"Oh, before we start, I suppose you're confused as to why your sister didn't come see you after your birth. Well, she is in the army and her father does not want her to leave her posts for personal reasons. It is only recently that I told her. She's a bit...violent," Mother trailed off.
"Yeah that's for sure. If she were in a terrorist group that was only for killing people they'd tell her to calm down."
"Don't worry. We're all well aware of her problems which is why you have the Sergeant to thank for your protection earlier. I won't tell you about them for now."
"So you're trying to tell me that even though I was nearly killed by my own sibling, you don't care? Oh boy. Can't wait for those family reunions. They'll be killer. Badum-tss."
The mother opened the book to show a page with artwork on it displaying some sort of bizarre creatures coming out of the snow. They were only geometrical and had no other , more defined shapes given to them.
"This is how us reindeer came to be."
"I bet there's a god of some sort involved."
"We don't know how we were created or what did so, but we know that we have always had a spiritual link to all things frost and ice."
"Now I was WAY off. Where's my clichés? I want this all to be predictable and easily manipulated, dammit!"
"In the early days, we were directionless but still stayed together for survival and eventually managed to evolve to the point of creating our own society, but we wouldn't survive on our own. While we were linked to the snow around us, it was only spiritually. Physically, our bodies could not stand the cold and we were slowly dying off, then the five deities came to us."
"There it is."
"Your father was one of them."
"GodDAMMIT!"
"The other three are you aunts and uncles that you might even see one day. All five were born with ice and frost as part of their souls and bodies. They used their powers to fuse our kind with it as well, changing our bodies and helping us live in this world too rough for ponies. Hmmm..." Mother tapped her chin. "I would say our only other possible equivalents would be the yaks, but they are far too block headed and simple minded to be truly considered."
"Yaks?" He chuckled quietly. "If yaks have some kind of society, what's next? Birds? Cats? ...Griffins?"
"Anyways, thanks to them, we've been able to continue living here in the far north, and while I am rather spited to admit, your father has had many a lover in the past due to his lengthy lifespan. In fact, I believe he has a memorial hidden somewhere."
"Creepy much?"
"This is also most likely the case with your remaining aunt and uncle."
"I...That's not really something I can mock. Remaining? Oh geez."
"Anyways, our people grew under the rule of the five God-Rulers, but they eventually had to part ways and took several reindeer with them and made colonies all over the tundra. The moment they separated, the black snow came."
The page was turned and showed some sort of black smog in the air with black snow falling on the ground where the deer were cowering. Lots 'o black.
"At first, we thought it was just a natural phenomenon as this place is strange enough as it is thanks to all the spirits and beasts that dwell within the snow and glaciers. Then we started thinking that it was the local chaos god that lived further down south in the grass lands. It soon became apparent that this was not the chaos god, who wasn't even on the same continent as us."
"This is a children's version? What's the adult version? A Lord of the Rings battle complete with gritty details of the bubonic plague?"
"Deer were struck down by the snow and...changed by it. The landscape twisted and churned and the spirits cried out in helplessness, and the snow lost its diamond glean and became an oily ash. Your oldest uncle, at the time, was caught off guard by it and lost everything, including his life."
"Wow. That's...very sad. Now I'm kind of interested in this story."
"When they learned about it, your aunts, uncle, and father left to the north where they...well...no one knows, really. We do know that your aunt lost her life against whatever the phenomenon was and wasn't seen again...for a time. Your aunt and uncle both left for the south for unknown reasons and disappeared, leaving many to wonder what happened to them. Our scouts met with forest deer and elk, but there’s not much else concerning our god-rulers."
"But you just said I could meet them."
"Several years had passed, then the ponies came to the north. These ones were much different than those from the south, but they were still the same. They used their magic to change the snow and brought about the crystals, contaminating our frost and creating both a new element and spirits. They didn't even ask us and this is our own land! There are other things, but I prefer not to mention them. One thing, however. The older reindeer tend to refer to them as 'Pony-Song' due to their tendency to break out in song for every little thing. It's...amusing, actually, but there's another reason due to their genetics, though, you'll learn about that when you're older."
"When the black snow came again, your father was forced to ally with their ruler at the time. His experience with ponies left him...sour to their demands which were surprisingly extreme at the time. Negotiations were made and they allied temporarily to stop the black snow. They both left with massive legions of their own kind with them and came back with sizeable amount of both."
"Wait...really? Huh. I thought for sure--"
"Unfortunately, many of the soldiers of both sides soon died due to an unknown disease. They were quickly quarantined so we don't know if they were contagious or not."
"Death by disease? That's...not expected at all. This is starting to get a bit too real."
Stelimus started to shake in fear but was hugged closer by his mother. "Ooo oo oo. Don't worry. Your father is protecting us and I'm protecting you especially," she cooed.
The fawn felt surprisingly warm and comfy in her embrace, so he nestled even more deeply into her fur.
"Anyways, a few of the reindeer at the time were given a 'gift' by the ruler of that Crystal Kingdom and have lived for an exceedingly long amount of time. Several of them have now perished, but a hoof full remain."
Stelimus tugged at his mother, pulled back some pages, then pointed at the four god-rulers going towards the blackened tundra. "Hmm? What is it? OH! You want to know about your uncle and aunt." Stelimus nodded. His mother took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Well, a few hundred years ago they resurfaced and came visiting your father. He was quite happy to see them, or so I'm told. He has told me they are going to visit again this season to see his new family." She frowned. "Probably going to talk about his...previous queens..." she growled.
The entrance to the room was opened, showing Stelimus' sister looking at the scene before her with spite and...sadness? That expression of melded rage, frustration, and hidden sadness triggered a memory in Gregary's memories. He was an adult again and looking over a tiny, little girl who was crying. He couldn't hear anything, but he did lean down to try and comfort her for some reason. It was brief and nondescript, but at least Gregary knew his past, more personal memories were coming back to him. He was distracted from his distraction when his sister opened the door.
"Lunch is ready...mmmmother," Yolumay spat.
Stelimus got up and flicked his forelegs down as if he had something on them. He even portrayed disgust.
"Awwww! That's disgusting! If you spit anymore we'll need to dig out a lake for you."
"Alright. Seeing as my little Stelimus can already walk--"
"Despite it taking others a week for his motor skills," Yolumay interjected.
"That just means he's even more special than I thought."
Yolumay growled under her breath. "I suppose you'll be nursing him right now. I'll leave."
"Oh, he refuses to nurse directly from me," the mother pouted.
Yolumay turned around, her eyes completely open and devoid of emotion. She looked at her mother than at the fawn who avoided her gaze and looked away, frowning.
"What kind of fawn doesn't nurse from its own mother?"
"That's not important. He still drinks it from a bottle."
"But...but he should suckle directly from the teat!" she complained.
"As long as he drinks the milk he'll grow big and strong."
"But what kind of fawn has the sort of mental capacity to--"
"You are dismissed."
"...Fine. Good day, queen."
Yolumay dropped the subject rather quickly and left the room without any hesitation. There was clearly bad blood between her and her mother and she was taking that frustration out on whatever living thing she could get her hooves on.
"Well then. Let's go eat. I'm starving," Stelimus' mother groaned while pushing herself up.