//------------------------------//
// Breña 
// Story: Breña 
// by Cheyenne 
//------------------------------//

In the midst of April, a massive blizzard was overtaking Equestria. The flakes came down in mass numbers, falling in a continuous and constant pattern. There seemed to be no end to the clouds within the sky, their clusters stretching for miles and miles. The white mist within the air lessened visibility to the point of far-off objects being invisible to the naked eye. Temperatures had fallen to negative twenty-six degrees Fahrenheit, making it next to impossible for anyone to be outside for too long without succumbing to the cold. No sane pony would dare to trek the winter-blasted landscape if they could help it.

So if there were eyes cast upon the lone form flying above the world, there would also be thoughts deeming her to be insane. But even if there were, such thoughts would have never reached her.

She flew through the cold air with a relaxed and euphoric gait, her forelegs spread out on either side of her as if embracing the bitter atmosphere. Her wings carried her without direction, allowing her to take in every part of the world around her. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to have no flight pattern planned. But despite this, it was clear she was not worried about destination or even time itself. This was made clear by the wide smile and the occasional laugh that would escape her lips. To her, this wasn't a hazardous environment.

To her, this was a place she could call home. The bone-chilling winds bearing into her skin and the constant shivers that went down her spine were sensations she had grown to become addicted to. The constant howling within her ears served as her personal symphony, and its music worked and moved her like no lover within existence could. The white of the snow blanket was an aura invoked by Heaven, with everything within its reach blessed by the mercy of Breña. Her lone presence gave her a sense of dominion and freedom – something that would have only existed in a metaphorical sense beforehand. Nothing and no one had the power to stop her.

As she began a dive downward, her ears perked up at the distinct sound of howling outside of the wind. It was the call of her children, the ones who had done well to listen to their mother. Their cries could be heard from miles on end, echoing throughout the expansive landscape like birds within a forest canopy. They called out to one another, communicating in the language only their race would understand.  But they also called out for her, missing their maternal guardian dearly. A soft blush of humility turned her face a faint red, and she couldn't help but feel happy that she was wanted so much. She would return to them soon enough. The last thing on her mind was making them wait.

With halting flaps on her wings, she landed at the gate of what used to be a vibrant and cheerful village – Ponyville.

The entire populace was gone, and the residences showed clear signs of abandonment and neglect. Several homes had their windows either boarded up or shattered, courtesy of the storm. There were also roofs that had collapsed inward, unable to handle the weight of the snowfall. The ground was covered in twelve inches of snow, making the task of walking through it the equivalent of walking through molasses. She found it easier hovering over the buried earth instead of trying to push her way through it as she moved deeper into the village. Once again, the fact that she was all alone struck a chord within her soul. But strangely enough, she didn't feel the elation she had felt when she was flying. In fact, she felt a sort of emptiness within her, almost as if coming here was telling her that she was missing something. What was it?

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. There was no time to worry about it now. It was just another feeling that she couldn't explain but another compulsion she couldn't simply ignore. Now that the world was hers, she had plenty of time to figure out the unexplained. For now, she needed to turn her attention towards the task at hand – locating and bringing the Elements of Harmony to her hideaway. They were the relics of the rebellion against her and her kind, and she loathed the fact that they were still within existence while their bearers had been dealt with. Destroying them was something not yet within her power, and it infuriated her to know that there were places that even her reign could not reach. Until she found away to wipe them out of existence and soothe her mind, she would have to keep them locked away in a secure location. No one and nothing could stop her, and she aimed to keep it that way.

Her wings would carry her to the former home of Twilight Sparkle and library of Ponyville.

The tree that had supported both its life and the lives of its inhabitants was now devoid of any vitality. Its leaves had shriveled up and fallen off, their brown carcasses buried within the snow. Parts of the bark had fallen off, exposing the wood underneath. The windows were covered completely with wooden planks, barring any possible intrusion from snowfall. Some of those planks had been worn down, and at least a few of them had collapsed on the ground. Compared to the other houses, it was quite stable, and she couldn't help but be impressed by its stubbornness. The unicorn had made extensive preparations, regardless of them failing.

Once her hooves were on the ground, she pushed the door open and allowed the snow to fall in a pile within the doorway. She paid no attention to it, trotting inside and taking a look around. The inside of the house was much more hospital in deep contrast to the exterior, courtesy of whatever extensive protection Twilight had employed. Aside from the many books that lay scattered on the floor, it was relatively untouched by the storm – something that she was very grateful for. The last thing she wanted was for a difficult search for nothing more than a few relics.

