Long ago, Equestria was a nation of peace.
However, one day the nation was blanketed by an eternal winter, plunging the ponies into darkness and despair.
Many brave heroes have tried and fail to vanquish the source of this catastrophe: The evil Frost Queen, to no avail.
There is but one brave filly remaining who would challenge the tyrant queen, and restore peace to the land.
***
Out in the frozen wastes, a chilling breeze swept past as fresh snow rained down. The sun had just recently dipped beneath the horizon and twilight was quickly overtaking the skyline, gently framing the distant mountaintops beyond the winter mists.
Standing on a shallow hill, a young alicorn gazed out into sky. She shook her head quickly, freeing herself from a dusting of powdery snow that had come to rest atop her lilac mane, and she let out a deep sigh, gazing once more out into the night sky.
“It’s almost over,” she said to herself dramatically, trying her hardest to look serious, “it’s been a long and dangerous road, and soon, I will face off against the wicked Frost Queen and save Equestria!”
Flurry Heart cleared her throat. Trying to sound gravely and brooding was murder on her vocal cords.
“Her evil tyranny has caused a really terrible amount of chaos, and soon she will finally be brought to justice!”
Her bravado faded away and the filly looked to the ground gloomily.
“But it has been a very long and very lonely journey. I’ve lost many friends along the way. I still think of poor Ms Squeeky, lost in the forest of doom, for all of eternity. I will never forget her!”
“Flurry?” came a deep, heroic voice from behind her.
She turned to see a snow-white colt standing nearby, looking at her with a soft smile.
“Snowball! What are you doing out here?” she asked.
The colt trotted up beside her, taking a seat in the snow. “I came out here to see you, Flurry. We’ve got a big day tomorrow, when you will finally defeat the Frost Queen. I’d hate to see you catch a cold.”
Flurry blushed, looking away from her companion. “Thank you, but I’m fine. I’m just brooding. It’s really important to brood, all the cool heroines do it.”
Snowball nodded. “Of course. You’re so cool and mysterious. Nopony else could’ve lead the resistance and single-hoofedly freed Snowtown from the Queen’s army. That’s what I love about you-” he stopped mid-sentence and his face flushed red, “I mean, that’s what we all love about you! Not that I don’t- I just mean-”
Flurry Heart silenced him by placing a hoof to his lips. “Snowball, I’ve known for a long time. I’ve always known. But we could never be together. Even once the world is saved, I’m a princess, and you’re a doctor who’s working on a cure for every disease. It would never work between us.”
“But Flurry, we could make it work! I could move to the Crystal Empire, I’d even give up on curing every disease, if it means we can be together!” he pleaded.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, because I’ll need to make a dramatic sacrifice to defeat the Frost Queen, and I’ll probably die, and everypony will be really sad.” She leaned in close to the colt, gazing into his dark eyes. “But that’s okay. I’ll always remember the time we spent together.”
“Flurry, I-”
Snowball was cut off as torrent of wind picked up. Flurry shut her eyes and shuddered against the cold, when suddenly the two of them were blinded by a flash of light. Adjusting to the scene before her, Flurry could see a tall white alicorn with a multicolored pastel mane billowing in the wind.
She gasped. “The great Sage of the Sun! What are you doing here?” she asked in awe of the mare before her.
Celestia levitated a puffy pink coat off of her back and held it out to the filly. “Flurry, you forgot your coat! Your mother will be quite cross with me if I let you catch a cold!”
Flurry scrunched up her muzzle. “No, you’re supposed to offer me wisdom in my time of need!” she whined.
“Oh!” exclaimed Celestia in realization, “of course! Princess Flurry Heart, I come to you now to offer you sage advice, in your mission to-” she looked at the filly expectantly.
“Defeat the wicked Frost Queen and save the world!” injected Flurry.
Celestia chuckled. “In your mission to defeat the Frost Queen, my advice to you, young heroine, is to always believe in yourself, and never give up! To aid in your quest, I offer you this mantle of protection, which shall defy the chilling attacks of your nemesis!”
Flurry accepted her coat, slipping it on with a smile. “Thank you oh wise one! Now that evil queen won’t stand a chance against me!”
Celestia smiled. “I believe in you, brave filly, however, I have one last thing to tell you.”
Flurry nodded. “What’s that?”
“Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, so make sure you come back inside soon.”
“Okay!”
“Good luck in your mission, my little pony!” Celestia called out before once more fading into the mists.
“Bye!”
Flurry took a moment to set the mood again, which was slightly harder now that she was wearing a big poofy coat, although she was significantly warmer.
“Now,” she looked back to her ally, “Snowball, my first duty must always be to my ponies, and the two of us are fated to never be together, in spite of our love!”
“But Flurry, you’re the coolest pony in the world! How could I ever go on if you sacrifice yourself to save Equestria?”
Flurry turned away. “You must, I’m doing what needs to be done. I wish there were another way, but I need to do this alone.”
Another flash of light occurred, and now standing before the pair was a navy blue alicorn.
“Flurry Heart, our sister has told us that thou art engaged in a deadly quest to vanquish a most vile despot, is this correct?” Luna asked in a regal, booming voice.
