• Published 22nd Jun 2016
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Camaraderie is Sorcery - FireOfTheNorth



What if Equestria wasn't all sunshine and rainbows? Friendship is Magic is retold in a dark fantasy setting where kings and queens rule a divided Equestria, sorceresses are persecuted and burned at the stake, and beasts wait around every corner.

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Chapter 2:11 - Hearth's Warming Eve

Chapter 2:11 – Hearth’s Warming Eve

Here and there, back and forth. It seems of late all we do is dart from one location to another. After the Brave Companions returned to Ponieville from the College of Eyes, only a few days passed before they had to leave again. This expedition had been planned, at least, though it required navigating the passes and tunnels to Cant’r Laht through the new-fallen snow. Tonight was Hearth’s Warming Eve, and Celestia had requested the Brave Companions’ presence for an important task.

“I still don’t understand why Celestia asked us to do this,” Rainbow Dash said as she adjusted a chainmail hauberk, “We’re not actors or performers.”

The same thought had been on everypony’s minds since Celestia had first sent her letter to Twilight Sparkle. While Hearth’s Warming Eve festivities went on throughout Equestria, Celestia had focused the attention of those in Cant’r Laht on her own celebration, the centerpiece of which was a pageant celebrating the holiday’s origins. Apparently, during the time of the Equestrian diarchy, the pageant had been performed every year to remind ponies of the holiday’s meaning, but it had been absent from Equestrian culture for some time. Like details about the Second and Third Ages, it had been lost, though not deliberately, in this case.

“There are six of us and six parts to fill, darling. And, we are already somewhat famous, after all,” Rarity said as she stared into a looking glass and adjusted the faux crown atop her head.

“Rarity is right,” Twilight Sparkle said, “Celestia believes there is some similarity between us and the Founders of Equestria. It may be no coincidence that the six ponies who came together and united the continent were also two earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns. They were unified by the magic of Hearth’s Warming Eve, and we are unified by the Elements of Harmony, two powerful aspects of sorcery that are not well understood.”

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Fluttershy said, curled up into a ball, “I can’t perform in front of hundreds of ponies!”

“Sure you can, Fluttershy!” Pinkamena said enthusiastically as she bounced around, making it difficult for Applejack to help her with her costume, “Just do what I do and pretend everypony is naked!”

“Y’ really do that? That seems … problematic for sev’ral reasons,” Applejack said doubtfully.

“It will be okay, everypony,” Twilight assured them, “We are not professional actors, so the performance may not be perfect, but that is not the point. We are to represent the Founders and to show unity. When we are together is when we are strongest, after all. In the past half a year alone, we have faced Discord and ponies possessed by him on four separate occasions. After all that, a play should be no trouble at all.”

***

The Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant was to be held in the great hall of Cant’r Laht Castle. Celestia had arranged it, so it was only fitting for her to host it. Though most of the city’s nobility hosted their own celebrations for the holiday, they were all in attendance that night, drawn more by the opportunity to enter the castle than any desire to see the performance. Despite the opening up of Celestia’s castle in the last year-and-a-half (largely to gain the loyalty and support of the city’s nobles), it was still considered exclusive and prestigious to be able to attend an event hosted by the matron of sorceresses herself.

There were a few families who had pointedly refused to attend, due to the recent change in the city’s political hierarchy, but they were in the minority. With Celestia in her private box sat the new Prince of the City, Night Light Haltrotsun, along with Twilight Sparkle’s mother (and the new Princess of the City), Twilight Velvet. Neither of them looked incredibly accustomed to their recently established importance or closeness to the matron of sorceresses. Unlike Rhaegis Blueblood, who’d treated Cant’r Laht Castle as his own, Twilight’s mother and father had chosen to continue to live in the Haltrotsun ancestral manor instead of moving into Blueblood’s old chambers. The downside was that they didn’t have the constant contact with Celestia that Blueblood had, except by messages ferried across Cant’r Laht.

The chatter among the audience began to die down as Spike sauntered out onto the stage. In the interest of keeping the play centered on the Brave Companions, Twilight’s page had chosen to be the pageant’s narrator. The adolescent dragon climbed up into the lectern at the edge of the stage and adjusted his script before speaking.

“Long, long ago, between the Age of the Earth Pony and the First Age of our modern era, invaders from another world arrived in Equus. The White Procession made their first forays into our world and ushered in the Long Winter. For over three decades, the White Procession conducted their conquest, and one after another, every pony nation fell to them, until only three remained. Then, as now, Equestria was divided between many warring kingdoms, concerned only with furthering their own interests. Strife was rampant, and it only became worse when the White Procession arrived. Ultimately, it was this strife between the pony nations and inability to work together that led to their downfall at the swords of the centaurs.”

“In the last days of the Long Winter, the three surviving nations managed, for a short time, to maintain peace among themselves, but it was not to last,” Spike narrated as actors representing the different pony races trotted onto the stage to provide visual representations of what he was describing, “The pegasi managed for the first time since the unicorn crusade for Equestria to carve out their own land, ruled by the militant Order of the Aerial Sword. As now, the non-ruling pegasi were divided between the Hunters, who slew monsters born from both the Conjunction and this new otherworldly invasion, and stewards of the weather, responsible for redirecting the clouds. Both services were performed for the benefit of all three pony nations. In return, they demanded food from the earth ponies, the only race still able to produce crops in a world were growing seasons were terribly stunted by the magic of the White Procession. The earth pony Confederation of the Sône provided food also to the unicorn Kingdom of Excesior, in exchange for their mages’ efforts to raise sun and moon and maintain the cycle of day and night.”

