Once upon a time... long... long ago...Equestria used to be a much better place! The sun rose every day, the moon rose every night! It was warm, ponies could play outside, feel the sun warm them. Two sisters rose the sun and moon, the celestia sisters. Ponies loved these two princesses, and they loved the day, they loved the night. Though one day the older sister fell fatally sick, and passed on...Leaving the younger princess to raise the sun and moon. But it was too much for Luna, the younger sister. She could not do as much as Celestia once had. Raising the sun and moon was too difficult, combined with all her other duties. Time passed, Luna passed on, leaving Equestria to the ponies. Princess Twilight Sparkle could not do it, even with Cadence by her side. The ponies united and combined magic to raise the sun and moon, but after years of doing this it failed. They couldn't take the stress, the amount of magic they had to use. Even with the strongest, it was not enough. Twilight Sparkle attempted to use to a spell to turn her friends, the elements of harmony, into alicorns. Then maybe they could use their magic to raise the sun and moon! But the spell malfunctioned, and the six died. The elements were lost,t he other alicorn, Cadence, even with her love could not do the job. Equestria had no sun or moon. Every race joined together to survive. Over time, it froze over, leaving us with the frozen world we have today.
And that, Fillies and Colts, is how our world came into existence.
That's what they taught us, taught everypony for hundreds of years.My mother and father learned this, and many many generations down, even way before the country split! My name is Whiterose, my parents gave it to me because of my pink body and white mane. Silly right? I'm a scavenger from ponyville, some pony who left the town and scavenged, hunted, found food or medicine, clothes. Anything to support where we came from. The lesson ringed in my ears as I trudged through the snowy town, my scarf blowing in the wind. I was glad to be inside the town, were the walls at least provided some cover from the wind. Tightening my sword sheath, a long sigh escaped my mouth.
Towns were dull, boring, plebeian. It could be fun, but once you grew older it seemed...To not be enough. You were born in the town, you went to school, you got one job and you lived it. You couldn't switch, and depending on what race you were decided what jobs you could have. Earth ponies became farmers, scavengers, and soldiers. Unicorns became teachers, cleaners, builders, and sometimes soldiers. Pegasus became soldiers, scouts, and scavengers.
My gaze looked around, falling on the towering building of the leader. One family ruled over the town, their sons and daughters became the rulers. The town leaders looked to the faction leader. Town leaders made rules for towns. Faction leaders made laws. Though Ponyville was much different, as being neutral, the leader didn't look to no pony.The factions however, were much different.
The factions had grown long ago, and they each controlled towns. They were battling for control of equestria. Rumor had it, though many ponies believed it was true; one of the factions was controlled by the gryphon empire. While Equestria was freezing over, it's closest allies had a brutal war for the land. The gryphons, the zebras, the buffalo. The gryhpons one in the end, conquering massive amounts of land, surrounding Equestria. They took parts of it but met fierce resistance from pony and weather alike. Here, it was so much worse then everywhere else. The gryphons supposedly had been funding one of the factions much more then the other, and once they controlled all of Equestria the gryhpons would cut off trade and swoop in while they were recovering from war and take over us all. Nopony knew if this was true, but almost all believed it.
The gryphons were basically keeping Equestria alive. They supplied tons of food, weapons, building materials. They claimed it was only so they can help out; but some thought it was just so after Equestria was done with it's war, they could just walk in and already have everything built for them. The ponies were their slaves, building cities and towns, not even knowing they were just helping carrying along the end. Whispers of this would always be running around. You think you see something in the sky, the whole town immediately shrieks gryphon. I still had yet to learn the names of the factions. Ponyville was a place that had refused to go into either faction, though it had a key place in equestria, and both factions desired for it. The rules n ponyville, it was different. The town leader was ruler, their word was law. It was a system that had been set down many years before.
Money was different, very rare to come across too. You bartered or paid with bits, though with bits, it was rare, some jobs didn't even pay. When you became old enough, you were given a house, freely. Though sometimes you had to share it with other ponies until more houses were built. Each house had a bed, chest for clothes, and anything else you owned. The rich had much better houses. Food was free, given out in portions depending on age, gender, size. Lighting was odd too. A light lit by magic was used, which never turned off unless the unicorn who made it casted a spell. The light was yellowish, just like how the sun in books looked. Lights were everywhere, lighting up the towns.
Building new houses could be risky. That meant expanding the wall, which left the town open at points. Bandit raids, cannibal raids, other faction raids. Factions had sprung up not long after the cold began. At first, ponies continued their lives as best as possible, but slowly, the world grew colder each day. Ponies decided that to live, they'd have to work together to survive. The country was torn apart by seven different factions, all with different views on how to run Equestria, how to work, beliefs, they hated eachother. During a brutal, hundred year war the weather went haywire, for some reason, it only snowed. Through the chaos, two factions remained. They clawed for territory until Equestria was split in half, with ponyville the only remaining land. Of course, there was the gryphon empire up north, which surrounded Equestria. But no pony in there right mind would attack them! It was a dangerous world. Not to mention that there were pockets in the ground, ten, twenty feet down that ponies could fall into. Towns were built on top of old ruins or close to them. Ponyville, well pPonyville two was about a quarter of a mile away from real ponyville, the original Ponyville. The town was surrounded with light patches of snow and was dangerous though.
Settlements were build where there was thick ice or snow. Bricks were laid down, and towns built atop it. A little simple.
The sky was the same, dull grey it always was. With no sun or moon, it stayed the same color, only changing when the dark snow clouds moved in. The weather, was always the same. Snow. One day it had begun snowing, and it seemed to never stop.
