It was cold. It was always cold in this harsh land. The blizzards were seemingly non-stop and each flake of snow stung like a piercing needle until numbness came and finally death overtook whatever poor creature found itself out here. It would be a terrible way to die, no doubt. Lost. Alone. Cold. Those weren't even the worst parts. With each blizzard came a fresh layer of snow, covering whatever was left unattended during the last. To be out here, was not just simply to die. It was to disappear. To be forgotten.

Nightfall had learned this lesson many times before. He'd be out on an expedition and watch as a friend or stranger wandered to far from the group. Visibility was often at near zero and he'd call out into this white void in an attempt to retrieve the pony who had strayed. They wouldn't respond, no matter how many times he or the other group members would call. No matter how hard they searched, the pony would never be seen again.

The unfortunate truth was this. When traversing this forsaken land, it was best to keep moving. There were far worse things than just blizzards out here. Windigos were the most prominent of beings to be wary of, but rumors had it that much darker forces hid in the snow, waiting for victims. For these reasons, it was best to spend as little time as possible out in the open. Anypony who got separated, was ultimately destined to be left behind. This is why many only traveled in small groups.

If you were out here, it meant that you were either stupid or you had a very good reason for leaving the relative safety of the city walls. Nightfall was one of the latters. He had a purpose out here. He had a very important mission. A signal fire on the western side of Equestria had gone out. Each city and town in Equestria had one or several of these fires. They were vital to the survival of the ponies who lived there and if one were to be extinguished, it would spell disaster for the inhabitants.

These fires were important for many reasons. The greatest of these was because of the nature of the fire itself. It was not natural. It did not burn and continue to consume fuel, rather it was sustained by crystals found deep underground. These fire crystals had been nearly worthless in an earlier age, but thanks to their arcane properties they were now immensely valuable. The fires they created had the unique property of warding off the windigos which were drawn to magical signatures. A single bonfire from these crystals could keep an area the size of a city block safe.

There was another great advantage too though. The fires produced smoke, large columns of it. From high atop Mt. Canter, at the highest lookout post in all of Equestria, nearly every signal fire's smoke column could be seen, at least on clearer days when the storms died down. And so from Canterlot, each town was able to be monitored to some extent. The black smoke that rose into the sky universally indicated that everything was all clear. When a fire died though, it was taken very seriously.

Anytime a town went dark, it was handled by a team dispatched directly from the fortress city of Canterlot. Nightfall was the lucky soul given the assignment to investigate. He was experienced in surviving in the tundra, having successfully carried out hundreds of supply runs for the last several years. By now, he was a veteran, one of the best. He was not alone though. Such an idea would have surely been considered suicide. His team was comprised of three ponies: a young, free spirit of a unicorn named Paper Cut, a strong, but kind hearted earth pony by the name of Bastion, and himself, a thestral.

The three ponies now found themselves trudging through snow that was up to their bellies. Their journey had been long, having taken about three days to get where they were now. The trains did not run all the way out into unprotected land and most of their travel had been spent on hoof. They couldn't exactly complain though. Being from Canterlot, they had access to some of the best gear. Their snow suits kept them warm and their helmets sealed water tight with the rest of the suit at the neck. The biggest threats to them here were being attacked or getting lost.

The weather today, was especially bad. A blizzard had blown in from the north and snow now swirled all around them, keeping the visibility levels so low that they would lose each other if they did not stay within a meter or two of one another. The wind blew violently and if it had not been for the snow beneath them that provided some semblance of an anchor point, they would no doubt have been blown away with the storm.

"I'm getting some blips on the scanner," Nightfall said from the front as he looked down at the small hoof held device that now pinged several large objects ahead. Despite the sound of the rushing wind, the short range radios in their helmets made communication quite easy. "Probably a few buildings. Don't think they're big enough to be part of the main settlement though."

"Oh, good," Paper said. "I'm starving. It'll be nice to get out of the wind and in somewhere where I can enjoy a sandwich without it instantly freezing."

"I'll second that," Bastion voted. "I've got this new sandwich combo that I've been dying to try out."

Nightfall chuckled as he rolled his eyes. "Well if Bastion's got a new sandwich, I guess we have to stop. Don't we?" He put away his scanner and checked the time on his wrist display. "Okay," he said after seeing that it was nearly six in the evening. "It's unanimous them. We'll stop up here. Probably a good idea to do so before investigating the main settlement site."

