Chapters The Greatest Lie In Equestrian History
The Ice Was Always With Us
A loud knock on the door. Just what Rainbow Dash needed first thing in the morning.
"I comin'! I'm comin'!"
Dash jumped out of her bed, eyes still red, and flew towards the front door. Even with her speed, another set of knocks had shot through the house by the time she reached there. Head banging, eyes cracking and her flank already missing the soft touch of her bed, she didn't know whether to open the door or send it flying the other way.
This better be good... She opened it.
Any and all thoughts of violence ceased as she froze and stared at the pony on the other side. Her eyes popped out, so white that it was like she had slept for two days straight, and her coat and mane zipped up into spikes. A euphoria exploded within her.
The pony in front of her was Daring Do.
"Yeeeeeeeees!" Dash squeed out. She charged and hugged her visitor using all her might. "Daring Do, at my house... I swear to Celestia if this is a dream..!"
"Uh..." Daring Do smiled, with an obvious look of awkwardness on her face, "Not a dream..."
Dash let go and quickly put on her cool face. "Sup," she said, high hoofing her visitor.
"You don't have to act that cool either," Daring Do laughed, "But hey... good to see you again too. Hope I didn't wake you up."
"Nah, it's not a big deal," Dash said, "So what are you here for?"
"Business..." Daring Do said with a smirk. She brought out a red covered book. The golden words on the title were indecipherable. "Important... secret business. What's in this is going to change Equestrian history forever ."
......................................................................
The six Element bearers all crowded around a circular table in Twilight's basement with Daring Do beside them holding the book. There were no windows and the only door in or out was locked shut. The seven ponies all stared at each other and the book in silence.
A smile of excitement had shot itself up on each of their faces, with the most excited ponies being Daring Do, Dash and of course Pinkie Pie who jumped up and down like how she usually did. Twilight looked on with a more inquisitive face, like that of a diligent student in a classroom. She leaned in with her body weight on the table.
"Alright, ponies," Daring Do said, placing the book on the table, "I'm sorry for waking you all up this early, but there was no way I was waiting to let this out." The six Element bearers all leaned in closer to her. "I was out in some old ruins for the past week... wanted to get a head start on my next book... Everything was surprisingly boring for the most part, except for yesterday, when I found this ." She placed her hoof on the book, "I'm gonna be honest... what I read worried me... worried me more than anything I've ever read before..."
Dash was chomping on her hooves like hay fries by this point.
Daring Do continued, "I came to you all first because of the fact that you're the six embodiments of friendship, and more importantly, I trust you. What I'm about to show you can't be shown to anypony else , got it! Your friends, your family, the princesses... At least until we're entirely... sure ..."
She passed it to Twilight, "You're the magician here... Do the honors."
Twilight nodded and opened the book. Inside were ancient markings in black ink and letters similar to modern Equestrian, but still too foreign for any current pony. Twilight just gave the text a blank stare, "Uh... am I supposed to read this?"
"It's actually close to modern Equestrian," Daring Do said, "Just the order of the letters is weird... Just try reading it."
"Alright then... here goes nothing..." Twilight cleared her throat, and began reading. She spoke in what to the others was gibberish, and her own confused face only furthered that notion.
After a few lines of who knew what, Twilight's horn began glowing, but only for a second. Like a spark.
She looked around, "I'm assuming something was supposed to happen... right?"
Daring Do smirked, "Something did... look at your coat... Isn't it getting cooler in here... It can't just be you."
Applejack began shivering, "Y-Yeah... somethins' up wit' the weather..."
The temperature spiked down even further. Twilight's chemicals began freezing into crystals.
"Y-You don't suppose you c-can reverse it," Fluttershy said, shivering as well, "Please..."
"I would have brought my blanket if I knew this was what I was going to get myself into," Rarity added.
"No..." Twilight pondered, "This isn't a cold spell... This is coming from somewhere..." Daring Do continued smirking. "No..."
Twilight unlocked the door with her magic and rushed up and out of the basement. She charged out of the library's entrance, but never made it more than a few steps outside. The sight in front of her had taken her breath away.
A pack of windigos swarmed over Ponyville.
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"H... How?"
