~The Jewel Empire - Book 2~ Posting not welcome

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Murder Rose's point of view. I know for a fact she's a favourite, and it gives a better insight into the Hiems' powers...
Art of Murder Rose by shewolf28. <3

I levitated a small basket of different types of plants. Leaves, berries, fruit, bark and other little bits of food that I had discovered was edible.
I soon found my small, homey hole in the hill and opened the little door I fashioned from some bark. I had to make do, because I knew the King and Queen were hunting me down.
I placed the basket upon the floor and looked around. My ‘house’ wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but it was all right. Circular, low-ceilinged and dirt. I had a pile of big green leaves for a bed and slept beneath my cloak and nothing else.
I placed some berries on the dirt and lit up my horn, zapping them with a ray of light that fried them. I smiled and brought them to my lips, biting into them.
I lay down on my bed and sighed. I was content for once, not worried that I’d be discovered. I was in the depths of a dangerous forest where no soldier would dare come looking for me.
But I kind of missed my apprentice, Midnight Swooper. We had been separated a few weeks ago when we were getting pursued, and I did not know of her whereabouts. I wasn’t able to send her any kind of message. I could of course send a mind-message, but she couldn’t return it without a horn. She was just a Pegasus.
I began eating the rest of my treats, savouring the flavour. It was so very hard to get food in this place, with evil creatures and such everywhere. I did have powerful magic, but it didn’t work against many things.
I took off my cloak, pulled it over me, and began to fall asleep.

* * *
I suddenly heard a huge bang and my eyes flew open. I was like a cat; always just on the brink of actual sleep.
I leapt to my hooves and looked around. Nothing was out of place. My door was intact, my roof was still over me and there were no voice outside.
Then there was another bang. Thunder.
I sighed with relief and got back down. Just a storm.
But as I began to fall back to sleep, it got worse. The bangs were huge, the lightning was continuous and the rain didn’t die.
I grunted with frustration and went to the door, climbing out. I looked up and my mane swirled around me, and I shivered. It was freezing! When I was walking home it was warm, and it was evening!
The starry night sky was not even visible, but covered by the blackest of clouds. Rain poured down onto my back, almost completely freezing me. What was going on?
I heard a large crack and gasped at something fell down near me. I jumped out the way and fell down onto the ground with a big thump as the enormous tree collapsed. It easily crushed my little hole, completely destroying it.
“NO!” I yelled in frustration and anger, struggling to my hooves. I winced and felt a sharp pain in my back leg. I must’ve hurt it on the fall.
I shuddered again as the rain pelted me, icy and painful. And now I had no shelter. And my cloak was probably down there…
I went up to the big tree and tried to get down into it. There was a huge amount of dirt all around it. I stepped onto the mound and slipped, almost falling in. But everything was buried. I couldn’t get it out.
I tried a spell to coax it to me. I forced my magic up, and imagined my cloak down there. I pulled and struggled, backing up. All of a sudden I opened my eyes as a green woollen thing came flying at my face. The carved ruby rose clip hit me on the forehead.
“Ooh…” I groaned. Tonight was not at all fine. I clipped on my cloak and felt a bit warmer, but it was getting soaked by the rain. I checked the pocket on the inside and saw that my dagger was OK.
I needed to get moving.
I began to gallop. I charged through the trees of the thick forest as the freezing cold liquid shot at my back like tiny bullets. My leg hurt terribly, and I cried out from all the pain that was slicing through me.
What was this freak storm? Why was it trying to kill me? It was definitely the work of somepony, but I didn’t know who. And no unicorn at any level of power could create weather this awful.
Suddenly my front hoof hit something and I yelled out as I toppled over. I screamed as I hit the ground and scrunched into a hurting ball.
Surely tonight could not get worse. I began to sob, getting drowned from all the rain. It drenched me from head to hoof, and my leg throbbed. My forehead hurt too.
“What are you trying to do to me?” I screamed out into the darkness. “Who are you? Somepony get me out of here!” I choked and sobbed again. I looked at the sky and saw the storm was swirling worse than ever, lighting shattering the blackness for spilt seconds. The thunder crashed loudly around me.
“Help! Help me! Swooper, where are you…!” I wailed. I tried to stand, but slipped. Pain cut through me again, and my body was starting to freeze.
Suddenly the rain got colder. The wind sped up, and I glanced around. The rain was turning into snow.
“No! Please! Make it stop! I can’t move!” I sobbed. I needed to find shelter from the snow, but I hurt to much to even stand. I was just huddled in a bent heap under a tree, like a lost dog.
I tried to send a message to Swooper one more time. If she could just find my whereabouts she could help…
I forced my mind to think of the grey Pegasus. I strained and began to emit frozen sweat as I pushed the message out…
Swooper, help me… I’m in a forest… I can’t get anywhere and there’s a storm… I managed. I gasped and my head fell down onto a tree root, and my eyes shut.

* * *
“Rose, come on! Get up!” I heard a distant voice. “Hurry! Get up!” I felt my shoulder shaking and slowly opened my eyes.
Before my face were a pair of huge golden eyes, and grey-blue locks of hair hung down. “Swooper?” I groaned. I noticed I was nearly buried in snow.
“Yes! It’s me! Come on, Rose! You need to get up!” she cried, looking behind her. I groaned and heaved myself up, getting out of the freezing snow.
“Oh, Swooper!” I cried. “I’m so happy!”
“We need to get out of here! I don’t know what’s happening, but I heard horrible screeches and something’s making this blizzard.” She said, helping me move. She flapped her wings and flew upwards, and began to zoom away.
“Wait! No! I can’t…” I moaned. I gasped as I remembered a flying spell. I weakly lit my horn up and little tiny sparks of light and swirls came out, weaving down beneath my hooves. It lifted me off the ground, and I flew after Midnight Swooper.
I caught up to her. “What is happening?” I asked.
“I don’t know! I just heard screeching and saw this huge storm brewing above the forest… then I got your message!” she replied, dodging a tree.
“Screeching? So, somepony’s doing it?” I asked.
“I guess! But not a pony. It can’t be!”
“But it’s not an accident. Something’s trying to kill us and everypony else here, and it’s dangerous.”

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Flaming Ice's point of view.

I climbed into the gorgeous silver carriage and sat down nervously next to Wildfire and Sparkle Flame.
“So sorry, Princesses, but why do you need me?” I asked.
“It’s urgent. You’re basically the only pony we can think of that can at least try to stop this.” Replied Sparkle, as Wildfire nodded for the guards to take off.
“But what is it? Surely you alicorns have better powers than me…” I said.
“No, Flaming Ice. It has to be your magic. It’s unbelievable now, but when you see the damage all this has done…” replied Sparkle.
“How about your parents?” now I was just trying to make excuses.
Wildfire sighed. “They don’t actually believe us or have seen the damage over the past couple of days. They will though. They’re just too busy with the foreign royals to look.”
“That’s a little short-sighted of them, isn’t it?” I said with genuine curiosity.
The Princesses nodded.

