed her armor, her mane poofed up and she became the lovable Pinkie Pie again.

While this transition was unnerving to say the least, I understood that it was her way of coping with her past. Pinkamena might be dangerous, but she was also completely in control. She never put in more force than was needed to knock out a sparring opponent, and never intentionally hurt anyone. What I found odd with this skill, however, was the fact that she actually preferred to take orders as opposed to thinking on her own, causing me to assume she didn't trust herself. I only hoped that after this war we could all help Pinkie finally come to terms with what had happened those many years ago, but for now we had to focus on staying alive and making sure we would at some point have the luxury to get her the help she needed.

"Darn it Pinkamena, y'all are just too fast fer me…but thanks fer not goin' easy on me." AJ remarked with a smile, a small trickle of blood running down her face from a cut above her left eye.

The normally serious Pinkamena smiled as she dabbed gauze on her friend's cut. "Of course I'm not going to go easy on you, Applejack. I want you to be as strong as you possibly can. I do it because I want to make sure we all make it back from this thing...and if that means I have to give you some bruises or cuts, I'm going to do it."

I just watched as the two friends spoke softly, noticing the odd similarities between the pink mare's two personalities. Though she was different in nearly every way from Pinkie Pie, Pinkamena still shared her deep compassion for friends. What I found disheartening about it was that while Pinkie Pie loved me deeply, Pinkamena saw me only as her superior…nothing more.

I was just glad that somewhere in that body right now, my Pinkie Pie still existed.

My thoughts on the lovable mare were interrupted by a loud boom, one that sounded a lot like lightning, even though there were no clouds in the sky. This was followed shortly thereafter by the sound of rocks falling. I flapped my wings and shot up into the sky to see an entire mountain crumbling in on itself…along with an Obsidian standing next to it.

God dammit Mason…

"Dude, what the fuck are you doing?" I yelled from overhead, catching the attention of the two dragons, along with the twenty or so unicorns standing nearby.

The black dragon simply smiled up at me and beckoned me down. "It's a new weapon I've developed with Celestia. Come down here and check it out."

I did as he asked and landed, only to be shown a large device that looked like a gun of some sort. I eyed him suspiciously and asked, "What the hell is it?"

He smirked and mounted the device on my horn, then began clipping the multiple harnesses to my body. "This, my good sir, is a railgun." I gasped and he just nodded, chuckling. "Yes…I said railgun. The design has been modified for magic to be used as a power source, of course." He then finished strapping the device up to me, and I was surprised at just how heavy it was. The dragon pointed at the rubble that was previously a mountain. "What I want you to do is charge a projectile spell in your horn, releasing it at its apex…and then watch the carnage."

In all honesty, I wasn't as strong as I'd like to be with magic other than ice spells, but I did as he said and charged an arcane mortar shot in my horn. I lowered my head and aimed towards the target, and let the spell continue to charge. When I felt it was at its most powerful, I released the spell…and was surprised by a massive kickback and a loud crack of what sounded like thunder. I was forced to close my eyes as a great amount of dust was blown into my eyes by the force of the explosion…but when I was able to look again my mouth dropped open in awe of what I saw.

The rubble was no more…obliterated by the blast.

"H-how?" was all I could squeak out.

My brother chuckled and started unstrapping the railgun from my head and body. "Lots of experimentation, magesteel, and a lot of failed attempts." Once he took the device off, he started pointing to the multiple ridges inside of the twin open-face barrel. "The way I've set it up is so these ridges here amplify the power and speed of the shot. The downsides of this weapon are the massive kickback, as well as the danger of fracturing your horn if you charge the shot for too long. It also goes without saying that whoever's wearing one of these isn't going to be very mobile. Even with that being the case, this thing is going to come in handy for this war coming up, especially with what's going on in Zebrica right now." He then motioned to the other unicorns and a few pegasi that were watching. "These guys are part of the Heavy Ordnance Specialist team, or H.O.S. for short. It's formed of some of our elite unicorn guards, as well as a few choice pegasi for support. Corporal Nightwing is the leader of the unit."

Nightwing…

The black pegasus was brother to the late Celestial Guard, Brightwing. I was honestly surprised to see him again so soon, but I knew why he was doing this. Both him and his brother held great love for their home, and even though Brightwing was gone, the charcoal-colored brother was going to make sure his brother's death was not in vain. I could see the pain in his neon green eyes, but I could also see a drive to overcome it.

Selfish as it is, I hope I never have that look in my eyes.

Perspective change – Luna

The progress of the day thus far has been rather exciting, which is putting it mildly. This would be the first time I would be side-by-side with my sister during a war, and I could not put into words how wonderful it felt that the enemy was not me. All the same, however, I was afraid.

The last time I was in a war, I was the aggressor…and I could not remember it because of Nightmare Moon. With that being the case, this would be my first real conflict to be a part of.

'Fear not, Luna. I will be with you, as will our sisters. I will atone for my past transgressions…that is a vow I will not break to you, or myself.'

It was still unusual for me for what was once the bane of my sanity was now my greatest ally…and a lost part of myself. Even after the months that have gone by, I still found myself becoming accustomed to the very idea…but it was nice to have another that knew me so well. In many ways, Night knew me better than I knew myself, and I appreciated her guidance and confidence in me. It took some getting used to in order to not look at her as a nemesis, but the ancient being took it all in stride, which I was thankful for.

Something about her had been bothering me lately, however. More and more I had begun to notice that whenever the subject of Frost came up in any way, a small pang of longing and guilt could be felt coming from the avatar housed within me. I knew without a doubt that she had loved Winter deeply…and the loss of him had wounded her, much as how the loss of Veroxzhar had wounded my sister. The longing, however, came from the change that she and Day enacted upon Frostrender and Steel. The "ritual" fused the two beings into one, effectively making their two spirits into one. This meant that while Frost was still the young human man I met over a year ago, he was now also the timeless avatar of winter…and with it, he inherited Winter's memories, experiences…and love.

Being a timeless being myself, I was well aware of just how important relationships were between the immortals. Among billions of sentient beings on the planet, there were only a hooffull of immortals, and so each connection – of friendship or otherwise – was treasured. With that in mind, I was often confused as to why Night kept her emotions silent from Frost. I would not be so foalish as to say it would not feel somewhat awkward for me at first…but she loved Winter long before I was even born into this world…and she deserved a chance to feel the love that I felt.

'Night…why do you not simply tell Winter how you feel about him?'

'I cannot, Luna. Winter no longer exists for me. He is Frostbreaker now.'

Her stubbornness was a trait we both shared, and I couldn't help but grin at the thought.
'Frostbreaker and Winter are one and the same, Night. The Winter you love is still there…and I am sure that if you make your feelings known to him, he will respond. In fact, I am curious as to why he has not asked about you yet.'

The avatar was silent, and I began to get impatient.

'Night, I will not simply stand by and watch you forsake your happiness because of some misguided belief. If you will not tell him, I will.'

'Luna no, you cannot! Please, stay silent! I…'

'Night, why do you do this to yourself? I know for a fact that you loved Winter…what has changed?'

The avatar of night was silent for a moment, and I could feel her apprehension grow.
'Nothing has changed…and that is the problem.'

'I do not understand, Night. How could nothing changing cause you to be so reticent towards the one you love?'

'Because he no longer belongs to me…he is yours now.'

This confused me, as I had never thought the once Nightmare Moon could be so…self-sacrificing.

'But-'

'No Luna…I will not. I have robbed you of a millennium of your life…I will not rob you of your mate as well.'

This was yet another emotion of Night's that I was unfamiliar with – regret. She regretted what she had done to me…and since I felt what she felt, I could tell it was sincere. The very fact that I could now actually feel sympathy for this being attested to just how much our relationship had changed. Without saying any more, I began to charge a spell of Frost's into my horn…one that he used on Frostrender once.

I needed to speak with Night face-to-face.

I charged the spell in my horn, letting it get stronger and stronger. I then focused on Night's essence within me, and used the magic to bring her out of my body. A black orb of energy settled on the ground in front of me before growing and forming the tall body of an alicorn. The coat was solid black, and her mane was as mine, save for a violet tinge to it. Her eyes were a piercing blue, and she had the most confused expression on her face.

"L-Luna, what is the meaning of this?" the avatar of night asked, a panic evident in her eyes.

I smiled at what was once my worst enemy, instead feeling worry and compassion for her. "I simply wished to speak to you face-to-face, Night. You can thank Frost for this spell."

Quickly regaining her composure, Night's face became impassable. "Very well, what do you need?"

Skating around the issue…I was more like Night than I originally thought. I stepped forward with a look of concern, looking into the blue eyes of my avatar with care. As I closed the distance between us, her expression became one of confusion at first, until I reached up and pulled the taller pony against me in a hug. She instantly tensed up and her breathing increased in a panic.

"L-Luna? Wh-what…" she stuttered out.

I simply held her tighter and smiled. "Night…I have forgiven you. We all succumb to greed, fear…and even hatred. Please…please forgive yourself."

The larger figure held tense against me for a few more seconds before extending her large black wings around me as well as her forelegs. Her shaky voice was barely a whisper when she responded, "Thank you, Luna…"

We held the embrace for a few more moments before breaking away, but when we did so she was smiling. I smiled back and nodded. "The ponies of Equestria all forgave me before I could forgive myself. I believe that in atonement for our sins, we seek the forgiveness of those we have wronged. Well Night, you have wronged me…but I forgive you. So please, forgive yourself and move on."

A single tear dropped from her icy blue eyes, but she smiled. "Thank you, Luna. I…I needed that."

I nodded and was silent for a moment before continuing. "You must speak with Frost at some point soon."

"But Luna-" she attempted to respond, but I cut her off and continued.

"You are not robbing me of my mate, Night. Winter was yours far longer than Drew was mine. With that being said, we are in many ways the same pony, as Frost is also the Winter you love. So you see, no pony is robbing anypony…he belongs with both of us. It is only fair that you have a chance to feel the love that I feel. Frost is the first stallion I have ever cared for this way, and I am aware of just how powerful the feeling is." I explained. I then placed a hoof on her shoulder with a smile. "To allow you to keep yourself from this wonderful feeling, I would be robbing you. As your host, it is my responsibility to make sure you are taken care of. You do not require food or sleep as I do, but every entity with emotions requires love."

The elemental avatar smiled softly and nodded gently. "You are far wiser than I ever thought possible, Luna. It appears I have vastly underestimated you."

I nodded in return. "Just as I used to believe you were my inner evil, waiting to pounce and take control at every turn. It appears both of our impressions of each other were inaccurate."

"I…I will speak to him tonight, if you would allow it." the black pony whispered, looking away with a slight blush.

I couldn't help but smile warmly, realizing her shyness was exactly the same way as I had felt about Frost when I first met him. It seems we are more alike than I ever knew.

Perspective change – Spike

Training with Darkflight had yielded pretty impressive results. His hand-to-hand combat was incredible, and with my strength and agility, I became the most deadly fighter on the ground. My body's maturity had caused my once-flimsy claws to become harder than diamonds, and this allowed me to tunnel through the ground at great speed with ease. My heightened dragon senses also allowed me to feel and pinpoint where enemies were while underground, and my magical fire training with Dark had allowed me to adapt to any situation. By what Dark had told me about our enemy, I was going to need to be as dangerous as possible…and had to be ready to destroy anything around me to keep from getting myself killed. I was afraid at first, but over the last two months I had that fear trained out of me. With Rarity or my friends, I was Spike – the lovable dragon that loved to joke around.

On the battlefield, I was a monster.

Dark had also forged me a brand new set of armor that looked just like his, except mine was green to match my spines and eyes. Mine also had bladed shoulders and a helmet that was made to allow me to more efficiently dig through the ground, as we quickly found this ability would be really useful for a surprise attack.

It actually bothered me a bit that no one wanted to fight me save for Venn or Moonfang, but that was only because a normal pony was too physically weak to hold up against me. Moonfang – while no longer the wooden behemoth he once was – was every bit a ferocious wolf in a fight. Venn and Moonfang had originally opted for a sword-and-shield armor set, but then changed their tastes due to Darkflight's training. As opposed to a block-and-strike battle style, he instead chose to train them in a dodge-and-counter style, using their superior reflexes and agility to wreak havoc on anyone they fought. They had full armor much like me, but with claw enhancements on their hands and feet. I knew immediately that this worked better for them when Darkflight sparred with Venn and didn't land a single strike, while Venn ended up putting Dark in the infirmary for a day.

Rarity worried about me of course, but Venn, Darkflight, Moonfang, and Frost all assured her that we would all look out for each other. This put her more at ease, but it didn't stop her from holding on to me for dear life, like she was today as we relaxed in the park after she finished her orders from Canterlot. Not that I minded, of course. After all, I'd waited almost six years for her. Besides the obvious of wanting to be close to my marefriend, it was always fun to see the few stallions in Ponyville giving me the stink-eye for landing one of the most desirable mares in all of Equestria.

Well they can suck it…I was here first.

The ivory unicorn in my lap looked up at me lovingly and smiled, sighing happily. "I do wish every day could be this lovely, Spike." She then pouted. "But of course, winter will be here soon…"

I chuckled as I ran my hands through the styled violet mane. "Don't let Frost hear you talking about winter like that. He'll drop a blizzard on top of the boutique or something." She then looked up at me in shock and I shook my head with a grin. "I'm kidding, dear, that was a joke. We both know Frost isn't that petty…not with us, anyway."

She raised an eyebrow and smiled mischievously. "Sibling rivalry, hm?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I remember Dark thought it'd be funny to put liquid rainbow in Frost's morning coffee. He woke up the next day with bright pink skin, complete with an hourglass figure. Frost turned him into a dragoness for a day. Imagine my surprise when the new dragon that I can't help but stare at is actually Dark."

Rarity giggled softly and smiled. "So, Darkflight made quite the attractive dragoness, did he? Well now, I have some ammunition should I feel like having a laugh with him."

This was one of the things I loved about Rarity. In public, she was prim, proper, and well-mannered. When we were alone, however, she was every bit as mischievous and devious as I was. She had a youthfulness and playfulness that defied her years, and I enjoyed it a lot…which would make this next question so much more important for me.

"Rarity, I have a question I'd like to ask…and it's kind of important." I breathed out in a smooth voice. She looked up at me as I reached into my satchel and pulled out an item. I then got on a knee, forcing her to stand up and gasp…as I'm sure she already figured out what this was about. I then looked into her eyes and smiled warmly. 'No going back now, Spike.' "Rarity, I love you more than I could ever express. You mean the world to me, and so much more. You are my sun, my moon, and my shining stars of the night. Would you do this humble dragon the great honor of becoming my wife?" When I finished, I revealed what was behind my back – a golden horn ring. It was the first and only thing I'd forged that I actually kept…and only because I wanted it to be perfect. Dark guided me of course, but the work was mine…and as Rarity's eyes started to well up with tears of joy, I knew I had made the right choice in doing it myself.

