"Where are the bodies?" Wulfric asked himself as he looked around the rooms of the empty house only to find nothing but bloodstained walls and broken furniture. There weren't even any signs of looting or pillaging.

"You boys find anything?"

"No sire."

All of this seemed strange since there were clear signs of a battle yet no bodies were to be found and things seemed quiet until a gust of wind blew out of nowhere followed by what sounded like a ghostly whinny that sent a chill up their spines.

"What was that?!?" One of the soldiers shouted while looking around for the source of the noise.

"That was not of this world..." Another said while keeping his guard up.

The wind began to pick up until a blizzard began blowing through the ruins of the town and just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished leaving nothing but an eerie calm and a mist surrounding the village.

"There's something evil about this frost...I can feel it."

"Stay calm and keep searching."

The band searched the entire village from top to bottom yet all they seemed to find were more of those strange arrows and empty rooms with bloodstained walls until one of the warriors finally spotted a survivor sitting among the frozen buildings.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Wulfric called out to the stranger but received no answer.

"It's okay we're here to help!"

As the group got closer they began to smell a foul odor in the air and assumed it might have been some rotten food that had been laying nearby but when they got a clear view of the villager they noticed he was dressed in tattered clothes and the smell was in fact coming from him.

"He must've hid in the sewers during the attack." Said the soldier who placed a hand on the shoulder of the villager before the stranger turned around snarling with a rotting face and cold blue eyes.

SCREEEEEE!!!

"ODINS BEARD!!"

The creature lunged at the soldier as it went for his throat before being pinned down by two spears yet despite having been run through it continued to snarl and thrash about like a rabid dog on a leash.

"What the devil is that?!?" Another cried out while keeping a safe distance.

"A draugr..." Wulfric answered before stabbing the creature through its head killing it almost instantly.

The draugr were the undead creatures of the northlands that were created during the tyranny of Stonehoof, most were former villagers and farmers that died in the winter of that year and others were soldiers who were executed as traitors and left without a proper burial. The only thing keeping these shambling husks bound to the mortal world was their uncontrollable desire for blood and the hatred they felt at the moment of their deaths.

"This makes no sense...the Draugr never venture this close to the border."

"Keep a sharp eye out. These creatures seldom walk alone."

It was at that moment, the group heard the ghostly whinny once more as a gust of wind blew in from out of nowhere but this time there was someone or something with it.

"There!" A soldier shouted after spotting a figure just up the road.

A unicorn with a ghostly white coat and mane stood at a distance from the band of warriors and stared at them with cold blue eyes that seemed to give off a chill of their own.

"Who are you?" Wulfric called out to the stranger but was met with silence.

"Insolent wretch! Answer our king!!" shouted the soldier next to him but the strange unicorn remained silent before raising both arms as strange lights began to dance around the air.

"What the hell is he doing?" Wulfric asked before the strange being let out the ghostly whinny they had been hearing and before their very eyes, the warriors began to see the bodies of the slain villagers rise out of the snow while the others stepped out of the mist covering the village.

As the creatures continued to rise out of the snow, Wulfric and his warriors suddenly found themselves being surrounded on all sides and against such overwhelming numbers they knew there was no way they could win this fight.

"Get to the airship...run! RUUUN!!!"

The group bolted back to the ships as fast as their feet could carry them while the undead began to give chase as they snarled and screeched when one of them managed to grab hold of one of the soldiers and began tearing into his flesh like a rabid beast while he desperately tried to fight them off.

"KEEP MOVING!!" Wulfric shouted as they looked back to see the carnage until finally reaching the ship.

"Cut the lines! Quickly!!"

The warriors did as commanded and proceeded to hack off the mooring lines with great haste as the undead began trying to climb unto the ship.

"Hack em down!!" Shouted the ships captain as he and his crew took up arms and began to repel the undead that managed to make it on the ship save for one who had it entire lower torso cleaved off.

"As I live and breathe, an actual Draugr." Said the captain looking impressed while the crew prepared to finish off the beast.

"Wait!" Said Wulfric who looked at the creature snarling at him.

"Get this one in a cage. We need to inform Shining Armor of what happened here. Set sail for the Crystal Empire now!"

