The Saga of Frostburn

by Fire Gazer the Alchemist

Chapters

• The Ultimate Party
• A Small Victory
• At the Edge of Everfree
• Let the Shouting Commence
• Who's Behind the Door?
• Don't Buck with My Apples
• Through the Fire and Flames
• Keep the Fire Burnin' (Or Not)
• Awakening
• Background Check
• High Treason with Justifications
• Inconvenient Tirade
• Or We Shall All Hang Separately
• Cold as Ice
• Stereotypical Rhythmic Prophecy
• Nothing Else Matters
• Guilty as Charged
• Just Bucking Leave Canterlot Already!
• The King and I
• Solitary Refinement
• Method to my Madness
• Right Up Your Alley
• Am I My Brother's Keeper?
• Ghost in a Crowded Room
• The Phantom Menace
• Attack of the Clones
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Strangers on a Train
• The Ninth Circle of Hell
• Everypony Wants to Rule the World

The Ultimate Party

Thursday Morning

Chapter 1 – Pinkie Pie

It was another beautiful Thursday morning in Ponyville. The pegasi had made unusually quick work clearing the clouds, making everything look as bright and cheery as if felt. To Pinkie Pie, this Thursday morning was also very important. Only once a month did the trains have extra storage carts with them to accommodate ponies who were in the middle of moving and this Friday was her "100th Party" spectacular extravaganza and she wanted to invite all the new ponies to her most ultimate celebration yet. Today was also her one chance to greet every new pony resident and be the first to welcome them to Ponyville. In fact it was so important to her, that Pinkie Pie woke up early every third Thursday of every month to be at the train station before the moving train even arrived. Only this morning she overslept.

"Oh Gummy, this is just terrible!" Pinkie said as she rushed through her morning hygiene. Her toothless alligator sat in his bed, teething on a cushion as he watched the pink mare scramble. "I mean, just think about it," Pinkie continued. "What if I'm late to the train station today? What if I miss saying hi to somepony when they arrive? What if they get sad that nopony was there to greet them? What if they think it means nopony wants to be their friend? Ooooohhhh!" she gasped, hysterically. "What if they don't like Ponyville at all and decide to move away because I wasn't there?" Gummy blinked in response. "You're absolutely right, Gummy." Pinkie said with renewed determination. "I must be there to say hello and give them a smile! I simply must!" And with that, Pinkie dashed out of her room, and through the front door of the bakery. Gummy stared confused at the blank spot where Pinkie Pie used to be, and then continued to teeth on the pillows.

As she dashed through Ponyville, Pinkie made sure to wave hello to all of her friends, which was, well… everypony. Even though Pinkie had to hurry, she never ever forgot to make her friends smile. When she turned her head for an over-the-shoulder-smile-and-wave to Vinyl Scratch, Pinkie ended up colliding with Twilight Sparkle.

"Oh Pinkie, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there," Twilight said. Pinkie steadied herself before responding.

"Twilightsorryi'vegottogettothetrainstationandmeetsomenewfriendsotherwisetheywontlikeponyvilleandbesadandmoveawayandtheniwontgettobetheirfriendeverandtheywillmissmyonehundrethpartyextravaganzaandicantletthathappen!" she exclaimed in a single shout.

"Whoa, Pinkie calm down…" Twilight started.

Pinkie vigorously shook her head before yelling, "I'M ALREADY LATE!" and then she took off. Twilight stood with a look of concern on her face as the pink mare became a blur. She hadn't understood a word of that conversation, but felt as if it didn't really concern her.

Meanwhile an exhausted Pinkie Pie finally made it to the train station, mere minutes before the train was due to arrive. Elated that she hadn't missed anyone, Pinkie trotted up to the gate and displayed the biggest smile she possibly could. The train clanked along shortly and released dozens of ponies, soon to take up residency in Ponyville. Pinkie ran down the line, introducing herself to each new mare and stallion, shaking their hooves, and making sure each one had a smile on their face and an invitation to her party as they went to unload.

It took all of four minutes for Pinkie Pie to meet and befriend the forty-two ponies on the train, tying her personal record of friends made in a single day. Pinkie felt fantastic as she chalked this day up as another good Thursday. Nearly ready to head back into town, the corner of her eye caught one last pony stepping off the train near the very end.

He was an exceptionally ordinary stallion at first glance. An icy coat covered him while a fiery red, tattered mane hung down his head. Heavy, bronze-tinted eyes, one partly covered with hair, marked him as weary traveler, though he didn't seem more than a year older that Pinkie. His Cutie Mark was an icicle surrounded by orange flames, which was a little odd, but the party pony didn't focus on it. Pinkie also caught a pair of wings at his side that were almost hidden by a saddle bag he wore. Upon second glance, the wings were unlike any she'd seen before. Instead of being a single color, these wings started out as a chilling blue like his coat, and then faded to the redish shade of his mane. Pinkie got a wild grin as she realized she was about to set a new record.

She sprang up in front of the pegasus as he stepped off the train, catching him by surprise. "Hello, number 43!" she said giddily to the pony.

He blinked, confused, and said. "Excuse me?"

Pinkie giggled a little. "43, that's the number of friends I've made today, including you. You're the forty-third!" The pegasus still looked taken aback. Pinkie decided to break the ice some more. "I'm Pinkie Pie, your new best friend, and you are?"

The snowy blue pegasus replied curtly, "Frostburn." Then he made as if he were about to move past Pinkie. She stepped in his path, dead set on getting at least one smile.

"So do your friends call you Frosty, or Burny?" She asked.

Frostburn sighed, and then retorted, "I don't really have any friends." Pinkie Pie was stunned by this to say the least. Before she could recover, Frostburn walked around her and made for the exit.

He didn't get far before Pinkie caught up to him. "B-but how can you not have friends?" She sputtered. "Everypony needs friends." Frostburn pretended that he hadn't heard her and kept moving. Pinkie matched his pace. "Well, don't worry Frosty. I'll be your friend."

"Thanks for the offer, Pinkie Pie. But no thanks." Pinkie's eyes widened. Was it possible that this pony didn't want friends? The very thought was simply ridiculous. And not the good kind of ridiculous where you got hopped up on sugar and giggled until you passed out. "Well, at least come to this party I'm throwing tomorrow. It'll be so much fun and then you'll definitely want to make some friends!" Pinkie offered.

Frostburn shook his head. "Parties aren't exactly my scene."

"How can you say that parties aren't your scene? Parties are everyone's scene!" The pegasus just kept walking. "Okay, Frosty, that's it. I'm going to be your friend, and you can't stop me."

"Watch me," Frostburn replied.

Pinkie gave a wry smile and said, "See, we're already having some friendly banter right here! You can't deny that." Frostburn lowered his head and kept walking.

Pinkie stepped in front of the stubborn pegasus, stopping him completely. "I'm not letting you pass until you admit that I'm your friend." Frostburn attempt to move around, but Pinkie blocked him at every attempt. After the twentieth escape try, Pinkie got really frustrated. "You can't possibly expect to live in Ponyville without making any friends. You know that right?"

"I don't plan on staying in Ponyville," Frostburn spoke calmly. "So I guess I don't need to make any friends here." This really confused Pinkie. Who would come to town on moving day, and not plan to stay? She wondered. Turning back, she saw Frostburn already walking away. "Wait up Frosty!" Pinkie cried, galloping after him. It was a challenge for sure, but Pinkie was determined to make Frostburn her friend, and break her record.

A Small Victory

Chapter Two – Twilight Sparkle

Twilight vowed never again to eat three dandelion sandwiches in a row. Her stomach already cramped up as she began to walk home. Hopefully I have a book with a cure for tummy aches. She thought, trudging through town. If not, I won't be able to make it to Pinkie Pie's "100th Party" party tomorrow. The thought of Pinkie throwing a party to celebrate reaching a 100 party total was a little excessive in Twilight's mind, but the purple mare was not about to miss something so important to her friend.

"Hey Frosty, slow down for a sec!" A familiar voice cried out. Twilight turned her head just in time to see Pinkie Pie chasing a blue stallion through town square.

"Well this can't be good," Twilight mumbled. She galloped to intercept Pinkie, ignoring the stomach pain it caused. She managed block her friend, but the other pony was too fast. Charging her horn quickly, Twilight levitated the surprised stallion back towards her. "Alright you two, what is the problem?" she demanded.

Both ponies simultaneously began yelling what had happened. It dissolved into a shouting match between Pinkie and the red-haired pony, and before Twilight knew what was happening she had a headache to match her upset stomach.

"Enough!" she shouted over their bickering. The two quieted down. Twilight point a hoof at her friend. "Pinkie, what in Equestria is going on here?"

Pinkie took in a deep breath then exclaimed so hurriedly that Twilight almost couldn't keep up, "I was at the train station this morning to meet all the new ponies who were moving into Ponyville, and I made friends with all of them, until I got to Frostburn here who didn't want to be my friend. He didn't even smile Twilight! So I was trying to convince him to open up and come to my party. Only he didn't. So when I tried one more time he took off running, so I had to chase him Twilight, I just had too." As Pinkie finished her explanation, breathing very heavily, both Twilight and the other pony could simply stare.

Coming out of shock, Twilight turned to the stallion. "Frostburn was it?" He nodded. "Why don't you want to be Pinkie's friend?" She asked him.

The blue-and-red pony sighed as if he had to deal with that sort of question all the time. "It's not just her," he said. "I don't want to be friends with anypony."

"But why not?" Twilight said. She couldn't think of anything to make this pony not want friends.

Frostburn turned his head. "I've got... reasons."  To Twilight it looked like he staring at his wings forlornly.

"There isn't a reason not to want friends!" Pinkie jumped in, aggressively.

Frostburn stepped back. "Look, I'm not the type of pony that wants, or needs friends. I do just fine by myself and anypony else would only get in the way." With that Frostburn turned away. Pinkie leaped in front of him, and forced Frostburn to back up.

"Friends never get in the way! You just don't know because you've got none!" Pinkie accused. Fearing the worst, Twilight stepped between the two and tried to calm Pinkie down. "Twilight get out of my way!" Pinkie said. "Frosty has to make friends, and the best place to do that will be at my party tomorrow. I'm sure of it!"

"Just leave me alone!" Frostburn cried as he turned and galloped off. Pinkie tried to follow, but Twilight wouldn't let her.

"Pinkie just let him go! He doesn't to be friends with you or anypony." She said.

Pinkie softened slightly, then said, "But Twilight, he just doesn't know what he's missing. Surely you remember how much worse being friendless is." Twilight had to agree, recalling a time when she too hadn't wanted friendship without knowing the joys it came with.

"You're right Pinkie. But you can't just force Frostburn to be your friend. He needs to accept it like I did."

Pinkie calmed down fully upon hearing that. "But how is he supposed to accept my friendship if he never wants to have friends?"

Twilight thought about Pinkies question before answering. "Well, I accepted your friendship after an apocalyptic event forced us to work together, but I don't think something like that will happen again."  Pinkie nodded.  

"I just want to help," she said.

"I know you do," Twilight told her.  "But maybe right now you should give Frostburn a chance to cool off.  I'm sure once he's warmed up to Ponyville and sees how friendly everypony here is, then he'll want to befriend you."

"Okay, sure," Pinkie replied, her happiness returning.  Seeing that her work was done, Twilight waved goodbye and walked off.

-/-

She finally made it back to her home at the library. After making sure that Pinkie Pie would no longer stalk Frostburn, the stomach cramps had made themselves present again. Though not immobilizing, they were painful and she wanted them gone as soon as possible. She went straight to the section on home remedies. After several levitation spells she began flipping through books.

With her expert skimming skills, Twilight found that one of the best remedies for a stomach ache was tea. Settling for that idea, she sent Spike out for tea leaves, while she prepared to boil water. Twilight began to theorize how long it would take the tea to cut through the cramps. Lost in her thoughts, she almost didn't hear the knock at the door. Twilight just about dismissed it as a trick of the mind when it happened a second time. Louder, and more impatient, yet it was the unmistakable hoof-on-oakwood knock.

Grudgingly getting up, Twilight thought about who it could be. None of her friends needed to knock for her permission to enter, and she wasn't expecting a visit today. When she reached the door, Twilight gave up on guessing and decided to see exactly who it was.

She opened the door slowly, and found herself staring at a familiar red and blue pony. Frostburn blinked before saying, "Oh uh, you… sorry. Look, I wasn't following you or anything, I just didn't know you worked here."

"Umm, that's okay. What did you need?" She replied, surprised by his awkwardness.

"I just need to borrow a book," he replied. Twilight looked at Frostburn with curiosity. While ponies did come to her asking for books, this pegasus didn't seem like the type to read a lot.

"Sure," she said tentatively. "Which one?"

Frostburn looked away for a bit, as if he was embarrassed to ask for the book. Kicking at the ground a bit, he mumbled. "Curiosities and Oddities in Equestria History. Do you have it?"

"Yeah, absolutely. Let me grab it for you." Twilight walked around the library and began levitating books and checking titles. As she searched, she pondered why Frostburn would need such an obscure and unusual text. By the tenth check, she'd found his request. Before handing it over, Twilight remembered Pinkie's desire to befriend Frostburn. "If I loan you this book," Twilight began. "Will you come to Pinkie's party?"

The ice-blue pegasus was taken aback by Twilight's demand. "Why would you care if I show up or not?" He asked.

"It's important to Pinkie that everyone in Ponyville shows up," Twilight said, disguising the true intention of finding a friend for this lonely stallion.

Frostburn didn't seem very willing, however. "I wasn't planning on being in town that long," he said, attempting a dodge. Twilight refused to let him.

"Well plan on it," she said firmly, while keeping the book out of reach. There was an intense silence that followed. It seemed to last forever with Frostburn's angry scowl facing Twilight's determined glare. But Twilight saw that Frostburn needed that book, so she held her ground. Eventually, Frostburn sighed. Twilight was victorious.

"I'll be there," he said, taking the book. "But I doubt I'll like it."

As he walked away, Twilight called after him. "You've just never been to a Pinkie Pie party!" And shut the door.

At the Edge of Everfree

Chapter Three – Rainbow Dash

Nothing in Equestria could compare to the feeling of flying. Soaring over the heads of ponies below, with the wind racing passed you. It was a rush beyond anything capable of Earth ponies and unicorns, there was just nothing like it. That's why Rainbow Dash loved flying.

As the wind whipped through her rainbow-colored mane, she executed a perfect backwards double barrel roll, and landed expertly on a nearby cloud. "Woohoo!" she cried, hoof-pumping into the air. Another trick completed.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!" a voice called out. Dash recognized the voice instantly. Poking her head around the drifting cloud she was on, Dash spotted a pink mare directly below.

"Hey Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash said. "What's up?"

Pinkie giggled slightly before answering. "You are apparently. That was an amazing trick!"

"If you liked that one, then stick around. I got plenty more for you," the cyan pegasus got herself prepared to takeoff.

"Oh, I can't," Pinkie Pie said, stopping Dash in mid leap. "Gotta get back to Sugar Cube Corner and set up for the party."

"Isn't that tomorrow, though?" Dash asked, puzzled.

The pink mare giggled wildly. "I have a lot of decorations," she explained. "And I have to prepare food for everypony in town. Plus the 43 new ponies that arrived today." Pinkie cringed inwardly, and then corrected herself. "Uh, make that 42 ponies."

"Wait a minute. Is somepony not coming to your party?" Rainbow asked, incredulous. Pinkie gave a squeamish look then nodded. "Somepony isn't coming to YOUR party?!" Dash practically shouted.

"Rainbow calm down. I'm sure my 100th party spectacular extravaganza won't need everypony in Ponyville to show up for it to be super fun," but even as she said the words, Pinkie got visibly sadder.

"Pinkie Pie, I'm going to hunt down this pony and make them come to your party! Who is it?"

"Dash, don't worry about. He doesn't want to show up…"

Rainbow Dash wasn't the least bit swayed. In fact, she seemed even more determined. "Oh he's gonna want to, Pinkie. Trust me."

Pinkie Pie, oblivious to the threatening tone in her pegasus friend's voice, perked up when she heard Dash's promise. "Well if that's the case," she said. "He's this pegasus that just came into town, red hair, blue coat, wings that have two colors… Anyway his name's Frostburn." Pinkie spilled out. "But he really seemed like he didn't want to go, Dash."

"Don't you worry about that, Pinkie. He'll be there," Rainbow assured. Whether he wants to or not.

-/-

Her conversation with Pinkie Pie had been four hours ago, and Rainbow Dash still hadn't found the pegasus known as Frostburn. Let alone convince him to go to Pinkie's party.

