Catro the Writer
Sorin High Baby!
So I had this idea when a pony looking a lot like Lucina from Fire Emblem was added to one of the mobile games and now just looking for some general feedback and thoughts from people
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Pt.1
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Lucina sighed as the warm salty air rammed into her pale face and through her long dark blue hair, making it fly freely as the ship moved forward she leaned against the dark brown wooden railing, the old wood splintering and piercing through her sleeves and gently pricking her skin. The sounds of the waves slapping and crashing against the side of the boat, the sail flapping as the wind pushed against the white sheet, and the seagulls letting out a high-pitched sqwa as they floated beside the ship. She even smiled as the summer sun hit her in the face, past a couple of small wispy clouds the blue sky was clear for the sun to glare down at the world.
“It’s hard to believe that a week ago the world almost ended.” The blue-haired girl sighed to herself, running her sleeve across her face to wipe away a few specks of salty cold water that sprang up and hit her.
“Ey,” A deep voice cracked from behind the teenager, making her stand up straight and turn to see who addressed her. “The sky looked like the night in the middle of the day and the waves forbade anyone and everyone from sailing on them that day.” A man said approaching Lucina, standing beside her, and holding onto the railing with a massive hand, his hand completely covering the rail.
“Captain,” Lucina said, turning to the leader of the ship and giving him a head nod of acknowledgment, a large man that might have been mistaken for a bear at a glance. Dark hair sprouted off every inch of the man and his mistaken identity wasn’t helped by the fact that he only wore a pair of tan shorts that didn’t even go down to the man’s knees and a pair of leather shorts. It was a good thing every time the teen had to talk to the captain it was somewhere there was plenty of light and that her dad’s retainer wasn’t there as the man was known for his ability to hunt bears. She’d hate for her warrior instincts to kick in and end up having to explain to the crew why their captain was cleaved in two. “Thank you again for taking on the voyage with you.” She said, her hand falling to the hilt of her sword, a habit she had gotten into early in her life, squeezing the soft leather grip that covered the handle.
“Anything for a member of royalty, not to mention one who helped save the world.” He said, crossing his arms, smirking down at the teen, “For the proper price of course.” He said before leaning his head back and barking out a laugh while Lucina let out a shy chuckle and her other hand went up to her left eye to cover it. The girl was indeed royalty, a fact that she had hoped to keep secret for as long as she could, but when the mark of her royal lineage, the Mark of the Exalt, was branded in her eye it was going to be hard to keep hidden. She was sure the five thousand gold she had been charged to get a ride on the ship would have been a bit cheaper if the captain thought she was a normal lady just wanting to go on an adventure. “Though the crew and I have been wondering. Why is a member of royalty wanting to sail away from her kingdom?” He asked her, leaning against the railing and making it creak, threatening to snap but holding on.
“You are a nosey group then, aren’t you.” She shot back, leaning her back against the railing of the ship like him, only for a moment though not wanting to see the ocean life up close, crossing her arms as a small smile grew on her face. “You know Captain, curiosity killed the cat?” She shot at him.
“True oh so true!” He laughed, reaching over and clapping the princess on the back, making her grunt as she staggered forward. “But satisfaction brought him back. But don’t worry lass if you don’t want to say we won’t bug ya. We’ve had all matter of man and creature on this ship and their stories were a mystery we didn’t bother solving.” He assured her barking out a loud laugh that hit her like a canon ball, “Anyways I wanted to come and warn you about what's coming up.”
“Pirates?” Lucian asked, her hand falling back to her sword as she started to look around as if they were about to be boarded at any moment, though the ocean was clear. But, in front of them, the clouds were looking a lot less friendly, black with flashes of lightning in them.
“Nay,” The captain sighed, his smile wavering for a moment as he scratched the back of his head and looked at the clouds, “I wish. At least we can explain pirates, but what we’re going into is something unnatural. We sea lovers call it the Glacier Fangs.” He started to explain, his smile disappearing, “That bit of the sea over there is caught in an endless winter, no man knows why it’d be like that, but tis the truth. Been that was since I was a lad, me father was a wee lad, and granddad was a young man taking his first ship out.”
“Why don’t we just go around it?” Lucina asked him, her eyebrows knitting at the mention of an endless winter. Her tunic and pants covered her from her neck all the down to her feet, and her boots and fingerless gloves made it so she was almost completely covered, and then her red and blue cape could be used for a bit of extra protection from the cold. But she wasn’t equipped to go through a winter storm, and from the captain's lack of clothes, he looked less prepared for it unless his black body hair counted as a winter coat.
“Normally we would,” He sighed, his hand reaching up and petting his beard like it was some sort of pet attached to his face “But we’ve been tasked and paid to take the fallen bodies of soldiers to the next continent and those corpses wouldn’t last the extra three days trip going around the storm. Brave souls who wanted to try and make a difference in the world, just to meet a hero's end.”
“You know captain, gold is good and all, but you need to be alive to spend it.” The girl pointed out, sighing as she shook her head. But before anything else could be said the warm sun suddenly disappeared as a cold breeze attacked the princess.
“I’ll tell me crew that, see if they agree!” He said before laughing again, clapping the girl on the back once more. “Anyways it will take us a day journey to get through the Glacier Fangs. Feel free to wait in your quarters downstairs to stay warm.” He advised her. “I gotta find me shirt if I’m gonna try and survive this!” He announced before turning and leaving the girl alone.
“Unbelievable,” Lucina mumbled to herself, a puff of white fog coming out of her mouth like a ghost had just been pulled out of her. She had just needed a ride to the next continent to hopefully try and start a new life in a place that hopefully didn’t recognize the Mark of the Exalt. She could have stayed home with her parents in the castle after the fall of Grima. She would have been accepted and treated like the princess she was, never having to pick up a weapon ever again, and never having to worry about anything for as long as she breathed. But that wouldn’t have been the right thing to do. She wasn’t from this world or this time, she had come back from her time when she had failed to save the world from an evil dragon called Grima. Now this world was safe from the evil dragon and this world’s version of her, who was no more than a baby barely able to crawl, had a bright future ahead of her, and it was time for her to find her own place. But she would need to live through this trip for that to happen, and she was negotiating the price of this little death trap adventure and getting some of her money back.
But as snowflakes started to pelt the princess in the face and decorate her hair, she sighed and walked off of the deck, she wasn’t getting ready to get attacked by frostbite. She just survived a war with a dragon that wanted to destroy the entire war, dying in a little snowstorm didn’t sound too great. That would also be embarrassing to have that carved into a tombstone “Here Lies Lucina, hero of the war against Grima. Died in a random snowstorm at sea”.
So she threw open the door to the stairs leading to the lower decks and made her way down the dark stairwell. A high-pitched squeak echoed through the empty space as she made her way to the first lower deck, the sound of crew members talking and laughing could be heard as they slammed cups down. The princess decided not to go and chat with them, figuring they had better things to do than be bothered by their passenger. Besides she was sure their captain was going to call for them to get to the main deck to help navigate through the Glacier Fangs. So she pressed forward to go to her room, only pausing as she got to an open door and sighed seeing a dozen or so coffins in the room, the whole reason they were going through a frozen death trap.