Quickly, she got into her search. She started with the books on the ground, digging and sifting through them. All of the covers and pages had suffered from wetness, courtesy of what water vapor that had managed to get through the barricades. Nearly all of them were unreadable as a result. But that was okay, because she wasn't looking for readable material. The book in question would have the distinct marking of a unicorn's head, carrying the relics within a hollowed-out section of its contents.

There. She found it.

Pulling the book out from the rest and holding it up, she opened it to the hollowed-out section to reveal the necklaces and crown. Despite the condition of the book itself, they looked as if they had just been revealed to the world. Their radiant visages seemed to provide a bit of light to the otherwise dim and abysmal room. It caused anger to flare up within her, knowing that even she had been unable to destroy these weapons of mass destruction. How could she, the one who had personally handed the very deities their defeat, be unable to wipe away the existence of mere pieces of jewelry? It made no sense to her.

“Such dangerous toys...” She whispered, memories flashing through her head as she stared at the Elements. “Those little children shouldn't have been playing with such dangerous toys. It's a good thing that I taught them a valuable lesson.” She shut the book with a finalizing clap and a thin smile. “Otherwise, they would have hurt themselves. I don't want any of my little ones to hurt themselves, or anyone else for that matter...” 

Grasping the book between her teeth, she made her way out the door, spread her wings apart, and ascended into the freezing skies once more with eagerness. This time, however, she had a direction and destination in mind. She flew with a purpose, the euphoria within her subdued and controlled for the time being. The location she was heading to was the place where everything began and ended, where their reign ended and her reign began. She would seal away the last of the rebellion's remnants in what she had seen as the capital of Equestria.

Canterlot.

The flight was silent and uneventful as it had always been, with only the howling of the windows and her obedient children breaking the quiet. As she glided over the ground, she could see satisfactory signs of her dominance sweeping below. Entire forests had shriveled up and died, transforming into nature's cemeteries for both plant and animal life. Rivers had frozen to the very core, and the extremely cold temperatures had made it impossible for the ice to be broken or melted. The train tracks within her location had turned brittle, and whatever cars that happened to be out were nothing but derelicts. As with Ponyville, there wasn't the slightest sign of life that could be seen for miles.

It didn't take her long to reach the pathway that led to the center of Equestria.

In comparison to everything else, the buildings and structures that made up the city were a work of art. The vibrant and elegant designs had been covered by thickened ice, which had been carefully cut and molded to trace the original shapes. All of it resembled a massive ice sculpture, one that would have taken years to create by the hoof of labor. But the most striking thing about it was the multitude of pony statues lined up in a path that led deeper into it. All of the statues had varying poses that mostly consisted of running, standing and laying down. It had taken a lot of work to get statues of difference to stand as one. But she had done it, and needless to say, she was quite proud of her work. With a pleased smile on her face, she landed on the ground and eagerly trotted down the path the statues created for her.

As she walked, she could see a mass murder of her children sweeping the skies, their numbers blotting out the cloudy sky. She could see a few of them standing on buildings, their eyes watching her with every step that she took. Their heads were bowed in submission, raising up only when she completely passed them. They themselves were powerful beings within their own right and had been the backbone of her reign. But they recognized her as their maternal guardian, and that superseded any peak of power they could have reached. They were her blade for her to wield in whatever way she saw fit. They were her shield, unbreakable in their purpose of her protection. They were to ensure that nothing and no one would stop her.

The nature of the statues were beginning to shift. When she started her walk, the ones nearest to her were civilians. Now, she was passing by statues of the Royal Guard, which were molded into more aggressive stances. At first, all she saw were grunts and cannon fodder. But as she passed by more of them, she could recognize high-ranking soldiers and officers. That told her the walk to her destination wouldn't take much longer. Before she knew it, she was passing by the ones of nobility, the former leaders of the nation. The irony of their situation caused her to chuckle. Before, they had their people lined up before them.

Now, they were one of her people. She couldn't help but wonder how they felt right now, with that thought in their heads...

Once she stepped hoof inside of the castle, the door was shut behind her and the sound of the winds and her children were silenced. She continued walking through what might as well have been an ice cavern. All of the former glory that made up the innards of the castle had been ripped away and replaced with her beautiful erections. She took it all in with an immeasurable amount of pleasure, satisfaction, and admiration. This was something that not even the gods and goddesses themselves would've thought of creating. This was her fortress, her kingdom, and her land. If she could unleash something like this upon a country, what could keep her from releasing it on another? What could keep her from spreading her reign across the rest of the world? There was still plenty left to conquer and plenty of time. There was still no one left to stop her. The ones that would dare to do so had been dealt with appropriately.