Thinking a pegasus would be in the clouds, Dash had scoured the skies, looking for anyone who would match the description her friend gave her. No luck there. So then she flew around town, passing over every road and building without seeing a hint of the pegasus.

Frustrated, Dash flew by one last building, which she doubted very much that Frostburn would show up at. Fluttershy's cottage.

Flying swiftly to the door, Rainbow gave it two concise knocks. A high-pitched peep came from inside the house. No doubt Fluttershy was startled by the sudden house call.

"W-who is it?" The yellow pegasus whispered from inside.

"It's me," Rainbow said.

The door to the house opened slowly to reveal Fluttershy, giving her famous shy smile. "Oh, hi Rainbow Dash. What brings you here?"

"I'm looking for this pegasus. He's got a blue coat and red hair. I don't think you would've seen him." Fluttershy opened her mouth as if she were about to speak. Rainbow, unaware, cut her off. "I mean, I fly all over town, and nopony anywhere has seen him yet. It's like he's invisible or something."

"Rainbow…" Fluttershy said, meekly, not wanting to interrupt.

"How somepony can go through town completely unseen is beyond me. It's like he's trying to not be noticed. You know?"

"Yes, I see your point but Rainbow Dash…"

"He must be trying to be incognito. How else do you explain that?"

"Rainbow Dash, LISTEN!" Fluttershy said in her loudest voice. Even so, Rainbow Dash only just heard her.

"What, Fluttershy?" She asked.

"Is that him over there?" Fluttershy said, pointing off to the side. Following her hoof, Rainbow looked over in the direction of the Everfree Forest. To her surprise, a pony matching Frostburn's exact description was sitting on an old tree stump, just by the entrance.

It was strange now that Rainbow Dash could see him. She had built up in her head this angry, almost villainous pony that would be so low as to hurt Pinkie Pie's feelings. But this pegasus just looked so, normal.

"What the?!" The cyan pegasus said, so shocked she stopped hovering. "How long has he been there?"

Fluttershy blushed, embarrassed. "Oh, um… a couple of hours. He showed up and started reading this book. I didn't approach or anything because I didn't want to be rude."

Rainbow gave a determined, and slightly victorious, grin. "Finally," she said. "I've been hunting him for hours!"

"W-why?" Fluttershy asked.

"He's the only pony in the entire town that doesn't want to show up at Pinkie Pie's party!" Dash said angrily. "And I'm going to change his mind."

"Oh my. Maybe he has a good reason for…"

"Don't defend him Fluttershy!" Dash exclaimed, cutting her off.

"Oh, sorry Rainbow," Fluttershy said, feeling guilty. Dash didn't notice it.

"He's going Pinkie's party; he just doesn't know it yet."

"Oh my, that doesn't sound good. Maybe I shouldn't get involved. Sorry Rainbow." And with that, Fluttershy shut her door and refused to open it again.

Whatever. Dash thought. I can do this without Fluttershy. Dash began racing up to the unsuspecting Frostburn. "Hey you!" She called out. The pegasus looked up from his book, startled. Great, another Egghead. Rainbow thought. She continued yelling. "Yeah, you. I've got a bone to pick with you!"

Frostburn looked terrified. And he should be, thought Rainbow. Instead of facing the oncoming pegasus, he shoved his book crookedly in his saddlebag, and ran. Opening her wings for a chase, Rainbow Dash took off. Flying parallel to the Everfree forest, Dash easily caught up to the running Frostburn.

Passing over his head, and landing in front of him, Dash blocked his path to run. Frostburn skidded to a halt, then turned and ran in the opposite direction. Narrowing her eyes, Dash flew up, and prepared to block his path again. As if he was prepared, Frostburn sped up again, though surprisingly didn't try to fly away. When Dash moved down to block him, Frostburn dug his hind legs into the ground, and swung them in a wide semi-circle. Dirt and dust flew into Rainbow Dash's face, temporarily blinding her.

Frostburn seized the advantage and ran… straight into the Everfree Forest! As the dust cleared Dash hesitated in following him; not quite as eager to venture into the most dangerous place in all of Equestria alone. It was too daring even for her, which is why she wondered why Frostburn did it.

About to turn around and leave, a book caught the corner of Rainbow's eye. It was the very same book that Frostburn had been reading. Likely it had been thrown out of his saddlebag during the escape. Dash picked it off and brushed off the dirt, hoping for a clue about Frostburn. The title caught her off guard.

"Curiosities and Oddities in Equestria History?" Rainbow read, confused. That didn't sound like anything anypony would read. Opening up the cover, Rainbow saw a familiar stamp on the inside.

Property of the Ponyville Library. If found please return.

The Library? Rainbow thought. What does Twilight know about this?

Let the Shouting Commence

Thursday Night

Chapter Four – Twilight Sparkle

"Thank Celestia those infernal cramps are gone," Twilight said, sipping some more tea, and turning a page in her old magical studies textbook.

"Yeah, your groaning was becoming unbearable," Spike replied, setting down three more books on the desk next to Twilight. She smiled at his remark. "I mean, they could probably hear it all the way in Manehattan, it was so loud!" The purple dragon chuckled at his own joke.

"Okay Spike, that's enough," Twilight told him, not quite as amused. That only seemed to make Spike laugh more.

When he did calm down, he asked. "Are you sure that's all you need for tonight?"

Twilight surveyed all the books, parchments, inkwells, and quills in front of her. "This'll be fine. I plan to just finish a few more books tonight then turn in."

Spike yawned, a tad overdramatically. "Well, I think I'll hit the hay." He said, making for the stairs. "See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Spike," Twilight called as he vanished upstairs. The purple mare found a comfortable position in her chair and prepared to sit for the next few hours with her books, and some peace.

Two seconds later that ended.

Rainbow Dash came bursting through the door in a huff, looking really peeved. "Twilight!" she said loudly.

"Rainbow," Twilight said, irked her quiet night just tanked. "You know you're always welcome here, but it's a little late for…"

"Twilight, what is the meaning, of this!" Rainbow held something up, clearly angry about it.

"It's a book Dash."

Looking annoyed, the cyan pegasus removed her hoof so Twilight could see the title.

"Wait a minute," Twilight said, standing. "That's the book I loaned to…"

"Frostburn. I know," Rainbow said, looking somewhat guilty.

"What happened?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash told her everything that had happened since Pinkie Pie met up with her earlier in the day. She spared no details, and by the time she reached the end, Twilight was shocked to say the least.

"You chased him into the EVERFREE FOREST!" She screamed. "WHY IN EQUESTRIA WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

Dash yelled right back. "BECAUSE HE WOULDN'T COME TO PINKIE PIE'S PARTY, THAT'S WHY!"

Twilight answered with an equal amount of rage. "YOU CAN'T JUST CHASE PONIES INTO THE EVERFREE FOREST! BESIDES, I CONVINCED HIM TO GO TO THE PARTY WHEN HE BORROWED THE BOOK!"

Suddenly Pinkie Pie was bounding into the library. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS ARE HAVING A SHOUTING PARTY WITHOUT ME!" The pink mare was not quite angry; it was more like she was excited to be a part of the screaming hysteria.

"Pinkie!" Twilight said. "What are you doing here?"

Pinkie gave Twilight a look and said. "You guys woke up half of Ponyville with your shouting. See!" Pinkie gestured to the door to reveal many of the local residents had been woken by the argument. Lights were on in every building, and some ponies had wandered in the streets to find out what was going on.

Sheepishly, both Twilight and Rainbow Dash shrunk back inside, embarrassed.

"Wait a minute," Pinkie said, coming to terms with what she'd just heard. "You held a book hostage to get Frostburn to come to my party?" She accused, turning to Twilight.

"Well… yes," Twilight said, fearing the wrath of Pinkie Pie.

Turning to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie said. "And you chased him to the Everfree Forest, for the same reason?"

"Uh, kind of. I might've done something like that," Rainbow mumbled, with an equal amount of fear.

Moving against both ponies, Pinkie Pie backed them up against the wall, seemingly ready to give them both hell. At the last possible second, though, a smile broke out on her face.

"You guys are such great friends!" She exclaimed, embracing the two of them.

"Heh, thanks Pinkie," Rainbow said a little unnerved.

"Yeah, no problem," Twilight said, feeling the same way. "But Frostburn's still trapped in the Everfree Forest because of it."

Releasing her friends from the hug, the realization dawned on Pinkie Pie. She gasped. "We have to save him! Being trapped in the Everfree Forest means he won't be able to come to my party!" Both Rainbow and Twilight were surprised by Pinkie's priorities. "Oh, right, yeah." She said. "The whole imminent death thing is a bummer too." With that she galloped out of the library.

"Alright then. Let's go save Frostburn," Rainbow declared, flying out after her friend.

Twilight followed them, completely frazzled by the direction her evening went.

The entrance to the Everfree Forest looked even more haunting at nightfall. The eerie sounds of rough wilderness reverberated through the night. Without time to round up the rest of the Mane Six, Twilight felt even more nervous about their effort to save Frostburn.

"Right about here," Rainbow said, pointing her hoof. "This is where he galloped into the forest."

"Don't worry Frosty, we'll save you!" Pinkie yelled into the bleak expanse.

Twilight nodded "Alright girls, let's go."

The three ponies galloped into the forest, determined to find the missing stallion. Darkness quickly loomed in, but Twilight created purple light with her horn so they could see. Even with her illumination spell, Twilight still couldn't see too far ahead.

The search started horribly. For nearly twenty minutes the trio of mares stumbled around, calling Frostburn's name, and looking around aimlessly. Twilight tried widening her beam of light as they went on, but in the moment it took her to concentrate, her hoof was ensnared by a root, and she fell over.

"Ahh!" she said, hitting the ground, her light flicking off.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Sorry Pinkie," Twilight said. She lit up her horn again. Before standing up, Twilight noticed some irregular marks on the ground. The realization quickly dawned on her. "Girls, look! Hoofprints!" She called out. Pinkie and Rainbow ran over to her.

Pinkie's eyes became glued to the ground, following the prints. "These have to be Frostburn's!" She said. "Either that or some other pony got lost in the forest. But that would mean we'd have to find two ponies now, which is a lot more work."

"I'm pretty sure they belong to Frostburn," Rainbow Dash said, helping Twilight up.

"Oh, okay." Pinkie said. "Good thing you know what his hooves look like," Not waiting for a response, the party pony began to follow the prints.

"Hey, I wasn't staring at his hooves, if that's what you're implying!" Rainbow protested, but Pinkie was already on the move. Instead, Rainbow turned back to Twilight. "I wasn't." The cyan pegasus clarified. The pink mare laughed a little at the remark, then trotted to keep up with Pinkie. "I wasn't staring at his hooves!" Rainbow protested, following.

"Hey girls, look at this!" Pinkie shouted from up ahead. Twilight and Rainbow Dash hurried to catch up to Pinkie. When they found her, the pink mare was pointing at more hoofprints. "I was just following them until I came across something really weird! And not the good kind of weird either, more like the kind that makes you want to…"

"Pinkie Pie! Just tell us already," Twilight said.

Pinkie laughed. "Why tell you, when I can show you." She said, indicating where the hoofprints led to. Twilight couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the trail of Frostburn led to the most unexpected place in the entire Everfree Forest.

Zecorah's hut.

Who's Behind the Door?

Chapter Five – Pinkie Pie

Crazy was usually a good thing. Pinkie got called crazy on a daily bases. She never took it as an insult, because she loved being crazy. The best part was when even she didn't know what was she was going to do next.

Tonight was not the good kind of crazy. And Pinkie Pie certainly did not like not knowing what was going to happen next. If only she had convinced Frostburn to come to her party earlier in the day, she wouldn't have dragged her friends into this big mess.

Zecorah's hut sat in the distance. The very presence of the hoofprints raised a thousand questions for Pinkie. She sincerely hoped Frosty was there to clarify.

"You think he just wandered to Zecorah's place?" Rainbow Dash asked, breaking the silence.

Twilight shook her head. "His footprints were a clear path here. Frostburn knew where he was going."

"That pegasus told me he didn't have any friends." Pinkie said, irked. "Now I find out he's known Zecorah this whole time!"

"Slow down Pinkie." Twilight said. "They may not even know each other. But then…" She trailed off lost in thought. Somewhere nearby timber wolves howled. "We should go inside and see Zecorah."

"You scared?" Rainbow asked with a smirk.

"Aren't you?" Pinkie asked. Her Pinkie sense kicked in. An all over shudder.

"Oh no." Twilight said. Rainbow looked shocked. All three knew what a shudder meant.

Something completely unexpected was about to happen. A real dosey.

"Let's get inside." Rainbow suggested.

Allowing herself a smirk, Twilight replied, "You scared?" Pinkie shuddered again. Dash actually nodded.

Without anymore hesitation, the three trotted up to the door to the hut of their zebra friend. Zecorah was still awake, a faint glow from inside told them that much. Pinkie raised a hoof, and knocked on the door, hoping Zecorah would answer. Movement was heard from the other side of the mahogany.

"Who is there, knocking so late? A housecall at this hour is not great!" The familiar rhyming voice called from the inside.

"Zecorah, its Pinkie! And I'm here with Rainbow and Twilight. Can we please come in?" Pinkie said.

The door was quickly unlatched and opened. "Ah, my friends from Ponyville. Let you in, of course I will!" Zecorah stepped aside to allow the three ponies in. Pinkie zoomed right by Zecorah, expecting to see Frostburn somewhere inside. Rainbow Dash was just as fast. Twilight was more reserved, and walked in politely.

Zecorah's hut was everything they remembered it to be. The exotic decorations hung on the walls, symbols in the zebra's native language covered the scrolls she kept open, tonics lined the shelves and the smell of mahogany was powerful.

Surprised to say the least, Zecorah spoke as Pinkie rummaged around looking for Frostburn. "I am glad to see you three here, but visiting in the middle of the night is a little queer."

"Sorry Zecorah, but we've been looking for a pony that's gone missing in the Everfree forest, and then we found hoofprints leading to your hut." Twilight explained, looking around. "We were kind of hoping he'd be here."

"I haven't given up yet." Pinkie declared, poking her head into some of Zecorah's pottery. "Frostburn! You in here?"

"You won't find Frostburn in this place." Zecorah told Pinkie as her head came out of the pottery. "He left with a great haste."

All three ponies were stunned by Zecorah's revelation. "What do you mean, he left?" Rainbow asked, peeved. "Did we seriously miss him?"

"The pony of ice and flames stopped by. Then left, almost as soon as he said hi."

"Pony of ice and flames?" Twilight repeated, confused.

"Zecorah, do you know Frostburn?" Pinkie asked.

"He and I met in years past. Sadly a friendship would not last." Zecorah admitted.

"Zecorah, we have to find him. Can you tell us what you know?" Twilight said.

"My old acquaintance asked for the direction, to leave this forest's lack of protection. I pointed him to the west and told him that way is best. You may catch up to him soon, with the light from the moon." The zebra relayed.

"Then let's go!" Pinkie cried. The three turned to leave. "Thank you Zecorah!" the party pony called back.

Zecorah called out, "My pony friends don't yet go. There is one more thing you need to know!"

The three friends skidded to a halt, crashing into one another at the doorway.

"Well what is it then?" Rainbow asked disentangling herself.

"Long ago, Frostburn warned me he was under a curse and for ponies who stayed around him, the danger became worse!"

"A curse?" Twilight said, skeptical. She had dealt with supposed curses before, and ruled them out as illogical.  She began wondering what could be afflicting Frostburn, and why he considered it a curse.

"That must be why he doesn't want friends." Pinkie said. "That's just horrible! We've got to help him."

"What exactly was this curse?" Twilight said, still in denial.

"That was a topic he never talked about. It's up to you three to draw it out. Do not fear being too rough, that pegasus' guard is very tough." Zecorah said.

"Rough, got it." Rainbow said.

Pinkie was hit with another shudder, her sixth sense warning her of impending unexpectedness. This time it lasted longer, giving Pinkie more information. When it ended, Rainbow and Twilight eyed her, eager for an update. "Girls, I think know where the dosey is going to happen. Sweet Apple Acres!" Pinkie said.

"Frostburn must be headed in that direction." Twilight deduced.

"I'll see you there!" Rainbow Dash said, and launched herself into flight to chase after Frostburn.

"Rainbow, wait!" Twilight yelled too late. The cyan pegasus was gone before anypony in the room had blinked. "We have to go." Twilight told Pinkie. As they ran out, Pinkie turned to Zecorah one last time.