But the princess wasn’t cold and callous, knowing that the families of these fallen souls wanted to get their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and friends sooner so they could have a proper funeral for them. Plus how many of them fell because of the Fell Dragon, maybe not directly from his claws but due to him being there? The undead known as Risen could have attacked these people and killed them, or maybe their deaths had nothing to do with the war but something like sickness. It wasn’t like she had the luxury of knocking on the boxes they laid in and asking them about their life stories. But the princess did walk in and gently place a hand on the first wooden box, which, unlike the boat they road in the coffins were smooth and didn’t attack her with a thousand splints, and closed her eyes.
“Mother Naga, please see these souls safely to their next destination.” She prayed silently, though as a buzzing sound replied to her, making Lucina lift her hand off the coffin she sighed. If bugs had already gotten into the coffins then their families probably weren’t going to have an open-casket funeral. But as she felt a shiver run down her spine she slapped the back of her neck. The teen couldn’t stand bugs and she could have sworn she felt something crawling on her neck. But as she moved her hand back to her face she didn’t see any crushed remains of a creepy crawly.
“Ok, it's time to leave.” She said, shuttering as she hugged herself and left the room, using her foot to shut the door, and as the door vibrated as it shut the girl winced, her head going into her body a bit, not having meant to slam it. But the fact there was some sort of unknown bug munching on the corpses didn’t sit well with her and tied her stomach into a knot. So she continued her journey back to her room, not stopping for anything else, and periodically slapping at a random spot on her body that felt like something might be crawling there. But soon she got back to her quarters and shut the door behind her before sighing in relief.
The room wasn’t anything to write home about, she had a wooden bed that had a grey blanket on it, that attacked her skin like the railing on the main deck did, causing her entire body to itch whenever she used it, it was a rough time to be going through a magical snow storm with only that to cover herself, a small desk that had a half-burnt candle on it. Thankfully some of the remaining light outside poured in through a small round window that was beside her bed. A bit of the cold frosty air also managed to sneak through the window as well, making the blanket situation far worse than it had to be. But it was a lot warmer in her room than it was going to be outside.
Reaching down the princess unstrapped her sheath from around her waist before propping it against the wall beside her bed. She wasn’t expecting to need her sword, but she never wanted the blade to be out of her reach in case something happened and she needed to defend herself. If things were tense she would have slept with her sword in the bed with her, but past being a tad annoyed with the ship's captain, she didn’t feel like she was in any danger that her sword could protect her from. Plus the sword was worthless in anyone else's hands, as it became too dull to cut anything if wielded by anyone but her. Well anyone in her bloodline could use it, but the chance of finding someone she was directly related to out in the middle of the ocean was slim to none.
But with the blade in sight, the gold base of the blade twinkling as the dim light hit it and the tear-shaped gap that looked like the Mark or the Exalt clear, the teen sighed as she sat on her bed and stretched her arms up, getting a satisfying pop, before sighing and laying down on the bed and closing her eyes. Not that she had a taxing day or anything, her main activity had been watching the waves pass, but what else was there to do past taking a nap and hoping that when she woke up they would be out of this Glacier Fang place?
Though sleep didn’t want to stay with the princess it seemed, as she swiftly fell asleep, a skill she had picked up while being on her own and running for her life. But soonher eyes shot open as a chill ran down her spine, causing her to sit up. She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, it could’ve been for a few seconds or maybe an hour. But light still shone through her now frosted window, so she hadn’t been asleep for too long. But with the sound of metal hitting metal rang in the air with people grunting, the teen quickly figured out what had woken her up.
“Pirates!” She hissed out, but as she reached for her sword she heard a loud crash from her door making her shoot her eyes over to see the head of an axe sticking through the door.
“Excuse me, lady’s quarters!” Lucina hissed out as she grabbed her sword, flinging the blade out of its case as the person pulled the grey rusty axe out of the door, Lucina paused as she was hit with a sound that she would never forget.
“Weraaaa!” A high-pitched demonic-like scream came from the other side of her door, causing goosebumps to run up and down the girl's body as she pinned herself against the wall and held her sword out to the door. Her hands immediately shook as she held her sword and she stared at the door as the axe flew through the door again, shattering the cheap thin wooden door, revealing something that the princess had hoped she’d never see again. A corpse standing on its feet, its pale body showing no sign of life as it gripped its axe. The corpse twitched and jerked as its head twitched as if its body was trying to situate itself, its eyes glowing red as it stared at her.
“Risen, here?” She asked as she shook her head, not wanting to believe that the monster was here in front of her, or wanting this to be some nightmare and she was about to wake up from her nap. But she knew that this wasn’t the case here and she narrowed her eyes as she lunged forward, slicing the monster across the chest.
“Raaaaaaa!” The Risen screamed as it stumbled back, its body crashing to the ground and Lucina raised the Falchion above her head and planted it in the heart of the creature. As it was impaled the monster slowly stopped moving as the red light from its eyes died down.
“Whew,” Lucina sighed as she pulled her blade up before frowning as she looked up at the ceiling above her, the fighting that was still going on on the main deck as her heart sank. Maybe the crew wasn’t fighting pirates, but something that shouldn’t even exist. “Ah!” Lucina cried as a BZZZZZZ went by her ear and a fat-looking grey beetle flew by her head, the bug about the size of her thumb with tiny glowing red eyes. “AH!” The girl let out a high-pitched, very unwarrior-like, squeal as she swung her blade like it was a fly swatter. With an audible tink, the beetle flew into the wall after being hit by the princess’ sword and crashed onto the ground, its back on the ground and its leg squiggling in the air as it tried to get up. “And I thought all of this undead, Grima nonsense would be over with!” She yelled as she looked back and saw the body of a skinny man with brown hair, dressed in a brown tunic and pants, something that a normal villager would wear. “So you things were what I heard earlier.” She hissed to the beetle before lifting her foot and slamming it down on the plump beetle, shuttering at the juicy squish sound that came from the flattened bug. “Well, time to tie up some loose ends before I start my new life.” She said with a sigh before rushing to the main deck.
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Pt.2
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Bursting through the door leading to the upper deck Lucina had her sword already out, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked, around fearing the worst. She instantly had the shield her eyes as the frigid wind instantly attacked them. The once soft snowflake that had gently decorated her now slapped her across the face and instantly dug into her skin, sending a chill throughout her entire body. The wild wind roared in her ears making it almost impossible to hear anything, but she did manage to hear the cries and roars of men and Risen alike as shadows danced in the white field in front of her.
“It’s going to be nearly impossible to distinguish friend or foe,” Lucina said, lowering her hand as she held onto her blade and squinted her eyes. She had hoped that the glowing eyes of the risen would have shown through the intense magical snowstorm, but there was no such luck. “Magic snowstorm, magical evil corpses, can’t a girl just live a normal life?” She asked before looking to her side and saw a shadow approaching her. “Friend friend friend!” She cried out in hopes of it just being a crew member, but as the figure got closer dull glowing red eyes revealed themselves as the Risen raised and sword and sent it soaring down towards Lucina’s head. Sadly for the creature even in the middle of a magical snowstorm, the princess was quick. She raised the Falchion above her head, sparks flying off the blades as they hit each other.