Most ponies were inside right now, the bell in the tower in the middle of town rang, signalling it as almost curfew time. Well, except for town guards and us scavengers. Without the sun and moon, a pony constantly kept tract of hours, so it could be known what day it was. Right now, a thousand years ago, the sun would be setting. I always daydreamed of seeing it, the books were never enough. A giant ball of flame casting it's warmth over the land...Everypony wanted it, none of us knew it's warmth, nopony had seen it in far, far too long. Without the sun, food would die. So earthponies had gone under ground, built buildings under the snow. They grew food in there, using old soil or magic. Ponies had to eat...Meat. Food was so scarce that they had gone from herbivores to omnivores. You couldn't say you wouldn't eat it, or else you wouldn't be able to eat enough!
Passing the town hall, I headed for the wooden gate, two guards stood atop it, with three at the doors. "Going out Whiterose? Isn't it a little late?" One of the guards said. Shrugging, I chuckled a little "Yeah, heading out! I'll be back soon trust me!" I gave a little nod. The wooden doors swung open, a cold gust of air nearly blew me off my hooves. Tucking my head down a bit, I walked out, hearing the doors slam shut the second I was fully out. Infront of me, Equestria greeted me for the second time. I hadn't been a scavenger for long, but I listened closely to ponies who had been one for years, giving me lots of knowledge of the land and dangerous I'd be facing out there.
It wasn't snowing today, which was lucky for me. But it was windy as usual. Mountains and hills jutted out through the snow covered land, the tall mountain with canterlot could just barely be seen. The old world was buried under snow, snow so hard ponies could build towns on it! Every scavenger, including me, carried shovels around to dig, to get to ruins and find supplies.
I inhaled deeply, looking around with a smile. Surprisingly, I loved the cold wasteland, it was open, with so many new things to discover. Even with all it's dangers...I loved being able to explore.
Others might cower and beg for help, but not me. I met it straight on with a smile. I was scared, alot though, many of the dangers I would run from. I had never even killed a pony, but exploring, scavenging for anything that could be used, seeing ponies "oooh" and "ahhhh" when scavengers came back, throwing out weapons, food, medicine, trinkets, books, it was something I enjoyed, and I'd enjoy doing it much, much more. Food and medicine was taken for the town, and everything else was left for ponies. You'd line up, and be given something. When I was a filly I liked this, and now I was the one giving away things.
Secretly, I wanted to be a teacher, but earth ponies were not allowed. I was made a scavenger because I was fast.
Slipping out the steel sword from it's sheath, I narrowed my eyes, gripping the handle tightly in my teeth as I stepped forward. There were paths, marked by dark red flags stuck in the ground, all around thirty to forty feet apart, marked with numbers.
It was quiet, quiet except for the wind blowing.
Looking around, I sheathed my sword and sighed happily. Good. No raiders or cannibals around. I had learned, that often times they'd lay in wait...And the second a pony was outside they pounced! Cannibals dragged you off, raiders either left you dead or badly wounded. You had to cover your tracks out here, somepony could easily just follow your tracks and ambush you! If you stayed on the paths no pony really followed you, your hoof steps would be mixed in with so many others it'd be hard to follow you. Unless of course you were the first out after a snow. I trotted forward, following the path, which curved, zig-zagged, going the easiest and most safest way. Sometimes paths were moved to confuse ponies, lead them to traps, holes in the ground. The snow was safe around the town, but the further you went out, the more dangerous it got.
Continuing on for around a half hour, I stopped at the fifth red flag, looking around. Nothing changed. White. I saw white and grey.
Something caught my eye as I looked around. A blue body, red stains in the snow all around. I could just barely make it out. It was a dead pony. I sighed, but at the same time I was happy. Scavenging was hard, often times I had to pick bodies clean...We didn't enjoy doing it, but getting something that could be used to help keep our town going...That came first. That came before what we wanted to do. Scavengers had to pick through bodies, sometimes torn apart, bloody, some ponies even still alive! We had to do it and we had to like it. Stepping off the path, I slowly walked over to the body, making sure to watch my steps. The body wasn't fresh, cannibals had mutilated the body, I almost threw up at the sight. The stallions stomach had nearly been torn open, some of his flesh was missing, the meat from his legs and neck had been eaten. Some of his insides had been taken. His saddle bag was still there though. Closing my eyes, I scooped it up, pulling it close and backing away. I fell on my rump, keeping my eyes shut tight.
My leg shook, the saddle bag shook with it. The stallions bag felt...Light. Setting it on the ground I opened it slowly, pulling it upside down. Nothing fell out. I dropped it sadly.
Empty. Second day on the job and I already was failing at it. I sighed, looking down at the empty saddle bag at my hooves.
Come on Rose...You gotta do this...You can't go back empty hooved! Just go a little farther..
Trembling, I got up to my feet, opening my eyes and averting my gaze of the dead stallion. I was scared to death now. What if whatever killed him came back? I barely knew how to use my sword, it was mostly there to scare! But getting yelled at by my superiors for not bringing anything back scared me twice as much! Gulping, I shakily got up, moving around the corpse with a light gag. I was not accustomed to this, it must take a monster to actually do this to some-pony!
I made sure to keep the path directly behind me, to make sure that when wandering further out I didn't get lost out here. My body shivered a little, I felt a little numb. The cold nipped at me, the tips of my ears felt ready to freeze. Wearing only a scarf out here was bad, I hadn't expected to be out here for so long...If this kept up no doubt I'd end up freezing. Gulping, my head turned, eyes falling onto the dead stallion.
I stamped my hooves lightly, not wanting to go pick him clean. I could see a cap on his back, some tears in it but it would provide some warmth...He had goggles on too, blood stains across them though. It had to work though...I couldn't stay here with close to nothing. His boots were torn, but at least they would give some cover...Walking over, I took the stallions goggles off, slowly slipping them over my eyes. They were big, and covered a little of the area around my eyes. The blood could be clearly seen, blocking some of my vision. Next were the boots...I took them off one by one, slipping my own hooves into them, a jolt going down my spine at the feel of them. My hooves were warm at least, but a stallion had died in these!
