A long time ago, long before the founding of Equestria, before the three pony races, unicorns, pegasi, and Earth Ponies came to harmony, the land was home to monstrous creatures called Centmasters. The one hundred Centmasters came in many shapes and sizes, with each having their own unique form of magic. These forms of magic ranged from fire, to ice, to chaos, to the very function of gravity. Modern historians theorize that the early ponies that witnessed these creatures believed them to be gods and learned how to manipulate magic from them. Most of these Centmasters became sentient and allied with others to form dualism, a harmony between both good and evil in the pursuit of advancement for mind, body, and magic, all under the name of the Centmasters’ Guild. For thousands upon thousands of years, these creatures roamed the sky, land, and sea, using their powers for both peaceful and malevolent reasons. However, after many millennia after this system was established, one Centmaster broke the code and caused one of the greatest changes in pre-Equestrian history, this is the legend of the Pyrefrost Beowolf…

Pyrotan, the Centmaster of fire, was one of the leading members of the Centmasters’ Guild. He had the body of a wolf with red and orange fur and was said to be the height of a massive boulder, one of the shorter Centmasters of the guild. He was chosen to be a malevolent spirit by the higher ups of the guild, to cause forest fires and  volcanic eruptions throughout the land. For the first thousands of years, Pyrotan was content with this position, for he did not mind the sight of death and destruction. However, when the Centmaster of ice, Cleofrost, joined the guild, she was assigned as a peacekeeper, and was to balance the destruction of Pyrotan. She was a large pony, with two ice horns spiraling around each other, four massive wings, and a luscious coat of white and sky blue.

Upon first meeting each other in a battle, the wolf Centmaster fell in love with the pony’s beauty, and couldn’t bring himself to harm her. Cleofrost never saw this and would beat him everytime, causing her to create long ice ages with her windigo followers. Although she and her followers had good intensions of disciplining the ponies that were at disharmony with each other, since Pyrotan could not use his malevolent powers to balance hers, the ponies suffered from the cold for many centuries. The other leading Centmasters saw this and warned Pyrotan that he was failing his duties to keeping balance, therefore breaking one of the basic rules of the guild. If he didn’t restore harmony and uphold his evil nature, the guild would remove him from all power and leave him to die, something that rarely happened throughout the course of the Centmasters’ Guild. Pyrotan soon grew contempt towards the guild and tried to think of a plan to reform the system to his benefit. Many years later, the wolf spirit devised a dangerous plan that would either unite or destroy him and his lover, a plan that would break one of the biggest rules the guild has enforced.

A century before the birth of Princess Celestia, during another encounter between Pyrotan and Cleofrost, Pyrotan attacked his love and secluded her from the others’ sight. Deep inside an icy cavern thousands of kilometers away from the nearest pony or Centmaster, he confessed his love to the ice spirit before enacting his plan. He then did the unthinkable and absorbed her soul and forged her and her powers to his, breaking the biggest law the Centmasters’ Guild created. His body grew to the size of a dragon, with his once red and orange fur turning into a flaming mix of white, blue, and purple, and he became bipedal, able to use his front claws as hands. Using the ice from the cave and his powers, he forged sharp claws and two massive scythes glowing with blue fire.

Now being the Centmaster of both fire and ice, Pyrotan attacked the others, who were unable to take on the powerful creature one on one. Twenty Centmasters of the guild were killed by the raging wolf before he approached the higher ups that made him evil. Pyrotan told them of his vision where all Centmasters are to be of the same alliance, with no regards to balance or the “lesser creatures” of the land. The leaders saw this as a threat to everything they strived for from the past thousands of years and called him insane. Upon hearing this, he attacked the council of nine leaders at once, but was quickly overwhelmed and defeated. He was stripped of his flesh and bone and had it replaced with a petrified wood skeleton that burnt with the dark icy flames of his merged soul. Pyrotan was then buried into the earth and soil, deep within the woods far away from the founding of Equestria. A tombstone was placed upon the burial ground by the Centmasters to warn others to stay away. From that point forward, the Centmasters’ Guild decided to leave the continent, fearing that a similar incident may happen again and they don’t want to risk the lives of the now harmonious ponies of the new founded country.

As centuries pass after the guild has left the now massive kingdom of Equestria, many things happen during this time. Feral Centmasters and Centmasters kicked out of the guild arise and try to bring chaos upon the innocent of Equestria, but are quickly defeated by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna before her banishment. Pyrotan during this time is still remaining as a burning skeleton under the ground. However, due to the continuous periods of chaos that happened over the centuries, the economic situation of Canterlot grows critical and ponies decide to move out and mine for any riches said to be out in the wild. One day, a stallion, wanting to get a large diamond for his special somepony, encounters the grave of Pyrotan and digs, thinking that something valuable was with the corpse of whoever had such a large tombstone dedicated to him. However, upon opening a ray of sunlight upon the petrified wood, the beast sprung to life, bursting out of the ground and eating the stallion whole. Now bent on revenge and his lifelong dedication to malevolence, Pyrotan reformed himself as a monster that will not stop at anything to get what he wants and changed his name to the Pyrefrost Beowolf.

For many years, he attacked ponies going anywhere near the forest and created an army of Timberwolves to spread his destruction across Equestria. Word soon reached Celestia and she confronted the beast, engaging in a fight. The two reach an impasse, ending in a deal that if anypony walks near his grave; he will consume them in return for permanent confinement to his hold. Thinking one step ahead, Celestia then ordered that an armed cemetery be built around the grave to prevent anypony from wandering too close to the Pyrefrost Beowolf and to this day, the beast still lurks in the long lost cemetery, deep within the Everfree Forest…

How will this ancient myth end up helping an orphan into becoming Celestia's adopted daughter? Find out this Christmas, when Raindrop's Hearth's Warming Eve Miracle is released. Also check out Rise of Empress Midnight, the forefather of this story.