* * *
The carriage slowed and lowered a little bit. I gasped and peered over the little door.
Wow. They were right.
Beneath me was not a town, and not a forest. Just lots and lots of snow. I saw the houses and trees peeking out, and ponies clearing away whatever they could.
I looked upwards and saw the biggest storm I’d ever laid eyes on. It stretched out over the area, dark and solid-looking. Lightning flashed inside of it and snow fell down.
My orange mane blew around my head. It was so windy. I didn’t feel cold, my body being a crystally-icy sort of thing, but Sparkle Flame and Wildfire were shivering already.
“This is awful!” I exclaimed. “You two were right!”
“Do you think you can try and help Draften?” asked Wildfire. I looked nervously at the whole scene. I’d never had a job this big before.
“I’ll try. Down, please!” I called to the guards. They swooped sharply downwards and dashed towards the ground. Ponies in the snow-filled square parted as we touched down.
“Oh, you’re back!” cried a white unicorn pony. The mayor, I presumed. She happily approached us and bowed.
“Ma’am Mayor, this is Flaming Ice. She is responsible for helping maintain the balance between fire and ice, and she may be able to help.”
“Oh, so glad to meet you!” said the mayor. I suddenly heard running hoof-steps and a little filly charged up to me.
“Are you a crystal pony?” she squealed. I smiled.
“No, little one. I just look like one.” I replied. I leaned closer. “And I’m way more awesome.” I whispered. She giggled and jumped back to her friends.
“OK, Flaming. Give it a go.” Said Sparkle. Everypony stepped back and I began to focus my magic. It began to make ribbons of light that swirled upwards; one icy and blue like snowflakes and one warm and orange like fire. They entwined and shot towards the storm that roared overhead. It made a crack of light and pierced the clouds.
I pushed and forced my magic to fight at it’s best. I glanced up, sweat dripping down my forehead. The light was cutting away at the big grey monster of a blizzard, showering us with beautiful sparks.
Just as I was certain it was working, I heard screeching. It was distant and eerie. I looked back up and saw nothing, but continued to hear the screeching. I pushed my magic to its ultimate extent.
The screeching continued, and I saw flashes. I heard the ponies around me gasp in horror.
The clouds above were swirling faster. They spun around and around the place where my magic cut into it, getting darker and darker.
“Come on!” I yelled at my horn, but I was running out of energy. I was using all my magical strength. I heard more screeches and bangs, as the storm got bigger.
“No! Flaming! Break it off! Cut off your magic now!” Sparkle Flame yelled at me. I gasped and immediately obeyed, jumping back. A huge bolt of lightning shot down to the place I stood, shattering the cobblestone.
“This is really, really bad.” Muttered Wildfire. “We need to evacuate Draften, Sparkle.”
Sparkle Flame considered it for a moment. “OK. They’re all going to freeze. Do you think it’s the Hiems, Wild?”
Hearing that my eyes widened. Hiems? Oh no. This was awful. I’d heard of Hiems, and needed to learn about them as a filly, because of my talent. If they were the true cause of this…
“Agreed. If it’s Hiems, everypony must leave now!” I said. I received questioning looks from the Princesses, but they agreed.
“Earth ponies! Get a unicorn to help you! Foals, get help from your parents! Pegasi, take anypony who can’t teleport or fly with you! Everypony needs to get out of Draften now!” yelled Sparkle Flame. Panic sparked, and immediately ponies were charging around everywhere.
“Flaming, check the houses to make sure there’s nopony trapped inside.” Said Wildfire, dashing off to help. I saluted and ran to the nearest house. I blasted away what snow I could to get to the door, and burst inside.
“Is there anypony in here?” I yelled. I suddenly spotted a cradle in the next room. I ran to it, finding a little newborn Pegasus inside. I picked him up and ran outside, where I found a distressed mare. “Is he yours?” she nodded and grabbed her foal, holding him tight and taking to the sky. I galloped to the next house and went inside.

* * *
The storm banged and crashed around us, snow beginning to completely bury all the houses. There were many close calls; some foals were getting trapped inside collapsing houses or buried alive in snow.
I galloped to the carriage, and the guards rushed over too. They each put a foal into the carriage that they’d rescued, and I leapt inside. Inside were the Princesses, two shivering young mares and some foals abandoned by panic-stricken fleeing parents.
“Go, go, go!” Sparkle Flame yelled to the guards, and they took off. A huge bolt of lightning blasted down towards us, but the carriage dodged it and we zoomed off. The screeching inside the clouds continued, and the storm got darker and darker.
Were there really Hiems in there? If that’s the true power of them, I was getting rather scared. And scared by the fact that these creatures had finally escaped after 3000 years of being frozen solid.
The Pegasus guards were pulling as hard as they could, wings flapping faster than ever. The snow and wind lashed our faces like a whip, and I was blinded.
The young mare beside me was sobbing and clutching her tiny newborn foal.
“Are you OK?” I asked her softly.
“My coltfriend… I don’t know where he is.” She sobbed.
“You mean, he might be still back at the village?” I asked.
“No… he’s a Pegasus, so he may have taken off… he just left me and our foal here!” she cried. Her friend sitting next to her patted her on the back.
“Hey, it’s OK.” I soothed.
We were going at a very fast rate and soon arrived in Laheb City. We’d passed through the storm obviously, and our carriage was full of water and snow.
We shot over the city and came to the palace walls, soaring towards the courtyard. We swooped downwards and landed swiftly.
“Sparkle Flame, help these foals please. Get them straight to the hospital wing in the palace.” Wildfire instructed her older sister. She nodded and helped the mares and the little abandoned foals get out of the carriage. It was awful that their parents could do that.
Suddenly Wildfire took off towards the door, charging into the castle. I galloped after her quickly.
We ran up some stairs and across halls, up corridors and around corners. “Where are we going?” I asked the General.
“To speak to those parents of mine.” Scowled Wildfire.
“It seems they’ve been more short-sighted than wise at the moment.” I replied. She nodded.
We soon arrived in a huge, high-ceilinged corridor where I saw a big door open. And out of it stepped a whole heap of noble ponies in their fine outfits and carrying papers, as well as King Whirlwind and Queen Aka.
“Mother! Father!” Wildfire yelled to them, stalking towards her parents.
“Wildfire! Where have you been?” demanded Whirlwind.
“Fixing this mess you’ve been so foolish to not notice!” she threw back.
“What mess?” asked Aka.
“Oh, Wildfire! You don’t mean the Hiems?” groaned Whirlwind.
“Yes! Yes, I do mean the Hiems! They’ve got out! And they’ve completely destroyed the village of Draften! Follow me.” She trotted down the corridor to the big balcony at the end.
The King, Queen and I followed her and came to the edge. It was a very high view, and we could practically see over the city. Wildfire pointed her hoof into the distance. I saw it. The massive, swirling ball of black cloud.
“That. That is the damage these creatures have done. Draften is gone.” She said.
Aka and Whirlwind peered at it. I watched as the hillside horizon on which the storm sat flashed brightly with the lightning, and the thunder could only just be heard from here.
“Can you see that? Tell me you can see that storm.” Said Wildfire, frustrated. Aka turned away.
“Yes, Wildfire. I can see it. But it’s just a storm.” She sighed.
“Wait. Aka, look.” Said Whirlwind, beckoning for her. She turned and stood next to him. “Can you see that? The hills are white.”
“Yes! Yes! White hills in Spring!” cried Wildfire, excited that they’d noticed.
“Oh my.” Muttered Aka. “Is it really the Hiems?”
“It has to be. There’s no other explanation.” Replied the King.
“Flaming?” offered Wildfire. I was surprised she wanted me.
“Well… when I was little, after I discovered my talent, I was taught about this sort of thing, because it was essential for my powers.” I said awkwardly. The King and Queen turned to listen. “And, well, I always felt like they’d escape, because the legend said so. And back there… wait, Wildfire, did you hear the screeching?” I asked.
“Yes, Flaming. I did hear that.” She replied. “And I know it was the Hiems.”
“Wait, screeching?” exclaimed Aka in surprise.
“Yeah, it was really eerie-sounding screeches up in the clouds. It got worse when Flaming Ice tried to perform her spell. They tried to kill her with a lightning bolt.” She said.
“Now I’m starting to believe you Wildfire.” Said Whirlwind. “Just give it a few more days, and if Laheb City does become threatened, we’ll do something.” Then he and Aka walked back inside and left Wildfire and I upon the balcony staring at the killer storm.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Queen Aka's point of view.

I awoke with a start. Thunder crashed and boomed in the distance, making me jump. I looked beside me and saw Whirlwind sleeping soundly.
It was two days after the attack on Draften. I knew the Princesses and Prince had been studying so much about the Hiems. I still had my doubts, however.
I silently slipped out of bed and walked quietly to the other side of our large room. I opened the balcony doors with my magic and stepped out onto it.
I over-looked the gardens and the city, little lights in the windows and streets sparkling pleasantly. I looked towards the horizon and saw the storm again, booming and flashing. It was rather spooky.
And I noticed it was getting bigger, spreading slowly towards the city. Would it really reach here? I was definitely doubtful. But surely the others were exaggerating the storm’s power…
I sighed, shook my head, and walked back inside, shutting the doors behind me. I slipped back onto the large bed and covered myself in the satin blankets, soon falling into a broken slumber of thunder and screeching.