Lastly...The cape...
Leaning down, I grasped it in my teeth, pulling it, trying to get it undone. With a harsh tug, I pulled it off of him, jumping away after nearly falling onto him. I hated to do this to him, to violate a dead body even more. But two dead ponies wouldn't do any good. I silently thanked him, but knew he couldn't hear. This was going to be usual, dead bodies. This was my new life,
And I had to accept it.
Continuing on, the items I now wore were serving ok, but they were loose. The cape in the wind, but gave me a little warmth. The goggles were tilted a little, falling oddly on my muzzle. The boots were a little big and it wasn't extremely easy to walk with them. With my shovel and sword, and my saddle bag, I looked like a mercenary, nothing like a simple scavenger on her second day out of the walls.
The wind began to slowly increase, I walked faster, looking around, seeing nothing of value. Maybe I should head back? They'll understand...
No! I will not go back with nothing! I can go a little farther!
The mini battle inside my mind soon ended with me deciding to go on. I could handle a little cold...When you were inside the walls, there wasn't wind like this. A spell prevented snow from getting in. But it didn't block the wind, so it was still frigid. Out here, with nothing to block at least a little of the wind, it was freezing. The cold bit at me. When I got home I was going to curl up with my blanket, and fall asleep. I might just stay inside, stay away from the outside for a day. I probably went the wrong way. Usually, this was the path my mentor, Icewing went, along with many others. Though some went into the forests.
Stepping forward, something new caught my eye. Something moving, heading left, little fast though. But it was somepony else! A pony! We could trade! Breaking off into a run, I got excited, going as fast as I could, wanting to get something then get home.
WOOSH
Something shot by me, just missing by an inch. I saw it flash by me. It thudded into the snowy ground. I jumped to the side, shrieking.
The pony I had seen was not alone. He or she had fired an arrow at me! Now I saw more now, not clearly. They turned on me, ten, twenty, thirty, the numbers grew. Pegasus and Earth ponies, swords, spears, bows, maces, daggers. Every weapon I could think of these ponies were armed with! They each wore casque's, metal boots sharpened. A piece of armor covered their chest and sides. These weren't bandits. These were soldiers, armed for war! Fear ran through me, I was going to die! I turned around, but behind me there were more ponies, armed similarly. The ones infront and behind me me thought I was the enemy!
This was a battle...
And I was in the middle of it!
Both sides numbered in the hundreds, I looked around scared, scrambling back. The pony I had first seen had nocked an arrow, ready to fire. Oh buck! This was it! If not that pony, others had started to draw arrows, they'd kill me! A roar erupted from the army behind me, the ponies were charging! I was stuck between two armies! There was nowhere to run. The twang of the first armies bows firing was heard, arrows arced overheard, raining down at the charging army, which was quickly approaching. I don't know how I hadn't seen them! There was only one choice, I'd have to go with the first army! What else could I do? The second army was getting closer by the second, their charge would kill me! And I couldn't just wait for them and charge, I'd get killed! Running away would end up with me hit by the charge. I didn't draw a weapon, and began running towards the army infront of me. They raised weapons, preparing to slice me down with little effort "W-Wait please! I'm just a scavenger! Don't kill me please I'll help you!" It was a lie, I'd probably run. I didn't even know how to use a sword, but anything to help me get behind them!
Seeing the other army approaching, they focused their attention on them, not even really paying attention to me anymore. I rushed forward, they let me pass. A long, grateful sigh escaped my mouth. The reformed their line, lowering their weapons once more. Another volley of arrows left, the ground shook with the thundering of hooves. A few fell into holes in the ground. They got closer, closer, I didn't have time to run. The charge smashed into the line, ponies flew back, chaos erupted, the clash of steel rang through the air as weapons of all sorts smashed together. Sounds of fighting filled the air quickly, filling my ears. I flattened them down in fear, wanting to tuck in my tail. I had never seen this type of violence before.
I could see the bodies collapsing, blood splattering across the snow. Pulling out my sword, it shook in my teeth as I watched ponies fighting ruthlessly. I backed up, maybe I could make a run for it...
Just as I turned around, a single voice sent my blood to ice, stopping me dead in my tracks. "Where do you think your going?" The voice was filled with hate "You're not leaving, too bad you picked the wrong faction!" I heard a yell and a body slammed into mine.
I was sent forward into the snow, the spear had just skimmed over me, but the stallions body had thrown me forward, leaving me dazed, barely gripping the sword. I rolled onto my back, everything was spinning, my left side felt a little numb from the harsh landing. The stallion nickered, stepping forward, rearing up to bring his hooves smashing down on me.
So, I did the only thing I thought would work. As the stallion was coming down, I pushed my head up, he fell right onto the sword, the blade sliding through his chest, the tip appearing out of his other side. He coughed blood onto my face as he died, falling down more, the blade going further out of him. His body was soon right on mine, blood seeping out, getting onto me. His spear fell out of his mouth, landing next to me. I was shaking underneath the weight, hearing the battle continue to rage on. I did not dare move though, I laid underneath the dead stallion, waiting for the battle to end or me to die. Whichever came first.
I waited for…I don’t know how long I laid there, while the fighting raged about. I just laid there hoping that no pony saw me or death didn’t come. I was cold, very cold. My body shivered uncontrollably. I never should’ve left, I should’ve stayed inside and be warm. But no, I was out here in the middle of a fight, freezing so much it hurt.
