Chapter 4: Derelict Peak

A large door is being wheeled into place, the white pony behind it ready to make her grand entrance, the curtain is ready to rise. Her purple friend waits at the other side of the stage, looking expectantly at the door. She takes a deep breath, and steps forward.

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Two frenzied leaders were dragged out of the front door buy their entourages, leaving the one princess seated at the table looking disdainfully up at the ceiling with her servant and confidant seated next to her.

Soon, the last of the others left with a slamming door and an armor clad pony waving her fist in anger getting shut outside in the cold. The princess smiled at this, and looked around the earth pony home. It was slowly growing dimmer as the fire crackled down to a its last few embers leaving the high arches of the dining hall in shadow. She walked slowly out making sure to tread on the apple embossed on the floor, trailed by Clover the Clever as she opened the door with her hoof to let in the cold blizzard air. Stepping out, she proceeded to stand next to the carraige door. Her driver closed the door behind Clover, leaving the apple to be forever more, in shadow.

“Let us be off! Driver open the door, I’m freezing” she called as the shivering pony magically opened the carriage door for the impatient princess, “Hurry on home, I never want to see this place again!”

The carriage groaned on its magically enhanced wheels, and inched forward gaining speed as the pullers fell into the pace set by the driver’s calls. Inside the carriage was the princess now sitting grumpily upon a mattress being tended by her servant.

“Milady, what do you plan to do?”, said Clover as she sat down next to Platinum and looked at her expectantly.

“Well, I’ve about had it with these inferiors! They act like it is our fault! Shouldn’t the pegasi be blamed for this mess? They have been tending to the skies since before my,” she took a breath, “great-great-great-great-great grandmother was ruling!”, she cried with much gusto.

“I can’t say why the other ponies haven’t been very nice, after all we do suffer as much as them.”, Clover said dutifully to the fuming princess.

“Yes! The cold is too strong for even our magic! I fail to see how the inferiors can think that we are living in toasty homes and eating our fill! It has been the worst possible experience for the unicorns!”, she cried with indignation.

A rap sounded on the front of the carriage, “Milady, we are entering the gate town, I advise you not talk for a bit, the beggars are sure to come.”, said the nervous driver.

Their conversation at an abrupt end, Clover decided to open the small sun shaped window letting the light in the carriage spill out onto the desolate buildings they were passing by. Windows were boarded up, doors shut, and snow piled up everywhere. Figures sat in shadow in between houses, bundled up in blankets and unmoving. All that could be heard was the howling wind and the creaking of the carriage moving along the deserted streets.

The buildings themselves were hunched over as if braced against the cold. One house in particular drew her eye, it was a small cottage with a simple design, a black sign nailed to the front door labeled it as forsaken. There was nothing she could see in the dark windows, if she was able to peer into the glazed covers, she would have seen dusty furniture and pictures, memories left to the will of time. The main distinguishing feature was the front yard. Covered in snow, the yard was not particularly interesting nor did it have anything unique about it except for a small tombstone, the only thing not covered in the enveloping white substance, a wreath of withered flowers lay in front of it. She looked closely, trying to discern the scribbled name on the fading headstone, but something else caught her eye. Hidden under the flowers was a small and almost invisible hoof sticking out of the ground, a product of the hasty burial given to the deceased foal. She looked at the hoof with sadness, a child probably no more than a year old.

Looking around, she began to notice more graves like the one she had seen, buried in front of abandoned homes, any gifts already frozen solid in the freezing air. The sheer number of them astounded her. It was then that the living showed their faces, their eyes empty of happiness, the gaunt figures of starved unicorns stared out at the passing carriage, cold frowns on their faces. Then one unicorn, whose horn had cracked, and whose crazed eyes hinted at the madness that resided within, locked his eyes with hers, a mad grin slowly creasing his face as his pupils contracted and drifted slowly apart.

She closed the window, and proceeded to wait out the ride with her head in her hoofs, the laughter of the mad pony echoing behind them.

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The purple unicorn greeted her friend as she came in, asking of her as to how the meeting went. The white fashionista, now with her hoofs in a warm bath of water told of a rowdy meeting and her decision to leave this land for the better.

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The carriage rattled to a stop, conversation could be heard outside.

“We will be going straight to through the city to the palace!”, called the driver.

With a groan, the large wrought iron gate creaked open in front of them, its hinges long rusted through. The carriage slowly increased in speed, and passed under the once grand gateway, now barely cared for and covered in rust and frozen over. The capitol was populated with tall five story buildings, most of which were abandoned, falling into a state of disrepair. Roofs sagged into top floors, holes gaped from walls revealing the broken furniture laying overturned in cold rooms.

Almost immediately, the palace came into view, its elegant arches covered in snow.
They passed over the drawbridge, crossing over the moat now frozen solid. Coming to the entrance, the carriage halted, the door opened to the face of the driver peering in.

“The city is waiting for you inside.”, said the shivering driver.

“Excellent, I have prepared a speech for my subjects. I’m sure they will understand my logic.”, said the princess, stepping towards the open door.

They were greeted by the sight of the entire city staring expectantly at the two ponies. The entrance hall was well lit with magical fires that burned in bowls suspended from the ceiling maintained by the guard ponies flanking each and every door. The princess, unfazed walked regally through the crowd, followed by the nervous Clover. They proceeded through the grand entrance hall with elaborately illustrated depictions of the unicorns’ illustrious history, and up the stairs to the balcony where the princess cast a quick spell to amplify her voice and broke the silence by giving an announcement.

“I am the bearer of bad news, the inferior ponies have spit on us! They have refused any and all help! We must act on our own!” this was met by murmurs of agreement and approval, “I have made the decision that we are abandoning our cities! As glorious as they are, we can always rebuild! We shall begin anew far away and never speak of this blizzard again! Who is with me!?”

The crowd roared as they began discussing amongst themselves what to take and who they would travel with, gradually dispersing to pack and spread the word.

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Thunder crackled as the wendigos laughed at the three nation’s decisions, their master would be pleased at their progress, the plan was going according perfectly and was exceeding every expectation. Soon the war would begin, but for now, they still had more strings to pull.

Author's Note

So uh ya. Chapter 4 came out, hope you liked it. I didn't make it too dark, though it probably could have been worse. Like frozen corpses in the empty rooms. Anyway, I really appreciate you guys that read this, you are awesome, and I hope you still thought this was a good chapter.