* * *
In the morning I awoke once again, and saw Whirlwind on the other side of the room putting his armour on.
“Morning.” I said. I stepped from bed and yawned, walking to my huge wooden dressing table and silver mirror. I used my magic to put on my shoes, necklace and tiara.
“Aren’t you going to get a maid?” asked my husband.
“No. I had a bad sleep and I don’t really feel like it.” I replied, combing my flowing mane back to it’s usual silky smoothness.
“Suit yourself. Do you want to come down to the breakfast hall with me?” he offered. I smiled.
“Of course.” He came up to me and we walked to the door, exiting the room and walking down the hall.
“Looks like the Princesses are up.” Said Whirlwind. The doors were all shut around our big corridor. I nodded.
“We’ll see them at breakfast.” I said.
We soon came to the door of the large breakfast hall and entered. Inside I saw many nobles around the room, all having their usual spread of fine foods.
“Good morning your majesties.” They all chanted. I smiled in return, as we sat at the very end of the table on our big silver thrones.
I looked at what we had. The usual. Bread, spreads, cakes, tea, coffee, cream, milk, salad and other little delights that I enjoyed for breakfast.
I levitated over some hot bread, a little cake, and some tea. I silently ate it, watching all the nobles rush off to their businesses around the castle.
But even after ten minutes of me eating my bread very slowly, the Princesses did not turn up. I began to get very suspicious, just as Storm Cloud walked it, no armour. Sometimes he could be rather lazy.
“Good morning Storm!” I said. “Have you seen your sisters this morning?”
Storm stopped in his tracks. “Wait… I was going to ask you two that!” he said, slowly seating himself and getting a mountain of food.
That was odd. Maybe they rose early and went to do something for the other royals.
I suddenly saw somepony else walk into the room, and watched Princess Celestia and Princess Luna come over.
“Good morning Aka and Whirlwind!” said Celestia in her sunny voice, sitting near us.
“Hello Celestia. Hello Luna.” I smiled. Just as the sun Princess was getting some tea, she noticed my voice tone.
“Is there anything wrong?” she asked.
“Well, have you seen the Princesses this morning?” I asked her.
“No. I just came from our room to the hall. Luna?” she turned to her sister.
“No. We have not come across thou’s children this morning. But we are sure they are fine; fillies will be fillies. We should know.” She said with a cheeky grin, biting into an apple.
I smiled. “OK. I’m sure I’ll see them later.”

* * *
I walked along the wall between two towers, watching the lovely sunset. It lowered down below the hills, showing off colours like pink, blue and orange.
But not far from it the storm was still there. It had not passed, not in all these few days. Normally a single storm was brought over by Pegasi, rained, snowed, or blew wind, then moved away. Not a single Pegasus in the weather patrol of Laheb City or any town nearby had come along to sort it out.
The whole Hiem thing started to come to reality. I was really worried.
But I was also worried about my daughters. Where we they? I or any other royal had not laid eyes on the Princesses or even spoken to them, not even Lady Gamila, Cadence, Dusk or Dawn. All of which I’d spoken to.
Around me many lights in the castle began to turn off, while the city before me twinkled in the darkness. Now it was getting very late, and they weren’t back. They hadn’t even left a note to tell us where they were going. I just remembered them saying goodnight last night, and going into their rooms.
Soon the sun was completely gone, and the moon rose. Dusk was very good at it. It was so pretty.
In a few minutes I heard hoof-steps next to me and saw the Pegasus herself walked up to me. Her violet mane swished around her in the slight breeze, and she gazed at the moon. “Good evening, your highness.” She said to me quietly.
“Hello Lady Dusk.” I replied. There was silence for a moment, before I felt her eyes upon my face.
“Are you still worried about your daughters?” she asked. I sighed heavily.
“Yes. I don’t know where they are. It’s like they’ve suddenly vanished into thin air without warning.” I said, looking down at my hooves.
“And they were truly getting right into their investigations. What if they have gone to look for more clues?” she asked.
“Maybe. But surely a guard or soldier or something would’ve told me if they’d left early.” I said, getting more stressed by the minute. “You didn’t see anything suspicious last night? I know you’re always up.”
“Not a thing, your highness.” She replied, looking back out at the view.
The storm thundered and flashed more and more, and it seemed to be gaining on Laheb City. Under the moonlight the snow that blanketed everything beneath glittered.
“You go to bed.” Said Dusk. “I’m meeting Princess Luna soon, and we’re going to try and figure all this out.” I turned to her, and reluctantly nodded. I silently walked past the night Pegasus to a tower on the wall, and descended the stairs.
My chest was full of nervousness. They’d been gone a whole day. Not even sending a small mind-message, letter, note or warning to the guards. My three daughters had disappeared without a trace.
But maybe they were just planning something exciting for the royals. That was a possibility. And they were altogether, so probably rather safe in each others company. I sighed again and in a few minutes reached my room.
I walked in and found Whirlwind, pacing the room. “Oh, there you are, Aka.” He said in relief. I smiled weakly. His smile fell. “Are you OK?”
“Yes. I know our daughters are safe. Well… I think. I just want sleep, Whirl. I’m tired and stressed.” I said, taking off my accessories.
“I understand.” He said, nuzzling me as I lay down under the satin covers.
“Dusk and Luna are organising a small search or investigation through the night, and I trust the two of them completely.” I said, putting my head down. He didn’t respond.
I soon fell into a sleep of disturbing dreams.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Lady Gamila's point of view.

I sighed as I strolled through the lovely castle gardens. The moon shone down upon my pink body, and I gazed up at the stars. The Jewel Empire was truly beautiful.
I found a tree with soft grass beneath and lay down. It was relaxing. The palace just wasn’t my thing, and the night in this kingdom was lovely to just come outside alone.
I would return back to my room with my father later, but at that moment I wanted quiet and darkness.
I sighed again, watching a couple of birds in the leaves above my head flutter around, getting ready for sleep. Suddenly I heard loud, distressed chirping.
I looked down at the grass and saw a tiny little baby blue bird, squeaking and tweeting. It was trying to jump up.
“Aw, here, I’ll help you.” I said. I summoned my magic, using absolutely all my strength. I lifted the tiny bird up and placed him in the nest where his parents embraced him. Back home there were no unicorns but my mother to teach me magic, so I practically learned myself. It was hard just to do a simple thing like levitate a baby bird.
Suddenly I heard crunching gravel and looked to the side in surprise. Along the path a few metres away I saw a pony’s silhouette, slowly lumbering along.
“Hello?” I called out. The pony looked up.
“Who is it?” he said. I got to my hooves and walked over slowly. I smiled and saw it was Prince Storm Cloud.
“Hello, Storm Cloud.” I said. His eyes widened.
“Oh, it’s you Lady Gamila.” He said. In the moonlight, looking very close, I saw his blue cheeks grow red.
“What’s with the blush?” I purred. His eyes widened once again and he looked at his hooves. “Um… I just had a hot bath.” I giggled.