The crew did as their king ordered and proceeded to bind the creature with chains and rope before stuffing it in a small cage for the rest of their voyage back to the empire. As the ship sailed towards the light of the Crystal Empire, Wulfric looked back towards the village now hidden beyond the horizon and began to wonder who that strange white unicorn was and how was he able to command such horrifying magic. All answers would be revealed once he explained everything to Shining Armor

Later

When Shining Armor received word that his friend had been attacked at the settlement, he quickly called for the castle physicians to prepare their equipment and ordered a few of his guards to help any wounded off the ship as it docked onto the harbor. The gangplank was instantly lowered and already they could see a few members of the crew had bloody bandages on various parts of their bodies and helping one of these men was Wulfric himself.

"Get this man a doctor!" The king of the north shouted urgently as two guards helped the injured crewmen onto a stretcher before Shining Armor ran over to greet his old friend.

"Wulfric! Thank Celestia you're alright. I heard about what happened." Shining said as he gave a firm hug to his old friend while the rest of the guards went to help the injured crew members.

"Good to see you to old friend." Wulfric replied before Shining Armor noticed an object being lowered from the ship.

"What's in there?" The prince inquired as his friend whispered.

"We have a serious problem."

The king would say no more and asked the prince to have the cage brought to the throne room for a private meeting, Shining agreed and ordered his men to make sure that no civilians got near it and as he did so he could see the terror in Wulfrics eyes and wondered what could make a warrior as strong as him tremble with fear.

Shining soon met with Wulfric in the throne room with his wife and daughter as well as a few of his trusted advisors. Before the throne stood the king in the north and two of his elite warriors standing guard around the shrouded cage brought before them.

"I'm glad you arranged this meeting old friend. The north is in grave danger." the king said humbly as he bowed his head to the royal family.

"We are always glad to help Wulfric." Cadence replied with a gentle smile as the meeting began.

"Now as you all know, a settlement along the border was destroyed leaving no survivors. A few of my best warriors joined me to investigate the attack and what we found was that the entire village had been frozen over by enchanted arrows as well as a strange blizzard that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Did you find out who was responsible?" Shining Asked.

"Not Who was responsible Shining Armor. What." Wulfric replied with a cryptic answer as he turned to the cage while drawing his sword.

"Do it."

At their kings command, the warriors removed the shroud to reveal the snarling draugr inside. To say everyone in attendance was shocked would be an understatement as a few of the guards cringed back in fear while Flurry Heart clinged to her mother.

"What is that thing?!?" Shouted one of the advisors as he covered his nose from the horrid stench of the creature.

"This is a draugr." Wulfric replied.

"These undead monsters roam the frozen wastes and tombs of the north but a whole group of them raided the village killing everyone and to make matters worse it seems they were under the command of a unicorn mage."

"A mage?" Shining asked as his friend continued.

"I'll never forget his face. He had a ghostly white coat and mane and had these eyes so cold that I could feel my very blood freeze but what frightened me most of all was that sound he made as he raised the dead with his magic."

For a moment, Wulfric stood silent and could barely grip his sword as he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Can these creatures be killed?" Asked another one of the advisors.

"Yes. One strike to the neck or head is enough to dispatch them and if the old stories are true then magics like fire and lightning should be able to bring them down as well."

To test his theory, Wulfric asked if one of the mages in attendance could cast a spell on the creature. Cadence was more than happy to oblige as she incinerated the beast with a blast of her magic along with the cage leaving nothing but a giant scorch mark on the marble floor.

"Uh...yeah, like that." Said Wulfric looking impressed while Shining just sat there with his mouth open.

"Thank you for warning us of this threat Wulfric. I will see to it that my aunts and Princess Twilight hear of this as well."

"No, thank you Princess Cadence. Now if you'll excuse me, I must retrieve my family and return home. Please inform me if you find anything else about this new enemy."

"We will, I promise."

Shining and Wulfric shook hands as the meeting came to a close and as the king in the north left to return to Ponyville, both Shining Armor and Cadence looked at each other with great concern.

"A ghostly white coat and mane with blue eyes and magic powerful enough to raise the dead....Cadence you don't think?"

"It's a possibility, that is why we must inform aunt Celestia at once."

End.