The Winter Chapters

Not all stories have happy endings.

The mountains. Peaks of mystery and wonder. They hold within beauty and peace, darkness and secrets, magic and truth. The mountains are dangerous. Mountaineers that live within the treacherous cliffs and valleys are often depicted as mentally unstable, for few can handle the isolation and constant caution required to survive. But the mountains are more that geological land masses, caused by rifts within the crust of the planet. They hold power. This power has been long forgotten by the normal world. Below the surface, however, dark forces rise to try and control that power. Many times the darkness has failed, for the power of the mountains is too great.

However, a new dark entity seeks this power, and has the means to do so. But it will take time. Time that he has to spare, for no amount of time will deter him from his ambition, his lust, his desire to rule. To rule over others. To be feared by all. To be remembered.

It was a cold, brisk morning in Ponyville. Winter was on it's way. Twilight felt it. After living in Ponyville for years, she knew the seasons like she knew her library. Twilight had asked the night before for Spike to leave the window open in her bedroom. Spike was already out of the castle, Twilight saw when she got out of bed. Must be meeting with Rarity for a gem search through the mines. Twilight cleaned herself and walked to the lobby. It took some time, since Twilight did not feel the need to teleport downstairs. She liked to walk every now and then.

Twilight thought of what she would do that day. She had no classes at the school. She had no appointments with anypony. She already re-re-reorganized her library, her bedroom, her closets (all 26 of them), and her organizing supplies. Twilight arrived at the lobby and decided to examine the map that held its place in the throne room since the castle was made. Twilight swung open the large doors and entered the large room that had six thrones, plus a small throne for Spike, and the map that sat in the middle. Despite living in the castle for a few years, the sight still left Twilight a little uneasy. She never thought herself as a ruler, and even when Celestia and Luna proposed the idea to the Main 6 for a change in the hierarchy, Twilight knew that her throne would be in Canterlot, not in Ponyville. So these thrones were borderline useless. Twilight remembered how she and her friends used their keys to unlock the box that sprouted from the Tree of Harmony, were given powers that Tirek could not surpass, and were gifted the castle.

Twilight walked over to her throne and stood beside it. She felt the urge to sit, but her gut told her not to, since that throne would not be the one she would sit upon when she and her friends became the new rulers of Equestria. But she gave in. She maneuvered herself to be facing the map. The map was beautiful, Twilight saw, as no troubles in the past year have risen. She remembered when the map was first materialized. It called upon the Main 6 to the village where they first met Starlight Glimmer. After that, the map called members of all sorts to solve more friendship problems. However, after the events that brought back Stygian and the Pillars, no knew friendship problems have risen.

Twilight looked expectantly at the map, secretly hoping for her cutie mark to appear and guide her to a part of Equestria that she had yet to discover. She hoped, but she was met with a map of Equestria and some bordering lands. Twilight sighed and was about to step down from her (fake) throne. She was stopped by a POP that came from the map. She looked at the map and saw a pink pen and white paper (cutie mark?) appear above the map. A new friendship problem! She looked at the mark and saw that it was hovering over Ponyville. And Canterlot? And the Everfree Forest? Twilight was bewildered. She never saw multiple friendship problems called upon at once. Even more puzzling was that the cutie mark was above all the locations. Twilight watched on as more locations bore the same mark. Phillydelphia, Manehattan, Saddle Arabia, even the Crystal Empire. Twilight was knocked back by multiple flashes that came from the map.

Twilight regained her balance and saw that many more locations had cutie marks, but not just the pink pen and paper. There was a blue eye cutie mark, a white jacket cutie mark, a blue, circular mark that was strange to Twilight, as well as many other marks. Twilight was awestruck by the amount presented by the map at a single moment. Then everything went away, except for the map. Twilight blinked. What that all real, or a dream? Whatever it was, Twilight was shaken by a single thought: she never saw her or her friends' cutie marks. All the marks were unusual. From ponies that Twilight has never met before. Not even from Ponyville. Why did this happen? Did this really happen? Twilight would have puzzled over that thought for at least an hour if she wasn't interrupted by a knocking that came from the main entrance of the castle.

Twilight did not want to walk this time. She lit up her horn and teleported to the front foyer. She took a deep breathe, exhaled, and opened the door. She was met with a pony she almost mistook for Pinkie Pie. The mare had a hot pink coat, two eyes that actually held a slur of colors, and a white mane with its ends colors midnight blue in a style that Rarity would be jealous of.

"Hello. You must be Twilight Sparkle. Of course you are! You are the only alicorn in Ponyville!" The mare spoke with a soft voice.

"Yes, I am. Who are you? Are you new to Ponyville?" Twilight asked cautiously.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Sabine. Just Sabine. It's a weird name, I know, but it is mine." Sabine responded.

"Sabine. It's a lovely name. Where are you from?" Twilight asked, a bit more relaxed this time.