"Thanks for everything." She said.

"It was not trouble, my friend. Now find Frostburn, and put this mystery to an end." The zebra said, waving.

Pinkie nodded, shuddered again, and ran out.

Don't Buck with My Apples

Chapter Six – Applejack

Sleep had eluded Applejack for the past few hours. She tossed and turned in her bed, with little to do but think. Not enough on the farm had been that day, so she and Big Mac would have to clear the entire southern field tomorrow. Not a pleasant thought.

The farmer rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. It was rare that she was kept awake at night. It seemed the impending deadline was enough to give her insomnia, but she doubted it. It was more of a weird feeling that something was wrong.

Her blankets felt hot, so she kicked them off, and then rolled on her side, facing her open window. There wasn't any wind tonight, so noise wasn't keeping her up. AJ felt cold again and covered herself with the blankets.

Then Applejack noticed movement in between the trees. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Nothing. About to dismiss it, she noticed the movement again. "Couldn't be the wind." She whispered. "It's just about as still as it can be."

The movement happened again, this time Applejack could see it was a figure moving between the apple trees. "Trespassers." She growled. "And probably apple thieves too." Standing, Applejack grabbed the hat she set on her night stand and put it on.

Moving fast, she ran right by Big Mac's room, the noise rousing him from sleep. Mac decided to see what his little sister was up too, and got out of bed as well. Applebloom and Granny Smith were spared an awakening.

As for AJ, she was downstairs, ready to burst out the door when she remembered her lasso. Stopping to grab it allowed Big Mac to catch up to her. He didn't need to say anything; he just gave the orange pony an inquisitive look.

"Trespassers." Applejack said, tightening her lasso. "You gonna help me?" she asked him, no clarification needed.

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh said eyes narrowed as he began stretching out for a fight. The two siblings made their way out of the farmhouse and into the orchard. Applejack started galloping to the spot she last saw the figure. Big Mac followed close behind.

Scanning for even the slightest movement among the trees, Applejack saw the figure running up ahead.

"There he is!" Applejack told Big Mac. The figure turned its head, then sprinted off. Big Mac ran right after it. "Chase him around back." Applejack yelled, keeping pace. "We'll corner 'im in the south field!" Her brother nodded, then turned to outflank the intruder.

It didn't take long to chase the figure into the south fields. Now how to stop him became the real challenge.

Mac maneuvered to the left side of the figure, now obviously a pony, and slammed his body into him. The trespassing pony fell back, but smoothly stood up again to face Big Mac. The red stallion turned, and used his hind legs for a powerful buck aimed at the intruder's head. The pony was too fast and ducked.

The force from the buck pulled Big Mac over, slamming his legs into a nearby tree. The entire trunk shook, and apples fell down, pelting both ponies. Recovering quickly, the strange figure raised a hoof, ready to attack Big Mac.

Applejack twirled her lasso and threw. It sailed through the air and hooked onto the intruder's front hoof. AJ pulled, bringing the pony down. Big Mac prepared another buck, aimed at the head. Again the trespasser dodged it, using Applejack's pull with his own leap to practically fly over and slam into the orange mare.

When she recovered, Applejack got her first good look at the intruder. Wings marked him as a pegasus, and the blue coat made Applejack assume it was Rainbow Dash trying to stir up trouble. The red tips of the wing, and similarly colored mane disproved her theory.

Acting on impulse, Applejack slammed the pegasus into a tree and held him with her hoof. "Alright you, Ah'm gonna make ya wish you'd never been born."

Moonlight broke through the trees, lighting up the pegasus' face. His teeth were clenched, and his bronze-tinted eyes looked pretty scared. But that wasn't all. This stallion looked like he had a way out, but he didn't want to use it.

Applejack wasn't sure what that really meant.

"Just let me go now, I don't want to have to hurt you." He said, sounding sincere, yet not threatening.

Applejack didn't care either way. "I'd like to see you try." She dared him. "It doesn't seem like you'll be hurting anypony at the moment, seeing how Ah have the upper hoof." To prove her point, AJ pressed the stallion into the tree harder, eliciting a grunt of pain.

The pegasus pinned to the tree looked around. Big Mac was coming back, ready to assist Applejack. The pegasus weighed his options. But Applejack was pretty sure he'd surrender given the odds. She raised her hoof ready to finish the fight.

That's when the pegasus whispered, "Celestia forgive me."

Above the fight, Rainbow Dash had been flying frantically fast over Sweet Apple Acres. Looking down, she watched as three ponies fought. One was clearly Big Mac due to his size alone. Another one suddenly threw a lasso. It had to be Applejack.

-\-

Rainbow was also pretty sure about the third one too, but it wasn't until Applejack pushed him against a tree, and moonlight revealed his face that his identity was confirmed. Frostburn. Applejack raised her hoof ready to strike the red-maned stallion.

Without even thinking, she cried out. "AJ, stop!"

-\-

"Celestia forgive me." Had Applejack heard right? That wasn't at all what crooks said when they got caught. They made threats, or begged to be let go. Praying for forgiveness made no sense to the simple farmer.

The pegasus she held gave a face of regret. Faintly Applejack heard someone screaming for her to stop. Wait just an apple bucking minute. She thought. Is that…

Just then, the pegasus snapped his wings out…

And the world exploded.

Through the Fire and Flames

Chapter Seven – Rainbow Dash

Fire engulfed Sweet Apple Acres. And all Rainbow Dash could do was watch in horror.

Down below, Applejack was thrown back by the sheer force of the inferno, which left burns covering her entire body. Big Mac fared no better. Apple trees were incinerated by the fire ball that now engulfed Frostburn.

Barely avoiding the explosion unscathed, Rainbow hovered in awe at the destruction. The raging inferno had reached its peak, and now grew smaller by the second. It was still the size of a house though.

The cyan pegasus immediately swooped down to check on AJ and Big Macintosh. They looked severely burned, AJ's favorite hat was ashy and soot covered, her mane, though still existent, was singed black in most places. Her usual orange coat was covered in red and pink burn marks. Her left, hind leg had puss coming out of it.

Rainbow nearly threw up. Upon glancing at Big Mac, she did throw up.

The stallion looked far worse than his sister. One leg was completely bent out of shape, on account of being slammed into a tree. His coat was burnt and charred, mane smoking and covered in ash. One eye was swollen shut, and he wheezed with every breath.

At least he's breathing. Dash thought. The fireball beside her was almost burnt out, but heat was still radiating from it, causing the cyan pegasus to sweat. Ignoring the heat, she cradled Applejack's head, unsure of what to do.

"Rainbow! What in Equestria happened?" Twilight and Pinkie rushed forward, after finally catching up to Rainbow Dash. Only they were all too late.

"What happened to Applejack and Big Mac?" Pinkie cried.

"We need to get them to Ponyville Hospital, now!" Twilight said.

Rainbow nodded, and noticed that the blaze was finally gone. Expecting to see the charred body of Frostburn, if there was any body at all; Rainbow looked as the smoked cleared.

Instead what the ponies saw shocked them all.

Frostburn was standing on the scorched earth, wings extended, body ignited in flames, eyes glowing a fierce red.

"That's not possible." Dash said. Twilight didn't know what to say.

"Uh, Frostburn…" Pinkie attempted to say. The glowing red eyes of Frostburn flickered back to bronze irises. He gripped his head as if in extreme pain. A sharp shriek of agony rang out. Then the red glow returned. A fireball formed in his hoof, which Frostburn flung directly at Pinkie.

She shrieked, but at the last moment Twilight threw up a force field. The flames smashed into the shield, leaving the ponies it guarded unharmed.

"Twilight, Pinkie, you have to get these two to safety." Rainbow said, indicating the wounded farmer ponies.

"What are you going to do?" Pinkie asked, terrified.

Dash looked her pink friend dead in the eye. "I'm going to stop him." She said.

"But Rainbow you can't…" Pinkie started. Twilight stopped her by teleporting the four of them away in a blinding flash of light. They were out of the farm, and hopefully at the hospital.

Dash turned to stare at Frostburn, or rather, what used to be Frostburn. His red eyes held her gaze.

Time stood still.

Then a fire ball was hurled at Rainbow Dash.

The force field was long gone, causing Dash to duck to the side, just missing the blaze. "That all you got?" She cried at the burning pegasus. He prepared another fireball.

Knowing she couldn't dodge forever, Dash opened her wings and flew off. The wisp of flames in Frostburn's hoof died down. His eyes followed Rainbow Dash's flying, before using his own wings to take off in pursuit.

-\-

Twilight, Pinkie, and the Apple siblings flashed into Ponyville Hospital. A nearby nurse whinnied in shock. Twilight, exhausted after teleporting four ponies a great distance, collapsed on the floor. Only Pinkie could speak.

"What? Where are we Twilight?" She asked.

"Hospital…teleport…uhh.." Twilight passed out. Pinkie looked at the startled nurse.

"Please you have to help my friends." She pleaded. The nurse, upon taking a single look, knew all three of the unconscious ponies needed medical attention. She immediately called some nearby doctors, and the carefully moved the injured into the urgent care unit. Pinkie unfortunately could not follow. Instead she was forced to pace around the tiled floor of the waiting room, hoping her friends would pull through.

She also couldn't help but wonder what had become of Rainbow Dash and Frostburn. Had the snow blue pegasus caused that fire somehow? Most likely, given what he seemed capable of now, but how was it possible? Would Rainbow be okay left alone with him? What was with those glowing red eyes that seemed to breathe hatred?

The worst part was, Pinkie couldn't help but think that it was all her fault.

-\-

Rainbow soared through the night, the blazing pegasus close behind her. So close in fact, that Rainbow could smell the singing hair of her tail.

Two more fire balls whizzed past Dash's head. Risking a glance, she saw another coming right for her. Twisting in mid-air, she narrowly evaded it, and the fire smashed into a drifting cloud.

Dash needed to be more careful, while she was in front of Frostburn, she had no way of knowing when his attacks would come. What she needed was a rain cloud.

Scanning the sky, while simultaneously dodging the onslaught of fire, Dash mercifully found a small cluster of clouds up ahead.

Zooming forward, she gathered them up and pressed them into a single raincloud. Just then, Frostburn was gaining on her, nearly ready to collide. Hoping her impromptu plan would work, Dash unleashed as much rainwater from the cloud and sent it at the attacking pegasus.

It did no good. Frostburn's fire was so hot that it evaporated the rain water before it got even got close. He simply kept flying toward Rainbow. To buy time, she hurled what remained of the raincloud at her attacker and flew off.

Frostburn sliced through the cloud without a problem and accelerated toward Dash. Even going as fast as she could, Rainbow Dash could still not outpace Frostburn as he pulled up alongside her.

He crashed into the cyan pegasus repeatedly, attempting to knock her out of the sky. Even with the flaming body repeatedly hitting her, giving her burn marks of her own, Dash held firm.

She banked right, and grabbed the nearest cloud she could. This time, she slammed her hooves into the cloud causing lighting to shoot out. Frostburn avoided every bolt that came his way. Then he formed another fireball and took aim at Rainbow.

Without much time, Rainbow Dash hurled the cloud at the oncoming fireball. The two collided in mid air and exploded. Frostburn flew right through the explosion, unfazed. Dash flew off. The chase resumed.

Below, the citizens of Ponyville watched in alarm and confusion at the aerial battle taking place above their heads. Some panicked and fled. Others stood frozen in horror. The rest passed out in shock or fear.

Realizing he needed a new approach, the fire pegasus launched ahead with tremendous speed, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. Dash had no hope of catching up, but she tried anyway, pushing her limit.

Suddenly, Frostburn began to circle Dash in mid-air. Before she even knew what was happening, Dash was caught in a violent, flaming cyclone. Thrown back and forth by the force of Frostburn's cyclone, Dash felt powerless. Her back became scorched, and the feathers on her wings slowly began to burn into nothing. If she didn't fly out soon, Dash was likely not to have any wings to fly with.

Without warning, Frostburn slammed into her, this time sending her falling back down to Ponyville, which by that time they were directly over.

Dash had only one thought before slamming into the ground. This is all my fault.

Keep the Fire Burnin' (Or Not)

Chapter Eight – Pinkie Pie

Twilight had finally woken up. The nurse had told Pinkie that, moments ago. Without even asking for permission, Pinkie had galloped right through the ER and found Twilight lying down in a hospital bed. She looked very tired, and her usually lavender coat was very pale. Even so, she managed to smile when Pinkie came in her room.

"Hey Pinkie…" Was all Twilight could manage before the pink mare cut her off with a bear hug.

"Oh Twilight I'm so glad your okay!" Pinkie practically sobbed.

"Thanks…Pinkie…now please….stop hugging me!" Twilight got out. Pinkie released her friend, blushing a little.

"I'm sorry Twilight." then, "This is all my fault." She said, on the brink of tears.

Twilight looked at her friend. "Pinkie, you can't possibly blame all this on yourself." She said.

"But it's true." Pinkie said. "None of this would have happened if I hadn't tried so hard to be Frostburn's friend."

Twilight shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense, Pinkie."

"Of course it doesn't. I'm Pinkie!" She cried. Twilight might've laughed if the situation had been better.

"Pinkie, don't feel bad about this. We had no idea what could have possibly come from trying to get Frostburn to your party."

Pinkie didn't look the least bit consoled. "I can't even have the party now. Not with so many of my friends in the hospital. And how could we have left Rainbow Dash to fight that…that…" Pinkie, for once in her life, was at a loss for words.

"Frostburn." Twilight said. The name sounded heinous as she said it. An unknown entity, unlike anything they had fought before. And Dash was facing it all by herself. "Without AJ, we can't hope to try the Elements of Harmony."

"I don't even know where Rarity and Fluttershy might be." Pinkie said, dismal. "This isn't good Twilight. I can't find one positive spin on this. Not one." Her hair straightened as guilt weighed down heavily on the party pony.

Sitting up, still a tad dizzy, Twilight put her hoof around Pinkie's shoulder. "We'll figure this out. Besides, Dash is tough, I'm sure she'll…"

Before the purple unicorn could console her friend further, an explosion from outside rocked the hospital. Turning to the window, Pinkie saw a storm of fire above Ponyville. In the center of the burning torrent, a cyan pegasus seemed to be constantly thrown back and forth. Twilight got a worried look on her face. "Rainbow…" she said, trailing off.

Suddenly, Pinkie felt her tail twitch. Then, to the misfortune of both ponies, they saw Rainbow Dash thrown from cyclone, and slam into the ground as Pinkie's tail had predicted.

"We have to help her!" Pinkie screamed. Almost as fast as she arrived, Pinkie left the hospital. Twilight left too, but she hadn't yet gotten her energy back and was lagging behind.

By now all of Ponyville was awake, and outside, causing a panic. Pinkie Pie didn't stop for anyone. She had to get to Rainbow. Above her head, Frostburn was turning his cyclone into a full-blown tornado. The inferno hit the town hard, incinerating three houses when it touched down. Half of Ponyville was running away, while others tried to fight the fire with anything they could. Not that garden hoses and watering pails would be very effective.

Pinkie finally reached her pegasus friend. Rainbow had yet to climb out of the small crater her fall had caused. Fearing the worst, Pinkie went to her friend. After a moment, Rainbow Dash coughed, and sat up, looking very defeated.

"Pinkie…" She coughed out. "I'm so sorry…It's all my fault"

"It's more my fault than yours." Pinkie argued. "I shouldn't have tried so hard to get Frostburn to come to my party."

"And I chased him into the Everfree Forest." Dash said.

The flaming tornado was raging in a path towards the two ponies. Already Pinkie could feel the heat on her face. They wouldn't have enough time to get away.

"I guess now where both going to die because of it." She said. Looking up, she saw that the tornado was about to hit them. Both mares shut their eyes and waited for the inevitable.

But it didn't come.

Opening their eyes, Pinkie and Rainbow saw Twilight standing above them, holding a force field to keep the torching twister at bay. The lavender mare struggled to hold her magic together, still a little weak, but no less determined. Pinkie's hair poofed out as she realized they may still have a chance.

The tornado dissipated into thin air. Surprised, the three ponies saw Frostburn drifting down in front of the force field.

"Frostburn!" Pinkie cried at him. "You stop this right now! Friends do not burn down other friends' towns!" If the fire pegasus heard Pinkie, he made no move to acknowledge it. Instead, pelted the forced field with a barrage of flames.

