Frozen Land
A Change of Heart
Windrider, fettered, imprisoned, and pinioned
Wing-clipped by magic, her power full drained,
Equestria's Heir is defeated and captive,
With her companions by Darklord enchained.
.
Darklord of shadows her fetters is weaving
Binds him in darkness as deep as despair,
Mocks at his anger and laughs at his weeping
"Where is your strength now, oh Equestria's Heir?"
.
Darklord has left them by shadows encumbered,
Princess Windrider trapped in her full gloom,
Deep in her prisons, past hope, past believing,
Heir and friends, will this be your tomb?
.
Out of the shadows another draws nearer,
Out of the twilight steals one furtive light.
Shadows dance pain, while the fox sings despairing,
Drawn here by Pony and Windrider's plight.
.
Power new-won have the Singer and Dancer,
Power to shatter their curses at last-
Power that also could free the sad captives;
Power to break the bonds holding them fast.
.
Heart speaks to heart in the depth of the darkness
Grief calls to grief, and they falter, afraid-
Why should she sacrifice all for these strangers?
Then new compassion sends her on to aid.
.
Dancer in Shadows, she weeps as she dances,
Dancing unmaking the shadow-born bands.
Learning through will the heart of another,
Sings back the magic to Windrider's hooves.
.
Spent now, the creature falls unseen into shadow
Gifted to strangers all that she had learned.
Darklord returns, and by fear is confounded-
Flees the avenger, Windrider unchained!
(anonymous,ancient period, writing on staff, unknown)
Mother?
Where are we going mother?
A kit once asked me
I said to her simply,
To find your destiny.
.
Why are we going mother?
She once said to me.
Perhaps if you learned patience
Then you will wait and see.
.
Why me, mother?
A monster once asked she.
Because you were the one
to change your destiny
.
I'm scared, mother,
atlast she spoke to me.
I do not wish to be here,
'stead my corpse beneath the sea.
.
and that's alright I quietly said
it's why we are both here, sitting head to head.
Duty binds us till we are dead,
and so it was then, I finally asked,
How will you face your past?
.
It is with that thought
she started to cry.
we began to fight till one of us would die.
I quietly smiled, since I knew she would live.
as she had much, to the world, to give.
(anonymous,ancient period, runes on glass, unknown)
New Leaves
Finding your center, not hard for a child,
but I am kitsune now, patterned and grown.
Drawn out of balance, my gift has run wild.
Never have I felt so lost and alone
.
Now all the questions that I did not ask,
come back to haunt me by day and by night.
Finding your center, so simple a task,
And one that I fear I shall never set right.
.
Where has my balance gone? What did I know,
that I have forgotten in times ebb and flow.
Wrong or right, dark or light, I cannot see ,
for I've lost the heart of the creature called me
.
Doubt shatters certainty, fosters despair,
Guilt harbors weakness and fear makes me blind.
Fear of the secrets that I dare not share,
lost in the spiral maze of my own mind.
.
Knowing the cost to us all if I fail.
Feeling that failure breathe cold on my back.
All I thought strong now revealed as so frail.
That they could not weather one spiteful attack.
.
Where has my balance gone? What did I know,
that I have forgotten in time's ebb and flow?
Wrong or right, dark or light, I cannot see,
for I've lost the heart of the creature called Me.
.
A Will forged in magic must be met with control,
but all my control was illusion at best.
Instinct alone cannot captain a soul.
Direction must be learned and not merely guessed.
.
Seeking with purpose not flailing about,
Trusting in others as they trust in me.
Starting again from the shadows of doubt,
Heart how I fear of what I yet know must be
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Finding my center and with it control.
Disciplined knowledge must now be my goal.
Knowing my limits and judging what's right,
till nothing can hinder my memory of light.
A Heart of Cold
The stars are very beautiful, beyond these ghastly halls.
They shine with far more splendor, above another’s walls.
I watch them from my mirror, but their bright entrancing glow,
Reminds me of the path, I gave up so long ago.
.
The royal circlet, a shining star rests upon my brow,
I once thought only of the rights that this circlet would endow.
But once I took the crown to which I was born and was bred,
I found it heavy on my heart, though light upon the head.
.
For they are all my children, all, that I could defend,
Though they were all older than me, they could not see the end.
And so it was by chaos wrought, that hope died that day.
When we were going to march to war, I marched them to their graves.
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Family, a love - it matters not, I truly know indeed,
That I must sacrifice them all since there was such a need.
They know but can’t forgive me-doing only what I require.
With shatter’d minds but loving hearts going straight to the funeral pyre.
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These tears that burn my eyes are all the tears I can’t bear to shed,
The tears I weep in silence as I mourn my kindred dead.
And so it was by my hand that I piled their broken heads
If only so unknown lives could flourish and be simply led.
.
That is the cost of the crown I wore, a nightmare finally told.
In order to save the land, I killed those young and old.
Hopefully another will rule someday, as my heart is frozen cold.
Because I traded my kindred lives for a future yet untold.
(anonymous, ancient period, runes on glass, translated by Ashwood, Canterlot)
Observations
How did you grow so wise so young,
tell me Princess, tell me.
How did you grow so wise so young,
Queen's own, Queen's own.
.
Where did you learn the words to say,
to take their fear and pain away,
and grant them strength again today,
together not alone
.
How can you be so brave so young,
tell me Princess ,tell me.
How can you be so brave so young,
Queen's own, Queen's own.
.
