Far away from Equestria, a small empire rose to its greatest heights and claimed all power...
It was all thanks to the almighty power of a rock, some legends tell it came from space; some say the planet cracked open and spit out another source of immense power….
The citizens of Blizzmoore may never know….
“Bleak! Bleak!! Hurry up honey!! The wind is getting stronger!!”
The Normand mother shouted in a worried way to her small filly who kept struggling with the luggage she was entitled with.
“Mother! Mother! I do not think I can keep going...My legs...They feel about to collapse…please tell me that we are close to our assigned cave”
Her Mother could see lights at the distance, their assigned cave was just a few meters away but the mother still felt like collapsing just like her daughter.With her husband gone she was forced to become the new leader of the tribe or what was left of it.
“Bleak!! I can see the cave...It is just a few more meters from here...don’t collapse just yet darling…”
Bleak Fog regained energy as her mother spoke and continued moving forward alongside of her new found strength, as well as her regained confidence.
As they were about to reach the cave Bleak Fog heard a voice coming from the south in the middle of the storm, she immediately turned around and saw a cloaked figure behind her with menacingly yellow eyes. Bleak felt as if the figure was staring into her soul.
“What does not kill us...Makes us stronger, and what goes up must go down”
The spectral figure then vanished into thin air and left Bleak with a confused look, she then turned around and saw that her mother was already inside the cave building a fire and had been waiting for her.
“Bleak! Stop dilly-dallying and get in this instant!!”
Her mother shouted angrily
“Sorry mother...”
Bleak hurried across the entrance and stepped into the cave, she then sighted in relief. Finally safe from the harsh and cold winter.
Bleak dropped the luggage to one side of the cave and then started setting up her sleeping place which included a white pillow made of chicken feathers and one long fuzzy cover made of fox hide.
Once her bed was done she stared at the walls of the cave and realized how small the it was, she was standing on the far end of it while her mother slept peacefully near the entrance next to the fire she had built.
With one last look at the small cave she snuck under her cover and closed her eyes to escape the harsh reality and in to the land of dreams.
The small filly found herself in the middle of all the star constellations, they merged after a minute and created a giant pony in the sky made of stars, a comet then came and blasted the pony in half as Bleak was washed away by a current of tears that feel from the empty eye holes of the constellation pony.
The small filly now found herself in some kind of underground tunnel that was divided in half with two distinguishing colors, red and blue. From each side a pony emerged, two unicorns...One red and one blue
They both fired a beam from their horns that once they clashed it created a huge explosion that tore the dream apart and made Bleak open her eyes.
Once again it was time to face reality…it was her duty as a Normand to keep moving.
Bleak got out of her covers and approached her mother quietly; she put a hoof on her head and slowly shook it.
“Mom...Mom...Mo-“
No words came out of her mouth as she noticed her mother was pale blue and her skin was as hard as a rock. She was frozen
“Mom!! Mom!!”
She desperately shook the frozen mare and cried uncontrollably as worry and sadness grew on her.
“I...No...I can still melt the ice...The sun is out...”
Bleak desperately pushed the block of ice that was once her mother out into the cold, the sun was out but the winter storm persisted more than ever before.
“Please...I beg of you...Please…melt it”
Bleak spoke with tears to the small sun.
A small crackling sound was heard as the frozen ground beneath the ice block started to slowly and menacingly crack.
“NO!”
Bleak threw herself against the block with all she had to move it out of the way but the small body of a filly was not enough as she sank into the frozen waters along with her mother.
The cold frozen water hit her hard as she slowly sunk into the depths of the arctic-like ocean that surrouned Blizzmoore. Bleak slowly closed her eyes as she saw the frozen block of ice that had fallen with her and that once had been called Black Snow, the ruthless leader of the pony normands.
Bleak was well aware of the crimes her mother had commited and how she constantly tried to redeem herself in exchange of a blissful afterlife.