"Spike…" she whispered, as if saying my name too loud would break her out of a dream. She then looked up at me and tackled me in a hug, kissing my face repeatedly. "Yes, yes, yes…a thousand times yes!"

Physical attraction became a crush, and then a crush became love. A friendship evolved into romance…and now I was getting married to the mare of my dreams. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could make this day any better.

"Spike…you know, Sweetie Belle is staying the night at Applejack's tonight…" my fiancée seductively breathed into my ear.

I stand corrected.

Chapter 13: Preparation

The day was going pretty well so far, and I was happy to see that Twilight had gotten over the initial shock of such vigorous physical activity for such a long period of time. I knew it was going to be hard on her simply because of the fact that she relied on her magic so much in her day-to-day life. She was by no means fat or anything, but she was definitely out of shape. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were the exact opposite. All three of them were very strong and had a good amount of stamina and endurance, so for them at least, I just focused on combat training.

After my visit with my brother to learn about his new weapons, I had been spending the rest of the day training myself and everyone else, along with Shining Armor and Ditzy. Now, however, was time for some lunch, so we were all in the mess hall outside the guard barracks.

Ditzy was sitting next to me talking with Rainbow Dash while Twilight was on my right. It went without saying that the violet unicorn looked very tired, but was also very determined. Hoping to add some comfort, I leaned down and nuzzled her softly with a smile.

"You did really good today, Twi. I'm proud of you." I said softly.

She looked up at me and smiled as well, albeit a little weakly. "Thanks Frost. I just can't help but think about how hard this is going to be, though. I mean, I use magic for almost everything I do every day. I wish I'd known this war was coming so I could have prepared a little better."

I nodded and took a bite of a spinach salad with tomatoes, chewing quickly and swallowing. "Well, we all wish we'd had more warning. I mean, I thought we'd have another few months at least."

She then looked at me with nervous eyes. "We're not going to Zebrica, are we?"

I shook my head. "No. Nightwing and the H.O.S. unit will be providing support there. We need to stay here to protect Canterlot and Ponyville. We all still have more training to do anyway. I want you to be in peak condition before we ever go onto the battlefield, so we're going to be training hard and fast. Thankfully because of your magical nature, your body will grow and adapt much faster than a human's body would. Whereas it would take me months to go from where you are now to peak condition back on Earth, it's only going to take you another few weeks if you work hard. I promise Twi, if you do as I say, you'll be ready."

"I'm not going to be on the front lines, am I?" she asked nervously.

I shook my head and smiled. "No, you won't. You're going to be assigned a platoon of your own to provide magical support and guidance to. More than anything though, you're going to be working with myself and the two princesses to plan and execute different strategies. You may not have been in an actual battle before, but with all those books you read on war and battle tactics, you're officially one of the most educated military intelligence officers in Equestria right now…and we're going to need your organizational skills to keep all the troops in line and working efficiently."

She smiled. "Organizing and tactics I can do." She then raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But you also said I'd be providing magical support. What did you mean by that?"

"Well Twi, you'll be providing support with defensive spells such as barriers, as well as physical enhancement spells to give your troops an extra edge in battle." I explained. Before she could question, I shook my head. "Don't worry, I'll teach those spells to you." I then sighed and closed my eyes. "There is something you need to know though, Twilight. You're going to have a lot of lives in your hooves. Like me, you have the ability to single-hoofedly turn the tide of a battle if you do your job right. Still…a lot of ponies' lives are going to depend on you. Are you ready for that kind of responsibility? If you're not, I need you to tell me now."

She looked down, obviously a little apprehensive of the idea. "Well I don't know if I'd be ready for that, Frost. I mean, I can barely handle myself."

I chuckled shook my head. "If confidence is the problem, you'll be getting a lot of that as you train and become stronger. With physical strength and fighting prowess comes confidence once you see exactly how skilled you are. What I'm asking you is that if I get you to the point where you have the capability physically and magically, would you be able to do it?"

She nodded softly. "I-I think so."

I shook my head. "An 'I think so' isn't good enough, Twi…I need to know if you can do this. I've already told you how ugly this war is going to get, so if I put you out there and you're not ready, you're going to get hundreds of ponies and possibly yourself killed. If even with my training and support you still don't think you could do it, I have to know."

She was silent for a moment before looking up at me, utterly ashamed. "I can't, Frost…I'm sorry."

I smiled softly and pulled her in close to kiss her forehead. "It's okay, Twilight. It's better to be honest than to tell me something you think I want to hear and getting a lot of ponies killed. You can still offer support with your organizational skills and tactics. That I know you can do."

"I'm sorry Frost…I really am. I wish I were braver…" she muttered.

I pulled her in close again and she nuzzled her head against my chest. "Not everyone in a war has the moxie to be able to stare death in the face…literally. That doesn't mean you're useless, Twi. I love you and trust you, and I know you'll make me proud no matter what. And who knows, perhaps later on you'll change your mind. When the need arises, we all have the ability to change in order to adapt, be that in body, mind, or soul. You're stronger than you could ever imagine, love…and one day soon, you'll be able to see that."

She finally smiled as she moved away from me. "Thanks Frost."

I nodded. "Alright, so what we're going to be doing after lunch is magical training, which you're going to be handling. That I know you can do as well. You're going to be overseeing the training of the new unicorn recruits along with Rainbow Dash. Like me, Dash's magic is going to be her own unlike Celestia's and Luna's. This means that she's going to need a lot of training to get stronger with it and become more proficient. As of now she doesn't know any spells, so I want you to start at the beginning…but once she gets a feel for it, I want you to transition to battle spells, mostly offensive. She's going to be on the front lines with me, so I need you to make sure she's able to control and channel her magic well. You'll be doing this every day with her and the rest of the unicorn recruits after lunch, save for the weekends. Are you up to it?"

She nodded as she swallowed a mouthful of carrots. "Yeah, I can do that. Rainbow Dash always used to make fun of me for being so obsessed with magic, but now it looks like I'll be the teacher and she'll be the student." She then bounced a little in place. "Oh, this is going to be fun!"

I chuckled and turned away to see Shining Armor talking with Nightwing, and I instantly felt a little sad. I hadn't spoken to Nightwing ever since his brother died, so I made my mind up to do so now.

I stood up and walked over to the pair, noticing the solemn yet determined expression in both of their eyes. They both looked up when they saw me and smiled, Shining Armor stepping forward first.

"Frost! By Celestia, it's good to see you. How are things going in training?" he asked.

I shrugged and smiled. "Pretty well, all things considered." I then glanced at the black pegasus before looking back to the captain. "Hey Shining, can I speak with Nightwing alone for a moment?"

He nodded. "Sure. I'll be talking to Twily if you guys need me."

I smiled at the captain as he left, then looked back to Nightwing. "So…how you holdin' up? I didn't get to talk to you after-"

"Don't, prince…just don't. I'm trying to distract myself the best I can, because if I think about it…I'm going to lose my nerve." he explained sadly.

I shook my head with a frown. "Ignoring what happened is only going to make it worse, Nightwing. Trust me…I know. I've lost two sisters and a fiancée…I know what it's like to lose love ones and family. From experience I can tell you that if you don't let yourself grieve, you're just going to do more damage than good."

He shook his head. "I…I didn't know prince…I'm sorry."

I smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "It did hurt a lot…but look at me now. I've found my smile again and even laughter. No one will ever expect you to forget about your brother, Nightwing…but you have to let yourself mourn his loss. Your brother is dead – killed by the very enemy we face now. You need to let yourself come to terms with that. If you don't, your nightmares and inner conflict is going to consume you. Trust me on this. Like I said…I know." I then sighed as I looked out on the gardens in front of us. "Dark never told you about our world, but I think there's something you should know, because it pertains to what you're feeling and going through right now. After our sisters died, I held it all in. The way I saw it, crying or mourning the loss was a waste of time, as it didn't solve anything. Besides, I was working a full-time job and going to college at the same time, so I didn't have time for touchy-feely stuff like that. A real man never cries." I sat down and breathed deeply before continuing. "The pain and depression started to build up inside me. I had night terrors and hallucinations that got so bad that I couldn't take it anymore. I…" I swallowed hard. "I tried to kill myself…twice." He gasped, but I continued. "Now I know what you're thinking, Nightwing. You're thinking that you'd never do something like that. Well, neither did I. You don't know what it's like until you've forced yourself into that position, where your heart and soul is aching, but you won't allow yourself to cry and grieve that pain away." I then looked back down at him with a sad smile. "Get together with someone you trust and care about…and let it out. Let yourself come to terms with what has happened. It will hurt at first…it'll hurt a hay of a lot, but I promise you'll feel better afterward. You'll never forget Brightwing, but that doesn't mean you have to forever feel the pain from losing him."

The pegasus' bright green eyes were shining a little now with unwept tears, but he smiled. "Thanks prince. I needed to hear that."

I nodded and smiled back at him. "Anything I can do to help, Corporal. You should know that I'm more than just a Colonel or prince, I'm also just a pony like the rest of you. I feel pain, I feel fear, and I feel grief. I know what you're going through, and I know that you need to take time to get through it. Take the rest of the day off and rest up to prepare for tomorrow. Find time to let yourself mourn your brother, so that you can step into Zebrica tomorrow with a clear mind."

He nodded and turned away, stopping for a moment. "Thank you, Prince Frosbreaker."
I watched him go as he flew away, only to be startled by a voice within my head.

“Frostbreaker!”

“Celestia? Jeez, couldn't you be a little gentler with the mind-speech? I just about jumped out of my skin.”

“I apologize, Frost. We have a situation, and I do not wish to cause a panic. Please come to the throne room immediately.”

“Will do, Celestia. I'm on my way.”

Feeling confident that I was close enough to teleport, I focused on the throne room and disappeared in a flash.

When I reappeared, it was to find Celestia and six guards surrounding a cage…that held a bone-gryphon.

"Celestia, how did you all catch this thing?" I asked in confusion.

She smiled. "Please, you do not truly believe that I am without my tricks, do you? I believed that we could learn from and study it so that we could better understand it. The cage is merely a secondary measure. I am at the moment holding it in place with magic."

I nodded as the four unicorn guards lifted the cage. "Alright, well first we need to know how they track us. I need you to make sure your hold on it is strong, because I'm going to connect with its essence to find out what senses it has. I trust you not to lose focus here, Celestia." She nodded and I lowered my horn to the creature's head, noticing its burning yellow orbs that were eyes were staring directly at me. As soon as I connected my mind with it, my vision changed. I saw myself, though something was different. Normal colors were gone; instead the world was shown in shades of red, with me showing up as a very dark red, and Celestia showing as bright red, almost orange. I could see her horn glowing white-hot, but other than these things, details were left out.

I disconnected from the creature and cast a strong dispel on it, causing it to drop to the ground in a heap of bones. I then looked at Celestia with a frown. "It seems to have a sort of thermal vision, which means it's going to be able to see very well at all times, even at night. Secondly, it appears that any magical spell shows up very well in its vision. I couldn't hear you or smell you, however, so I assume those senses are dulled or nonexistent. Still, we've seen how strong these things are, so we know just how dangerous they can be. With winter on the way, that means that these things are going to be able to track us easily if we're not careful. I recommend well-insulated clothes for all in the field, so that our heat signatures will be lower."

She nodded. "I understand. I'll give Rarity orders for these bits of clothing immediately." She then sighed. "Also, we need to speak about the unicorn known as Enigma Flare. It is obvious that he will be a great help to the war, but he is highly susceptible to the winter cold…so much so that it can kill him much easier than normal ponies."

I nodded. "Well on his insulation clothes we'll need to be sure they're much more insulated than the rest. I wish we could just leave him out of this, but we need him. I think I could help with some enchantments for warmth and fire-proofing, but I'll need to talk to him about it. I think he's still reluctant to join."

"Do you have an idea as to why he is so distrusting of the guard?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Not really. I mean my best guess is politics, or maybe something happened with a family member having to do with the guard. I don't really know, but I'll make sure to ask him tomorrow to find out. In the meantime, I'm thinking we need to awaken Dashie's avatar."

Celestia eyed me suspiciously. "Rainbow Dash houses an avatar? How do you know this?"

I shrugged. "Just a feeling I have. We need all the power we can get, so I'm going to get started right away. You have to remember that it takes two weeks for the adjustment, so the sooner we do this, the better."

She nodded in understanding. "Very well, I will contact the others and advise them of what you plan to do. Please do so immediately, as every moment wasted is a moment we can spend preparing for this conflict."

"Understood, Celestia. I'll be back in a little bit." I responded before disappearing again in another flash of light.

I appeared back in the mess hall to the surprise of a young unicorn private, who I had appeared right in front of.

I looked down at him and smiled sheepishly. "Uh, sorry about that."

He smiled and shook his head. "All's well, Prince Frostbreaker. Good day." And with that he walked away.

I walked over to Dash quickly and nudged her with my muzzle, causing her to look up at me. "Oh hey, Frost. What's up?"

I motioned for her to follow me. "Well, it's time to awaken your avatar, love. Come with me."

She looked at me in confusion before following, not speaking until we were out of earshot of everypony else. "My avatar? Do I even have one? I mean, I didn't start out as an alicorn like the rest of you did."

I shrugged. "I could be wrong, but it's just a feeling I have. My hunches have never steered me wrong before, and if I'm wrong, then we can just go about training as usual. But if I'm right, we need to get this out of the way as soon as possible. You have to remember that it takes about two weeks to complete the process."

"Will you visit me when I'm out? Luna said she could hear us…so I'd like for you to visit and talk to me. You know, so I can keep from going crazy and whatnot." she mumbled.

I chuckled and nodded. "Of course I will, Dashie. Luckily for you, the time will pass really fast. For me, it seemed like I was out for only a few hours. All the same, yes, I will come and visit and talk to you."

She nodded and bumped her shoulder against me as we walked. "Thanks Frost."

We arrived at the training grounds a few minutes later, finding that it was mercifully empty. I then led Dash to the center of the crater that was now an arena and stood a bit away from her. "Okay Dash, so this is what's gotta happen. The releasing of your avatar can only happen through a powerful emotion. For Luna and me, it's anger and hatred. For Celestia, it's happiness. For you, I have a feeling it's going to be your will to protect your friends and love for them. So I need you to focus on that. Let it flow through you…consume you." I looked up at the sky in thought before smiling. "Try this out; imagine that we're in the war right now. Ponies are fighting all around us with monsters, and it's your job to watch over them. Then you look over and see Fluttershy…"

"Shy…" she mumbled.