“As the White Procession redoubled their onslaught, intent on bringing all of Equus under their sway, things grew bleaker and bleaker for the surviving free nations, which only led to greater strife between them. Poor harvests led to food shortages as even the earth ponies were unable to grow adequate crops in the harsh and frigid environment. The pegasi were unable to hold back the tide of snowstorms and monsters. The unicorn mages were likewise powerless against the White Procession wizards’ sorcery. Each nation blamed the others for the suffering that struck them all, war becoming more and more certain every day.”

“Some, however, had the wisdom to seek a peaceful resolution, and so a summit was called between the three nations. Each would send a representative. From the unicorns came the daughter of their king, Princess Platinum.”

Rarity trotted out onto the stage, wearing a regal purple dress and a thickly lined cloak. She was a bit warm wearing it inside, but Twilight had insisted on authenticity. On her head was a faux crown set with amethysts. Stage assistants had moved a table out to the center of the stage as the actors from the earlier narration departed, and Rarity took her place on the right side.

“The pegasi sent their ruler, Grandmaster Hurricane,” Spike said once Rarity had settled.

Rainbow Dash trotted in and took her place to the left of the table. The armor and heraldry she wore was thirty-six centuries out of date, but once again, Twilight had insisted on authenticity. She was the kind of pony to complain about unicorn knights wearing full plate on tapestries depicting the crusade for Equestria, and she would have none of that here.

“And lastly, the leader of the earth ponies, Chancellor Puddinghead.”

Pinkamena bounded onto the stage, apparently entirely in keeping with her character. It was as if she were born to play the part. She was dressed similarly to what the doge of Neighples would have worn during the time period, complete with exaggerated ruff around her neck. On her head was a wide-brimmed hat topped with fabric that looked, appropriately enough, like a pudding. She too took her position, behind the table, so that the audience could see the faces of all three amateur actors.

“Perhaps, with these three leaders together, a settlement could be reached, the three nations could put aside their differences, and they could fight the White Procession together …” Spike said.

***
31st Year of the Long Winter

The building hosting the summit was cramped and undignified, chosen for its location alone. The representatives of the last free pony nations in Equestria were meeting in a barn near the southern border of the earth pony Confederation of the Sône, outside a tiny village that was equidistant from all three nations’ capitals. A table had been stolen from the nearby farmhouse, around which now stood the three representatives. Guards from their respective nations stood behind them, hidden in shadow and out of sight, but within easy range if anything were to go awry. The empty hayloft above had been partitioned out so that interested spectators from each nation could look down over their representatives’ backs and observe the proceedings.

“What I want to know is why the earth ponies are keeping all the food to themselves,” Grandmaster Hurricane accused his wingless counterpart next to him, “This was not our agreement!”

“If you want to see somepony who’s reneged on their agreements, look no further than the looking glass, you featherbrain,” Chancellor Puddinghead said, pointing an accusing hoof at the pegasus, “You’re supposed to be guarding us from attacks, but foul creatures and punishing blizzards continue to pour through the Snowshear Mountains, your territory! We can’t supply enough food for everypony, especially if they don’t uphold their end of the bargain!”

“For the last time, we don’t know how the attacks and the storms are getting through!” Hurricane protested, “There must be some foul sorcery at work here. I wouldn’t be surprised if the mages of Excesior were in league with the White Ones’ wizards. The unicorns have betrayed us!”

“I resent that accusation!” Princess Platinum said in offense, “We would never even think to do such a thing. Not all unicorns are in the position to use supernatural abilities, unlike you pegasi, who could easily have guided the White Ones through the aether above the clouds and brought them down upon us. I say it is you who must answer the charge of treason!”

“Or maybe you’ve both betrayed the alliance!” Puddinghead blurted out, “Even if you haven’t, neither of you are helping, so neither of you will get our food. Unless you non-earths pull your weight, I’ve got no idea how the truce can go on.”

“No ideas, no backbone, typical earth pony,” Hurricane huffed.

“Grandmaster Hurricane, though there may be ample cause to place accusations, there is no need for slurs and insults! Desist in this vulgar behavior!” Platinum demanded.

“Or what?” Hurricane asked challengingly, leaning forward and loosening his sword in its sheath with a wing, prompting Platinum’s royal guards to step out of the shadows, “I’m not your subject, arrogant bonehead; none of the pegasi are anymore, and you ought to remember that.”

“I don’t have to stand here and take this!” Princess Platinum fumed indignantly, “Royal blood flows in my veins from centuries of kings and queens! I see now that it was pointless to attempt to reason with barbarians like you! This summit is over!”

“That’s the first thing you’ve said I agree with,” Hurricane said as he pushed ahead of the princess to exit the barn.

“It’s settled then,” Chancellor Puddinghead said as she bounded over the other two and shoved the doors open, letting in a blizzard that was raging harder than when they’d arrived, “This truce has ended!”