Twilight could only stare as the clouds over her home spiraled into what long ago should have been erased. One by one, the bright morning sky turned into an icy gray until all that could be seen overhead were the ghostly eyes of the windigos. They gazed down upon the ponies of Ponyville. Their shadows blanketed the town, until every bit of green had been turned into gray.
The townsponies stared up at the sky, frozen and with obvious fear in their eyes. All motion in Ponyville had ceased, and what items the ponies had once held were on the darkening ground.
"No... n-n-n-n-n-n-n-no!" Twilight yelled, her head shaking. She wasn't sure if her stuttering was from panic or from the rapidly dropping temperature. How in the name of Celestia does this even make sense?!
And that was when the snowfall began.
Twilight rushed back to her basement, "Tell me how to stop them!"
"Stop wha'?" Applejack said.
"The windigos!" Twilight stopped in front of Daring Do, "Tell me, before it's too late!"
"Windigos?!" the rest of the Element bearers screamed.
Pinkie began laughing.
"This isn't a joke, Pinkie!" Twilight yelled.
"I know..." Pinkie said, "What? I can't laugh?"
Twilight gave her friend a blank stare before returning to Daring Do, "You made me say the spell! How do you get rid of them?!"
"Whoa!" Dash said, "Daring Do would never -!"
"No, it was me," Daring Do smirked. The Element bearers, sans Twilight, all gasped. "Right now there's a pack of windigos over Ponyville. Give them some time, and they'll be all over Equestria."
The Element bearers all stood silent, their eyes wide open.
Daring Do laughed, "Calm down, I'm just messing with you all... they won't last more than a few minutes... the high amount of friendship will drive them away."
Twilight looked unsure.
The few minutes passed, and by the end of them so did the sudden gust of snow and ice. The temperature began rising, almost at a rate that was a shock to the body, and one look at the sky showed the windigos thinning out.
"Hey!" Pinkie bobbed around in excitement as her once spiked coat dropped back down.
The sunlight cracked through the veil of darkness above. The townsponies all jumped around with excitement.
Just a minute later, the windigos were gone.
Like they were never even there.
The Element bearers all smiled and sighed, though all Twilight could do was wipe her forehead and exhale. Daring Do continued smirking, "Told you."
"Okay... first of all," Twilight turned to the Pegasus, "What were you thinking?!" Daring Do's smirk only grew. "And second, where in the wide wide world of Equestria did you find that book?!"
"Yeah, seriously?" Dash said, floating over the two.
"Personally, I consider the book a hazard!" Rarity said, walking to Daring Do, "I know you have your reasons for possessing it, but this is one thing I'd rather not have fall into the wrong hooves."
"Agreed," Applejack said, "Who's to tell wha' kinda stuff the wrong kinda pony could with that."
"But everything is fine now..." Fluttershy said.
Pinkie disappeared and reappeared in an instant, now dripping wet, "Yep! All gone! And don't worry, I made sure they're not hiding either!"
"That is true..." Twilight went into a thinker's pose.
Daring Do spoke up, "Like I said, the high amount of friendship was too much for them. There was never anything to worry about. Hopefully you all aren't so scared that you forgot how windigos work." She laughed.
"Well... at least give us a warning next time!" Twilight said.
"No promises..." Daring Do said with a chuckle.
Twilight continued, "But all that aside, that book is far too dangerous to not be guarded! Who knows what other spells might be in there!"
"True... never thought about that actually... but I guess that just makes it all the more fun doesn't it?" Daring Do said.
"Hey, Do," Dash said, "I... actually kinda agree with Twilight... There's a lot of sketchy ponies out there that would love to get their hooves on something like that."
Twilight gave Dash a quick smile, "Agreed, the windigos might not be able to grow here, but I can't say that with certainty for other parts of the world. Sorry, Daring Do, but the only place that thing belongs is under heavy security. There's no way we can risk that spell being used!"
Daring Do smirked and looked down at the spell's text, "Being used... Is that what you all think?"
The Element bearers gave her a blank stare.
She looked back at them with a confident smile, "Isn't it obvious? This spell's already been used before..."
No response.
"The windigos? Friendship?" Daring Do closed the book, and the six Element bearers all froze, the scope of their realization apparent on their faces.