I nodded. "One of those bone-gryphons is bearing down on her, about to tear her apart. You're the only thing standing between her and death, Dash…the only thing."

Her eyes were closed while she envisioned the scenario in her mind. Her face twisted into agony a few times and pure rage before she grit her teeth and growled. Her words were barely a whisper, but they held a power and devotion that I'd only heard once before. "No…you won't touch her…" I could feel strong energy crackling in the air as her horn started glowing a bright blue. Storm clouds began to gather overhead as lightning cracked through them, and her entire body began glowing bright white. Rain began to fall heavily, and the late afternoon sun from behind me caused a rainbow to appear in the distance behind her.

It took a few minutes, but the light began to die down even though the storm did not abate. As my vision began to clear, I looked upon a tall alicorn that looked almost nothing like Dash. It was a dark grey with piercing green eyes and green tiger-like stripes running the length of its body, looking more like lightning bolts than normal stripes. The mane and tail had become intangible, instead resembling billowing clouds rather than a normal mane and tail. Grey armor with green trim covered the head, neck, and body, with large rear-facing protrusions that gave it the illusion of speed and ferocity.

The figured looked upon me in shock, and I immediately knew who it was. As the Winter memories stirred within me, I smiled and nodded at the powerful avatar. "Spring? Is it really you?"

The tall pony looked at me in confusion. "Winter?" She then jumped a bit in shock. "W-what happened? Why am I a mare? Why are you a stallion?"

"Umm…that's probably because your host is a mare, Spring, and mine was a stallion." I responded. I then chuckled and raised an eyebrow suggestively. "You make a cute mare, if I do say so myself."

Spring looked at me with annoyance and rolled her eyes. "Don't make fun of me, Winter, or I'll strike you with a bolt of lightning."

I laughed and nodded. "Fine fine, I've had my fun."

"Yes, I believe you have." she remarked smugly. "Well then, why have I been called here?"

I took a serious expression and looked off into the distance, where our enemy was no doubt hiding somewhere. "War has come to Equestria, Spring. To be specific…Death."

Her eyes widened in shock. "Death? He has returned? H-how, I mean…why?"

I shook my head in frustration. "I don't know why, but I do know how. It is because of me. I'm his son, Spring."

She gasped and stepped forward. "N-no, you can't be."

I nodded. "As Winter, I am not…but as Drew or Frostbreaker, I am. I am two beings in one, Spring…and the side of me that is not from Terra is related to Death as a son, as much as it pains me to say so."

"Wait…you're not from Terra? Where are you from, then?" she asked in confusion.

I sighed and frowned. "A place called Earth, where murder, theft, and evil in general runs rampant. A place where there is far more bare, dead ground than green fields. A world where care for another is rare and trust is even rarer."

Her mouth dropped open in awe, and she stayed that way for a few moments before remembering herself. "Wow…I was not expecting that at all. I am sorry for that, Winter…truly I am."

I shook my head. "It is all as well, anyway. The point is that we need your help, and so I have called you forth to help fight for Equestria, so that it does not become a wasteland overrun by Death and his power. Will you help?"

She smiled and nodded, patting me on the shoulder. "Of course I will, Winter. I made a promise to you once that I would always be there when you needed me. Millennia have passed and I was not able to live up to that promise…but I am able to now. Of course I will help you, my dear friend."

I smiled and shook her hoof. "Thanks, Spring. I knew you'd come through for me. You should know that we also have found Night, Day, and Life. I will introduce them to you after the adaptation phase is over with."

She facehooved with a grimace. "Ugh…this thing lasts for two weeks, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Connect minds with Rainbow Dash and get to know her. She's a good mare and I trust her deeply." I then shifted a little nervously. "Umm…there's something you should know, Spring. Rainbow Dash and I are…married."

"Oh..." she responded. "Well…this is awkward. Have you two…"

I nodded with a smirk. "Oh yeah…quite a few times."

She nodded. "I see. Well I'm certainly not going to ask you to stop simply because I'm aware now. Besides, seems these female instincts make me feel a lot less wrong about it. I'll get over it. After all, I've got two weeks to come to terms with it." She then smirked. "Besides, I've always wondered what it would be like as a mare to do…that."

I shook my head and chuckled. "Three-thousand years and you're still weird."

She giggled and nudged me, then groaned. "Ugh…I just giggled like a school filly, didn't I?"

I nodded. "Why yes, you did."

"This is going to take some getting used to. Still, you know better than any of us that time doesn't change who you are…not in any way that matters, anyway." she responded.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for making me feel even older." I then looked out over the horizon, noticing the sun was sinking towards it. "You probably don't have much longer, so let's get you to the hospital so that they can take care of Rainbow Dash while her body adjusts to you."

We arrived at the hospital not a moment too soon, because as soon as we walked through the door, the avatar's hold was broken and Rainbow Dash collapsed to the ground.

"F-Frost? Where are you?" the downed alicorn mumbled.

I kneeled and nuzzled her mane softly. "Right here, love. I promise I'll visit every day, okay? Now…rest." She nodded and immediately closed her eyes, her breathing regulating at a very slow rate. I looked up and nodded to Nurse Redheart. "Got another one, nurse. Can you get her a room with Cadence?"

The earth pony nodded and smiled. "Of course. You can leave her; we'll take it from here."

I nodded and leaned down to kiss the cyan alicorn's cheek before she was wheeled away to her room. I then focused and teleported myself back to the throne room.

Perspective change – Twilight Sparkle

So…now Rainbow Dash would be out of commission for two whole weeks. This put a damper on my spirits, as I was really looking forward to practicing magic with her. Still, I understood the reason for it. We would need all the help we could get, and another avatar available would always help. I would be telling a lie, however, if I said I wasn't excited about teaching a group of unicorns about magic.

It was no secret that as the Element of Magic, I commanded the single greatest magic power in Equestria, save for the princesses. I preferred humility, though, as I didn't really like all the attention. I didn't want to be known as "The Great and Powerful" Twilight Sparkle…that was Trixie's title, and we all saw how that turned out.

Speaking of Trixie, I'd heard that Enigma Flare and Ditzy had been looking for her, for whatever reason. While I did wonder about the intention behind finding her, it did offer a great opportunity for me. For a long time, I'd felt very guilty about the entire incident with the Ursa Minor. The only reason I'd taken care of it was because I was the only pony who could. I didn't want to ruin Trixie's career, and I felt guilt every time I even thought about her.

Hopefully they'd find her…so I could apologize.

At the moment, however, I had more pressing matters to attend to.

A loud clattering caused me to stare at a young unicorn mare, just a year or so younger than me. She was a cyan unicorn with sea-blue eyes. Her mane was two-toned white and blue, and she had an hourglass for a cutie mark…the exact same as Doctor Whooves', which I found odd. Maybe they were related? I couldn't think of any ponies that had the exact same cutie mark, even in family. Whatever…thoughts for another time.

"Colgate," I said softly as I stepped forward to the mare, "that's the third time you've dropped your staff. Are you sure you're ready for this?"

She snorted and smirked. "I'm a unicorn, Miss Sparkle. Magic is in my blood."

I shook my head. "Not magic, the war." The staff dropped again. "I thought so. Go sit down, Private Colgate."

She attempted to retort, "But I-"

I snapped a glare at her. "I said sit down, private. I'll be over in a moment." The mare instantly complied and sat down a ways away from the other recruits. I then turned back to the group. "Alright colts and fillies, you are to rotate your staves on two planes at once. If you drop it, you have to pick it up and start all over again. I'll be tracking all of your progress, so don't stop until you've reached two-hundred cycles, got it?" They all nodded and got started, so I headed over to the mare I'd sent away. She was sitting near a window looking pitiful while staring out at the city of Canterlot. I sat next to her, causing her to look at me. I smiled softly and nudged her. "Tell me why you're here…really. It's pretty obvious that the very idea of war scares the hay out of you."

She sighed and deflated a bit. "Because I want to do something to help…to be something." She looked up at me with fire in her eyes. "Do you know what I do for a living? What 'Colgate' does? I'm the Doctor's assistant…nothing else. No pony cares what I do, because they never hear about me. Well this is my home now too, and I want to do something – anything – to help it. Is that so wrong?"

I sighed and shook my head in frustration. "No, that's not wrong…but maybe you're going about this the wrong way." I heard a staff drop on the floor, and immediately knew who it was. "Start over, Private Shine."

A gasp was heard from behind me, since I hadn't even turned around. "How did you know it was me?"

"I know a lot of things. Now start over." I retorted.

Colgate looked at me in confusion. "How do you do that? It's like you have eyes in the back of your head."

I smirked and pointed to my horn. "I've been using a spell to track them the whole time, feeling the movements through the air. With practice, I can kind of get a sort of vision with my spell, 'seeing' even without my eyes."

She smiled at me and nodded. "That's very interesting. Could you teach me?"

"Maybe…but first you need to make a decision, Colgate. Is fighting in this war what you really want to do?" I asked in a serious voice.

She immediately shook her head. "No…I don't. I don't want to feel useless either, though."

I giggled and shook my head softly in response. "There are more than enough things you can do to help with a war without actually fighting. Fluttershy, for example, will be tending to any wounded that may come our way. Rarity is helping with winter clothing for the soldiers, and Lyra Heartstrings and Vinyl Scratch will help keep morale up here in Canterlot and Ponyville. You see, just because you aren't actually fighting in a war doesn't mean you're useless. No pony is useless…ever." I glanced at the mark on her flank, then back up to her eyes. "So, what are you passionate about? I'm not really sure what your cutie mark means."

She suddenly looked a little nervous. "Umm…I don't know what it means either. I was…um…born with it."

I couldn't help but gasp in shock. "Born with a cutie mark?"

She nodded softly. "Y-yes. Can we please not talk about it?"

I composed myself and nodded as well. "O-okay. But anyway, what do you like to do? I mean, there has to be something that you love to do that is useful. Cutie mark or not, everypony is good at something."

She thought for a moment before responding. "W-well I'm pretty good at freeze-drying food with magic."

"Freeze-drying? What's that?" I asked, utterly confused.

She facehooved. "Right, I forgot most ponies don't know what that is. Well, it's a way of preserving food. Take hay fries, for example. Basically what freeze-drying does is force most or all of the moisture out of the food. While it's true that it doesn't necessarily taste all that great compared to the fresh food, it lasts a lot longer than normal and is lighter, and thus easier to carry. Most of the nutrients are left in it, so it's just as healthy as it always was."

It took less than a second for me to come up with an idea. "Rations!"

"What?" she questioned.

I giggled and smiled. "Sorry. What I meant was it could be used to make military rations. Part of the problem with rations is that they're heavy and don't last very long, so we usually end up having to use a lot of magic to preserve them. If we were to freeze-dry them, we could cut down on the amount of weight each soldier would be forced to carry, as well as allow platoons to safely travel for weeks on their own as opposed to days. Colgate, you're a genius!"

She blushed a bit. "I-I am? I mean, I am! Of course I am!"

I giggled and patted her softly on the back. "See? I told you there was something you could do to help. Come by the palace tomorrow and I'll set up a meeting with the princesses. They'll want to get started on this technology immediately, as it'll help with the war and so many other things."

She stared at me and smiled. "Really? Wow…I thought it was a rather useless spell, actually."

Perspective change – Frostbreaker

I'd finished preparations for everything in case some other surprise attack should come up. I was greatly fearing that the next message that would come in would be that Ponyville was under attack, so I had my weapons and battle enchantments on standby just in case. Still, I had promised Dash I would be by her side, so I was currently sitting next to her bed in the hospital. I knew that she would be just fine, of course, but I hated simply sitting there, feeling helpless.

Hours must have passed, as by the time I'd realized that there was even a clock in the room, the moon was ascending into the sky. Just as I was about to get up to leave, the door opened…to reveal a familiar gryphon.

"Gilda…" I breathed softly.

The young gryphon smiled softly and placed a vase of flowers on a table near Dash, then sat down next to me on the floor. She was silent for the longest time before speaking.

She looked at me with tired, frightened eyes. "Will she be alright?"

I smiled and nodded. "She'll be fine Gilda, I promise." I then motioned to the small pink alicorn next to her. "Princess Cadence will be as well. We all went through this little coma-thing and came out just fine."

She sighed and looked at her friend upon the bed. "Okay…if you say so."

I grinned at her. "I do. You have nothing to worry about…this much I promise you."

She let a tear slip before glaring at me. "You better not tell Dash I was crying."

I shook my head and ran my hoof across my lips. "Not a word."

"I just," she started, before swallowing a lump in her throat, "I worry about her a lot, prince. She's not as strong as she acts."

I looked at the gryphon and smiled softly. "I'm married to her, Gilda. Believe me, I know. Dash has always been trying to prove herself…to herself, and to everypony else." I then looked back at the cyan figure on the bed, the moonlight dancing off of her sparkling mane. "She's a lot stronger than you give her credit for, though. She may not be as strong as you or I physically, but stronger in heart than any of us. She has the heart of a giant…and at the same time, it is a heart of gold."

Gilda sighed dreamily and nodded. "Yeah…she does."

I held a blank face as I looked at the two slumbering alicorns. "You still love her, don't you?"

"Yeah," she gryphon answered sadly, "I do…but she doesn't love me back. Not anymore. I'll always love her, I think."

I nodded in agreement and sighed. "You know, I was in love about seven years ago, back on Earth. I almost got married too…until an accident took her away from me." I focused hard, hoping the spell I was casting would work…and it did. Floating in front of us was a yellowed picture that was left behind on Earth. The spell had taken a lot out of me – and in all honesty I was a little dizzy – but it had been worth it.

I levitated the photo over to Gilda and she gently took it with a claw, staring at it in confusion. "What are these?"

I nodded towards the photo. "Those are what're known as humans, and they're from Earth. That's a picture of me…and her." Gilda gasped and I nodded. "That's her on the left…and me on the right. Her name was Natalie Reese." I swallowed hard before continuing. "On Earth we have something called cars. They are basically carriages that run on machinery and fuel…they aren't pulled by ponies. Well, the car she was driving hit a patch of ice on the road during winter." I felt a tear start to slide down my cheek, but I continued. "Her car slammed into a tree, and she died instantly upon impact…at least I hope she did. I can't bear to think if she suffered." I leaned over and looked at the picture, and I noticed that Gilda was crying too. Remembering the happy memories I'd had with her, I smiled at the picture. "I'll always love her, Gilda. Even coming to a different world and falling in love again hasn't changed that…but that's the great thing about love. You see, when you fall in love, your heart grows to make room for that person. Just because you still love someone doesn't mean you can't love someone else." I then placed a hoof softly on Gilda's shoulder and motioned to the picture. "You keep that. Keep it as a reminder of what I told you."

