The Future At Hoof

Thick gray clouds loomed overhead, blocking the sun from penetrating the land. They cried frozen tears in the form of deceivingly beautiful snowflakes, of which no two were alike. The wind howled furiously as it stirred up a blizzard with no end. Combined with bitter temperatures, the land of white and stone was not very welcoming.

A foolish mare stood upon a mound of ice, her hooves embedded hock-deep in snow, their armored bottoms pressed firmly against whatever footing could be had. Her cloak of black billowed, threatening to be ripped off at any given moment and succumb to the wind's wrath, yet somehow its erect hood refused to yield. From beneath it she surveyed the landscape with dark red eyes towards the horizon, where the very feint outline of a magnificent crystallized city could be seen.

"It shan't be long now, master." She mused, her own voice barely audible above the raging snowstorm. "I have learned much and gained more control. I needs only find your remains and I can begin my research into bringing you unto this realm once more." Her head bowed forward, exposing a black spiraled horn. Its tip flashed red as a magical essence burst from it. In its wake, a red gem materialized and hovered before her muzzle.

"The empire will not suffer as it had before, but it will have a new ruler." The crystal hummed as it took on an inner glow, which burned with warmth and power. "The alicorn wench is not fit for such a responsibility. Nor is her mate." She narrowed her gaze into fine slits. "But first, reveal to me your essence. Show me where you wait to be discovered.."

(Can I join?)

(Can I also join?)

Doodle giggled as she pounced through the snow much like a tiny kitten as it played with its mother's tail. Even in gail force winds, nothing could stop her from her current destination! She had heard so much about this crystal empire and could barely contain the enthusiasm! 'Crystal everything!' She thought as she imagined giant crystal ice-cream or giant crystal tacos and snickered quietly to herself as she pushed through the snow. Wondering now why she had chosen to walk instead of take the train as expected.

After a while, her hooves slowly began to ache despite her thick scarf now swollen with snow and as heavy as thirteen bricks. She shivered slightly as she looked around the snowy masses gathering up around her, trying to find at least something that could be considered shelter.

((Everyone is welcome!))

Though unseen, Onyx's eyes drew closed as she started to concentrate. The crystal reacted to her thoughts and its glow intensified, while an eerie black mist surrounded its form. She raised her head and horn skybound to cast the mist to the wind, which gladly swept up the essence and tossed it about. The magical substance did not allow the wind to control it for long, however, and diverted itself towards the snowbanks below, where it multiplied and fanned out. The mare remained unmoved as it crawled along, constantly replicating, thickening, and hastening its way.

A patch of mist crossed over an unknown pony, alerting Onyx to their presence at once. Her eyes snapped open with alarm, their pupils constricted to small dots. Who would be foolish enough to trespass here in this storm? She wondered, ignoring the rather painful burning sensation the cold left on her coat. Her fur stood on end as her magical mist detected other lifeforms, but none of which she sought. Curses! Of course when I decide to pursue my quest, others magically appear. Mentally, she swore a sling of cusses. Well, I might as well see who they are. Not many can last in this cold.

With her concentration and will lost, the mist dispersed as quickly as it congregated. Onyx instead shifted her magical wonder to a more practical spell- one, when cast, caused her to disappear in a flash of red light. A second flash of the same hue appeared behind the Pegasus, to whom she tilted her head in wonder. "Are you lost?" Onyx wondered out loud. "This land is treacherous, as you can see. Are you in need of assistance?"

"Ayeeeee!!!" Doodle screeched as she reared up onto her hind hooves and twirled around with her right hoof positioned straight out as her left one bent slightly in an attempted fight pose. "HIYA! I warn you I'm skilled in pony-ku-jitsu and I-!" She yelled over the suddenly paused storm assuming it would start up again. Her expression suddenly turned into a relieved one, then she wore her trademark, overly excited smile and let out her usual gasp!

"OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!! Are you a shiver pony?? The type of ponies that live deep within the mountains and steal socks from under foal's beds?!?" She then proceeded to lower herself to a normal stance and hop around the strange unicorn. *GASP!* "If you are then you AREN'T STEALING MY SOCKS... IF I HAD ANY-which I don't!! What are youuuu doing out here, huh?? Huh?? Huh??" She asked giving the unicorn mare a very silly, yet suspicious emerald glare. "Do you have hot chocolate?? Or *LOUD GASP* OH my gosh oh my gosh!! How in pony sake did you stop the storm?? You are a shiver pony from legend aren't you?? And what was that black smoke?? Do you have any cheese?!?" Doodle asked, suddenly giggling happy to actually see some pony else.

"I'm going to the Crystal empire to try their crystal foods Everything is crystal and it is said to be sooooo pretty!! Have you been there? Are you from there??"

Switchblade wandered through the frozen tundra, following a lead for a case that brought him to the crystal empire, he was equipped with different armor than usual; he had more streamlined goggles and lined armor that was made out of toughened fabric to provide more mobility in the snow, his helmet extended to cover his jaw as well, obscuring his face. As he walked through the ice, he thought about the events that transpired in this very city a few years ago, and how quickly life returned to normal.

"..."

Onyx simply stared at the strange Pegasus, whom had assumed an offensive pose. While she didn't feel threatened (it was more comical than anything else), a few spells did subconsciously pass through her mind just in case she needed to defend herself. None of them were pleasant.

Quote :

"OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!! Are you a shiver pony?? The type of ponies that live deep within the mountains and steal socks from under foal's beds?!?

The unicorn opened her mouth to respond but found no words came to her. The notion had both shocked and disturbed her, rendering the mare speechless. She had never heard of such a breed of pony, nor the childish rumors about them. Her head tilted to one side without her notice as the bewilderment grew.

Quote :

*GASP!* "If you are then you AREN'T STEALING MY SOCKS... IF I HAD ANY-which I don't!! What are youuuu doing out here, huh?? Huh?? Huh??" She asked giving the unicorn mare a very silly, yet suspicious emerald glare. "Do you have hot chocolate?? Or *LOUD GASP* OH my gosh oh my gosh!! How in pony sake did you stop the storm?? You are a shiver pony from legend aren't you?? And what was that black smoke?? Do you have any cheese?!?

She began to rub her chin with a silver armored hoof as the Pegasus bounced around, but quickly had it retreat- the metal was unbearably cold. Shivering a bit, Onyx pulled the cloak closer to herself, hoping it would be enough to shield her from discomfort in place of a spell. It was obvious that this young mare was unstable- any show of magic might set her over the edge.

"Well.." The unicorn paused to take breath and to gather her thoughts. "I am not a 'shiver pony.' Not have I ever heard of them before. I do not have any hot chocolate on me, but I may be able to conjure some up.." Onyx repeated the other's questions in her head to make sure none were missed. "Don't worry about the black smoke- that was my doing. I'm a unicorn and that was just a small spell. As for cheese..no."

Quote :

"I'm going to the Crystal empire to try their crystal foods Everything is crystal and it is said to be sooooo pretty!! Have you been there? Are you from there??"

At this, she flinched. "I've been there before, yes. It is quite..majestic." Her red eyes moved past the Pegasus and to the empire beyond. Thinking of her past and the city's involvement made her heart ache and her hooves fidget around a bit. "You're still pretty far from it, and I don't think your wings will carry you in this cold. Do you need help?"

Doodle's trademark grin that had somehow found it's way upon her face at the end of her energetic speech, seeing as the unicorn meant no threat, slowly fall as she watched the unicorn's expression fall. In no way at all did she intend on making this unicorn or any pony unhappy. Her ears became glued to her head as her now frozen and brittle feathers lightly clacked against the devilish, wintery white, death trap of a catastrophe every pony called snow.