"Pinkie! Don't do that, you'll just make him angrier!" Said Twilight as she desperately tried to hold the shield together. "Listen, I have an idea. Can you keep Frostburn on the ground for a few minutes?"

Looking from the struggling Twilight to the beaten down Rainbow Dash, Pinkie thought carefully. "Yes." She said, unsure if she could, but knowing she couldn't fail.

"Alright, get ready." Twilight said. At that moment, the fiery assault let up for just a moment. Twilight dropped the shield and moved off to the side, preparing a new spell. Pinkie jumped into Frostburn's line of sight.

"Hey, Frosty!" She yelled. "Consider yourself uninvited to my party!" The glowing red eyes held no expression, but Frostburn shot fire in her direction.

With her Pinkie Sense, she had already known his intentions and dodged with plenty of time. "Missed me Frosty!" she teased. Again the fire shot at Pinkie. This time she merely side stepped it.

Glancing at Twilight, Pinkie could see the unicorn producing massive amounts of magic in her horn. Before Pinkie could wonder what the plan was, the Ponyville water tower floated into view. Pinkie got a grin as she realized Twilight's plan. That water tower had already vanquished an Ursa Minor, surely it could extinguish Frostburn.

The fire pegasus had also noticed the water tower as it was levitated into view. He shot a beam of fire at it, in an attempt to stop its course. At that moment, Twilight released the water inside. The gallons of ice cold liquid rushed free from its container, vanquishing the en route fire blast, and dousing Frostburn.

As the steam cleared, Frostburn swayed slightly, his flames completely extinguished. Slowly his wings folded back into his sides, and his eyes once again flickered back to their bronze tinting. Then he slumped over, unconscious.

Twilight set the water tower down gently. Pinkie rushed over to her, keeping her from falling down.

"You did it!" Pinkie said. Twilight grinned, and steadied herself. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike suddenly came running over to them, happy to see that their friends were still alive.

"Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, I'm so glad you guys are okay!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Twilight that was amazing!" Spike said ecstatically.

"Yes, I thought so too." Rarity said. "But I am curious as to what happened here."

"Yeah," Spike said. "What's been going on?"

"It's a long story." Rainbow Dash said, still in the crater. Rarity and Fluttershy both turned to her. "A really long story."

"Oh my, Rainbow do you need help?" Fluttershy asked concerned. Dash nodded, relieved that this whole mess seemed to be over with.

"Definitely, just don't go spreading it around that I couldn't beat that pegasus. I don't need something like that wreaking my rep."

"There's no shame in it." Twilight said. "Did you see his command of fire? It was at an unreal level."

"Why do I seem to miss all the excitement around here?" Rarity complained. "I at least hope somepony can vividly tell me what in Equestria has been going on."

"Look, we'll have plenty of time to explain everything." Twilight said, exhausted from the fight. "But I think right now, we should go back to the hospital."

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie Pie said, feeling a little happier now that the crisis was averted. "But what are we going to do about him?" She said, indicating the unconscious Frostburn.

The ponies all looked at each other, none really sure what to do with the dangerous pegasus. Clearly he couldn't be allowed to leave after the things he'd done, but Ponyville didn't exactly have a penitentiary, what with the lack of crime and all.

"I have an idea." Twilight said.

Awakening

Friday Morning

Chapter Nine – Frostburn

He woke up, but did not open his eyes. It was a habit of his to explore surroundings without his sight, mainly because he was used to waking up in dark gutters, and the occasional lightless dungeon. Just like he assumed he was in now.

His sense of touch sprang into action first. Restraints, cast iron chains to be exact, were clamped down on each hoof. His wings had been tied so he couldn't open them. That part he didn't mind. In fact if he could just walk around with his wings permanently tied down, without the slightest chance of them opening, that'd be great. But it drew too much attention.

What Frostburn found odd- no not odd, very weird- was that he seemed to be on a bed. A comfortable spring mattress, sheets included. Probably the most comfortable dungeon he'd ever been in. Maybe it wasn't so bad this time. He thought. Maybe no one got hurt. Though he very much doubted it.

When his sense of smell kicked in, he was sure that he was not in a prison cell. The air smelled clean, not quite so fresh, more like it was sterilized. Hospital, he deduced. It had to be. But why was he in a hospital?  Had he hurt himself when it happened? No part of him seemed in pain though.  Very curious.

His ears began functioning at this point. Muffled voices were coming from outside his room. Approximately five or six ponies, none of them too sounding too happy. Focusing his attention, he could just barely make out what they were saying.

"It's a mess out there!" An angry mare's voice shouted. "Half the town has been burned to the ground and you want to let him talk?"

So it had been fire last night. Fire was always the worst. Frostburn's memories of the previous night got very hazy after leaving the Everfree forest. He decided to listen some more, hoping the information would fill the gaps in his mind.  He wasn't sure he would like what he was about to hear.

"Ah hafta agree with Rainbow, Twi. The farm's southern fields are nothin but ash, and Big Mac still ain't awake yet."

A farm. Yes, he remembered a farm. That's where the Zecorah had pointed him too. He also remembered an encounter with two Earth ponies there. He assumed one of them was currently outside. That must have been when I went off.  Frostburn thought.  That's the last memory that isn't fuzzy.

"I know it's bad, but he deserves a chance to explain himself." That voice. It was the voice of the librarian who gave him the book of Equestrian oddities. What did she have to do with this? He thought back to last night again, trying to remember. There was something, a purple unicorn maybe. The librarian was a purple unicorn. In his memories he saw her using magic. He continued listening. "I've contacted Princess Celestia." The Librarian said. "She's on her way, but she wrote that Frostburn deserves a trial with due process."

His eyes snapped open when he heard that. The Princess is coming here? He thought. That wasn't good. He had already had a run in with the Princess a long time ago, and that had ended horribly… Well, there wouldn't be a trial or a dungeon if he was still here upon her arrival.

"I still think it's a bad idea, Twilight." A voice which he linked to the name Rainbow said. "He could go berserk again and do even more damage!"

It seemed to Frostburn that there would be two outcomes. The majority would convince the librarian to have him executed; or the princess would arrive, recognize him, and she would have him executed.

Time to go. He thought. Looking down at his chains, he could see they were old, and rarely used, which had caused lots of rust. From experience, he knew rusty chains were the easiest to break out of. With his front hooves, Frostburn gripped the chains and twisted them back and forth. The rusty links snapped open without too much difficulty. Wincing slightly at the noise it had made, he began prying off the cuffs as the conversation continued.

"Maybe he, umm, had a good reason for… well…" A timid voice said in his defense.

"Well I simply cannot fathom what reason gave him the right to lay waste to our town." Another voice said.

Frostburn moved on to the next set of chains. They were slightly tougher, and didn't succumb to his twisting technique.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out when he wakes up." The Librarian said.

Biting down on the chains, Frostburn yanked and twisted them with great ferocity. They broke this time, and slid right off his hooves.

"Ah don't care what reason he had. He burnt down Sweet Apple Acres! Applebloom and Granny Smith weren't even sure we were still alive! They showed up this morning certain Big Mac and me were dead."

Biting through the ropes on his back, Frostburn freed his wings, but didn't dare open them despite their soreness. He moved off the hospital bed slowly, careful not to alert the ponies just outside.  The spring mattress creaked as his weight left it.

"Don't worry AJ. Big Mac will get better. And besides, I'm sure Frosty will want to make right what he's done." That cheery voice belonged to Pinkie Pie, Frostburn remembered. She had been at the train station when he arrived the other day. It didn't matter though, he had to get out of the town and quickly. Looking around, he saw a window at the back of the room.

"He better," The voice that belonged to Rainbow said. "And if not, I'm ready for round two!"

Round two? He thought. Had he fought Rainbow last night? His head hurt as he struggled to remember. There was something about flying through the air. Another pony was there too. A blue pegasus. In his memories they did appear to be fighting. He sighed. No round two. I never wanted a round one.

Frostburn made it to the window. He tried to open it, but it was locked.

"We should probably check on him anyway." The Librarian said. The icy blue pegasus fumbled with the lock, but it wouldn't budge. There was no hope to escape. The door knob turned, as Frostburn sat down and prepared for a lot of explaining.

As the door opened, the six ponies gasped as they saw Frostburn's empty bed and broken cuffs.

"The chains were a little unnecessary." He said, ad-libbing. Six shocked heads turned to him. "And really ineffective."

Background Check

Chapter Ten – Twilight Sparkle

"Umm, apparently." Twilight said, shocked. She couldn't believe that Frostburn had broken out of the restraints they'd set up. The blue pegasus smiled innocently, enjoying control of the situation. He looked about as unprepared as Twilight felt, but he was attempting to come off as arrogant. Twilight was unsure of what to do. A potentially dangerous pony was now loose, and could probably overpower all six of them if things went bad.

"Why you little…" Rainbow Dash prepared to charge the pegasus. Coming to her senses, Twilight put a hoof in Dash's path to block her.

"We have to wait." Twilight reminded her. "We're listening to what he has to say, remember?"

Frostburn nodded. "That's right, Celestia's orders." He said, almost mockingly. Twilight was shocked again.

"Now how in tar nation did you know that?" Applejack exclaimed from her wheelchair. Her bandaged leg prevented her from walking or standing, so when she was well enough to be moved the doctor insisted on the rolling contraption. Twilight knew that Applejack hated it.

Aside from the leg, bandages decorated the better part of AJ's body, covering every burn, and making movement difficult, but staying still uncomfortable.

"Well you were talking pretty loud." Frostburn said. "Now, I assume you have questions."

"Well yeah," Twilight said. In fact she had hundreds. She just hadn't had the time to organize them into a list, so she wasn't sure were to start. Her friends were.

"Why did you burn down Sweet Apple Acres?" AJ started.

"What's with the freaky eyeball glowy thingy?" Pinkie followed up.

"Why did you attack us?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"And why did you invoke an onslaught on Ponyville?" Rarity finished.

Fluttershy looked like she wanted to add something, but was too shy to speak over her friends. Instead she just backed up, afraid of what Frostburn might do.

"And what about the fire?" Twilight managed. "Since when do pegasi have such control over fire?"

Frostburn waited, making sure there were no more questions. Then he spoke.

"It's a very long story." He said. The Mane Six leaned in, prepared to have all their questions answered. Twilight was anxious to learn everything.

"My father was late to my birth…"

Rainbow Dash groaned, unwilling to sit through Frostburn's entire life story which was apparently coming.

"…which was probably what started it all." Frostburn said, annoyed by Rainbow. "You see, my mother… had an affair. I wasn't born a pegasus like my mother or her husband. I was born a unicorn."

Scattered cries of disbelieve and shock rippled through the Mane Six.

"It's true." Frostburn said when they had calmed down. "My real father was a unicorn surgeon from the hospital I was born at. Since my mom's husband wasn't at the hospital when I was born, she and my biological father began to panic. They were probably worried about his temper, and uh… more violent tendencies. As a temporary solution, they did this…" To indicate what "this" was Frostburn moved the hair form his mane out of the way, revealing a stump that used to be a unicorn horn. It had been sliced off at an angle, but it was still there. Surprisingly it didn't look as if it had been cut off at birth, but Twilight figured the remnants of the horn grew despite being sliced up.

The eyes of everypony in the room widened. Before anypony could comment, Frostburn set his hair back and kept talking.

"Using his magic, my biological father sawed off my horn and converted it into a pair of wings, which he grafted on my back. It was a heinous process, and being a newborn, I almost didn't survive. Whenever my wings are open, you can see the scars it left." Twilight shivered at the thought of something like that happening.

"Can we see them?" Pinkie asked, mesmerized. It was an odd request, but it was Pinkie after all.

Frostburn shook his head. "That would be a horrible idea, and you'll see why in a minute." He continued where he left off. "When my mother's husband finally arrived, I looked like the pegasus son he expected to have. My mother kept up the charade for years and he never knew. Then one day when I was little, like six or seven, I found the sawed off horn on my head. He saw it, and confronted my mother. It was the loudest, most enraged argument I'd ever seen. My would-have-been father lost control, and attacked my mother. He… he just kept hitting her over and over." Everypony sat, transfixed by the story. No one interrupted.

"A divorce soon followed, and my mother got custody of me. I never saw that pegasus that should have been my father ever again. Then the freakiness began."

Dash interrupted. "It began?" She exclaimed. "This is already sounding pretty freaky."

Frostburn nodded solemnly, but continued. "When I started flying later that year, my mother began to notice some really odd things that happened with my wings. Every time I opened them, my natural unicorn magic used them as a channel instead of a horn."

Twilight's eyes widened. She had never heard of wings that conducted magic before.

"Whenever I opened my wings, magic just came flooding out of me. It wasn't in the usual fashion either. Sometimes I made the temperature rise, or created small fires. Other times I'd freeze water solid, or made it so cold my mother couldn't help but shiver. When I got older, it got worse. Once I burned down the house. Another time I made winter come early. It seemed my magic took the form of fire or ice, and would happen whenever I flew or even opened my wings."

"Ah remember!" AJ said. "The fire only started when your wings opened up."

"Is that why you asked for the book?" Twilight asked. "Curiosities and Oddities in Equestria History."

Frostburn nodded. "I was trying to see if there have been any other cases like mine. I just wanted answers. Maybe even a cure, or some way to stop it." Twilight nodded, sympathetic to a quest for knowledge.

"I can't control the magic, or what I do when it happens. It's like another part of me that has its own mind. When I finally calm down, I don't remember anything of what happened or what I'd done. That's why I went crazy and burned down your town."

Twilight forgave Frostburn then and there for what he'd done; only she didn't say anything out loud because he kept talking.

"I ran away when I was twelve, but I never could get control of the magic. Nearly every town I visited somepony got hurt. I was doing my best to live in isolation when I met Zecorah."

Twilight nodded, remembering her conversation with Zecorah the previous night. Dash and Pinkie clearly remembered judging by their facial expressions.

"Most of the time I was antisocial, because anypony who came near me wound up hurt. Zecorah was different though. She never fell for my fake introveresy act. After a while I began to open up to her, though I never told her what I was capable of. I didn't stay around her too long either because I was afraid I'd end up harming her.

"After a while, I started going back to civilization. That's when I really messed up. Two years ago in Vanhoover, Princess Celestia was visiting for the Summer Sun Celebration. Things went bad. Like, really bad. I ended up starting a fire in the city. And this time it was the worst yet. I've completely blanked on what happened. A faint memory of my wings opening and that's it. I do know that ponies died that time." He paused, a look of sheer grief on his face.

"I remember that!" Twilight said. "Security was increased because they were worried it was an assassination attempt."

"Right." Frostburn said. "My face ended up on wanted posters around Equestria. Ever since then, I've stuck to small towns, trying not to be noticed. Until yesterday." He said, looking at Pinkie. She smiled sheepishly.

"You all know the rest."

"So you've been on the run from soldiers for two years now?" Rarity asked. Frostburn nodded.

"And now that I've called Princess Celestia here…" Twilight started.

"I'm likely to be executed." Frostburn finished for her.

Each member of the Mane Six looked at each other. After hearing Frostburn's story, most of the bitterness they had felt for him had dissipated. Only AJ, stuck in a wheelchair, with a brother about to undergo surgery and a farm in ruins - all of which caused by Frostburn - still felt some resentment.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can convince the Princess that none of this was your fault." Twilight said. "We still have some time before she arrives, so…"

"Uhmm, Ms. Sparkle?" A doctor's voice called from the doorway. Everypony turned to face him. "Princess Celestia is outside waiting for you."

High Treason with Justifications

Chapter Eleven – Rarity

"Well now what?" Pinkie asked. No pony answered for a moment. Rarity was in the right mood to panic. They couldn't turn over Frostburn to the Princess, but they'd get in trouble for harboring a wanted criminal. The stallion himself looked like he was about ready to jump out the window. Everypony turned to Twilight for answers.

The purple unicorn was at a loss for words. Rarity could only imagine the panic Twilight must be feeling. Would she choose to defy her teacher, the ruler of Equestria, for a pegasus who'd torched the town and told them his life story afterwards?

Twilight's eyes darted back and forth. She was clearly thinking fast given the pressure. "Okay," She told the doctor waiting at the door. "Tell her I'll be right out." The doctor pony nodded and left.

"Twi, what's the plan?" AJ asked.

Twilight looked around at her friends. "Applejack, Fluttershy, you two come with me. We've got to stall Princess Celestia as long as possible." The two ponies nodded. "Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, you three need to take Frostburn out another way and hide him. I wish we didn't have to, but there isn't enough time to think of something else."

"There must be a better solution." Frostburn said. "I don't want you getting in trouble because of me."

