'Tis of Thee

The beginning never ends.

In the years before the Warming the three tribes lived in perpetual discord. Separated by culture, ideology, religion and miles of barren land, a common goal nonetheless bound them together: survival. Unable to produce food on their own, each tribe begrudgingly relied on the other for its nourishment: one to plant the crops, one to bring the rain, one to raise the nurturing sun.

Thankfully, the old ways of hatred and intolerance failed to last. When the windigos came, six of ponykind's best and bravest joined forces to face what they believed was the death of their world. And they were right. Their world did die, and a new one, swaddled in the warmth of friendship, was born.

But can one moment really undo centuries of hatred and intolerance? Can a single decision, made by six frightened ponies on the verge of an icy death, truly unite a species who had only ever known discord?

Spike the Dragon doesn't think so. His princess has been kidnapped, his friends are scattered, and little by little his country is succumbing to forces set in motion ages before he was born. Forces -- and thoughts and feelings and ideas -- that had supposedly melted away with the last of the windigos. The last of that ancient snow.

No, Spike does not believe a single moment can change anything. Because his world is growing dark again.

And cold.