Finally, after some more time passed, I heard the fighting start to simmer down, the pounding of hundreds of ponies running away together was heard. The ground shook once more. The army which I had seen first turned around, starting to walk by me. Now, I was confused. Why had they just fought? The second army, had turned and run, while the first just turned and started to walk away. They were carrying dead, wounded, mostly weapons and armor however. What had just happened? The two armies had seemed to fight for no reason, just meeting up, battling, then turning around and walking home. There was a big reason, obviously, but I didn’t know of it. The stallions blood had pooled out onto my stomach, the cold, thick liquid slowly running off my. I couldn’t make it back to ponyville, I’d pass out no doubt. More then twenty minutes in this numbing cold…I’d pass out, die, freeze to death. This army could probably help me, I could travel back to wherever they came from and crash there. Then I could somehow get back to Ponyville, to where I belonged. Squirming out from underneath him, I pulled out my sword, the blood coating it in a layer of dark red. Wiping it off in the snow, it soon found it’s place back in my sword sheath. I, Whiterose, had killed a pony. A real, living pony, dead, from me. What had I done? He had tried to attack me yes, but another ponies blood was on my hooves. I was a killer. Shaking myself, I tried to rid the thought of my mind, trying not to blame myself any more.
He tried to kill you…He tried to kill you…Not your fault…Not your fault..
The thought echoed in my mind, I tried not to blame myself. As I thought, I stayed still, a body bumping into mine causing me to lift my head “Huh?”
“Come on merc. Start walking. We’re going to
“W-Wha..I’m not a merc sorry.”
“Not a mercenary huh? Well you shouldn’t be lying. I’d watch out, some ponies aren’t really friendly towards your kind, oh, I mean, scavengers. We only let you in because you had a sword. Plain and simple. You expect anypony to believe you’re from ponyville? Might as well stop lying, lying could get you hurt.” The mare continued to walk on, leaving me open jawed. What was so strange about being a scavenger from ponyvile?! Sure the town was cut off from the rest of the frozen world, but scavengers belonged to every town.
I had to get back soon. Ponies would be looking for me, missing me, once I got to this new place, I’d have to get rid of everything I wore, find some fitting clothing, and go back to my home. Firstly however, I had to actually survive the walk. My legs felt wobbly and weak, the goggles were basically covered with blood, forcing me to take them off. A blast of air met my eyes, causing me to close them tightly, lowering my head, and continuing on. I moved closer to one of the soldiers, opening my mouth to speak. In response, I got pushed away rather roughly, nearly knocking me to the ground. They obviously didn’t want to tell me anything. We continued on, ten, twenty, thirty minutes. I lost count after seventeen. My teeth chattered and I was numb all over. Every attempt to try and speak was responded with a grunt or a push. Getting up was getting harder and harder as my legs seemed to become clumy. I stopped after the second time then, just walking, my boots crunching in the snow. Snow started to lightly fall, the wind dying down just a bit. I was going to die if we didn’t get inside someplace soon. Even with the wind down, it’d get so cold with the snow, it’d pile up, trapping us out here. It didn’t snow very often, and when it did, the paths would go up an inch or so. It didn’t snow for long, but with the paths covered, you’d lose sight of hoof prints and the way back, to where you came from. I kept my eyes closed and kept walking, keeping my head down. “Hey Merc watch it!” I looked up, opening me eyes just as I walked into a wall, falling down with a oof. I couldn’t quite make out what they said, but heard laughter, causing me to flatten my ears. They were laughing at me! A pony close to death bumping into a wall was funny somehow. I didn’t see it. As I looked up, this was no ponyville. The wall was stone, nicely made. The doors were thick wooden doors that slowly opened up. I was astounded 1 at the sight of this. Sitting on the ground for a few minutes, another voice made me move. I was a little confused, and it was a little hard to walk now…Though I hastily and clumsily moved inside, barging past a few ponies. My legs didn’t seem to go where I wanted them too, my movements were a little slow, I was stumbling now. My body shivered violently, I looked around, dazed. Somepony said something to me, but it came out more slurred, I couldn’t understand what he or she had said. Someponies pointed hooves at me, mumbling about how I was acting. Stumbling forward, my legs carried me clumsily to a large building. Everything looked blurred, my eyes were watering from the wind. Moving inside of the building, the door swung open after multiple attempts to open it, as I made my way inside. Blinking a few times, I made out a fire in the middle, singing and drinking ponies were around. I thought of ponyville through the growing confusion. Somepony said something to me again, though I didn't give a responce, just looked up, forgetting where I was for a second. My eyes were starting to close a little. The ponies hoof met my neck lightly, checking for my pulse, which was going crazy. A shout left his or her mouth. One of the soldiers came from behind me, grabbing me and giving a yell. What was going on now? I barely had the time to react as more hooves grabbed me, carrying me through the town. My heart was beating fast, I was on something, being carried away as I tried to speak, my sentences coming out as more “Uhfns..W..W-ehr..Yu…Leasd mu guh..” I was having difficulty speaking, my body felt ready to give up. The warmth was quickly gone from when I entered that building, I was exposed to the cold once again, being rushed across by ponies I couldn’t quite make out. Two doors swung open as the ponies rushed inside another building, heavy blankets wrapping around me was the last thing I remembered before sleep overcame me.
When I woke, a light met my eyes. Many thick, warm blankets were wrapped around me. I wore nothing right now, my saddlebag containing all my stuff, which at the moment was only a sword and shovel, was right by the bed. The cold had gone, I was really warm, and happy of that. Squirming a little in the blankets they were soon unwrapped, letting me sit up and look around. A hospital room, clearly old by the way everything was faded, and the bed was rusty were metal was. The pillow too was a little stained, making me gag to know I had slept on that for who knows how long. The hospital sounded quiet, a soft gentle peace was over it. My amnesia and sluggishness from before were gone, my heart rate had lowered too. My body seemed normal again. I don’t know what had happened to me, but I advised myself to never go outside of walls again unless properly equipped to last a long, long time. My stomach growled, I hadn't eaten since the trip from ponyville. Looking to my left out the window, I saw the town. I could see much of it, the hospital was clearly more than two stories. The size seemed immense!.