"This isn't up for debate." Twilight responded. "We're helping you." He smiled a little, and Rarity thought to herself that this must be the first time anypony had ever helped him.

Twilight's idea had already been excepted by most of the Mane Six. Dash was nodding in approval, and Pinkie bounced up and down, happy a plan was in motion. Rarity wasn't as happy. Just as she was about to tell Twilight that she'd prefer to stall the Princess and not escape with the pyromaniac pony, the purple unicorn was already running out. Fluttershy followed, wheeling out Applejack with her.

"Alright, let's move out." Rainbow Dash said.

"Umm, to where?" Rarity asked. "The entire town knows Frostburn now, and what he's done." The icy blue pegasus cringed at the mention of his dark deed.

"We'll keep a low profile." Rainbow said, flying to the door. "Besides, everypony's a little distracted between the fire and Celestia right now. I'm sure they won't notice us."

Pinkie and Frostburn walked behind Rainbow as she left. Rarity was still unsure about Dash's plan. Trotting after them, she said. "Well we still need a place to lay low." She said. "And who exactly will take us in with him?" She said pointing at Frostburn. The stallion frowned as Rarity spoke. She knew that she was being unfair to him. It wasn't his fault overall, but the fashionista simply couldn't bring herself to condone what had happened.

"Well… uh." Rainbow thought for a moment. Then Pinkie interjected.

"We could go to Zecorah's!" She said.

"That's actually not a bad idea." Rainbow Dash said. "Alright guys, let's go to Zecorah's."

The three ponies began to pick up their pace, spurred by the destination in mind. Rarity once again was skeptical. She held her tongue this time, sensing Rainbow was getting tired of her constant derision. She began to trot to catch up.

Outside, the sun was already shining brightly. The town of Ponyville did not have quite a happy glow to it though. The smell of charred wood still hung in the air. Buildings around the hospital, where the battle took place, wore black scorch marks. Anything else was piles of debris.

Not many ponies were around, but the ones that were seemed to be shifting through the rubble, probably looking for possessions that may have survived. It seemed to Rarity that Rainbow's theory had been right. Even so, the four moved carefully, without wanting to attract attention. As she looked around at the devastation, Rarity saw Frostburn also taking in the destruction. He looked guilty, and uncomfortable.

Rarity also looked beyond his expression. For the first time, she really looked at him. He had rugged features, and his eyes were soft despite everything they had seen. His hair was long and shaggy, likely to cover his mutilated horn, but Rarity was sure with some proper styling it would serve its purpose and work towards his appearance. His body was muscular, and his wings... Well, to him they may be a curse, but Rarity found their unique coloring very appealing.

The unicorn blushed as she realized she was thinking about Frostburn in "that way". She hastily looked away, desperate to find something else to focus on. At that time, the group reached the corner of some less burnt buildings. Rainbow peered over the edge, then motioned for the rest to move.

"We're still pretty far from the Everfree forest." Rainbow said. "At this rate, somepony will see us."

"What we need is a disguise." Pinkie said, pulling out the fake mustache that she carried everywhere. She nudged it towards Frostburn, who turned to Dash for assistance.

Dash groaned. "Put it away, Pinkie. No pony in their right mind would buy that disguise." Pinkie grudgingly put the mustache away. Frostburn looked relieved.

Rarity suddenly formed an idea in her head. "Well, the mustache may not work." She said. "But I know a place where there is something better."

-\-

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, bowing respectfully. "Thank you for arriving so quickly." Fluttershy bowed in a similar fashion to Twilight. Applejack, in her current state, managed an awkward half-bow.

"It was no problem, Twilight." The Princess said. "This matter is very important on the level of national security." The large contingent of guards that Celestia brought with her bolstered the claim. It seemed as if the Princess had brought the entire Royal Guard.

"I see," Twilight said, getting back up. "I trust your trip here was pleasant?" Applejack gave her an is-that's-the-best-you-can-do kind of look. Hoping to sell it further, Twilight smiled. Judging by the Princess's reaction, it looked more awkward than casual.

"Very much so," Celestia said slowly while moving toward the hospital with a few guards. "Now, if we could get to…"

"Oh, right, the uhh, erhem, the prisoner." Twilight said, moving in front of her teacher. "Maybe you should send some guards ahead to get him for you."

Celestia gave her pupil an odd look. Applejack jumped in to help. "Ah would be happy to show them the room we're holding him in." She said, motioning for the nearest guards to follow her.

"Alright then. Grey Spear, take five soldiers with you to get the prisoner." Celestia told her nearest guard. He nodded, bringing five soldiers with him to follow Applejack. The orange pony winked at Twilight and began wheeling her chair back inside. If all went as planned then AJ would be leading those guards in circles for at least an hour or so.

"Well," Twilight said, turning back to the Princess. "Is there anything else you needed while in Ponyville?"

Celestia frowned, curious as to why her star student was asking such an odd question. Realizing that her friend was out of ideas, Fluttershy meekly added, "Perhaps, umm, we should get a full report on the damage that was caused."

"Right," Twilight agreed hastily, "For evidence purposes?" she suggested.

Still not convinced her student was acting normal, The Princess took a moment to confer with some of her guards. "I suppose it would be appropriate." She replied.

"Great, then uh, let me direct your attention to the gruesome destruction over here." Twilight said, leading the Princess and company away from the hospital.

"Umm, it's also very extensive on the other side of town." Fluttershy said.

"Right, yeah, we'll go there next." Twilight said, praying they wouldn't run into Rainbow's group down there.

-\-

"Geese Rarity, are you sure this is going to work?" Rainbow said. The unicorn smiled at her friend, knowingly.

"Oh course it is, Rainbow Dash. Do you doubt me?" It had only taken a few minutes to make it to Carousel Boutique. They'd nearly been spotted, twice. Once by Berry Punch who was running around town searching for her friend Daisy who'd been separated from her at the start of the fire. The purple pony hadn't stopped as she ran right passed their group. The other time, Derpy had actually seen them, but luckily had not seen Frostburn yet. After declaring that she "did not know what went wrong last night" the grey pegasus wandered off to find some banana nut muffins, which she claimed were the best to eat when rebuilding towns.

As for Carousel Boutique itself, the building had miraculously been untouched by the wild fire. Though Rarity had been in a massive panic last night, the flames had long died down before getting close to her shop and home.

Now the four ponies where hiding out in the dress shop as Rarity tried to piece together something to blend Frostburn into a crowd. "Here," She said, tossing a cloak at the pegasus while avoiding meeting his eyes. "Try this one." He nodded, and began to awkwardly put on the cloak.

"What if somepony recognizes him?" Rainbow persisted.

Rarity tsked. "I know I usually make clothes to help ponies stand out, but I am just as capable at hiding them too."

"Well, what do you think?" Frostburn said, the cloak donned. It fit him awkwardly, too short on his front legs, yet far too long in the back. It seemed loose around his neck, but the hood was so tight it couldn't move passed the back of his head. Just before Rainbow could make a snide comment, Rarity jumped in.

"Marvelous, but you should go see what Pinkie Pie thinks." The Earth pony was set up near the top of Carousel Boutique, on the lookout for Celestia, the guards, or any random pony that may be wandering by. Frostburn nodded, and went to find the pink mare.

When he was out of the room, Rainbow turned to Rarity. "Okay, even I could tell that it looked bad. What's going on Rarity?"

"I needed a moment to think." Rarity responded. "This whole thing has been going so fast, and I'm not sure if we're really doing the right thing. Just last night you were fighting him above Ponyville, and now were disobeying Celestia to help him?"

Rainbow rubbed her shoulder, still sore from her bad landing. "I know. I mean… I saw him last night. I know what he's capable of. But the stallion wearing that ridiculously fitting cloak is not the pegasus I fought last night. I can't explain it Rarity."

The white unicorn was not convinced. "How do we know he didn't lie? He could have done this in the other towns he mentioned. Just fool some innocent ponies into helping him escape the law. Wouldn't be too hard with the story he told."

"He couldn't be lying." Rainbow said, but she herself didn't sound as sure as she wanted to.

Rarity felt a little guilty swaying trust away from Frostburn. She wanted to believe his story, and the struggle he was going through, but admitting that would mean she would have to open up to Frostburn as a friend. Only, she didn't think that she would ever be satisfied being just friends with a stallion like that…

Then again, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

Just then Frostburn came into the room looking embarrassed. "She took one look at me and wouldn't stop laughing." He said.

"Don't feel too bad, it is her element after all." Rainbow said.

"Yes, and now that I get a better look at you I realize how handso… uh, er, horrid it appears." Rarity said, blushing at her slip. "Let me just see if I have something better suited for you." She turned away, hoping that neither of them would realize what she almost had said, but also to hide her now slightly red face.

As Rarity turned away, and Frostburn distracted himself with removing the cloak, Rainbow allowed herself a frown. Because she had realized what Rarity had nearly said. And she did not like it.

Inconvenient Tirade

Chapter Twelve – Rainbow Dash

It took Rarity three more tries to get the cloak right. The entire time, she would not stop talking. She rambled on about Frostburn's "physique" and how it was so uniquely built that she couldn't seem to get the right size. She prattled on about making sure the fabric would work to his movement while still keeping him modest. She even fussed on about the color. Rainbow had heard more about making a cloak than she cared to know. It was unbearable.

She also couldn't stop thinking about the comment Rarity had almost made about Frostburn. Rainbow Dash didn't like the idea of Rarity being attracted to Frostburn. She tried to convince herself that it was because he was dangerous, or it might jeopardize their escape from Ponyville, but Dash couldn't hide from it. She liked Frostburn too.

It was crazy, she knew. Liking a pony that had nearly killed her was ridiculous, but it was true. Dash had felt something when they had fought last night. She normally felt on top of everything, unable to be beaten. Invincible even.

And Frostburn had taken that away last night. The security that Dash had held onto was gone. She was no longer invincible. Now she felt as if the only one who could make her feel that way again was him.

But if Rarity liked him too, wouldn't that hurt their friendship? How would Rarity react if she knew how Dash felt?

Rarity mercifully settled on a disguise that she was happy with, allowing Dash to push away her confusing thoughts. The four ponies prepared to depart. Frostburn pulled the hood over his head as Pinkie opened the door. She looked in every thinkable direction before happily declaring it to be clear.

Dash hurried through the door, followed by an anxious Frostburn, and Rarity who took the time to lock up the Boutique. Now the four's only problem was getting to the Everfree forest before they would consider being safe, which was ironic.

Rainbow Dash took the lead, eager to be on the front lines if trouble appeared. Pinkie happily bounced in the middle of the group, not making much of an attempt to be sneaky. Rarity walked alongside Frostburn, Rainbow noticed she was close, but trying to be nonchalant about it. It made her feel... jealous. Dash turned her focus away.

It seemed the town was deserted on this side, until Cloud Kicker came running by, stopping in front of Dash. Frostburn was prepared to duck away, until he saw that Cloud Kicker wasn't even close to looking at him.

"Rainbow Dash, what are you and your friends doing out here?" She asked. "Don't you know Princess Celestia has called an emergency meeting in town square?"

This caught Rainbow Dash off guard. "Oh, well I…" She stumbled trying to think of an excuse.

Cloud Kicker hardly noticed. "Come on, we're already late." She began to trot off.

Rarity allowed herself a smile, and nudged Frostburn. "It seems my disguise worked out pretty good." Dash rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but what happens when somepony actually looks at him?" Rarity frowned at her.

"You guys should go to the meeting to avoid suspicion." Frostburn said. "I'll go ahead to Zecorah's". Before anypony could agree, Cloud Kicker reappeared.

"Well come on you four." She said. Trapped, Rainbow looked back at Frostburn, who had now been roped into coming along.

"Okay then." Rainbow agreed. The ponies reluctantly followed Cloud Kicker to town square, Frostburn visibly tense the entire time. Dash herself was sweating with nervousness.

Upon reaching town square, they saw there was a mass of ponies gathered, all crowding around to get a better look at the Princess. Celestia herself was at the podium, flanked by several of her guards. To her right, Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy were all present, looking fairly nervous.

"Citizens of Ponyville." The Princess of the Sun spoke loudly. "It has recently been confirmed that the pony responsible for the destruction of your town has escaped from our custody." The audience neighed and whinnied very unhappily, some mad and other's surprised at what the Princess said. Dash wondered how the Princess had already found that out. Surely Twilight had come up with some plan. The Princess silenced everypony with the next part of her speech. "It has also been confirmed that this pegasus was responsible for an attempted assassination..."

"Accident," muttered Frostburn.

"… that occurred in years past. A search party has been sent out to find and apprehend this criminal. However I ask that each one of you do your part to bring him down." Celestia continued. "If anyone has knowledge of a blue pegasus with a red mane, please report it to a soldier immediately."

Twilight looked out into the crowd, and saw Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, and Frostburn stuck between the masses. Her eyes widened in surprise and she motioned for them to move away. Rainbow gritted her teeth, unsure of how to get away from the crowd unnoticed. Ponies surrounded them on all sides, blocking a quick getaway. Of course she could fly out, but Frostburn was grounded unless they wanted another freak out.

"What do we do?" She asked the group. Pinkie Pie shrugged while Rarity put on a slightly overdramatic thinking face. Frostburn winced, coming up with nothing.

"I think I should just run for it." He said.

"No, that's ridiculous darling. Then they'll know it's you for certain." Rarity said.

"Well what do you suggest?" Rainbow asked her. Rarity bit her lip.

"I've got it!" Pinkie said. Before anypony could ask her what her plan was, Pinkie suddenly shouted over the Princess and the crowd. "Hey everypony!" She screamed. "I just saw the pegasus downtown making a run for it! Get him!"

The crowd reacted violently, beginning to run downtown in mob formation, shouting indecipherable threats. Celestia's guards split, half going with the mob to make an arrest, and half moving with the Princess as she left the stage.

"Go, get to Zecorah's!" Pinkie shrieked over the mob's cries. Ponies ran past Dash's field of vision, but she could clearly see that Pinkie was being swept up in the crowd. "I lead them out of here!" The pink mare yelled.

"But Pinkie," Rarity yelled. "This is mass hysteria! How will you lead them anywhere?"

"I specialize in the hysterical." Pinkie said. Dash watched stunned as her friend slapped on her fake mustache and disappeared into the crowd of raging ponies. The mob was passed its height now; only the late reactors were left, chasing after the crowd.

"We're doomed." Frostburn said.

Dash turned to him. "Hey, have a little faith in her." She said. "She's Pinkie Pie for pony's sake. She'll be fine." Frostburn did not look any surer. Fluttershy and Applejack came up when the mob died down.

"Twilight was swept away with the Princess." AJ said. "She told us to go ahead to Zecorah's place."

Fluttershy looked around. "Where's Pinkie?" She asked. Dash pointed toward the mob in the distance. "Oh my, will she be okay?"

"Yeah." Dash said. "But we should get moving." The group nodded, and everypony began a made break for the Everfree Forest.

Or We Shall All Hang Separately

Chapter Thirteen – Fluttershy

Fluttershy's heart was pounding at such a high rate, she genuinely afraid of going into cardiac arrest. The excitement on this day simply wouldn't stop, or at least slow down. First the Princess discovering that Frostburn was gone, and now an angry mob tearing through the town. If nothing else happened today, it would be too much for her.

Frostburn had taken the lead, the hood of his cloak flapping behind him. The pegasus was running faster than anypony else, even though they all were pushing maximum speed. Briefly Fluttershy wondered if he had lots of practice in these types of situations.

Rainbow Dash was the only one in the air, neck and neck to the ice and fire stallion. Followed by Rarity, and she was tailed by Fluttershy herself. Applejack brought up the rear, wheeling her chair as fast a physically possible. She obviously hated the fact that she was slowing them down, but there was little to be done about it.

The outskirts of Ponyville were coming into view. Fluttershy allowed herself to hope that they would make it. The fact that they were heading into the Everfree Forest was not to pleasing, but it beat getting trampled by an angry mob.  Or arrested for harboring a known criminal.

Their hopes were deflated however. Several guards suddenly clamored out from behind nearby houses, blocking the group's path. Everypony skidded to a halt, realizing that it was an ambush. Rarity gasped. Fluttershy squeaked in concern.

Frostburn tried course correction, attempting to turn around, but Celestia suddenly materialized in front of him. He backed up.

"P-princess Celestia…" Rarity stammered. The Princess of the Sun looked down in great upset on the ponies. Her face was creased into an angry frown.

