A morning chill blew over the small village of Weathertop Mountain, the trees rustled, river water frosted over, and birds nestled into their tree burrows. Down below, ponies roamed around their village. Carrying saddlebags filled with warm clothes and firewood that was cut down for their small houses. Smoke rose from a few of the houses, billowing into the air into white sipes that disappeared shortly after. Fillies and Colts ran around happily, dressed in warm clothing as proud parents watched on. This was Penta's oldest known village, Weathertop.
This was an old and very well known village throughout Penta, known as the birthplace of Penta. Many ponies have come from this place, including from Equestria, bloodlines go back centuries and lead to this village. It was small, having twenty or so buildings made of stone and wood, situated near a large river where most of the Northern Pegasi and Thestrals get their fish from. Boats sailed through the water, small rowboats from the other mountain top villages from afar.
Only one building in all of this place stood out, and it as deep in the woods, down a well traveled path that cut into the brush and past several tall trees. The path was well worn from years and years of travel, from villagers and pilgrims alike, even archaeologists and travelers from all over the world. Only a chosen few ever get what they seek out. The building was small, a small triangle of sorts carved out of stone and decorated with flowers and stone carvings of swirls and lines that gave it a rather interesting look.
On the front, was the mouth of a cave. Inside, stone steps led down into a staircase lit up by a few torches. The walls were covered in drawings, some of groups of ponies, in separate groups based on their race. Others further down, were of different ponies, alicorns, great objects in the sky raining down terror upon the land... the images faded as one got lower into the tunnels.
Down below in the cave, past several tunnels, stairways and narrow stone bridges, there was an underground temple. And in this temple, lived several ponies, mostly unicorns and earth ponies. What few pegasi that lived down below were orphaned or travelers. The temple was surrounded by small tone built hovels which ponies lived in, most of them donning robes of sorts, the ones who stood guard donned strange looking armor.
Galloping through past the hovels and past other ponies was a small pegasus filly, she wore a tattered robe and looked excited as she galloped towards the temple. The guards flashed a small smile as she jogged past them, giving them a wave with her wing as she went inside. The temple was radically different inside, inside were carpets and paintings of ponies and other creatures, firepits were built inside and had fires lit up in them giving the place light. Statues of other ponies and those same creatures stood on either side, holding weapons high and looking determined.
And at the head of the Temple, sitting on a cushion with several other ponies beside him... was a large pony, donning a full cloak and hood that only allowed his horn and eyes to be shone, along with his face... of course. His bright red eyes spotted the filly approaching, and he beckoned her closer, he wasn't expecting her to jump at him and grab him in a hug.
"Seti!" She cried, giggling as he lifted her up.
He gave her a warm smile, setting her in his lap. "And what brings you here, my dear?" He asked, his voice as crisp as the northern winds yet gentle like a summer breeze.
She smiled brightly as the other ponies around him left, returning to whatever it was they were doing prior to the filly's entrance. "Can you finish the story~" She asked sweetly, pouting her lower lip out in a display of innocent begging.
Innocent my butt.
The pony chuckled, horn aglow as he brought over a large dusty leather bound book. The cover was new, almost brand new, and there were hundreds of pages. However, when he flipped it open in the middle, it was blank. "I suppose." He went back to the beginning of the book, and there he flipped through a few filled pages until he came to the last page, which had To Be Continued near the bottom. "Do you remember where we were?"
The filly nodded her head, pointing to the right page, near the end.
"Well... let's see here." The pony made a show of leaning on, inspecting the paper. He knew the entire entry by heart, after all...
He's the one who wrote it.
"When we last left off, our heroes had entered the Cave of Sorrows," He told the filly, smiling under his hood. "The sisters, along with their crew, traveled deep beneath Equus, down into the darkness of the tunnel." He paused, looking down at the page. "Along the way, the eldest sister questioned, 'Shouldn't we have taken the other path?' the heroes knew there were different paths, and could have taken one that was easier and shorter, but the youngest replied It'll be alright, I know what I'm doing!''."
"Is she the same one who blew up that tower when her coltfriend said they should just run for it?" The filly wondered, remembering the colt that was with one of the sisters.
"Ahh, but he wasn't her coltfriend, silly filly." The stallion chuckled, rustling her mane.
She looked confused, yet happy for the head rub. "Then what was he?"
"A good question, a very good question." He told her, looking up for a brief second, revealing a black furred body. "He... to both the sisters, he was considered a friend of sorts, but also somepony to keep an eye on, because of his general outlook on life."
"Was he a bad pony?"
The stallion looked back down, smiling sadly. "I do not know... that is a question, one of the very few I cannot answer truthfully." He held the filly closer. "He is hard to figure out, even for one such as myself." Thinking about the stallion, he did find himself at ends with him. He had never met the stallion, but he had watched him throughout his journey in this world, and pondered the purpose of his existence. "There isn't much I can tell you about him, other than he is simply their friend."
"But," she pouted cutely, warming his heart. "He could be her coltfriend, and they could live happily ever after! Like in those fairy tales you read to us before bedtime!"
"Maybe," He nodded slowly, thinking of the ponies in question. They certainly compliment one another... of that I am certain. "Maybe someday they will be each other's special someponies, but for now, they are merely friends." The pony told her, rubbing her head as he looked down at the page. "Our heroes continued through the cavern, in search of the dreaded Lich who was said to have gotten his claws on a magical object that could have destroyed the world."
The filly gasped. "That sounds bad!"
"It was bad," The stallion sighed, remembering what the object could have done to the world. "Very bad, and if this group hadn't one what they did..." He looked the filly in the eyes. "We wouldn't be here today."
"Really?" She asked him, looking up at Seti with a look of shock on her face.
The older pony nodded his head. "Indeed, and as you can see here." He pointed to the page, just above the ending. "They managed to find the Lich and stop him from using the dreaded staff to destroy everything, they destroyed the staff instead, and imprisoned him in Tartarus for all of eternity."
She made an Oooo sound as she turned to read the page, eyes widening. "So... they saved the world?"
"Mmhmm, that they did my little pony."
"... Hmm..." She hummed, "do..." She looked up at Seti, "do you know where they live?"
An eyebrow raise, "I... do," he said hesitantly, knowing what was coming, but for the sake of theatrics. "But, why do you ask?"
She jumped up and down in his lap, an overjoyed expression on her face. "I wanna meet them! I wanna meet them!"
Seti sighed, pulling back his hood and revealing his face. Red fur dominated his head, with a long red and black mane. "You wish to meet them?" He questioned the young filly, watching as she nodded her head several times. "I'm afraid they live a long way away from where we are... and leaving the safety of the sanctuary... why would you leave?" He knew why she wanted to leave, after all, the stories he's told the filly were told for a purpose.
The filly made a face, scrunching up her nose and pouting. "I wanna be like them!" She announced to the stallion, hopping down and standing before him. She held her tiny head high and puffed out her chest, wings raised in a show of adorable defiance. "I want to meet them, and go on adventures with them and stuff!" She told him, brushing aside her pink bangs.
Seti smiled at the filly,