There was no way Ponyville was this size, this place dwarfed it. Getting off the bed groggily, I rubbed my eyes, soon fully awake. Picking up and putting on my saddlebag, I exited the room that the hospital had put me in, looking left and right. Empty hallway, lightly lit. Everypony must be asleep. The room was all the way at the end, seven more doors in the hallway, all closed. I’d just walk out. Leave the hospital. Explore and talk to some ponies in town. Though some clothing would have to be found. Right now nothing was on me except for the saddlebag, which didn’t really shield the cold. Heading down the hallway, I looked around, this was all so new…Ponyville’s hospital was only one story. The buildings in ponyville had seemed so tall to me before, now they were like ants compared to the fix and sive story buildings here.
As I trotted down the hallway's, just following the signs pointing to the way's out, I found it odd how there were no ponies awake in the hospital, no pony at least watching the hallways. Snores could be heard from a few doors, signaling there were some ponies in the hospital, but no nurses or doctors were walking around. Somepony should at least always be here in case of an emergency.
It was almost too easy, too quiet. Where was every pony? I was standing in the lobby now, having gotten to the bottom floor with no trouble. The lights were all lit, everything seemed normal. Just no doctors or nurses, no security guard. Why they would leave my saddle bag, with weapons in it by my bed with no pony to watch the place was rather stupid. If I had been an enemy every pony in here could be dead and no pony would know. I flicked my tail, nickering. This was a little funny, yet creepy. So quiet...
Turning towards the front, I saw the doors. When I went to open them, I was surprised to find they swung open. Wow. How nice. Have a hospital full of sick or hurt ponies, yet no doctors, no nurses, no security, no locks to the doors. I chuckled, my light happiness ending as the cold met me. It wasn't as freezing as the outside, the buildings blocked wind a bit. I shivered a little though, continuing to walk forward, passing houses, shops, everything. Yet the town, which I was starting to think was a city, was...
Empty.
My eyes darted around, looking for some signs of life. I heard no snores, no movement from any houses. Lights inside were off. What was going on? Was this a cruel dream?! After minutes of searching and walking around, I noticed something. This place was so unlike ponyville. Ponyville's buildings were stone gray, the walk ways were stone, everything seemed gray. The only liveliness you found was in town halls, where ponies drank, sang, and things like that. Here, the buildings were painted lightly, covering up the gray. The paint peeled off in some places, but it seemed more lively then ponyville. They were taller too. Houses weren't all placed in one place, shops not all in one area. It was mashed together, letting you have what you wanted wherever. Some houses were even empty, they had lots of space it seemed. Ponyville's books seemed so old now. They had said every faction's places were exactly the same as ponyville. Small, wooden walls, bleak, gray, all dull and boring. They must be a hundred years old! This one place put ponyville to shame! The books had lied to all of us then, had no pony from ponyville ever gone to another town? I didn't even know if this was a town. It seemed too big to be one! Each house and building looked different, painted different. Different windows, everything. As I thought about this wonderful new place, ponyville was pushed back to the edge of my mind.
Finally, after continuing to walk around, marveling at these new buildings, I bumped into somepony. Another pony! Life! This wasn't a dream! The pony was mare, wearing a helmet, leather boots that covered about half their legs, and a breast-plate. Not extremely armed, town guard probably I thought. "Hey, watch whe-Hey! It's you!"
I looked at myself "Y-Yeah uhm..It's...Me.." How did this mare know me now? "How...Do you know me?"
"You're the pony every ponies been talking about! One of the worst cases of hypothermia we've ever seen, Been out for almost five days!"
FIVE DAYS?! Agh! Oh gosh everypony must think I'm dead! My jaw almost dropped in disbelief. I had been sleeping for five days, well passed out for five days. Hypothermia! I was so stupid! I should have gone to the hospital once we got here. I had been exposed to the glacial temperatures for probably almost two hours. The guard stared at me as I stood there not speaking. Over and over I called myself an idiot, I was so stupid! She looked at me, tilting her head a little, that cause me to cough, shaking my head, pushing the insults away. I could call myself an idiot another time. "Excuse me...Uh...Where am I, and where the hell is everypony?"
"Oh they're all celebrating in the town hall. Of course I got put on fuckin' guard duty. I should be gulping down some drink and singing. This is New Fillydelphia. The real ones a long ways away." She told me. Well, now I knew where I was! That was good. I had heard of Fillydelphia! With towering buildings, a city built on the coast, the frozen sea spreading as far as a pony could see! The books we had of it were old though, before the snow. I loathed to bask in the warm sun, to trot down the city streets, take a swim in the ocean maybe! My stomach growled at the thought of a celebration, if they had free food I'd be in! I hadn't had a drink or anything to eat in days. I needed food, I knew that. This was exactly what I needed. And perhaps I could slip away someponys gear when they were drunk. Hey, I needed it more! Ponyville was my home, I had to get back!
"What's the celebration for exactly?"
"Oh... Dunno. We celebrate alot to help cheer up the mood. It helps build morale and all, plus it's a hell of alot of fun!"
I nodded, surprised by her language. Nopony in Ponyville talked like that! Well except for a few. Jealous swam through me. They celebrated just to lift the mood! We never did that! The last celebration had been a year ago for a scavenger finding a keg of cider! Though there was just one more thing... Now, for my next question! "Um...What faction is this?" Truthfully, I didn't even know the names of the factions. They'd never been written down in any of our books. We just knew which one was which by their armor.
"Snow Ponies"
"Ah alright." That named seemed... "Wait Wait... Snow Ponies? You're faction name is Snow Ponies?"
"Yeah.." Is there some sort of problem with naming yourself Snow Ponies?"
I chuckled and shook my head, not wanting to get her angry or anything. Though I found it funny that they were named snow ponies. They were ponies that did live in the snow, but why name yourself after what you are and the world around you? The world out here, sometimes I thought I'd never understand it. But, I had to, so I could a job, and get something to wear on my way back. The guard rolled her eyes, snorting a bit. "Really friendly of you, come here and insult us. The town halls just down this street, when you hear the singing you are at the right place."