"Where's Twilight?" Rainbow demanded. As if on cue a guard pushed the purple unicorn into view. Twilight avoided meeting the eyes of her friends. She looked defeated. Celestia must have dragged information out of her, and it did not look like it was fun on Twilight's end. Fluttershy didn't blame her for giving them up, she found Princess Celestia very intimidating right now.

"I'm very disappointed in all of you." The Princess began. "Especially you, Twilight Sparkle."

"Princess, if you'd let me explain..." Twilight started.

"The time for explanations is over." Celestia declared. "This pegasus is a threat to Equestria." She said, pointing out Frostburn. He glared. "And I do not take threats lightly."

"Neither do I." Frostburn said. "And that sounded like a threat."

"I hope it does not anger you too much." The Princess said with obvious sarcasm.

"Oh, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Frostburn retorted.

"Maybe we can all calm down and talk about this rationally." Fluttershy said.

"Enough!" Celestia cried. Fluttershy squeaked in shock. "You five, and Pinkie Pie as well, have disobeyed me today. I will deal with you all later."

"If y'all would just listen to what he had to say." Applejack said from her wheelchair. "You'd know the truth."

"That's right." Rarity said. "Frostburn doesn't deserve execution."

"He's our friend." Fluttershy chimed in.

"And we won't abandon him!" Rainbow added. At the time, it looked like she was blushing, but Fluttershy couldn't be sure.

"Princess Celestia." Twilight said, stepping forward. "You have to believe me when I say that…"

"No." The Princess said firmly. "No, I don't have to believe you Twilight. No matter what it is you have to say, it won't change the fact that Frostburn is a menace. Honestly, I don't see how you ponies can stand with him after what has happened here."

"We will not move!" Fluttershy said, surprising herself. Frostburn had done terrible things, yes. But she couldn't hate him for it. Fluttershy's friends all shouted encouragement. Fluttershy turned to face Celestia, who towered above her with an angry scowl.

"No." Frostburn said. Everypony turned to him in shock. The blue pegasus stepped forward. "I've never had friends until today, and I certainly didn't expect to find friends here, in Ponyville, but it happened. I only wish it had been under better circumstances." He turned facing the ponies he now called friends. "I am sorry for everything I did. I never meant for it to happen, but I can't allow you all to fall with me. You should not have to choose between me and her. So what I do here is my choice from now on." Nopony spoke, Fluttershy held her breath.

Frostburn turned back to the Princess. "This is my fault, not all of it though, and I know no matter what I say, you'll never believe that. But believe this; my friends don't deserve to take the blame for what's happened here today." His voice softened. "I can only hope that they will forgive me."

Fluttershy was confused for a moment. Then she realized what he meant. Everypony did. Frostburn had no plans to go quietly.

"No!" She cried. Applejack realized it to, and moved her wheelchair to block Fluttershy from running up. Rainbow Dash did rush forward, dodging Rarity's block. Twilight let out a panicked scream.

The soldiers surrounding the ponies had no idea what was about to happen. Some attempted to charge forward, unsure exactly what it was they need to charge at. Celestia was just as confused as they were, her head tilted to one side and eyebrow raised. Frostburn lowered his head.

Fluttershy shut her eyes and put her hooves up to protect herself. She braced her body to be burned.

Frostburn's wings flew open.

Cold as Ice

Chapter Fourteen – Twilight Sparkle

She expected to be burned by hellish fire. Instead, Twilight felt an ice cold wind smack her in the face. Fluttershy yelped in surprise, along with practically every other pony. So this is the other kind of magic he can do. She thought, realizing what was going on. Frostburn hadn't moved from where he stood, but so much else had changed about him.

His eyes were glowing again, not the fiery red of last time, but an even icier blue than his coat. A layer of mist surrounded him, and frost covered the ground around him. The gray-blue cloak he wore was flapping violently on his back, tossed back and forth by winds. Twilight noticed that the temperature got exceedingly colder as well, stepping back she felt herself warm up a little. But only slightly

Frostburn was also shaking, though not from the freezing temperatures. It was not doubt the internal struggle he was facing to control himself. This time his eyes flicked back and forth from the steely cold of blue to the bronze they should be. Eventually they settled on the blue glow as the struggle ended.

His hoof tapped the ground, and suddenly the frost that coated the ground transformed into pure ice, much like the lakes of Ponyville in winter. Twilight slipped and fell on the new slippery surface soon enough. Following her were Applejack, whose wheelchair was sliding around on the near frictionless ground, Rarity, and the majority of Celestia's guards. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stayed aloft, avoiding the ice covered ground.

Only Celestia was unfazed by the new ice rink the ponies found themselves on. The white alicorn cleared her throat. "Frostburn, you have caused enough damage here. Do not make me force you back into custody." The unblinking, blue eyes never wavered as they stared back at Celestia. "Very well then." She said, resigned to fight.

"Princess, please wait!" Twilight pleaded. The Princess of the Sun paid her student no heed. She charged up her horn and fired a large beam of energy right at Frostburn. He made no move to dodge it. He merely stood there in cold stillness.

Then, as the beam was halfway towards him, he raised his hoof in the air, and a massive wall of ice sprang from the frozen ground to shield him. The magical burst slammed into the chilled shield and got no further. As Celestia's spell ended, the pegasus lowered his hoof again, and the ice shrunk back into the ground.

Twilight gaped in awe. She knew his command of fire spells was amazing, but Frostburn seemed to have an equal, if not greater, command of ice. Even for a unicorn this would be near impossible, yet he didn't seem to be trying. The cold mist surrounding Frostburn produced three sharp spears of ice. He hurled them all at extreme speed with a nod of his head.

They shattered upon impacting Celestia's force field, which she only just managed to conjure in time. The Princess then used her command of the sun to call forth a heat wave. The ice began melting around them. In response, Frostburn made the temperature drop even lower to counteract the heat and refreeze the ground.

Celestia's eyes narrowed as she planned her next move. Rainbow Dash acted faster. She swooped down and landed right in front of Frostburn. Her shivering increased dramatically as she stood face to face with the stallion.

"Snap out of it!" She screamed at the ice pony. He summoned an icy wind that through Dash back into the air and away from him. Celestia used this extra time to cast a powerful lightning bolt spell. It cracked through the air so fast, it managed to hit Frostburn.

He took a half-step back. A half-step. It seemed as if he did that to deliberately insult the Princess's power. He then raised a hoof diagonally.

The ice mirrored his movement, and frozen shards jutted out of the ground next to Celestia. She managed a weak block with her wing, but the force still sent her reeling over on her side. The pegasus took the opportunity to freeze her legs to the ground. The white alicorn struggled but could not break free.

"We hafta stop 'im" Applejack said, still attempting to stabilize her wheel chair.

"B-but h-how?" Fluttershy said, shivering through the words. Twilight ran through all of her combat spells in an instant but came up with nothing effective enough. Rainbow Dash recovered off to her side. The cyan pegasus gave a determined look, as if she had some kind of plan. Twilight had no idea what that might be.

Frostburn prepared another ice spell to cast on the princess. Snow and ice began to swirl together in front of him. The frozen mix circled around in mid-air as it prepared to launch itself at Celestia. Her lower half was freezing at a fast rate. The Princess of the Sun cast several spells attempting to break the ice. They did not work. Instead, Frostburn's menacing ice spell reached full power, and he threw it at Celestia.

As the frozen attack sailed through the air, Rainbow Dash leaped in front of it, acting as a shield for the Princess. The ice-snow pelted Rainbow Dash and she screamed. The attack stopped abruptly.

Twilight looked to see that the glowing eyes of Frostburn had dimmed back to his regular coloring. The iciness did not die. He ran to Rainbow Dash, mortified with what he had just done.

The cyan pegasus had not fared very well. Her left wing and side legs were completely frozen in ice. She attempted to stand without much success. Frostburn helped her up.

"I lost control again, didn't I?" He said. When Rainbow did not reply, he turned to the Twilight and the others. "Didn't I?" He screamed at them. They all hastily nodded. Frostburn's face fell. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Come on Frost, it was one little accident." Dash said, trying to console him.

"That's a lie. It'll never be just one little accident." He cried solemnly. "I'm a monster! I'll never be able to have friends if all I do is hurt them."

"Darling you mustn't blame yourself for this." Rarity said. "And you are not a monster." Frostburn shook his head, unconvinced.

"We can figure something out," Twilight said, hopeful. "A cure, a way to control it, or…"

"NO!" He yelled, eyes flicking back to a bluish glow before returning to bronze. She retreated a little. Realizing he lost his temper, Frostburn lowered his head. "I'm so sorry." He whispered one last time.

With that, he used his wings to fly up and away. Deterring shouts rang up from the ponies, especially Rainbow and Rarity, but none worked. He was soon a speck in the sky travelling north, and the only pegasus that could catch him would be Dash, but she was temporarily disabled.

Guards flocked to the Princess to help her up and out of the ice, still coating the ground after Frostburn's hasty departure. Twilight walked over to a grim looking Rainbow Dash. "I lost him." The cyan pegasus said with a sniffle.

"We all did." Twilight reminded her, casting a spell to thaw her frozen limbs. "But we'll find him again Dash, don't worry."

"Of course." Rarity said. "I...eh…We haven't lost him forever."

"We'll get 'im back Rainbow." Applejack said, wheeling up.

"Frostburn just needs some time to cool off." Fluttershy said. Her unintentional pun lightened the mood a little bit, eliciting nervous laughs all around. Twilight's spell ended, freeing all of Rainbow's limbs. She moved them around a little, making sure they were okay.

"I'm sure we'll find a way to stop his unicorn magic from flooding out of his wings." Twilight said in an effort to cheer up her friends. The four looked at her, with not much hope, but hope nonetheless. She for one was eager to learn more about this mysterious magic that Frostburn displayed. The lavender unicorn had meant to ask questions earlier at the hospital, but there had not been time for it.

"Excuse me Twilight." The Princess said, freed from her icy fetters. "Did you say that the pegasus has unicorn magic?" She walked up to the group slowly, face in a nervous expression.

Realizing that Celestia now knew the truth, or at least partial truth, Twilight could only nod. "It's a long story." She said, ready to go into detail of the events of the past few days.

Celestia sighed with the weight of a heavy burden. "Yes, and I have a longer one. We must go to the Canterlot library if you all are to fully understand it though." The five ponies looked at their princess, and subsequently each other, in confusion. At that moment, Pinkie Pie trotted up finished with her work on the angry mob.

"Hey girls!" She said cheerily. "What did I miss?"

Stereotypical Rhythmic Prophecy

Friday Evening

Chapter Fifteen – Rarity

Normally a trip to Canterlot would have delighted and excited Rarity. This trip was not a normal trip though. She took her time in preparing to leave, the anxiety building a knot in her stomach. It took everypony else less than an hour to say their goodbyes and get ready to leave.

Applejack had gone to check up on Big Mac, recently out of surgery and doing quite well. After saying goodbye to him and the rest of the Apple family, she shed the wheelchair—much to the upset of the doctors—as well as stripping away the oppressive bandages. To the surprise of the doctors, the majority of the burns had healed, leaving only faded pink scars. AJ chalked it up to the fast healing genes of the Apple family, and declared herself ready for the trip. Her bandaged leg gave her a limp, but it was better than the cumbersome wheelchair, Rarity thought.

Fluttershy was the most reluctant to leave, but after Spike assured her he would watch after her animals, she accepted it. Pinkie Pie beat everyone to the station, with nothing to prepare other than saying goodbye to Gummy and the Cakes.

Twilight grabbed a few reference books from her library and she too was at the train station early. Rainbow Dash packed next to nothing, and determinedly paced around the train station waiting for the last arrival. Rarity herself.

Of course Rarity knew the importance of getting to Canterlot, but she still took her time packing. She needed a moment to think with the constant chatter of her friends. The whole Frostburn ordeal was making her head spin. It was obvious, a little too obvious, that Rainbow Dash liked this pegasus. Rarity noticed that Rainbow had been on the brink of sobbing when the ice-blue stallion fled Ponyville. Sure, Rarity felt abandoned too, but nowhere near what her friend was facing. Did that mean that Rainbow felt a greater attraction than her? Should she back down from pursuing Frostburn? The last thing she wanted was to hurt Rainbow, but what she felt for Frostburn was more than a crush to her.

Placing the last of her supplies in a saddlebag, Rarity viewed what she was bringing to Canterlot. She was traveling light for a fashionista, only bringing a saddle bag full of accessories to the capitol of Equestria. Rarity decided it would be enough, and strapped her bag on her back. Petting Opal goodbye, she trotted to the train station.

Rainbow, flying above the train, was the first to spot her. "Hurry up Rarity!" The pegasus said almost too anxiously. "We've got to go now!"

"I'm coming!" Rarity's high pitched voice rang out. Dash didn't seem appeased, and continued doing the equivalent of pacing in mid-air. She came down as Rarity approached the train, greeted by the rest of her friends.

"Okay girls," Twilight said. "Princess Celestia is already on her way back to Canterlot. We'll arrive hopefully around the time she does."

"Great, now let's get a move on." Rainbow said, rushing forward into the train.

"She's a might anxious to get to Canterlot, ain't she?" Applejack asked the group. Rarity bit her lip, not willing to spill the beans about Dash's, or her own, secret crush to the rest of the group.

"Oh she's just excited." Pinkie said. "I'm sure she'll be acting her old self once were in Canterlot." The pink mare and the farmer made their way to the train.

"Ah suppose you could be right." Applejack said. Twilight followed them, while Fluttershy slowed down to speak with Rarity.

"What do you suppose will happen when we get to Canterlot?" She asked as the two moved into the train.

"I don't know." Was all Rarity could say. The train whistled as it began chugging out of the station. The ponies of the Mane Six each felt nervous as they drew nearer to Canterlot. No pony knew exactly what was going to happen when they would see Celestia again. Pinkie Pie asked one question that seemed to have eluded everypony's mind.

"So, is the Princess going to like, arrest us for what happened?" She asked.

Twilight blinked a few times in surprise. "Uh, no I don't think so. I think she just wants us in Canterlot for something to do with Frostburn."

"Oh good" Pinkie said. "Because they don't serve dessert in prison, which is just terrible. Think about all the glorious snacks we wouldn't get!" The rest of the trip was Pinkie Pie listing off all of the sweet treats that they would miss should they have been arrested. For Rarity, the train couldn't pull into Canterlot soon enough. When it finally did, she was the first one off.

Celestia was waiting for them at the station. "It's good that you are finally here." She told the ponies as they left the train. "Now quickly, we must get to the Canterlot library."

"Princess, please you have to explain everything." Twilight said.

"Soon enough" The Princess replied. "But not now."

"Why not?" Rainbow shouted angrily, forgetting herself. Rarity held her breath, fearing Celestia would become irate with her friend.

"The explanation is in the library." Celestia responded, warmly. "Or rather, underneath it."

-\-

It was very cold out, but he did not feel it. The cursed pegasus wandered aimlessly in the woods he landed in, unsure whether he would ever make it out.

Probably for the best. Frostburn thought. At least here I can't hurt anypony. His wings had not yet been tucked in, so his icy spell still lingered around his body. He did not feel the cold though. The mist did not blind him.

The former unicorn wondered why it was, that this time, he was conscious while casting the spell. That never happened before. Normally it was another part of him that wrestled away control forcing him to hurt ponies. That never alleviated his guilt, but it was true. So what was different this time?

Rainbow Dash.

The name had come up several times already. He dismissed the thought every time, but now was different. Frostburn had played over the scenario dozens of times already, and so far it was the only thing that made sense. The memories of what happened were still hazy, but this one was very clear. It had been her. The cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane— the beautiful rainbow mane, he amended—had jumped in front of his attack. It had been her screams of pain that snapped him out of it.

The reason he had rejected the idea so many times before was that it wasn't rational. Plenty of ponies screamed in terror and pain when he lost control. So what was different about Rainbow Dash?

Could he... like her?

Emotions like this were pretty foreign to Frostburn. Spending most of his years of puberty alone and isolated, he never had a marefriend before. Years ago when he was fourteen, in Hoofston, he saw a really pretty unicorn. It had caused his wing to pop out upon seeing her. Of course, that led to an early winter for Hoofston.

But Rainbow was different. Beautiful without a doubt, but it wasn't just that. She was brave, and fierce. His memories from the previous night were returning as well, and all they seemed to be was of Rainbow Dash. He really felt that he liked her.

Then the look on her face when he told her he was leaving. That hurt him, on the inside. And she definitely was hurt as well. Was it possible that she liked him too?