She sniffled a bit before leaning against me. "I'm glad, prince…" She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, still looking at the picture as another tear dropped out of her eye. "I'm glad it's you and not somepony else. I know you'll always take good care of her."

"Always, Gilda. Forever and ever until my dying breath, if and when that should come." I responded. I then looked outside, noting that the moon was high in the sky, which meant it was at least midnight, if not later. I stood up and motioned towards the door. "Come on, we should get going before someone finds that we're still here. Visiting hours ended a long time ago."

Gilda nodded and stepped over to the door with me, but paused. She then turned around and approached her friend's bed. Placing her claws on it, she pulled herself up to stand on her hind legs, looking down at the sleeping pony beneath her. She then leaned down hugged her tightly, burying her face into the cyan alicorn’s chest. I just watched as she did this, knowing that it was not my place to interfere, husband or not. Gilda had lost a love…to me no less. Though it was Dashie's choice, Gilda deserved her own form of closure…and I'd like to think that what I said helped her.

After a few minutes, Gilda pulled away from her best friend and smiled, whispering a simple "I love you".

With her final word of closure said, she left with me into the night, not noticing a small smile now gracing the lips of her lost love.

After escorting Gilda home for the night, I was on my way back to the library for some much-needed rest. Today had been intense, to say the least, and my mind and body were both fried. And while that beating from Dash had been healed with magic, the soreness was still there. With all that being the case, I was looking forward to sleep. It would just be Twilight Vinyl and myself tonight, as everypony else was busy with different things. I was fine with this, as so long as I had at least one bedmate, I was a happy camper…or sleeper, or something.
When I arrived at the library, I just teleported to the top floor, enjoying the fresh air that flowed throughout the observation deck. The shield was already open, and when I looked around I saw why.

"Vi, Twi. Good to see the two of you got started without me." I said with a smirk.

The two giggling and slightly inebriated mares put down their glasses and smiled. Vinyl attacked me with a tackle-hug and giggled. "Frost! Ah, it's great to see you. Feels like forever since I've been able to be with you."

I hugged the unicorn tightly and smiled. "I missed you too, Vinyl." I then released her and stood up, leaning down briefly to kiss the cheek of the violet unicorn. "Good evening, Twilight. Miss me?"

She giggled and nodded. "Always, Frost. How was Rainbow?"

I shrugged. "Napping."

She giggled madly and hopped up, walking over to the bed. "Come on, Frost. We were waiting for you."

I raised an eyebrow as I followed the blushing violet mare. "And why is that?"

I was answered with a tackle from behind, causing me to fall down onto the bed. As soon as I rolled over onto my side, I was ambushed with hugs from the both of them, which I gladly returned.

Vinyl released me and grinned. "I have to make sure to make every time I spend with you worth it, because I don't know when I'll get another chance. My career's picking up, and with this pain-in-the-flank war coming on, you're going to be training." She then snuggled herself right against my chest and smiled. "Besides…you make the best pillow, and I haven't slept in two days." I looked at her confused and she just rolled her eyes. "Tavi. Don't ask."

I shrugged and turned to Twilight, who was right near my head. She didn't say anything, but just kissed my cheek as she lay down, to which I followed suit. I then focused to close the shield to close out the cold night air before shutting down the lights. Sleep was coming quickly for me, but for some reason I could have sworn I heard Rainbow Dash's voice whisper an "I love you."

Not wanting to disappoint if it was indeed her, I returned the favor with Spellspeech…and settled into my comfortable bed of two mares.

Chapter 15: Light in the Shadows

Perspective change – Darkflight

Jesus...three months have flown by already.

After that "test" for that Enigma Flare guy, things escalated really fast. Not a month after, Appleloosa was attacked by deathdragons, likely the same squad that attacked Whoazambique. Needless to say, we were all deployed that very day.

Luckily for us, my armor and weapons held out well for the military...and for the first month, we didn't even have one casualty. It seemed that until that point, Death had been holding back...but now he was apparently done. Massive magic barrier generators were erected around Ponyville and Canterlot...but the rest of Equestria was left for the military to handle.

The first casualty of the war was a young unicorn named Shadowsight. Through training from Life and Day, a spell had been taught to all active duty unicorns that allowed them to consecrate the ground, preventing any undead monstrosities from surprising our forces from underground. Still, they were very stealthy. Without needing to breathe and without feathers, the undead gryphons were very adept at sneak attacks. That and they were a bitch to take down. I remember the day Shadowsight fell in battle was a sad day in Equestria...and it was the first of many names that would find their way to a war memorial.

After that, Five-Star General Twilight Sparkle worked with the two princesses on tactics and new weaponry along with me, and our forces ended up being better trained and far more deadly. This however also resulted in our forces being spread far and wide across most of Terra...and I hadn't seen or heard from my brother in months.

Drew's unit was by far the most elite unit, as it was composed of himself, Rainbow Dash, Ditzy Doo, Moonfang, and Venn, as well as twenty or so other elite pegasus and unicorn units. His unit was on the forefront of the war, cutting an icy scar through the enemy's ranks. Still...they numbered well into the hundreds of millions, and so progress was slow.

Today, the casualties on our side have reached into twenty-thousand across the Great Alliance – which consisted of Equestria, the Gryphon Kingdoms, Zebrica, Vaporia, and Cervidas. Where once we were enemies, we were now allies fighting for mutual survival. Where once a gryphon entering my tent would have caused me to take a fighting stance, I didn't think twice of it.

My unit – known simply as the Fireguard – consisted of myself, a few choice gryphons, and a load of powerful unicorns adept in illusion and arcane magic. We were stationed at the edge of Boardor, which bordered a massive volcanic area known simply as "The Scorched Lands". Our scouts had reported that this place was heavily guarded, more so than any other area we'd come across as of yet. It would be obvious that this was where Death was hiding, issuing his orders and commands from afar. Still, he had proven on numerous occasions just how intelligent he was, so I was under no circumstances positive that we would find him here.

A young gryphon warrior entered, and I looked up from my desk and smiled. "Sergeant Gilda, it's good to see you. What's the news from the border?"

She quickly saluted and then looked behind her into the distance. "It's quiet, sir...arguably too quiet. It's been almost a week and no attacks have been made upon our scouting teams again." She closed her eyes and let out a soft grumble. "They're up to something, sir. I just know it."

We had found through study that most of the lower-level enemies didn't have a consciousness of their own, but what controlled them was very intelligent. Some of Death's higher-level officers were capable of free thought, and while they still answered to him, this allowed them to work independently and make their own decisions. So I knew immediately that this momentary peace was not a good thing.

I turned my attention back to the gryphon and nodded. "I agree, sergeant. Gather the troops tonight. If we get blind-sided, I want to be as prepared as possible. Have Lightrunner and Dusk Horn prepare their team. I need detection fields up all around us in case the enemy decides to try and catch us off guard." She nodded and began to leave, but then I felt the need to call out to her. "Gilda!" She stopped and turned to face me. "...stay safe."

She nodded with an uncharacteristically warm smile. "You too, Dark."

As she left, I looked out my tent towards the large volcanoes in the distance. "Your move."

Perspective change – Frostbreaker

"Frost! Leave her, we have to move!" shouted Dash as she cut a swathe through the advancing undead ponies.

I looked down at the bleeding mare, and she smiled at me. "Get out of here, colonel. I've still got enough fight in me to hold them off for you to escape."

I sighed and touched my horn to her head, allowing the memory of a certain spell flow through to her mind. I then backed off and smiled. "You will never be forgotten, Rain Dancer. Your sister and niece will know what you've done for us today."

She let a few tears slip by and smiled. "Thank you, Frost." She then shoved me away with a weak foreleg. "Go...get out of here."

I nodded and fled. "Troops, full retreat! Clear the area!" The unicorns left standing all nodded and activated their enchantments, speeding off in blurs of color towards the mountains. I then followed Dash and the pegasi troops towards the mountains as well, and not a moment too soon.

A blinding flash and a large amount of heat could be felt and seen, and then the noise of what sounded like static. It was a sound I knew well...after all, it had been the sound of my final sacrifice once.

We all stopped at the foot of the mountains, just past the treeline in time to see the crackling vivid blue energy of Rain Dancer saving us one last time, disintegrating all our enemies into a cloud of ash and dust. Once the dust began to settle, I stepped forward and took flight again, along with Rainbow Dash and Nightwing.

We landed at the now-desolate site of the battle, seeing only one body left – that of a beautiful white unicorn with a vivid blue and green mane. The very sight was bringing tears to my eyes, but I pressed on anyway until I was standing right in front of the fallen warrior.

I sat down on my haunches and let my tears freely flow. "She didn't deserve this...none of them deserved this." I took a few shaky breaths and calmed myself a bit. "Dash, Nightwing...why are we doing this? I mean, what's the point? We've already lost so many, and I'm starting to think that maybe I should have just let Death take me last month. Maybe it would have-"

I was interrupted by a hoof across my muzzle, and Dash's rose-colored eyes burning with both fury and sorrow. "Stop that right now, Frost. You know exactly what will happen if we just give up...and we all know exactly what would have happened if you'd surrendered to that monster. He would have used you to destroy everything and everyone on Terra. You may have lost sight of why we're doing this, but I haven't. If I have to beat some sense into you to remember, I'll do it." She then slugged me in the shoulder and growled at me. "We're doing this for all of those that have lost their lives so far, as well as all of those who will continue to die until we finish this. We're doing this so that foals can be born into a world where they're safe. We're doing this because it's right."

I couldn't hide my emotions about the war since last month. It was no secret anymore that Death was my father, and he was doing this because he wanted me. Everyone always told me that it wasn't my fault...even Life, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't help but constantly think to myself that if I hadn't ever come to Equestria, none of this would have happened. Still...for the time being, my soldiers and my wife needed me. I'd work out what to do about myself after the war.

For now, there were more dead monsters to slay.

That night was sleepless. Where once laying next to Dash and Ditzy would lull me to sleep, it just reminded me of just how fucked up my mere presence had made their lives. Before I came, the worst thing they'd had to deal with was Night and Discord...but now there was real danger.

As I lay there in bed with my two loves laying against me, the night dragged by. In all honesty, I was glad they were able to sleep soundly...because they'd need it. During the past week or so, I'd been getting less and less sleep as the days wore on...and it was starting to show. Where once my eyes were bright and brimming with power, they were now sullen and dim. My mane and tail had turned darker and more menacing, and my hooves had taken on a dingy yellow tinge. No amount of bathing or good nutrition seemed to help, so I eventually just resigned myself to it.

I mean, I don't know what I thought a war was going to be like. Somewhere in my mind I was thinking, 'It's Equestria...how bad could it be?' Well...that thought was a bust. Here it was only a quarter of a year later and already twenty-thousand lives had been wiped off the face of Terra...gone forever. Those lives had been brothers and sisters...sons and daughters. Every one of them would be missed, and every one of them had been important. The more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that maybe I didn't belong on Terra. My being here was causing untold-of death and destruction upon its inhabitants.

Still...a large part of me kept me in check, reminding me that it was more than likely these wars and deaths would likely have happened even without my presence here, and while I was having to experience it, it was not my fault.

I thanked Dash for that little piece of conscience.

Yes...my girls. I had come to rely on Dash and Ditzy through the months as things heated up. While it was clear that the stress of this war was taking its toll on me, they made sure I never broke. They were the scaffolding that supported me...the glue that held me together, and I thanked them continuously for it. I heard from Twilight and the other girls from time to time, but without being able to see their faces or being able to touch them, it just wasn't the same.

Today however, was going to be a great surprise for me.

As I levitated myself out of bed so as not to wake my two bedmates as the sun broke over the horizon, I remembered who was visiting today, and it brought a large smile to my face. With how calm things were on my front, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight were coming to visit me. You see, my troops – which had respectfully named themselves "The Icewing Raiders" – were the most feared and destructive force in Equestria. Dashie had picked up magic as if it were second nature, and Ditzy had become a more adept physical fighter than I was. Because of this, Death had steered his forces away from us. We still held strong and had only two casualties to the group...while we had slaughtered tens of thousands.

Death quickly changed his tactics to avoid us.

Still, today would be a good day. Both of the princesses were visiting as was the Element of Magic, so I made sure to clean myself up and brush my teeth, coat, mane, and tail because while we were all romantically involved, I wanted to make a good impression after two months. I would be lying if I said I wasn't prancing around in happiness like an idiot, but at this point I didn't care. I missed all of them...but I knew we all had jobs to do. That being the case, I was going to make sure this visit was worth every second.

As I reentered the camp I was greeted by the two wolves, Venn and Moonfang. The two powerful warriors had become very useful in the war, their ferocity and agility going unmatched, even among the elite units of Equestria. Still, they were only two wolves, so I had to make sure they were protected.

"Frost, where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you." Venn growled out in annoyance.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Guys, I'm fine. I've got an ice shield covering the entire area, so if anything tries to get through, we'll know." Then gestured behind me. "Besides, there's hot springs over there."

Moonfang raised his eyebrow in confusion. "What's a hot spring?"

Venn chuckled and shook his head, grabbing the tan wolf. "It's probably the greatest gift that could be given to a cold and weary body. Come on, follow me and I'll show you."

I chuckled as the once-timberwolf was dragged away by the gray wolf, and just shook my head. I walked back to my hut to find both Ditzy and Rainbow Dash already in full armor, save for helmets.

Ditzy no longer wore the Celestial Guard armor she once had, instead having traded it for a special set of armor created by my own brother. It was made of blacksteel, and was riddled with enchantments by me. Enchantments for reduced weight, armor strength, and resistance to magic were all in place. In addition, there were executable enchantments for flight speed, temporary strength, and camouflage. She had become known as the deadliest fighter in the sky, and so her armor looked the part. It was black, as per the metal color, but had multiple insignias and war-paints that marked her as a warrior to any race.

Dash of course still kept her enchanted magesteel armor, but also painted it and added etchings for a bit of flair. The basic armor was unchanged, but had been given multiple etchings – courtesy of Spike – that showed all of our closest friends in a picture on the front, as well as the Celestial Royal Insignia on the back and shoulderplates...forever marking her as a chosen guardian of Equestria.