Lucina growled as she kicked the once human in the gut, sending it stumbling backward, and without missing a beat she lunged forward and buried the blade into the Risen's chest. Shoving back further and further until they reached the railings, sending the monster into the ocean below, well she assumed to the ocean. But the storm was so thick she couldn’t see the waves below, as far as she knew they might have been docked or the monster fell off a piece of floating ice.
“Eye, little princess!” Someone called out, their deep voice almost completely lost in the howling wind like the rest of the noise, and made her dart her head over.
“Ah!” She yelped seeing a massive shadowy figure approaching her, making her hold her sword out. It had the rough shape of a bear in its hind legs as it grew closer, and the princess had no more of a desire to be done in by a bear than she did the reason. “Get back, get back!” She spat out, not thinking about the fact that the form had just called out to her in a language she understood.
“I would suggest ye not be pointing yer blade at me.” The ship captain said, his features finally coming into focus as he reached over and flicked the flat of her blade to the side. “As ye can see yer assistance is much needed at the moment.” He said, his smile gone, though now a grey shirt clung to his body, and if the man needed more to keep him warm he didn’t show it. “These dastard just showed up out of the blue, much lid this ere storm!” He said, his head looking to the side as a shadow rushed up the captain immediately growled as he reached out, not even bothering to wait to see the glowing red eyes of the Risen, and yet swept his hand like he was trying to slap a misbehaving child just with the force of a canon being shot point blank. Immediately the monster went flying off the railing. “I was hoping with the death of that death dragon, all these monsters would stop as well.”
“Take makes two of us captain!” Lucina yelled so the captain could hear her, the princess’s blue hair whipping in the air and trying to obscure her vision even more. “So what's the plan?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He asked, barking a laugh as his smile returned for a moment, “Get these stowaways off me ship and continue our adventure!” He said, reaching over and slapping Lucian on the back making her lurch forward. “Might be a refund in it for ye if ye can polish it up in a short amount of time. I gotta steer the ship and make sure me ship doesn’t end up kissing an ice berge!” He informed her before turning and instantly vanishing in the white winter storm raging around them.
“Got it.” She said to herself before rushing in the opposite direction, though she couldn’t exactly see her enemy she knew if she could find people fighting then she was sure to find the Risens. Though how many there were on the ship was yet to be seen, there were a couple dozen different coffins below deck but that didn’t mean they were all being controlled by the bugs. So rushing forward she ran across the wooden deck until she saw the form of people fighting.
“Excuse me,” She said, running behind the closest figure, grabbing their head, and pulling it back to get a closer look, she saw a pair of glowing red eyes, and the smell of rotting meat made her shutter. “Risen!” She yelped, thrusting her sword through the monster's back as the head of an axe buried itself in the creature's neck. The Risen let out a light growl as the red glow dimmed from its eyes. “Shove them overboard so they can’t get to any other bodies.” She ordered the crew member, quickly shoving the corpse over the railing to the water below. She didn’t have to explain how there were bugs that were controlling the corpses and that's what they needed to get rid of. The middle of a magical winter while being attacked didn’t seem like the right time to share the information, but hopefully, they weren’t going to have to toss too many people off the side of the ship. But as the sound of metal hitting metal continued to echo it was clear that her job wasn’t done yet.
Darting off in the direction of the nearest battle the princess prepped herself for another battle, but thankfully this round wasn’t going to be filled with a bunch of guesswork, since as she got closer one of the figures fighting took a step back and let out a gut-wrenching ROOOOOAR. Making her target clear as Lucina jumped into the air, holding her sword up in the air, and swinging down as she crashed to the ground. Cutting the monster down the back and making it stumble forward.
“Quick, toss it overboard!” She ordered, pointing to another crew member, who looked at her wide-eyed before grabbing the creature and lifting it over his head, making the creature instantly start to squirm in his arms before the man tossed it into the water. “Good.” She said, giving the man a thumbs-up as something flew in front of her, cutting her bangs, the cut hair instantly blown away with the arctic breeze. “Ah!” The member of royalty squeaked as she dropped to her bottom trying to dodge another attack. The cold wet wood instantly stung her hand as she crawled back, looking for whoever it was that shot the arrow. But with the storm still raging on she was surrounded by nothing but white around her. The only thing Lucina could do was get on one knee, her other foot braced on the ground as she got ready to push forward, waiting for another arrow to fly her patience was quickly prepared as she saw another arrow fly out of the white void in front of her.
“Gotcha!” She cheered, rolling out of the way of the arrow, shoved off the ground, and dashed forward, lunging her sword forward as two red dots appeared. But as the blade got close to its mark the eyes suddenly flew up.
“Grah!” The Risen, its form nothing but a black silhouette, yelled from above the blue-haired princess, a bow in its hand as it stared down at her, letting go of the pulled-back string and an arrow flying at Lucina.
“Ah, no!” She cried, pulling the Falchion back, turning the blade so its flat side was exposed, in some sort of attempt to shield herself. But as she felt a sharp pain pierce into her shoulder she knew that it wasn’t enough. “Gah!” She spat out and whimpered as she looked at her left arm, a small wooden shaft sticking out of it, of course, the monster would hit her in her sword arm.
“GAH!” The creature erupted as it landed on the ship again, instantly pulling out another arrow from its quiver and knocking the bow back aiming it at her.
“Lucky shot,” Lucina muttered, frowning as she took her sword in her right hand, wincing as her left arm moved as she stood up. She would need to see a healer sooner rather than later before the blow left some sort of lasting injury. But she doubted the monster in front of her would let her take a five-minute break to see if someone on the ship could heal her or spare some medicine to patch her up.
“Princess!” The gruff voice of the captain called out, though his booming voice was still barely audible over the howling of the wind. “Brace yourself, we’re at the fangs!” He announced, making Lucina look over to see the silhouettes of jagged rocks or ice bergs peaking out of the water. She didn’t think the Fangs part of the Glacier Fangs meant anything. But as the ship veered to the side, the princess squeaked out as her feet started to slide back on the slick deck. But thankfully it also made the Risen slide and its arrow flew by her head.
“I can’t fight like this!” She yelled back to the captain, though if he heard him he didn’t say anything, as she focused back on the enemy in front of her. She could actually make it out a pale body dressed in blue clothing and a chest plate covering it. The symbol of Ylissel was engraved on the armor meaning that not only did this man once fight for her kingdom but they were also a general or someone of a higher position in the army besides a foot soldier, which would explain why it was able to jump around and almost hit her twice. But she wasn’t going to let any of them stop her, she had worked too hard to die here at what remained of Grima’s troops. Even if the cold wind shook the arrow in her arm, making it feel like someone was stabbing the wound spot over and over again, the face she felt like ice skates would be better shoes for the battle at the moment, nor the rocks that the ship was barely missing, throwing Lucina and her opponent back and forth.
