Thomas and Angela nodded, both of them sitting down for what they expected to be a long story.
Midnight cleared her throat before starting her story. "For many years the land of Equestria was in chaos. The unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi were at war with each other. All sides vowed they would not stop fighting until one of them was victorious, and that the victor would rule over the other two tribes. This went on for years, until the unthinkable happened."
"Two ponies, one Pegasus and one unicorn became friends. Both of them were sick of all the fighting and wanted only to be friends with each other. One day, their friendship was discovered by their parents, and they sought to tear their relationship apart. But united in the magic of friendship, they transformed. And thus, the first two alicorns were born."
'Woah,' thought Thomas. 'So that's where all the alicorns came from.'
Midnight continued. "Being the strongest ponies in the land, they gathered a large group of followers, and stopped the war in no less than a month. They ruled over the land as kind and caring rulers. This began the age of the alicorn. For thousands of years alicorns have ruled over the land, with a single family acting as the king and queen, and all the rest acting as advisers; Solar Flare and I were two of those advisers. But all of that came to an end two years ago."
"How did it all end? You said that the alicorns were the strongest creatures in the country, so what happened?" asked Angela.
"Domina Mors happened," Solar Flare said, still not making eye contact with the two humans.
"Domina Mors? Who's that?" asked Thomas.
"Domina Mors was the youngest of two sisters in the royal family, daughter of the king and queen. That's not her real name, it's just a title she gave herself when she took over. She was always so strange and reclusive, preferring to read about magical artifacts and ancient legends. But I never thought she would do what she did," she said, shaking her head.
"She was set to rule along side her older sister until one of them would marry a stallion, giving the country a king, while the other sister would become an adviser. But Domina didn't want to share power. Over the years she had come to resent her parents and sister so much that she killed her parents and sister in their sleep. On the night before the coronation no less."
Thomas's eyes widened. 'Wow, I didn't think Equestria could be so...dark. Is this really the magical land of colorful ponies that I know?'
"T-That's horrible! How could anyone murder their own family for reasons like that?!" Angela said with a gasp.
"I don't know," answered Midnight. "One minute she was a recluse, and then a psycho the next. But it didn't end there; she used a group of soldiers and servants that she had deceived to help her kill all of the alicorn advisers. Every single one of them was killed, it was only by sheer luck that we managed to escape. But now she rules over all, and the utopia of Equestria is now a mere memory."
Thomas and Angela sat in silence next to one another, processing the information they had just been given.
Thomas finally said, "I'm sorry both of you had to go through all of that, I can see why your husband doesn't trust us. I'm guessing that Domina is looking for both of you?"
"Yes, Solar Flare was worried that you worked for her."
"Well we completely understand," said Angela. "And we're sorry for frightening you."
Midnight smiled. "Apology accepted."
She paused for a moment before saying, "Apology accepted. RIGHT, SOLAR FLARE?"
Solar Flare sighed in annoyance. "Apology accepted. Sorry I acted so suspicious of you two, I'm just worried. Also, shouldn't we be going now? We need to get to the village."
"Solar Flare, we can't fly. Both of our wings are still thawing out, so we can't leave until then. Anyway, Thomas? ...I'm guessing you two aren't from here if you know nothing about Domina Mors, would you mind telling us where you're from?" Midnight said.
"Of course," said Thomas.
He told Midnight and Solar Flare about earth, humans, his brother, the convention, and winding up in the unknown land.
"I'm sorry, I know the feeling of being separated from your family, I know it must be hard for you," Midnight said in an attempt to comfort the saddened humans.
"It's alright," said Angela. "If there's on thing I've learned about my son it's that he knows how to take care of himself. He'll be just fine, I'm sure that he's looking for us right now."
Midnight frowned for a minute before perking up, an idea having entered her mind. "How about we help you look for him while he head toward the village?"
"WHAT!" Solar Flare finally spoke up after being silent for so long. "No! I'm willing to apologize for acting suspicious, but we can't waste time looking for these human's family when we have our own to go back to."
Midnight sent a glare at her husband that sent a chill down his spine. "Imagine if our little fillies went missing, wouldn't you want someone to help you find them? Our children are safe, but I'm not about to let these two lose someone close to them. They saved our lives, we should at least repay them."
