> The Princesses of Seasons > by Rising Phoenix > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: The Four-Quarters Forest > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thousands of years ago, when princess Celestia was a child, and Luna was just a baby, there was a place in Equestria where normal ponies were not allowed: It was a misterious forest surrounded by mountains. It was near the north frontier of Equestria, but only Queen Infinity and King Cronos knew the exact location. This magical place was the home of four alicorns with very special powers: They were the Princesses of the Four Seasons. The forest was perfectly round and divided in four quarters, like a clock, and each quarter looked different. The first quarter was a colorful prairie full of flowers and butterflies. Little squirrels and birds could be seen everywhere, and there was always a sweet scent in the air. In the middle of the prairie stood a castle that was totally covered by flowers and plants, and surrounded by a marvelous garden. This was the home of Bloom, the princess of Spring. In the second quarter the trees were full of fruits and the air was hot. The castle in this place had a very curious appearance: It looked like a giant sand castle. This strange building belonged to princess Sunny, who was obviously the princess of Summer. A red and brown landscape marked the beggining of the third quarter. Autumn leaves where everywhere, covering the ground and floating in the air. It was a beautiful place, although it was very rainy. A huge castle made of wood is the residence of princess Autumn( I don't need to say her Season). And finally, the fourth quarter, also known as the White Forest. It was a very cold and silent place, where you could ever hear the snow falling from the sky like little stars. At the middle of this calm and pretty place was the most incredible of the castles. The Winter Palace was a true piece of art that the winter princess, Blizzard, made herself. It was totally made of pure ice, and that made the palace look like a giant diamond when the light touched it. There was one more place in the Four-Quarters Forest, which was the most important of them all. It was a great lake located in the middle of the forest, and equidistant to the four castles. The lake itself wasn't important but the little white building that could be seen at the center of it. In this place, which name was the Season's Temple, the four princesses, along with the king and the queen, reunited four times per year, for the Change of Season. And here is where our story begins. > The Change of Season. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everything was silent in the Four-Quarters forest. Birds didn't sing, and all the animals where hiding in their lairs. In the four castles, the guards and servants (the only non-royal ponies allowed in the forest) weren't talking nor moving. They simply looked to the sky, waiting for something. Everybody in the forest was expecting for the miracle to happen. That day was the Change of Season. The reason of the expectation where the ponies inside the Season Temple, where only alicorns were allowed. In fact, there were six of them inside. At the right side of the Temple there was a magnificent couple of alicorns. The male was a very huge stallion. with a glowing white fur. He had a short golden mane and a golden beard that matched his eyes. His cutie mark was a golden sandglass. He was Cronos, king of Equestria. At the King's side, there was an incredibly beautiful mare. She had a very dark blue, almost black, fur and a magical, floating, color-changing mane. She wore a silver tiara that matched her eyes and her cutie mark, which was a silver infinity sign. She was Queen Infinity, Crono's wife and ruler of Equestria. On the left side were sitting three of the Season's princesses: Sunny, Bloom and Blizzard, who looked nervous for unknown reasons. The three princesses, like the Rulers, where looking silently at the fourth one. Princess Autumn was standing at the Temple's alter. Her wings were opened, her eyes closed.Her horn was glowing bright intensively. She was doing a great effort to make her magic reach all over Equestria. It was an exhausting work, because the spell had to last until the next Change of Season, but it had to be done. Finally, after a while, Autumn's horn stopped glowing, and she lowered her wings with a sigh. Finally she slowly openned her eyes. ''It's done"-she said. After that, nothing seemed to happen in the forest, but all the ponies of Equestria could see the leaves changing their colors and feel the temperature softly going down. Finally, a soft rain started to pour over the ponies, who cheered welcoming the new Season. Fall was beggining. After the Change, the King and the Queen went back to their castle, and the four princesses reunited in Autumn's palace. It was a tradition that the princess who started her season arranged a feast for all the princesses. It was a way to make the bond between them stronger. And it worked very well...except for Bloom and Sunny, who were always arguing about wich Season was better, Summer or Spring. Autumn always tried to ignore them, and Blizzard was the one who tried to stop the arguments. However, that time they kept arguing for a long time, because Blizzard wasn't paying attention to them. She was like absent, only focusing on the food. Autumn, who was a close friend for her, realized her behavior. "Blizzard,''-she said, touching her shoulder ''Are you alright?'' "What? Oh...yes, yes I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Blizzard answered nervously. "Because you have been absent during all the dinner, and you've ate enough food to feed a young dragon". Blizzard blushed and lowered her eyes, not giving her an answer. Meanwhile, Bloom and Sunny were still arguing, not noticing the conversation between the other two princesses. At that moment, Autumn realized that Blizzard didn't touch her cup of whine, althought she loved it, and she only drank water all the night. She suddenly had a feeling about what was happening. "Blizz,"-she said slowly-"Are you pregnant?" Sunny and Bloom suddenly shut up, looking at Blizzard with surprise. The