“AH!” Lucina yelled, running forward, slashing her sword at the monster. Maybe it was the fine form that body the monster was controlling was in or the fact she was using her non-dominate and weaker hand to attack, but the monster sidestepped her attack and swung its fist at the girl, hitting her in the jaw and sending her sliding across the deck, towards the railing.
“Nonononono,” She cried, trying to dig her fingernails into the wooden plants to stop herself, though as the boards snapped and broke her hands were bombarded with sharp pieces of wood attacked her hands. Thankfully as she felt her feet hang off the ship the captain veered the ship in the opposite direction, stopping her slide. She quickly got back on her feet, shaking her head as she watched the monster walk up, another arrow knocked in its bow.
“Ok, now I’m mad.” She hissed, rushing up to the monster, but as it released its bowstring the teen dropped down into a slide, letting the slick ground pull her to the monster as her feet kicked against it, sending the monster crashing to the ground as she used the Falchion to stop her decent and to pull herself up. As she moved the pain in her arm throbbed, making her pause and wince, giving her enemy much-needed time to try and push itself up. “No, you don’t!” She said, pushing herself up, trying to play through the pain, and rushed over to it, stepping on the monster trying to keep it pinned down as she held her right hand up, the Falchion in it pointed down at the monster. “Leave this realm and the people in it alone.” She demanded as she thrust her blade down the back of the monster.
“Cheah…” The monster let out one final high-pitched demonic cry as the light from its eyes died down and she reached down and grabbed the now lifeless corpse and pulled it toward the edge of the ship before tossing the body over the railing. She stood there, leaning over until she heard a light splash come from the ocean, and sighed in relief hoping that would be the last time that she would have to see a Risen.
“Good job, little princess!” A deep gruff voice said, making goosebumps race as she turned and saw the towering form of the Captain over her. “Save me and my crew, you have my deepest gratitude!” He said, laughing and patting her on the shoulder, making her grunt as the arrow jiggled in her shoulder. “Oh whoops, sorry about that lass, let me give you a hand there.” He said, his hand pushing her down as he wrapped his other hand around the arrow, which looked like a toothpick in his massive hand. “Keep the ship steady!” He yelled out towards where the wheel of the ship was. But as soon as he said that a loud BAM echoed through the air as the ship shook, causing the captain to jump back as the ship started to lean again and a thunk sound as the arrow left her body.
Huh, that came out really easy was the only thing Lucina thought as she leaned back as the ship suddenly jerked, her eyes growing wide as her arms flailed but with nothing to grab onto the princess found herself falling backward until her body crashed into the ocean below. Her body instantly wrapped around in artic cold water that immediately pulled her down as she tried to wave her arms to get free, the salty cold water instantly attacked her eyes but she kept looking up. Though the light only seemed to grow darker as she sunk further from the surface. Soon she started to grunt and jerk in the freezing water as he body begged for air, her lungs aching as if someone was crushing them between their hands, and her vision soon turned into nothing but darkness, whether from passing out or sinking that deep that all light refused to travel any further. But the end of her journey was there and her heart raced as she thought of her mom and dad. They would never know what happened to her, why she had to be so stupid and run away, how long would anyone grieve the loss of her life? But as she felt her heartbeat slow down as he ears popped she thought At least it wasn’t Grima who got me, as a golden light shined filling her sight, this was it, the other side.
“Just make sure we keep the area secured!” A white stallion said, dressed in golden armor covering his torso and a golden helm on his head. In front of him stood a dark grey stallion with light grey armor and helmet, though the flank of the pony looked as if it were made from crystal as it glittered and reflected the light of the lamp that lit up the large tent they stood in. “Princess Twilight will be here to investigate it as soon as she can. But I want to know if anything comes in or out of that… thing!” He ordered, raising his hoof and pointing at the entrance of his tent. “Change guards every hour, nopony needs to freeze out there, but we need to keep an eye on it.”
“Yes, Prince Shining Armor!” The other pony said, saluting the white pony before turning to leave the tent, leaving the prince alone to look at the map that lay on the table in front of him. It was of his kingdom, the Crystal Empire, meaning that the map was mostly blank. A drawing of the Kingdom he and his wife ruled was in one corner but the rest of the map was just mountains and white unexplored territory, all except a red mark circled on the map. The magical endless winter that the land suffered from made travel and exploring it nearly impossible, the only reason they were able to be away from the kingdom, was that had a magical crystal called the Crystal Heart that protected it from the cursed winter, was because of a magical spell that Shining Armor himself was casting, the long unicorn horn sticking out of his head was glowing a dark blue as he kept a protection spell up.
But he and a band of soldiers had traveled this far after something shook the mountains and a glowing golden light could be seen from the castle of the empire, so the prince went out to see what it was. Traveling there the ponies found a large glowing light that was spewing out freezing salt water but also drawing in some of the storm. Everypony had been ordered to stay away from the light but to keep an eye on it in case something happened.
“Your majesty!” A purple pony, also looking as if they were made from crystals, cried bursting through the tent. “You are needed sir, something, er- someponies came through the portal.” He said, making the prince’s eyes go wide before he ran past the soldier and to where the portal was.
Despite his spell, there was still a foot of white hard icy snow on the ground that crushed beneath his hooves with every step, but a light blue light bounced off it from the orb of his protection spell that surrounded the camp, which had a dozen fires burning and a village of tents sat up. But every pony was gathered at the edge of the barrier where right outside of it a giant circle beamed with golden magical energy as cold salty water flowed out of it into a steam, that merely froze a few feet away.
“Out of my way, let me see what's going on!” He ordered, breaking through the crowd of crystal ponies until he saw what they were looking at, immediately freezing as he saw a pony lying on the icy snow. Her coat was light blue and her mane a bit of a darker blue color, she was dressed in a strange white tunic with white cuffs at the end of the sleeves, a golden tiara in her hair, and a dark blue cape hung on her. But the most important thing Shining Armor noticed was the girl was absolutely soaked and shivering as she coughed and struggled for air. “Quick, get her to the Crystal Empire and out of these soaking clothes.” He ordered, looking at a couple of unicorns and letting them know it was their job, “Keep someone by her side at all times and tell Cadence or myself when she wakes up… if she wakes up.” He said with a wince as the unicorns nodded their heads. The green one horn glowed lime green as he, his partner, and this strange new pony were covered in a protection spell, and the dark blue one harn glowed as did the new pony as she was lifted and they all rushed off. “Anything else comes through here? I was told ponies and that was just one.” He said looking around and a black pony spoke up.
“Three other ponies with glowing red eyes, sir.” He said, “But they ran off into the mountains before we could stop them. One of them seemed to be holding some sort of sword sir, I sensed some sort of magic coming from it… a magic I’ve never encountered before.” He explained making Shining Armor frown.
“Ok, you go back to the castle and report everything that's happened here to Cadence,” He said pointing back to the castle. “And tell her that pony is not to be left alone. We are going to need some answers from her.” He said, getting a salute from the pony as he rushed off leaving Shining Armor and the rest of the soldiers to look at the glowing light. “What have we stumbled across?” Was the only thing the prince could say.