“OK.” I said. “Why are you sad?”
“It’s my sisters. They’re still missing.” He mumbled.
My heart sank. Oh, that. I was very fond of those three, and nopony knew where they were. “Oh… Sorry about that. I’m sure they’re fine though. They’re all powerful alicorn Princesses, they can overcome anything. Besides; they’ll be probably making a surprise.” I said. He looked up hopefully.
“Yeah. Good idea.” He said, looking up at the sky.
“Do you want to come sit near me? You look really lonely. You’re not supposed to just wander around in the gardens at night.” I said, with a slight roll of the eyes. He looked up in surprise, his mouth falling open.
“Oh… um… OK.” He said. I smiled, lying down under the tree. I continued to watch the little birds on the branch as they fell asleep.
He slowly lay down on the grass too. I wondered what he was thinking. But he blushed before. Maybe he was nervous around me or something. I didn’t know much, because I was always kept inside the castle. My mother was a complete worry-wart.
“Hey, you don’t have to come if you don’t want. If you want to go back to the castle that’s fine.” I said.
“No, no! It’s good. Um… I like the… stars?” He replied awkwardly, his face reddening once again. Was he thinking something different?
All of a sudden I heard a huge bang of thunder and the sky flashed with light. I looked up and saw that there were no clouds, but I had noticed the storm brewing.
“What’s with that big storm?” I asked.
“Well… have you heard of the Empire’s story of the Hiems? It’s called something like the Hiem Queen.” He replied. “It’s half story half information.” I thought about it.
“Um… I may have when I was little. I have to say I haven’t remembered it off by heart.” I said.
“Oh. Well… we think that maybe it’s… the…” the Prince stopped in mid-sentence, his ears flopping back.
“What? Storm Cloud? Is there something wrong?” I asked, as he looked around. He jumped to his hooves and I copied. He gasped and threw his eyes towards the sky.
I saw it too. The thunder, the lightning, the rain. It crashed and boomed towards us, the swirling clouds dark and spooky. It crashed and blew its way over the city.
“Oh my gosh!” I cried, feeling myself shrink in fear. I soon heard screeching, and it echoed through my ears. It sounded eerie and horrible, and I screamed too.
“Gamila!” cried Storm Cloud. “Are you OK?”
“It’s screaming!” I cried. The wind picked up at top speed, causing my mane to blow around. I shivered. I looked up again and saw it was coming closer at a terrible rate. In the centre of the storm it was black, and the whole thing flashed with every strike of lightning. The rain came down, slamming down on out backs like bullets.
“We need to get inside! Run!” yelled Storm, giving me a small shove. I gasped and began to gallop with him, and we charged towards the big doors. They were closed.
“Let us in! They’re coming! The Hiems are coming!” Storm hollered. Suddenly they opened through magic from the inside, and some guards let us in. “The Hiems are coming! Everypony needs to stay inside!” he said to the guards.
“Hiems?” asked one. But another interrupted.
“It doesn’t matter, Silver. Just make sure everypony is safe!” he said, ordering around the guards in the entrance hall.
“Come on, Gamila.” Said Storm, galloping off. “We need to find my parents. Do you need your father?”
“I want to come with you!” I replied. I don’t know where that came from, but I needed to help.
We had only gone up a few flights of stairs before Storm suddenly crashed into his father. “Storm! There you are!” he exclaimed, just as Aka arrived after him.
“Mother, Father, it’s the Hiems! They’re here!” said Storm.
“And the Princesses are still missing!” I cried.
“We need to get up on the castle wall. We need to face this. I don’t want to put any soldiers in danger.” Said Whirlwind. He turned and ran up some stairs. We all followed. I knew I should’ve been trying to find my father, but I wanted to come up here to look.
We came to a tower and ran up the spiral stairs.
As I reached the top I was nearly blown over by the force of the storm. The wind hammered my body, along with the rain. The moon was blocked by the black clouds, and the whole city flashed with every lightning bolt.
“What’s happening?” I yelled.
“The Hiems! They’ve reached the city!” cried Storm to his parents. They were staring up at the storm, mouths open.
“I’m so sorry Storm Cloud! You were right!” replied Whirlwind.
Suddenly I shivered, the icy cold cutting through me. I felt snow pour down upon us, and within seconds it made a white layer beneath our hooves.
“This is awful!” cried Aka. I heard the screeching again, echoing through me. I looked up at the clouds… it was coming from there. Screeching and roaring, loud so eerie.
I suddenly heard clopping hooves behind us as Empress Vespula and Emperor Apis charged up to join us.
“What is this?” cried Apis is horror.
“It doesn’t matter.” Replied Whirlwind. “You need to get Vespula and your Changeling soldiers back to your home immediately, it’s not safe,”
“No! We have to stay here! We need to help you and your subjects!” argued Apis. Aka smiled weakly, before yelling out as a huge lightning bolt shot down towards us. It created a big crater in the wall not far from where we stood.
“Courtyards! Now! We need all the royal leaders down there immediately!” cried Whirlwind. He ran up behind us and shoved us to the stairs where we ran down.
I was really, really scared. What was happening? The Empire was getting destroyed! I’d never seen anything like it! I loved this place, and now it was under attack by some evil creature?
We charged through some corridors and down stairs, making our way to a large courtyard. We came to a hall on the bottom floor and Whirlwind threw the doors open with his magic, and we all gathered.
“Aka, help me summon the others.” I heard him say to his wife. She nodded bravely and I saw their horns light up. Wow! They were able to do that!
They finished, and suddenly I heard noises from the door. I watched Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, King Kaizari, Queen Malaika, Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour run out of the palace into the courtyard.
Thunder crashed again. “What’s happening?” cried Shining Armour. Cadence huddled up to him.
I heard more noise and Princess Sabwa and Prince Ameer came in. Following them was Askari.
“Father!” I cried, running to him.
“Gamila! What is this?” he asked me.
“An attack! The Empire’s being attacked!” I replied.
“We should go back to Saddle Arabia,” started Princess Sabwa.
“No, Sabwa. We need to help the Empire.” Replied Ameer. The Princess looked scared.
All of a sudden there was another huge crash of thunder, and more lightning. I looked up. Something was different. I watched two huge ribbons of snowflakes burst out from the clouds, and twirl their way downwards. They suddenly stopped, and began to swirl. They entwined, whizzing around and around. They made a disk of icy magic with snowflakes lashing out.
“Everypony get back!” yelled Whirlwind. I gasped.
I heard another huge screech that pierced. It was louder and scarier. I could see everypony wince as it got louder.
Then it sounded like laughing. It was icy cold laughter, coming from all around. I whimpered and buried my face into Askari’s shoulder.
All of a sudden there was a crash of thunder, a screech, and every pony, changeling, horse and zebra around us scream and gasp in horror.
I looked up at the big spinning disk.
There was something on it.
Upon the snowflakes stood a creature. Tall, regal, cold and terrifying. Her mane swirled upwards around her, blue and faded at the ends. It was on her ankles too. Her armour was made from lapis-lazuli like the changelings, studded with green gems. Her eyes were yellow with slits, her ears large and pointed. Her wings were enormous with spikes at the top, out of her eyes came a greenish-blue aura, and her horn was tall, curved and smooth.

She laughed wickedly, and it sounded like the screeching above. She threw her head back and magic exploded from her horn, blasting the storm. It grew bigger and more dangerous, as snow began to cloak everything around.
“Greetings, citizens of the Jewel Empire!” she yelled down at us. A few soldiers ran into the courtyard to look. “It’s been far too long! But never fear; in these 3000 long years I haven’t forgotten anypony. I still remember every one of you.”
“Who the hell are you?!” yelled Storm Cloud. The creature smirked.
“I am Queen Latinix, ruler of the Hiems. I have come to re-claim this empire as my own, as it was 3000 years ago. And it will be so much better without you filthy ponies.” She replied. Suddenly she threw a jet of magic from her horn, that shot towards a soldier in the doorway. It hit him square in the chest, and all of a sudden he was frozen solid in a block of ice.
“No! How dare you?!” yelled Whirlwind, as the other soldiers ran to try and help him.
“I dare because I can. And I am capable of doing that to all of you, including you alicorns. So I wouldn’t try anything funny.” Latinix hissed. “And besides, even if you do give it a go, you’ll never succeed in defeating me. I’ve already buried and frozen half your Empire, right under your royal noses.”
Aka and Whirlwind gasped. They looked over at Storm Cloud.
“It’s OK.” He said to them. “It’s not your fault.”
“Oh it’s their fault all right! Thanks to the short-sightedness of these two, the whole Empire is getting destroyed! In half a day I can easily destroy a town. In a whole day imagine what I can do to Laheb City!” cackled Latinix, rearing and shooting magic at the storm again.
Aka looked down in shame, tears slipping from her eyes. Whirlwind tried to comfort her.
“Stop! Leave us all alone, Latinix!” Storm yelled.
“Oh! There’s the little prince.” Purred Latinix. “I suppose you’re missing your sisters then.”
Storm Cloud gasped in horror, along with everypony else. Had she taken the Princesses.
“What did you do to my sisters?” he roared, sparks flying from his horn.
“Oh, you know… locked them away where you’ll never find them…” said the Hiem Queen, mocking a casual tone.
“No!” screamed Aka.
“Yes, Aka. And you will not try anything funny if you don’t want them killed.” Suddenly Latinix threw a bolt of magic at Aka, which knocked her out. Whirlwind yelled. “And that, Jewel Empire, is why you don’t mess with the Hiems.”

Picture of Gamila and Storm done by the amazing ~Silverwing~. Thanks!

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Solar Eclipse's point of view.