"I'm sorry, Miss." She said quietly as she stopped bouncing. She then quietly nodded at the question of needing help but suddenly felt like they weren't alone... her ears bounced back up into place as she noticed another unicorn off in the distance. Taking this time while the storm had died down, she quickly unfurled her wings and jumped while giving two easy downwards thrusts of her wings, became airborne, and soared into the air only to lose control due to her frozen feathers and plunked lightly into powdery snow near the armored unicorn.

Doodle then pulled herself up from the snow and again held the fake and very comical, not to mention very fake Pony-jitsu pose. "HIIYA!! I KNOW PONY-JITZU!!" She puffed up her furry cheeks and crossed her eyes trying to look intimidating. "Why are you here, huh, huh, huh?? Are you one of the fabled 'Shiver ponies?? Huh, huh huh?? Are you going to steal my socks??? Well, you can't! I have none!!"

Switchblade tilted his head at an angle, trying to formulate a proper response. When he did speak, his voice was slightly muffled by the mouthpiece of his helmet, making it hard to recognise "Umm, okay, first off, I'm not a 'shiver pony' I don't even know what one of those is. And second of all, are you alright; you landed pretty roughly there." he smiled beneath his helmet, the light glinting off his goggles 'this one has had either too much coffee or too much sugar.' he thought to himself. "The name's Switchblade." he introduced himself to the pegasus, his voice muffled enough that only she would be able to hear "And you are?" he asked politely.

The Pegasus's sudden actions left her with a foul taste in her mouth. Never one to allow herself to be caught defenseless, Onyx levitated the crystal she had conjured before then cast a spell over it. The mineral disappeared in a flash and a poof, reappearing shortly after high above where the pony had fled. As it levitated, a second crystal was produced which the unicorn carefully balanced on a hoof.

Staring into its reflective surface, rather than to see a reddened mirror image of herself, Onyx saw the Pegasus as well as an armored unicorn. With a curse, she called back the spying crystal and had it levitate beside its twin. "It's that damned stallion again. I won't let him meddle with my work." After placing both crystals into a knapsack carried beneath her cloak, the mare closed her eyes and concentrated.

As she focused, the blizzard began to wail again, but another strange pitch howled along with it. Two more joined the first, each one similar but of a slightly different tone. The storm thickened, the wind became bone-chilling and the snow's mass made visibility near zero. Above the two, a trio of Windigo circled. Fed by the hatred Onyx felt for the stallion, their power grew. Clouds of condensation huffed out from their flaring nostrils as their ghostly forms practically danced with glee. Hatred is a tool I'm learning to use in a more practical manner. She noted with a smirk.

"Hopefully, those three will keep them occupied while I get back to work. I feel bad for the Pegasus, but it can't be helped.." Confident that at least some time had been bought, Onyx fixed her cloak closer to herself and began pushing against the storm and away.

Doodle's expression rapidly shifted from silly/attempted threatening to amazement as she let out yet another huge gasp. "Oh... My... Ponyzilla! You're a real guard! My name is Doo-" Suddenly getting cut off by the magical upturn of blizzard. The scream of the storm cut off all audible noises as she hid within the snow in an attempt to shield herself. 'Ugh... horrible idea... She thought to herself as the small, spotted pegasus slowly got buried. She let out a small squeak as her wings became surrounded by the icy slush and had nearly froze them solid along with her already half frozen and half sopping wet bright red scarf.

This wasn't looking good for her. She dug her way out and 'hopped' through the thin layer of snow and looked up towards the clouds and wondered if she could kick a hole through them and maybe clear out this storm... even though she wasn't that good at being a weather pony, she'd at least try. She looked towards Switchblade and continued to hop around into and out of the snow like a rabbit, letting loose a muffled giggle as she had begun to enjoy her current 'whack-a-Doodle' 'game'. "COME ON, SWITCHBLADE!! YOU'VE GOTTA TRY THIS!! YIIIIIHAHAHAHA!!!" She screamed into the wind as she continued to bound forwards. All she needed was leverage to get to it and the hope her wings will hold out and let her get off of the frozen ground.