How do you overcome your fear,
to know your path was sincere.
What I see was crystal clear,
and chilled me to the bone.
.
How can you be so kind so young,
tell me Princess, tell me.
How can you be so kind so young,
Queen's own, Queen's own.
.
To see the best, and not the worst
to soothe an anger, pain, or thirst,
to always think of others first.
What of self alone?
.
Where did you learn to love so young,
tell me Princess, tell me
Where did you learn to love so young,
Queen's own, Queen's own
.
How did you teach your heart to care,
to touch in ways I would not dare.
Where did you find the courage then?
Is my heart just of stone?
(anonymous, classical period, script on quartz, translated by Ashwood, Canterlot)
Chosen
Every year creatures Choose, as they have done before,
The Chosen come with shining hopes to learn of magic's lore.
And every year the eldest sigh, and give the same advice-
"All those who would hold Magic's Power must then pay Magic's Price."
.
Oh there was power in the metal-That's all that pony knew.
A source of power dark sought stallions out-then slew.
But only those without your curse were slain by silent rage-
Till only you of them all were left the only page.
.
So out beyond your border there, beyond the forest tall,
you come to this question, a final icy wall-
to feel our power and change your fate
or will you finally fall?
.
Your life is your own, and so alone, you choose our sorcery.
your heart is afire with no small desire, to help protect your land.
Concern you need not as your price has been paid-
it is by our power you shall come to other's aid.
Inari to Glaive, present day.
Present Day
Where do we go young sailors, in this cloud as dark as pitch?
I’ll tell you what to do, we’ll listen to this witch.
Blind she may be though her vision be clear
So long as we keep her safe and dear
.
Do not call her friend but do not call her foe
Just do your job and sit in a row.
I don’t think there is any who can understand her.
I only fear she might be of mer.
.
Keep her fed, and keep her watered.
Though she says little her mind is full of power.
Her maps are true though how I know naught
And so we shall keep her, fragile and caught.
.
Hence we will continue, much like before
In preparation for this raid, on Equestria’s shore.
Her eyes may be white, but her powers are fell.
But while she is contained, we will continue to sell.
.
The deep she knows, though swim she cannot.
Perhaps it was a skill she simply forgot.
And so look to me men, there is no captain like me
So wiley and clever, to acquire Clear See.
(present day, captain's log 11-2187, the Neightalus)
An Old Zebra's tale
Where a bad acorn taken root
Or was it a tree, the point is moot
Yet here we are our story began
By this unremarkable piece of land
.
A clever pony approached this plot
Worried by what this place would wrought
To the tree he nailed a sign
And drank from the pool, which tasted like wine
.
And so he left the place that day
Pulling his cart in the very same way
Unknown to him what chaos would make
Of the things he left in his wake
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Around the nail ‘merged a queen anew
Within that tree her army grew and grew
Until they were finally ready to clash
As they were going to turn the land to ash
.
Yet chaos has a way of working things out
As from of the cart, an egg did fall out
Into this pool this egg did splash
And so it was gone quick as a flash
.
Sometime later the queen and her crew
Left to hunt for victims new
During this time the egg did hatch
The creature was gone before the changelings could catch
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It was a phoenix dark as night
But it was still a sorry sight
Warmth it could not find in the sun or moon
Nor in fires that would bloom
.
And so it flew on wings of starlight
Searching for something to make things right
After much time has passed
She came upon some ponies at last
.
Undetectable she crept upon
So they had no idea what was going on
And yet they had no need to fear
Because what she found brought her cheer
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Warmth came to her fast
Basking in the feelings of ponies past
Their passions warmed her chilly heart
Even their fears caused her to start
.
She stayed with them for a day and a night
Always undetectable, out of sight
Shortly after some changelings attacked
And left her party out of whack
.
Once day has passed she felt some pain
As she realized warmth she could not gain
Her party was but empty husks
And so she began her hunt at dusk
.
Undetectable was she, invisible to sight
And swiftly she flew to chase the blight
Once they were found and rent asunder
She quickly worked to loot her plunder
.
Much warmth she found, but it faded fast
So she found her party where it would last
She gave them her warmth and watched them renew
Until they were almost the very same crew
.
Exhausted was she from such an act
And so she hid in a pack to nap
Within that day they reached a city
Yet for all the stone it was rather pretty
.
Up she flew searching for a tower
For which to claim her bower
She found a pony, crazy he be
With a long white beard down to his knee
.
It turns out he could see her, try as she might
To hide from his blind eyesight
Fun they had for however a brief time
Until it became time for that pony to die
.
Nasty it was, a thing of chills
A murderer who wanted to pay his bills
A theft it was, “gone wrong” they said
Yet it didn’t matter because the poor pony was dead
.
Greif she felt, and anger that too
She plummeted through the tower, her hunt began anew
Walls could not hide him from her talons she knew
Within her heart, a fell darkness grew
.
She found him quickly and delighted in his fear
As he knew she would rip him ear from ear
And yet something she found that made her pause
And lose faith in her only cause
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A foal there was, asleep in a crib, unaware of her presence therein
Should this creature suffer for the poor pony’s sin?
Gone was the phoenix from the home that night
And yet outside there was a terrible fight
Bones mend when they break
But a life one does not idly take
.
She found her calling there at last
Stopping monsters of the past
So that there will be warmth you see
For ponies like you and me
Let this serve as a cautionary tale If against justice you do rail
As comfort you can never take
If evil follows in your wake