The Snow Dwellers Plight.
Chapter 1: The Elements
The infamous never ending winter of the frozen wasteland blew as powerful as it ever had in the past, the freezing and deadly winds blew and threw snow throughout the sky, only a desperate or insane creature would live here. A red unicorn stood by a snow covered splintering signpost, the names of ancient and long dead cities splayed across in an unreadable language, the alien letters were now long scratched out. He was very old, his face spoke of suffering, a pale face that rarely ever saw the sun, his long unkempt mane was only split by the horn upon his head. A source of fire lit from the colt’s glowing horn, keeping him warm in such a cold and inhospitable land, a slight grumble came from his mouth as the sound of the hooves grew closer
“Merchants,” the colt huffed. The noise of the hooves came and went, All that awaits you in these mountains is a slow and cold death. A. Ponies do not last long out here, not without ample protection or magic, something that has been long outlawed. The colt groaned and put out the flame he made, he quickly pulled his hood up and made his way down the road.
He reached his destination, a lifeless row of wooden buildings blanketed by snow on each side of him, This place, once a sprawling city, now sat, touched only by the weather. It was once known as Canterlot, the capital of a dead nation, for which was long forgotten. Except. For a small group of ponies, a group that stood by the old ways.
“We must live among the freezing cities, otherwise...” The colt announced into the blowing winds, not taking his eyes off the large castle that hung off the mountain.
“....We will be hunted as war criminals by the tyrants” The wind responded , The voice was a throaty and feminine . “Good to see you again brother torch, Happy to know that you weren’t put upon the chopping blocks.”
“Indeed. Where are the others?” Torch questioned with impatience, he always felt paranoid around her, An earth pony fighting against the empire? It seemed very suspicious. Earth ponies were the griffins pets, used to do their dirty work and their laboring, they were also treated much better than the other ponies, often becoming nobleponies.
She smirked, she knew of the secret hate and distrust this tired old unicorn felt for her “They’re at the castle grounds, Come, we must make haste.” She motioned towards the colt and began to make her way toward the rest of the group. The colt quickly followed.
The pair finally had caught up with the rest of the group, all of them were of different ages, species and sizes, though the group was primarily made up of unicorns. A strong voice could be heard, A single Zebra stood upon the steps that led up to the castle, like the colt, his face almost never met the sun, a unique scar, a scar that spoke of torture ran down from his check, to his neck, he wore a dark blue robe, in uniform to the rest of the group. “The empire wishes they can control us, they force us to use only what they view as safe magic. They pull this leash around is, want us to go in the direction that they please” the colt slammed his hoof “But no more! We shall find the fabled elements. The elements that Celestia used to keep the kingdom safe!” The Zebra smiled “Colts, Mares and Griffins Today is the first step towards freedom. Now, Go into this crumbling fortress and find our key to freedom” The group began to make their way up the stairs, following the Zebra as pushed his way into the entrance of these ruins.
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Not much is known about the “Elements”, only that Celestia used it her kingdom’s main weapon. This group, known as “Celestia’s Kin” about half century ago, known by the loyal civilians as a revolutionary and traitorous group. Yet known as freedom fighters and a form of hope to the tired and the beaten. The group originally spawned from a small group of thirteen scholars, All who were fed up with the destruction of historical documents and sights. These unicorns decided enough was a enough, they stole a large amount of supplies and left off into the frozen wastelands to live among the ruins, this spawned the nicknames such as “The Snow dwellers”. These snow dwellers have been recruiting ponies, griffins and anyone that wants to end the empire’s tyranny.
about a year ago, the founders were captured by empire forces in one of their many hideouts dotted throughout the Empire’s territories, they were tried for treason and were put to death, only two escaped. The Zebra known as “Metlok” and the unicorn only known as “Torch”, they hardly survived their imprisonment.
“How do know that the elements are here?” Torch glanced toward Metlok, the look of worry was apparent across his face
“One of our agents, Zaroff, he took an old magical scroll from the Empire’s vault, It is Celestia speaking of the elements toward one of her royal guards.” Metlok quickly responded, a lot more focused on the crumbling bookshelves and various rooms, They were the first ponies to step hoof in this building in over 1000 years.
“Do we even know what to look for, For all we know the elements could be long lost?” Torch attempted to get the Zebra’s attention, but not even a squad of Griffin Centurions could take his eyes off what they found here.
“Now, Torch. We must look. You can’t lose something as powerful as the elements” Little did he know, this was very much a possibility, a lesson he’d have to learn very quickly....