Flurry nodded rapidly. “Yes, oh Sage of the Moon! Have you also come to offer me wisdom?”
“No, we have come to offer you the Blade of Dusk.” Luna conjured a massive claymore with a black blade and thrust it into the snow. “It has been sitting over our mantle for far too long. We are certain it will aid in your mission.”
The filly gazed at the massive blade, which was more than twice as long as she was. “Wowwwwww...” she said in awe. “Can I really have this?”
Luna smiled. “Of course. We received our first blade at your age, so it would seem only fitting to ‘pass the torch’ so to speak.”
Flurry attempted to lift the blade with her magic, but had little success pulling out of the ground. “It’s really heavy!”
“Of course. The blade was forged for slaying Shoggoths after all,” Luna replied.
“I’ve never heard of a Shoggoth before,” the filly said, sounding a bit confused.
Luna nodded solemnly. “And now you know who to thank for that. Fare thee well in your quest young one!” she shouted before fading into the mists.
Flurry continued to look up at the massive blade.
“Whoa.”
“Also, the Hearthswarming feast shall begin in 8 minutes!” echoed Luna’s ethereal voice from out in the distance.
“I know!” Flurry called out back into the fog.
Luna trotted back toward the cabin as a gentle snowfall continued to blanket the earth. Her sister Celestia was standing in the passageway with a concerned expression on her face.
“Isn’t the Blade of Dusk a little dangerous to give to a 7 year old?” Celestia asked.
Luna chuckled. “Please, dear sister, the blade has been dull for over 1,200 years. It is quite doubtful that she could harm herself with it.”
“It’s still rather heavy,” she countered.
The two looked over, where a short distance away they could see Flurry Heart standing beside a misshapen snowcolt she had built, trying desperately to dislodge the massive blade from the ground, to little success.
“We suppose. However that would require her to lift it first,” said Luna.
“Don’t underestimate her Luna, she’s still an alicorn after all,” Celestia responded.
“You worry too much, look at how much fun she’s having!”
Luna gestured to the filly, who was having a dramatic moment yelling at her snowcolt.
“Snowball, how could you side with the Frost Queen, after all we’ve been through!?” she shouted, before responding to herself in a deeper voice.
“I did it because this way we can be together, princess! The Queen will give me everything I ever wanted!”
She switched back to her normal voice. “No, you’re a monster! I can’t believe I ever loved you! Take this!”
Flurry engulfed the Blade of Dusk in her magic and barely managed to wrench it free of the earth, chucking it gracelessly at the snowcolt. Upon impact the pile of snow was blown apart, crumbling unceremoniously.
“Snowball, no!” Flurry dropped to the ground emphatically. “Why!? I’m the real monster! Noooo!”
Luna frowned. “Perhaps it is time to bring her inside. Dinner is probably ready by now.”
Celestia held out a hoof to stop her sister. “Give it another minute, now I’m curious to see where this goes.”
A massive unicorn made of ice loomed over Flurry Heart, as she crouched in the snow lamenting.
Her booming voice echoed out as she spoke, practically shooting forth a blizzard alongside her words, “Now you see princess, how weak-willed ponies truly are! I’m sure that now you realize how pathetic and meaningless you are, and are now ready to join me in ruling my frozen empire!”
Flurry heart looked up at the Frost Queen, a newfound fire of determination burning in her chest.
“Never! I would never join you! I need to finish this, for all the friends I lost, and everypony out there who’s still counting on me!” Flurry dragged the Blade of Dusk to her side, staring up at the Frost Queen in defiance. “I will never give up!”
The queen lit her horn, unleashing a torrential cone of ice toward the filly. She charged directly into the blast of ice, shielded by the mantle she had been gifted by the Sage of the Sun. She clutched a hoof to her chest, pulling the coat tight against the onslaught.
“Hiyah!” She leapt flung her blade toward the massive unicorn and watched it soar through the air. The blizzard the Frost Queen let forth did little to slow it down and it struck true, lodging itself deep into her core.
Cracks quickly began to spread along her body of ice, and the Frost Queen let out one last billowing roar before shattering into millions of pieces and collapsing.
The winds surrounding her finally calmed, and Flurry fell to the ground, thoroughly exhausted.
“I did it,” she panted out, “Equestria is finally safe.”
She shut her eyes. “Now, I need to die dramatically. Bleh.” She stuck out her tongue and went limp in the snow, and in her head some epic music was probably playing.
Celestia stood over Flurry Heart as she lay awkwardly in the snow. The filly cracked an eye open, and upon seeing the alicorn standing over her, quickly closed it once more.
“Flurry, dinner is ready,” said Celestia.
“I can’t come in, I’m dead,” she responded.
Celestia grabbed the filly with her magic and gently rested her upon her back. “Very well, but you’ll need to be dead at the table, okay?”
“Okay, but I’m not hungry.”
The mare arched an eye. “Really? You’re not even a little bit hungry after saving the world?”
“No, not at all,” said Flurry.
Celsetia smiled.“That’s too bad, because your mother was going to bake some cookies for dessert, but I guess I can tell her to stop, seeing as you’re not hungry.”
The filly squirmed a little. “Um, I might be a little hungry, even though I’m dead.”
She laughed. “That’s what I thought.”