winter princess said nothing, but nodded shyly. "Oh, Blizzard, this is wonderful!" Autumn exclaimed, hugging her. "It's a boy or a girl?" Bloom asked. "I don't know yet" "And when will it be born?" said Sunny. "In five months approximately" "Wait a minute"- Autumn said worried -"You will have to bring Winter being pregnant?" "I'm afraid I will"-Blizzard said-"I will have to be very careful". "It's a pity it won't be born in Summer" added Sunny. "Summer? Don't be ridiculous!" Bloom exclaimed-" Everypony knows that the best Season to give birth is Spring!" "And there they go again!" said Autumn rolling her eyes. > Home sweet home > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blizzard flew back to her palace, worried about what had happened at the feast. After her announcement, Bloom and Sunny had started another argument, but this time they didn't stop until it went too far: they yelled terrible insults to each other, which ended with them throwing food and pulling each other's mane. "You have wasted my patience this time!"-Autumn was furious "I have never been more ashamed in my entire life!" "Look what you have done, flower-smeller!"- Sunny hissed. "Me? You started this, hot-brain!"- answered Bloom. "Enough! I want you two to leave my house! Now!"- the princess of Fall shouted. "What!? But this is her fault!" "Shut up, liar! It was your..." "GET OUT!" After that, the two princesses finally left, still mumbling. Autumn turned to Blizzard, who had a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry about this" "It's okay. It wasn't your fault" "Maybe, but I still feel bad. You came to give us a great notice, and it have to end like this..." "Don't worry, you know how they are"-Blizzard looked to the sky "I should go home now, it's almost midnight" "Are you sure you are alright?" Autumn said with worry. "Yes, just a bit tired. I only need to go home and have some rest" "As you wish. Be careful my friend" Autumn finnaly said. "Goodbye, Atumn" Still thinking about the events of the night, Blizzard finally arrived home. Looking her castle always made her smile. She wasn't a proud pony, but she was sure that her palace was a true piece of art. She landed near the gates, where the two sentinels saluted her with respect. "Welcome home, your Highness" "Did you have a good flight?" "Yes, it went well. Excuse me, but I need some rest" "Good night, your Highness" When she finally entered the castle, she saw her housekeeper, Primrose, waiting for her. She was a pretty pegasus with a light yellow fur and pink mane. Primrose quickly went to Blizzard and hugged her. Besides being her housekeeper, she was also her best friend. "Finally you're back! I was starting to worry, darling!" Primrose kindly said. "It's okay Prim, I'm just a bit late. Everithing alright during my absence?" "Of course! You know I always have everything under control!" Prim answered proudly. "I don't doubt that"-Blizzard smiled-"Well, where is your brother?" "Skyline? He said he would be waiting four you at the backyard" "Why I'm not surprised?" Said ironically Blizzard. "Well, I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow, lovebirds!" Primrose winked at her while saying this. Blizzard laughed before heading to the backyard, where she had a little and beautiful garden with flowers and plants that only grew on winter. There, under a tree, was a handsome pegasus stallion with a light blue fur and a short blue and white mane. He was looking to a bunch of small white flowers. "Are the snowdrops flourishing well?" Blizzard asked gently. The stallion turned and saw her. A happy smile came to is face while he runned towards her and hugged her passionately. "You're back"-He said, kissing her softly. "I've missed you too, Skyline"-said Blizzard, kissing him back. "How do you feel?"- he asked. "Tired, but fine" "And what about our little one?"- he touched her belly with love-"Has it been good today?" "Yes, it has been very relaxed"- she smiled. "If everything has gone well"- Skyline suddenly said-"Then why you look so sad?" She stared at him for a moment. He always knew how did she feel. "Bloom and Sunny had a fight today" "Again?" "This time was worse. They attacked each other. Autumn kicked them out of her castle, I have never seen her so angry" "When are they going to grow up?"-Skyline sighed "Well, I don't wanna think about them now. I'm exhausted" "I think I can help you with that" He whispered on her ear-"What about a hot bath and a massage?" "Sounds good"- she kissed him again before going into the castle. Three months passed after the arrival of Fall, and things didn't see to be better between the princesses. Bloom and Summer wanted to know nothing about each other, and Autumn stubornly kept refusing to have nothing to do with them. This situation was the reason why a very nervous and worried Blizzard needed a medical revision that day. "Your baby is alright by now, your Highness- the doctor explained- but your pregnancy is very advanced and you are very stressed, what is dangerous for the baby. You need to find a way to calm yourself." "I don't know how, but I'll try. Thanks, doctor." The princess sighed. She headed to her room, thinking about her medical results, when a voice stopped her. "Blizzard!- Skyline came to her quickly- Finally, I was getting worried. What did the doctor say?." "He said that I need to relax." "Just as I told you." Skyline said. "But I can't! There are too many things to worry about! The change of Season is coming, and those three proud idiots are going to ruin everything! I just don't know what to do!" She replied with desperation. "I can't see you like that, Blizzard, I must find a way to help you." Skyline said hugging her. Blizzard sobbed on his shoulder, "Sometimes I wish to stop being a princess and have a normal life with you and our baby." Skyline looked at her with concern "Well... you know that's possible. You remember that... spell you found?." Blizzard gasped. Long time ago, she found and ancient magic book that had an spell to take her royalty away. She would keep her ice powers, but she wouldn't be able to summon Winter anymore. But there was a little problem. It would take the royalty of the four of them. "I can't do that, Sky, and you know it." He sighed, "It's true... they are idiots, but don't deserve a punishment like that... wait a minute, that's it! We have to fool them!" "What do you mean with...-she started to ask, but he left quickly. He came back with a quill and three sheets of paper. "Quick, you have to write a letter inviting Autumn to a private dinner with you, one week before the Change of Season." "And then?" she asked confused. "Then you write two more,but directed to Bloom and Sunny." He said with a grin. "Making it a week before will change nothing. They don't want to be together." "But they won't know they will be together, darling. And once we have them here, we will find a way for them to make peace." Blizzard's eyes widened "Sky, you are a genius!" She quickly did what he said, and then called Primrose. "Prim, can you please send this letters to the other princesses as soon as you can?" "Of course, darling, leave it to me!" the yellow mare smiled. Then she left with the letters. "I hope this works." Blizzard said. "It will, my love, it will." Skyline said, placing his wing around her shoulders. > Disaster > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I'm glad you finally came, Autumn" "I wasn't sure about it, but then I thought it could be funny" "I'm sure it will be" Blizzard thought with a smile while they walked towards the dinning room. When they arrived there, Autumn found a disgusting surprise: Bloom was already sitting there with Skyline. And that wasn't all, because a moment later, Primrose came into the room escorting Sunny. "This has to be a joke" Said Bloom. "If it is, it's not funny at all" Sunny replied. "What's the meaning of this, Blizzard?" Autumn asked harshly. "Well, the feast is a tradition, and since you didn't want to meet after the Change, I thought it was a good idea to celebrate it a bit before". "A good idea? please tell me you are kidding". "For once, I agree with the flower-smeller"-Sunny added-" What made you think this was a good plan? You know that we don't wanna see each other!" "Ladies, ladies, please"-Skyline suddenly said-"this was not really Blizzard's idea, but mine. This has gone to far, and I thought it was time for you to put an end to your stupid argument!" "How you dare to talk to us like that? We are princesses!" Bloom said angrily "Yes! Don't get into our affairs, commoner!" added Sunny. "Hey, watch out what you say!" Blizzard exploded"the "commoner" is my husband, so show him some respect!" "He disrespected us!" "He only said the truth! Your argument is stupid, but you are too childish and stupid to realize!" "I have heard enough! It's time to teach you some respect!"-Sunny shouted. "You should have stayed away from this, Blizzard!"-said Bloom at the same time. Suddenly the two of the shooted an energy blast directly to Blizzard. She screamed and closed her eyes, but it never reached her...because somepony interposed between her and the blast. "SKYLINE!!!!" she screamed horrified, seeing the love of her life collapsing to the ground, unconscious and badly injured. "Oh, no..." Autumn whispered. "I...I went out of control..." "We didn't meant to..." "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Blizzard screamed histerically "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" "Blizzard, please, it was an accid-" "DON'T DARE TO TELL ME IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! YOU ATTACKED ME ON PURPOSE!" "We lost our temper..." "THEN I GIVE YOU TEN SECONDS TO LEAVE THIS PLACE BEFORE I LOOSE MINE!!!" "Blizzard..." Autumn started. "AND THAT INCLUDES YOU!"-Blizzard cutted her "YOU ARE NOT BETTER THAN THEM! I WAS ALWAYS TRYING TO STOP THEIR FIGHTS AND YOU NEVER HELPED ME! YOU DIDN'T CARE ABOUT MY FEELINGS, BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST AS SELFISH AND ARROGANT AS THEM!!" Autumn didn't answer, she simply turned and flew away, trying to not show how she felt. The other two quickly followed her. Once she was alone, Blizzard runned to Skyline's side. But before she could reach him, she felt an intense pain in her belly and collapsed to the ground. She knew that something was going wrong inside her. "Prim! Primrose, please help me!!" she screame with her last strength before blacking out. Blizzard woke up in her bed, feeling weak and dizzy. She slowly looked around and saw Primrose sleeping on a chair at her side. "Good morning, Prim" she said softly. "Blizzard! Thanks goodness, you're awake! How do you feel?" "I've been better. How long have I been asleep?" "A couple of days. I was very scared." "What happened to me?" "Well..."Prim started " after the fight, you became very nervous, and you went into premature labor because of it". "What?" Blizzard asked with fear. She removed the sheet that covered her and saw that her belly was flat again. "Where is it, Primrose? Where is the baby?" "Calm down, darling, it's alive. You had a beautiful filly." "A girl... where is she? Please, Prim, I need to see my daughter!" "I...I must ask the doctor before..." "Why? There's something wrong with her? Tell me!" "I don't really know. When the doctor took her, he was saying something about her eyes..." "Her eyes..." Blizzard repeated with worry "Nevermind, I need to see her, Primrose. Please, bring her to me!" "Ok, ok , I will. Wait here, darling" Prim went out, leaving a very nervous Blizzard in the room. After a while, she came back, carrying a baby filly. She was ice-blue with a beautiful white mane. "Here's your mommy, little one" she said, giving the baby to Blizzard. "She...she is beautiful" Blizzard whispered, her voice filled with love "Hello, my love, I'm your mom" The filly then opened her eyes, and Blizzard paralyzed for a moment. Her daughter was blind. "The doctor said it was because the premature born" Primrose explained sadly. "I feared it went you said there was something wrong with her eyes" Blizzard sighed, and then she talked to the baby "But don't worry little one, you are still the most beautiful girl in the world, and we will always be there to protect you, me and your daddy..." But before she could continue she heard a sob. Blizzard looked up and found that Primrose was trying to content her tears. "Prim, what's wrong?" she asked, but her sister-in-law didn't answer, she was now sobbing louder. Blizzard suddenly had a bad feeling. "Primrose, where is Skyline?" she asked slowly. "I'm sorry, Blizzard! I'm sorry!"-Primrose broke into tears-" I...tried to help him, but...but is wounds were t...too several! The doctor c...could do nothing to help him!" "No..." Blizzard thought, feeling a knife stabbing her heart. Prim kept crying, and the baby started to cry too. But she didn't. She couldn't cry, she couldn't think, she couldn't feel, she couldn't do anything. All her world was broken. The next day was Skyline's funeral. Primrose was there, and also the King and the Queen. Nopony else was allowed. Blizzard was staring at her husband's grave, silently holding her baby. She had decided to bury him in his favourite place: in the garden surrounded by his flowers. After a while, she made her horn glow. When she finished, all the ground was covered by tiny, white flowers. "I hope you like it, my love" she said to the grave. Then she looked at her filly, who was falling asleep. "Say goodbye to your daddy," she whispered in her ear "Snowdrop". > Memories > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blizzard stood silently in front of the tomb, thinking about all the moments she lived with Skyline. Cronos and Infinity were inside the castle, and Primrose had taken Snowdrop to her crib, so her mother could be alone for a while. The princess of Winter was thinking about the first time they met, seven years ago. That day, she was in Canterlot, looking for new soldiers to defend her castle. She was bored, and the tests for the applicants were at the evening, so she decided to go for a walk. Disguised as a pegasus not to be recognized, she walked the streets of Canterlot until she found a Training Center, where she entered moved by curiosity. And that was when she saw him: a young pegasus stallion with a light blue coat and a white and blue mane. He was practicing some fighting exercises, and he wasn't bad at all. "Nice moves" she said. He turned and looked at her. When he saw the pretty pegasus, a shy smile came to his face. "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you. I was doing a bit of exercise. I need to train in order to get the job." "The job?" "Yes, I'm trying to be hired as one of the new Princess Blizzard's Royal Guards." "I see" Blizzard said with a smile "and you think you're good enough?" "What do you mean?" he asked looking confused. "Well, you have some good moves, as I could see, but I think I could beat you in a battle" "Really?" He asked ironically "I've been training since I was a foal, and you don't look exactly like a warrior. Do you really think you are better than me?" "I think we'll have to find the answer to that question" she said with a smirk. "Is that a challenge, young lady?" he asked evily. "I think so!" She suddenly kicked his chest and flew up quickly. He recoiled in surprise, that mare was strong! But then he smiled, "as you wish, madame!" he said and flew after her. he tried to punch her, but she dodged and kicked him again, but that time he managed to grab her hoof and throw her to the ground. She hit the ground harshly, but she quickly stood up and flew towards him again. After a while, both of them landed panting heavily. "I think this is a draw". "Agree" Blizzard said with a smile, then she added "Oh my, look at the time! Sorry, I must go now or I'll arrive late!" "Fine, but I want a remach some day! And my name is Skyline, by the way!" "Nice to meet you, Skyline! See you!" she said before running away. "Hey, I didn't get your name!" Skyline shouted "I didn't tell you!" Blizzard shouted back. With a smile at her face, Blizzard flied towards Canterlot castle, where Cronos and Infinity were waiting for her. "Finally! Where were you?" Cronos asked. "And where is your horn?" Infinity added. "I went for a walk, and about the horn, well, it's just a disguise not to be recognized as a princess".-she explained. "Good idea, but put it off now, the applicants are arriving, and they must recognize you as a princess"- Infinity said with a smile. Finally, after Blizzard removed her disguise, the three alicorns entered the Throne Room, where they found about fourty young stallions waiting for them. "Here they are-Cronos said- there were like a hundred more, but we made some tests and these stallions got the best results, so we called just them to make it easier". Blizzard only nodded in response. "Take this- Infinity gave her a bunch of papers- I collected some information about the applicants. You should read it before making a decision. Meanwhile, I will give them a little speech." Infinity cleared her throat and turned to the stallions. "Welcome everypony, and thank you for coming. As you already know, today some of the best warriors in Equestria are reunited in this room. It wasn't an easy task being chosen to be here, but finally here you are. However, only ten of you will get the prize: a job as royal guards in the Winter Palace, under the orders of Her Highness Blizzard, princess of Winter." Hearing that, Blizzard took a step forward, revealing her self to the soldiers. One of them gasped in surprise, she smiled but didn't look at him. "Thank you, young soldiers, and welcome. After reading some information about all of you, I have to say that I am very impressed with your skills, but I only can choose ten of you for my army. The chosen will come with me to the Winter Palace at dawn. And for the not chosen: you mustn't be dissapointed: all of you are very skilled warriors and you will have a lot of opportunities in your life. But now, I'm going to announce the winners. The new Winter Soldiers are: Jet Black, Eagle Eye, Sharp Edge, Tornado, Golden Shield, Shamrock, Poison Ivy, Storm Cloud, Sharpshooter and Skyline. I will be waiting for the ten of you tomorrow at dawn in this room. The Winter Palace is very far away, so we will go trough the magic Portal located in this palace, you must arrive in time, beacuse this portal only can be activated by an alicorn, so you can't reach the Palace without me or the rulers. Thank you everypony, and see you tomorrow." The stallions headed towards the door, an Blizzard suddenly said: "Soldier Skyline, wait a moment, please, I have something to tell you" The young pegasus turned and looked at her, a bit nervous. She smiled: He obviously had recognized her. "You look surprised" she said with a smirk. "I can't say I'm not" he smiled "but why did you choose me?" "Well, you have good fighting skills, I saw it by myself." she said "but the main reason is simple: I still owe you a rematch, remember?" They laughed together, and Cronos and Infinity smiled looking at them, suspecting what was going on. After that many things happened: They had a lot of rematches, always ending in a draw, making Skyline the only Royal Guard not beaten by Blizzard, and thats why she finally made him her personal bodyguard. She gave a job to Skyline's sister too, and that's how she earned the best of friends: Primrose. Finally, the training hours turned into dates, and that ended with Skyline asking for her hoof in marriage after two years of courtship. They had been married for five years, the happiest five years of her life. And now he was gone. Their daughter was never going to meet her father. Blizzard would never see his smile or hear his voice again. She had nothing. Only memories. "You can do nothing!? What do you mean with that!?" asked a furious Blizzard. "Blizzard, please, try to understand" Infinity said "They are too necesary for Equestria, we cannot punish them so easily". "Too necesary? Equestria needs murderers?!" "Calm down princess Blizzard," said Cronos "They claim that they didn't pretend to kill him." "Of course! They wanted to kill ME!" "Come on Blizzard, you know them, they didn't want to kill anypony, they just lost their temper.It's true that they attacked you, but you are an alicorn, and they knew you were strong enough to survive." "But I was pregnant! My baby wouldn't have survive! And now I have a dead husband and a blind filly because of them!" Blizzard shouted, her eyes filled with rage. "Blizzard, I understand your pain" Infinity place her hoof on Blizzard's shoulder "but we really can do nothing. They are royalty, we have no authority over then nor you". Blizzard hit Infinity's hoof with hers "Don't dare to tell me that you understand. I thought we were friends, but now I see I was wrong. You and your husband are nothing but cowards!" "Blizzard please..." "I'm not listening to you anymore! I can trust nopony here, so I want you and Cronos out of my castle right now! Cross the portal and disappear!" With that, Blizzard used her magic to connect the portal in her Throne Room with the one in Canterlot. Both Cronos and Infinity gave her a sad look, but headed to the portal without discussion. Cronos crossed first, but Infinity turned to Blizzard one more time before following him. "When you calm yourself, I hope to see you in the Temple for the change of Season. You have three days, don't forget". Blizzard glared at her, but didn't answer, so Infinity sighed and crossed the portal. Blizzar kept staring at the portal for a while, her heart filled with rage and pain. She felt betrayed: she lost everything in one night, and her so-called friends were doing nothing to help her. And they still wanted her to fulfill her royal duties. Very well, but first she had more important duties: mother duties. She had to keep her daughter safe at any cost, Snowdrop was all she had now, and she would do anything for her. Anything. Blizzard opened the portal again, but this time she didn't connect it with Canterlot. The she called one of the guards. "Jet Black, I want you to reunite all the ponies in the castle in this room: guards, servants, anypony. Did you understand?" "As you wish, your Highness!" After that, she went to her room to get Snowdrop. The little filly was crying in her crib, so her mother took her gently. "Hush now, my little star. Mommy is here. I'm protecting you. I will always be." Carrying her baby, she went to the Throne Room, where all her servants and soldiers were waiting for her. "My dear subjects-she started- You have been working for me for so many years, and you always proved me your love and loyalty. I will always be grateful to all of you about that. But the last weeks have been very hard to me, as you know, and I have made a decission that will change this forest forever. But that means that, sadly, our time together is over." She heard some gasps after that, and saw that Primrose was looking at her, shocked. But she continued. "As you can see, the portal of the mirror is opened, but it's not conected to Canterlot this time. I used a powerful spell on it. You just have to think of a place and the portal will take you to it. Now is time for you to go and start a new life. Thank you everypony, for everything. And good luck." The ponies kept still and silent for a while, but then they slowly headed to the portal, still with confusing looks in their eyes. Finally all of them were gone. All of them but Primrose. The yellow and pink pony was looking to the princess, waiting for an explanation, but Blizzard wasn't paying attention to her: her gaze was focused on her filly, and she had a look of pure sadness in her eyes. Primrose sighed and turned to the portal. But when she was about to reach it, she finally heard Blizzard voice. "Prim, wait"- her voice gave Prim chills. It was a mixture of sadness, desperation and anger. She looked at Blizzard again, but instead of giving her an explanation, Blizzard did something unexpected. "Take Snowdrop with you" she said, giving her the baby. "What? But Blizzard...!" Primrose started, but Blizzard interrupted her. "This place is not safe anymore, and I must protect her at any cost. She will be better with you." Prim was about to protest again, but the desperation on her friend's voice made her change her mind. "I...I have a small house in Cloudsdale. Is a good place to live". "Perfect. I will try to go and find you when I'm done here". Blizzard said. She was lying. She knew this was probably the last time she saw her daughter. "I will take care or her until that. I promise."Prim said with tears in her eyes. "I don't doubt that". Blizzard replied, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She hugged her daughter and her friend one more time before pushing them to the portal. Prim crossed, crying softly, but she looked back one more time before the portal closed, so she managed to look into Blizzard eyes one last time. And what she saw plagued her nightmares for a very long time. > The voice in the mirror > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silent was the new ruler of the Winter Palace. The kitchen, always full of food scents and happy cookers laughing and working happily, was now empty and dark. The voices of the servants couldn't be heared in the halls and corridors anymore. There were no soldiers watching over the doors. Nopony could be found in the castle. Nopony, but Blizzard. There have been two days since everypony left, but she still hadn't came out of the Throne Room. She remained there, not eating or sleeping in all that time. She was just sitting on the throne, without moving, her gaze focused on the door in front of her. She knew that she was slowly loosing her mind, but she didn't care. Suddenly, she looked to her right with fear, believing that she saw a strange pony next to her. But it was even worse than that. There wasn't anypony there, just a mirror (the portal was a mirror when it wasn't activated). A mirror. She had been scared by her own reflection. And for good reasons. Her mane and tail were dirty and disheveled, the feathers of her wings looked all messed up, and her eyes were bloodshot and with dark circles around, because of the lack of sleep and the hours she spent crying. Blizzard could not take it any longer: she raised her forehooves and smashed the mirror, shattering it into a million pieces. But it made it even worse: now she could see her disturbing eyes in all the pieces, a million of crazy eyes staring at her... Blizzard finally let out a scream of pain and desperation and collapsed to the ground, shivering and covering her eyes with her hooves, unaware of the blood coming out of her hooves and covering her face (she didn't realize that her hooves had been wounded by the glass pieces). She remained like that for a while, bleeding and bawling like a banshee, until she heard something that made her stop. "Poor little thing..." Blizzard raised her head with fear. She was suposed to be alone, where was that voice coming from? "I'm here, darling, just in front of you..." Shivering, Blizzards looked again were the mirror was(well, what remained of it) and gasped. Her reflection was gone. Instead, there was a pair of red, dragon-like eyes staring at her. And the voice was coming from them. "Don't worry sweetie, i'm not here to harm you. In fact, I came because you need my help". "Who...who are you?"-Blizzard asked. "Well, let's say that I am...the part of yourself that you never knew." The voice said back "But that's not the important question. The question is: What are you going to do to make justice?" Blizzard sighed "What can I do? I'm not powerful enough to face the three of them, and nopony is gonna help me..." "You have more power inside you than you can even imagine, princess, you just have to let it go. But until you can do it, there is something more you can use against them. Don't you remember the book...and the Spell?" Blizzard eyes widened. Of course, the Spell! "Infinity said that they can't be punished because they are royalty. But if they loose their control over the Season, they will no longer be princesses..." "And they will can be punished."-Blizzard finished, with a dark smile. "But there is a problem, little one. That spell is not irrevocable, they could get their power back using the magic of the Temple". Blizzard's smile faded. "Then what should I do?" "After the spell, they only need two things to get their powers back: the Temple and themselves. I think I don't need to tell you what you should do..." "I...I'm not sure..."-Blizzard hesitated. "Well...we will think about that in due time. For now, you must cast the spell." Blizzard nodded and used magic to bring the book from her room. When she found that book for the first time, she was about to destroy it, because it was about dark magic. But when she accidentally found that spell in a page, she decided to keep it...just in case. It seems like she made the right decision. She opened the book and started reading it. The spell was easy, but dangerous, because she had to use a very powerful dark magic to perform it. She was about to try it, but the voice spoke again. "Wait a second, princess. I think you should take a look on the next page". Blizzard did it, and found some information about the spell. Apparently, after casting the spell, all the magic released from the princesses would be trapped on the Temple, but there were three ways to set it free. The first one was, obviously, bringing it back to the princesses. The second one was destroying the Temple, freeing the seasons forever. And the third one... Blizzard eyes widened while reading it. The third one was an even powerful spell that allowed the pony who used it to absorb all the power! "Think about it, darling. With all that power, you will be able to protect your precious daughter from everything! You deserve it more than them and you know it!" "But Cronos and Infinity..."- Blizzard said. "You owe nothing to them! They turned their back on you, remember? And once you have all that power, you won't need their help anymore!" Finally, Blizzard nodded "What should I do?" "First, you have to cast the first spell. You can do it right now. But the second one must be performed in the Temple, and you need some...ingredients." "What kind of ingredients?". "A blood sample from each princess, and something more, like a feather or a hair lock, you know." "They'll never give that to me". Blizzard said. "In that case, you will have to persuade them, don't you think?" In that moment, Blizzard heard noises at the corridor. "Well, well, well. Looks like you have a visitor, little princess". The voice said in a mocking tone. Then the door opened and a brown alicorn went into the room. "Autumn..."-Blizzard muttered to herself. The other princess didn't see her at first. "Blizzard, where are you? Where is everypony? Please, come out, we need to talk!"-Autumn called. "What are you doing here?" Blizzard hissed, suddenly coming out of the shadows. "Finally, there you...OH MY GOSH!!! Blizzard, what happened to you!?" Autumn stared at her in horror when she saw the blood covering her face and hooves, and the disturbing look in her eyes. "Are you deaf? I said: What the hell are you doing here?"Blizzard asked again, not hiding the anger in her voice. "You didn't come to the Change of Season yesterday, and I was worried. I see I was right!". Autumn replied. "Worried? You? About me? Please don't make me laugh! You never care about nopony but yourself. You are here to make sure that I fulfill my mission, so you won't lose face, don't you?". "Well... we were all worried about you, but Cronos and Infinity had to go back to Canterlot, so they asked me to come to check on you and try to convince you to go and do your job". Autumn admited awkwardly. Blizzard felt her rage growing. "That's it! That's the only matter for you! The freaking duties! You ruined my life, all of you, and you still dare to come to my house and demand me to do my job!? Well, you know what!? I WILL NEVER BRING BACK THE WINTER AGAIN, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!!" I WILL USE A SPELL TO RELEASE ME FROM MY DUTIES!" "You have to be kidding"- Autumn slowly said. "I have never been more serious. With that spell, I will stop being a princess. And so will you and the other two bitches!" "You can't do that..." "I can and I will! With THIS!" Blizzard said, showing her the book. "Wait...DARK MAGIC!? Blizzard, are you mad? That's the most dangerous thing you can do!" "If it's the only way to make you pay, I will take the risk" Blizzard replied. Autumn sighed. It was being worse than she feared. "Blizz, listen to me: You are not thinking clearly. This is what we are going to do: You are going to give me that book, then I will clean your face and hooves and we'll get out ot here to find you some help." "Come closer and you will be the one needing help" Blizzard snarled. "Don't talk like that, you know I'm doing the best for you. Now give me that book." Autumn said with concern. "Stay back." "Blizzard, please don't force me to do this the hard way." "You will not hurt me."Blizzard said, placing a hoof over the book. "I don't want to, but if you keep acting like that..." "You didn't understand me. You will not hurt me, because you can't. I'm stronger than you and you know it". "Enough! I'm going to put an end to this!" She gently pushed Blizzard and reached for the book, but before she could touch it, a hoof smashed her face. Autumn recolied clumsily, feeling the taste of blood in her mouth. "What you think you are doing?" she asked. "I told you to stay back, but you ignored me, as you always do.- Blizzard glared at her- Now leave my castle and I may forget about you." "Last chance, Blizzard. Give me the book or I'll take it by force." "Fuck you." "I'm sorry." Autumn sighed before charging against her. She really didn't want to hurt her, so she was just trying to knock her out for a while in order to get the book and destroy it. But she didn't count on something. Blizzard wanted to hurt her. So when Autumn used her magic to throw a jar to Blizzard and the other princess stopped it with and ice wall, and then she blasted a powerful ice beam to her, she wasn't expecting it. The eyes of the brown alicorn widened when the beam hit her chest. Autumn hit the wall and then fell to the ground. She was unable to move and could barely breathe, but was still conscious. Ignoring her former friend, Blizzard opened the book and finally casted the spell. Autum tried to shout her to stop, but she was too weak, so she watched helpless as Blizzard unleashed the dark magic. And then she fell it: a sharp pain in her heart. It just lasted a few seconds, but she knew the spell worked. She was devastated, but it wasn't over. The dark magic was slowly surrounding Blizzard, and suddenly covered her, making her scream in fear. Autumn tried to get up, but it was in vain. The screams finally stopped, and when the darkness faded, the creature remaining there was no longer Blizzard. It was an alicorn in fact, but very different from Blizzard. She was very tall, even taller than King Cronos. Her fur was purely white, and so were her mane and tail wich floated magically around her. Her horn was extremely long, and looked like a sharp stalagmite. The creature turned and looked at Autumn. Her eyes were red and she had the pupils of a dragon. "My, my, Autumn, look at you.- her voice was creepy, like two voices at the same time.- Well, don't say I didn't warn you. You will never be strong enough to beat me. But you had to try anyway, didn't you?". "B...Blizzard, pl...please..." Autumn begged, but she ignored her. "You have always been so stubborn... I gave you a chance to run away and save yourself, but you decided to fight. Brave girl...but you must know that your decission will only make things worse for you and the others." "N...no...p...please...I beg you..." "Taking your royalty away was the punishment you deserved for your crimes, but you still dared to try to avoid it, just like the rat you are. Well, if I can't have justice, I will get REVENGE!" Autumn began to cry in pure fear. The creature grabbed her chin with her magic mane,making her shiver,because it was extremely cold, and forced her to look into her eyes. "What is that, Autumn? Tears of regret? I don't think so. I'm sure you still claim that you did nothing wrong, don't you? The little perfect princess..." Saying this, the creature levitated a sharp piece of glass from the broken mirror and used it to cut Autumn's braid. The brown princess let out a scream of fear and surprise. "Oh, shut up! You don't look so bad with a short mane, smug girl. Besides, I need your hair to complete the punishment, and also a little blood sample. Calm down, don't look at me like that! I will just take a few drops..." Without a warning, the glass sliced Autumn's throat. "...the rest will stay on the floor!" The monster finished with a mad smile. Autumn convulsed over the floor, shaking her wings without control and trying to stop with her hooves the blood coming out of her neck and mouth. The ice alicorn looked at her without regret, until her eyes went white and she stopped moving and breathing. Then, when she made sure that the princess was dead, she used a small flask to take some blood, and putted it and the braid in a saddlebag that hung at her side. "That should be enough. Now if you excuse me, I have more ingredients to collect. Farewell, Autumn". With that, the twisted creature left the castle, looking for her next unaware victim. > Frozen Army > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Infinity was pacing around the Throne Room in their palace. She was extremely worried, and so was Cronos: Winter should have started the day before, but it never arrived. "This can't be good, Cronos. Blizzard has no intent of bringing Winter back, I feel it". "I guess so. Autumn probably couldn't convince her. She was mad at the three other princesses. It was a mistake sending one of them." "That's right- Infinity headed to the portal.-and that's why we must go by ourselves to talk with her". The queen lighted her horn, trying to activate the portal to go to the Winter Palace. But it didn't react. "Odd..." "What is it?" Cronos asked "I can't open the portal. The connection with the Winter Palace is broken." "You think she did it on purpose?". "Surely she did. We must leave right now. What if she tries to do something crazy?". "Try to connect with the Fall Palace. We can go flying from there." "Mom? Dad? Why are you leaving again?" a blue alicorn filly said entering the room. "Luna! I told you not to interrupt mom and dad!" said a teenager one with white fur and pink mane, following the filly. "But Tia...!" the filly argued. "it's okay, Lulu- Infinity said to her youngest daughter -We have something important to do in the Four Quarter Forest, but we will be back very soon, you'll see." "To the Forest again? Is there anything wrong there?" Celestia asked. "We are not sure.- Cronos said- But we need to make sure. I'm counting on you to take care of your sister until we are back." The young girl nodded.-"Yes, father." "Please, be careful!"- Luna added, hugging her parents. "We will, sweetie, nothing is gonna happen, you'll see." Infinity told her, kissing her forehead, then she turned to her husband." The portal is ready, we should get going now." "Fine. We will be back in no time, girls. Be good to each other."- Cronos winked to his daughters. "We will daddy!" Luna said with a smile. Celestia only nodded, looking at her parents until they dissapeared trough the portal. Then she kept staring at the place for a while. "...Tia? Tia, are you listening? Tia!!!" The little filly adressed her sister, poking her with a hoof. "W...what? Oh, sorry sister, I was just... thinking. Come on, lets practice on your magic for a while." "Cool! Soon I'll be able to rise the moon all by myself, and I'll get my cutie mark!" Luna said excited, leaving the room. "Sure you will" her sister followed her with a smile, trying to focus on her sister's happiness. But she couldn't get rid of the bad feeling inside of her. Meanwhile, in the Winter Forest... (I highly recommend you to listen to this while reading the next part) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzMAwJ6OhI4 The devilish white alicorn with the bloody eyes, who now called herself Frozen Nightmare, walked through her domains, making her horn glow, and casting a powerful summoning spell over the forest. Come to me, my loyal subjects, come to me, children of Ice. Follow me, the Queen of Winter and let your darkest instincts rise. All over the forest, the creatures of winter, like wolves, polar bears, snow leopards... who lived in the Winter domains raised their heads at the same time, and started walking towards the same direction, answering their Queen's call, heading towards the frontier between the Winter and the Spring, were she was waiting for them. It was a disturbing spectacle, all those different animals walking from all the forest to the same point, with their gaze unfocused, like they really didn't know where they were going. Slowly, all of them surrounded the evil alicorn, thousands of fearsome animals silently looking at her, waiting for her orders. Frozen Nightmare looked at them satisfied. Those were her soldiers, they belonged to her, and she was going to give them a good use, unlike Blizzard. "Finally, my children, our time has come to take what rightfully belong to us. Those two bitches think they are better than us, uh? That Winter is not as important as Spring or Summer, right? Fine, we will make them see the truth. If they don't wanna love Winter... then they will FEAR IT! When the moon rises, I will send you to the Spring and Summer forests, and you will make sure they remember why cold and darkness walk together! Are you ready for your mission, my Frozen Army?" Her words were greeted by a chorus of growls, roars and howls, and then all the creatures bowed to their queen, their eyes glowing red because of the spell. She gave a sinister smile. Her horn glowed intensely one more time, and four ghostly creatures appeared in front of her. Windigos, the Ice demons. She was specially proud of them, since they weren't just her subjects, but her creations. After murdering Autumn, she used all the bad feelings and thoughts inside of her to make those creatures, who could use the bad feelings inside the ponies against them. They were the perfect weapon, and she was really excited to see them in action. Oh, how was she going to enjoy hearing those ponies crying and begging for their lives... simply sublime. "Ah, my windigos, my favourite children. Tomorrow you will have a lot of fun with those cruel ponies, don't you? You will feed of their cruelty and selfishness, and make their bodies as cold are their souls. Go now, and don't let your mommy down." The four monsters licked their lips in anticipation and bowed to her to, before fading. "My children can have all the fun they want with the ponies living here" she said to herself with a grin "but the princesses are all mine." She added looking to the horizon, were the sun had started to set. From were she was, the Spring palace was perfecty visible. Soon it would be bathed by moonlight. And then she was going to bathe it in blood.