"Hearth's. Warming. Eve."
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The Greatest Lie In Equestrian History
The Element bearers had been frozen, as if the ice of Hearth's Warming Eve had never even left.
They stood with their eyes wide open and hooves still, all staring through one another. The temperature in the air was warm and only rose by the second, but all the six ponies did was freeze. Daring Do chuckled with a wide smirk over her face.
"Kinda obvious now isn't it?"
The bearers remained in their own worlds.
"Oh quit being so overdramatic!" Daring Do yelled, "Now that you guys know the truth... any comments?"
Applejack was the first to open her mouth, "Ah believe it... but I don't want to..."
"Agreed..." Rarity said, body still, "To think that somepony would actually conjure up such a spell.. makes me glad the book is in our possession now."
"Or ponies! " Dash yelled, "Let's not forget that these guys don't always work alone!"
"I just can't believe that somepony..." Fluttershy glanced at Dash, "Ponies ... would want to use a spell like this."
"Ponysicles!" Pinkie screamed, "I'm with ya! Trying to take over Equestria is one thing, but trying to turn all of us into ice pops is crossing the line, mister! And it's not like we would've been juiced flavored or anything!"
The rest giggled.
Twilight was the only one that stayed silent. She stared inwards and stayed put with a face of extreme thought. Her ears were down, and the only force now able to move her was the shake of the earth itself.
"Where'd you find that book anyway?" Dash said, "I mean I know you said it was in a temple, but which one?"
"Thought you'd never ask," Daring Do stood tall, "So like I was saying, I wanted to get a head start on my next book and I was like 'Hmmm... now what place haven't I crept through? And that's when it hit me; I never once explored Equestria's past when it came to stuff like Hearth's Warming Eve."
"Er..." Applejack said, "Would you mind skippin' to the endin'?"
Daring Do glared at the cowpony. "So long story short, I found an old abandoned castle up in the frozen north from the time of Hearth's Warming Eve."
"Oh!" Rarity screamed, excited, "Did it belong to the Unicorn Kingdom? You cannot imagine how much I want to visit one of Princess Platinum's palaces!"
"That's the thing... I don't know who it belonged to." Daring Do paused, "The book was down in a locked room in the basement. It was surrounded by strongest force field I've ever come across; I'm talking about alicorn level magic! It was no match for my tools of course, but still. The rest of the place though... was just in ruins... I'm talking about the walls, the floor, even the entire top part was in pieces. It was like the entire place had been attacked by a thousand catapults or something."
"A battle perhaps?" Rarity said.
"It wasn't cuz of any fighting though; there weren't any debris from any weapons," Daring Do said. "It looked like the damage was done by... whoever was there... on purpose."
The Element bearers all paused, save for Twilight, at first from the news and then began chatting amongst each other on how villainous the culprit must've been.
"This pony's gettin' worse n' worse the more I think about em'!" Applejack said.
Twilight remained silent once again though, still lost in thought.
"Ah who cares!" Dash yelled, floating overhead with an annoyed face. Everyone stopped in their tracks and turned to her. "Some villain just wanted to either conquer Equestria... or whatever it was back then, or destroy ponykind or wanted ultimate power or something like that! It's the same story with all these guys! What matters is that they got their flanks hoofed to them and that we're still here and kickin'!"
"I disagree!" Applejack said, "Wantin' to take over or destroy Equestria is one thing, but them windigos woulda' killed everypony, including whoever conjured up this here spell."
Fluttershy spoke up, "I still can't believe somepony actually did this... but whatever they were thinking, I don't want to know. I agree with Rainbow Dash." She then put her head and ears down with visible sadness over her face.
Twilight looked away from the others, still silent.
"Yeah, gotta agree with Dash," Daring Do said, "Knowing what what heck somepony was thinking over a thousand years ago isn't exactly easy, especially when this creep's done such a good job at covering his tracks." She sighed, "I mean, yeah, it'd be cool to know the full story about this, but not even I know where to start... It probably was just some wannabee villain... we got plenty of them now and there was definitely plenty back then."
"No..." Twilight blurted out.
The others turned to her. She refocused her gaze at them.
"No... I don't think that's it..."