Through training, I'd learned to work better with my Element. I had found that it drained my magic at a constant rate, no matter the abilities I used. While this was helpful to know, the rate was very fast and I wouldn't feel the effects until the armor was dissipated. At the moment, I was able to safely wear the armor for two hours before danger set in – but that was at full magical capacity. With the way the war had been going, I often could only safely use it for a few minutes at most during a fight.

Still, because we were seeing loved ones after so long, I donned my Element's armor to look my best and stood outside the icy barrier, waiting for our guests.

Dash nudged me with a smile. "I take it you miss them as much as I do, huh?"

I nodded and smiled in return. "I do, Dashie. It's been two months since I've last seen them, so I'm going to make sure we make a good impression."

"You don't have to make that great of an impression, Frost. You act like you're meeting them for the first time or something." Ditzy remarked with a smirk.

I sighed and shook my head. "I know, but I mean it's been months since we've seen them. What if..." I swallowed hard as my fear threatened to consume me, "what if they moved on since we've been gone?"

Dash sighed and punched me in my arm, hard. "Do you even listen to yourself? Quit being such a worry wart. Everypony knows that they care about you more than anything." She then sighed and shook her head. "Look, I don't know the specifics of whoever your fiancée was or any past girlfriends you might have had. What I can tell you is that Twilight is every bit as loyal as me. Just because she isn't the Element of Loyalty doesn't mean she isn't faithful. As far as the princesses, you're the first one I've ever known of who they've taken a serious interest in. So don't sell yourself short, Frost."

I let out a breath and nodded. "Sorry about that, Dashie. Forgive that momentary weakness of mine."

"No sweat. Just don't do it again or I'll have to sock you in the face." she remarked with a grin.

I rolled my eyes. "So your plan would be to beat my self-consciousness out of me?"

She nodded with a bright smile. "Yep! Hasn't failed me so far."

I sighed and shook my head. "Awesome...I'm married to a sadist."

She tickled my exposed chin with the tips of her wing and giggled. "Only with you, Frost. I gotta keep you in line somehow."

It was then that we all felt the familiar coolness and crackling of energy around us, and in a flash, three certain ponies appeared in a flash in front of us.

Twilight looked beautiful...until she stumbled over to a frozen bush and emptied her stomach of what I assumed was lunch. I stepped over and patted her back softly while holding her mane back. After she was finished, I nuzzled her gently and smiled. "Next time, empty your lungs before going such a long distance, okay?"

She nodded and rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, I forgot." She then smiled and hugged me tight. "I missed you, Frost."

I returned the gesture with a smile of my own. "I missed you too, love." I released her and then walked back over to Celestia and Luna, who were dressed in full battle armor...just in case. "So, what's going on?"

Both normally-reserved princesses jumped forward and embraced me in a bone-crushing hug, effectively vacating my lungs of breath. Before I could turn any more blue, they released me and Luna nuzzled me affectionately. "Frost...it is so good to see you. How are things?"

I shrugged and smiled as I released her. "Eh, it's pretty quiet. Seems like Death is pretty afraid of the Icewing, which I honestly didn't expect."
As we walked towards the opening to my "base", Celestia draped a wing over me. "Yes, it seems you're making quite a name for yourself across all of Terra. Even the dragons are starting to take notice of you." She followed me to my hut and sat down on a pillow, as Luna and Twilight did the same. "In fact, Veruuthas wishes to meet with you tomorrow, if you're available."

"Veruuthas...that name sounds familiar." I remarked, holding a hoof to my chin in thought.

Luna smiled and nodded. "Yes...he is leader of the draconic community. He is the same elder Blue that your brother met once."

I cocked my head in surprise and pointed a hoof at my chest. "So wait, one of the oldest and most powerful living beings of Terra wants to meet me? Why?"

Twilight then spoke up with a smile. "It's probably best not to question it. If the dragons wanted you dead, they would have come and done it themselves instead of asking you to meet with them. They just want to talk is all."

I shrugged and levitated a bottle of rum over and took a swig (don't judge me). "Well if they want to meet, who am I to say no?"

"The first prince of Equestria and the avatar of winter." Twilight remarked with a smirk.

I facehooved. "It was a rhetorical question, love."

The violet mare giggled and nodded. "I know. I just like messing with you is all."

I then looked at Celestia pensively. "Alright fine, tell the Blue to meet me here. I'll be waiting for him around noon." I then took another swig of rum and smiled. "So...how is Spike?"

"Spike is very well, Frost." she responded with a smile. "Captain Armor was recalled to Canterlot because of a public cry for national safety, so Spike was given control of the unit and was promoted to colonel."

I pursed my lips and nodded. "Nice, very nice. And how's my brother's unit?"

"The Fireguard is doing very well. Few casualties and they are holding the Boardor border without much trouble." Celestia answered with a grin.

I smiled for a moment before looking off into space in thought. "You know, I can't help but think that The Scorched Lands are a decoy."

Twilight nodded. "Dark said the same thing. We're keeping an eye on things, but for the time being at least, that seems to be the most likely spot for Death to be waiting for us. It's secluded, difficult to traverse, dangerous because of the volcanic activity, and because of the volcanoes, it's inaccessible by air." Twilight then looked at Dash and grinned warmly. "Well Rainbow, it looks like you've settled in pretty well. How's things for you?"

As Twi and Dash conversed, I sat back against my bed and nursed the rest of my bottle of rum, enjoying the spicy-smooth liquor. Luna approached with her sister and sat down on the edge of the bed, so I scooted over to give the two of them room.

I heard the lunar princess sigh as she lay back against me, her wings tickling my stomach. "We are sorry you have to be out here alone, Frost. Believe me, if Tia and I could visit every day, we would."

"I know, Lulu." I answered, running my hoof along her exposed neck. "I certainly don't blame the two of you, you both have a nation to run. If things go down and we need you, we'll send for you. For now, the two of you need to make sure that Equestria knows that their princesses are proceeding with life as usual. Panic is the enemy, so we need our subjects to feel safe and secure at all times." I then sighed sadly and shook my head. "It's just that Death is so hard to find. I mean he acts like he's all-powerful and whatnot, but as soon as he saw Life, he ran and hid. Now nopony knows where he is. He could be in Tartarus for all we know."

Celestia shook her head, her multi-hued mane tousling softly. "Do not worry, Frost. We are closing in on him, I can feel it. There are not many more places for him to hide. If things go according to plan, we could have this war over in another..." she then trailed off.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing.

The sun princess sighed and closed her eyes. "I said another year or so..."

I groaned and fell back onto the pillow of my cot. "Yeah...that's what I figured you said." I then sat up quickly in realization. "What about the changelings? You told me a week ago that ponies around Trottingham reported seeing them moving around."

Celly nodded. "Yes...it was a strange thing, actually. I was contacted by Queen Chrysalis through a messenger drone."

"Wait...you were contacted by the very being that tried to take over? What did she have to say?" I asked with concern.

She shrugged. "It was the strangest thing, Frost. She was asking for an alliance."

I stood up and growled. "I don't know...I don't trust her. I mean we all saw how my meeting with Discord went. We ended up having to imprison him again."

She nodded in response. "Yes, but the changelings are not the same. Different though they may be from normal ponies, they are not driven by the need to create disorder and chaos. In fact, they benefit more from peace. Her attack upon Canterlot was an effort to permanently solve her race's nourishment problems. As you know, changelings feed off of emotions. However, what most ponies do not know is that love is not the only emotion they can feed off of. Any positive emotion is nourishment to them, and so they benefit more from peace and harmony than Discord would."

"Why did she attack then? Living under the rule of a tyrannical changeling queen wouldn't exactly make the ponies of Equestria think happy thoughts." I remarked coldly.

"She and her hive were starving to death, Frost. The threat of death can put even the most moral of ponies into a state of desperation." Luna answered solemnly. "That is not to say that changelings are the same as regular ponies, but perhaps it is time to put the past behind us."

I then lay back down and crossed my forelegs behind my head. "Well okay...why are you telling me though?"

Celly giggled. "Well for one, you asked for news. Second," she took a breath and ran a hoof through her mane, "Chrysalis asked specifically to speak to you."

I groaned and sat back up again. "Argh...why does everyone want to meet with me?"
Celly shrugged and eyed me lovingly. "Because you're different, Frost. You understand things that most ponies don't. That and our last meeting was less than cordial. But, if she proves to you that she is trustworthy – at least as a temporary ally – I will trust your judgment as to whether you'll accept her proposal or not."

I nodded and lay back down again, enjoying the feeling of warmth that the two princesses' bodies gave me. "Well, if you believe it's worth meeting with her, I'll do it. Send a message that I'll meet her in two days in Noveria."

"Noveria? That's frightfully close to the dracoknight settlement to the north." Luna responded, unable to conceal her concern.

I nodded. "Yeah, but the Grimmnjor ponies are pretty hospitable so long as we don't cause trouble. They haven't been attacked, so it's safe to say that there's a sort of mutual territory line protecting them. You might want to ask the Queen to meet me in the form of a normal pony...a blue one with green eyes, so I'll know it's her. She has to come alone, or else the undead horde will see her as a threat and attack. They only seem to attack large groups of ponies, at least so far. I'll meet her there at around 14:00."

Celly nodded and smiled. "I'll send the message as soon as we get back to Canterlot. Thank you for doing this, Frost."

I waved a hoof at her with a grin. "Don't worry about it, Celly. I'm a servant of Equestria first before anything else. If this is what would be best for her, I'll do it." I then finished off the bottle of liquor and dropped it in a small wastebin in the corner. "So...how are the rest of the girls doing?"

Luna looked a little sad all of the sudden, and in a second I would know why. "Vinyl is well, as is Lyra...but Pinkie has changed."

"What do you mean?" I asked, now more than a little worried.

Luna sighed and lowered her gaze to the floor. "Pinkie always goes by the name Pinkamena now, and is so unlike herself. I understand that this is her way of dealing with all of this, but it worries me. I fear that if this goes on for much longer, she may forget how to be Pinkie Pie."

I nodded my head wearily, fully understanding this fear. "I know...I'm afraid of the same thing. That just means we need to hurry up and end this before permanent damage is done. Spike will watch out for her in my stead though, so at least I know she'll be physically safe."

Luna then stood, and I realized all that this visit had come to an end all too soon. She embraced me softly and smiled. "Apologies Frost, but we cannot tarry longer. Equestria needs us, and so we must answer the call. Do not forget to contact us through letter or Spellspeech."

I facehooved and grumbled. "I had completely forgotten about that spell. Thanks for reminding me. I'll contact you both every day from now on."

Celly stood and poked me in the chest, her hoof cap denting my skin. "You better, or we'll find you."

I then wrapped my wings around the two of them, and gave both a kiss on the cheek. "I love you both. Watch over my mother while I'm gone, please."

"We shall look after her as if she were our own." Luna replied with a warm smile.

I then walked over to Twi, who was just finishing up giving Dash a goodbye hug, and hugged the two of them from behind, causing the violet unicorn to jump a bit. "I love you, Twi. You take care of yourself."

She melted into me and smiled. "You too, Frost. Watch out for Rainbow Dash and Ditzy Doo for us."

"Always." I responded, releasing the embrace. "Oh before I forget, thank Miss Colgate for those rations. They're loads better than what we came up with."

The violet unicorn giggled and nodded. "And here she was thinking that she'd be useless in this war." She then walked outside the barrier and smiled, taking her place next to the two princesses. "Keep them safe, colonel."

I nodded and saluted her with a smile. "Will do, General Sparkle." And in a flash, she and her two companions were gone...but leaving me feeling quite a bit better than before they arrived.

Maybe things would work out okay after all.

Perspective change – Spike

The war was a lot easier on me than I thought, even considering all the fighting we'd been doing.
See, my unit – which used to be under the command of Captain Armor – was built for stealth missions, gathering intel and assassinating high-priority targets. It consisted of myself, Pinkamena, Trailblazer, and Moon Dancer (no relation to Rain Dancer), making it the most sparsely-staffed unit in the entire war. Still, more troops means more visibility, and that went against what we were shooting for.

All four of us had been trained to be shadows upon the battlefield, striking without being spotted, or disappearing if we were. Thanks to a spell provided by Frost to Trailblazer and Moon Dancer, we had a way for Pinkamena and I to easily hide our body heat...but this meant that the two unicorns had to stay well out of the way to avoid being seen. Most times this worked well enough, but last week we had a slip up that almost cost Pinkamena her life.

I remember it was supposed to be a regular old intelligence-gathering mission, but the day had already been anything but ordinary. First of all, we were on the western border of Boardor – the place where Dark was currently stationed – and had been told that the area was heavily guarded. That compiled with the fact that the area was already hard enough to traverse made it very risky. After all, I was impervious to the lava of the area. Pinkamena however, was not. That being the case, it took a lot of trial and error to find an area I could burrow through that didn't lead to a magma or volcanic gas chamber.

A volcanic eruption would have been more than a little counterproductive.

After I had found a clean tunnel to the cave that we were targeting, the two unicorns shrouded us in magic and the pink mare and I traversed the tunnel to said cave. When we arrived in the heart of it, we were surprised to find it abandoned. It was at that moment I realized there was something very wrong, so we began to travel back through my tunnel to the two other members of my team.

Then it happened.

The enemy knew what we'd do, and so had sprung a trap that caused tons of molten rock to spill into my tunnel after us. The ground insulated the magma, causing it to gain both heat and speed. I wasn't worried about it, as I was perfectly safe from the red-hot fluid...Pinkamena however, was not. I remember shouting at her the whole time to run faster than she ever had before, the magma still rushing forwards as I ran twenty or so feet behind her, attempting to use my body as a way to slow the deadly liquid down at the same time.

It almost wasn't enough, though.

She jumped out of the entrance just in time to get her tail singed from the heat alone, while she and the two others galloped away as fast as pony-ly possible. As I expected, the pressure caused the magma to erupt out of the end of the tunnel, throwing me some hundred or so feet into the air as well, making me a deadly projectile. I wasn't worried about myself, as I know that while it would hurt, I wouldn't be breaking any bones upon impact with the ground...but pony bones were flimsy compared to mine, and I was easily two to three-times as heavy as each of them. Couple that with the fact that I was still covered in molten rock, and that made for a very bad scenario.

Thankfully, the aim of the volcano was off, so I ended up landing in front of them by about a hundred yards, and I grunted in pain as I stood up and shook the hardening lava off of me.