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Pt.1
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Lucina sighed as the warm salty air rammed into her pale face and through her long dark blue hair, making it fly freely as the ship moved forward she leaned against the dark brown wooden railing, the old wood splintering and piercing through her sleeves and gently pricking her skin. The sounds of the waves slapping and crashing against the side of the boat, the sail flapping as the wind pushed against the white sheet, and the seagulls letting out a high-pitched sqwa as they floated beside the ship. She even smiled as the summer sun hit her in the face, past a couple of small wispy clouds the blue sky was clear for the sun to glare down at the world.
“It’s hard to believe that a week ago the world almost ended.” The blue-haired girl sighed to herself, running her sleeve across her face to wipe away a few specks of salty cold water that sprang up and hit her.
“Ey,” A deep voice cracked from behind the teenager, making her stand up straight and turn to see who addressed her. “The sky looked like the night in the middle of the day and the waves forbade anyone and everyone from sailing on them that day.” A man said approaching Lucina, standing beside her, and holding onto the railing with a massive hand, his hand completely covering the rail.
“Captain,” Lucina said, turning to the leader of the ship and giving him a head nod of acknowledgment, a large man that might have been mistaken for a bear at a glance. Dark hair sprouted off every inch of the man and his mistaken identity wasn’t helped by the fact that he only wore a pair of tan shorts that didn’t even go down to the man’s knees and a pair of leather shorts. It was a good thing every time the teen had to talk to the captain it was somewhere there was plenty of light and that her dad’s retainer wasn’t there as the man was known for his ability to hunt bears. She’d hate for her warrior instincts to kick in and end up having to explain to the crew why their captain was cleaved in two. “Thank you again for taking on the voyage with you.” She said, her hand falling to the hilt of her sword, a habit she had gotten into early in her life, squeezing the soft leather grip that covered the handle.
“Anything for a member of royalty, not to mention one who helped save the world.” He said, crossing his arms, smirking down at the teen, “For the proper price of course.” He said before leaning his head back and barking out a laugh while Lucina let out a shy chuckle and her other hand went up to her left eye to cover it. The girl was indeed royalty, a fact that she had hoped to keep secret for as long as she could, but when the mark of her royal lineage, the Mark of the Exalt, was branded in her eye it was going to be hard to keep hidden. She was sure the five thousand gold she had been charged to get a ride on the ship would have been a bit cheaper if the captain thought she was a normal lady just wanting to go on an adventure. “Though the crew and I have been wondering. Why is a member of royalty wanting to sail away from her kingdom?” He asked her, leaning against the railing and making it creak, threatening to snap but holding on.
“You are a nosey group then, aren’t you.” She shot back, leaning her back against the railing of the ship like him, only for a moment though not wanting to see the ocean life up close, crossing her arms as a small smile grew on her face. “You know Captain, curiosity killed the cat?” She shot at him.
“True oh so true!” He laughed, reaching over and clapping the princess on the back, making her grunt as she staggered forward. “But satisfaction brought him back. But don’t worry lass if you don’t want to say we won’t bug ya. We’ve had all matter of man and creature on this ship and their stories were a mystery we didn’t bother solving.” He assured her barking out a loud laugh that hit her like a canon ball, “Anyways I wanted to come and warn you about what's coming up.”
“Pirates?” Lucian asked, her hand falling back to her sword as she started to look around as if they were about to be boarded at any moment, though the ocean was clear. But, in front of them, the clouds were looking a lot less friendly, black with flashes of lightning in them.
“Nay,” The captain sighed, his smile wavering for a moment as he scratched the back of his head and looked at the clouds, “I wish. At least we can explain pirates, but what we’re going into is something unnatural. We sea lovers call it the Glacier Fangs.” He started to explain, his smile disappearing, “That bit of the sea over there is caught in an endless winter, no man knows why it’d be like that, but tis the truth. Been that was since I was a lad, me father was a wee lad, and granddad was a young man taking his first ship out.”
“Why don’t we just go around it?” Lucina asked him, her eyebrows knitting at the mention of an endless winter. Her tunic and pants covered her from her neck all the down to her feet, and her boots and fingerless gloves made it so she was almost completely covered, and then her red and blue cape could be used for a bit of extra protection from the cold. But she wasn’t equipped to go through a winter storm, and from the captain's lack of clothes, he looked less prepared for it unless his black body hair counted as a winter coat.
“Normally we would,” He sighed, his hand reaching up and petting his beard like it was some sort of pet attached to his face “But we’ve been tasked and paid to take the fallen bodies of soldiers to the next continent and those corpses wouldn’t last the extra three days trip going around the storm. Brave souls who wanted to try and make a difference in the world, just to meet a hero's end.”
“You know captain, gold is good and all, but you need to be alive to spend it.” The girl pointed out, sighing as she shook her head. But before anything else could be said the warm sun suddenly disappeared as a cold breeze attacked the princess.
“I’ll tell me crew that, see if they agree!” He said before laughing again, clapping the girl on the back once more. “Anyways it will take us a day journey to get through the Glacier Fangs. Feel free to wait in your quarters downstairs to stay warm.” He advised her. “I gotta find me shirt if I’m gonna try and survive this!” He announced before turning and leaving the girl alone.
“Unbelievable,” Lucina mumbled to herself, a puff of white fog coming out of her mouth like a ghost had just been pulled out of her. She had just needed a ride to the next continent to hopefully try and start a new life in a place that hopefully didn’t recognize the Mark of the Exalt. She could have stayed home with her parents in the castle after the fall of Grima. She would have been accepted and treated like the princess she was, never having to pick up a weapon ever again, and never having to worry about anything for as long as she breathed. But that wouldn’t have been the right thing to do. She wasn’t from this world or this time, she had come back from her time when she had failed to save the world from an evil dragon called Grima. Now this world was safe from the evil dragon and this world’s version of her, who was no more than a baby barely able to crawl, had a bright future ahead of her, and it was time for her to find her own place. But she would need to live through this trip for that to happen, and she was negotiating the price of this little death trap adventure and getting some of her money back.
But as snowflakes started to pelt the princess in the face and decorate her hair, she sighed and walked off of the deck, she wasn’t getting ready to get attacked by frostbite. She just survived a war with a dragon that wanted to destroy the entire war, dying in a little snowstorm didn’t sound too great. That would also be embarrassing to have that carved into a tombstone “Here Lies Lucina, hero of the war against Grima. Died in a random snowstorm at sea”.
So she threw open the door to the stairs leading to the lower decks and made her way down the dark stairwell. A high-pitched squeak echoed through the empty space as she made her way to the first lower deck, the sound of crew members talking and laughing could be heard as they slammed cups down. The princess decided not to go and chat with them, figuring they had better things to do than be bothered by their passenger. Besides she was sure their captain was going to call for them to get to the main deck to help navigate through the Glacier Fangs. So she pressed forward to go to her room, only pausing as she got to an open door and sighed seeing a dozen or so coffins in the room, the whole reason they were going through a frozen death trap.