The representatives of the three nations managed to leave without coming to blows, barely. Up in the hayloft, as everypony tried to follow their leaders’ example and leave ahead of the others, chaos broke out, and soon a brawl. The barn would be destroyed by the following morning, along with a good portion of the town, and all without any raids by the White Ones, as the ponies of the time called the White Procession. The last free pony nations were nearly ready to tear themselves apart.

***
Year 1001 of the 4th Age

“And so, the summit did not go as planned, though it did go as everypony could expect,” Spike narrated as Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkamena stormed away from each other onstage, “The three leaders returned to their own lands to convey the news, to consolidate their positions, and to complain to their subordinates.”

A backdrop was lowered depicting the Snowshear Mountains, home of the westernmost nation, the Order of the Aerial Sword. Stage assistants had removed the table from the stage and replaced it with recreations of the pillars and statues that had once stood at the entrance to the order’s lodge and fortress. Rainbow Dash’s armor jangled as she trotted between them.

“Ser Pansy!” Rainbow Dash called out, “Where are you?”

“H-here, Grandmaster,” Fluttershy replied timidly as she trotted onto the stage, dressed in less impressive, though just as period-accurate armor.

“Get that fire stoked,” Rainbow demanded of her character’s subordinate, and Fluttershy got to work pretending to do so, “I just flew back from the summit, and my wings could use some deicing.”

“Yes, Grandmaster,” Fluttershy said, continuing at her task.

“Aren’t you going to ask me how the summit went?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, my apologies, Grandmaster. How was the summit?”

“Terrible! We can’t trust the unicorns or earth ponies anymore, if we ever could,” Rainbow Dash complained, “We must forge our own path, go our own way.”

“Begging your pardon, Grandmaster, but how are we going to do that?” Fluttershy asked, “Our last food stores are running out, and three of our mountain outposts have had to be abandoned in the last month alone.”

“Our position here may have become untenable,” Rainbow Dash said, stroking her chin, “We’ll need a new plan to survive …”

She and Fluttershy trotted off to the left side of the stage, out of the way as stage assistants adjusted the scene. The backdrop now depicted the hall of a fine castle, the seat of the unicorn king of Excesior during the last days of his reign. The table was returned to the stage, but it was no longer empty, now covered in silver table settings to further reinforce the idea of royalty. Rarity stumbled onstage, acting as if she were fighting against a blizzard, before collapsing on the floor.

“Clover the Clever!” she called out, “I need you!”

“Yes, your royal highness?” Twilight asked as she trotted onstage.

She was still wearing a mage’s robes, but these were roughspun and dull in color. As in the modern Zebrikaanian Empire, mages were only tolerated in Excesior as servants of the state, but at least they were tolerated, unlike in the other contemporary realms. The character Twilight Sparkle was playing, Clover the Clever, had been a sorcerer of some power and influence, an unwilling servant who’d once been apprenticed to the Star-Swirl the Bearded, but a servant nonetheless. As such, he’d been at the beck and call of the Excesior royal family, mainly Princess Platinum, who’d seized more and more power in the realm as the king grew more and more ill.

“Heat me a bath,” Rarity commanded, “That journey was torturous.”

“Did the other leaders see the reason in continuing the arrangement and pursuing a united front against the White Ones?” Twilight asked as she pretended to heat a bath for Rarity.

“That summit was a waste of time,” Rarity tsked, “There’s no dealing with such lesser races, who only understand threats and violence. They have no appreciation for our kingdom’s preservation of the cycle of day and night.”

“Indeed,” Twilight said sarcastically.

“Well, we’ll show them something they do understand, then! Our kingdom will go it alone and give them the war they want!” Rarity proclaimed.

“How exactly do you plan to do that?” Twilight asked, “With our army starving and battered, we will never be able to defeat the others.”

“Hm, you may have a point there,” Rarity admitted, “We’ll need to make preparations and some changes before we can attack …”

Twilight and Rarity trotted off to the right edge of the stage, and the scene once again changed. It now depicted the Chancery of the Confederation of the Sône. Several smaller tables with ledgers on them were pulled in as the one laden with silver was removed. A large faux chimney was wheeled into position at the back of the stage. Applejack trotted into the scene, wearing a scribe’s attire, and she began to pace nervously. She stopped abruptly as a rumbling came from the chimney and Pinkamena emerged from the fireplace, covered in soot.

“Chancellor Puddin’head,” Applejack said as Pinkamena dusted herself off, “Wouldn’t it have been easier t’ use th’ door?”

“No, because then you’d have had to invite me in … to my own chancery of all places!” Pinkamena exclaimed.

“Are y’ implyin’ that you’re a vampire?” Applejack asked, “B’cause that’s exactly the kind o’ accusations that got Chancellor Switchbritches executed, y’know?”

“Of course I know, who do you think started that rumor, silly?” Pinkamena asked, “If it’ll make you feel better, I’m no vampire. I know you have trouble keeping up, Smart Cookie, without the brrrrrrrilliant mind that resides beneath this pudding hat. I was elected for that, you know!”

Actually, Chancellor Puddinghead had been elected to her post because she’d been the loudest among those who actually wanted the position. The last four chancellors of the confederation had been publicly executed, so there were few who were enthusiastic to follow in their hoofsteps. Everypony assumed that somepony so seemingly nonsensical who proclaimed what she did with such passion had to be a genius whose ideas were beyond the comprehension of anypony else. So far this tactic had worked for Chancellor Puddinghead, but whether she was aware of the tactic at all was somewhat of an historical mystery.