"Ridiculous." He said aloud. "Even if she did, they way you just left her there? She'll never like you now. I doubt you could even be friends with her after that. Or any of those ponies. Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, or…"

Rarity.

The thought of her name made him grasp the cloak she made him. He couldn't shake a weird feeling about the white unicorn. She had been a little too nice to him. Frostburn wasn't sure what that meant. At least the others had been more distant at first, but she had just jumped right into friendship with him. Making him a cloak, walking close beside him, and that compliment she almost gave him. Rarity was the only one besides Rainbow Dash who seemed like she really wanted him to stay. It was all so confusing.

He continued his walking his steps forming a layer of ice on the ground. His mist shrouded nearby trees, coating their leaves with dew. Flowers retracted as he passed, warned off by the cold. The worst part was that the dense forest showed no signs of letting up. Then all of a sudden, it did.

The trees gave way to a glittering city. It was massive, maybe as big as Manehatten. Or bigger. Either way it was glittering, quite literally. The material of the buildings was reflecting the setting sun's rays in a dazzling display. For the first time, he tucked his wings into his body in awe. The spelled faded instantly. He looked more closely at the materials.

Are those, crystals?

-\-

"The Starswirled the Bearded section?" Twilight asked. "Why did you take us here?"

"For answers." Celestia said. With no warning she charged up her horn rapidly with the familiar emerald glow. She fired a small ray of sunshine at the nearest window. The beam magnified and reflected across the room. The Mane six stared in awe. The beam then bounced of a mirror, and polished silver globe, and a violet crystal in strategic locations around the room. The ray grew more powerful with each bounce, and changed its color to purple after contacting the crystal.

The sunbeam finally came to rest on a rune, carved upon one of the few bare walls in the library. The room shook as the brick structure of the wall parted to reveal a staircase. Twilight inhaled loudly.

"Amazing." Rarity breathed.

"Well Ah'll be darned." Applejack said with a low whistle. The Princess of the Sun stepped forward, motioning for the ponies to follow. They did. As they descended, Celestia spoke.

"As you are aware Twilight," the white alicorn said. "Starswirled the Bearded had one student with a unique ability to predict the future."

"Yes, that's right. Amethyst the Seer." Twilight said, recalling her books.

"Was it anything like my Pinkie Sense?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"No, Amethyst did not predict immediate occurrences. She could see years into the future."

"Well okay, but what does that have to do with this secret tunnel?" Rarity asked.

Celestia returned to her story. "A few short years before his passing, Starswirled realized that Amethyst was seeing future events far beyond any of their years. So he compiled as many of her prophecies as he could, and locked them away in this vault, fearing what they could mean. Over the years, several of these prophecies have come to pass. But now I fear a new one is unfolding before us."

"Frostburn…" Rainbow whispered. Celestia nodded as they came out from the stairs into a room barely able to hold the seven of them. The room had boxes and shelves overflowing with old parchment scrolls. Rarity assumed each held its own prophecy, and the ponies marveled at the amount. The Princess used her magic to brush some scrolls aside, and levitate one in particular to the Mane Six. It wasn't brown parchment like the rest. It was painted swirls of red and blue.

"This one, I believe has something to do with Frostburn." Twilight used her magic to take the scroll and unravel it so they could all read it. Rarity's eyes widened at the words.

A soul trapped by its owner.

A curse making the pony a loaner.

Magic where it does not belong.

Resulting in power far too strong.

Fire rages on the inside

Ice will cover those who hide

A dark one speaks out among other things

While the well of light has two springs.

A war ignites, ravaging the land.

Life to ash, water to sand.

A choice to make, by a twice moon's peak,

To save or condemn his voice must speak.

"What does that mean?" Fluttershy asked when everypony finished reading.

"The first part is definitely about Frostburn." Twilight said. "Magic where it doesn't belong is pretty accurate."

"It's the part about war that's confusing me." AJ said. "Equestria doesn't have any enemies. Right?" Nopony responded. Rarity thought about the changelings they had vanquished at the royal wedding. They could easily return. Or Sombra. And the truce with the Griffons was shaky enough at the moment.

"Life to ash, water to sand?" The white unicorn asked. "That doesn't sound good at all."

"But what about the twice moon's peak?" Pinkie asked, genuinely confused. "What the hay is a twice moon?"

Celestia listened to the ponies comments on the prophecy silently. Then she spoke, "I have read every prophecy in this room at least ten times over. Most do not predict apocalypses or doomsday. I believe that this one does. And worse yet, as Twilight said, it is already coming true."

"This is crazy." Pinkie stated. "Can Frostburn really turn water into sand?" Rarity considered that possibility, reflecting on everything he was capable of.

"Life to ash." Twilight whispered. "That can't be good. If Frostburn's power manifests itself to greater levels, could he end up burning all of Equestria?"

"It also talked about a choice." Rarity said hopeful. "Perhaps Frostburn will just choose not to destroy Equestria?"

"A prophecy can never be that simple." Twilight said. "What do you think Rain… Ah!" Twilight had turned to head to see Rainbow Dash, and noticed that she wasn't there. The ponies looked around the room frantically but didn't see her.

"Where did she go?" Fluttershy asked.

"She must have gone after Frostburn alone!" Rarity realized, silently kicking herself for not doing the same.

"We have to find her, it's too dangerous for her to go by herself!" Twilight said. Everypony, including Princess Celestia, rushed up the stairs to find Rainbow Dash.

Nothing Else Matters

Chapter Sixteen – Rainbow Dash

Dash was glad to be out from underground. Pegasi were not meant to be kept beneath the dirt. Her place was the sky, flying. That was exactly where she intended to be.

Sure, Dash felt a little guilty about leaving her friends behind, but after she heard the prophecy she knew it was about Frostburn. There was no point in discussing it. She needed to find him, immediately.

Dash bounded out of the doors of the Starswirled the Bearded section, looking left and right for the library's exit.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called from the stairwell. Rainbow chose the right path and ran down it. She had hoped for more of a head start than this. Dashing through the labyrinthine library, Rainbow heard her friend's hooves clopping right behind her.

She snorted and ran harder. She needed to be outside to take off and fly. It was too narrow in the hallway. Her friends galloping grew louder as they came closer.

They'll understand. She thought. After I've found him. The door was just ahead, propped open ever so slightly. Moonlight peaked in, letting Dash know this was the exit. Her friends where directly behind her, shouting.

"Rainbow, what are you doing?"

"Stop!"

"Get back 'ere!"

She threw herself at the door, wings extended. The door gave way and she was out. Before her body could take off, however; a mysterious force stopped her mid-air.

Still trying to fly off, Rainbow Dash turned her head to see what was stopping her. Applejack had grabbed her tail.

"Let go!" The cyan pegasus yelled.

"Ah ain't. Not till you calm down!" The orange farmer said through her teeth. Dash flapped her wings harder in a last chance to get away. AJ held firm, leading to Dash's inevitable defeat. She stopped flapping her wings, landing on the ground in silence. For a while nopony spoke. Dash avoided eye contact.

"Dash…" Twilight said breaking the awkward silence. "What were you thinking?" The cyan pegasus looked at her friend, all of her friends, and sighed.

"I have to find him." She whispered.

Fluttershy was the first to give her sympathy. "We all want to find Frostburn." She said. "But we'll do it together."

"I know." Dash responded.

"Sugar cube, you don't hafta do these things on yer own." AJ said.

"We are here for you." Said Pinkie Pie.

"I know, I know!" Dash yelled. "But I couldn't wait for you guys! You were all focusing on that stupid prophecy junk, that you forgot that Frostburn, our friend, is still out there somewhere."

Rarity took a step closer to Rainbow Dash. The normally rough and tumble pegasus felt like she was on the verge of tears. "It hurts." She whispered to where only Rarity could here. "It hurts when he's not here."

The white unicorn put her hoof on Dash's shoulder. "I know." She said.

"Look, Rainbow." Twilight said. "I know you want to find Frostburn, but we don't even know where to start searching. He could be anywhere in Equestria by now. Blindly looking for him will do nopony any good." Dash nodded, afraid if she spoke that only sobs would come out.

"We should probably get some rest." Applejack said. "It's late enough as it is."

Rarity lay awake in the dual bedroom she was sharing with Fluttershy for the night. It was awfully nice of the Princess to accommodate them with rooms before they left to search for Frostburn in the morning all things considered. But the hospitality of the Princess was not Rarity's main reason for still being awake.

Dash's outburst had rattled her. The poor pegasus practically declared feelings for Frostburn in front of all their friends. Now Rarity was starting to doubt herself because of it.

Dash clearly liked Frostburn, anypony with eyes could see it. But Rarity was still attracted to him as well. What should she do? On one hoof, she could back off and help Dash, her friend, with her emotional turmoil and simply suffer in silence herself. On the other hoof, Rarity didn't want to give up on a possible relationship with Frostburn. He was something different. Special. A jewel unlike any Rarity had seen before.

But she couldn't do that to Rainbow Dash. Their friendship could really suffer from this, which Rarity hoped to avoid at all cost. When, if at all, they found Frostburn she would have to ask him what he felt. She just wasn't sure she would like the answer.

"Umm, Rarity?" Fluttershy said from the other side of the room. The white unicorn was surprised to hear her voice, assuming her pegasus friend had drifted off hours ago.

"Yes Fluttershy, what is it?" She asked.

"I was just thinking about that prophecy. It said so many horrible things that I… I…"

"Yes, it was dreadful." Rarity said. "But don't you worry. Well figure this out. We always do, don't we?" Fluttershy nodded.

"You like him, don't you?" the yellow pegasus asked suddenly.

"What? Darling, don't be ridiculous. I could never… I just… uh…" Rarity's shocked and uneasy demeanor no doubt confirmed and answer for Fluttershy.

"It's okay Rarity, I won't tell anypony." Fluttershy said. "Not even Rainbow…"

Dash was way too anxious to sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about her emotional outburst earlier. What was I thinking? She thought. If there had been any hope of concealing her feelings about Frostburn they were gone now. All her friends must think she was in love with him or something. The truth was that Dash wasn't sure. She stunk at dealing with deep down emotional gunk. But now that it was happening to her…

"Hey Dashie…" Pinkie Pie said from her bed across the room. The pink mare had been so quiet lately, that Dash had forgotten they were sharing a room, which was weird.

"What Pinkie?" she asked.

"Does this mean that you really were staring at Frostburn's hooves?" The party pony asked. Dash almost did not recognize that Pinkie was referring to their conversation from the Everfree Forest. That sure felt like a lifetime ago.

"No… I just… Dang it Pinkie I don't know what it all means." The cyan pegasus responded.

"It's okay. I was only asking because you made such a big scene about it before and…"

"I know what happened, Pinkie." Dash said loudly. "Can we just drop it?"

"Fine." The pink mare said. "I didn't think you would freak out so much about Frostburn's hooves." Rainbow Dash was stunned that that was what Pinkie really thought everything was about.

"It's not just his hooves Pinkie. I can't stop thinking about him." Rainbow conceded.

"Ohh." Pinkie said. "And here I thought you just liked hooves. You were really just in love with him. That makes loads more sense."

"I am not in love with Frostburn." Dash growled.

"Well you're in something with Frostburn." Pinkie said. "Not even Rarity was as concerned about him as you were."

"Drop it Pinkie Pie! Just forget I said anything." Rainbow snapped. She rolled over to the other side of her bed, signifying the end of their conversation.

But not Rainbow Dash's internal struggles.

I know.

Rarity's words rang in her ears. What did she know? How it felt when Frostburn wasn't around? That couldn't be it. Rainbow was hurting deep down in her chest. When Frostburn left, he took with him Dash's security. She had lost her edge after their fight, but with him around things just felt like they wouldn't go wrong.

Ironic given the facts. But it didn't stop Rainbow Dash from knowing in her gut it was true.

How could Rarity possibly know what that was like? She knew that the unicorn seamstress thought he was handsome. Rarity had practically said it to his face. But could she feel an attraction to him, the way Rainbow did?

Life was just getting too complicated. Dash rolled over again, trying to avoid those thoughts, yet thinking of them all the same. Sleep did not come fast enough, but Dash was just grateful it came at all.

Guilty as Charged

Saturday Morning

Chapter Seventeen – Pinkie Pie

Pinkie was without a doubt, a morning pony. And technically a night pony too. The point was that she was active at all times.

Just not this time.

It was a groggy start to Pinkie's day. Once Celestia had raised the sun, the early beams of light shown through the window of her suite and came to rest upon her face. She blinked in resistance to the light upon awaking, and turned her head to a slightly less bright corner of the room.

Her head hurt. A lot. She guessed it was due to all the events of the past two days. It all came back to her. She frowned, remembering that she still blamed herself for dragging all of her friends into this mess.

"I should've just left him alone." Pinkie said.

"What was that, Pinkie?" Dash said from the other side of the room. The pink mare turned to her friend, who had apparently been up and alert for a while.

"Oh, umm… nothing Dash." Pinkie said.

"It sounded like you said 'I should have left him alone'." Rainbow said. Pinkie managed a weak smile.

"Yeah, I did." Pinkie admitted. "If I hadn't tried so hard to befriend Frostburn, then we wouldn't be here now, Ponyville wouldn't be nearly as destroyed as it is now, and you wouldn't have had your heart broken." She said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Dash said. "First of all, my heart is not broken. I just felt a little abandoned by Frostburn is all. But that's not the point." The cyan pegasus blushed a little, and tried to hide it from Pinkie. "Second of all, none of this is your fault… It's mine."

Pinkie bolted awake in shock at Dash's last statement. "How in Equestria is this mess your fault?" She asked.

"I chased Frostburn into the Everfree Forest. And that set in motion everything else."

"But Dash that's silly. You can't blame everything bad that's on yourself! Pinkie said. Her pegasus friend smiled at her.

"And neither should you." She said. Pinkie held her breath as she realized Rainbow Dash was right. Nearly all of the guilt that had been weighing down the pink mare had suddenly fled. Nearly. Guilt was hard to completely get rid of.

At that moment there was a knock on the door. Twilight peeked in not a moment later. "Hey girls." She said. "The Princess needs all of us in the throne room."

"Okay Twilight." Pinkie said, her usual pluckiness restored. "We better get going then."

The Crystal Empire, as he learned it was called, was unlike anything Frostburn had ever seen before. He had been all over Equestria, but had never come across a city made of crystals. And that wasn't the only mind blowing thing. The ponies were also different, looking as if their coats were pure gemstones.

His regular blue coat made him stick out like a sore hoof. The native ponies stared at the new comer to their city, obviously having gone without visitors for a long time. Some younger colts and fillies even pointed at him and whispered to each other.

His introverted self naturally wanted to run and hide, avoid all contact with these crystal ponies. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Frostburn had to return their stares, because he was just as amazed as they were. No pony spoke to him though, seemingly waiting for him to come up to one of them and start a conversation. He couldn't bring himself to do it though. Years of isolation held him back. He wouldn't know the first thing about conversing.

Instead the crystal ponies were content to watch him explore, just as he was content to walk around and not break anything. It was a fragile peace, until one little colt broke away from his mother and ran up to him. His mother followed him, determined to keep him safe.

"Excuse me, mister." The young crystal colt said. "Are you a pegasus?" The young kid had probably gone his whole life so far without seeing a different kind of pony, so Frostburn simply took the question as curiosity.

"Yes." He said. "Yes I am." Quickly he tucked his wings behind his cloak.

"Could you fly now? I'd really like to see it." He said.

"That's not a good idea." Frostburn responded. The young colt's mother came by, leading her child away with an apologetic glance. The kid seemed pretty upset that Frostburn had said no.

"You know, if I had wings, I'd never stop flying." The colt said as his mother led him off.

Frostburn only stared, without coming up with a response. He eventually just turned and walked away.

If I could give you these wings, I would in a heartbeat kid. He thought.

The throne room was just as Pinkie remembered it, outrageously large. She had always wanted to through a party in here. Maybe after the whole apocalyptic prophecy snafu was over she would get her chance.

That thought brought up another memory for Pinkie. Her 100th party spectacular extravaganza. It was supposed to have gone up yesterday. With everything else going on, it had slipped her mind. At first, she was upset, but then she got excited when realized that she still had a chance to throw her hundredth party spectacular.

"Ah, there you ponies are." Celestia said from the center of the throne room. Normally the Princess would sit on her throne when addressing the Mane Six, but today a large map of Equestria had been laid out in the center of the room. Princess Celestia, Luna, and a handful of guards were all studying the map.

"What are y'all doing?" Applejack said, walking towards the map.