"Awesome," Paper said.

The buildings in question were nothing more than what seemed to be a few abandoned supply sheds and it took several extra minutes for the group to reach the top of the small hill on which they sat upon. When they did though, they were able to walk along the side of one of the sheds to take cover from the wind. Conveniently, the door was on the side away from the wind, keeping the snow that blew horizontally from building up in front of it.

Paper took point when they got to the door only to find it was frozen shut. "Hmph. Figures," he said before tilting his head down. He cranked a small dial on the side of his helmet and the top piece that encased his horn began to glow the same blue color of his magic aura. With a quick spell the ice on the door began to evaporate and turn to steam, before refreezing on the ground. He slowly opened the door and headed inside the darkened shed.

The inside of the shed wasn't nearly as cold as it was outside, providing just enough protection from the wind to allow everypony to remove their helmets. The one window, though it was heavily iced over, provided just enough light for them to see. As the three all cleared a place out for themselves to eat, a shuffling noise was heard from the darkest of the corners. Each of the ponies shot up, instinctively brandishing their guns and swords.

"H-hello," a voice sounded from the darkness. Stepping forward from the shadows was a changeling. He wore a coat, but it was not even close to being as heavy as it should have been to be out in this type of weather. His body shook violently under a thin layer of frost that had accumulated over the past several hours. His eyes seemed as if they were frozen shut.

The ponies put away their weapons and Bastion immediately sprung forward to catch the changeling as he fell over. He was soaked.

"Hey, hey, now. You cant just die on us already," Bastion said. He looked back to Nightfall who was already unscrewing the top of a thermos. After pouring a bright yellow glowing liquid into the cap, Nightfall gave it to Bastion who in turn put it up to the changeling's lips. "Here, drink," he said. "Don't worry. It's ignis... liquid fire."

The changeling drank and managed to open his eyes.

"There we go," Bastion said as he gave the thermos lid back to Nightfall who traded him a knife. Bastion took the knife and began cutting the soaked clothes off of the changeling. When the changeling was completely bare, he was carried over to spot where Paper had used another spell to clear the ground of snow. This time, the intensity of the spell and been increased, charring the ground beneath to create a warm pad of scorched earth for the changeling to sit on.

When the changeling was down, a thermal blanket was thrown over him and he was given another cup of ignis. "T-Thank y-you so mu-uch," he said. "I-I thought-t I was going to d-die."

"You're welcome," Bastion said with smile. It always felt good to save someone. "Happy to help."

"Alright," Nightfall interrupted, wanting to get straight to the point. "I need you to tell us what happened here. The signal fire went out. Why?"

The changeling drank the rest of the ignis and handed the cap back to Nightfall before answering. He had stopped shaking and as a result his speech became more clear. "Somepony made off with our stockpile of fire crystals," he explained. "We were already running low and about to send out a signal to get more, but when we went to the reserves, they were gone. Then the fire died and the windigos showed up."

"Any idea why someone would do that?" Nightfall asked.

"No," the changeling answered. "We're at peace with all the surrounding settlements and there hasn't been a resource dispute for at least a decade or two."

"So basically, someone was just being a dick," Paper pointed out.

"Not so simple," Nightfall said. "There has to be some kind of motivation. You'd have to be pretty bold to steal a fire crystal stockpile and risk getting frozen by windigos yourself... or y'know, completely stupid." He leaned back against the far wall, keeping an eye on what little could be seen from the window.

"Either way, dick move," Paper pointed out again.

"Well crap," Bastion complained. "How long ago did the windigos show up?" he asked the changeling.

The changeling seemed to be surprised by the question. "I don't know," he answered. "It's been at least a day, maybe two. Why?"

Bastion looked to Nightfall. "We need to get moving," he said. "If any of the townsfolk have been put on ice, it's only going to be a matter of time before the MISA wears off and they begin to suffer from hypothermia."

"Agreed. Paper, pack up and get the changeling on his hooves," Nightfall ordered.

Paper simply replied with a casual salute.

"Wait, what's going on?" the changeling asked as he stood from the heated ground only to find that the air above was still much to cold. "We can't just go back there. It's too dangerous!"

"For one pony alone, maybe," Nightfall began, "but you've got us. So don't worry about it. We'll make sure to keep you safe." As he loaded up his gear, Bastion handed him his flair rifle, which Nightfall proceeded to load and cock. "You'll see. It'll be fun."