"I'm from the south. A city called South Morbus. The problem is, there is no North, East, West, Northeast, Northwest, or any other Morbus cities, so it is a mystery why it is called South Morbus. Some say it is because once you reach South Morbus, there is nothing else south to find, but I think that is a load of poppy seeds. It's capital is Abyssus. No one in the lower districts are allowed to enter Abyssus unless you are summoned. I was in the lower districts, the Kunst District to be accurate. I was summoned and was sent to come here, to Ponyville. I wasn't the only one, but I'm the first to arrive."

Twilight took all this in. South Morbus? Abyssus? She was summoned, along with others. Who are the others? When will they arrive?

"Are you okay?" Sabine asked.

"Fine. Just fine. Just one question?" Twilight chirped.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Why were you sent here?"

"Well, I can't really say. I can say that me and the others are giving you a word of warning."

Twilight was in full focus.

"A warning? About what?" Twilight pressed onto Sabine.

"All I can say right now is 'change.'" Sabine responded.

"'Change?' What change?" Twilight requested.

"Sorry. I'm really sorry, but I can't say more until the others arrive. Anyway, I am new to Ponyville and--"

"WAIT! YOU ARE NEW TO PONYVILLE!" The shriek came from downtown Ponyville, but Twilight knew fully well that Pinkie Pie was going to plan a party.

Twilight took in a deep breath. "Sigh. Okay. I understand. Important business. I guess I can show you around town. But be careful about Pinkie Pie. She can--"

"Be chaotic and throw parties at any moment for any reason." Sabine interrupted.

Twilight looked dumbfounded. "How did you know?"

Sabine hesitated. "Lucky guess?"

There is something about Sabine. Twilight did not know what, but there was something. Sabine was turning around and Twilight missed what she had said. Twilight caught sight of Sabine's cutie mark. It was a pink pen and paper.

"So, how many are coming?" Twilight asked blindly.

"I'm not sure exactly. I think at least six others." Sabine responded.

"You're not sure?" Twilight ask inquisitively.

"Well, we weren't given the order at the same time, so there may as well be over ten others coming, but I believe that there may only be about six."

Twilight remembered how she had seen multiple cutie marks over the map. Twilight could only guess that there were only six or seven different cutie marks in total. There may have been more, but Twilight did not see them if there were. Twilight realized that during her talk with Sabine, she had made her way to the throne room of the castle. She walked without realizing it. Sabine never showed any signs of walking, but they were both inside the room regardless. Twilight blinked multiple times.

"Funny how a good conversation can get you so distracted that you forget that you are walking." Sabine said, a hint of arrogance in her voice.

"It is funny." Twilight replied, a hint of fear in her voice.

Sabine did something that took Twilight by surprise. She flew. Twilight saw Sabine's wings unfolded and carrying her in the air. How did she not realize that Sabine was a pegasus? Twilight figured that she was too caught up in Sabine's cutie mark to have seen the folded wings. Twilight was now more curious about Sabine.

"Hey Sabine! What's your cutie mark for?" Twilight shouted up to the flying pink pegasus.

"My cutie mark? Oh, it's for my artistic and flamboyant character." Sabine shouted back.

"Artistic?" Twilight asked. She did not need to ask about her flamboyancy. Her mane and eyes gave that away. What art was Sabine into?

"Yeah! I like to write stories and draw. If I had a piece of paper with a piece of my art on it, it would fill this castle ten times! But I doubt there is that much paper available to me." Sabine announced from the ceiling.

She was an artist. She liked to write stories and draw.

"What kind of stories do you write?" Twilight inquired, purely curious now.

"I really like horror and fantasy, but I like to try and sprinkle in some mystery and romance. I also try to throw in some science fiction in when I can. But mostly horror and fantasy."

"How many stories have you written?"

"I'm actually still on my first one. It's a process, and I like to take my time."

"How long is this story? What is it about?"

"It's pretty long, to be honest. It's about a pony born with extraordinary powers and he tries to find out what he is capable of and where his powers come from. He meets a lot of friends along the way, and he has to fight all sorts of creatures, like a hydra and a rogue storm. He has several family issues, which help build up the story."

"Wow. How long do you think it will take to finish that story?"

"I don't try thinking about when it's going to end, and just let the story run until it is over."

Twilight accepted this and looked back down to the map. She could not believe that one of the ponies called upon by the map was also sent by those in Abyssus. Twilight thought it more than a coincidence, but she did not want to worry about it. The map clearly called ponies outside of Ponyville. Outside of her group of friends. The map had never failed before, so why would it fail now? Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled. Everything will be okay.

Everything will be okay.

In Ponyville, the chilling winds were building up. The first sign of winter. The ponies were starting to wear clothing to keep warm. The animals were retreating into borrows and collecting food to eat before hibernation. All seemed peaceful.

In the mountains, the snow already came. The wind howled through the valleys and created endless screams that nopony heard. Nopony except him. The hooded pony. He lit his horn, creating a blue light that reflect off of the fresh snow. His face was masked, but his eyes could be seen. His eyes were the strongest black. Beneath him, the snow started to melt and evaporate. The mist was collect into the horn. Then the horn ceased. It would take time, but he had time. Time to plan. Time to collect. Time to perfect.

His time was drawing near.