But the princess wasn’t cold and callous, knowing that the families of these fallen souls wanted to get their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and friends sooner so they could have a proper funeral for them. Plus how many of them fell because of the Fell Dragon, maybe not directly from his claws but due to him being there? The undead known as Risen could have attacked these people and killed them, or maybe their deaths had nothing to do with the war but something like sickness. It wasn’t like she had the luxury of knocking on the boxes they laid in and asking them about their life stories. But the princess did walk in and gently place a hand on the first wooden box, which, unlike the boat they road in the coffins were smooth and didn’t attack her with a thousand splints, and closed her eyes.
“Mother Naga, please see these souls safely to their next destination.” She prayed silently, though as a buzzing sound replied to her, making Lucina lift her hand off the coffin she sighed. If bugs had already gotten into the coffins then their families probably weren’t going to have an open-casket funeral. But as she felt a shiver run down her spine she slapped the back of her neck. The teen couldn’t stand bugs and she could have sworn she felt something crawling on her neck. But as she moved her hand back to her face she didn’t see any crushed remains of a creepy crawly.
“Ok, it's time to leave.” She said, shuttering as she hugged herself and left the room, using her foot to shut the door, and as the door vibrated as it shut the girl winced, her head going into her body a bit, not having meant to slam it. But the fact there was some sort of unknown bug munching on the corpses didn’t sit well with her and tied her stomach into a knot. So she continued her journey back to her room, not stopping for anything else, and periodically slapping at a random spot on her body that felt like something might be crawling there. But soon she got back to her quarters and shut the door behind her before sighing in relief.
The room wasn’t anything to write home about, she had a wooden bed that had a grey blanket on it, that attacked her skin like the railing on the main deck did, causing her entire body to itch whenever she used it, it was a rough time to be going through a magical snow storm with only that to cover herself, a small desk that had a half-burnt candle on it. Thankfully some of the remaining light outside poured in through a small round window that was beside her bed. A bit of the cold frosty air also managed to sneak through the window as well, making the blanket situation far worse than it had to be. But it was a lot warmer in her room than it was going to be outside.
Reaching down the princess unstrapped her sheath from around her waist before propping it against the wall beside her bed. She wasn’t expecting to need her sword, but she never wanted the blade to be out of her reach in case something happened and she needed to defend herself. If things were tense she would have slept with her sword in the bed with her, but past being a tad annoyed with the ship's captain, she didn’t feel like she was in any danger that her sword could protect her from. Plus the sword was worthless in anyone else's hands, as it became too dull to cut anything if wielded by anyone but her. Well anyone in her bloodline could use it, but the chance of finding someone she was directly related to out in the middle of the ocean was slim to none.
But with the blade in sight, the gold base of the blade twinkling as the dim light hit it and the tear-shaped gap that looked like the Mark or the Exalt clear, the teen sighed as she sat on her bed and stretched her arms up, getting a satisfying pop, before sighing and laying down on the bed and closing her eyes. Not that she had a taxing day or anything, her main activity had been watching the waves pass, but what else was there to do past taking a nap and hoping that when she woke up they would be out of this Glacier Fang place?
Though sleep didn’t want to stay with the princess it seemed, as she swiftly fell asleep, a skill she had picked up while being on her own and running for her life. But soonher eyes shot open as a chill ran down her spine, causing her to sit up. She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, it could’ve been for a few seconds or maybe an hour. But light still shone through her now frosted window, so she hadn’t been asleep for too long. But with the sound of metal hitting metal rang in the air with people grunting, the teen quickly figured out what had woken her up.
“Pirates!” She hissed out, but as she reached for her sword she heard a loud crash from her door making her shoot her eyes over to see the head of an axe sticking through the door.
“Excuse me, lady’s quarters!” Lucina hissed out as she grabbed her sword, flinging the blade out of its case as the person pulled the grey rusty axe out of the door, Lucina paused as she was hit with a sound that she would never forget.
“Weraaaa!” A high-pitched demonic-like scream came from the other side of her door, causing goosebumps to run up and down the girl's body as she pinned herself against the wall and held her sword out to the door. Her hands immediately shook as she held her sword and she stared at the door as the axe flew through the door again, shattering the cheap thin wooden door, revealing something that the princess had hoped she’d never see again. A corpse standing on its feet, its pale body showing no sign of life as it gripped its axe. The corpse twitched and jerked as its head twitched as if its body was trying to situate itself, its eyes glowing red as it stared at her.
“Risen, here?” She asked as she shook her head, not wanting to believe that the monster was here in front of her, or wanting this to be some nightmare and she was about to wake up from her nap. But she knew that this wasn’t the case here and she narrowed her eyes as she lunged forward, slicing the monster across the chest.
“Raaaaaaa!” The Risen screamed as it stumbled back, its body crashing to the ground and Lucina raised the Falchion above her head and planted it in the heart of the creature. As it was impaled the monster slowly stopped moving as the red light from its eyes died down.
“Whew,” Lucina sighed as she pulled her blade up before frowning as she looked up at the ceiling above her, the fighting that was still going on on the main deck as her heart sank. Maybe the crew wasn’t fighting pirates, but something that shouldn’t even exist. “Ah!” Lucina cried as a BZZZZZZ went by her ear and a fat-looking grey beetle flew by her head, the bug about the size of her thumb with tiny glowing red eyes. “AH!” The girl let out a high-pitched, very unwarrior-like, squeal as she swung her blade like it was a fly swatter. With an audible tink, the beetle flew into the wall after being hit by the princess’ sword and crashed onto the ground, its back on the ground and its leg squiggling in the air as it tried to get up. “And I thought all of this undead, Grima nonsense would be over with!” She yelled as she looked back and saw the body of a skinny man with brown hair, dressed in a brown tunic and pants, something that a normal villager would wear. “So you things were what I heard earlier.” She hissed to the beetle before lifting her foot and slamming it down on the plump beetle, shuttering at the juicy squish sound that came from the flattened bug. “Well, time to tie up some loose ends before I start my new life.” She said with a sigh before rushing to the main deck.
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Pt.2
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Bursting through the door leading to the upper deck Lucina had her sword already out, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked, around fearing the worst. She instantly had the shield her eyes as the frigid wind instantly attacked them. The once soft snowflake that had gently decorated her now slapped her across the face and instantly dug into her skin, sending a chill throughout her entire body. The wild wind roared in her ears making it almost impossible to hear anything, but she did manage to hear the cries and roars of men and Risen alike as shadows danced in the white field in front of her.
“It’s going to be nearly impossible to distinguish friend or foe,” Lucina said, lowering her hand as she held onto her blade and squinted her eyes. She had hoped that the glowing eyes of the risen would have shown through the intense magical snowstorm, but there was no such luck. “Magic snowstorm, magical evil corpses, can’t a girl just live a normal life?” She asked before looking to her side and saw a shadow approaching her. “Friend friend friend!” She cried out in hopes of it just being a crew member, but as the figure got closer dull glowing red eyes revealed themselves as the Risen raised and sword and sent it soaring down towards Lucina’s head. Sadly for the creature even in the middle of a magical snowstorm, the princess was quick. She raised the Falchion above her head, sparks flying off the blades as they hit each other.