The light from the surface was getting dimmer as Bleak closed her eyes and accepted her fate, she was ready to be judged.
As the offspring of a cruel mare she sometimes imagined what it was like to kill another pony, however she always found some kind of good in her every now and then.
They taught her the art of hunting just a few days ago, it was a solitary bunny that had wandered out of its cave and Bleak managed to behead him almost flawlessly.
What had she become since that day....
The loud voices in the background woke Bleak up almost instantly as she stared at her surroundings and tried to figure out where was she exactly, she was laying in the middle of the floor of and old ancestral room full of mystical trinkets.
"Bleak..the last of the normands.."
Bleak turned around and saw once again the cloaked figure that had spoken such cryptic words just a few hours before her demise.
"Is this...the afterlife?"
The cloaked figure nodded silently.
"Worry not young one, it is too early for your demise.....as for your mother..I cannot speak the same"
Bleak let out a few tears as she remembered the events of just a few hours ago, she sobbed quietly for a few minutes.
"We will send you back Bleak, you have an important duty to carry out"
Bleak wiped her tears and listened with great interest.
"A-A..An important duty?...Me??"
A flash of light surrounded Bleak as she heard the voice of the cloaked figure
"Ice and Fire, combine them and you might just be able to save your race"
Once the light vanished Bleak realized she was standing in the cave where she had spent the night, right next to the hole where she had fallen with her mother.
"Ice..and fire..." Bleak laid down on her fox hide cover and tried to process all the events that had happened during the past few hours, she then hit her hoof against the wall of the cave in frustration and screamt.
The saddlebag seemed as it would crush the body of the miserable small filly the instant in which she wore it.
It was time to leave the cave and the sad memories behind, she wanted more than anything to keep her tribe alive.Not because of her descendants but of what her mother would want if she were still alive.
Bleak took a last glance at the cave and took a step forward towards the deep forest which could be seen miles away as a black lump in the middle of the snow wonderland.
Luckily the storm had finaly calmed down and allowed Bleak to have a quiet and peaceful journey that gave her a chance to organize her thoughts.
She halfway there, the journey had been short aside from a few stops to have a quick meal, when she lowered her head to quench her thirst with the crstal clear lake water a voice resonated close to her, her heart sank as she quickly looked around for the source but all she saw was the usual scenery.
"I must be hearing things..again"
Once she turned around her reflection stood out to her, she seemed different than a few days ago.Her mane was dirty and full of dirt while her hooves had scratches and bruises.
She quickly snapped put of her inner thoughts when she heard the same voice but louder, it was the same cloaked pony she had seen several times now standing next to her.
Bleak had been taken by surprise but quickly regained her composture and approached the figure with caution.
"Tell me...how do I exactly begin my journey, I haven't the foggiest on what to do"
the cloaked figure removed its hood and revealed itslef as an old bearded pegasi with a permanent frown.
"Bleak..head for the mountain west of here and salvage the blue orb that is hidden in the heart of it, once you regain it your destiny will be clear"
Bleak analyzed what the pegasi had said and spoke back.
"Can you guide me to the place..your wings could be uselful"
The pegasi shrugged and let out a deep sigh before his response.
"No..my physical form is about to collapse, I must return to the skies and ascend.I will not be able to appear in this form ever again...but keep in mind that we will be watching you with great care.
A time will come when you'll have to finish your journey alone and without the help of anyone, until then be brave"
The figure of the pegasi slowly faded before after he gave a small smile to Bleak who stood speechless and waited for her only guide to dssappear.
Bleak seemed an ant compared to the size of the mountain on which foot she was stepping, she rose her head and looked for the top of the mountain with here eyes but all was hidden by a cloud of fog.
After a few minutes of investigation Bleak noticed a cave entrance on the far west of the mountain, without thinking it twice she stepped inside unaware of what it would conceal.
She felt ready for this task, a few hours ago she was nothing but a small filly but now she felt as strong as a mare.