"Oh come on!" Dash said, "I think it's pretty obvious at this point."
Twilight stepped closer to her friends, "It just can't be... At least not to me..."
"So what do you think it is?" Daring Do said.
Twilight chuckled, "You're all going to think I've gone crazy... at least more than usual... but I think whoever did this... wanted to save Equestria."
"Uh... Twilight," Applejack stared at her friend like a mental asylum escapee, "I don't think havin' everypony as a bunch a' ice pops is helpin' anypony."
"I know, I know..." Twilight said, "But... I just have this feeling... like my mind keeps on telling me to just go with it." She paused for a second, "Okay, the windigos feed off hatred, right? And the only thing that could've defeated them was friendship?"
"Yeeeaah..?" Dash said, glancing at Daring Do.
"Before the windigos, ponies were separated; all our races lived by themselves," Twilight said. "It was only after the windigos that we all became one... it was only because of them.
The others stood silent.
Twilight paused, "And more importantly, without all that happened, Clover the Clever would've never discovered the power of friendship... same with the others."
"I'm sorry, darling," Rarity said, "But what you are saying is simply preposterous and if I may be frank, offensive... You can't honestly believe that this was all some ploy to unite us."
"Yeah!" Dash yelled, "And what if it failed?! Well there goes everypony! Oops! "
"I know !" Twilight yelled back, "It's far fetched, but it just all makes sense to me... like I already know it, somehow..."
She continued, "The pony who did this... what they wanted was for all ponies to be united under one principle, the magic of friendship. They wanted friendship to be recognized as the strongest magic there is, and they were willing to go to any length to do so." She shut her eyes, and took a deep breath, "I hate to say this... but if it wasn't for the windigos, the power of friendship might've never been recognized... we would still live as before... separated. No Elements, no Equestria, no friendship... no us. " Twilight lowered her head.
"I mean... now that I think about it..." Applejack said.
The room fell silent. Minutes passed, with the silence only growing colder.
Daring Do lifted her head, "So I guess the next question is, who?"
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The Greatest Lie In Equestrian History
The seven ponies in the room had fallen silent. Only into themselves did they look, with nopony's eyes crossing another's. The book remained on the table between them, its text still waiting to be read.
"It was definitely a master of deception!" Dash said, excited, "Just think about it! He was definitely like a princess's right hoof stallion or adviser. I see it in movies all the time."
"Maybe he looked nice, like an ordinary pony?" Fluttershy said, "You can never tell how somepony truly is on the inside... at least, that's what I've learned."
"True," Applejack said, "But I reckon' a pony this powerful musta' looked mighty powerful too, at least more than the ordinary pony."
"Agreed," Rarity said, "They did have a palace after all, not exactly the calling card of a humble pony."
Everypony shot her a glance.
Pinkie jumped up, "Maybe they were a super powerful, long lost alicorn strong enough to blow up the earth and moon and sun and everything! " Everypony gave her their 'What the hay? ' face. "What?! You did say super powerful?"
"You guys are on the right track," Twilight said, "But I think we should go over the descriptors first." She put her hoof on her chin, "Okay, so what do we know..? This pony believed in friendship almost to the point of insanity-- scratch that-- to the point of insanity... They had to have been amazingly powerful to use this spell on the scale that they did."
"They'd have to at least have been as strong as the higher princesses," Daring Do said. Twilight nodded.
"And don't forget that they'd have to be alive then!" Dash said. The other six turned to her and shook their heads. "No... ugh! What I meant was, who do we know that was even strong enough to do this back then?!"
"Well it certainly wasn't anypony from the Unicorn Kingdom," Rarity said, "I've done quite the research on it and I can assure you that nopony had the means or power to perform such a feat."
"You never know though..." Daring Do said, giving a suspicious glance around the room, "After you live a life like I have, you start to question everything , no matter what the research."
"What bout' Starswirl?" Applejack said, "Twilight's always goin' on about how powerful he was and we know he was alive back then."
"Yeah!" Dash gave her own thinker's pose impression, "He does fit... I think we got ourselves a winner here! Good job AJ!"
"But from what I've heard, he wasn't the type of pony who'd do this," Fluttershy said, "At least that's what I think... no need to go accusing somepony without real evidence."