After that, we sent a letter to Celestia and she shipped us off towards The Fringe, to the southeast of Camelu and Zebrica. This area bothered me a bit, as we were literally on the edge of the known world, leading to an area simply known as "The Lost World", a place that we knew nothing about. Still, Twilight believed that because of how little was known about The Fringe – as well as the close proximity to a dragon settlement – it would be a likely place for Death to set up shop. This meant that we were now officially further than any pony from Equestria had ever been. The good news was that with how close we were to the Eastern Ley Line, the unicorns never seemed to run out of magic for their spells.

The bad news was that I was thousands of miles away from home...and I missed Rarity.

Even with how fast my body had matured, my mind was still that of a teenager...and I missed home. I missed having home-cooked meals, I missed being able to sleep in a soft bed, and I missed my friends most of all. Pinkamena was mediocre company, as she rarely spoke of anything that didn't have something to do with our missions...and sometimes, late at night when she thought everyone was asleep, I could hear her crying.

Just like tonight.

After weeks of this, I've finally decided to confront her about it. I wasn't as close with the pink pony as say, Frost, but she was still a friend, and I knew that all this had to be hard on her, no matter how much she denied it. So, following my heart again, I quietly stepped towards her burrow.

As I stepped inside, it was very dark. This wasn't a problem for my eyes though, as they quickly adjusted and I found myself staring at an annoyed-looking Pinkamena. I had always wondered how she could be so quick and silent, but I just passed it off as one of her many quirks that I'd never fully understand.

"What do you need, colonel?" she mumbled, not making any attempt to hide her annoyance.

I sighed and shook my head. "Pinkamena, you can drop the act. I heard you crying. I've always heard you crying. Tell me what's wrong so I don't have to beat it out of you." To anypony else, this would have sounded like a serious threat, but Pinkamena and I both knew it was a joke and a strong – albeit a little dysfunctional – way that we related to each other.

"Pfft...you're too slow to ever catch me, and we both know that." she replied with a wry grin.

I rolled my eyes and sat down on the cold floor. "All kidding aside specialist, what's wrong?" She was silent, so I scooted closer to her and placed a clawed hand on her shoulder. "Pinkamena, I'm not your superior right now, I'm your friend. Don't shut me out...please."

She looked at my hand for a moment, then back to me. When she did, I could see that her eyes had that glassy look of tears begging to fall...and once I pulled her into a hug, they did. The floodgates opened and she sobbed against me as I ran my fingers through her silky mane. There were many incoherent things I heard, but the three things I got out of it were that she missed Frost, missed Dash, and missed home.

I had been afraid of this the whole time. Many of the recruits had said for the longest time that she was schizophrenic, but I knew that if she was, it wasn't because of trauma. Pinkie had created Pinkamena as a way to distance herself from the violence, so as to keep the core personality pure and innocent.

Even separate personalities get stressed though.

After about twenty minutes or so, she finally calmed down enough to speak, so I let her do so. "Spike...I just miss the way things used to be before this dumb war." She looked up at me with those gorgeous cyan eyes that even rivaled Rarity's deep blues. "Why can't everyone just be happy? Why do they want to fight and hurt each other?"

"Because Pinks," I started, running my claw along her neck comfortingly, "Terra isn't a nice place right now...but that's why we're fighting. We're fighting to make sure that one day, it can be nice again. We're fighting so that the only tears that need to fall will be tears of joy." I then gulped and closed my eyes. "We're fighting so that one day, our foals will know that it wasn't always peaceful. They'll know that Equestria was fought and died for by ponies that believed in that peace."

She then bit her lip and stared at me again. "Do you think we're going to die Spike?"

"One day Pinks...one day." I responded as I stood up tall, still holding her hoof in mine. "But that day's not going to be today. When you or I pass on, it's going to be after we've had foals of our own and we're old geezers. But not now...we have too much to live for to die."

The older ponies always say that having fear and doubt can defeat you before the battle ever comes...and so I make it a point to fight through that. She would survive this...we all would. That was a promise I made to myself and whatever gods ruled over Equestria. Too many ponies had already died for us not to survive. I was not going to lose my friends to this war...and that was a solemn vow.

A vow is stronger than a promise in that it has the ability to change the very fabric of destiny to suit it, if the one who makes the vow fights for it hard enough. Well, my vow was to protect Equestria, Terra...but most of all, my friends.

Gods give me strength.

Chapter 16: The Fires of War

It's amazing how fast time flies when you're having "fun", because yet again, months seemed to get away from me.

The seasons changed, and I was glad that I had Spring beside me. In her seasonal domain, she seemed more powerful and more uplifting, which meant Rainbow Dash was as well. The Icewing Raiders gained both morale and spirit from the two of them, and we were near unstoppable in the campaign.

As the Great Alliance's armies cleared each area, a "safe zone" was set up with the purifying spell of unicorns. This in turn began to drastically reduce the number of places left for Death or his armies to congregate, which meant that somepony somewhere was closing in on him without knowing it. Lately, the hordes had taken to digging in their few strongholds that remained, and that was where my brother's "railgun" came in handy. The magical siege weapon turned out to be infinitely useful in breaking down the defenses of even the most heavily armored targets, and the only accidents were among those who weren't properly trained in their use or ignored safety measures. For the first time since the war began, things started to look up.

Fate it seems, has a way of dashing any and all hopes in a war, however.

The casualties came few and far in between, more often soldiers were injured instead of killed...but last month tested my resolve. I received word from Celestia herself that my brother had been gravely wounded when his unit was ambushed when they made their move into The Scorched Lands. He survived – barely – but was out of action until his wounds healed. That seemed like enough, right?

Wrong.

Spike's unit was the next to be targeted, and he and Pinkie were very close to losing their lives. The young dragon had been wounded, leaving the other three of his team to fight off a seemingly unending horde of shamblers (fleshy undead). Pinkie slaughtered them with ease, but was stopped dead in her tracks at the sight she saw that day. Among the remains of the horrors that had besieged them, she saw her entire family...sisters included. Yes...the avatar of death had been so low as to make her strike down her own family. I knew for a fact that it wasn't just coincidence, as the damage it did to her body and psyche were the perfect attack that only a genius could have thought up. After her wounds were treated, Pinkie was recalled to Equestria, with Applejack taking her place. The once-bubbly and giggly pink pony had been reduced to a shell of her former self, and she was now on near-constant suicide watch at the palace, with both princesses and Twilight watching over her.

Okay okay, that's enough, right? Nope...wrong yet again.

It seemed that Death had changed his tactics with startling efficiency, and began attacking Equestria where she was weakest...her heart. Soldiers were no longer mindlessly killed, instead they were maimed. Death had apparently figured Equestria's spirit would break when that of her denizens did...and he was correct. Deaths became a rare occurrence, but injuries were startlingly high. Nowadays, pegasi would return home with terminally damaged or removed wings...unicorns, with broken horns. Ponies were left alive, only to have their lives as a whole and their livelihoods ruined for the rest of their lives; for unicorns, that was a long time.

As the number of active-duty soldiers started to wear thin in Equestria, it became my job to carry her as the campaign continued. My face and that of my compatriots became the banner of freedom and victory for Equestria, and while it was a large burden, I was glad that Equestria had not broken. My recently good mood was increased further by the fact that Veruuthas had advised me that the dragons would be assisting us in the campaign across Terra if we sent unicorns to consecrate the ground of his home and that of his people. I of course agreed without hesitation, happy that we had such a powerful force backing us now.

It was now not uncommon for a dragon or two to be incorporated into the mobile units of the military, and looking around the varied faces of my unit brought a smile to my face. Pony, gryphon, dragon, deer, zebra, and wolf...I hoped with all of my being that perhaps even after the war was over, our newfound alliances might hold beyond it. It's a fool's dream, but it's my dream.

Does that make me a fool? Yes...yes it does.

Two dragons had been incorporated into my unit, both highly recommended by Veruuthas himself. The first was his daughter, who went by the new age name of Zita. She was a small brilliant white dragon – about the same size as my brother – with scales that seemed to sparkle like diamonds. Like me, she was much more comfortable during the cooler months of autumn and winter, though she was capable of fighting in any. The other dragonkin was a dracoknight – a flightless type of dragon with four legs and two arms. He was called Savourras, which meant "judgment" in his tongue. He was a dark violet color with irises of silver, and he nearly topped me in height. At my word, both were welcomed with open arms, legs, and wings into my ranks. Both of them proved their worth numerous times already as both attackers and protectors during our missions, and I was pleased to have them on my team.

Today was going to be a good day however, as I was relinquishing control of the unit to Dash and Ditzy for a little bit, going home to see my family and friends...as well as to check up on the wounded.

"Dashie for the last time, I'll be fine. I've flown much farther than that before. You know this." I grumbled as the mare verbally prodded me with questions.

"But Frost, you'll be all alone." the rainbow-maned alicorn whined.

I rolled my eyes with a grin. "I appreciate the concern, Dash, but I'll be fine. I've worked up my magic reserves enough to where I can teleport all the way there safely. I'll be okay, I promise."

The gray pegasus mare looked a little down, but managed a smile. "Well that's good. When are you going to be back?"

"I'll be back in about two or three days, Ditzy. You two can handle things here until then. Of that I'm sure." I responded, getting the last of my things together in a saddlebag. I quickly did one last check of my tent before nodding. "Looks like that's everything." I then looked to my two lovely mares and gave each a sweet kiss. "I love the both of you. Keep alert and stay safe until I return."

Dash hugged me tight and smiled as Ditzy joined her. "We love you Frost. Tell Pinkie that we love her and miss her."

I nodded solemnly, but offered a small smile. "I will." I then stepped back and focused my magic for a few minutes before disappearing in a flash.

I reappeared at the "gate" leading inside the barrier that protected Canterlot. The guards that were watching it immediately opened a path through the magical barrier for me once they saw who it was, so I trotted through as the magical shield closed behind me.

As I walked through the streets of Canterlot, I noticed that they were rather unchanged during this wartime. Prissy ponies still walked with their snooty friends to Celestia-knows-where, while I was treated like...well, like royalty. In all honesty it was still odd having ponies I didn't even know bowing to me, but by now I had learned to simply politely nod back with a smile and be on my way.

As the palace came into view, I felt a small bit of nostalgia of what I once considered home. Nowadays my home was the battlefield, and my bed was little more than metal and a few layers of cloth. Still, the happiness that flowed through me wasn't from the sight of the palace, it was from the thought of who dwelt within. My beloved princesses and Twilight Sparkle, as well as Lyra, Vinyl Scratch, and Pinkie...they all were waiting for me for one reason or another. The thing that they all shared in common however, was that all of them held love for me and all wished to be with me after so long, and I was more than happy to oblige.

I trotted up to the main gate of the palace to be greeted by none other than Shining Armor himself. The unicorn stallion was smiling wide, and he opened the gate himself to escort me. "Welcome home, Frost."

I nudged him with a smile and followed him through the corridors of the palace. "Thanks, Shining. So, how has everything been lately?"

The captain nodded a few times. "Good, good. I mean besides Pinkie Pie of course." At this, his head lowered a bit in sadness. "It's a shame, really. She used to be such a lovable mare."

"She still is." I responded. "And if I have anything to say about it, she'll be the Pinkie we all know and love again one day. I'll make sure of that."

He sighed as we approached the throne room. "I hope so. I never knew the mare as well as Twily did, but it's sad seeing her in such a state." As he pressed his hoof to the throne room door, he smiled. "Somehow, I know that seeing you will do wonders for her though. She needs you, Frost."

I nodded as the door opened to reveal all those waiting for me – all my marefriends not in the field, as well as my mother, my sister, and even my brother, who looked like a mummy with all the bandages that were on him.

I pointed to the dragon and smirked. "That's a nice outfit, bro. Does it come in a 'mens'?"

He growled at me and rolled his eyes. "Shut up and give me a hug, cock-juggler."

I grinned as I embraced the Obsidian, patting him on the back. "It's good to see you're coming along good, man. I was worried about you when I heard."

The dragon released me and smirked, tapping his injured chest. "Please. You think a few measly scratches are enough to take me down? Come on, you know me better than that."

I chuckled and nodded. "That's what I like to hear." I then looked to my mother and sister, opening my wings for the two of them in a hug, which they happily received. "Hi mom...hi Jen. I'm so happy to see the two of you."

The gold-maned mare nuzzled against the underside of my wing with a smile. "I'm so glad you're okay, son."

I hugged my mother and sister one more time before turning to the four mares with a grin. I opened my wings again as wide as I could and motioned my head. "Come here, girls."

At this, I was nearly knocked over as the four ponies all squeezed into my embrace, and it was the happiest I'd been in a while. The warmth from their presence melted the hard ice that had built up around my soul, and for the first time in a long time, everything felt like it was going to be okay.

After saying my hellos to all those present though, there was still one more I had to see above all else...

Pinkie Pie.

Luna led me to a guest room within the palace where Twilight and Pinkie were, and she explained to me the entire way what had happened since the pink pony's return. Apparently she didn't speak much, except to herself, and all she did was draw pictures all day. She barely ate or slept, and more often than not she wouldn't respond to anyone who was with her. While she hadn't actually tried to hurt herself at all yet, all her friends were very worried for her, and so had made sure that she was watched at all times...even at night.

As we neared the door, Luna stopped me with a stern look. "Frost, I warn you that what you will see will likely shock you. Please...don't frighten her." I nodded and the princess of the night opened the door.

She had been right to warn me, and I had to fight to keep from bursting into tears.

Seated on the bed was my special violet unicorn watching over Pinkie Pie, who was currently sleeping. The earth pony mare was very skinny, her straight mane was frizzy and frazzled, and she had large bags under her eyes from weeks without adequate sleep. Pinkie had always been a little more "curvy" than the rest of the girls, so to see her so bone-thin...it was heartbreaking.

I walked into the room with Luna by my side as quietly as I could, and met with the eyes of Twilight. On her cheeks were tear trails, no doubt for her friend in the bed she sat upon. I quickly made my way over to the bed silently and embraced the sorrowful mare in my forelegs, letting a few of my own tears fall.

"Twi...I'm so sorry this happened." I whispered with a kiss to her forehead.

Twilight held me tightly as well for a moment before kissing my cheek softly. "It's not your fault, Frost. Nopony could have expected this would happen. Nothing is sacred with this enemy, it seems."

I nodded and gestured to the door. "Go with Luna please, Twi. I want to be alone with Pinks."
Without argument the unicorn nodded and silently trotted out of the room next to the princess, quietly shutting the door behind her.

I looked down at the sleeping mare for a moment before gently laying myself next to her, face to face. The sight up close just broke my spirit further. Pinkie Pie's expression was the very face of what the war had wrought upon Terra. It was an expression of misery, brokenness, and pain. I extended my wing to cover her, and she unconsciously moved closer to me. With no words to speak, I simply closed my eyes and started to hum softly. As I did so, a song came to mind and I started to softly sing to her as she slept.

