//------------------------------//
// The Founding of Equestria 
// Story: Ponykind: From Birth to the Modern Age 
// by Slag 
//------------------------------//

The windigo magic created a great winter, destroying the ponies' ability to produce food. The national stockpiles were able to last for a few months, but tempers did not. Each nation immediately began to blame the other two, and though war never broke out, any negotiations that were attempted fell apart very quickly out of distrust. Eventually, with food supplies dwindling and ponies starving, the three races were forced to emigrate from the area, now considered irreparably cursed.

Most went south in various directions, but it is speculated (though without proof) that a group of earth ponies, and possibly a few unicorns, traveled north, past the Crystal Mountains and deep into the frozen wastes. These hardy souls would manage to escape from the windigos and would learn to live off of the semi-lithic plants that managed to thrive in the freezing climate, becoming the crystal ponies.

Another group is believed to have been created by the windigos. A few of the various races were so tainted by the dark magic and hate that had been bred that they no longer had the positive emotions needed to survive. These once-pony husks became parasitic, consuming the love and kindness of other beings in order to survive. They blended together into alicorn-like forms and became somewhat of a hive mind. As they learned to hide their unnatural, vaguely insectile forms with magic, they earned their modern name: changelings.

The rest of the ponies would end up finding their way back to the plains and foothills around Canterlot Mountain, despite having made prior efforts to diverge from one another. It is unknown whether the windigos had arranged this or if it was just coincidence. The three nations immediately began to fight over the fertile land, preventing its use and causing food supplies to dwindle even more. As the windigo winter set in, all three races suffered famine, losing their embittered leaders to starvation and freezing.

Despite their immense hatred for one another, the remaining ponies were forced to come together to survive. The pegasi were able to hold off the magical snow storms as the earth ponies grew what plants they could, providing much needed food, while the unicorns worked to drive off the magic and discover where it was coming from. As their respect for one another improved and hatred began to disappear, the windigos became desperate, and made their appearance, trying to directly incite the ponies to hatred. Unfortunately for them, the friendship and camaraderie pony magic thrived on had grown too powerful, and the beasts were driven off, never to be seen again.

As the winter quickly cleared, the ponies began to settle, and Canterlot Mountain became the location for a fortress city to watch over the pony lands, recently dubbed Equestria. The three races worked together, and soon other races began to move in, including donkeys, cattle and pigs. Equestria grew rapidly, but all was not perfect. A new evil, greater than the windigos, set its site on the nation.