"Alright, buddy," Bastion said. "There's no way you'll be able to walk through the snow bare hoof so you're going to have to ride on my back. I'm an earth pony, so can handle it. If you feel like you're going to get sick though, lean out and throw up onto the snow. It doesn't mind, but I won't be very happy if it goes all over me."

The changeling was hesitant, but complied nonetheless. After the ponies dawned their helmets again, he was given an extra blanket to further wrap himself up in. Once they were all ready, they headed out into the storm again.

For the most part, the wind had subsided and the snow now only fell diagonally, instead of coming directly from the side. Immediately, Nightfall pulled out his trusty scanner and began to take readings. Sure enough, there were several more blips on the display, each being quite close together. Certainly, it was the town.

Despite the poor visibility, the glow of the storm spires that surrounded the town quickly came into view. These tall structures were essentially enchanted metal rods that stood up from a stone base. Each rod glowed a faint white and was inscribed with a series of runes that ran from the very top, twenty feet up, to the bottom. When a group of these spires were aligned in succession, it would create an invisible barrier between them that would halt both air and snow, creating a sort of safe zone that a blizzard could not affect. Of course, they were mostly useless against windigos.

Upon passing these constructs, the weather immediately cleared up. The snow on the ground, which could have drowned a pony, was now nothing more than a few inches in depth. The wind had nearly completely stopped as well and only a light dusting of snow flakes fell from the sky. It was peaceful again.

This, of course, left them just outside the town wall, which was a small log rampart with only a few exposed watchtowers. The gate, for reasons that were still unknown, was left wide open. Without so much as a word, the changeling was let off onto his own hooves and the three ponies stacked up on the gate. On the count of three, they barged in, guns and swords raised, ready to fight.

"Well that's anti-climactic," Paper said.

"Yeah," Bastion agreed. "There's nopony here."

Nightfall looked around, not entirely convinced that they were alone. "Well, if there's one thing I know, it's that an entire town's population doesn't just disappear. They've got to be around here somewhere. Let's search the houses." And so, they split up.

The town itself was not large at all. It was much more of a compound than a town. There was a sizable courtyard surrounded by several log cabins and a two story building with a stone base that served as a sort of town hall. All together, there was only around fifteen to twenty buildings, each being a couple hundred square feet. At the center of this courtyard, was the pit for the signal fire. Over the course of the last few days it had grown cold. Despite this, residue from the burnt up crystals was still present on the inside and edges.

Nightfall studied the fire pit with great interest while also keeping his flair rifle ready. The fire had gone out nearly four days ago. If the windigos didn't arrive until day two or three, then surely there would have been time for the townsfolk to find shelter. A town of this size should have had at least one emergency bunker that they could have gone to. The only question was where that would be. Nightfall looked to the building with the stone base. It would be a start.

Upon entering, the first thing noticed was that it was empty. The entirety of the downstairs was nothing more than a single room with some tables, chairs, and a stage at the far end. This must have been where they held town meetings. The most notable of the interior's features was the fireplace. The room was a mess. Many pieces of furniture had been knocked over and there was paper strewn about, but the fireplace was completely clear of clutter. It was so clean, in fact, that it almost seemed out of place. Clearly, it had not seen use in years. Further investigation revealed the reason for why it had been kept clear. Inside was a hatch.

"Hey, Bastion, Paper," Nightfall called over the coms. "You guys find anything."

"I've checked five houses," Paper answered. "Nothing. Even the cellars were empty."

"Bastion?"

"Yeah, the changeling and I found a filly hiding in an attic. She's scared, but she'll be alright."

"Okay," Nightfall said. "If you find anypony else, go ahead and bring them to the building with the stone base. I think I found the emergency shelter."

"Roger that."

After disconnecting, Nightfall leaned his flair rifle up against the stone of the fireplace before attempting to open the hatch inside. The handle wouldn't budge and after several more attempts it became clear that it was locked. If the hatch had a keyhole in which to insert lockpicks, such a matter would be trivial. "I guess I should try knocking," he thought. After giving three knocks in moderate succession, he waited. There was no response. "Hey, anyone in there?" he finally called out. This seemed to do the trick, as the sound of grinding metal was heard from the other side and the hatch popped open.

