Celestia’s steps measured her cautiousness in the time between their clicks and clacks against the icy floor beneath her. She moved through a forest, each and every tree seemed like a great marble pillar, stretching towards the sky in pale whites. Each one, frozen in time and decorated with heavy strands of ice. Her eyes darted through the hazy white cathedral of tortured nature about her, searching for movement, wary of any ambush that might come her way,

As she came closer to the epicenter of the phenomenon that plagued her world it only grew colder. The oppressive chill spiked through her coat and stole the small pints of heat that she treasured so dearly. Regretfully, she turned some of her magic into a much needed supply of thermal relief, thus reducing her abilities if a battle were to come about. Her hoofsteps left the frozen lake behind, and the crunching of frosted grass began to haunt her steps, moving her deeper and deeper into the vengeful ice and snow that welcomed her like an old friend.

Her breath fogged her vision with every exhale, and Celestia wished she had brought far more winter wear than she had. Two scarves, she had thought, would be enough. And she had been wrong. As soon as she had come across that lake she had realized her mistake. This was far worse than a magic induced cold snap, this was stages beyond even what a family of windigos could do.

She looked up and spotted the pack of creatures that tailed her above. They may feed on negative emotions, but in a place like this they would hardly need to feed at all. It was cold enough that their own systems would be slowed down to a snail’s pace. A bastion for the despised monsters that threatened the lives of her ponies, and it had begun to chill the crops of a nearby farming village as well.

Her eyes narrowed and her gaze moved to look ahead through the blusters of white. Her steps grew heavier and the warmth of rage began to fuel her movements and tiny flickers of red danced on the edges of her mane. She stepped forward with even greater determination and the snow seemed to bend to her will, clearing away in front of her and revealing a dirt path, the one she had started to follow into this treacherous world in the first place.

She spotted a clearing up ahead, where the pillars of ice surrendered their hold on the world and gave room to breathe. She, however, didn’t expect to be resting here, and the black silhouette against the blindingly bright world confirmed her suspicions, she had reached her destination. She stepped forward until the figure shuffled and took notice of her, then she stopped.

“I have come to inform you!” The royal canterlot voice pierced straight through the hallowing winds and shook the ground with it’s force, making itself well heard. “That you have intruded onto my territory, and as such I would like to ask you to leave! Should you decline this offer I will be forced to remove you by any means!”

The thing didn’t seem to register the words for several minutes. Then, she heard another deep voice reverberate back to her through the hail. It didn’t seem to amplify itself by magic though, rather it used the frozen moisture in the air to achieve much the same effect. “Go away.”

This return shocked the princess as, despite it’s violent volume, it still came across as dull and unintrigued. She narrowed her eyes once again and formed her magic into a powerful blade. “Then you have been warned.” She didn’t bother amplifying this message, as the creature was already unslinging some kind of weapon across it’s back, having no doubt understood her actions.

Celestia charged the creature, but it merely remained where it was. As she closed the distance she realized that her opponent appeared to be bipedal. Giving her a hazy idea of the battle to come. The creature didn’t appear to move, it’s muscles didn’t seem to tense, it merely stood there with some kind of cape flapping in the breeze.

With only a short distance between them Celestia lunged forward and brought her blade around in a curving slash, aimed at his side. He brought his own weapon up and blocked the attack, the light from the hit illuminating his face and showing an odd landscape of laugh lines that seemed to have long ago been abandoned, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it as the light was gone within a few instances.

With adeptness only possible through her practiced magic she quickly lined up a lunge at his torso, and he dodged it with ease. Trying to grasp the advantage of surprise she launched another lunge at him, but she didn’t notice that even as he had dodged he brought his sword in tight. He blocked this blow easily and launched her attack off to the side with a burst of strength.

Celestia found herself incredibly open and she certainly expected a counter as she struggled to gain control of her whirling blade. The world slowed down for her, the adrenaline seeming to pause everything but her mind. And her eyes remained on her foe, who merely watched her stumble and trip about, all the while with his blade at rest by his side. Clearly deciding not to strike at her while she was vulnerable.

It was only a second before Celestia was in complete control of her weapon again, but so much had happened in that second that she was forced to pause and think about what had occurred. He glared back at her from beneath his black attire, not making a noise or a movement. “...why?”

“Go.” He started, sheathing his sword powerfully. “Away.” His gaze was as icy as the weather and his eyes chilled Celestia’s spine.

Celestia let her sword melt away into the cold air and she returned his look. “Your ice is invading a nearby farm village.” The solar princess said, realizing that even if this creature didn’t want to assist her, it deserved the right to explain itself. She realized her flawed logic now, that the creature was simply malign, but perhaps it didn’t know.

“If you find me a wider area that I can go to, I will relocate. If, however, it’s a choice between me and them, I’m sick and tired of choosing other people and screwing myself over in the process.”

“There is a tundra I know of that you could go to, if you would be willing. I could arrange a train for you even, if you needed it.”

He shook his head. “Won’t work, the wheels will lock up from ice. I would need to walk there, and if you provide the supplies and direction I will gladly make the trip. Merely a little food should keep me nourished.” His voice had collapsed from icy to slightly understanding.

“I see, I could go about the gathering of supplies for you with little difficulty.”

“That would be much appreciated.”

A silence hung over the duo and Celestia wanted to apologize for her rushed beliefs, but his eyes seemed to say that he already knew. After a moment that was held entirely by the whipping winds he bent down and reached into a nearby snow bank. From within he pulled out a large ball of ice and held it in his palm. He crushed it with both his hands, shavings of ice breaking away from his hands as he brought them closer and closer to each other.

He pulled his hands apart and revealed a small collection of ice, about the size of a ruby, which he held out to Celestia like an offering. She levitated it from him and brought it close to her, her magic analysing the odd thing before her. It held some kind of void within it, but Celestia was puzzled as to what the void was for, until she brought it close to her fur. She felt the cold leave the air around her, felt it flowing into the strange thing.

“A show of good will.” He stated, and then sat down on the ground, mimicking the exact pose he had been in before her arrival.

Celestia nodded, and made her way back to the village.

Author's Notes:

Stories with one chapter that need to be updated at some future point are my forte.