Switchblade smiled 'Might as well try; it seems to be working for her' he thought to himself, mimicking Doodle's bouncing until he caught up with her, he then used his magic to create a shield around them that stopped the wind from getting to them "I didn't quite catch your name. Mind telling me again?" he asked politely.

Onyx chewed on her lower lip as she progressed across the tundra, her hooves leaving deep imprints behind. While her heart was set on the task at hoof, her heart was swelling with some guilt concerning the ponies far behind her. She harbored the Pegasus no ill-will, and truly didn't loath the unicorn, though he was a sharp thorn in her side. Eventually, the mare slowed to a stop and looked to the amassed clouds above and visualized the Windigos releasing their wrath. Perhaps I should keep an eye on them, just in case.

With a sigh that rolled out from her mouth as a puff of cold air, she teleported one of her observing crystals back to the duo. She made sure to mask its presence from both visual recognition as well as magical sense with a rather simple spell, allowing her to watch completely undetected. The act required a good portion of her concentration to keep going, but she was confident that she'd be able to perform her search at the same time despite such. A quick peak at the crystal's twin floating beside her and it was revealed that Switchblade had cast a protective barrier around himself and the mare.

I should have figured as much. And without me being close to fuel their power, there's no sense in keeping the creatures there. Bowing her head, Onyx sent her mind out across the frozen terrain and to the monsters in question. Having conjured them and bent their will to her own, she muttered an incantation to release them and clear any trace of her essence from them. In return, the Windigos stopped their galloping in unison and looked to one another, rather confused. Then, casting their ghastly eyes downward and spotting the ponies, they snorted in disgust, finding no hatred between them. Thus, with nothing to feed on, they vanished into the clouds to seek out a true feast.

Onyx reopened her eyes and huffed out a bit of frustration. With the roll of her shoulders, she conjured a red magical essence to her horn and reproduced the black searching mist from before. Lets try this again..

Doodle happily bounced in her the forcefield like a foal expecting candy and took a deep breath, turned around, grabbed one of his front hooves, shook it super energetically, then said. "Hi, my name is Doodle Bug! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! It is soooo nice to meet you, Mr. Switchblade!! *Gasp* Ooh, you're a real guard!! A royal guard for Celestia?!? or just a royal guard for," She paused to inhale sharply then shouted as her eyes grew big and shiny with awe, "THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!?!?!?"

Her gaze then turned to the giant bubble around them and then upwards to the clouds above as she let go of the 'possibly bewildered' stallion's hoof. She then zipped around the small bubble (on land since her wings are still frozen shut) while inspecting the magical dome they were under. She gingerly reached out and poked it but suddenly pulled her hoof back as a jolt of energy shot through her body and let out a sharp "YIIIIIIIIIIIAAAA!!" then shook her hoof and laughed. She then once again returned her gaze to the dome stared at the dome once more. "Hey! Is it possible to make another one of these?? Maybe I can slice through the storm and kick out some of these clouds! I'm not that great of a weather pony, but maybe I could try." She said looking at Switchblade with her hugs smile then completely unaware that the shock had actually made her mane look like the poofy version bride of Frankenstein.

Switchblade was taken aback by the energy of this mare, and had to take a second to compose himself after the hoofshake "I'm neither a royal guard for Canterlot, nor for the Crystal Empire; I am a freelancer, so I am not permanently hired by any governing force." he explained he then watched the mare speed around before getting her shock. He then listened to her plan "Well first you would need to warm your wing up again. Perhaps this will work." he said, unbuckling his armor and offering the fur lined chestguard to her, he then noticed her hair and offered a brush as well "You may also want to fix your mane."

The mist swelled and rolled like the waves of an ocean, consuming the once white landscape in a blanket of pulsating black. Onyx had lowered herself into a seated position while casting her spell, causing her cloak to become saturated by the snow beneath her and freeze over almost instantly. Despite the biting of the cold, she remained calm and collected, having learned long ago how to perform under extreme pressure and pain. While in her past the torture and torment had brought about nothing good, it served her well in the present- it was a lesson well worth learning in the end.