"Oh, thank goodness," the pony inside said at the sight of the armored thestral. There appeared to be an entire group of at least twenty all squeezed shoulder to shoulder inside.

"You guys are safe now," Nightfall said. "Everything is going to be-"

"No, no," the pony interrupted nervously. He shook, not from any cold, but rather from being scared out of his wits. "You don't understand. They're in the mine. You have to search the mine."

"Who, the windigos?"

"Yes," the pony confirmed. "Something drew them inside and they've been there ever since they arrived. We've been terrified that they'd come out."

Nightfall looked around for a moment as he thought, before looking down into the darkened hole that all the ponies were huddled in. "Where's the town guard?" he asked.

"They went in after those foul things," the pony explained. "We have an emergency stockpile of fire crystals down there. They had hoped to recover the stockpile, but never came back. We're not coming out until those things are gone."

"Okay," Nightfall agreed. "Stay here and keep your people safe. I'll be back."

The pony just nodded and resealed the steel hatch without question. Clearly, he did not need to be told twice.

Nightfall grabbed his rifle, slung it onto his back, and walked back outside. "Paper, Bastion," he said as he reopened the com channel. "You guys still with me?"

"Affirmative," Paper replied.

It took a moment, but Bastion also checked in after a few seconds.

"I found the townsfolk," Nightfall began. "They're saying that the windigos came and got drawn into the mineshaft by something. Not sure what, but the town guard went in to retrieve a fire crystal stockpile and haven't been heard from since."

"They probably got frozen," Bastion theorized. "I've got a group of medical staff here in the hospital basement. I'll have them begin preparing the facility to treat MISA exposure."

"You do that," Nightfall replied. "You got anything, Paper?"

"No, just a bunch of overturned furniture," Paper answered. "These ponies may not have been very good fighters, but they sure did gtfo quick."

"Alright. Well, I'll meet you guys at the mine." With that, Nightfall hung up and began to follow a set of rails that ran into the side of a cliff face.

The mine itself wasn't anything special. Really, it was nothing more than a simple hole in the side of the mountain that overlooked the town. It didn't even have a door. Instead, it was simply left open with a set of cart rails running into the darkness. When the other two team members showed up, they wasted no time getting inside. With weapons out and heads on a swivel, they made their way into the darkness.

Both Bastion and Paper had to make use of the night vision goggles mounted on their helmets, but being a thestral, Nightfall had a distinct advantage in the dark. For this reason, his helmet lacked this piece of equipment. Instead, he had a second visor that was much more heavily tented than the first. Without it, any light from the sun would quite literally burn his retinas. The glistening of the snow only amplified this.

"You'd think, being underground, this tunnel would be a bit warmer than it is outside," Paper said, "but my temperature gage says it's freezing."

"That just means we're on the right track," Nightfall replied, his eyes darting around the tunnel to observe the ice crystals that clung to the walls and ceiling.

Paper chuckled to himself after noticing that they were literally following mine cart rails.

The ponies advanced slowly and carefully into the darkness with Nightfall at the front with his scanner. Bastion had repossessed his flair rifle and provided cover while Paper kept an eye on their rear. It didn't take long before the scanner began to ping objects ahead.

"We've got something thirty meters ahead," Nightfall said. "Should be around this next bend."

"You think it's the town guard?" Paper asked as he adjusted his goggles.

"Only one way to find out," Nightfall answered. "Just be ready."

Upon rounding the corner, the group realized that it was exactly as they had predicted. Standing before them were six ponies, all frozen solid in blocks of arcane ice. Each stood in a fighting pose as if they had been in mid battle when suddenly they were turned to ice. Even their weapons had been frozen solid. Some lay on the ground, others in the air where they had previously been held by unicorn magic.

"Well, would you look at that," Paper said as he inspected one of the guards. "Don't even have NVGs. Hey, look at this," he said after looking around on the ground only to find a wooden rod. "It's a torch. What is this the medieval age?"

Nightfall just rolled his eyes. "One of these days you're actually going to have use the torch in your survival pack and then we'll see who's laughing."

"Meh. Until that happens, I'm still going to make jokes about it." He tossed the torch over his shoulder carelessly.

"You know," Bastion chimed in. "He does have a point. These guys are running gear that should have been updated ages ago. Can't say I'm surprised they ended up the way they did."

"Do you think that's all of them?"