“O’ course,” Applejack said skeptically, “So, oh enlightened one, what happened at th’ summit?”

“Who cares? Talk is cheap,” Pinkamena said as she darted between tables, scribbling something in one of the ledgers, “All you need to know is that I’ve had the brilliant plan for the confederation to go it alone, without pegasi or unicorns dragging us down!”

“They didn’t listen t’ reason?” Applejack asked in distress, “Did y’ bring up any o' my suggestions?”

“Don’t you worry your little head,” Pinkamena said, placing a foreleg over Applejack’s back, “We’re sure to come out on top. After all, we’re the ones who have all the food, right?”

“Actually, th’ last reserves are runnin’ low,” Applejack said as she removed Pinkamena’s foreleg, “There was hardly anythin’ in this harvest, an’ th’ next harvestin’ season won’t be for another nine months, if it comes at all.”

“Well, this could be more difficult than I thought,” Pinkamena said, pretending to think hard before appearing to come up with a grand idea, “I’ve got it! We’ll find somewhere else to grow our crops, somewhere the White Ones haven’t ruined the land, far from the Order of the Aerial Sword and the Kingdom of Excesior. Don’t you see, Smart Cookie, this is the only way for us to survive!”

Rainbow Dash and Rarity trotted back to the center of the stage to join their voices to Pinkamena’s for the final pronouncement.

“We must find and conquer a new land!”

***
31st Year of the Long Winter

“Come on, keep up, Pansy!” Grandmaster Hurricane ordered as the other pegasus lagged behind.

“Yes, Grandmaster,” the frightened mare said obediently, trying to put on enough speed to keep up with her superior, “If I’m slowing you down, I could always return to the camp.”

It hadn’t taken long after the summit for the Grandmaster of the Order of the Aerial Sword to put his plan to capture a new land into practice. It wasn’t as if he had much time before things became too dire to do so, though. Pegasi were flooding into the capital in search of food and shelter from the White Ones as the borders began to collapse, the outposts inhabited by soldiers on the brink of starvation unable to hold back the tide. With a small expeditionary force, Hurricane had departed his lands and headed southeast. Rumor from a few years back claimed that the Equestry Valley was untouched by the frost that gripped the rest of the world. That was the goal of his expedition, to find and capture the fertile lands that had become almost mythical in the eyes of the starving populous.

“Nopony flies alone, not even me,” Hurricane replied, “Everypony needs somepony to watch their back, in case of an ambush.”

Why me? Ser Pansy had no idea why the grandmaster of her order had insisted she accompany him as he scouted ahead every day. She was a confidant of his only because she was at his beck and call day and night at the order’s lodge, and the only reason she’d been appointed to that position instead of a border post was because she was barely capable in a fight. If an ambush did come, Grandmaster Hurricane would be the one doing most, if not all, of the fighting, but she was pretty sure he knew that.

“An ambush? From who? The White Ones?” Pansy asked as the grandmaster dove through a mountain pass.

“Could be, or it could be earth pony crossbowmares or unicorn witches,” Hurricane said, “May as well all be the same to us now.”

Ser Pansy wasn’t so sure about that. She wasn’t old enough to remember a time before the Long Winter, but the White Ones and the creatures they brought with them seemed far worse than ponies could be. At least ponies hadn’t ever deliberately tried to destroy the world. Grandmaster Hurricane’s talk of ambush had her jumping at shadows regardless, and the grandmaster seemed to approve at first, praising her readiness to strike at the danger that could be lurking everywhere. He soon tired, however, as she was striking every icicle they passed, assuming some trick of the White Ones hid behind it. It was going to be a long trek to the Equestry Valley.

***

Meanwhile, a party of unicorns were also making their way south. The windswept crags of the Snowshear Mountains weren’t the only place that the rumor of the Equestry Valley had reached. The Kingdom of Excesior had also heard the rumors, but like the pegasi, had dismissed them as idle talk until now. Princess Platinum (with more than a little help from Clover the Clever) planned her own expedition to take the Equestry Valley for her land. She and the sorcerer were apart from the main group at the moment, forging ahead.

“Oh, this is just dreadful,” the princess complained as her cloak got caught on a patch of leafless brambles, “I do hope we reach the Equestry Valley soon; I can’t stand this wilderness much longer.”

“Your highness, we left only three days ago. According to the old maps, it will take at least a week to reach the borders of the Equestry Valley,” Clover explained, just as he had on the previous days, for all the good it had done.

Princess Platinum insisted on forging ahead of the group, not out of some sense of duty or obligation to lead and scout out the land, but because “her royal eyes must set sight on the new land first.” Clover had the unpleasant task of accompanying the heir to the throne of Excesior, as well as keeping her from getting lost and protecting her from the occasional wild animal. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if she got lost in the wilderness; maybe then somepony sensible would take her place and seek a settlement with the other pony nations before the White Ones finally conquered them. There would be questions, though, and accusations placed at Clover’s hooves. There were few enough mages that knew how to raise the sun and moon; his loss would be greatly felt if he were executed for losing Platinum.

“It feels like we’ve been walking for ages,” Platinum continued to complain.