After the guard pony walked away, I decided to make my way to the town hall, I could probably get a job there. And, I would like to get to know some ponies around here. So, I walked through the town of New Fillydelphia, stopping as I reached the large town hall. The sounds of signing and ponies dancing, drinking, eating, and chatting echoed through the empty streets. Pushing open the door, the sight before me shocked me. I couldn't even begin to think of how many ponies were in here, the bottom floor was packed with tables, a burning fire in the middle. All around the edges floors spiraled up, packed with ponies eating or signing. Flicking my left ear I picked up what they were singing, though it was a song completely unknown to me.
Far over the misty mountains cold
To castles deep and houses old
We must away ere break of day
To claim our long forgotten sun
The ponies of yore made mighty spells
While hooves fell like thundering rain
In places deep, where dark things sleep
In hollow halls beneath the fells.
For ancient princess, and gryphon king
There may be a gleaming golden ball
They lied and fought, and light they lost
To hide in gems on hilt of spear.
On ancient books they sung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The ancient magic, in twisted wire
They lost the light of moon and sun.
Far over misty mountains cold
To castles deep and houses old
We must away ere break of day
To claim our long forgotten scroll.
The lands were freezing in the might
The winds were screaming in the night
The snow was white, it's coldness spread;
The land shrouded in the misty white.
Far over the misty mountains grim
To castles deep and houses froze
We must away, ere break of day
To claim our long lost sun
The song ended and everypony went back to what they were doing, what scroll were they singing about? It wasn't like the sun was coming back anytime soon, why were these ponies singing about going to claim the sun?
I was filled with curiousity, so I walked over to a table seating three mares deep in conversation.
"Excuse me but can I ask you three something?"
I saw three heads turn to look at me, one rolled her eyes. "Uh hello can't you see us talking here?"
"Y-Yes I just need to ask a question that's all!" As I talked a caught sight of a fur cape, along with boots, a helmet, goggles, chest piece, everything I needed to get out of here! My horn glowed lightly, the items covered in light pink. I gulped, honestly giving thought to stealing all this!
"Okay fine, what's your question?"
"What was the scroll you all sung about? I've never heard of it, didn't you mean sun?"
"Ugh no. Scroll, we don't really know what it is, its just what we sing. It's an old tale and a popular song, only a few really know what the scroll is."
"Hey what about that stallion?"
"Oh, fine. Send her off to him... Alright look if you head out of town and make a right, there's this barely seen path. When you head down the path there's this shack or something. There's some crazy old stallion who lives there, I guess he knows what it is but no ones seen him in a long time. The song has always been sung that way no need to change it." They turned; thinking I'd leave now. But the items were slowly coming closer. I didn't want to steal, but it'd be much, much more easier to just grab this stuff and run! I was positive she could live without them!
"Thief! Thief!! That mares stealing Moons stuff!"
The mare whose name must be Moon turned, pointing a hoof at me "Get her! That's my armor!" She got up and leaped at me. I ducked, moved to their table, gulping down a glass of water and clumsily getting a few pieces of apple inside my mouth. Another mare leaped at me, I had to go; Now!
Turning, I bolted out, the leap missed. I was running as fast as I could once I got out of there, I couldn't count how many ponies were running after me too. With only a few town guard out, most had been inside there, there wasn't many ponies guarding the gate. The armor I floated I threw over the wall, right over a confused guards head who turned to see me running up the stairs, jumping over the wall into the frozen world. Nopony followed me though. I heard the doors opening, which made me leap up from my already freezing, dazed state, running down a small path I could just make out. The cold nipped and bit at me, but I just kept running, keeping my head lowered. I ran and ran, until my body slammed into a stone wall.
"Uhgh...." I rubbed my head, looking up to see what I had hit. A crumbling gray stone wall, surrounding a two story building, a soft yellow poured out of the windows. It looked like a tall shack, made out of bricks and wood, barely supporting itself. I could see a few bricks missing here and there, a hole in the wood, it looked like somepony had just slapped the two together and called it a home.
But if the mares had been correct, this was where the stallion who knew about the scroll was! Think of how big I'd be in Ponyville with all the info I had collected! I knew what the others towns looked like, a faction name, a song! The old out dated books could be thrown away and new ones could be written! It'd be great! The water had done me some good, but the apples had just seemed to only make me hungrier. I felt weak and cold, not a good combo. Sure, the gear was on now, and most of me was protected but I hadn't gotten it on until after I hit my head. Hopefully I didn't look like a bandit..
Knocking on the door, it nearly fell down. This was a shack ready to fall apart. It wasn't old, built not long ago obviously, but the pony who had built it hadn't put forth any effort. There was no response, so I stepped inside, the door falling down behind me. The
My gaze swept over the surprisingly empty house, an eerie feeling washed over me. The shack itself creaked with the wind, barely supporting itself. The ground was a stony gray, coated with a light layer of snow. It didn't look as if it had been ransacked, it looked as if everything was just poofed away. Raiders would usually tear the place apart after taking anything valuable. The door fell forward, the cold breeze flooding in. The shack was on its last legs, as if a single touch would knock it all down. I moved slowly, testing each step to be careful, making sure the floor wouldn't cave in and was built over soft snow. As I moved into the room to the left, I saw finally the staircase, which well... Wasn't even a staircase. It had been a staircase, but only the last steps up at the top remained. If there was anypony here, there certainly wasn't any signs they'd been here recently, or were living. Just as I was about to make my way out, my hoof hit against a small doorknob sticking up from the ground.
What the... A... Doorknob? Finally it came to me. When ponies saw how bad the house was on the outside, and saw it was empty on the inside, they'd leave it alone. But, as a extra defense the stallion had built a basement and everything was down there. Using my magic to turn the knob, I heard it click, and the door swung down opening the path to the basement up for me. This had been done very well, the stairs were made of bricks and held together, no cracks. The walls were the same stone the floor had been made of. As I reached the end my eyes widened in surprise.