“Lunar! Lunar! Where are you?” I yelled, pushing through the huge sea of ponies that charged down the street. “Lunar!”
I was worried sick. The city was filling up with snow, and everything was getting buried. We had to get out of our hotel, but I didn’t know where my sister was.
“Solar! Solar is that you?” I heard a familiar voice call.
“Lunar?” I pushed past a stallion and charged under a shelter of a café. There was Lunar, alongside Aqua. “You’re safe!” I cried in relief.
“We were worried about you! We need to get to the palace.” Said Aqua.
“What is this freak storm?” I asked, looking out from our little roof as another sea of ponies ran by.
“I don’t know. We need to get to the King and Queen to find out.” Replied Lunar.
“Wait, Aqua, where are your other guests? And where’s Bolt?” I asked, suddenly panicking again.
“Oh no! I forgot! How could I be so dumb?” cried the unicorn, turning and charging off at top speed. Lunar and I ran after her.
We rounded a turn, bumping into everypony that came near. The hotel was just around here.
“Where were they before?” I asked, running up beside Aqua.
“In the hotel room!” she replied, leaping over a fallen chair on the sidewalk.
“Why couldn’t they just get out?” said Lunar.
“Maybe they didn’t hear the guards that came around! Maybe they don’t even know of the storm!”
“Or maybe they’re trapped inside!” I yelled out, reaching the hotel. All the way up to the door was buried in snow. “What about the windows?”
“Let’s go up.” Said my sister. “Up to that balcony, teleport there Aqua!”
I spread my large alicorn wings and took off, flying quickly towards the balcony that Luna pointed to. I shot up, and saw a flash of light as Aqua arrived there before me.
I landed next to her, and so did Lunar. The rain hammered down on us.
“Quickly!” I cried. I used my magic to unlock the glass balcony doors and we ran inside, rain-soaked. I ran to the opposite door and burst into the hallway, where I saw a few ponies at the other end by the stairs.
“Emerald! Frost! Rainbow! Bubble! Flash!” cried Aqua, relieved and delighted. They all ran over.
“What’s happening? The door of the lobby won’t open!” cried Emerald Glitter in panic.
“It’s OK! Well, no, it’s not…” replied Lunar. “There’s this huge storm outside, and everypony in the city has to get to a safe location.”
“It’s just a storm, why all the panic?” asked Moon Flash.
“Nopony knows. But it’s spring, and the door of the lobby isn’t opening because it’s snowed in!” cried Aqua.
“Snow? Oh dear…” said Frost Bite. It was ironic, because Frost Bite’s profession was actually making snowflakes in Cloudsdale.
“Does anypony know where River Tide is?” cried Golden Bubble in a panic.
“He’s probably at the castle with Bolt and the other knights.” Said Aqua. Well, now I knew where Bolt was.
All of a sudden the light around us flashed and went out. Great, the electricity was gone. Emerald lit up her horn. “Come on, let’s try and get out of here.” She said.
We all nodded in agreement and ran over to the door was came out of, gathering on the balcony.
Lunar, Moon Flash, Rainbow Bliss and I jumped off the balcony and swooped down into the snow. The other four unicorns quickly teleported beside us.
I was already soaked to the bone. And so were the others. We needed shelter, and we needed to get where everypony else was going.
We all galloped over to the road, where we caught sight of the last few ponies running down. We followed.
After a few minutes of slowly getting through the wet, icy streets, we arrived in the big city square. The fountain with the statue of the alicorn soldier was frozen solid already.
“Now what?” I asked. “We need to get to the castle.”
All of a sudden Emerald screamed, I gasped and jumped out of the way as she leapt from the edge of the square.
I screamed too and everypony around us gasped in horror.
A thin, white, alicorn-like creature was creeping towards us, fangs bared. From all around the clouds these things were soaring down, surrounded everypony. We were pushed together.
The creature snarled, flashing its yellow eyes.
“Hello, ponies…” it said.
“Aqua… what are these?” I whispered in the unicorn’s ear. She had a look of terror on her face as she looked into the creature’s eyes.
“I think… I’m not sure… H, Hiems?” she whispered back. Hiems? What?
“Yes… Hiems.” The white thing purred. It’s strange, almost see-though mane swished around its body.
Thunder roared above us, and more and more snow fell. It was burying us in ice… we needed to get out or we’d all die…
“Guys, we need to get out of this square and get somewhere safe!” I hissed to the other seven. Lunar nodded.
“On the count of three, I’m going to teleport.” Whispered Aqua. “Everypony hold on to me, we’re going to Naracolt.” Suddenly Aqua’s body was touched by seven hooves, and suddenly she lit her horn up.
I was sucked into a tube, air leaving me. Green light swirled, and all of a sudden I felt it release. I tumbled out, landing hard upon the gravel road of Naracolt. Aqua’s home. The lovely road was surrounded by trees, and a cottage lay ahead.
“Oh thank goodness this place isn’t flattened!” sighed Bubble in relief.
“Do you want to come to our house everypony, or will we go to Bubble’s or Emerald’s?” asked Aqua.
“We need shelter now. Let’s go into yours.” Replied Frost Bite. Aqua looked around at us, before nodding and trotting down the road.
I shivered almost uncontrollably, freezing. My hooves felt like they had already frozen.
We reached the door, and some little sheep ran to the fences near it. Aqua smiled to her friends.
“Yes, I’m back.” She said, before opening up her house. We all hurriedly followed her in.
The house wasn’t very warm, because Aqua had been in Laheb City for almost a week. She whipped her head around, throwing on all the lights. I shot a jet of my fiery magic into the fire-place, filling the place with warmth.
“Everypony get dry in front of the fire, I’ll get us something to eat and drink.” Said the blue unicorn, trotting off into the kitchen.
I put my hooves near the flame. Ah. It was so warm. The others were also clearly satisfied. It felt as though I hadn’t had warmth on me in years, even though it was only a day. And although my own made was fire, I couldn’t really feel it.
In a few minutes Aqua came back over, in her magic levitating some things to have. There was some tea, coffee, toast and biscuits.
“Wow, you’re quick!” exclaimed Moon Flash, as Aqua put the food down on the carpet. I grabbed a biscuit and a cup, pouring some coffee. I was rather hungry. I stuffed the biscuit into my mouth and before I’d even swallowed tipped the coffee down.
“Careful, Solar, you’ll choke.” Joked Frost Bite, getting some tea. I sniffed.
“Everypony warm?” asked Aqua, who was still soaking wet.
“Yes, but Aqua, you need to get warm! Sit down; I’ll grab some blankets for all of you.” Said Emerald, standing and trotting down the hall.
“The cupboard’s on the left!” Aqua called out. I heard Emerald answer.
“So, what do you think is going on?” asked Rainbow Bliss.
“And what were those things that cornered us in the square? They were totally ready to kill us!” Moon Flash agreed with her sister.
“Aqua? You said something back there.” I put in. She looked up at me.
“Well… I think they were Hiems.” She said. “But I’m not sure.”
Before I could answer, Emerald entered the room with a whole pile of blankets in her magic, which she dumped on the floor. “Yay! Matching colours!” she giggled.
“Your artistic side shows even in the strangest of times.” Smiled Bubble, grabbing a yellow blanket that matched her magic aura.
I picked out an orange blanket and wrapped it around my shivering body. Ah. That felt better. I got some more coffee.
“So, tell us more about these ‘Hiems’.” Said Frost.
“Hold on, I have a book.” Aqua replied. She turned her head around and got a book off the shelf behind us. She levitated it down.
“Wait, a story book?” I said in surprise. “Aqua, these are for little fillies.”
“No! There’s one story that may help us… I don’t remember it very well, but the illustration and story matched the appearance of the creatures in the city.” She opened the book, looked at the contents, and flicked to a page.
“Read it out.” Said Lunar.
Aqua cleared her throat. “Long ago, when the Jewel Empire was just emerging as a lovely, civilised kingdom, there was a King and a Queen. They ruled the land well, and all the subjects adored them. But one day, the kingdom began to get covered in snow and ice. The villages were frozen. The royals knew they had to do something, but what?
“So the king decided to send off his best Pegasus soldiers to fight the storm. They fought hard, and the king was proud. But they were not powerful enough. All the soldiers were hurt and could not do any difference, so they were called back.
“A month passed, and the storms over the kingdom raged on. The King and Queen were very worried, but they remained in their castle, growing scared. While they hid in the safe walls of Laheb City, the citizens of the Empire died.
“Then one night, the Queen was awakened by a strange noise. She walked outside, and called out. ‘Hello? Hello? Is anypony there?” she called. All of a sudden thunder crashed, and the Queen fell. She looked up at the sky and saw a dark shape against the lightning that flashed over and over,” Suddenly Moon Flash butted in.
“Guys, this is just a little filly’s tale! Aqua, we need something better,”
“No! Let her read.” Argued Rainbow Bliss. Flash opened her mouth to retaliate, but Rainbow shoved a hoof into her mouth.
Aqua read again. “The foolish Queen asked who it was, so the creature answered. ‘I am the Queen of Hiems, and I have come to take your kingdom!’ the thing cackled. The Queen was scared. She ran back into the castle, and yelled out for the King. He ran to her, and he wondered what was going on. When she told him, he was determined to stop it. The two lit their horns, sparks flying, and ran out the door into the storm. The Hiem Queen thought they were very funny, and laughed. But the King and Queen knew better. They suddenly blasted the creature with their magic and it hit her, as well as the storm above. It destroyed the things that screamed inside, and suddenly everything disappeared.
“The storm was over. The King and Queen announced that nothing would attack the kingdom again, and all the ponies cheered. They promised that the things would never return, and that everything was safe for eternity.” Aqua finished and showed the illustration to everypony.
“Guys. This story is terrible. It’s badly written, no moral, and totally unrealistic.” Said Moon Flash, putting her coffee cup down.
“But it’s true Flash!” argued Rainbow.
“But it doesn’t even make sense!” said Frost.
“It’s all true! It matches what’s happening!” cried Bubble, leaping up.
“It’s a little filly’s story. Why would you believe it?” huffed Flash.
“Because it’s precisely what is happening 3000 years later!” yelled Emerald.
“But,”
“ENOUGH!” cried Lunar, leaping up onto the couch. “Over the top of this we’re going to get a swarm of Windigoes if you don’t quit arguing!” she huffed, and we all silenced. Wow. She could really get angry if she wanted.
“Sorry Lunar.” Whispered Emerald.
“OK.” Lunar put her hoof to her forehead. “Put your hoof up if you think this story is real and that we should investigate further.” Rainbow, Bubble, Emerald and Aqua raised their hooves. “And who thinks that this is absolute rubbish and that we should let the royals sort everything out.” Frost, Flash, and I put up our hooves.
“Hey, looks like it’s true!” said Emerald triumphantly, biting into a biscuit.
“But Lunar didn’t even vote.” Added Frost. “Lunar, who are you going to side with?”
“Hey, it’s not siding, what did I say about Windigoes?” joked my sister nervously. “Look, I don’t want to do anything right now. Let’s just finish our meal, get warm and get some sleep.” She then said, jumping down from the couch. And her words were final. We all began drinking and nibbling once again.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from King Whirlwind's point of view.