In a gruff voice, the nearest guard responded, "Attempting to determine the location of the outlaw, ma'am."

"Outlaw?" Rainbow said distantly.

"Y'all don't hafta refer to me as Ma'am. Applejack suits me just fine." AJ said. The guard nodded, but his attention was really on the map. Pinkie looked over the shoulder of a guard with a darkened coat, and saw many towns and landmarks scratched out.

"Hey, you crossed out Ponyville." She noticed. "Did the town disappear or something when since we last saw it?" The guard looked back at Pinkie with a startled expression on his face, like he couldn't believe somepony had actually asked that question.

The other guard – who had called Applejack ma'am – answered her. "Ponyville is one of the towns we have determined the outlaw not to be at, ma'am." Pinkie chortled when he said that.

"You don't need to call me ma'am either." She said amongst her laughter.

"What exactly did you mean by outlaw?" Dash said, bringing the subject back up. "He has a name you know."

The guard gave a stare down at Rainbow. "I am well aware of that. I prefer not to use it. Outlaw is what he is, and what he is called." Rainbow looked like she was about to fling an insult at the guard. Pinkie stopped laughing when she saw all the tension. Thankfully Princess Luna stepped in.

"You can calm down, Swift Sword. And Rainbow, I am sure the Sergeant did not mean what he said." Both ponies lowered their gazes, accepting the compromise offered by the Princess of the night.

Pinkie on the other hoof, tried not to laugh again, thinking about the tongue twister of a name that Sergeant Swift Sword had. Twilight spoke before she got the chance to blurt it out.

"Have you narrowed down Frostburn's whereabouts?" The purple mare asked.

Princess Celestia stared down at the map. "Not very much." She said. "We've dispatched scouts throughout Equestria to keep an eye out for him. So far, we don't believe he's flown since we last saw him. But since then he could be anywhere."

"Not anywhere." Rarity said, stepping forward to look at the map. "He wouldn't set a hoof in Vanhoover. Not after his last experience there." Swift Sword looked to the Princess for confirmation. She nodded, and the Sergeant proceeded to cross of Vanhoover with a red marker.

"Anything from your Pinkie Sense?" Fluttershy asked, looking to Pinkie. The other members of the Mane Six also turned to her. Knowing her ability would not reveal itself under all the pressure, Pinkie shook her head.

"You simply must try Pinkie." Rarity said.

"The Pinkie sense doesn't work like that." The party pony responded. "I can't force something from it. It just happens."

"Well when it happens, I would like to be the first to know." Rarity said. Rainbow glared at her.

"I think I should be the first to know when Pinkie senses something." Dash said.

"Oh really?" Rarity said. "Because I feel that I would be more generous with that information than someone who would just jet off and leave her friends at the first chance of finding her coltfriend!" Rainbow's face turned a shade of dark crimson, as the two shifted into a heated argument.

"Oh yeah? Well I would at least find him! Unlike you, a unicorn who can't do anything for herself except sew a dress!" Rainbow angrily declared. Rarity's face contorted in anger. The two began yelling at each other loudly. Twilight and Applejack were too stunned at this sudden development to do anything, and Fluttershy looked around sheepishly; undoubtedly blaming herself for even bringing up the subject of the Pinkie sense.

"That is quite enough out of both of you!" Princess Celestia said firmly. The two mares quieted down after the order was given. "Pinkie, if you do pick up something, tell us all at once instead of individually." Pinkie absently nodded, contemplating on the fact that she would likely be the first to know Frostburn's whereabouts, given that it was her Pinkie Sense.

As the group returned attention to the map, Pinkie walked up to Rarity. "What was that all about?" She asked. The white unicorn bore a look of shock.

"I really don't know Pinkie." She said. "I have no idea what came over me." Looking at Rainbow Dash, Pinkie could see the pegasus was still burning up over Rarity's words, and faintly Pinkie wondered if they could have been true.

Just Bucking Leave Canterlot Already!

Chapter Eighteen – Twilight Sparkle

Twilight tried to focus every thought she had on the map and Frostburn's possible location. It was just a little too hard to transition after the fight she had just seen. What could have possibly cause Rarity to say those things? Or Rainbow Dash's heated reply?

The white unicorn had been reluctantly silent after her outburst, but she and Rainbow still glared daggers at each other from across the room. No pony mentioned the dispute, but it was clearly on their minds.

Applejack gave wary glances at Rainbow Dash, afraid the feisty pegasus could start up again. Fluttershy kept her head down, eyes darting between the two. Pinkie was, for once, silent. Occasionally the pink mare would shift uncomfortably. Only the guards and the Princesses seemed unfazed.

"Now we haven't ruled out Las Pegasus or Saddle Arabia." Princess Luna said, continuing the discussion of Frostburn's whereabouts. "But so far we've been entertaining the possibility that Frostburn is in the north."

Swift Sword and the other guard – Twilight thought his name was Grey Spear but she was not sure – nodded. "It would make sense, based on the reports from the battle." The presumably named Grey Spear said. The Mane Six nodded, following along. Twilight did remember Frostburn flying off in that direction. She wondered who reported it, because neither she, nor her friends had been debriefed. There had been guards, but they had been preoccupied with trying to stand on the frozen ice rink.

"None of our northern scouts have managed to report back, so for the time being we can only guess." Sergeant Sword said, interrupting the purple mare's thoughts. "We fear that the outlaw may be planning attacks on some of our most valuable cites there." Rainbow Dash grunted when she heard him. The Sergeant turned to her. "Is there a problem with my theory?" He asked her.

Fluttershy gave Dash a pleading look not to argue, but the cyan pegasus ignored it. "Yeah there's a problem." The cyan pegasus responded hotly. "Frostburn wouldn't plan on attacking anypony. Let alone a huge city."

Swift Sword narrowed his eyes. "Well, he may not plan on it, but we can just as well assume he will. You don't know him all that well, that much we all know. So there is no way you can know what he will or will not do. Besides, he's already burned down your town, what other proof do you need?"

Sensing an impending explosion from Dash, Twilight stepped in. "Ponyville was an accident." She said. "That has been established, Sergeant. Why don't you focus on the where, and let us worry about the why and the how. Okay?" Clearly angry about Twilight's condescension, but unable to retort with the Princesses in the room, Swift Sword nodded through clenched teeth and turned back to the map. Twilight had the feeling that the Sergeant wasn't going to let it go, however.

Rainbow looked pretty smug as she settled down as well, no doubt happy the defense of Frostburn won out. Twilight allowed herself to breathe, with one more disaster averted. The big picture became the problem again. She knew just staring at the map and speculating was not going to find Frostburn or return the status quo of the Mane Six's friendship. But they couldn't do anything until a report came in.

At that moment, the door to the throne room burst open, and the royal messenger excitedly ran in, levitating some parchment in front of him. "Princess Celestia, news from the north has just come in. News from the north!"

The Princess was clearly happy, but didn't allow for it to rile her up. "Thank you." She said accepting the letter. The messenger left as quickly as he arrived. The Princess unrolled the scroll and read it silently. Her eyes darted back and forth in a quickening pace. Her face contorted into a worried expression.

"What is it Princess?" Twilight asked, fearing the worst. Celestia levitated the letter to Luna, who scanned it quickly and passed it to Twilight.

"It's an eye witness account by Princess Cadence. Apparently some sort of comet fell last night." Princess Celestia answered. Twilight's eyes ran along the lines of the paper. It was brief, but had a clear style to it that belonged to her old foal sitter.

"Well Ah don't see wat's so worrisome 'bout that." Applejack said.

"Apparently the comet froze the majority of the Gemstone Forrest." The Princess said.

"Froze?" Rarity said in shock.

"But that's right outside of..." Pinkie said.

"Does that mean…" Fluttershy trailed off.

"Yes." Princess Luna said. "By now Frostburn is in the Crystal Empire."

-\-

Seconds went by feeling like hours. The Mane Six had all been sent out of the throne room so the Princess could confer with her guards. Twilight knew that a battalion was likely to be sent to the Empire. Just because Celestia sympathized Frostburn's situation, did not mean she was going in unprepared this time. As for Swift Sword, he wasn't likely to sympathize with Frostburn at all.

Twilight herself was very worried. Partly because she expected Rainbow Dash to bolt out and fly to the Crystal Empire all by herself. The cyan pegasus definitely looked the most anxious out of all of them. Also Twilight was worried for the Crystal Empire.

She knew of course that Frostburn would never deliberately harm the Empire, but so far he had inadvertently burned down Ponyville and nearly froze Celestia solid. The odds were definitely not in his favor. Or theirs.

Rainbow Dash was tapping her hoof incessantly out of anxiety. Rarity glanced at her in annoyance, but it was clear the white unicorn was just as anxious as Rainbow Dash. The two had yet to speak to each other since the fight. Twilight was beginning to worry they wouldn't make up anytime soon.

"What do you girls think would be the best color streamer?" Pinkie Pie suddenly asked. Everypony stared at her in confusion.

"Wh-What?" Twilight stammered.

"Streamer." Pinkie Pie said. "What color do you think would be best?" Without really having any questions answered, Applejack spoke.

"Now what in the hay would ya'll need streamers for Pinkie?" The orange farmer asked. Pinkie giggled hysterically, as if she couldn't believe AJ didn't know what she meant.

"For Frostburn's "Welcome Back" Party. Which also will be doubling as my 100th Party Extravaganza, seeing as how I haven't thrown it yet. So I need advice on the color streamers. Typically I would do a red and blue mix to match Frostburn's hair and coat, but since this is a two-way party I suppose anything goes." The pink mare happily stared at her friends, awaiting an answer obliviously.

"Uhh…" Rainbow started, but struggled to find the right words. "You know we haven't found Frostburn, right?"

Pinkie laughed again. "Well yeah silly. But when it comes to party planning, you've got to plan ahead. Now, will somepony please answer my question?"

Nopony got the chance, for at that moment Princess Celestia walked out the doors of her throne room. Everypony turned to face her, eager to her what the princess had to say. "Pack your things." The white alicorn said. "We are preparing a battalion to take an airship to the Crystal Empire. I assume each of you wants to be on board."

"Yes." Both Rainbow and Rarity said at the same time. They glared at each other, then looked away. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack were also nodding to Celestia's question, but seemed to feel a little uneasy about Rainbow and Rarity's feud.

"When do we leave?" Twilight asked.

"Immediately." Was the response of the Princess.

The King and I

Chapter Nineteen – Frostburn

Things in the Crystal Empire had not improved for Frostburn. Lacking a place to sleep the previous night, he had slept on a hard bench in a public park. Not a real smart move, because now his back was aching. Luckily he still had Rarity's cloak, or he would have been freezing. He was hungry too, but that feeling was not new to him.

Wandering aimlessly on the city streets, Frostburn felt more eyes locked on him. It seemed each pony was attempting to drill holes into his head by staring in his general direction. The blue pegasus felt like if one more set of eyes looked at him, he'd drill in the hole himself. Rounding a corner, he touched the stunted horn on the top of his head. It was something his mother had always done, claiming it brought her good fortune. He really needed some of that right about now.

The alluring scent of freshly baked bread caught his attention. Not far from him, a bakery sat, recently baked goods sitting in display. The pegasus felt his mouth water and heard his stomach growl. Wishing he could have bought some bread, Frostburn merely turned away and walked another direction.

You know you could always steal some. Part of him thought. It was a tempting idea, and his stomach argued in favor of it. No, stealing is wrong. You're better than that. Another part thought. He sighed inwardly, because he knew he really wasn't better than that. Frostburn thought back to all the times he taken food or money from other ponies just to get by. Then he got depressed as he realized that the list was longer that he would have liked. But food and bits didn't matter on the grand scale of things, lives did. And he had taken those too.

~Three Years ago~

He splashed through the rain soaked streets, desperate to flee. His light blue hooves were soaked in muddy water, leaving tracks on the littered streets. He needed somewhere to hide. Somewhere to be safe. But in Manehatten, nowhere was really safe enough.

The two stallions, underlings for a local gang lord, pursued him vigorously. Neither would let him escape – or live – if they caught up to him. Sure Frostburn was fast, but days without food and only rainwater to drink hadn't exactly done wonders for his health. He stumbled along, barely able to keep ahead of the two. His breaths became more ragged as his lungs burned for a respite. The muscles in his legs ached, demanding the same thing.

Hoping for a moment to breath, he ducked into an alleyway, of which Manehatten had more than the city knew what to do with.

Huffing shortly, and much too loudly, Frostburn stopped only for a moment. But it was a moment too long.

A powerful hoof slammed into his back, sending him down to the ground. Villainous laughter rang out between the two stallions. As he tried to stand, another kicked in his ribs.

"Well Switchblade," One underling said. "You want to kill him, or should I?"

"You got the last one, Trench. It's my turn." Switchblade, a dark blue pony with a Cutie Mark to match his name, said. Frostburn stumbled further down the alley, reeling in pain. Trench grabbed him and slammed his entire body into the nearest brick wall.

"Not so fast there, buddy." The pale brown stallion sneered. "We can't let you leave just yet. You see, when you steal from the boss, and it don't end well for you."

"I'll… I'll give it back." He whimpered. Reaching into his saddlebag he yanked out a small sack filled to the brim with bits. He tossed it on the ground. "Just leave me alone."

"No can do." Switchblade said. "You see, the boss can't just let something like this slide. He has to make an example out of you." Indicating himself and Trench he said, "And we are the guys he sends in order to make examples." Trench threw Frostburn to the ground. Switchblade drew out an impeccably long knife.

"You… You don't want to do this. Just turn around, walk away." Frostburn tried. The two stallions laughed manically and advanced. "Please… I don't want to hurt you." He said desperately.

"Oh, I think the hurt will be on the other hoof, buddy." Trench sneered.

"Alright, you forced me to do this." Frostburn said. His wings opened. The last thing he heard before blacking out was the unearthly screams of two ponies drenched in flames.

~The Present~

He shuddered at the memory. Even years later those two stallions could still haunt him. He was far from terrified of them, instead he felt grief. After he had regained control he saw their charred bodies, or rather, charred remains. They were nothing but ashes. Though they were the first, they had not been the last.

Seven ponies total had been victims of Frostburn. Seven. He was a monster. Each face still haunted him, nightmares about them plagued his dreams. All seven had a different story, but it all ended the same. Always fire. Always ash.

Removing himself from those horrific thoughts, Frostburn found himself in an alleyway. "I hate irony." He breathed.

"It is truly despicable." Something said.

"What? Who's there?" Frostburn turned around, and saw nopony.

"I am not there… not physically." The voice said again. It was a deep, booming voice. The kind you would expect from some regal pony. A pony with real power.

"Who are you?" Frostburn yelled. "What are you?"

"I have been many things. A beggar, a thief, a student, a phantom. But most recently I have been a king."

"This doesn't make any sense." The ice blue pegasus said, searching around for whatever it was that was contacting him.

"I cannot talk much now. My body lies in a weakened state and must be tended to. But trust me when I say that I would like to help you."

"Help me." Frostburn repeated. "How can you help me? You're just some freaky voice. I'm more inclined right now to believe I'm schizophrenic."

"I know much about you, Frostburn." The pegasus froze upon hearing his name. "I sense your fear of yourself, what you are capable of."

"Great, even the freaky voice in my head knows my curse." The pegasus moaned. He heard chuckling, as if what he had just said was the punch line of a joke.

"Your unique abilities are not a curse, but a gift. A gift I can teach you to control." The voice of the king said.

"Wait, control? You mean I'll be able to keep from going crazy... From hurting ponies?" The red-haired stallion asked.

"Indeed. You'll never hurt anypony unintentionally ever again. For instance, a certain rainbow-haired pegasus you know. Or white unicorn perhaps."

Frostburn didn't speak. This was insane, he knew. The king seemed to know everything about him. But if he could help him…

"I'm still not convinced." Frostburn said, narrowing his eyes, though he very much doubted the king could see him.

"Oh I did not expect you to decide now, but dote on what I have said. And let's keep this little conversation between us."

"Who would I tell?" He asked. "Anypony would think I'm insane." The voice did not respond. The supposed King was gone. Frostburn hoped that he had imagined what just happened. Yet a part of him didn't. A chance to finally control his power was a dream come true. It meant he could finally be friends with ponies. Or something more…

Still unsure whether or not he could trust the mysterious voice, Frostburn threw the hood of his cloak over his head and touched the tip of his severed horn once more. Then he walked back into the sparkling daylight of the Crystal Empire.

Next Chapter: Solitary Refinement Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes