Chapter 37: A Tale Old as Time

Note: this happens two weeks after the former chapter.
made from the episode "Hearth's Warming Eve" I have done a few changes to that story to suit the one I am making better.




*human world.*

Watching the gentle snowstorm outside from his prison cell window, Ignis cannot help but think of that faithful winter where everything changed for his kind. It has been so long ago and yet he remembers it as if it was yesterday. Like all those years back, Ignis is trapped, unable to escape without help. It's embarrassing a mortal creature like this Grey has been captured an immortal being like him, but Ignis had learned that even an alicorn like him is not all powerful. Turning to the sound of a door open and Ignis watches a young woman with red hair, aqua blue eyes, dressed in a fire-colored dress covered partly with a black west. Behind her is a blond haired teenager boy dressed in a white shirt having different shades of green military shirt over it, yet not fully able to hide the fact that this teen is quite muscular for his age. This boy has a worried look in his pale blue eyes, as if he’s uncomfortable being here. "Sunny, I don't trust that guy.” He tells the woman, glancing over his shoulders. “We shouldn't be here—" the woman apparently with the name Sunny hushes him, telling him hard. "It's not your decision Rhys. If you don't like being here it, then leave." But from how scared he is by that mere thought, Ignis doubts that teenager boy can bring himself to abandon the woman even if he did not like being here.
It reminds him once again of that ancient old war. "Do you humans celebrate anything at this time of year anymore?" He asks the two.

They turn to him, the red-haired young woman frowns lightly. "Yes, it's called Smissmas." She replies.
 
"Why do you celebrate it?"

"We don't celebrate it. But those who does, well." The young woman takes a seat on the nearby table, the teenager boy close behind her, staring suspiciously at Ignis while she explains with crossed arms and clearly did not really care about the celebration. "Story goes that every nice child gets great gifts by some guy called Nick and those who have been naughty would be taken by him and forced to build guns as Nick was in dept with some mobsters." She nods out to the window. "And at every Smissmas, the brightest star in the sky is the firefight between Nick and the mobsters."

"...That's quite the violent story." Ignis muses, thinking that a lot in this world is quite violent and depressive. People in this world are so caught up in fighting that they forget how to do things peacefully. The brewing war is a clear example of that, worst still, the now evil mercenaries are doing it all worse so it's only a matter of time before his vision of that giant explosion will happen unless others stop them. By the Goddess he hopes Merrasmus got away, otherwise this world is screwed like the alicorns.
But until then, Ignis feels like he should share a story with these two youngsters. "Let me tell you about the worst winter I have ever faced, what turned into the fall of my kind. Seeing you are on his side, I figure you would like to hear it." The two frowns, but does not move,  he takes that the sign they will listen to his story.
"Long time ago, my kind: the alicorns ruled the land and the three pony races. We called ourselves the Bringers of Harmony, we were beings of the stars but being so far above everything. We only saw the big picture, we did not see the small cracks, that our wars with the none pony races had left us unaware that our own subjects did not trust one another. We were so busy keeping external threats away that we did not see disharmony spreading among our own subjects. Their hatred and distrust among one another, the none pony races fear towards us, it summoned a cursed winter over our land. One not even the immortal alicorns could thwart with brute force."

***


*Equestria*

Unaware, the mercenaries are all hearing the same story, but from the common ponies point of view. Gathered before the grand scene in Canterlot theater, Spike, part of the performance of this ancient old story works as the storyteller while ponies act the story of the winter there changed it all. "—a mysterious blizzard that overtook the land, and toppled the tribes' precarious peace." Behind him, ponies acted out how their ancestors suffered through this cursed winter.
"Each tribe were freezing and hungry as no food could be grown in this winter. Each blamed the others for their suffering, and the angrier everypony grew, the worse the blizzard became. And so it was decided that a grand summit would be held to figure out a way to cope with the blizzard." He walks away from the stage allowing the ponies to change the scene to the summit between the three leaders. Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie played those three ancient leaders of the three pony races and did a somewhat scene on how that summit went.
After the three has put down their hooves onto the table in the sign the meeting had begun, all three of them start yelling at each other, no way knowing what each of them says.

Rainbow Dash, acting as Commander Hurricane of the pegasi army, stomps her hoof onto the table and makes the two others shut their mouths, when them quiet she speaks her lines. “I didn’t come all this way not to get heard, now;” She turns angrily to Pinkie Pie, playing the Chancellor of the earth ponies, one history said was named Puddinghead. “I wanna know is why the Earth ponies are hogging all the food!”
The other actor pegasi shout in agreement, showing that back in time this race was the most aggressive one.

“Us?!” Pinkie Pie acts surprised and says the lines history books think the earth pony she is playing as said under the meeting. “We're not hogging all the food, you are! Oh, wait. You're right. It's us.” Pinkie Pie smiles, her own personality took over as the real Puddinghead was more of a timid pony, only agreeing to the meeting because of desperations. But since it is Pinkie playing this ancient pony, she can’t stop being just a bit silly. “Well, it's only 'cause you mean old Pegasusususes are making it snow like crazy!” The real Puddinghead did say that last line, but Pinkie nor story told that Puddinghead winched when Commander Hurricane acted by Rainbow Dash shouts while stomping her hoof onto the table. “For the hundredth time, it's not us! We're not making it snow!”

Rainbow Dash points at Rarity, throwing pretty much the same accusation as Commander Hurricane did. “It must be the unicorns! They're doing it with their freaky magic!”

Rarity playing as the Princess of the unicorns and probably the one most known from history since a lot of unicorns wrote down this event. She gasps in shock and says what old books said this ancient princess said “How dare you! Unlike you pegasi ruffians, we unicorns would never stoop to such a thing!” She says, doing a very accurate job in having the same superior tone as Princess Platinum had. Old stories did say that Princess Platinum is an ancestor to Prince Blueblood, but what old stories did not reveal; of why this line of unicorns got chosen to become royalty. No books of the fact that Princess Platinum's grandmother was an accented alicorn and thus her family and children allowed the spot of royalty only alicorns were allowed.  

“Well, if you non-Earths aren't gonna stop using your weirdo powers to freeze us all,” Pinkie Pie tells the two in a somewhat matter of fact before dropping gloomy onto the table. “then I'm just plum out of ideas.”
Quote to Rainbow saying her line. “What a shocker. An earth pony with no ideas.” Not Commander Hurricanes words, but close enough to prove that ancient pegasus did not consider earth ponies worth his time. Now it is Rarity turn and according to the old books, the princess tried to be the peacekeeper. “Commander Hurricane, please cease with the insults!” But what the presents ponies did not know, the ancient unicorns refused to write themselves in a bad light as in reality Princess Platinum had insulted both earth pony by calling them peasants and the pegasi by ignoring the fact that the pegasi army had been protecting their land when the alicorns have been too busy waging war outside their borders.
But those ancient unicorns there wrote this down did write how Commander Hurricane insulted their princess.

Rainbow Dash flies from her spot and right up at Rarity’s face, acting the anger she thinks Commander Hurricane felt during this meeting. “You're not the boss of me, your royal snootiness!”

“I beg your pardon?!” Rarity acts how story tell Princess Platinum was outraged by that insult, the old stories didn’t say it but Rarity did a very good job in acting how that ancient unicorn really did do when she leaves the scene. “I am a princess!” She declares and on purpose levitates her crown wrongly on, leaving the scene with head held high but far from as dignity as the old story said she did. “I won't be spoken to that way!” She cries at the two as the spoiled mare as Princess Platinum was, which seems to have followed through generation if it was true she was the ancestor to Prince Blueblood.
The act did go to the three leaders argue who would leave this failed meeting first, while in reality the three would argue for hours before the harsh snow would force them to end the meeting and all three tribes head back to their homes, further away from solving their closing in demise.

***
“I never witness it in person myself, but one who was both a friend and rival; an alicorn prince by the name of Nova was present at the meeting and I heard him tell the other royals it was a disaster and we needed to solve this squabble- as he called it. The generals refused to cease the wars though, told the royals that we needed to fight in order to keep the borders safe, so the alicorn army kept fighting. Nova and a few other alicorns tried to speak with our subjects but I do not think it got them anywhere, we have been so far above the clouds that we couldn’t understand our subjects on a personal level. Not long after, we all got the warning from the Goddess of what was causing that neverending winter. A force we merely thought was a legend— but very much real had created spirits of hatred. Those newly created spirits were the bringer of the winter. We called them the Windigoes."

The woman straightens up, her interest peaked by where this story is going.

"Knowing what the threat was, the kings and queens gathered the alicorn soldiers with one single but clear command: defeat the Windigoes and return back the summer before our subjects would starve and freeze to death. Because the Windigoes were children of Disharmony, our scholars told the generals that only those carrying the Pillars of Virtue can defeat the Windigoes. A bearer to each Pillar was chosen; I was one of those chosen to carry one of these artifacts. But… we greatly underestimated our enemy, we thought that because we have been able to defeat all four dragon races, griffins, changelings, zebras, hippogriffs, and so many more — we thought ourselves the rulers of the world, we were the most powerful beings, so what could possibly defeat us? That was our downfall, we never took our people's anger and distrust to one another into account, worse still, we have been in war for so long, we have forgotten what it meant to be a bringer of harmony. We were so arrogant in our powers… we didn’t stand a chance against the Windigoes. I watched countless of my comrade’s fall to those spirit of hatred, getting trapped in ice, never going to feel the warmth of the sun ever again. Perhaps those were the lucky ones. When Nova discovered my betrayal to our traditions in marriage, he got consumed in his anger and was possessed by one of the shadow ponies, his mind twisted and turned into a being there only knew destruction...
I along with my fellow bearers of the Pillars of Virtue tried to turn the tide, but we realized too late that because we have forgotten what it meant to be a bringer of harmony, we did not understand the key element in the artifacts. And thus, we were unable to use the ancient magic— the only magic able to defeat the Dark Forces. It had been waiting for this, I am sure of it. For the moment we realized we have lost our strongest weapons, those created and those there has giving in to this darkness struck. Those alicorns there have been turned into their darker self, they killed the bearers and the Spirit of Disharmony threw four of the pillars into a portal there lead to this world. The rest we managed to save, but only barely as the artifacts have been destroyed and thus we wouldn’t be able to use it until the Goddess decided to repair them.
Realizing we couldn't defend our people anymore but knew it was our sworn duty, the remaining leaders kept fighting this losing battle. In my desperation, I sought out an old childhood friend; a drake and begged him to save our subjects. Like any other alicorn I knew that we couldn’t win against the Dark Forces, but even if that war would spell the destruction of the alicorns, I and several others refused to let that failure spell the end for the lesser ponies. Everything depended on that old but brief friendship, I along with two of my remaining comrades begged that dragonlord helping us to save our subjects. Fortunately, my friendship with that drake was enough that they agreed on escorting our subjects to a new land. A place far away from the darkness, a place where they should have a chance to recover from the long famine and grow strong again. According to my old dragon friend, they guided each pony tribe to their own nameless land."

***

But that fact of an old ally has been forgotten throughout time, so instead of been guided by a dragon race, the old story now is told that the three pony races found their new home on their own account. And thus that is how Spike tells the story to the crowd of ponies.
"—by the choice of each leader of the three tribes, the ponies left their frozen land, they went through many obstacles along the way, but eventually, they all arrived in a new and wondrous land. Nopony had ever seen paradise before, but all agreed this was it. The weather was warm, ground was futile and resources plenty. The three leaders found this new land perfect place to stay and reclaim their own. “

“This is the new land we've been searching for!” Rainbow Dash declares loudly on the small cloud for the stage she is standing on. On another and smaller cloud stand Fluttershy acting as a private whose name, unfortunately, has been lost through time says her line while acting she is staring at this wondrous land. “What a view... I can see my future house from here.”
Rainbow Dash grabs the prop flag and jags it into the cloud. “I proclaim this new land to be Pegasopolis!” She and Fluttershy stand still as the light goes over to Rarity and Twilight.

Rarity gasps and gathers the jewels lying around the props with them in a pile, she does her lines and has no trouble pretending to be awestruck of the beauty of the gems. “I've never seen such jewels! This ruby is dazzling. This whole land is dazzling. I'm double dazzled!” She steers over the pile, squealing a very accurate on how the real Princess Platinum reacted when coming to this country, although at this stage there is missing a few drakes there should be raising a brow and be amused by the unicorn’s reaction. Rarity levitates her prop flag over to the spot made for it, she speaks. “In the name of the unicorns, I hereby dub this land Unicornia!” With Twilight, playing as Starswirls first student stand not far with a weak smile.
The light fades away and goes to the middle of the stage where Pinkie Pie and Applejack stand.

The second the light is on, Pinkie Pie starts jumping around the prop looking like a small hill. The air! The trees!” She jumps onto the prop hill there has a box with earth built into it. “The dirt! This dirt is the dirtiest dirt in the whole dirt world!” She cries cheerful and rolls around in the dirt. Very inaccurate on how the real Puddinghead reacted in coming to this land. She was happier they have found a place not frozen and set on planting as much as possible so the earth pony tribe could harvest food and thus have a feast they haven’t been able for such a long time. Puddinghead was a pony there loved making food so before the famine of the winter, she had been a plum pony with a talent to make wonderful food there could bring ponies together; the reason why she had been chosen to be the earth pony chancellor.
Applejack, acting as Puddinghead’s closet friend, a pony by the name of Smart Cookie shovels up a small pile of dirt, puts a seed into it and as she puts a bit of the earth pony magic into it, she speaks her lines. “And fertile, too. Perfect for growing food.” A small plant sprouts out from the small pile, everyone except those who haven’t been born here doesn’t bat an eye seeing this.
Pinkie Pie gets up from the dirt and declares proudly. “In the name of the earth ponies, I think I'm gonna call this new place... uh... Dirtville!” That line was more or less what Puddinghead said, although not in that cheerful tone. In fact, Puddinghead was very aware that she wasn’t the best pony for naming so she had turned to Smart Cookie in a suggestion for a better name of their new land right after she had said it.
So this scene is quite inaccurate with Applejack asking Pinkie Pie in a deadpan tone. “How about "Earth"?” As Smart Cookie had said it in a more helpful manner, so Pinkie Pie’s next line never happened in that ancient time. “Earth!” She cries happily and after has let the flag come out from her hat, she says. “Congratulations to me for thinking of it.” and Applejack rolls her eyes.  

The light then shines on all six, giving Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity the sign to declare loudly at the same time. “We found our new home!” and then acts that first now they notice the others and start the scene of them arguing who got this land first and in a matter of seconds the ponies taking care of the scenes throw the prop snow onto the stage. It was of course not how it really happened, the arguing and fighting lasted way longer, so long that even the drakes joined the fight, but since this is a play, they have to make it short and as the ponies changing the scene for the next stage. Spike tells the crowd.    
“It did not take long before the three tripes started fighting again, this time for this new paradise. Not long after, the winter they tried to escape from came to this land as well. And so the paradise that the ponies had found was soon lost, buried beneath a thick blanket of snow and hard feelings. Stronger than in their former land, everypony was forced to seek shelter. They searched high and low, but the only shelter for miles was a cold and desolate cave. And, of course, the three tribes had to share it, and nopony was too happy about that.” The lights shine on the new stage, showing the six actors standing inside a cave, those playing the leaders are scowling at one another while the others are standing nervously around. Rarity start the scene by calling out that Rainbow Dash, playing as Commander Hurricane was standing too close to her personal space and Rainbow Dash commanding Fluttershy in carving a line over the ground which leads to the two other leaders to command Twilight Sparkle and Applejack in doing the same, then during a squabble over a worthless rock. Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash acted out a very shorten and not as bloody fight going on between the three leaders. The ponies handing the changing of stages start pouring down the prop snow when they see the sign by the three leaders stomping hard onto the floor.  

Twilight Sparkle only speaks her line when the prop looking like ice appear before the seemly entrance, she points at it. “Look, everypony! The entrance!” Sign to Rainbow Dash to speak her line as a very angry Commander Hurricane. “Great. Now there's no way out! We're trapped!” and Rarity replies in a snoopy tone as she walks over to the spot to the next stage of this scene. “You two deserve this horrible fate. You've done nothing but argue and fight with each other!”
Rainbow Dash flies over to her spot and tells Rarity hard. “You've been fighting too, your Highness.”
Pinkie Pie, already on her spot tells the two as the fake ice start to surround her. “Yeah! Worse! I haven't been fighting nearly as much as you!”
The two others get engulfed in this fake ice as they keep on the act of the three pony races kept on arguing instead of figuring out how to stop this ice.

“How ridiculous! A unicorn never stoops to fighting!” Rarity snorts.

“That's just because you wimpy unicorns know you'd never win!” and just as the ice effect surround her head, Rainbow Dash shouts. “Earth ponies are numbskulls!” before standing still with an angry expression as if she really is frozen.

“Pegasi are brutes!” Rarity shouts and pretends she too gets frozen solid and the same does Pinkie Pie after she has yelled: “Unicorns are snobs!”

After have acted the panic and fear the common ponies felt in that ancient time, Twilight, Fluttershy and Applejack look up and Fluttershy asks scared. “W-W-What is that... thing?” The crowd looks up to the ceiling as well, several foals get scared of the effect showing a whirl of snow and three ghostly horses are flying around. It is quite a terrifying sight.

Twilight allows the crowd to stare at this very well made effect before she speaks. “They must be... Windigos!” Applejack and Fluttershy eye her, like the many trapped ponies in that cave did when this story became a legend. Twilight Sparkle, playing Clover the Clever explains as that first student of Starswirld the bearded did. “My mentor Star Swirl the Bearded taught me about them.” Of course stories never told how Starswirl came to know about them, nor that he was one of the few ponies aware of the alicorn tribe. “They're winter spirits that feed off fighting and hatred. The more hate the spirit feels, the colder things become.”

Applejack looks up to the effect of how those making the effects think a Windigo looks like. “Then... this is our fault. We three tribes...” She eyes the three there acts they are frozen solid. “We brought this blizzard to our home by fighting and not trusting each other. Now it's destroying this land, too.”

Sign for the stage-ponies to start the effect that the ice coming for the three. And Twilight speaks as she and the two others try to get away from the fake ice. “And now our bodies will become as cold as our hearts... all because we were foolish enough to hate.”

Quote for Fluttershy to say. “Well, I don't hate you... I actually hate Commander Hurricane a lot more than I hate you guys.” For this nameless private pegasus had been the first to ease up the tension between the terrified ponies by jokingly explaining everypony willing to listen how tough it is to be a warrior while this private much rather wanted to be a baker.
Which had made several earth ponies suggesting that if they ever got out from this and the ground wasn’t frozen, they would teach the private how to bake. Which then lead to a unicorn suggesting that with their magic they could help the earth ponies to harvest the food way faster and that lead to more and more suggestion how to make things easier for each tribe.
Of course, the play does not have time to act out the exact scene and instead makes Applejack tell the two others as the fake ice engulfs them. “No matter what our differences, we're all ponies.”
After a moment Twilight Sparkle activates her magic, letting it remove the effects of the Windigoes and form into a flaming heart every pony knows about.  

Spike steps in and tells what has just happened to those hearing this tale for the first time. "Starswirls student, Clover the Clever created a magic unlike anything is ever seen before, a magical fire, warm enough to banish the Windigoes and break those three ponies free from the ice. But it wasn't only Clover- a unicorn who created this magic. It was all three of the pony tribes.” The three actresses smile to one another and put their hooves together before sitting down, quietly pretending to be talking and laughing as Spike speaks. “All through the night, the three ponies kept the fire of friendship alive by telling stories to one another and by singing songs, which of course became the winter carols that we all still sing today. Eventually, the warmth of the fire and singing and laughing reached the other ponies and lastly each tripe leaders, and their bodies and hearts began to thaw.” The fake ice disappears from Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, they join the three others for a moment, then shifting around so they stand in a circle and speak as if agreeing on something. Spike explains what they agreed on. “The three leaders agreed to share the beautiful land, and live in harmony ever afterward.” After the actresses have put up the pole and raised the flag, Spike says proudly. “And together, they named their new land... Equestria!"

***

"What happened to the alicorns when the winter brought by the Windigoes finally came to an end?" The red-haired woman asks in a quiet voice.

Ignis turns his eyes back to the snowing outside. "I never saw the end to that winter with my own eyes. I only got aware that decades long battle had come to an end when a friend of mine told me about it. Anyway, those of the alicorns left realized that we no longer were the Bringers of Harmony, we have intentionally become the Bringers of Disharmony. We released a darkness we thought couldn’t defeat us even if it was real, and our egotistical behavior came to bite us hard in our flank. There wouldn’t have been any more alicorns if not for the last queen of our tribe. Her name was… Astral. She commanded me to find the lost pillars while she would ensure the remaining pillars would get new and worthy bearers. But her main goal was to ensure that the remaining alicorns— most of them foals would at least have a future. But…" Ignis sigh, sadden of what he has learned of Astral's fate. "It has come to my ears that Astral and most of the fleeing alicorns did not survive. My only consolation of this that she succeeded. Two children of the alicorns. Celestia and Luna—" he eyes the young woman a bit confused when she lets out a small gasp, deciding to think about that later, he continues on his story. "-are alive and well. Currently ruling this new land of the pony kind and I pray to the Goddess they are doing a better job than their ancestors... The darkness of Disharmony is returning, but even if I won't survive this fight. I am proud I at least gave them a fighting chance. The Pillars— no the Elements of Harmony are back." Ignis eyes harden, yet unable to smirk of the warrior residing inside of him glee over this he consider a fact. "And the creatures of darkness will cower before the new bearers, for this time: they are truly the Bringers of Harmony."