The basement was a laboratory and a library! Books were scattered everywhere or placed neatly in piles. Chemistry sets sat on tables all over, odd inventions by the looks of them were lying around. Some of the books were opened, and food was scattered around. It was... Messy, yet at the same time a little clean. What surprised me the most, was the apple trees in the left corner, growing out of the stone. Purplish lights surrounded them, somehow providing the sunlight. Back at home it was done very carefully using soil enchanted by magic, or the trees were grown literally from magic. The food was alright, but they didn't ripen quickly, and it took longer then usual to get a harvest. The magic grown trees required attention every few hours. Water wasn't a problem, but getting the trees to grow was the big one. It didn't always go as planned.
But these trees had no soil, just the lights. There was no faint glow of magic, just... The lights. A few apples, almost ready for picking hung from them. Yet... They didn't look right. Instead of red or green, they were an oddish yellowy color.
Then, I heard it. The scribbling of a quill and the mumbling, followed by an angry grunt and something being thrown. The stallion! Hoping this wouldn't go badly, I coughed a few times to make myself heard. The pony that turned the corner from where the mumbling had been almost scared me. His mane shot up, spiky and going in every direction. A pair of googles covered his eyes. His fur was sticking up in numerous places, and he had a crazy grin missing a few teeth. "Why hello there madame! How may Zerthol be of assistance?"
So, Zerthol was his name. His voice was off a little, he looked... Insane! But hey, he was the one who would get rid of my curiosity that was peaking. Most of all I wanted to know of those trees. "Er... Some ponies in the town nearby said you could help me.."
"Ah yes! I know of that town! Founded 334 years ago by Sir Bluehoof. Did you know he had a severe case of frost bite? That's how he got his name, Bluehoof ya know. He was a commander in the Equestrian Equalists army, but then he took an arrow in the leg. Shame.."
Now I had the names of both factions. I had to remember all this for when I got back home. Though,
Now I was even more curious. I didn't know if that was true, but if a pony knew that off hand, that was crazy! The history of the snowy world wasn't extremely recorded in Ponyville, but in other places it was. Ponyvilles books only dated back around four hundred years. There was a large gap of time and much of it was based on rumors. Needless to say, history wasn't exactly cared about when it came to places like Ponyville. They kept tract but they'd rather focus on food production; Not that I'm complaining. The only ponies that did keep up to date history were the scribes in each town, and they'd only be accepted by other ponies of the same faction. Ponyville knew this only from a captured scribe that had turned to raiding. Scribes were born into the work, as the scribe before them reached old age, their son or daughter would take up the work. To make sure the history was exact and perfect they'd start working at a very young age, and some died of cold from traveling. But they were respected greatly in towns.
When I was lost in thought I didn't notice him getting closer. His fur was a dark blue, Zerthols cutie mark was a odd colored beaker. If he knew so much maybe he new a quick route back home. The only one I knew was the path we had taken to get here, which I would barely be able to see. Hopefully it didn't snow.
"Well they said you knew about the scroll in the song or something? And do you know how to get to Ponyville?"
"Oh of course I do! Here you see, the scroll is very old, and very few are supposed to know of it. You won't tell anyone I told you this right? Super secret!" Zerthol whispered, looking around as if somepony would be listening. So far, without even knowing him, I thought he was hyped up on something, he seemed filled with tons of energy and was a little paranoid it seemed...
"Of course I won't tell anyone." I lied, but made it sound as honest as possible. He gave one last look around the basement before turning and walking through a closed curtain. Pushing it aside as I followed, my jaw dropped again at the room that followed.
Defiantly old, very, very old. It was some sort of secret underground lab, some of the metal was rusting, many more of the lights I had seen outside surrounded trees, but in all different colors. It stretched out far, and the ceiling was high. It was a flat room, with two staircases on the in the two farthest corners going down farther. This must've been a place where they tested growing food or something... But not only that. Aside from the trees, there were many tables littered with scrap metals, tools, oddly made things just like outside. All across the walls was large bookshelves stuffed full of books. It seemed in perfect condition, save for the rust. In the middle was a chemistry set of a sort, filled with different liquids, a few holes the burned straight through the metal of the table where something had been spilled.
"Welcome to The Equestrian Food Productions very last testing lab."
"The... What now? What's the Equestrian Food Production?"
"What? Never heard of it? Oh well they were haha.. Awesome! For short, the E.F.P was made by Celestia before she died you see. The main goal was to find a way to create food in well, cold temperatures. They succeeded but it wasn't exactly great, but they settled for anything they could get. Every town, every village, every city, they all use the technology the E.F.P built. The E.F.P wasn't just for food though. They built weapons, ah, magically enchanted weapons incase Equestria got invaded. They were mass produced in case but none of them ever saw the surface. Horrible explosion happened in the second lab and trapped all the ponies and weapons inside. The others focused on food. After it was complete only number two stayed in production and the rest were left. Mostly just abandoned. The scroll you asked about earlier, was a prize making of Princess Twilight. The scroll has thousands of lost spells, and one in particular. It can transform a pony into an alicorn! Imagine that! If a pony had the power to make alicorns. It'd allow for them to use their new bodies to raise the sun and moon. Only problem was the first time it was tested, it ended up killing the elements of harmony. It was deemed useless from Twilight and is somewhere in Canterlot Castle. So like, you see tons of ponies have gone looking for it. However the whole city is buried under probably half a hundred feet of snow, ice caverns, pockets, and the Castles on a mountain. That's the story of it plus what the labs are. Canterlot got hit the hardest with the snow. Not to mention it's dotted with tons of and is very dangerous. Been kinda left alone recently. The huge wars more important then the sun I guess."
After learning all this, I smiled and decided it was time to leave. Zerthol gave me a route to Ponyville. He had taken a while to explain, and he had even showed me around the place and loaned a few books. Though if I never returned them he said it was alright. Everything had gone by so fast today, and I couldn't wait to return and get some rest. Though just as I pushed open the door to upstairs, a heavy, cold wind met me, followed by snow. Outside, a snowstorm was brewing.
Well now I knew where I was and a bunch of new info. Unfortunately, I was forced to stay inside the basement with Zerthol, and probably trapped out here and never able to get home. Just as I was about to leave, it began snowing hard, for days. Days it snowed and I was forced to stay, not able to make out a path. Though I did get to learn alot. I was mostly curious of the factions and the war. The whole snow pony thing had been a lie, more of a joke to newcomers. The names were the Equestrian Equalists, and the Royal Restoration Regiment.
The E.E controlled everything Northern and Eastern of Ponyville, while the R.R.R controlled everything West and Southern. Canterlot and Ponyville were the neutral. The gryphon kingdom controlled everything around Equestria, a major power. The R.R.R. was rumored to be supported by the griffons but nopony really knew. Zerthol told me hundreds of stories and things, I was surprised he knew so much.
He explained to me that he was part of the advanced scribe group, which were actually spies that collected info from both factions, and went on quests to recover artifacts. Him, along with three other ponies, were the ones the spies came to with their info. He had a book that was huge! After countless stories, a delicious dinner, and a goodnight I found myself lying in a spare bed in the bed chambers a few floors down from the main floor, still here after three days of being stuck inside.
I had no idea what the time was, each minute dragged by. I couldn't fall asleep.There was no sleep coming to me tonight I knew that. I rolled onto my side and sighed, there wasn't much to do when Zerthol was asleep. My days had gone by from him telling me everything he knew. I had made my first friend out here, and he was a literal genius. The stallion had told me of experiments on ponies to help them live in winter conditions always, tools, special clothes.
"Psst... Rose? Rose.." My ears perked at the sound of his voice. I had thought he'd been asleep...
"Yeah Zerthol?"
"Uh, question. You know how to use a weapon right?"
"W-Well uhm... Y-Yea-."
"Oh great. I've been needing somepony to go grab something for me. Extremely simple, harmless task where you just go grab something and bring it back. Please? For everything I've told you, you kinda owe me one.."
Damn. He had me there. "Yeah sure I'll go... Where is it?"
"Well, I don't know exactly. Somewhere in a old, still standing stone apartment. There's some research books there and some old Equestria books. The place is abandoned so it'll be extremely simple. You can head out now."
"Now? But I can't see anything! It's too cold!" Was he crazy? Sending me out there in the middle of a dying down storm wouldn't be the best idea if he planned on having me return. "I'd never get back anyways." Rolling onto my back I thought Zerthol realized it'd be stupid to send me out there.
"Oh don't worry, I have all that covered!"
"Eh?" I lifted my head. He had this covered? I saw him leave the room, and the second I slid from my bed he returned with my new armor, saddle bag, sword, and shovel. But there were more things among them. My goggles had an odd, light red chip on the side of them. The side of my boots had something strapped around it. The sword was shimmering, a greening yellow band wrapped around the middle of the blade.
"Here here! Each of these are specially made by me! The ah, red chip allows you to see infrared for a few hours before it has to recharge. Something only the griffons have a hold of from the old Equestria. And I made one! Hah to them! The green yellow band will allow you to make your sword invisible once with a spell. Simple magic spell will activate it. The thing on your boot will help you get back here. All good? Great!" Zerthol seemed hyped up again, very happy I agreed to do this. Grumbling a little I slipped into everything, it seemed heavier.. "Oh yes! Simple fur will not protect you! Sooooo I went ahead and added a little leather reinforcement to your armor. There was some I found laying around, you'll need it."
"I thought this would be simple and harmless.." I said un-easily. I didn't feel like getting lost again for some old books.
"Oh yes it will! Trust me! Just use the door to the left of us, down that hallway see?" He pointed his hoof multiple times at the hallway even after I nodded. "After you exit it just continue in that direction until you come across it. Alright?"
"Uh... Sure.. I'll.. See you soon?"
"Yap! Now go!"
I had learned from my small time with him, that when he got like this he had to take some weird fluid to calm down. Sometimes it seemed he was about to burst with energy, and after he took the fluid he was calm, relaxed, and sorta.. Deadish for an hour or two. So I just decided it'd be best to head over to the door. My hooves clicked on the stone floor, echoing through the empty lab. Quick, easy, I'd grab it, return, and then figure out something to do with my life. I wasn't returning to Ponyville that was certain. The door he was talking about was a metal door a little tough to see, tilted upwards a bit.
Opening it with my magic was no problem, and behind it was a staircase leading up, a light amount of snow covering it. The cold blasted me, but I felt warm with what I was wearing. Zerthol was right, this would be easy. That's the only thing I was thinking until I came up from the door, seeing the bundle of shacks, a few fires, and a ring made from wood. A large canyon spread out, made of rock coated with layers of snow and ice. It provided good shelter from the wind and snow, and I could spot out thirty or forty ponies dressed almost similar to me, dotted around the fires, eating, going on with their lives. A town! That'd be useful! Trotting slowly out of the hidden cave that the stairs were in, I stopped dead and dropped down at the sight of ten or twenty ponies inside the ring, huddled together, bounded, gagged. This was no town, it was a raider encampment!
There was no way around this, and I could just barely see the encampment through this snow. Tapping the red chip on my goggles a few times, they glowed a light green and everything became... Clear. Not clear clear, I could just make out every pony. They glowed redish orange, as did the fires. Twenty six, in number, with fourteen slaves. Most of them were asleep luckily. The truth dawned on me. There was no "Oh may I go through?" These ponies would take my stuff and sell my off as a slave. I had two choices. Fight, or flight. And I chose fight.