"Hush my love now don't you cry
Everything will be alright
Close your eyes and drift in dream
Rest in peaceful sleep

If there's one thing I hope I showed you
If there's one thing I hope I showed you
Hope I showed you

Just give love to all
Just give love to all
Just give love to all

Oh my love, in my arms tight
Every day you give me life
As I drift off to your world
Rest in peaceful sleep

I know there's one thing that you showed me
I know there's one thing that you showed me
That you showed me

Just give love to all
Just give love to all
Just give love to all
Let's give love to all
Let's give love to all
Just give love to all
Let's give love to all
Just give love to all
Let's give love to all..."

As I finished I slowly and gently wrapped my foreleg around the sleeping pony, holding her against my body. At this, she sported a very small smile across her face as she nuzzled deeper into my chest.

"Mmm...Frostie." she moaned in her sleep. She frowned and shuffled around a bit before her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at me. "Frost?"

I nodded. "I'm here, Pinkie."

Her blue eyes brimmed with tears and her face wrenched up with sobs as she cried against my chest. I held her against me and let her do so for as long as she needed, hoping that perhaps in time, this could start the healing process for her.

She cried for nearly two hours straight, and I was honestly worried that she would dehydrate herself by the end of it, but eventually she looked up at me, determined to surprise me yet again.

"Frostie...we have to stop him." she stated with determination.

"Who, Death?" I asked. She nodded back and I shook my head. "We aren't stopping anyone, Pinkie. Look at what this war has done to you already. I'm not going to allow y-"

"Stop it, Frost." she cut me off sternly. This shut me up right away, and I listened intently to her. "The worst thing that could have ever been done to me has already been done." Her face dropped as she spoke in a near whisper. "I saw my sisters after years only to have to cut them down." She then looked up at me with fire in her eyes, but the fire of the real Pinkie Pie, not Pinkamena. "He's evil, Frost...and we all need to stop him. The only thing left he could take from me would be the Cakes, or any of my friends...and I'm not just going to stand by and let that happen." She then let a very Rainbow Dash-like smirk cross her face. "Besides, I need to make sure that my parties have a world to take place in, and that all my friends can be there."

The pony that I now saw before me was bittersweet to behold. Pinkie Pie was a casualty of war, her innocence ripped away from her by a cunning enemy that knew not of remorse, and nothing was sacred. And yet, Pinkie had now become like I was. She had become powerful and steadfast at the cost of this innocence. While she would never be the same, perhaps that didn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Our party mare had "grown up"...her eyes had been opened to the true evils of the world that she once turned a blind eye to. A part of me was happy that she was going to be okay...but at the same time another part of me wished that this change within her hadn't had to happen. It was for casualties like Pinkie that this war had to end soon. I couldn't allow this to happen to anypony else...Celestia-forbid a foal or young pony like the CMC group. It was because of greedy and downright evil people like Death that I had wanted to leave Earth in the first place...and it seemed that evil had followed me here.

"Frostie?" whispered Pinkie from beside me. I looked at her in the eyes and she smiled nervously. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Can we make something to eat?"

I chuckled and nodded. "Sounds great, Pinks. I'll make the main course, and you grab the dessert. I could really use a cupcake right about now."

She rolled out the bed slowly and nodded. "That sounds good, Frostie." She then walked over slowly and hugged me tight. "I missed you, Frost. I'm so glad you came to see me."

"I always make sure to be there when my friends need me." I responded with a smile as I walked outside the room with the mare beside me.

Perspective change – Luna

Frost...ever the enigma.

When nopony else was able to bring our pink friend back, one visit from the prince revived her. It made sense when I thought about it...her response to seeing Frost. It had been months since they had seen each other, so I understood how he had such a large impact on Pinkie Pie. Also taking into account the pink pony's personality, it was also understandable. She was always very close to her friends, and not seeing them put undue stress on her heart and mind – this was proven by how she reacted when she believed her friends no longer wanted her in Ponyville.

All things considered though, I had missed her skills at creating lovely baked goods.

Save for missing Princess Dash and a few others, it was as old times for all present, and we drank in the familiar feeling with fervor. In the time we now found ourselves in, every bit of happiness was to be treasured...and even my sister – ever the strong leader – allowed herself to relax again and giggle like she did when we were young. It was a heavenly sound to hear from the pony I held closest to my heart, and I reveled in the resounding laughter that surrounded us.

I had made sure I was awake all day today to take place in the wonderful frivolity of our informal gathering. Pinkie, though still thinner than usual, was acting like her old self again, making jokes and giggling near constantly. Beloved Twilight was smiling wide at the sight of her friends being so happy, and when we locked eyes I passed a meaningful gaze her way and nodded softly. In a few days we would be soldiers again. We would be rulers, generals, and warriors...but right now, in this ever-so-short moment, we were simply ponies basking in the warm glow of the love and friendship that surrounded us.

Would the world ever the the same? Could we ever come back to this when it was all over?

I hoped with all of my being that the answer was yes to these questions, but a part of me knew that was not the case. This war and the loss of so many lives was going to leave a scar in the memory of all the races of Terra...one that would never fully heal. While this meant that the emotional anguish of this generation would be at an all-time high, it also meant that Terra's next generation would know just how bad things could get...and would thus treasure the peace all the more. I held this in my heart in hopes that it would keep the mortal races from fighting amongst themselves. True, it was unlikely such a dream would come true.

But even a princess is allowed to hope.

Perspective change – Vinyl Scratch

The party animal was back.

It was true, she wasn't quite 100%, but it was a huge improvement to how she'd been the past few weeks. Before she had left with Spike to the western front, the pink pony and I had become thick as thieves. I mean come on, I was a DJ and she was a partier...it was a match made in heaven.

As I sat next to her in the banquet hall of the palace, I had to fight to keep from laughing too hard. I don't know what it was, but there was just something about her laugh that was contagious. No matter what mood I was in or what was going in, that laugh would have me holding my sides as I laughed loudly along with her. At least for the moment, it felt like everything was going to be okay.
I looked around the room to see smiles on everypony's face. The princesses and everypony else were all happy and laughing as we all swapped stories and had a good old time. For a minute, I almost forgot that there even was a war going on. In my daydream, everything was good. We were just friends having a nice lunch together and enjoying the day.

In the back of my mind though, I knew this wasn't the case.

The truth was that there was an evil out there that wanted to destroy us and everything we loved and cherished. That's why we all needed this. We needed to be reminded what our hardworking mares and stallions were fighting for...and what was at stake. Those poor ponies who lost their lives and the ones that would follow...there weren't going to be any happy days for them or the families they left behind. That was why Frost and the others had to fight...to make sure that tragedy stayed with the few, instead of becoming the norm.

Perspective change – Twilight Sparkle

Having Frost home was beyond amazing and while I knew it wouldn't last, that didn't matter to me. What mattered was the here and now, and now was a great place to be. For three days, he was ours again...and I was going to milk those days for all they were worth. This started with a large banquet between all of us. Fluttershy regretfully couldn't attend because of trouble with a manticore in the Everfree (no idea how she deals with those), and Rarity was busy with a large order from some businesspony in Manehattan, but both assured me they'd see us all tomorrow at the library.

Besides, Luna and I had a little "surprise" planned for Frost tonight since the rest of our friends would be busy...which just left the three of us in the library tonight.

Lunch proceeded amazingly, and I was so happy that things were so uplifting. Even though the princesses and I put on brave faces for the military and the citizens of Equestria, the truth was that we were stressed to the breaking point. Beyond the sheer number of casualties from the war, we also had to deal with the morale of the ponies dropping considerably. It probably wouldn't have been as bad normally, but most ponies alive today couldn't even remember the last time Equestria was at war, so to not only be alive during wartime but also to see its effects...it must have been heartbreaking for the ponies of Equestria. I know it was painful for me just to see Pinkie in the state she returned in...I didn't even want to think about how I would have reacted if I received word that one of my friends had died in battle.

Regardless, I chose instead to focus on the good things for now. Pinkie was doing much better, Frost was back, and we were all laughing like old times...when things were so much simpler.

Normally the mere thought would be causing a little mini-depression for me, but I chose to ignore it. Stress and depression could come later, right now was a time for happiness and love. I had gone too long without it, and I was going to make sure I enjoyed it the best I could.

Celestia had officially released me from her tutelage almost two months ago, stating that as far as magic was concerned, she had nothing left to teach me. I don't know why, but for some reason this caused a little freakout on my part. I had asked her repeatedly why she wasn't happy with me, or what I had done wrong. Celestia of course, being as infinitely wise as she was, told me that I had done more than she could have imagined in record time...and now it was time to grow on my own. She told me that she literally had nothing left to teach me, that I knew everything she knew and more. I didn't believe her at first until she actually asked me to teach her a few of the spells I knew...spells she told me she had never heard of or never took the time to learn, namely most of Frost's battle spells he taught me. I will admit, it was a very empowering to be teaching my mentor, and I was smiling near-constantly. After a particular lesson I had with her covering mastery of matter manipulation and restructuring, I was pleased to hear her refer to me not as her student, but as her friend. With that proclamation, I now no longer had a problem simply referring to her by her name, even in front of other ponies or guards. I was secure in my place within her heart, and I knew how important we were to each other.

While I was happy Frost had been able to give us gifts for the birthdays he'd missed while he was away, I was extremely happy he would be here for Fluttershy's. After all, she'd never had a real party on her birthday, and something told me that without her wolf around, she could use the company. I still don't know whether it was simply her growing up over the years or whether it was Moonfang's doing, but she seemed to come out of her shell quite a bit more. Fluttershy still wasn't the fastest pegasus in the sky, but her fears had dwindled to a mere few things in the world instead of...well, everything.

Rainbow Dash would be proud.

Perspective change – Spike

"Come on AJ, you can't tell me you're not as strong as Pinkie Pie." I remarked with a chuckle.

The farm mare snarled and continued pulling the unconscious unicorn back to our "camp". "Y'all coulda' told me this was gonna happen, Spike."

I shrugged. "Had to find a way to make sure you were alert."

The past week for me had been a good one, as we had found the base of operations for one of the last of Death's "generals", along the ley line leading to The Lost World. The problem with this was that any spells used in this area reacted with the unicorns in such a way that they usually lost consciousness after casting their spells, so that left AJ and I to carry our two companions back to my burrow.

When we had finally arrived back at camp and placed our two still unconscious friends inside, I followed the farm mare in before sealing the entrance, leaving only a small vent to give us fresh air. AJ went about removing her armor and then sat down, opening her pack in the corner of the space and pulling out some dinner for us.

She handed me my portion and sat down. "Well Spike, y'all were raht. Guess Ah owe ya a few pies when we get back home."

I shrugged. "It's no biggie. We'll get that guy taken care of tomorrow, and then hopefully we'll be able to go back home. The last stronghold that we know about is in The Scorched Lands, and The Fireguard has that covered so I'll contact the princesses and Twi when we're finished."

"Ah hope so, Spike." she responded before looking down at her food. "Ah miss him."

I scooted over to my friend and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "I miss Rarity too, AJ...but we'll see them again soon. We're almost done here and then we can go home."

The orange mare nodded and took a few more bites of her MRE. "Good. Ah can' wait ta get home an' sleep in a real bed again."

I chuckled and shook my head. "You know AJ, I thought you'd be okay with 'roughing it'. Turns out you're just a big old softie."

"Hey, jus' because Ah work in tha fields all day don' mean Ah don' like ta have a hot bath and a soft bed ta sleep in." she retorted as she finished off the rest of her meal.

I chuckled again and finished my meal again as well, taking a swig from the canteen and then passing it to her. "Work hard, play hard, sleep hard...sounds like a good motto."

"Durn tootin'." the orange cowmare answered with a grin. "Well Ah'm bushed. Le's get some sleep, Spike."

I nodded. "You go ahead and sleep, AJ. I'll keep an eye on these two slackers here and take first watch."

She nodded and lay down against me. "Alraht Spike. Wake me if an'thing happens."

I leaned back against the wall of the cave and started running my claws through her mane. "Night AJ. Sleep well." She grunted in response and almost immediately fell asleep. As my friend rested, I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a bit, glad that she finally allowed herself to sleep. I mean Celestia-love the mare, but she has a habit of working herself too hard, and I didn't want to be on the short-end of the stick when Dark asks me why his marefriend looks like she hadn't slept in weeks.

The only thing I didn't like about being on watch was the loneliness. Not because I was actually alone, but rather that I missed Twi, Rarity, and Dark. The difference tonight was that I was actually a little excited. If things went off without a hitch tomorrow, AJ, me, and the other two would be heading home for the first time in months. I then looked down at my body, noticing the many scars I had along my chest and arms now.

Rarity was going to have a fit.

Still, I would deal with it. To see the mare I loved and my family, it would be worth every second. To hear her voice, to feel her coat...the thought alone was raising my spirits.

"I'll be home soon, Rarity."

Perspective change – Frostbreaker

When Twi told me she had a surprise planned, I had no idea just how devious she and Luna could be.

I was nearly jumped when I arrived at the library by the two mares, and only by the grace of the gods had I not been injured. Still, as I lay in bed with the two smiling mares at my sides, I decided it had been worth it. I had missed this quite a lot, and I was going to make sure I enjoyed it to the fullest.

At least until a knock sounded at the door.

The two mares looked at me and I rolled my eyes with a sigh. "Wait here girls, I'll take care of this." I hopped out of the bed and shook my mane and tail out, allowing them to take their normal "flowing cloud" appearance, then I trotted down the stairs.

I arrived at the front door and opened it, surprised to see a blue unicorn mare with green eyes. I immediately let her inside and stared at her. "Well...I wasn't expecting to see you this soon."

Green fire started at the pony's hooves and crawled up before engulfing the entire figure. It only took a second or so for the form of the changeling queen to be standing before me. She smirked and shrugged. "I'll take that as a compliment coming from you, handsome."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "What do you have to report, Queen Chrysalis?"

The tall changeling grinned for a moment before responding with a simple, "We've found him."

My eyes widened and I gasped. "Already? Wow...I knew you were good, but this I was not expecting. Where is he?"

She trotted over to the map that was hanging on the wall and pointed to an area above the Ibex Empire. "There are mountains here that are unexplored, but we've noticed quite a bit of movement happening around there. I've sent some of my better teams to infiltrate their ranks. I'm not sure what it is, but apparently they can't sense changeling magic. I assume we were one of the last races the enemy thought would be against them." She then pointed to a group of mountains between Canida and the Ibex Empire. "We've had confirmed sightings of him in this area. It seems that because of the close proximity to Ib'xian he assumed it would be the last place anypony would look."