Lucina growled as she kicked the once human in the gut, sending it stumbling backward, and without missing a beat she lunged forward and buried the blade into the Risen's chest. Shoving back further and further until they reached the railings, sending the monster into the ocean below, well she assumed to the ocean. But the storm was so thick she couldn’t see the waves below, as far as she knew they might have been docked or the monster fell off a piece of floating ice.
“Eye, little princess!” Someone called out, their deep voice almost completely lost in the howling wind like the rest of the noise, and made her dart her head over.
“Ah!” She yelped seeing a massive shadowy figure approaching her, making her hold her sword out. It had the rough shape of a bear in its hind legs as it grew closer, and the princess had no more of a desire to be done in by a bear than she did the reason. “Get back, get back!” She spat out, not thinking about the fact that the form had just called out to her in a language she understood.
“I would suggest ye not be pointing yer blade at me.” The ship captain said, his features finally coming into focus as he reached over and flicked the flat of her blade to the side. “As ye can see yer assistance is much needed at the moment.” He said, his smile gone, though now a grey shirt clung to his body, and if the man needed more to keep him warm he didn’t show it. “These dastard just showed up out of the blue, much lid this ere storm!” He said, his head looking to the side as a shadow rushed up the captain immediately growled as he reached out, not even bothering to wait to see the glowing red eyes of the Risen, and yet swept his hand like he was trying to slap a misbehaving child just with the force of a canon being shot point blank. Immediately the monster went flying off the railing. “I was hoping with the death of that death dragon, all these monsters would stop as well.”
“Take makes two of us captain!” Lucina yelled so the captain could hear her, the princess’s blue hair whipping in the air and trying to obscure her vision even more. “So what's the plan?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He asked, barking a laugh as his smile returned for a moment, “Get these stowaways off me ship and continue our adventure!” He said, reaching over and slapping Lucian on the back making her lurch forward. “Might be a refund in it for ye if ye can polish it up in a short amount of time. I gotta steer the ship and make sure me ship doesn’t end up kissing an ice berge!” He informed her before turning and instantly vanishing in the white winter storm raging around them.
“Got it.” She said to herself before rushing in the opposite direction, though she couldn’t exactly see her enemy she knew if she could find people fighting then she was sure to find the Risens. Though how many there were on the ship was yet to be seen, there were a couple dozen different coffins below deck but that didn’t mean they were all being controlled by the bugs. So rushing forward she ran across the wooden deck until she saw the form of people fighting.
“Excuse me,” She said, running behind the closest figure, grabbing their head, and pulling it back to get a closer look, she saw a pair of glowing red eyes, and the smell of rotting meat made her shutter. “Risen!” She yelped, thrusting her sword through the monster's back as the head of an axe buried itself in the creature's neck. The Risen let out a light growl as the red glow dimmed from its eyes. “Shove them overboard so they can’t get to any other bodies.” She ordered the crew member, quickly shoving the corpse over the railing to the water below. She didn’t have to explain how there were bugs that were controlling the corpses and that's what they needed to get rid of. The middle of a magical winter while being attacked didn’t seem like the right time to share the information, but hopefully, they weren’t going to have to toss too many people off the side of the ship. But as the sound of metal hitting metal continued to echo it was clear that her job wasn’t done yet.
Darting off in the direction of the nearest battle the princess prepped herself for another battle, but thankfully this round wasn’t going to be filled with a bunch of guesswork, since as she got closer one of the figures fighting took a step back and let out a gut-wrenching ROOOOOAR. Making her target clear as Lucina jumped into the air, holding her sword up in the air, and swinging down as she crashed to the ground. Cutting the monster down the back and making it stumble forward.
“Quick, toss it overboard!” She ordered, pointing to another crew member, who looked at her wide-eyed before grabbing the creature and lifting it over his head, making the creature instantly start to squirm in his arms before the man tossed it into the water. “Good.” She said, giving the man a thumbs-up as something flew in front of her, cutting her bangs, the cut hair instantly blown away with the arctic breeze. “Ah!” The member of royalty squeaked as she dropped to her bottom trying to dodge another attack. The cold wet wood instantly stung her hand as she crawled back, looking for whoever it was that shot the arrow. But with the storm still raging on she was surrounded by nothing but white around her. The only thing Lucina could do was get on one knee, her other foot braced on the ground as she got ready to push forward, waiting for another arrow to fly her patience was quickly prepared as she saw another arrow fly out of the white void in front of her.
“Gotcha!” She cheered, rolling out of the way of the arrow, shoved off the ground, and dashed forward, lunging her sword forward as two red dots appeared. But as the blade got close to its mark the eyes suddenly flew up.
“Grah!” The Risen, its form nothing but a black silhouette, yelled from above the blue-haired princess, a bow in its hand as it stared down at her, letting go of the pulled-back string and an arrow flying at Lucina.
“Ah, no!” She cried, pulling the Falchion back, turning the blade so its flat side was exposed, in some sort of attempt to shield herself. But as she felt a sharp pain pierce into her shoulder she knew that it wasn’t enough. “Gah!” She spat out and whimpered as she looked at her left arm, a small wooden shaft sticking out of it, of course, the monster would hit her in her sword arm.
“GAH!” The creature erupted as it landed on the ship again, instantly pulling out another arrow from its quiver and knocking the bow back aiming it at her.
“Lucky shot,” Lucina muttered, frowning as she took her sword in her right hand, wincing as her left arm moved as she stood up. She would need to see a healer sooner rather than later before the blow left some sort of lasting injury. But she doubted the monster in front of her would let her take a five-minute break to see if someone on the ship could heal her or spare some medicine to patch her up.
“Princess!” The gruff voice of the captain called out, though his booming voice was still barely audible over the howling of the wind. “Brace yourself, we’re at the fangs!” He announced, making Lucina look over to see the silhouettes of jagged rocks or ice bergs peaking out of the water. She didn’t think the Fangs part of the Glacier Fangs meant anything. But as the ship veered to the side, the princess squeaked out as her feet started to slide back on the slick deck. But thankfully it also made the Risen slide and its arrow flew by her head.
“I can’t fight like this!” She yelled back to the captain, though if he heard him he didn’t say anything, as she focused back on the enemy in front of her. She could actually make it out a pale body dressed in blue clothing and a chest plate covering it. The symbol of Ylissel was engraved on the armor meaning that not only did this man once fight for her kingdom but they were also a general or someone of a higher position in the army besides a foot soldier, which would explain why it was able to jump around and almost hit her twice. But she wasn’t going to let any of them stop her, she had worked too hard to die here at what remained of Grima’s troops. Even if the cold wind shook the arrow in her arm, making it feel like someone was stabbing the wound spot over and over again, the face she felt like ice skates would be better shoes for the battle at the moment, nor the rocks that the ship was barely missing, throwing Lucina and her opponent back and forth.