Solar Flare withered under his wife's glare. "Alright," he muttered. "But only cause they helped us."
Midnight's glare changed back into a smile almost instantly. "That's what I thought."
"T-Thank you for offering to help us, it means a lot," Angela said.
"Oh it's no problem at all. Since there's a bit of time left before we're in any shape to fly, how about we just sit around and talk. For starters, what is up with the costumes?"
Angela and Thomas grinned at each other. "That my friend, is a long story," Thomas said.
. . .
The group of Windigos made their way through the palace of their queen. They took their time getting to the throne room, for they knew that she was most definitely not going to be pleased with their report.
They reached the throne room after a few minutes of walking in silence and hesitantly pushed open the giant set of doors.
There she was in all her dark glory; an alicorn mare with a coat of fur as black as night, and an orange mane that seemed to flow in the breeze, despite there not being one. Queen Domina Mors, ruler over Cryptonia.
She looked up at them with a chilling smile, her deep green eyes piercing their very souls.
"Ah! I was wondering when you all would arrive. My soldiers captured a good portion of the villagers that weren't able to escape their hidden sanctuary. But some of my officers said you pursued the two alicorns, so I trust you bring good news?" The Queen said, excitement shining in her eyes.
The group of monsters were silent before one of them stepped forward. "It's true my Queen, we pursued and froze the two alicorns you sent us to exterminate." He said. The Queen's smile increased in size, she was very pleased with this report.
"But," Her smile began to fade. "Two creatures that we have never even seen the likes of in our lifetimes attacked us. One was a fierce warrior, and the other could summon lightning! We stood no chance against-"
"Captain?" The harsh tone in the Queen's voice filled the room's occupants with dread. "Do you remember why I gave your group the power you posses? Can you recall what you said on that day?"
The Windigos remained silent.
"I believe you said: "My squad will take anything thrown at us and overcome it without fail." Did I say that correctly?"
The Windigos withered under their Queen's glare.
"Y-Yes my queen. You said it word for word."
Her face softened. "Why so tense Captain? Everypony makes mistakes."
The captain and his group relaxed, thinking that she was going to spare them. "Sorry my Queen, it won't-"
The alicorn lit up her horn and sent ten bolts of magic flying at each of the windigos present. By the time they realized what was happening, each of them had been impaled by the piercing spells. Each of them fell forward, their lifeless corpses lying face down on the stone floor.
"Unfortunately, I'm not as forgiving as other ponies," she said, glaring at the corpses with no feeling of remorse. She watched as the magic she had blessed them with escaped from their bodies, leaving only the bodies of ten stallions.
She opened the two giant doors as far as they could before yelling out with a magically amplified voice. "GUARDS!"
Immediately, two mares garbed in silver armor entered the room. These were not ordinary ponies; both of them had fur of the dullest gray and the wings of a bat, their eyes, ears, and teeth also resembling the flying mammal.
"Dispose of these bodies for me, and fetch the maids, I need them to clean the blood up before it stains," she commanded, leaning back into her throne.
"Yes my Queen," they both said in perfect unison, bowing before dragging the former soldiers to the furnace.
Once both of them were gone, she stood up, and walked out of the throne room. She walked through the castle until she reached a set of metal double doors secured by multiple locks, guarded by two armed soldiers.
"Let me in," she commanded. The two mutated nodded, undoing the locks and opening the doors before stepping aside. She said nothing as she descended down a set of stone stairs that led to the castle dungeon. She arrived at the bottom, walking past the rows of jail cells, stopping in front of the first occupied one.
The occupant; a young earth pony mare, looked up at her in fear. The Alicorn merely grinned before channeling dark magic into the now screaming pony's body. The earth pony began to change, an ethereal white energy wrapping around her body. The energy then began to take form, transforming into the body of strong mare that was as tall as Domina herself.
She went limp; and then stood up, the newly transformed Windigo looking up at her new commander.
"Report to the barracks," she said, opening the cell doors. The windigo merely nodded; walking out of the cell and up the stairs.
'Killing soldiers would be pointless if I couldn't replace them," Domina Mors thought to herself. She turned to look at the cell behind her, the occupant staring at her in horror.
She merely grinned as she charged her horn up with dark magic.