I nodded. "He was right. I would never have thought to look there."

"So, what would you like to do?" the changeling asked.

I sighed and closed my eyes. "As much as I'd like to, we can't just attack him head-on. I've dealt with this guy before when we had him in this situation, and he'd be expecting that." I drew my hoof in a circle around the area. "We need to gather all allies and close in on him from all sides so that he can't escape. The execution needs to be perfect. Enough lives have been lost already, so I'd like to end this safely and efficiently." I then looked at the changeling queen with a grin. "If we can pull this off, you and your people will have earned your place in Equestria...of that I can promise you." I then nodded curtly. "Keep an eye on things and gather all the information you safely can. I want troop placements, fortifications...anything you can safely get your hooves on. I'll report your information to the princesses tomorrow and I'll contact you once I get back into the field in a few days." I then got close to her and eyed her with concern. "Please Chrysalis, your job is to only observe. Do not engage under any circumstances and don't take any unnecessary risks."

She eyed me coyly and grinned. "Please prince, my people know how to be invisible. Contrary to what ponies may think, I am not the heartless ruler of Tartarus everypony makes me out to be." She then winked at me. "Besides, I wouldn't want to worry such a handsome stallion."

"Just be safe...please." I pleaded with her.

She nodded and smiled. "I will...I promise. I'll meet you again at your camp in the Forbidden Forest in one week's time." I nodded and focused my magic for a moment, allowing my strongest feelings for my family and friends to surface. My body glowed pink for a moment and the changeling queen sighed as the pink flowed into her horn. "Wow...that's a lot of love. I'll be able to feed the entire hive with this."

"That's the idea, queen. Regardless of the past, your people are a part of this world as well...and you need to live just like the rest of us." I answered with a warm smile. "Well, it was good to see you again. You take care of yourself and your hive until we meet again."

She smiled and bowed her head slightly before moving towards the door. "Thank you, Prince Frostbreaker." As the door opened she changed her form back to that of a unicorn, then she stepped through. She stopped midway, however and looked back at me. "For what it's worth, I am honestly very sorry for what I've done to Equestria."

I shrugged. "Desperation makes us do crazy things, highness. You help us pull this off and I can promise you'll get your chance to formally apologize and I'll make sure all of Terra knows that it was because of you and your hive that we were able to finish this."

She nodded and closed the door, so I turned off the lights and headed upstairs.

When I arrived, it was to find Luna and Twi talking about marriage of all things. Whose I didn't know, but both of them blushed when I entered the room.

Luna then scooted over on the bed to make room for me and I lay down next to her. "So, who was that?"

"Queen Chrysalis." I responded as I closed my eyes.

Twilight sighed and lay down as well. "I know she's an ally, but I still don't like her."

I smirked before turning on my side to look at the two mares. "Well you might change your mind after I tell you what she told me." The two looked at me in interest, so I smiled. "Well, she told me she found him."

Luna gasped and placed her hoof on my shoulder. "Him? You mean, him him?"

I chuckled and nodded. "I don't know how many other 'hims' there are that we would be talking about. Yes, she claims she found Death...and considering the source, I'm more than inclined to believe her." I smiled as I closed my eyes and lay against Luna. "We're closing in on him, girls...and now we know exactly where to strike. Soon, this will all be over and we can rebuild and heal Terra."

The moon princess nodded slowly with a soft smile. "Finally." She then planted a hoof on either side of me and giggled when I looked up at her in confusion. "Oh come now Frost, the night is still young...and Twilight and I have plenty more energy to expend."

Gods watch over me...

Author's Note

Song mentioned: "Lullaby" by Creed on the album Weathered.

Chapter 17: Home Sweet Home

For the first time in a long time, I woke up like the world was right...the way things used to be. I almost forgot there even was a war, but as I woke up more the reality hit me again. Still, I wasn't going to allow it to ruin the next few days. I had to make sure that my spirits were high so that when I returned to the camp, most of the group would be able to return home for some furlough...Dash, Ditzy, Moonfang, and Venn included. After all, a happy military was a strong military.

For today however, I was going to make sure it was everything we needed as far as a vacation. Last night had been nice, as we simply ended up laying in bed talking instead of anything else. I had missed it – just talking...sometimes about nothing important. It seemed that lately all any of us ever talked about was the war, so it was nice to be able to just ask how they were, or what they'd eaten or seen lately...anything to take our minds off of work for just a few days. It wasn't a childish desire either...this was something I knew we all needed. We all needed to remember why we were doing this, as I knew I wasn't the only one who had begun to question the reason for all this death. We all had to be reminded of why we had to fight, and win.

It was for ponies like Pinkie that we had to do this.

Twilight had decided last night that we were going to spend time with Pinkie and the others today, making sure they knew I loved them and cared about them. Luna had business to attend to and so for today it would just be me, Twilight, Pinkie, Vinyl, and Lyra. I didn't mind in the least of course, as I was going to enjoy seeing the DJ and lyre-player to catch up on what they were up to. It was obvious to me that they'd both been busy, as during the past six months they had been the ones I'd heard from the least...but I knew them well enough to know it had to be for a good reason. After all, Vinyl's business had picked up considerably since the war began, and with Lyra working with her, this meant the two of them probably were busy nearly all the time. Needless to say I felt a little special when they told me they could take a few days off with me.

During all these thoughts though, another one started to surface as I gazed lovingly at the violet unicorn over breakfast. Twilight had been amazing both before and during the war...and her skills and drive to help Equestria just made me love her all the more. I was amazed when I truly thought of her now, noticing that she'd grown from a filly with low self-confidence and an obsessive drive to please the princess, all the way to a grown mare that had her own dreams, morals, and goals in life. When I saw the princesses and Twilight together, it was clear that she still respected and revered the both of them...but she now had her own path to walk in life.

I felt that now was the time.

"Twi..." I said softly.

The violet mare looked up at me with a smile as she swallowed a slice of apple. "Yes Frost?"

I stood up from the table as Luna and Twilight looked at me expectantly. "There's something I want to ask you. I've wanted to ask you for awhile now, but I wanted to also make sure you were ready." I then started to focus on a new spell I'd been practicing, combining ice, arcane, and cosmic magic. As my brow started to sweat, I looked at Twilight with a strained smile. "I made a spell just for you, Twi..." The spell continued to charge, and I could feel my magic reserves rapidly draining as more and more of it poured into the spell. The light in the room shifted from bright white, to blue, to darkness, and then back again as the co-mingling spells continued to build. When I felt the spell was at its apex, I released it at the ground. The built up magic kept flowing from my horn, and with it, my strength. Finally, the spell finished and left a bright glowing object in the middle of the floor...and I collapsed.

"Frost!" both of the mares shouted and ran over to me, warily staring at the bright obscure object.

I panted a few times before shaking my head slowly. "I'm okay, I promise." I then gestured to the glowing spell. "It needs some of your magic to finish, Twi."

The unicorn eyed the result of my spell hesitantly before looking back to me. "I-I'm not so sure..."

"Trust me, Twi...please." I responded softly.

She still looked apprehensive, but nodded and turned to the object. Her horn began to glow with her violet aura as it fluidly moved to encompass the unknown object. A faint hum in the air accompanied this along with arcs of energy in the air, but as soon as it started it finished. The glowing of the object changed from white to a dark violet, and as we all watched, the light died down. As the object's shape became visible finally, Luna and Twilight both gasped at what they saw.

Lying there unassumingly on the floor was a beautiful braided chain necklace that looked to be made of frosty ice. The pendant that was attached to it was what caused the mares to gasp. It was a depiction of my cutie mark in its true colors and texture...with Twilight's cutie mark adorning the shield in its natural colors as well.

I slowly stood and picked it up before kneeling so that I could look the unicorn in the eye. "Twi, you are amazing. You're by far the smartest being I've ever met, you're funny, witty, loving, and beautiful. You're kind to strangers, accepting of my differences, and altogether amazing." I then breathed slowly before smiling. "Would you do me the honor of giving me your hoof in marriage?"

"YES!" Twilight squealed immediately, nearly causing my eardrums to burst. She then began to hop around like a little filly who had just gotten her cutie mark, excitedly reciting the word "yes" over and over again.

I caught her in the air and chuckled. "Whoa there Twi, you still have to put on the necklace."
I put her down on the ground and she flashed a smile brighter than the sun. I slipped the necklace over her head, and it tightened until it fit snugly around her. Twilight then held it up to her face with a hoof. "This is so beautiful...what is this made out of?"

"Frost-steel and frost-gems. It's the same kind of magic I use for my armor." I responded with a smile.

Twilight looked up at me curiously. "Why was it so hard for you to make then? I mean you cover yourself with this stuff without so much as sweating."

"Well," I started as I stood, "I had to make it permanent and able to withstand heat without melting." I placed my own hoof on the necklace. "This is just as strong as normal steel, and the gems are harder than diamonds. It took your magic to solidify it and add the color though, so it's just as much your accomplishment as mine."

The unicorn looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "Frost, this is the most amazing thing you could have possibly given me...and the fact that you asked me to marry you just makes it even more special." She then hugged me tightly. "I love you so much." She then hopped away with a large grin. "I have to go tell my parents...and Rarity! Oh, so much to do..." She dashed off to the bedroom and returned a moment later with a saddlebag, using near-Pinkie speed as she did so. Then, she dashed out the door with a quick, "Bye Luna, bye Frost!"

I just stood there in shock for a moment next to Luna. "Wow...she's really excited."

Luna stood beside me with a smile. "You just asked dear Twilight to marry you...were you expecting otherwise?"

I shrugged. "Not sure." I then looked to the alicorn beside me. "Are you going to act like that when I ask you?"

"When?" Luna whispered.

"Well yeah. I was planning on it eventually." I responded. I then extended a wing over her as I held her close against me. "You didn't honestly think I'd forgotten about you and Tia, did you? I mean, that is of course unless you didn't want to..."

"N-no, I do...ever so much. I just never believed..." Luna mumbled.

"Never believed what...that you would get married?" I responded with a warm smile.

The night princess nodded. "Marriage for the longest time was a dream I had allowed to die. No pony understood me for who I am, save for dear Twilight and Tia...until you of course. They were for the longest span either fearful of me or wished to use courting me for social status and whatnot." Luna lowered her head in sadness. "Things are better now, but for the longest time I was alone in that respect, with only sister and Twilight to care for and love me."

I chuckled. "Luna, I believe you are appreciated far more than you realize. With you having a much more open correspondence with your subjects, they are getting to know you as a pony again...not just royalty. While most royals on Earth set themselves apart from their subjects – above them – you and your sister take an active part in their lives."

"Any royalty worth their weight in salt would do the same. Ponies such as Prince Blueblood are an exception." Luna responded with a thoughtful expression.

I nodded. "Perhaps that's true here but on Earth, royals are seen as superior to their people. On Earth, the bloodline means far more than personality or noble intentions."

Luna's head dropped low in shame. "Before my exile, it was that way on Terra. It is something that took practice for me to expunge from myself, but I am glad it was. Who we are as ponies is more important than what family we come from, I believe."

"It is more important, Lulu...I just wish the nobility of Earth thought the same way." I whispered as I nuzzled her lovingly. "That value is one of the things I love most about you."

The alicorn blushed and looked away shyly. "No matter how many times you tell me, sometimes I still find myself thinking I'm dreaming."

I chuckled. "Well it's a good thing Dash isn't here right now, or she'd haze you for being sappy."

"Perhaps...but I miss Rainbow Dash all the same. She adds something to Equestria that no other can duplicate." the moon princess responded with a smile. She then pulled away from me and kissed my cheek softly. "Well, duty calls Frost. I must return to Canterlot and work with sister so that we can handle things and have time for tonight."

I smiled and nuzzled her softly. "Good...I'll be waiting for the two of you here later tonight." I then opened the door and watched as Luna flew out into the sky of early morning.
After Luna and Twilight had left, I headed over to the northern district of Ponyville, towards Vinyl's house.

After multiple meetings with fan-mares, I finally arrived at the DJ's large house. As I expected, her and her roommate Octavia were arguing about something or other as I walked up to the door, so I politely knocked to avoid literally walking into the middle of it.

The fighting stopped for a moment and I heard the distinct clopping of hooves approaching the door, and simply by the rhythm, I could tell it was Vinyl (is it weird that I know her walk?). The door opened and I found myself looking down at a familiar brilliant white unicorn with an electric two-toned blue mane and tail.

"Ohmygosh, Frost!" she yelled just before jumping at me. Knowing her like I did, I was prepared for it and caught her in a tight hug as I rubbed my cheek against hers. Her crimson eyes were sparkling with happiness and I couldn't help but smile.

I then turned to the gray earth pony once I released Vinyl, and bowed slightly. "Lady Octavia, it's a pleasure to meet you again. It's been too long."

The black-maned mare stuttered a few times before her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted.

Vinyl walked over to her friend and tapped her a few times before sighing and levitating her over to the couch to sleep. "Always the drama queen..." Vi then turned to me with a wide smile before gently rubbing her cheek against my chest. "It's awesome that you're back, Frost. We missed you a hay of a lot."

I lowered my head and embraced her. "It's only for a few days Vi, but I'm going to make sure it's worth every second." I then released her and motioned to the unconscious pony on the red sofa. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine. She's had a schoolfilly crush on you for awhile, so I guess seeing you face-to-face gave her a bad case of 'star-strickeness'...or something." the unicorn remarked. I started laughing and she shoved me with a smirk. "You know what I meant, Frost."

I nodded. "I do. So, do you still have my guitars over here?"

"Sure do! They're in the studio. Why, you feeling like a jam session?" Vinyl asked with her signature grin.

I nodded again. "I am. It's been awhile since I've held my guitar. I gotta get the Led out." This prompted a very confused look from her and I facehooved as we walked. "Ah that's right, I forgot you don't have Led Zepplin here. That's okay, I'll show you the magic of Jimmy Page."

"Ooh, like that stallion Golden Page?" she responded.

I shook my head. "Different Page, dear. Just follow me and I'll show you."

We arrived in Vinyl's extensive and advanced studio, and I quickly found and hooked up my SG to the "wah wah" pedal, then the amp. I looked at Vi in the soundproof booth and shrugged. "I'm not sure if you'll like this type of music, but it's where my soul is. This is what we call rock & roll on Earth."

I focused my magic to let the opening of Led Zepplin's "Trampled Under Foot" play via synthesizer, then started to sing.

"Greased and slicked down fine, groovy leather trim
I like the way you hold the road, mama, it ain't no sin