“AH!” Lucina yelled, running forward, slashing her sword at the monster. Maybe it was the fine form that body the monster was controlling was in or the fact she was using her non-dominate and weaker hand to attack, but the monster sidestepped her attack and swung its fist at the girl, hitting her in the jaw and sending her sliding across the deck, towards the railing.
“Nonononono,” She cried, trying to dig her fingernails into the wooden plants to stop herself, though as the boards snapped and broke her hands were bombarded with sharp pieces of wood attacked her hands. Thankfully as she felt her feet hang off the ship the captain veered the ship in the opposite direction, stopping her slide. She quickly got back on her feet, shaking her head as she watched the monster walk up, another arrow knocked in its bow.
“Ok, now I’m mad.” She hissed, rushing up to the monster, but as it released its bowstring the teen dropped down into a slide, letting the slick ground pull her to the monster as her feet kicked against it, sending the monster crashing to the ground as she used the Falchion to stop her decent and to pull herself up. As she moved the pain in her arm throbbed, making her pause and wince, giving her enemy much-needed time to try and push itself up. “No, you don’t!” She said, pushing herself up, trying to play through the pain, and rushed over to it, stepping on the monster trying to keep it pinned down as she held her right hand up, the Falchion in it pointed down at the monster. “Leave this realm and the people in it alone.” She demanded as she thrust her blade down the back of the monster.
“Cheah…” The monster let out one final high-pitched demonic cry as the light from its eyes died down and she reached down and grabbed the now lifeless corpse and pulled it toward the edge of the ship before tossing the body over the railing. She stood there, leaning over until she heard a light splash come from the ocean, and sighed in relief hoping that would be the last time that she would have to see a Risen.
“Good job, little princess!” A deep gruff voice said, making goosebumps race as she turned and saw the towering form of the Captain over her. “Save me and my crew, you have my deepest gratitude!” He said, laughing and patting her on the shoulder, making her grunt as the arrow jiggled in her shoulder. “Oh whoops, sorry about that lass, let me give you a hand there.” He said, his hand pushing her down as he wrapped his other hand around the arrow, which looked like a toothpick in his massive hand. “Keep the ship steady!” He yelled out towards where the wheel of the ship was. But as soon as he said that a loud BAM echoed through the air as the ship shook, causing the captain to jump back as the ship started to lean again and a thunk sound as the arrow left her body.
Huh, that came out really easy was the only thing Lucina thought as she leaned back as the ship suddenly jerked, her eyes growing wide as her arms flailed but with nothing to grab onto the princess found herself falling backward until her body crashed into the ocean below. Her body instantly wrapped around in artic cold water that immediately pulled her down as she tried to wave her arms to get free, the salty cold water instantly attacked her eyes but she kept looking up. Though the light only seemed to grow darker as she sunk further from the surface. Soon she started to grunt and jerk in the freezing water as he body begged for air, her lungs aching as if someone was crushing them between their hands, and her vision soon turned into nothing but darkness, whether from passing out or sinking that deep that all light refused to travel any further. But the end of her journey was there and her heart raced as she thought of her mom and dad. They would never know what happened to her, why she had to be so stupid and run away, how long would anyone grieve the loss of her life? But as she felt her heartbeat slow down as he ears popped she thought At least it wasn’t Grima who got me, as a golden light shined filling her sight, this was it, the other side.
“Just make sure we keep the area secured!” A white stallion said, dressed in golden armor covering his torso and a golden helm on his head. In front of him stood a dark grey stallion with light grey armor and helmet, though the flank of the pony looked as if it were made from crystal as it glittered and reflected the light of the lamp that lit up the large tent they stood in. “Princess Twilight will be here to investigate it as soon as she can. But I want to know if anything comes in or out of that… thing!” He ordered, raising his hoof and pointing at the entrance of his tent. “Change guards every hour, nopony needs to freeze out there, but we need to keep an eye on it.”
“Yes, Prince Shining Armor!” The other pony said, saluting the white pony before turning to leave the tent, leaving the prince alone to look at the map that lay on the table in front of him. It was of his kingdom, the Crystal Empire, meaning that the map was mostly blank. A drawing of the Kingdom he and his wife ruled was in one corner but the rest of the map was just mountains and white unexplored territory, all except a red mark circled on the map. The magical endless winter that the land suffered from made travel and exploring it nearly impossible, the only reason they were able to be away from the kingdom, was that had a magical crystal called the Crystal Heart that protected it from the cursed winter, was because of a magical spell that Shining Armor himself was casting, the long unicorn horn sticking out of his head was glowing a dark blue as he kept a protection spell up.
But he and a band of soldiers had traveled this far after something shook the mountains and a glowing golden light could be seen from the castle of the empire, so the prince went out to see what it was. Traveling there the ponies found a large glowing light that was spewing out freezing salt water but also drawing in some of the storm. Everypony had been ordered to stay away from the light but to keep an eye on it in case something happened.
“Your majesty!” A purple pony, also looking as if they were made from crystals, cried bursting through the tent. “You are needed sir, something, er- someponies came through the portal.” He said, making the prince’s eyes go wide before he ran past the soldier and to where the portal was.
Despite his spell, there was still a foot of white hard icy snow on the ground that crushed beneath his hooves with every step, but a light blue light bounced off it from the orb of his protection spell that surrounded the camp, which had a dozen fires burning and a village of tents sat up. But every pony was gathered at the edge of the barrier where right outside of it a giant circle beamed with golden magical energy as cold salty water flowed out of it into a steam, that merely froze a few feet away.
“Out of my way, let me see what's going on!” He ordered, breaking through the crowd of crystal ponies until he saw what they were looking at, immediately freezing as he saw a pony lying on the icy snow. Her coat was light blue and her mane a bit of a darker blue color, she was dressed in a strange white tunic with white cuffs at the end of the sleeves, a golden tiara in her hair, and a dark blue cape hung on her. But the most important thing Shining Armor noticed was the girl was absolutely soaked and shivering as she coughed and struggled for air. “Quick, get her to the Crystal Empire and out of these soaking clothes.” He ordered, looking at a couple of unicorns and letting them know it was their job, “Keep someone by her side at all times and tell Cadence or myself when she wakes up… if she wakes up.” He said with a wince as the unicorns nodded their heads. The green one horn glowed lime green as he, his partner, and this strange new pony were covered in a protection spell, and the dark blue one harn glowed as did the new pony as she was lifted and they all rushed off. “Anything else comes through here? I was told ponies and that was just one.” He said looking around and a black pony spoke up.
“Three other ponies with glowing red eyes, sir.” He said, “But they ran off into the mountains before we could stop them. One of them seemed to be holding some sort of sword sir, I sensed some sort of magic coming from it… a magic I’ve never encountered before.” He explained making Shining Armor frown.
“Ok, you go back to the castle and report everything that's happened here to Cadence,” He said pointing back to the castle. “And tell her that pony is not to be left alone. We are going to need some answers from her.” He said, getting a salute from the pony as he rushed off leaving Shining Armor and the rest of the soldiers to look at the glowing light. “What have we stumbled across?” Was the only thing the prince could say.