“No, no, NO!” cried Aka. “This can’t be happening! It can’t, be, happening!” Tears streamed down her cheeks while her eyes were full of rage.
“It’s OK, just,” I started.
“No, Whirlwind! It’s not OK!” she wailed. “It’s awful! How is this OK? Latinix has got the Empire! Our daughters have vanished!”
I didn’t really know what to say. She was right. And how on earth were we ever supposed to face her?
“Well, what about the Jewel?” I offered. She whipped around.
“Well… maybe. I don’t know. Would it work on those… things?” she said, waving her hoof at the window. I looked outside. Rain, snow and hail hammered everything, lightning flashing and thunder booming. I continued to hear the screeching.
“Should we send soldiers out?” asked Storm Cloud, who had been silently pacing the room for the past hour.
“No. No, Storm, we can’t.” replied Aka. “We can’t risk the lives of so many Pegasi.”
“But the lives of every single pony in the Empire is at risk!” he retaliated.
“But do you think risking more lives will help?” she said. Storm opened his mouth. “That was rhetorical.” he closed it.
There was silence for a little while. We were totally stuck.
“We need more soldiers. We can’t just let this pass!” said Storm in frustration. “But the Empire doesn’t have any more!”
“Oooh!” groaned Aka. I’d never seen her in such frustration. I came up and put a hoof around her neck. I gave her a quick, comforting hug.
“Ssh. Come on, we’ll have a meeting with the other royals.” I said.
Aka sighed heavily. “OK.” She said weakly.

* * *
Storm and I marched into the planning room. Seated around a large, round wooden table were all the foreign royals and 4 of the knights. I took a chair near Aka and levitated a huge map of the Empire and surrounding countries into the centre.
I unrolled it. Silence. The only sound was Gamila shakily sobbing from fear. Her father tried to comfort her.
“Do you have a plan? What is the meaning of this?” asked King Kaizari.
“Yes. Well, a bit of a plan. But we desperately need your help. It’s absolutely essential.” I said seriously to everypony in the room.
“And what are your expectations?” asked Princess Luna, narrowing her eyes in curiosity.
“If you will agree… we need an army.” I said. “A huge one. The biggest army any kingdom has ever seen. If we want to overcome these… Hiems, we’re going to need a very powerful force. Aka and I need to know if we can borrow your soldiers.”
At my words, everypony around the room turned to each other, muttering and whispering. What were they thinking? Were they going to be selfish and decide not to risk their soldiers, or the opposite?
Aka, Storm and I watched as the others made their decisions. In a moment everypony was silent. I went around the circle to ask of their choice.
“Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?” I asked.
“King Whirlwind and Queen Aka, Luna and I have decided that our Equestrian army would be honoured to help the Jewel Empire’s soldiers in this war.” Said Celestia.
“Oh, Celestia! Thank you so much!” exclaimed Aka.
“It’s the least we could do. After all, I already promised Storm Cloud and the Princesses we’d help in any way we could.” The Sun Princess replied.
“Princess Cadence? Prince Shining Armour?” asked Storm.
“Of course! It’ll be the Crystal Army’s top priority and duty to help you.” Replied Shining Armour.
We all smiled, then moved on.
“Emperor Apis and Empress Vespula?” I said.
“Ha! As if we wouldn’t! We can’t sign the Declaration of Peace without helping in this war!” said Apis in determination, with Vespula nodding beside him. “We may even be able to train our changelings to become Hiems.”
“Perfect! You’re army has a very efficient power. It will be useful. Thank you.” Replied Aka.
“Prince Ameer? Princess Sabwa?” she then asked the horses.
“I did say before; we need to help. Sabwa has now bravely agreed to become part of it.” Said Ameer. Sabwa smiled weakly and shrunk back.
“Thank you. King Kaizari and Queen Malaika?” said Storm.
“But of course, Aka and Whirlwind. It is our duty.” Replied Malaika.
“Thank you so much! All of you are so generous to offer your help in the war!” I exclaimed, receiving many smiles. “But there only remains one problem. And that’s why I brought the map. We don’t know how we are going to get the armies into the Empire without getting spotted by the Hiems. I’m sure Latinix has definitely thought of that. We need to find an area where we can get the soldiers in uncaught.”
“Wait! Unless we have separate army bases around the Empire and outside, making us stronger!” exclaimed Shining Armour, placing his hoof upon the map.
There were some nods and mumbles. That was a good idea!
“Wait, forgive me, but we haven’t thought of or planned any search for the Princesses.” Said Cadence.
My heart sunk. That. I didn’t know what was more important. Leading an army or finding my daughters… I sat in silence for a moment, breathing heavily down on the table. What decision did I need to make? I drew in a deep breath.
“I need to go and find them.” I said. Aka looked at me.
“Whirlwind, you,”
“No. You, Storm and the other royals need to lead the soldiers to battle. I need to find our daughters and bring them home.” I replied.
“Oh, Whirl. That’s so brave of you.” She said. She was about to say more but I replied.
“We’ll talk more later.”

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Princess Wildfire's point of view.

My eyes slowly fluttered open. I groaned, rolled over, and sat up.
Ugh, it was finally morning. That really did take a while. My eyes were all blurry with drowsiness and I shook my head.
Wait.
My surroundings were a lot less than familiar. There was no bed. No windows. No floor. No furniture.
I was not in my bedroom. I began to panic.
Where the freaking hell was I? I leapt swiftly to my hooves and looked around. There was literally nothing. But as I began to spin around, looking for well, anything, I suddenly felt cold. Freezing. Icy wind lashed my body and I shivered.
What was happening? Where was my room? Where was the warmth? How did I get here?
I didn’t even have my jewellery on and my fiery mane was tied messily at the end. The place I was before was definitely my room. I had been in bed, in my bedroom.
I needed help. Maybe somepony else was there too? I peered into the pure whiteness. I looked down at my hooves, and saw they were treading on ice and snow. Snowflakes swirled everywhere.

“Mother? Father? Sparkle Flame?” I called into the nothingness. “Fighter? Hello? Is anypony there? Help me!”
I shivered again. My brain spun. There was no explanation! Nothing at all came to mind! I couldn’t just come here without teleporting myself. And even if somepony else teleported me, I would’ve woken during the process.
“Help! Help! Somepony! Anypony! Where is everything?” I yelled, the cold hurting my throat. I looked up into the sky, only to see the blackest of clouds swirling above, rain and snow pouring out onto me.
I whimpered and trotted forward a bit. My pace picked up. I began to gallop. I yelled out as I galloped ever faster, calling and yelling out for help, for company.
“Where am I? Where am I?” I called over and over. “Somepony please come! Show yourself, please!”
I ran and ran, but nothing came into sight. The whiteness was infinite, blocking my vision of everything around. I shut my eyes as tears squeezed their way out, and the bitter cold continued to gnaw away at me.
After about a minute of running, I suddenly slipped. My hoof collapsed beneath me and I screamed. I tumbled head-over-heels as I fell down an icy slope. I tried to stop myself but I couldn’t, and I just kept falling. I screamed again as I slipped up onto an ice ledge then fell off, coming down with a hard thump onto a snow-covered rock halfway down the hill.
“Ow…” I groaned, standing shakily. I looked around once again. Nothing! The snow just wouldn’t let me see further!
The question was stilling whizzing around my head. Where was I? Was I even in the Jewel Empire?
I began to sob, the tears flowing. But they were quickly frozen, making my cheeks sore.
So I just wailed. I cried out, projecting my weak voice as far as I could, not knowing where it reached.
“HELP ME!” I yelled. I was terrified! What if I died in this barren desert of ice? In this unknown, clearly isolated wasteland?
I shuddered and began walking again. I peered ahead, and saw the rock I stood upon led along the side of the hill. I edged over it, being careful not to slip again. I walked over until I saw a higher, steeper snowy hill baring down over me.
And on the edge was a cave. If I could just fly over there… I couldn’t fly too high, because flying in storms like this was terribly dangerous, especially in my state. I glanced around nervously, before spreading my wings. I swooped over to the my target, the wind trying its best to knock me offcourse.
“Come on!” I groaned, flapping harder. All of a sudden I was out of the wind current, and I stumbled down into the cave. The rock hit my shoulder hard. I groaned and looked at my surroundings.
What I relief! It was an actual cave. It was rather spacious, with piles of snow here and there. Icicles hung from stalagmites upon the ceiling, and the corners offered protection from the wind.
I shivered, looking towards the entrance. I walked over to a corner, and used my magic to push some snow out of my way. I made a little bed and curled up, wondering what I was going to do now.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Princess Sparkle Flame's point of view.