Oh no, here it comes. Every day. We’ve barely even made it out of sight of the camp this time!

“Clover, I command you to carry me.”

There it is. Princess Platinum was no light burden; somehow, she’d been able to get plenty of food while the rest of the kingdom starved. Clover wouldn’t be able to carry her the entire the rest of the day with his own strength alone; he’d have to use magic to support her. That meant his magical reserves would be well drained by the end of the day, and the rest of the ponies in the camp would have to deal with biting winter winds through the night again, since he’d be unable to cast the spells necessary to shield them. All because of their liege.

“Of course, your highness,” Clover said with barely-concealed disdain, but Princess Platinum seemed not to notice.

It was going to be a long trek to the Equestry Valley.

***

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say we were going in circles,” Smart Cookie said dryly as she and Chancellor Puddinghead passed the same distinctive tree for the fourth time in the same number of hours.

Despite the chancellor’s claim to a novel mind, she had had the same idea as the other leaders. The Equestry Valley was her destination, and she’d set out with her own small host of followers. Also like the others, she’d taken with her the pony who’d greeted her after her return to the summit and charged ahead of the pack. Maybe there was a genius to Puddinghead’s madness, though, as no matter how twisted, convoluted, and backtracking the path was she took Smart Cookie on, they were always ahead of their projected progress to the Equestry Valley by the end of the day.

“Absolutely preposterous,” Chancellor Puddinghead said as she paused at the same flat-topped rock she’d stopped at before to fold the map she was using to navigate into the shape of a swan, “With this fine map, how could we be?”

It had been a miracle to find such a detailed map of the route they’d need to take in the chancery’s archives, but Puddinghead had reached into the stacks of parchment and pulled it out without even searching. The map had seen quite a bit of wear since they’d left, though. Every day, the chancellor twisted and folded it into the most bizarre shapes, and every night Smart Cookie had had to flatten it back out and commit the next day’s route to memory so she knew where they were. Given how complex the chancellor had been folding the parchment, she hadn’t been getting much sleep.

“Of course, it’s just … the map is all bent out of shape,” Smart Cookie pointed out.

“Look around you, Cookie. The world isn’t smooth, so why should the map be?” Puddinghead asked as if the answer was the most obvious and sensible thing in the world.

“Yes, but …” Smart Cookie said as she got closer and took a look at the map, “You’ve still got it upside down.”

“Let me tell you a secret, Cookie, but don’t tell the Pontiff,” Puddinghead said as she gestured Smart Cookie closer conspiratorially, “The world is actually a dodecahedron, so there is no up or down.”

“If you say so,” Smart Cookie said uncertainly.

“I do say so,” Chancellor Puddinghead said proudly, “Buuuut, if you’re so eager to look at the map, maybe you should navigate for a while, if you think you’ve got the ability.”

“Yes, your chancellorship,” Smart Cookie said as Puddinghead threw the map at her and she tried to puzzle out how to undo the folds and twists.

“Well, come on, we haven’t got all day. Just because you aren’t as brilliant as moi doesn’t mean we can slow down,” the chancellor said as she bounded away in the wrong direction.

“Yes, Chancellor Puddinghead,” Smart Cookie said with a sigh.

She followed after her leader, still trying to undo the folded map. She suspected it wouldn’t be long before Puddinghead took it back and led in her own, indiscernible way. At least they’d be able to follow the most efficient route for a bit, if Puddinghead listened to Smart Cookie’s directions, the chances of which were slim. It was going to be a long trek to the Equestry Valley.

***
Year 1001 of the 4th Age

“And so, unbeknownst to each other, all three of the pony nations converged on the Equestry Valley,” Spike narrated, “When they arrived, they found that the rumors had been true. Though no ponies resided there, having been forced out years earlier by the White Procession, the land was green and temperate. The skies were clear, and there were no signs of enemies. Each of the leaders were quick to stake their claim to the land, perhaps the last unoccupied land left in all of Equus.”

“It’s perfect, isn’t it, Ser Pansy?” Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered onto the stage.

“Uh-huh,” Fluttershy said in awe, looking around as she carried a long post with a banner hanging from the top.

“I hereby claim this land for the Order of the Aerial Sword,” Rainbow proclaimed as she took the post from Fluttershy and planted it, unveiling the order’s banner, “From here we will rebuild the empire of old, and a pegasus archon shall rule Equestria once again.”

“This land is simply divine,” Rarity proclaimed as she trotted onto the stage from the other direction, Twilight trailing her with a similar post and banner to the one Rainbow Dash had just planted.

“The Equestry Valley; I cannot believe it is truly the haven of rumors,” Twilight said, “Look, up on the mountains in the distance, you can almost see what is left of Gladfengel-Cant’r Laht!”

“I claim this land for the Kingdom of Excesior,” Rarity proclaimed as she motioned for Twilight to plant the banner, “These lands are now the property of the crown, which I shall hold and rule in my father’s stead.”

“Look at all this farmland, Smart Cookie; have you ever seen dirt more fertile?” Pinkamena asked as she rolled onto the stage, Applejack following close behind with the flag of the Confederation of the Sône.

“I can’t say that I have,” Applejack replied, “All our food problems will b’ solved!”

“Cookie, plant the flag!” Pinkamena ordered, and Applejack complied, “By the laws of the Confederation of the Sône, I hereby claim this land as a new administrative area to be parceled out by the chancellor. That would be me. This is going to keep me in office forever!

