Celestia was the first to speak up.
“Thank you for letting us inside,” she said as she wrapped the tattered blanket around her. The diminutive, winged woman, owner of the house, nodded, not responding at first. Celestia looked around at the interior of the house--rusted heirlooms, boarded windows, and the smell of rotting food--before turning back towards the woman. “But I must ask… where are we? What happened to this place?”
Before Luna could argue that the world they’d entered might have always been this way, the woman spoke up. “A great treachery,” she mumbled, pulling the steaming kettle from the fireplace. “But I believe introductions are in order first, and I have questions for you as well…” As she sat down, the princesses looked at each other, and then back at her. The woman cleared her throat. “Tell me, where did you come from? What are your names, fair alicorns?”
Again, Celestia interrupted Luna before she could get a word in. “I am Celestia, Princess of the Sun and ruler of all Equestria--”
“--co-ruler,” Luna interjected. She yanked her own blanket around herself and grimaced.
“--yes, co-ruler, thank you sister--and this is my dear younger sister, Luna, Princess of the Moon.” Celestia accepted the mug of hot water from the woman before continuing. “Together, we keep our land in harmony, balancing the day and night so that all may grow and all may sleep.”
The woman chuckled at that. “You sound like Feraria and Lauhennos, but they brought the seasons.” She took a long drink from her own mug, wincing as the hot water shot down her throat. “I suppose both of you must be gods too?”
Luna looked at Celestia; Celestia looked at Luna. Neither of them spoke, and for a while the hut was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Luna managed to be the first to speak.
“We… have never thought of ourselves that way,” she admitted. “Since we were children, our parents taught us to take their place. They told us someday the wheels of time would cease to turn on their lives, and we merely thought that we would be next in a line of many...” Luna stared into her mug. “But it seems that we have ruled the longest out of our family line, despite the trials that have come to pass. Perhaps, in some way, we are gods.” Celestia shifted, having nothing more to add to her sister’s comments. The woman merely nodded and took another drink. After another silence that dragged far too long for anyone’s enjoyment, Celestia spoke.
“My sister and I came from the land of Equestria.” She leaned back, as if to prepare for a long speech. “There had been a portal to your world--”
“--Amaravir,” the woman commented. “It’s named Amaravir.”
Celestia furrowed her brow for a moment, irritated at being interrupted again. “Amaravir, then. It’s been in the Hall of Gateways for at least twenty years now, but it wasn’t until today that we noticed it. When I saw that the colours and the sounds that the portal was making were completely abnormal, I called my sister to come and see what was going on. Before we could properly step our way inside, the wind from a crack in the portal drew us in, and I woke up in the snow. Luna and I flew towards the first light we saw, and then you found us.”
The woman smiled for the first time since Celestia and Luna had arrived, wrinkles forming on her cheeks. “Then our prayers for a saviour have been answered. Thank the gods…” She raised her hand, gesturing in a way Luna and Celestia could only call one of great thanks or of welcome. “If you may, forgive me for being so bold. I am the faerie Denée, and before the eternal winter came, I was the goddess Feraria’s confidante.”
“You spoke of her before,” Luna noted. “And of a great treachery. Tell us, who was this Feraria? What was this… moment, that threw your land into an eternal winter?” She shivered at that, looking downward. Celestia gently placed a hoof on Luna’s back, giving it a stroke, but Luna was not reassured, merely looking towards Celestia with tired eyes.
“Forgive my sister,” Celestia murmured. “She knows of eternity more than I do.”
Denée nodded, not questioning further. She hoisted herself up onto the threadbare couch and put her hands around the hot mug. With a slow inhale, she began weaving her story.
“I had been waiting for six months for the ceremony that would awaken my lady. Of course, us faeries and the other fair folk had been preparing for weeks. We had decorated the altar, fixed the tatters in our traditional costumes, and recited the songs and prayers that would help send Lauhennos to sleep and awaken Feraria.
“On the day of the season change, we were all excited and nervous as usual. The younger ones never know what to expect, especially the new charges in Feraria’s inner circle. As I was her most intimate friend, I had taught them everything they needed to know, and they had relaxed significantly since the beginning.
“But not everything was relaxed. There was a sense of tension in the air, something that nobody could quite place. I knew Lauhennos’ nymphs and pixies could feel it too, as they were shivering in the cold, something that they were accustomed to. Something was off, but we tried to continue with the celebration anyway, determined to awaken spring no matter what.
“The moment that both Lauhennos and Feraria were on the altar was the moment that she attacked. We hadn’t known it, but the Feraria we were seeing was a sham. As the two grasped hands, Lauhennos’ eyes widened and he dropped to his knees, the life seemingly sucked from his features. Feraria, or what we thought to be her, began to laugh as the entire world spun around us. We didn’t know what was going on. In fear, we tried to fly or run away, but the ground became ice and the air became snow. The woman at the altar shifted, still appearing as Feraria, but her eyes were a sickly green and her wings batted like a crushed dragonfly’s.”
“A changeling,” Celestia hissed.
“Yes.” Denée looked down, squeezing her mug as if it were a stress ball. “She was a changeling. Good people died that day, trying to take her down. We had assumed that she had killed Feraria and taken her form, and that she killed Lauhennos too, right in front of everyone.
“But that wasn’t the case. The last of us, the ones who were left from Feraria and Lauhennos’ circles, came together and prayed. Somehow, we still received a life sign from both of them. Right now, we believe that both of our gods are laying in a deep sleep, waiting for someone to awaken them.” Denée closed out her tale, looking into space. “Feraria lays in her crystal chamber in Celes. Lauhennos rests in the life tree in Lusnayin. We cannot awaken them alone, and so we have prayed for guidance, for heroes to come and save us from this unbroken winter.”
It was then that Celestia got back to her feet, Luna following not long after. Celestia’s horn glowed in the dim light of the hut, seemingly illuminating the entire world for a brief second before dying down.
“Denée, tell us,” Celestia said quietly. “Where are Celes and Lusnayin?”