“Stop! Stop! STOP!” I yelled, throwing my head in all directions. My blue magic lashed at the storm above and around me, but absolutely nothing was working. I was almost the most advanced magician in the entire Empire, but my magic could not control this.
Snowflakes, hail and rain blocked my vision, and thunder boomed overhead. My bare hooves were partly buried in snow, freezing me. I was soaked to the bone.
“Why aren’t you working?” I cried in anger, continuing my mad magic outburst. “What is wrong with you?”
OK, now I was going crazy. I was yelling at my horn.
I sighed and broke of, shuddering. It wasn’t going to work. I was just going to drain my energy.
But a question was whizzing around me. Where was I? Judging by the light it was nearly dusk, and I had been stuck in this horrid place all day. The last thing I remembered was bidding my sisters goodnight, and falling asleep. What seemed like forever later I found myself in a pile of snow on a ledge which I’d almost fallen off.
And all day this weather didn’t go away. The storm didn’t pass, and the clouds blocked the sun. It felt like it was night, but I knew it wasn’t quite yet. It was just dark. And I couldn’t see more than about five metres in front of me.
I was cold, wet, and scared. I didn’t even know how I got here! Sure, magic does some very odd things, but I’d have to know somewhere existed for me to teleport! And I’d also remember if I did. I didn’t have any wine before I went to bed, which was the thing most likely to muddle my memory.
I took a shaky breath, being careful not to cry. I was brave. I was strong.
Oh hell, I missed my sisters.
I whined and began to walk. The ground was flat and it kept going forever. There was no end to this horrid place. I folded my wings tight against my freezing body as I stumbled along.

* * *
After hours of seemingly aimless wandering, it was fully dark. Not that I could see the stars and moon, however. My only source of light was the occasional flash of lightning, but I couldn’t see a thing besides that.
My tears were frozen upon my cheeks, my throat aching from wailing. I sniffled and looked up, shivering.
Before me towered a big hill scattered with rocks. Ugh, I’d have to climb over. I put my hoof onto a stone when all of a sudden something caught my eye.
Through the swirling snow I saw a small orange glimmer. Interesting… I narrowed my eyes and took a few steps towards it. The glow came from the hillside. It was a relief to see light, but it was very suspicious. A fire was impossible to start in this place.
I groaned a little from aching muscles as I staggered to another rock. I used my wings for support and gently flapped them to help me.
I walked gently over a stretch of rock, drawn in by the flickering light. It was coming from a cave. I went closer and peered in.
There was a fire alright. Burning without fuel, levitated above the rock floor. It illuminated the place. Wow! I didn’t know fire could do that.
“Hello? Is anypony there?” I called in. I heard a gasp.
“Who goes there?” squeaked a voice in fear. So familiar…
“Wildfire? Wild, is that you?” I asked. I stepped inside. Out of the shadows came a white alicorn with fiery mane.
“Sparkle Flame!” yelped Wild, launching herself at me. She threw her forehooves around my neck and I hugged her back. “I didn’t think anypony else was here!”
“Oh Wildfire! You’re safe!” we broke apart. “How did you get here as well?”
“I was just about to ask you that.” Muttered Wildfire. “Now I’m stuck.”
“How are we going to survive here?” I groaned. “There’s no food and the water’s all frozen. But how did you made that fire?”
“I don’t know… I just needed it so bad. I guess my magic managed.” Shrugged my sister.
“You have very different powers to us Wild.” I said. She looked at me suspiciously, but let it pass.
“I really hope Fighter’s OK. What if she’s not even in this place? What if she’s still back at the Empire?” she said instead.
“I wouldn’t know. This place is like a nightmare. I don’t know what’s real, I don’t know where I am, and it’s terrifying.” I sighed helplessly.
“I’m a little happier that you’re here.” Replied Wildfire, lying beside her little flame.
“Yeah, it’s nice to see you too. I just wish I could see home.”

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Princess/Generald Fire-Fighter's point of view.

“Help! Help! Help me, somepony please!” I cried, kicking hard. The water was freezing and icy, grasping my body and pulling me under. The ice walls beside me were too high to climb out, and both my wings were injured. “Somepony help me!” I wailed.
My throat was sore from screaming, making it hard for me to make big breaths. I’d attempted to teleport out of here multiple times, but I was just swallowed in flames before getting puked back to the place I started. Why wasn’t anything working?
I didn’t even know where I was! I woke up in a pile of snow, and began wandering aimlessly calling for help. I went out onto a frozen lake, before I accidentally fell into a hole in the ice. It was dark and I couldn’t see a thing; I was terrified.
As I sunk beneath the surface again, I yelled. “Help! Help! Is anypony there? Please get me out!” I screamed, bubbles exploding from my mouth. My lungs felt like they were getting smaller from exhaustion.
I kicked with all my strength and came up. I was crying by now. How much longer was I going to survive here? And was there anypony in this wasteland that could help me?
I sobbed again and went beneath. Looking around underwater, I saw that the surface for miles around was covered in ice. And even if there was a place to get out, I’d have no breath left.
I went back up. My tiny ice-hole had one and a half metre high edges, and was very narrow. I kept my wings by my side, the pain from them slashing through me.
I coughed, using up my energy. My lungs felt like they had only enough breath left for me to hold on as I sunk back below.

* * *
I felt a hot glow against my freezing face. My fringe dripped down my forehead. Pain cut through me. I blinked. A shiver ran through my body.
Then I heard voices.
“Look, Sparkle, she’s awake!” I heard a whisper.
“Hmm?” I groaned, shifting my legs.
“Fighter? Are you OK?” whispered a familiar voice.
Sparkle Flame!
“Sparkle? Is that you?” I saw a pink shape come over me. Then a white shape. “Wildfire?”
“Oh, Fighter! You’re awake!” squealed Wildfire, throwing herself down and hugging me around my neck. I winced.
“Ooow…” I groaned. I lifted my wing as I sat up. “My wings…”
“Oh, are they sore?” asked Sparkle nervously. “We just found you a few metres in the water after hearing your cries for help. Wildfire and I needed to get you safe before you drowned or froze to death.” At that, Wildfire nuzzled me.
“Oh, thank you so much! If you hadn’t been there, I would’ve drowned or froze to death…” I shivered and looked at the glow. It was a small fire, levitated off the ground with no fuel. Wow, I didn’t even know that was possible.
I was about to ask when I felt another pain jolt through me. “Ow! Oh, they really hurt.” I groaned.
“Here, let me see.” Said Sparkle gently. She lay down, replacing Wildfire, and I held out my wing to her.
This one was bent back nastily, as I had slipped down a hill and broken it. Sparkle bit her lip and lit up her horn, sending ribbons of blue light down. They began to swirl around the wing-bones. She nodded and I shifted around, showing her my other wing. What are the chances I’d hurt both? It got it caught on a sharp rocky overhang, which gave me a huge cut from the bend in my wing to the top of my shoulder.
“Oh, that is nasty.” Muttered Wildfire, as Sparkle performed the same spell as before. I felt a searing, boiling, painful sensation run through both wings, and I yelled out.
“Ssh! If it feels like that it should be working.” Said Sparkle, concentrating to make sure both spells worked.
In a few moments the blue light disappeared. I looked at both wings.
“Wow! It worked! Thanks so much!” I exclaimed, beaming at Sparkle Flame.
“OK, well we should all get some rest now. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the morning.”

