You're all familiar with the story of Twilight Sparkle and her friends? Pffft, of course you are. It's a tale as old as time, told to fillies and colts across Equestria. Well, you see this story is not about them. Not about Lord Tirek, or Discord or the Changeling threat to Equestria. Nope. This story is about me, Winter. Hmm.. where to begin? Oh yes. Here seems appropriate.

~~~~~~

Fall was coming to an end, and the snowy season was upon the land of Equestria. In the quiet of the Everfree forest, multicolored leaves danced around as they were swept up by gusts of wind blowing through the trees. Among this peaceful scene stood a decrepit and foreboding looking castle. It's walls were falling apart, and the windows that once reflected beautiful sunlight lay broken and empty. Vines crept along the decaying walls, laying claim to several of the castles beautiful stone pillars.

The peace was suddenly shattered however, as a magnificent explosion rocked the castle and caused one of the eroded walls to collapse in on itself. Inside the newly created hole, a ball of magical energy crackled and sparked as it slowly moved through the air. Within this ball of energy, a figure lay curled up. It was difficult to tell what it was but that question was soon answered as the magical ball dissipated and dropped the figure onto the ground.

~~~

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes, was the tall trees of the Everfree Forest. Grunting with effort, I sat up and looked around me. Everything looked different. The castle, the forest, the ravine. Standing up on shaky legs, I turned and looked at my former prison. It was in terrible condition. But.. how long had I been away? When I was put into that miserable place, there was a glistening tree standing in the middle of these ruins. Now, it was gone.

Entering the castle, I worked my way to the room where I had last seen her all those years ago. Maybe she was still here. Right? It's a possibility. With my breathing increasing, I started galloping down hallways and through various rooms. Come on.. come on.. where is it? After several minutes of looking, I spotted a door with an inscription carved into it. Bingo.

Bucking open the decayed doors, I desperately looked around for any signs of her. The entire room was covered in a fine layer of dust and the bookshelves lay crumbling and destroyed, covered in an overgrowth of plant life. Folding my ears back, I panted softly, looking around.

"Luna?" I called out, my voice barely a whisper after centuries of not being used. Coughing, I licked my lips and called out again

"Luna!?" My words echoed around the room, traveling out into the quiet hallway beyond.

I began to panic. Breathing heavier, my chest heaved and my vision narrowed as I fell to the ground shaking.

"No.. you can't be gone. You must be alive still, but... the cemetery. I should check before I panic."

Standing back up, I took deep slow breaths to control myself and spread my wings. There was a cemetery not far from the castle where royals were buried. It was outside of Ponyville. Or... whatever may be left of Ponyville at this point. I was hoping... praying that she wasn't there. She was an Alicorn. She must still be alive. Alicorns are immortal, right?