"It does all fit..." Daring Do thought hard.
"It does..." Twilight said, "But like I said before... my gut's telling me no..."
"Oh enough with your guts!" Dash said, "They'll say no to me being a pegasus next! Just you wait!"
"It's not like I like it either, Dash!" Twilight glared, "And besides, making decisions just off how I feel has never been my thing... There has to be a reason for every choice, not just a passing mood."
"What is your gut feeling anyway?" Pinkie said, standing in place, "Is it like my Pinkie sense?"
"No..." Twilight took a step away from the others, "It's more like... an itch... I feel it whenever I think about the spell, the windigos... whoever did it." Twilight closed her eyes, "It just keeps on talking to me... telling me that I know the answer... that I've known it all along."
The room fell silent as Twilight stood in place with her eyes directed inwards. Her mind was empty. Decades of night long study sessions and memorizing enough books to fill a library had trained her mind for occasions such as these. She fired up all the brainpower she had while reviewing all the events of the day, all the clues.
After that, it was just a matter of time.
No... Twilight's coat spiked up as her pupils dilated. All the air left her body, like it was being sucked out by a spell. She could feel for the first time in her life a chill run down her spine, from her head to tail. Her very life was being taken away from her, but that was the last thing on her mind.
"I have to leave! Now! " Twilight charged out of the room with a look of horror, and without saying another word to the ponies she could trust the most, left the room.
Once in her bedroom, she locked the door and gave one final look around. Nopony had followed her.
Twilight charged up all the magic her alicorn body could until an aura that reached the ceiling and even seeped through it engulfed her horn. An instant later, in a flash that shook the very walls of the room, she was gone without a trace.
The next thing Twilight saw was herself in the throne room of the royal palace. The sight in front of her, her beloved Princess Celestia sitting on her throne.
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"Hello there, Twilight," Celestia said, her flank on her throne, "My intuition was telling me that you would come."
The words coming out of her mentor's mouth never made it to Twilight's ears. All the young alicorn could do was shake as the one pony she believed in above all else mutated into the very thing Twilight had sworn to destroy. "P-Princess... did you?"
Celestia got up and took a step towards her true daughter, "My most faithful student-."
"Don't 'My most faithful student ' me!" Twilight let out a shiver as she realized who she had just raised her voice at.
Celestia's warm stare turned serious, "Yes, I did." Twilight didn't respond, but only stared on with the same cowardly face. "What?! Do you want me to explain myself? You already know why."
"I know..." Twilight said, her coat still spiked up, "It's just that... I don't want to believe it. What if it failed?" She paused, then saying with her softest voice, "What if everypony died?"
Celestia sat back on her throne, "But it didn't, did it?" Twilight walked to her mentor. "Risks are a part of life, every life... we are the product of them as is the world we live in... Take a second to imagine a world where I did not make the choice I did... imagine what our world would lose."
Twilight paused to think for a few seconds, silent. "I understand, Princess... you made the choice you deemed best."
"Still do," Celestia said, sternly.
Twilight lowered her head, "It's just that... I could never..."
"Do not speak so strongly," Celestia said, "For one day you may be forced to make the same decision as I."
Twilight quickly raised her head, "W-What?!"
"Friendship is a fragile thing... It may be the most powerful force in our world, but against the waves of time it erodes like a rock to water. So hard at first, but nothing more than a puppet to the endless tides." Celestia looked down upon her student like a tower while staring into her eyes. "There will come a time when friendship is forgotten... It has happened before, and it is destined to happen again. I can only pray that it does not happen during your lifetime, but when it does it shall be your duty to remind ponies of the truth."
Twilight began walking backwards, "No... I refuse! I'm sorry, Princess... but if this what I have to do-."
"No..." Celestia gave a cold stare, "This is what you are meant to do." The princess's eyes glowed white, and an instant later so did her student's. The next thing Twilight knew she was no longer in the palace, but in a city she couldn't recognize, surrounded by ponies she didn't know.
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The Greatest Lie In Equestrian History
The sunset was so similar, and yet nothing like it once was.