“Such joyful celebration was not to last, however, as all three nations had set claim to the same land, and though it was large enough to support all their populations, none had the intention of sharing,” Spike said, “The only reason war didn’t come immediately was because none of the camps were aware of each other, until a fateful day when the three leaders and their companions happened to be scouting out the same strip of land near the White Mountains …”

***
31st Year of the Long Winter

“That peak, or maybe that one,” Hurricane told Ser Pansy as he pointed out mountains ahead of them, “We’ll find the perfect spot to build our new capital. I’m thinking we’ll call it Pegasopolis, in honor of our ancestors.”

“Yes, Grand-er, Archon,” Pansy said timidly, “What about our old lands in the Snowshear Mountains, though?”

“Forget about them,” Archon Hurricane waved off her question, “What have they got on these mountains and the Equestry Valley? I’ve already sent the word to have everypony follow us here.”

The two pegasi were flying high, but not nearly high enough that they couldn’t be seen from the ground. They were easily spotted by the two unicorns roaming the mountains’ foothills far below, and well within the range of Clover the Clever’s spells. Ser Pansy gave a frightened yelp as Hurricane suddenly disappeared. A second later, she too vanished before rematerializing on the ground, two unicorns facing her down.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” Princess Platinum demanded, “These are the crown lands of House Rikkirig, and you are trespassing on them!”

“It’s you who’s doing the trespassing,” Hurricane objected to the princess’s accusation, “The Equestry Valley is the property of the New Pegasus Empire!”

While Princess Platinum scoffed at the mention, Chancellor Puddinghead suddenly popped up from behind a nearby boulder. The pegasi and unicorns stepped back in shock, having had no idea she was there. Smart Cookie followed a second later, just as amazed as the others that they hadn’t been seen. That boulder wasn’t nearly large enough to conceal both of us, was it?

“You’re both wrong,” Puddinghead pronounced as she produced a long document covered in many seals and with many attached addendums, “I think you’ll see that the Equestry Valley and all its possessions are the rightful property of the Confederation of the Sône, soon to be governed from its new capital at Dirtmound.”

“Earth pony law,” Platinum scoffed as she threw the document to the ground, “I am of royal unicorn blood and am above such things. I can trace my lineage back to the Holy Maenean Emperors.”

“You and every other petty lord before the Winter began,” Archon Hurricane said, his turn to scoff now, “The Holy Maenean Emperors married anything with a pulse and a title, however low. No wonder their lines died out so quickly; they bred themselves to death.”

“How dare you! My ancestors were right to rip this land away from you uncultured barbarians!” Platinum sputtered, “Clover the Clever, turn this pegasus into a pile of cinders!”

“So, it’s a fight you want, then! I’d be happy to oblige! We’ll see how your magic does against a trained blade!” Hurricane said, drawing his sword.

With the ponies’ focused on their own quibbles, none of them noticed the windigos cresting the hills around them. Also unbeknownst to the ponies were the portals opening up and surrounding them, letting through members of the White Procession. They’d learned of the incursion into the Equestry Valley, and this region seemed particularly vulnerable all of a sudden, so they had come to investigate. As the windigos reported back wordlessly to their masters, gray clouds began to cover the sky and the temperature dropped, none of which was noticed by the ponies as their argument heated up.

“Hold it, there must be some diplomatic way to settle things,” Clover the Clever said, trying to deescalate the situation as he stepped between Hurricane and Platinum (and cast a shield around his body just to be safe), “If we keep going at each other’s throats, then we’re only doing the White Ones’ work for them. The Equestry Valley has more than enough space for all of us. I’m sure we can work something out.”

“I reckon you might be onto something,” Smart Cookie spoke up, and Chancellor Puddinghead’s jaw dropped, “If we sit down and talk this out, I’m sure we can come to a settlement that satisfies everypony.”

“I think it’s worth a try,” Pansy said, and was rounded upon by Hurricane.

“Insubordination!” he yelled after half sheathing his sword, “Ser Pansy, don’t you see that there can never be coexistence with their kind?

Chancellor Puddinghead seized that moment to bound exceptionally high before landing behind Princess Platinum and wrapping her forelegs around her neck.

“Stand back!” the chancellor ordered as a wide-eyed Platinum whimpered, “You want to negotiate? Rule four of negotiation: acquire some leverage.”

Clover rolled his eyes and teleported the two of them apart. The sorcerer turned in surprise as Hurricane quickly drew his sword and swung it at him. The shield around his body glowed brilliantly before throwing the pegasus back. The three leaders all set to attempting to attack each other, and it was all Clover could do to keep them apart with teleportations and blocking spells. He didn’t know how long he could keep it up—certainly not as long as the leaders were dedicated to killing each other.

“What the …” Chancellor Puddinghead said as she was thrown back and found herself rolling through a drift of snow, “Smart Cookie, where did all this snow come from?”

“Maybe from them!” the scribe said in alarm as she pointed outside the narrow circle of fighting.

An army of centaurs and windigos was storming over the hills at full gallop, bearing down on the six isolated ponies. Wizards continued to call down snow and whip it into the start of a blizzard. They were hemmed in, pinned, surrounded from every direction but the east, where the White Mountains blocked most of them from escaping.

