Endless Winterlands - A Prologue of Soul

For your consideration, DM chosen appropriate music:

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The time we begin with is the morning of a late summer's day, in the grounds of the Kingdom. The sun's light, barely piercing the thick cloud layer over the kingdom, could scarcely shine onto the keep of the Dragon King, his castle an enormous construct, formed from black rock and stretching into the sky. Smaller towers extended just away from the main castle, each owned by a Dragon Lord, or other members of the nobility. Between them, and indeed across the whole of the castle's surrounding wall, massive torches burned with the fierce orange glow of dragonfire, keeping the entire area warm and free of any hint of ice. Indeed, to look out on the world from the King's tower, it might appear that the earth itself was ablaze.

Such was the view that one young filly, a unicorn by the name of High Note, would likely see by the end of the day. And as she stirred, so too did the beginning of something... Magical.

High Note stirred from an uneasy slumber... right into the bright morning sunlight . She jumped to her hooves, berating herself for having slept in for even a few seconds, and quickly prepared for another day as her best friend's slave, which was actually pretty fun, for the both of them. She galloped down to the main chamber of where her family of dragons could expect to find her on an ordinary day, awaiting orders.

Rather than find the tranquility of the daily family life, however, today was a day where the patience of the dragon clan would be put to the test. Ashe was nowhere to be seen, Ember was busy studying in the Royal Library, and the Lord of the house was frantically working through scrolls upon scrolls of paper. As he sat hunched over his truly massive desk within the sprawling main chamber, the gold covered walls and crimson walls went red with frustration as the Lord's nostrils flared with frustration... And fire.

He did notice High Note entering, right on time, however. "Good morning, High Note... I expect everything is well with you. I apologize for the fire... The Gem Tribute has become rather complicated this month... Regardless, I would ask that you go about your duties for a round about the house... When you are done, I have a different task for you." The absurdly tall black dragon gazed down at the yellow unicorn, a low rumble escaping his throat as an equivalent to a sigh. The Lord was, evidently, stressed beyond his normal expectations, though High Note's cheerful attitude was a small comfort.

"Okie-dokie!" She'd just cleaned the entire house the day before, so she went directly to checking the stock of food items in the kitchen. She went through all the cabinets (literally - she was small enough compared to them to walk right through them without disturbing anything) and took a tally in her head of what was running low, and what they were out of. When she was done with the cabinets, she wrapped herself in some thick blankets, and went through the cold box, for the few things that would spoil in the warmth generated by the dragons. When she was done in the kitchen, she grabbed a scrap of paper and a chunk of charcoal and quickly wrote down what would need replacing or needed to be stocked up on, and the respective average price at the market for each of these items. Eggs sure were a popular breakfast this week.

High Note's duties went by a weekly schedule, each day she was supposed to do a different thing. Mondays she cleaned the house, Tuesdays she went shopping, Wednesdays she would take Ashe's books back to the library, Thursdays she would clean the house again, Fridays she would clean the beds, Saturdays she would take Ashe's books back to the library again, and Sundays she had most of the day off (though she usually just spent them with Ember).

As the day waned on, and High Note continued to defeat chore after chore, life continued on around her. Massive, heavily armed guards would sweep by the windows, their wingbeats shaking the books on the shelves and paintings on the wall. The sun marched onward, and eventually, High Note's routine came to a close.

By the time she was free to return to the main hall, however, Ashe's father had already left; leaving behind a tied, small scroll for the young unicorn.

My dear High Note, my little pony, there is more to a Dragon Lord's life than counting gems. So I am sending you to observe the preparations for this month's Gem Tribute, in my domain; Wyvernshire. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete... Make sure Ashe is able to do the same and keep the ponies on track. I will be sending him after you soon, you are to make sure he does not fail at this, his first trial task. There is an Earth Pony chariot waiting for you at the front gate, please take it to Wyvernshire as soon as you are able. You will then be asked to check in on the list of ponies I have listed below.

Below that, a list of names and locations were scrawled, almost hastily.

Wondering when the massive dragon had gotten so adept at writing such small letters so legibly, High Note went down to the front gate to wait for Ashe, humming a cheery little tune in the meantime.

Cheery Little Tune:

"...Come aboard, miss Note. We are due to depart for Wyvernshire." The dry, deep voice of one of the Earth Ponies rumbled forth from the chariot. Pawing the ground, the other merely snorted frustration. "Unicorn..." He muttered under his breath hatefully.

High Note face-hooved. "Silly me, I must have misunderstood the letter!" She quickly hopped into the chariot, still humming.

As the chariot finally pulled into town, High Note cheerfully hopped out and looked around to get her bearings.

Flashpoint saw the chariot pull up. Probably a Dragon-lover, probably here to impose some new tax addition or rule, or see something about the mines. "Word of advice," he spat at her, walking by, "stay far away from the mines. You'll never see sky again." He snapped his tail behind him as he kept walking, still looking for that guard.

Before High Note could reply to the brown pegasus, she was approached by a blue guard pegasus, and upon his offer of help, smiled at him happily. "Well, I was sent here by my dragon master to look for this list of ponies, but I have no idea who they are or where I they should be. Do you know where I might find them?" She shows him the list, which is only a few names long.