Prologue: Prophecy of a Second Great Winter
Millennia ago, before the time of Royal Sisters, before the forming of the Pillars of Equestria, even before the founding of Equestria, there was strife.
Cold and strife.
For years, the three Pony Tribes, those of Unicorn, Pegasi and Earth Ponies, fought and squabbled over just about everything, from essentials ranging from food, shelter and land, to minor things such as who was right, who was better than the other, even on small bumps along the road. From these squabbles, creatures of snow and hatred, the Windigos came forth, growing ever colder the more the Tribes fought amongst one another, turning their beloved homes into winter wastelands.
So, devastating it was, that the Tribes soon set out to find and claim new land for themselves. Eventually, they came across a bountiful and prosperous land and chose it as their new home. Unfortunately, the Three Tribes had chosen and settled upon the same land, leading to another squabble involving the rights to the land, a squabble that drew the intention of the Windigos, who had returned to spread their frost across this land also.
However, through the bonding and friendship of three ponies of each tribe, the Windigos were repelled and the uniting of the Three Tribes came to be, choosing to start again upon their settled land, which they christened as Equestria. United as one race, the Three Tribes went to work erecting settlements of various purposes and sizes upon their land, while also clearing off the last remnants of the Windigos that had plagued them for so long.
To many historians, that is the recorded end to the tale.
However, unknownst to anypony or creature, there is much more to the tell.
For as the Three Tribes swept the last of their dark and cold past away, many a Pony Seer were struck with a powerful vision, a speculated ‘parting-gift’ from the Windigos. From these visions, they saw the coming of another Great Winter, yet this one was far larger, more destructive and far colder than the one they had suffered previously.
This new Great Winter they saw would envelop not just Equestria, but all of the world, freezing everything from the widest of oceans to the burning infernos of volcanos and lava pits. Plants withered and died. Creatures of all manners prey upon each other. Even descendants of their own Tribes fell into a state of feral degeneration and returned to the primal ways of their ancestors. And, lording over them all, where creatures of fang and claw, fitted and adapted to survive such harsh climates, preying upon all that hid and cowered in the night.
This winter would be the winter to end all others. And its name: was Fimbulwinter.
Few Seers who survived the visions either quivered in fear as to what they saw, while others had taken their own lives having fallen to madness. Regardless, this prophecy of Fimbulwinter concerned and terrified the Council of Three, who feared that public knowledge of such an event would fracture the unity and peace they had just recently established. Under a unanimous vote, the knowledge of Fimbulwinter was recorded and buried deep within the archives of the Council, never to be read or heard of from anypony nor creature outside the ruling body of Equestria.
Years had passed since then, with each generation of ruler ascending to the throne with knowledge of the second coming dwelling within their minds, until many began to write it off as an old foals’ tale. Eventually, the prophecy was all but forgotten by the time the Royal Sisters had ascended to the throne.
Just as their peers before, the sisters were told of the prophecy and wrote it off as tale from Equestria’s past used to scare new rulers upon their ascension, paying it no mind.
However, as years past and events played out before them, the eldest of the two, the keeper of the sun and day, found her mind drifting back to the old tale of second coming.
For it was recorded by the Seers of Old, that the second coming would be heralded by five events that would shake the foundations of Equestria itself:
First, a great civilisation of old, lost to the hands of time, would return to stand upon Equestria once more.
Next, a power to rival that of the sun and moon would arise, bringing prosperity and harmony to the nation and the world.
A black power, one born of darkness and despair, would be cleansed and reborn into the world, freed from its dark and evil origins.
All magic across Equestria, great and small, would vanish, leaving the nation barren and devoid of its precious life blood.
Finally, a howl from the harbinger of Fimbulwinter, the ruler of those who will reign over the world during the Great Winter, will echo across the sky, stirring the Windigos from their slumber.
Only from these five heralds, will Fimbulwinter come. And once the sun and moon have been devoured completely, and with the consumption of harmony and magic at its peak, will the eternity of Fimbulwinter truly take hold.
However, the strange thing about prophecies, is that there are certain elements that it does not consider. And that, can have some miraculous consequences.