You are getting clossssse..

An ear twitched to the sound of her Master's voice. I don't feel anything yet. She mentally responded to him as she stretched her neck outward, pushing the mist further through the landscape. A sudden jolt caught her attention and forced her head to turn northeast. Yessss..Yessss.. go, my dear. Find it. The unicorn started to sweat from strain as she focused her mist in that direction and concentrated it into a more condensed mass. I...I feel it. But it's..familiar. This doesn't make any sense.. She cringed as her spell fluctuated in response to having found something else that was magical and of the dark nature.

It doessssn't matter. Go now, while thossse two are occupied. Nodding, Onyx pulled herself to her hooves. Her first few steps were difficult, for her legs were numb and cloak heavy with moisture. Sneering, the mare conjured up another teleportation spell, causing herself to vanish in a bright red flash and reappear before her massed mist. She felt heat start to lick at the corners of her eyes as she gazed down at the snow beneath the black essence, and sure enough, purple flames began spreading from them. There was definitely something evil below.

As she stood there staring, her shadow flickered and extended on its own accord. From it, the shadowed visage of a stallion materialized, whose eye sockets burned red with life. The shadow pony cleared the mist with the wave of a hoof, revealing not some snow as Onyx had seen, but rather a sheet of white crystal. Within was a single black gem, one shaped as a diamond and as big as a bit. "What is that?" She asked her master, whom began to snigger. "Retrieve it and find out, my dear.."

Doodle quickly took the brush but pushed the chest plate back at him. "Nah, you need that! I'll just take the brush! Thanks so much!" She said taking the brush and brushing out her mane then her wings as the thick cake of ice fell to the floor.

Switchblade held his hoof in front of Doodle "Hang on; those aren't normal clouds, you won't be able to break through them; it's dark magic." he explained, looking up at the black smoke surrounding them "Follow me this way." he said, walking off.

"It looks like a gem.." Onyx thought out loud as she scraped a hoof across the crystal's clear surface. Believing it best to be careful, the mare muttered an incantation and closed her eyes, allowing her magic to flow to them. When reopened, the world around her shifted into greyscale, allowing her to see all of the magic in the environment as multiple colors instead. Around the tundra itself there was none to speak of, though the crystal below pulsed with a bright golden glow. The gem itself burned brightest, but of a more malicious red hue.

"There's protective wards.." Her brow furrowed as her focus refined itself. Beside her, her Master's shadow seemed to grin. Waving a hoof, she cleared the golden glow to reveal a circle of runes upon the crystal. "These runes are ancient.." Onyx shook her head. "This doesn't make any sense. The art of rune magic is known by so few, present company excluded. Did our King know if it?" Her eyes moved to her Master's. "Of courssse he did. But he chosssse not to ussse them. He prefered hisss shadowss and..cryssstalsss, of coursse."

If that was the case, then who had implanted them? From what she had read, the Crystal Heart had shattered her dark King- no one believed any remnants of him survived, so why was this warded? "This artifact..This isn't what we're looking for." Before she could turn and move on, her shadow gave a forceful tug, keeping her in place. The unicorn snapped her head back to her Master, whose form expanded and solidified into a three-dimensional form. "No, but it issss of importance. Releassse it." His tone grew colder and lacked the patience he was renown for. It was terrifying.

"O..okay." It went against all the alarms that sounded off in her head, but it seemed she had no other choice. Reluctantly, Onyx bent down and pressed her horn's tip against the crystal. Conjuring her magic, her horn sparked red then held a hearty glow. With it, she began to draw across the runes, cancelling them out with a specific pattern one by one..