Twilight blinked her eyes to make sure the view around her was real. Each blink only helped to solidify it. Broken roads, decaying huts made of stick and straw and a sky grayer than fresh ash engulfed her field of view. No matter where she turned, a chipped away home lay or the blackening dirt that surrounded it. The young princess's heart pounded, but not from the atmosphere.
Below Twilight's hooves was a dot on the ground. It wasn't painted, but looked and felt like a part of the earth itself. It spread out in three directions, all equiangular, and shot into the town towards the ponies that inhabited it.
The faces of the ponies were grayer than the sky. None stepped over the line and in fact all kept as far as they could from it. Mothers kept their hooves over their young, lest they stray too close.
All the ponies stayed in their respective areas, caged by the forces that separated them. Nopony from one area gave so much as a smile to a pony in another; they didn't even look at each other.
Twilight felt her body ripping into three as she took a step.
Each area only had one type of pony, one race. One area of for unicorns, one for pegasi, and one for earth ponies. Each type kept to themselves in their own section; the only looks that met between the three were ones of menace and distrust. Twilight had never seen separation with her own eyes; she felt like she belonged nowhere, not even in the unicorn section. The dot was where she kept her hooves.
Even amongst the same race the ponies passed each other by like the other didn't exist. No smiles, no hello, not even a nod of existence; everypony was in their own world, alone, lost in the rush of their own lives.
A million ponies surrounded each of them, and yet still they were alone.
This place isn't real. This place isn't real... Princess Celestia's...
The sunset was familiar; she had seen it before. The way the sun sunk into the mountains, the way the approaching shadows blanketed the forests.
She had seen it just last night.
Twilight looked up and saw Canterlot on the mountain it always was, and herself staring up at it like she always did.
Her home had left her.
Twilight's heartbeat pounded through her bones, but just as her chest couldn't take anymore, a smile shot up on her face. I get it now... This is just a vision of what Ponyville and Equestria would be like if Princess Celestia never unleashed the windigos...
And with that in mind, she let out a sigh, finally able to understand.
I get it, Princess... you had no choice... I might not agree, but I understand.
Two seconds. That was all the time Twilight could keep up her smile.
As she gazed at the nightmare around her, the sight of a statue caught her attention in the unicorn section. The statue had wings though, as well as the neck harness of an earth pony. In fact, it was a spitting image of Princess Celestia, at least from where Twilight was standing.
Twilight flew to it, though she never made it more than halfway. She fell onto the ground, unable to move.
The statue was of an alicorn, but its cutie mark was not a sun. A star encrusted the alicorn's flank, surrounded by five smaller stars. On the bottom of the statue was, "Queen Twilight Sparkle."
The future queen collapsed to the ground in tears. No... I would never... I can't ever...
As Twilight stayed on the gray dirt, next to image of what she would allow, the world around her began spinning. One second she would see the future of her creation, and the next an image of the three tribes of the past arguing as the snow and ice surrounded them. One second her kingdom dying around her, the next the yells and curses of the three races towards each other. It all mixed together until her head, wings and body began pulling themselves apart from each other.
She let out a shriek of horror, but it was of no use. Her wings left her, as then did her body and hooves. An instant later her horn uprooted itself from her until she was nothing more than a lone head caught within the tornado.
The next thing Twilight knew she was once again in the throne room of the royal palace, back below her mentor and leader.
Twilight immediately dropped to the ground, "I understand," she said, shaking, "I understand..."
Celestia nodded, "I'm so sorry you had to see it for yourself... but sometimes," her serious face broke down and she faced down, frowning, "The only sane decision is the one least sane..."
"Just tell me one thing, please..." Twilight said, "Why?" Celestia raised her head. "Why will friendship die? Why did it before?"
Celestia sighed, "I... do not know." Twilight's eyes cracked. "It is as with all things... everything has a beginning, and an end... Just as we must all go one day so much friendship... however... while we cannot be brought back, friendship can be made eternal..."
Celestia took a step towards her daughter, "All it takes is one pony, willing to risk it all." She extended her hoof towards the pony on the ground, "Twilight, will you make friendship eternal?"
Twilight grabbed Celestia's hoof and stood up, now able to look her mentor in the eye, "Of course."
She may as well have been staring into her reflection.
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