Taking off from the ground, I flew out of a nearby window, and headed in the direction of the cemetery.

~~~

It was about an hour before the dilapidated looking graveyard came into view. Gliding down on a gust of wind, I landed in the center and desperately began looking at the headstones.

"No, no, no, no, nope,"

As I searched the headstones I felt a wave of relief start to come over me. Maybe she wasn't here? I had to be certain though. Trotting into the final row, I looked at gravestones. Nothing of interest caught my eye until the last few stones. Lighting my horn, I cleared away the dirt from one.

"Princess... Mi Amore Cadenza... Cadence?"

Princess Cadence was gone? I felt my stomach drop. If she was gone there was a good chance Luna was too. Clearing away the dirt from the other headstones, I read the names to myself.

"Princess.. Celestia.. beloved ruler and mother.
Princess.. Luna."

I froze. Looking up at the tall stone pillar, I noticed a crescent moon carved into the stone.

"No. This has to be fake.. it can't be."

My vision went blurry as tears formed in my eyes.

"Luna.."

Collapsing to the ground, I sobbed. She was gone. Forever.

I don't know how long I lay there. Minutes, hours? I didn't want to leave the grave. I was heartbroken. Never before had I felt a pain such as this. The mare that I had spent so many years with, the only one who understood me, who cared about me, gone.

"If it means anything, she meant a lot to me too."

I jerked my head up at the voice and looked around.

"Who's there!?"

From the shadows, a cloaked pony emerged and lowered her hood.

"Forgive me... I couldn't help but follow you. You're Winter right?"

Standing up, I looked at the newcomer. She looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't place my hoof on it.

"Who are you??" I asked.

The pony smiled a little.

"Forgive me for being so rude... I am Flurry Heart. Daughter of Cadence and Shining Armor."

I stared at the mare.

"Flurry? But.. You're so.. old."

"Yes.. time hasn't been very kind to me." She chuckled and walked over to Lunas grave. "You should know however, after your incident, Luna visited you every day. My mother told me stories of you two when I was young. She really did love you Winter."

I looked back at the grave and felt another surge of tears forming.

"How.." I asked quietly.

Flurry sighed and put a hoof on my shoulder.

"It's not gonna be easy to hear. So... please try not to lose your temper."

I already didn't like where this was going.

"After your incident, Sombra returned. With Luna and Celestia being too old to fight like they used to, it was up to Twilight and a group of earth ponies from the 3rd Guard regiment of Ponyville. Of course she had her friends but they too were showing their age. The fate of Equestria looked grim as Sombra took city after city with little to no resistance."

"What about the new students at her school?" I asked. But Flurry simply shook her head.

"They were never taught how to use magic to defend themselves because of a law passed by Celestia. Equestria had been at peace for so long, the council had decided it wasn't necessary to use magic for combat. So they shut down the entire program. The creatures and ponies that could fight did their best to aid Equestria in the fight, but Sombra had already taken half of the country."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Sombra? But how? Wasn't he defeated once and for all by Twilight and her friends? Flurry looked at Luna's and Celestia's grave.

"That's where Celestia and Luna come in.. they volunteered to lead the charge on Ponyville which had been occupied by Sombra and was being used as a forward command center for his invasion. Against the advice from their subjects, they went anyway and lead a massive counter attack on Ponyville. The group of earth ponies assigned by Twilight to protect the Princesses failed to stop a group of Sombras soldiers from swarming them.. Luna and Celestia were both killed in the fray.. and the earth ponies retreated from the battle into the Everfree forest."

I was silent for a minute or so.

"They... abandoned them?"

I felt something stir within me. Something I hadn't felt in centuries. What was it? No...

"Yes, but Winter you must calm down. Please, it wasn't their fault. If they would have stayed then they too wouldve been-"

"RAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Everything went white for a moment as I felt rage fill me. Breathing heavily, I glared at Flurry, flames enveloping my body.

"Winter! Please, you must calm yourself! You can't let the demon take control of your emotions! Think of what Luna would've wanted!"

"Oh I can, Luna is gone BECAUSE OF THEM!! COWARDS!! WHERE did those ponies run off to Flurry?? Tell me-" I grabbed her by the scruff of her cloak and snarled. "Or I'll put you in the ground with the rest of them!"

I was no longer in control of myself. The anger, the rage, the demon side of me that I had forced down so many years ago had taken control. I no longer saw Flurry as a friend. But as somepony with information I needed. And I was ready to get the info I needed by any means necessary. Flurry's eyes widened as she looked at me.

"They.. they established a town to the south.. Maretime Bay." She squeaked out.

Letting go of her cloak, I took off like a fireball into the sky. Flames roaring around my body as horns grew from my head. My eyes turning into serpentine slits.

"Oh its so good to be back." I smiled.

From down below I could hear Flurry's desperate cries telling me to stop. That I had to control myself. Fuck that. I've held this demon in too long. Those bastards left her to die, and now I'm gonna make them suffer.

~~~~~~~
-To Be Continued

Author's Note

Hello everyone. It has been a while since I've uploaded. I took down my other stories for a good reason. I won't share what it was, but it was a good one. Please enjoy this new series stemming from the lore and background of my main original character.