“White Ones!” Clover yelled, as if it weren’t obvious, “Run!”

The four earthbound ponies took off at a gallop to the east, desperate to escape before the pincers closed in around them. Hurricane and Pansy took to the sky but were forced down by a hail of attacks from bat-ponies. They all were herded east, closer and closer to the rocky crags of the mountains. Clover the Clever spotted the entrance to a cave and put on more speed as he grabbed Princess Platinum in his magic to keep her from falling behind. The other ponies had spotted the cave entrance too and the leaders put on a burst of speed, each intent on reaching it first. Clover paused outside of the cave to fire spells off at their attackers before being forced inside by a hail of arrows.

“Get out of my cave!” Archon Hurricane demanded as Clover tried to strategize a defense.

Your cave?” Princess Platinum scoffed, “This is clearly royal land and my legitimate territory.”

“Actually, according to Minerology Law Thirty-Nine, Section Four, Paragraph Eight of the Confederation of the Sône, all rock formations and the resources therein are property of the chancellor until she appoints a steward to oversee inspection and excavation,” Puddinghead said, looking to Smart Cookie to back her up, but the scribe was more concerned with the predicament they were in than the legal precedents the chancellor was bringing up.

Meanwhile, Clover the Clever was waging a one-pony war against the White Procession, firing spells out into the growing blizzard, and growing weaker by the second. Ice began to creep around the edges of the cave’s entrance, then grew inward. Clover desperately tried to melt the ice and keep the entrance free, but he couldn’t undo the work of the multiple wizards arrayed against him. He collapsed, panting, as the ice formed a solid, impenetrable wall.

“If anypony wants to leave pointless territorial disputes behind for a moment, I thought I should let you know we’re trapped in here!” he yelled, thoroughly outraged at how the leaders continued to quibble even when they were facing certain death.

“We’re going to die in here,” Ser Pansy said meekly.

“If we are to die, then let us die as heroes, boldly defending our land!” Hurricane proclaimed, lifting Pansy up, “Come, Ser Pansy, let us show these unicorns and earth ponies the strength of the Order of the Aerial Sword!”

Clover the Clever had had more than enough, and he trotted angrily to the center of the room.

“Don’t any of you understand!” the sorcerer yelled, loud enough to shake the icicles forming on the ceiling above, “All of your bickering and fighting, it’s why the White Ones have conquered nation after nation! If we’d stood together, then maybe we’d have been able to fight them off, but no, we have to waste our time and our lives fighting each other! And now we’re all going to die here, and you’re still wasting your time trying to fight each other!”

“The honor of our order …” Hurricane said.

“The dignity of my royal house …” said Platinum.

“The sovereignty of the confederation …” spoke Puddinghead.

“… must be maintained!” all three of the leaders said together.

“Fine! You all want to continue fighting over land, then here!” Clover exclaimed in exasperation.

Using the last of his magical reserves, he sent out a burst of magical energy through the stone at his hooves that shot off in three directions. Furrows were ripped through the rock, dividing the cave into three portions, with one of the leaders in each. They all looked shocked before frowning.

“Clover, you traitor! I’ll have you hanged for this!” Princess Platinum exclaimed, “You’ve made my portion smaller than the other two!”

“Typical unicorn trickery to claim what is blatantly false,” Hurricane said, and Clover groaned wearily, the sentiment shared by the companions of the other leaders, “Your portion is the largest!”

“I demand equal allocation of resources, but as chancellor I deserve a more equal allocation,” Puddinghead proclaimed as ice traveled briskly down the walls of the cavern, “Reapportion the territory now!

“You’d have to be blind or stupid to think that. I’m going to go with the second one,” Hurricane said as the ice spread across the floor and began to encase his body, Ser Pansy retreating past him toward the center of the cavern, “All you earth ponies are weak and mentally deficient!”

“I’m glad my people erased all traces of pegasus civilization, if you could even call it that. I’d shudder to see that ‘culture’ come again,” Platinum said as she too became coated in ice, “You pegasi are naught but mindless brutes and barbarians!”

“You unicorns think you’re ‘all that,’ but we earth ponies are well on our way to toppling your kingdoms, just like you toppled the pegasi’s,” Puddinghead said, heedless of the ice creeping around him or Smart Cookie’s flight from it, “You’re nothing but a bunch of self-obsessed, over-important snobs!”

The ice continued to creep in toward the center of the room even after encasing all three leaders. The safe piece of floor became smaller and smaller, and the three remaining ponies were forced together. They all gave a gasp and jumped away from each other as they collided. They eyed each other, but also kept an eye on the advancing ice that would soon swallow them up too.

“Truce?” Ser Pansy offered hopefully, and the other two nodded, breathing sighs of relief.

“I figure you’re right,” Smart Cookie said to Clover after a moment’s uneasy silence, “About Equus falling to the White Ones all because we were too obsessed with fighting each other, that is. We let our hate get in the way, and now we’re paying the price.”

“Well, if I can admit something,” Pansy said, looking at her frozen commander as if he might still hear her, “I don’t really hate any of you.”

“I don’t hate either of you, either,” Smart Cookie said, “I always hoped we could all band together against the White Ones, but things just didn’t work out that way.”