* * *
I awoke to the sound of swirling wind. I got a fright and opened my eyes, seeing Wildfire and Sparkle Flame next to me. Sparkle had her wings over both of us, sound asleep.
I shook my head and carefully got out from underneath her pink and purple wing. I quietly trotted over to the entrance of the cave.
The storm swirled uncontrollably outside, coating everything in sight with snow. Lightning flashed, lighting up the dark surroundings. The black clouds just wouldn’t let the sun in. I sighed. Where was home?
I was just about to go and lie down again when I heard a noise.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
I gasped and looked around. Over by the door I suddenly saw ice forming. It covered the rock around the ceiling in a thing layer of crystally ice, ever so slowly.
It was sealing up the entrance.
“Sparkle! Wild! Sparkle Flame wake up!” I shrieked, charging over to them. “Wake up now we’re in trouble!” I yelled in panic. I glanced at the entrance again. The ice was creeping inwards.
“Huh? What?” groaned Wildfire. Seeing my panic-stricken face she jumped to her hooves. “What? What’s happening?”
“Sparkle! Sparkle Flame get up!” I yelled into the princess’s ear.
“Pardon?” she moaned.
“Get up!” I cried, before suddenly hearing Wildfire gasp.
“Oh no! The entrance!” she shrieked.
Sparkle Flame stood, looking around.
“The ice! The ice is freezing us in!” I yelled.
“Let’s get out of here!” whined Wildfire.
Just as I was about to follow her out, I heard something.
“Ah, ah, aah!” purred a voice inside my head. What? “You little princesses don’t want to leave now.”
“Who are you?” whimpered Wildfire, cowering behind my leg, despite being nearly as tall as me.
“Good morning my little ponies! I hope you had a comfortable day in my beautiful kingdom.” hissed the voice. Even though she said those words, she sounded evil. “Oh, let me introduce myself. I am Queen Latinix. I rule over the Hiems, and of course, Death Points. I must add it’s a very pretty place, yes?”
“Hiems? Oh no…” muttered Sparkle.
“Oh yes. And we’re currently taking over your precious Empire. Oh my, that mother of yours is so completely helpless.” Sighed Latinix, mocking casualty. “But I’m surprised your father didn’t die when I deliberately sent my assassins to kill him. Must be tough. Tough, but stupid. Stupid enough to not listen to you three until it was too late.”
“What? No!” yelled Wildfire.
Latinix laughed wickedly. It sounded like screeching. “Amusing, is it not? Another thing that completely made my day was leaving you three here in this wasteland. Your prison.” I glanced at the entrance. It was sealing up fast.
“Oh sweet Celestia, no… we’re in Death Points!” gasped Sparkle.
“Yes! And you’re never getting out. See, your prison is a flat, icy, blizzardy hell. Surrounding it are the tallest of mountains. You can’t fly over, because you’ll get killed by the storm. You can’t climb over, because there is no oxygen at the peaks. And you can’t teleport over, because I’ve taken away your power to teleport. Mainly for fun.” Laughed Latinix, enjoying herself. Her laugh echoed through my head. I was horrible. “And now, my amusement for next few weeks will be to watch you slowly die. To watch each other die. Whether you fall of a cliff, drown, are frozen to death, or die from starvation, it doesn’t matter. Well, I need to go and continue destroying the Jewel Empire. Goodbye forever, princesses!”
And with that, her voice disappeared.
“Quick! No time to think! Get through that hole in the ice!” cried Sparkle.
“You go first, you’re the tallest!” I yelled. Sparkle ran and jumped through the tiny hole in the ice. I nodded to Wildfire and ran at it to, springing off the ground. I landed in the snow next to my sister. Wild gasped and charged toward it. Folding her wings tight, she jumped and zipped through the hole. As she fell down with a thud, there was a crack and the ice sealed up, blocking the cave entrance.
“No! Latinix is going to kill us! She’ll kill everypony in the Empire! It’s all over!” yelled Sparkle, pacing. Wildfire, clearly terrified, began to cry. Sparkle put her wing over her. I took and shaky breath, holding back the tears, and snuggled up with them too.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Princess Flare point of view. She is from Volglacia. Art of her done by the amazing shewolf28!

My hooves were sore and cracked from walking so far, my whole body covered in sweat from the volcanos around. But as well as the sweat came frost bite, which was the stupidly harsh reality of my home.
I sighed and started up a dusty, dirty hill. Huge piles of snow lay everywhere, and smoke rose as the earth cracked open. Lava spilled out, and I casually ignored it. I was so used to this.
All of a sudden as I reached the top of the slope, there was a flash before my eyes. A puff of red flames erupted in front of me out of thin air.
A letter? For me? Oh, maybe it was Wildfire. I smiled, glad to finally get a letter back from her.
I levitated the piece of paper and unrolled it. Then I began to read.
Princess Flare. You must help us. Please. Come to Laheb City Palace immediately. You MUST use teleportation.
Signed,
Queen Aka.
Aka? What? What did she want? Why was it so urgent? Why did I need to use teleportation? If the Jewel Empire’s Queen needed me, I was there. I would remain loyal to them forever.
I began to charge down the slope, thinking of the palace. All of a sudden my body was engulfed in violet flames and I was sucked into the Empire.

* * *
I was violently thrown onto the floor of the palace. My body hit the marble and I groaned.
“Oh, what?” I stood up. I heard some yells and galloping hooves, as Storm Cloud and Aka bolted over to me.
“Oh, Flare! You’re here! Thank goodness.” Sighed Aka. “We need your help. We can’t do this alone,”
“Do what? What’s happened? Is anypony in trouble?” I cried, panicking.
“Yes, Flare. The entire kingdom’s in trouble. And there’s something else that might give you a fright…” replied Storm.
My eyes widened and pupils dilated. What…?
“The Princesses have been kidnapped.” Sighed Aka shakily.
“What?” I shrieked. “The Princesses? Oh no! By who?”
“Queen Latinix. Ruler of the Hiems. We thought they were extinct, but they’re alive. And Latinix wants the Empire ‘back.’ And she’s pretty damn powerful; no magic seems to be able to stop her.” Said Storm seriously.
I felt myself hyperventilate. Wildfire! Sparkle! Fighter! Kidnapped! My best friends…
“How can I help?” I asked bravely.
“Well, there’s two options. You can either help us organise the soldiers for battle… or help Whirlwind find the Princesses.” Replied Aka. I looked at my silver hooves in thought. What was I going to do? Would the Prince and Queen need the help of a foreigner, or would Whirlwind need help on a wild quest for his daughters? And who would help him if he got into danger? I drew in a deep breath.
“Whirlwind. I can’t let the king go alone. We can’t risk his life so much.” I said.
“Are you sure, Flare?” asked Storm cautiously. I closed my eyes and nodded.
“OK.” Said Aka, in finality. She lit up her horn and began sending a mind message to Whirlwind. She waited a few seconds, before she nodded.
“He’s in the courtyard, giving final orders to his soldiers. Go and tell him what you’re doing, I just said that you want to see him.” She said to me. “He will be leaving immediately, so I wish you good luck, Princess Flare.” The Queen smiled, and gave me a small hug. I had known her for so long, and she was my only mother. Mine was, well, interesting.
I smiled to Storm and took off, charging out of the room. I galloped down a corridor and flight of steps, bursting out a door. I was in a hall leading to the courtyard. I trotted over, opened the door, and made my way out into the morning light.
Lined up in neat rows were about 100 armoured stallions, saluting a figure at the front. Whirlwind stood there yelling orders out. In small groups, ponies began teleporting and flying off, as the King pointed and cried out. I quietly walked along the edge of the courtyard by the wall, watching it all.
I waited a few moments as each and every soldier disappeared. When they had gone, Whirlwind noticed me.
“Flare! Oh, it’s lovely to see you. However, on such a bad note.” He sighed. “Aka said you want me.”
“Yes, your majesty, I do.” I replied nervously. “Aka told me about your quest to find your daughters. She allowed me to come and assist you. And you probably need somepony in case something happens.”
“Oh, child that’s so nice of you, but,” he started.
“I have to come! And it’s not just you I’m worried about. It’s the Princesses. And many hooves make light work.” I added with a small smile.
“Well, it will be dangerous. Are you sure you’re up to it?” he asked, with caution edging his voice.
I puffed out my chest. “Of course! I lived almost my entire life with nopony to care for me; I’m as tough as nails.” I said. He chuckled.
“OK, Flare. Here, hold on,” he said. He lit up his horn and all of a sudden a pile of shiny silver pieces of armour clattered down onto the cobblestone out of thin air. “Armour. You’ll need it.” He said. I smiled and used my magic to assemble the pieces upon my body. In a few moments it was done, and I looked at myself.
“Awesome!” I cried.
“Armour suits you.” Said the King, turning to the gates of the courtyard.
“Wait! Won’t we need supplies?” I asked, running up beside him.
“No, don’t worry about that. The thing we need to worry about now is getting this monstrosity of a storm and out of the Empire.” He replied, beating his huge wings. He flew upwards, and I followed. I just noticed that the entire palace was surrounded in a massive orange force-field, and outside was the biggest storm I’d ever seen. And Laheb City was half-buried in snow.
“Wow.” I muttered.