She could safely say that with absolute certainly, for she would be seen by their eyes as she entered the throne room.

Standing beside the throne were six statues, with three to each side. They were the last of her resistance, having fallen in their final stand against her children. Valiantly as they fought, but ultimately their efforts were futile. After they had been overwhelmed, they had been taken back to Canterlot for their final resting places. What stood before her was the memory of her victory and their failure. Overcome with a burst of pride, she sauntered over towards the statue of the lead unicorn and dropped the book from her mouth. The book was jolted open and the Elements were scattered at her hooves, but she didn't seem to care. She stared into the eyes of the statue with a satisfied smile, licking her lips.

“So...” She said as if beginning any usual conversation. “How long has it been? A month? A year? Several? Long enough to make me forget about time. But who could blame me, when I'm within the womb of such beauty? My only regret is that I've deprived you of the chance to experience it for yourself, you and your friends. But then again, that was your fault. You and your beloved monarch just had to keep resisting, pushing it away as if it were some sort of curse. You were causing so much trouble, and you ended up hurting a lot of my children because of it. If you hadn't struggled, this wouldn't have had to happen. We could've ruled Equestria together in a new light, just you and I...”

Slowly, her smile turned into a resentful frown. As she continued to speak, her tone was still calm but carried a slight venom within it. “Of course, you were never thinking of that, weren't you? You were thinking about your so-called “friends” and “family”. Well, how does it feel, protege of the Sun? How does it feel, knowing that one of those friends stabbed you in the back and left you to die? How does it feel, knowing that I rule this land with an iron fist because of your mistake? A mistake you'll never get a chance to correct, because you're stuck within my domain forever. And there's nothing you can do about it.” She emphasized this with a snicker, elation returning to the surface once more. “Once I find a way to dispose of your precious elements, there never will be.”

She stepped back, moving to gather the elements.

A pang in her chest.

She stopped cold, the smile being wiped from her face as she placed a hoof on the spot where her heart would be. For a moment, she stood there in quiet confusion. It wasn't some sort of slight pain of the muscle or anything like that. It was the feeling of uncertainty, hesitation and the general thought that there was something missing. Naturally, it brought about a sense of bewilderment. Why was she feeling this way? She had everything she had ever dreamed of, and more. What could possibly be missing in this utopia of hers?

Giving a heavy sigh, she moved her hoof away from her chest and reached for the Elements again. But the feeling of uncertainty started increasing with every centimeter of distance she closed, and she found herself stopping with her appendage hovering over the assorted jewelry. She stared at them for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly was causing the ache within her chest. It couldn't have been the Elements themselves, for they were virtually useless without their representations wielding them. It couldn't have been the representations either, obviously. It certainly couldn't have been any doubts or fears that she had, considering that she...well... had nothing to fear anymore. But this feeling was too foreign to be hers, too unfamiliar to be of her mind and too vague to seem like any true threat. 

She slowly shifted her gaze back at the unicorn statue, then switched it back down to the Elements before going back to the statue again. She couldn't understand it, but now her mind was telling her another message. It was something that just had to be dug up from her subconscious, for she never would have thought it on her own. It was a pointless gesture, possibly one made out of unconscious sympathy for their plight. But it refused to stop ringing within her head, not until she performed the action it requested.

Put the Elements with their wielders.

After what seemed like the longest moment of silence, she found herself grasping the lone crown within her hooves, nearing the unicorn, and slipping it on her head.

For whatever reason, the ache in her chest seemed to ease itself. She repeated the process four times, slipping each necklace around the neck of their appropriate wielder. Every time that she did so, the ache eased itself little by little. By the time she got to the last necklace, it had faded to the twang it had started out as. She sat down on her haunches, holding it up to eye level and regarding it with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. What was this supposed to prove? All she was doing was prettying up garden decorations. 

With a sigh, she slipped the Element around her own neck and stood up. She was wasting her time, doing this. There was a world out there to conquer. These were ghosts of a war won long ago. There was no reason to dwell upon the dead or the memories they would bring. She had better things to do than worry about pointless impulses. The world's knowledge would be at her hooves soon enough, and she would figure out why she had gone through this when all of it was over and done with. 

With that in mind, she trotted away in the direction of the exit. However, she found herself stopping at the door once more, turning her head to look over at the statues for what she presumed was the last time. Then, she turned away, walking out the door and shutting it behind her. 

Not even she would hear the words spoken before she did.

“I'll be waiting...”