A Sun Goddess' Wrath
Shining Armor didn't really know what to say at this point.
A lot of what Frigid Gale was telling him sounded ridiculous, but he was so enraptured by the story, he couldn't help but believe it in the back of his mind. Still he had questions that he wanted answered -- especially about this mysterious stallion -- but he decided he'd save those questions for when the mare was finished. Until then, he sat in his chair and listened intently as Frigid Gale spoke.
"After the battle with her sister," Gale continued, "Nightmare Moon fled the Everfree Castle and seemingly disappeared from Equestria. What she had actually done was fly to the far north where the Crystal Empire lay, braving the freezing winds to be with the stallion she loved.
"When Nightmare Moon finally arrived, the stallion had revealed himself to be none other than the Crystal Emperor Sombra. Nightmare had wanted to stay in the Crystal Empire with her beloved, but Sombra had convinced her to take revenge upon her sister and together they plotted to overthrow Celestia for the sake of their love and a better future for ponykind."
Shining frowned at this.
There were some things that didn't add up about this Sombra and frankly as far as the colt was concerned, his actions and intentions were incredibly suspect. Nevertheless he held his tongue and listened to the rest of the story.
"They spent months gathering support and allies for the incoming war against the Sun Goddess. Among these allies were the changelings in the Badlands to the south, and the thestrals hidden away to the far west."
"What are changelings?" Shining asked curiously, "and if the thestrals were hidden away, how did Pri -- er, Nightmare Moon find them?"
"We have some documents on changelings you can look up later, and I'm getting to how Nightmare Moon found us," Gale explained impatiently, "now if I can continue?"
Shining Armor motioned for her to do just that.
"Thank you, now as I was saying," she cleared her throat before speaking again. "While Emperor Sombra went in secret to negotiate with the Changeling Queen, Nightmare Moon had disguised herself and hid amongst the Equestrian populace. She went about various towns spreading ill rumors and propaganda about Celestia and after some time, some of the ponies began to listen.
"Eventually her travels brought her to some as of yet unknown woods to the far west of Equestria. Curious, Nightmare Moon traveled through and past these woods and found an entire nation unknown to both her and Celestia.
"She had stumbled upon a small nation of creatures known as thestrals -- similar in many respects to ponies, but far more predatory in nature."
Frigid Gale paused long enough to give Shining Armor an amused grin.
"Fun fact about thestrals," she said with a smirk, "apparently we're descended from the legendary wendigos that were said to ravage the land way back before even the Princesses time."
"What? Really?" Shining asked incredulously, "how does that work?"
"Dunno," Frigid Gale replied with a shrug, "but it's true."
"What makes you so sure?" Shining challenged, "you have some kind of evidence?"
Frigid Gale gave the colt a saccharine smile that set his fur standing on end. Her ice blue eyes and teal mane suddenly seemed to glow a bit brighter in the dim light of the room. At the same time the temperature seemed to drop even lower than before.
"Oh, I have evidence, kid," she finally replied, "want me to show you?"
"I'll..." Shining gulped nervously, "I'll take your word for it."
At that, the temperature returned to merely being chilly and the weird glow disappeared from Frigid Gale's eyes and mane.
"Alright then," Gale replied jovially, "back to the story."
Shining gave a quiet sigh of relief as Gale continued.
"For whatever reason, the actual name of the thestral nation was forgotten over the years, but from what I'm told, Nightmare Moon often jokingly referred to it as Bat Country."
Shining raised a brow at the name and Frigid shrugged in response.
"Yeah I don't know," she replied, "in any case, the thestrals welcomed Nightmare Moon with open hooves and in turn it was said she enjoyed their company greatly. She learned of our heritage and soon forged a friendship with our race. Out of gratitude for our hospitality and a 'desire to see us rise to greatness' she cast some sort of spell that awakened our wendigo blood.
"Though we were a relatively small nation compared to many of the other races, we became really powerful. We had full control over Soul Magic and could use it like unicorns do as well as access to a special kind of Magic inherited from our wendigo ancestors."
Shining tried to hide the growing unease he felt as he listened to Frigid Gale talk about her apparent abilities. Frigid Gale thankfully took no notice and moved on with her story.
"After a time, she told us about her plan to take Equestria and of course we agreed to help her. By the time Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria, Sombra had successfully formed an alliance with the changelings. Some of the ponies of Equestria agreed with our cause, but not nearly enough to be of any help.
"Trying to gain support within Equestria's borders proved to be a mistake. Word had gotten to Celestia that there was a pony going around inciting a rebellion. Celestia didn't take this well and did some digging, finding out that it had in fact been Nightmare Moon.
"Outraged by her sister's actions, Celestia immediately gathered her forces and launched a surprise attack on the Crystal Empire just as Nightmare Moon and Sombra returned."
Frigid Gale stopped here and tapped the table with a hoof. She looked away with a thoughtful frown and shook her head before turning back to Shining Armor.
"As much fun as this little history lesson has been, it's getting way too long and I've got other things I need to do, so I'll just give you the important bits from here on out."
Shining let a disappoint frown cross his muzzle but didn't complain. He figured he probably wasn't going to get all of his answers right now, but at the very least she might give him something he could use against her.
"Long story short," Gale continued, "Sombra and Nightmare Moon were able to call upon their allies and turn the tide of battle -- pushing the fight all the way back to Equestria with the combined might of the Crystal Army, the changelings, and the thestrals.
"In a matter of weeks, Nightmare Moon had Celestia backed against a wall -- that is until she requested aid from the Griffonian Kingdom and the Empire of Minos. Both nations launched another surprise attacked and beat back Nightmare Moon's forces.
"From there it became a stalemate that lasted several years with no side gaining any sort of advantage over the other. As the fighting wore on, Celestia became more and more... unhinged I guess would be a good word.
"The fight was taking it's toll on her and she decided to end it before her sanity completely wasted away. She lured Nightmare Moon into a trap at the Everfree Castle and they battled each other one on one. That was the battle that destroyed the castle and the town surrounding it."
Frigid Gale slowly shook her head and scowled at the table.
"During the battle, Celestia caught Nightmare Moon off guard and used the opportunity to unleash her secret weapon. She used the Elements of Harmony to banish her own sister to the Moon."
"The elements of what?" Shining asked in confusion, "and she did what with them?"
"She used the Elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon," Frigid Gale repeated, "I don't know exactly how they work, but they're ancient artifacts that have the power to stop Disharmony in its tracks -- or that's how it was explained to me anyway.
"Celestia and her sister had used them in the past to stop all kinds of threats to Equestria, but for some reason, they stopped using them once all the wars started breaking out."
Shining worriedly noted that Frigid Gale's hooves were digging into the table and he could swear the temperature around him was starting to drop again.
"Here comes the fun part of the story," she practically hissed, "after Celestia banished Nightmare Moon to the Moon, she went insane with rage and basically went on a killing spree."
"What?" Shining cried incredulously.
"Oh, yeah," Frigid Gale replied, malice once again lacing her voice, "your lauded Sun Princess became some kind of Goddess of Vengeance and slaughtered as many thestrals, changelings, and Imperial Crystal soldiers as she could get her hooves on. She didn't even touch the ponies of Equestria.
"The changelings were able to hide long enough to escape Celestia's wrath and Sombra used some kind of really powerful Dark Magic spell to seal the entire Crystal Empire away from the world before Celestia could even get to him. That only left the one race that couldn't escape in time."
"The thestrals..." Shining muttered in horror.
"Bingo," Gale replied, "as powerful as we were, in Celestia's current state we didn't stand a chance. Once she killed all the thestrals remaining in Equestria, she found our home and laid it to waste, burning our entire nation to the ground."
Shining felt a lump rise in his throat as Gale spoke.
"I was told she laughed as she did it," Frigid Gale said as she stared off in a random direction, "our nation continued to burn and she just laughed and laughed, and laughed."
Shining's hooves began to shake, images of a broken door, a smashed and bloody bed flashing across his mind. The thick scent of blood and the sound of cruel feminine laughter filled his nose and ears.
"So after that she returned to Equestria and was hailed as a hero by her little ponies," Gale continued, with a bitter laughter, "a bucking hero! Can you believe it?"
Shining Armor fought to push the memories back down with enough success to focus back on what Frigid Gale was saying. It was important that he hear every word that Frigid Gale had to say.
He could return to his room and have his mental breakdown later.
"That genocidal nag may have wiped out the vast majority of the thestral race," Gale growled, "but she didn't get all of us. As far as I know, my family along with a few others managed to survive the slaughter and escape.
"We managed to make it to a remote piece of land just outside of Equestria and eventually we were able to rebuild our society. For awhile things were good, we had made a new home within the forests to the west and while we only ever managed to maintain a small woodland village, we were happy -- even called it Bat Country in honor of the true Princess."
Frigid Gale's eyes flashed dangerously and she clenched her teeth in rage as she spoke her next words.
"Then somehow -- and to this day I still don't know how -- that nag found out about our little haven! I was only a foal when that monster strode into our village. She didn't say a word, she didn't demand anything, she just roamed through our village with her blank expression as she burned every last thestral to a crisp.
"Oh sure, we tried to fight back. but it didn't help, our wendigo blood had weakened over the ages and we weren't strong enough to stop her from killing every last one of us. The only reason I survived was because my dad hid me away near the forests edge before galloping back to the village."
Frigid Gale was crying silent tears of anger as she spoke and that lump in Shining's throat returned.
"I called out to him, screamed his name, but he didn't look back. Mom was already gone, he just told me to run, I didn't so he used the last of his Soul Magic to teleport me so far out of the forest I could barely see the tree line.
"By the time I made it back it was too late. There were no thestrals left and Celestia was gone, right along with village."
"I... I don't..."
Shining trailed off.
He honestly didn't know what to say to the thestral mare. While the murder of his parents was horrfic, she had lost just as much if not more. and all of this done by Celestia herself.
"So now you know why I can't stop," Frigid Gale said, regaining her faculties, "this is why the Solar nag needs to die, no matter the cost."
Shining made to speak but Frigid Gale pushed ahead.
"You want to know what my plan is?" Gale snapped, "my plan is to cast Celestia down just as Princess Luna tried to do as Nightmare Moon all those years ago, And bring back the true Princess to rule in her place, and I need your sister to help me do it."
Before Shining could respond, Frigid Gale rose from her seat and trotted to the door.
"This conversation is over, kid," she growled, "I'm in a crappy mood and I need a drink... or three."
She opened the door and shouted to one of the ponies in the hall. After a moment, a burly grey unicorn trotted inside.
"Take the kid back to his room and let the Doc know I'm cancelling my visit for today."
The stallion nodded and motioned for Shining Armor to follow him. Shining hesitated for a brief moment before slowly stepping down from his chair and following behind the stallion.
This wasn't how he expected his first visit with Frigid Gale to go.
Not at all.
After everything he had heard, he didn't know what to make of the thestral mare. It was too much too fast and he needed time to process it all. Perhaps it was a good thing Gale had ended the meeting when she did.
It gave the colt time to sort out his incredibly jumbled thoughts and feelings.
As he trotted down the hall and back to his room, one thought rose above all others in his mind.
How am I going to get through to her by the time she finds my sister?
As I was writing these chapters I remembered just how much I love world building and I think I kind of got carried away in the process... 
Still though I had a blast and these might end up being my personal favorite chapters so far. Hopefully you had as much fun reading them as I did writing them. 
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Hmm I have to admit I am leaning towards Gale's story being a mixture of truth, distortion of history caused by the long passage of time(a thousand years is a long time after all) and outright legend though what are the truths, half truths and outright falsehoods should be interesting to discover.
Also I am thinking that Twilight not being in the hoofs of either Gale, Celestia, or nightmare moon if she returns is likely a really, really, good thing.
8881019
Fact or fiction, it's definitely a biased story that's for sure.
Hmm... I don't think Celestia was in control of her actions..... That was Daybreaker...
8881046
That is exactly what I thought.
Frigid only has half of a completely biased story.
We got a good clue as to part of this story, being a lie. While the elimination of the Thestral nation is true, it most likely was not Celestia, but Chrysalis disguised as Celestia, most likely under orders from Sombra.
Celestia may be no saint, but outright genocide is way too far even for what little we know of this version of Celestia.
The biggest clue in my opinion is the way game describes the laughter during the first purging, definitely a Chrysalis trait. The lack of said laughter during the second purge, can be attributed to extreme annoyance on Chrysalis part at having to do something a second time over
8881669
only flaws I see in that thought is why would sombra or chrysalis want to terminate the thestrals and would chrysalis be powerful enough to do it. good thought though, I'm at a toss up between Celestia and chrysalis doing it right now
now if Celestia was in such a state, how could she have used the Elements? Assuming they function roughly the same as in other worlds, then assuming this tale to be at least basically accurate, she should have been incapable. At the very least Kindness would have held her anathema.
there's more to this story than what one revenge-crazed thestral has to say.
On a completely unrelated note, a racial affinity for Cryomancy? fascinating. I wouldn't have pegged thestrals for such a thing, one would assume their wings to be rather sensitive to the cold.
8881019
To be honest, all of the other history can be put to the side, for the one fact that Celestia burned down her town and everyone in it. I'm hoping she becomes shining's new love interest, cause I think Celestia killed cadence when she ascended.
8935345
Nah. Unless she was killed recently Cadance is still alive. Cadance taught Twilight breathing exercises as mentioned earlier on in the story.
I mean, technically BOTH princesses went coco-loco so we have to pick the least offending of them all... Princess Cadance! We haven’t heard of her ANYWHERE in the story! She must exist... right? Let’s hear it for the princess-that-hasn’t-been-mentioned-in-the-story-so-must-be-the-best-and-pure-choice! I’m not a Cadance fan but in THIS story...
My Deer Pony OC would be very sympathetic to Gale.
Hm...the srory unfolds. Pieces placed, skeletons revealed, histories distorted...I agree that Celestia must be punished. But to outright depose of her like tnis and replace her with Luna/Nightmare Moon will cause more harm than good.
Killing her would be better and more efficient, but again, a bit late for that.
9123365
They don't need Twilight
Just get Shining to throw Cadance at Celly and boom it's over
Well that is gonna be a problem, both Nightmare and Celestia are monsters and don’t deserve the throne.