Sat comfortably within her bed chambers, resting on a nest of cushions with a hot cup of tea held in her magical grip, was the elegant form of Princess Celestia, monarch of Equestria and guardian of the sun and day.
Glancing to the open window of her chambers, she watched as the illuminous light of moon shone down from its perch in the night sky, with the dancing twinkles of stars painted alongside it. Her duties had long since ended this day, allowing her younger sister, Luna, free reign of the night to carry out her duties. On any other day, the princess would normally be seated where she was now, spending her free nightly hours reading a pleasant book while sipping upon tea, as she was now.
Tonight, however, her mind was too distraught to be indulged within the confines of a good book.
Looking back on the most recent event that had transpired, Celestia felt only disappointment and fear on the event. Disappointment that such young, sweet looking filly could possess a mind so twisted and dark that it nearly resulted in the near banishment of all magic throughout Equestria, all for the pursuit of power. And fear, as that, not only did she nearly succeed, but of what it meant, even with her defeat and imprisonment.
From all she had witnessed, from the return and liberation of the Crystal Empire, the ascension and coronation of her own pupil, Twilight Sparkle, to the Princess of Friendship, the reformation and friendship with the Changeling Kingdom, added to the previously mention event of today, left a heavy thought upon her mind.
“Four heralds…” She spoke aloud in her solace.
In accordance with the prophecy of old, four of the five heralds had come to pass. Now, all that was left was the fifth herald: the howl of the harbinger. Only then would the coming of the second Great Winter final be fulfilled.
When magic and harmony die under a blank of snow and darkness.
Shaking her head to rid herself of these thoughts, Celestia mentally stated that the tale of the second Great Winter was an old tale made up by ponies no longer amongst the living. All that had transpired in the past were coincidences, nothing more. And the fourth one doesn’t probably count, as the stolen magic had been restored.
Losing her appetite for her tea and feeling the stress of today and her thoughts weighing upon her mind, Celestia decided that it was now time to ‘hit-the-hay’ as foals these days, or those from western Equestria, would often remark, she thought with a giggle.
Resting her cup upon her nightstand, the princess arose from her comfort and walked over to the open window, reaching out with her magic to close them to prevent any nightlife disturbances.
*HOWL*
Celestia’s blood froze and her eyes widened at the sound. It was that of a wolf’s, of that she was certain, but this… ‘howl’ was unlike one she had heard from any other species of wolf. Gazing out the window, eyes scanning the shadow covered horizon, she searched for the source of the noise, only to be met with silence and darkness.
Shaking her head and nervously chuckling to herself, a weary smile formed on Celestia’s muzzle.
“Honestly, Celestia. Your imagination is just as creative and as unpredictable as Twilight’s.”
She reached out once again to close the windows once more, when-
*HOWL*
Again, Celestia’s blood froze at the sound of the howl. Stretching her neck out the window, exposing her ethereal mane to the open night air, Celestia looked around the tower and down below at the ground below. To her fear, she noticed that those out in the streets had also stopped to look for the source of the noise that had disturbed their peace.
A gentle breeze blew through Celestia’s mane, sending a shiver down her spine and causing her to retreat back into the warmth of her room. The air that she had felt was not that of refreshing summer’s night, but that of a cold winter nights. A strange occurrence on a night in the middle of the summer cycle.
Shaking her head, trying to deny what she had heard and felt, her fears soon turned to confirmation as she watch a gathering of clouds appear above the mountain peak in the beyond.
With what she had heard, and with the growing evidence before her, she could not deny it any longer: the fifth herald had come.
Knowing what was to follow, a grim yet steeled look crossed Celestia’s features as she watched the small gathering continue to grow, spreading across the sky as if it where an infection.
With no time to spare, Celestia turned on her hooves, her magic gripping the handles of her open window and slamming them shut, before then magically locking them and stomping across her room towards her door.
She had to find Luna, she had to send a message to Twilight and her friends via Spike, she had to prepare everypony for the worst.
For it would soon be upon them.
As she slammed the door, the only sounds that reverberated across the chamber where the shallow clattering of her closed window and the distance, ghostly neighing from beyond.
Author's Note
And so it begins.
Sort of.
Next chapter: Sparks in a Snowstorm.
