After reading a comment by SirReal in the story Hungry, I thought of a theory that's terrifying if true.

In the episode Hearth's Warming Eve, we are told that the three tribes decided to build a new country together, in the new land they found. But, why did they decided to start over from scratch and not reclaim their old home? We know that the Fire of Friendship can dispel the wendigos and melt the ice they bring. So why didn't they use it to melt their frozen land and reclaim it together. Any surviving buildings could have been used as shelter, while they rebuilt. With the cold and snow gone, the earth ponies' fields could have still grown food. They could have built their new country out of the ruins of their old one.

Instead they moved every single one of their citizens, across who knows how many miles of wilderness, to settle the new land. Where they have to live in tents, caves, or under tree canopies, until their homes are finished. They would also have to locate suitable farmland and build several new farms simultaneously, just to feed everypony for the first year. They would also have to be careful around any unfamiliar plants or animals, in case they might be dangerous. Starting over in the new land seems more dangerous and harder, then rebuilding where they were.

It could be that the damage was too great and the wendigos got too powerful for the fire to help. But, what if there was another reason why the three tribes didn't want to reclaim their old land. In episode, we are told that the ponies grew very hungry and we see a pegasi eat part of their helmet. It's possible that some individuals might have resorted to cannibalism, just to make the hunger pains go away. The moment they did that, they turned into something similar to a Native American wendigo. (If you don't know what's a Native American Wendigo, check out the link below.) To sum them up, they're basically large cunning cannibalistic monsters, that are nearly invincible.

These monsters likely forced the three tribes to abandon their old homes and start over in the new land. Any records of these monsters existence were either lost to time or the three tribes purposefully expunged them from their history. This could explain why they didn't reclaim their old home. Who knows maybe those cannibalistic monsters could still be roaming across that wasteland, looking for food.

What do you all think about this theory?

Wendigo Legend

7188976
Can I turn that into a fanfiction? Also, what if the frozen north is that wasteland?

7188976
I've always had a thought of, what if the Windigos are the spirits of deceased cannibal ponies and the like. Good obeservation

7188998
Go ahead, I look forward to see what you come up with. Also I was thinking that too, maybe the frozen north is where the three tribes originally lived.