“I too harbor no hate for you,” Clover admitted as frost began to creep at their tails, “Perhaps, in another world, another time, another life, we could’ve been friends.”

“I would’ve liked that,” Pansy said as ice coated the hindquarters of each pony.

“What’s so funny?” Smart Cookie asked as Clover chuckled, despite the fact that all their forelegs were now also frozen to the floor.

“I suppose, in the end, some ponies did manage to put aside their differences and come together,” Clover said, ice creeping up to their necks.

“I suppose you’re right,” Smart Cookie said with a smile as the ice finished its job, sealing them all within.

Clover felt something within himself, and not just the relief that came from finally finding unity with other ponies after all the anger and divisiveness. It seemed like sorcery, and yet not any kind of sorcery he was familiar with. He was completely drained of magical energy, but it felt as if there was a vast source of it not far away and there was some link to it within himself, if only he opened up to it. He tried, unsuccessfully to reach out for it, but sensed something else at the same time. A similar sensation met his probing when he reached out toward the pegasus soldier and earth pony scribe next to him. Maybe, if he reached out to them …

A flood of magical energy surged into him as he did, into all of them. It felt like an all-consuming fire that threatened to burn them up from the inside-out. He couldn’t hold the energy; he had to release it, but how? This was unlike the magic he’d dealt with before, and he had no idea how to shape the flow, but it he didn’t release it soon, then all three of them would surely die. He let go, and the fire spread outward in every direction.

Clover coughed, blinked his eyes, and shook his head as the ice around him melted. Nearby he could hear the same sounds coming from the others, but he couldn’t see them. A blinding magical light that flickered like flames suffused everything, and it was moving rapidly. As he regained his sight, he could still feel the flames radiating outward across Equus, dimming the farther it traveled, but still alive. The sorcerer staggered to his hooves, feeling better than he ever had before, and looked around.

Not all the ice was gone, but most of it had melted away, turned to steam by the power. Yet he and his new companions were unharmed. The leaders remained frozen, the ice surrounding them melting very slowly. Along one of the cavern’s walls, a depression like a large fireplace had appeared. Within it, a mysterious fire burned vibrantly. When Clover reached out toward it, he felt the same magical energy that he’d channeled through himself and the others. He thought, just for a moment, that he could see shadows in the fire: an earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn sitting together, united.

“What is that?” Ser Pansy asked, also looking at the hearth, “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” Clover admitted, “None of my studies suggested the existence of anything like that. It wouldn’t have been possible without you, though. The magic passed through all of us; it was the only way I could reach it.”

“The White Ones’ sorcery,” Smart Cookie commented, looking at the melting ice around them, “Do you think …?”

The three ponies trotted to the cave’s entrance and peered outside. The rolling hills were green again, apart from the occasional lingering patch of snow, and entirely free from centaurs, bat-ponies, and windigos. Could it be? Had the White Ones been vanquished at last, after three decades of war? Whether they had or not, the three ponies knew one thing: things could not continue as they had been if they hoped to survive in the future.

***
Year 1001 of the 4th Age

“And so Clover the Clever, Ser Pansy, and Smart Cookie returned to the cavern to wait for their leaders to defrost,” Spike narrated as Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Applejack trotted over to a false fire on stage, “They sat in front of the Hearthfire all through the night, sharing tales and songs that later became the carols we sing every year on Hearth’s Warming. In their unity, the flame seemed to grow brighter, and the ice around the leaders melted as well. As they heard the story of what had passed in the light of the Hearthfire, their hearts also seemed to thaw, and they realized the folly of their ways.”

“As the White Procession disappeared, the land began to recover; in the years that followed, the six ponies trapped in the cave that first Hearth’s Warming Eve worked toward a common goal,” Spike said as the Brave Companions joined together and raised up a new banner, one that hadn’t been used in nearly three thousand years, “They became the Founders, and they established a kingdom that lasted for centuries, spanning the entirety of the continent, the first united Kingdom of Equestria. May their legacy, the reason we celebrate Hearth’s Warming Eve, never be forgotten.”

Staggered applause began to come from the audience as the play came to a close. Celestia wondered how many of them had truly gotten the point, and wished she’d been able to convince or cajole some of Equestria’s leaders to come here and witness this performance. As Spike had said upon opening, the Equestria that the White Procession had first attacked was not so different from the Equestria today. The White Procession was still a threat, and Equestria was divided once again. There was strength in unity, but unity was not something she could force.

Whether or not Equestria was unified, Hearth’s Warming still had power. The combined ponies across the continent recalling (consciously or not) that first Hearth’s Warming by telling tales and singing the songs, channeled through the Hearthfire, kept the White Procession out. No attack on Equestria had ever been made by them since the tradition had begun because it was far too difficult. The power of the Hearthfire strengthened the barriers between worlds, which is what had originally forced the White Procession into retreat, terrified they would never be able to return to Judd Caradain. There was a reason that Hearthfire Incantations, the spells designed specifically for combatting the White Procession, bore that name, even if few of them drew on the Hearthfire’s power anymore. The Hearthfire had vanished during Discord’s reign, but Celestia was convinced it was still burning somewhere beneath the White Mountains, or at least she hoped it did. A millennium of disunity might be able to snuff it out, and it would be a dark day if that ever happened. One more reason why Equestria must be unified. The task before you is a monumental one, my apprentice.

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