Doodle's mouth dropped agape at this sudden unfortunate news and her mind quickly rushed back towards the unicorn she had met. "*GASP* OH MY GOSH, SWITCHBLADE!! WE NEED TO GO BACK!! THAT ONE UNICORN I MET IS STILL OUT THERE!!! WE NEED TO GO BACK NOW!! SHE COULD BE HURT OR SCARED!" She yelled as she did a complete 180˚ turn and stared at the barrier Switchblade had created and just sat stubbornly upon the frozen ground not wanting to make another move until the barrier was lifted.

"If this is dark magic, then she might know something about it, right? Right?? She did seem to have a dark presence about her... not wanting to point any hooves at any pony, but I'm just saying." Doodle shivered a bit hopefully unnoticed as she wrapped her wings and scarf tighter around herself as even the concept of getting lost has frozen over and shattered. "Oh, here's your brush!" She said turning back around an hooving him back his brush.

Switchblade wheeled around to face the direction Doodle was facing "Dark presence huh, why do I get the feeling that I know who that is?" he said casually "Lead the way." he said, following Doodle.

"And this ...should..do it.." Upon disarming the last rune, her magical essence dispersed, as did the aura that surrounded the crystal. The gem within suddenly unleashed a massive shockwave of such force and fury, that not only was Onyx sent tumbling backwards head-over-hocks through the snow, but the whallop to her head disconnected her magic viewing spell as well. When at last her body finished behaving like a ragdoll an settled in an icy dune, the mare's ears rung and vision faded in and out from black. But despite the disorientation, she could hear a maniacal laughter coming from where she once stood.

"Yesss! Yessss! Finally!" His voice carried over the storm and pounded through the heavens. He reached a shadowy hoof down and phased it through the now unprotected crystal and touched the gem beneath. As soon as he did, the artifact was absorbed into him, and as it traveled up through his leg, what was shadow became actual flesh and bone. He watched with excitement as limb after limb became whole again, and giggled with pure glee at the cold that he could feel once again. When the gem reached his head, it poked through his forehead and materialized into a silver spiked crown and became its centerpiece.

He laughed harder, causing his mane of shadows to expand and flicker like fire, while the storm itself completely stopped within a quarter mile radius of where he stood. "Ah, it feels so good to be back completely.." Deeply, the stallion inhaled, savoring the cold air that filled his fleshy lungs. "Too long. It has been far too long since I was stricken of form." His once red eyes turned green upon their sclera, while his iris maintained the original hue, and slitted pupils dilated. Purple flames erupted from them and he shuddered with ecstasy- his magic was beginning to replenish itself as well.

"Ugh.." At long last, Onyx recovered enough strength to pull herself free from the snow mound. She shook herself down to rid her cloak of as much of the substance as possible, but it didn't do much. Squinting, she looked to the figure up ahead and gasped. "M-master? Is..is that you?"

The Pulse that had sailed through the land finally reached D.B as she was blasted into the air with so much force, she punched through the barrier so fast, she didn't even get shocked but it was enough to fully dry and warm her wings. "WAAAAAAAAAAAHHOOOOOOOO!!!!" She yelled with excitement as she hurdled through the storm and through the clouds. It wasn't long before she came, or rather smacked, face to face with a Windigo.

She let out a tiny 'eep' as they towered above her. She pinned her ears and backed up on the cloud patch far above the storm until she reached the very edge of the cloud and quickly unfurled her wings bolting back towards Switchblade. It wasn't long before she saw a small figment of black, then something shiny. She sat there in the thickness of the storm and pondered weather she should go and try to see what it really was.

Switchblade also got sent flying by the dark pulse, he shuddered, not at the cold, but at the unmistakable presence of dark magic, as he got up he saw a dark figure taking shape next to Onyx 'knew it' he thought. He walked over to Doodle and looked at her, "You need to stay here; if that is what I think it is, things might get hairy" he said, walking away from Doodle and towards Onyx "Well, Miss Pariah, it seems you've accomplished a task different to your original, what a surprise; a dark leader of a cult manipulating his subjects to do his bidding unwillingly." he shouted as he approached.