"I'm not seeing anything else on the scanner," Nightfall answered.

"So then, where's the windigos?" Bastion asked.

Nightfall thought for a moment, looking over the frozen ponies and trying to determine in which direction their eyes were looking. He stared out deeper into the cave, trying to see just a bit further than his natural night vision would allow. "I think I've got some idea," he finally said. He motioned to Bastion, who just replied with a knowing smile.

Bastion sat back on his haunches and shouldered his rifle. With a single pull of the trigger, a bright red flair was sent screeching down the tunnel, illuminating the darkness as it went. In response, there was a sound from where the flair had finally impacted the ground at the end of its arc. The noise that came next was loud and high pitched. It was something that never failed to send chills down Nightfall's spine. It was something unholy.

From the shadows, burst three windigos. Their spectral manes flowed wildly as they rushed forward from the darkness. Their piercing blue eyes were fixated on the small group of ponies, their next prey. As they flew, the walls around them became covered in an even thicker layer of ice crystals and a great freezing wind blew through the tunnel.

Bastion pulled his trigger once more sending out another flair directly at the lead windigo. It made contact, striking it in the chest and lodging itself deep in the windigo's ghostly body, which reacted violently: twisting and contorting as arcane fire shot from its orifices before finally exploding in a shower of sparks. Despite this display of power, the other two were undeterred and continued their charge toward the group.

"Anytime now, Bastion!" Nightfall said as the earth pony began the process of reloading.

"I got it! I got it!" Bastion exclaimed as he loaded the last cartridge into his weapon.

"Too late!" Nightfall dove, tackling Bastion to the ground as the windigos came mere inches from them. As they hit the ground, Paper sprung up into the air, catching the first windigo across the belly with his sword, before being snap frozen in a block of ice by the second.

Had it been a normal creature, the windigo's insides would have spilled out and left a mess on the ground. Instead, it tumbled to the floor, writhing in pain as the fire enchantment burned away at it.

Bastion instinctively sat up and pulled his rifle trigger. The flair shot out, screeched across the tunnel, and pegged the final windigo in the back of the head before it could escape. It's body went limp and finally burst into sparks after coming down hard on the ground.

"Damn," Nightfall said. "Nice shot."

"Thanks," Bastion replied. "I've been practicing."

The two ponies laid there for a moment, allowing their adrenaline to subside before attempting to stand. They looked over to see that Paper was still frozen solid in a block of ice.

"We should get him out," Nightfall pointed out.

"Good idea."

Both ponies dug into their supply bags and pulled out small paper sacks that they proceeded to tear open. Inside was a finely ground red powder, which they began emptying out onto Paper. The powder, being made from fire crystals and few other materials, reacted as it made contact with the ice, producing a large steam cloud.

"Alright!" Paper exclaimed as he was freed from his icy prison. "Ranger squad: three. Windigos..." he looked to his wrist display as if it had a scoreboard on it. "Oh no. Big fat zero. What is up?!" He stumbled forward suddenly as Nightfall wacked him upside the head.

"Dammit, Paper!" the thestral scolded. "That was reckless and you know it!"

"Hey, I'd rather take one for the team than see us all get put on ice," Paper complained. "Besides, the suit keeps me warm until you guys can thaw me out."

"Yeah, well I'd rather not see my friends get frozen."

"That's exactly why I did it!" Paper countered. "I'd take a bullet for you guys. You know that."

Nightfall sighed. He couldn't help but to lighten up a bit after hearing that. He pressed his forehead against Paper's expressing comradery in a way that only brothers in arms could. "Paper," he said, patting the unicorn on the shoulder. "Good work."

Suddenly, they were ambushed by Bastion, who grabbed them both and pulled them in close. "Group hug!" he yelled.

"Okay, okay. Enough of that," Nightfall said, pulling away. "We still got a job to do."

"Y'know, Nightfall," Bastion began, "you may act all badass when we're out here, but Meadow has already told us all about how you're just a big softy. Plus, I've seen you after downing a few ciders."

Nightfall just rolled his eyes before all of their attention was caught by a rustling noise coming from behind them. The last windigo was still lying there on the ground, mostly motionless, but alive. Paper poked the creature with his hoof, causing it to flinch slightly. Other than this, it did not react or even try to lash out at them. It was dying and it knew it, and clearly it was in great pain.

"Wow, I almost feel bad for the poor thing," Bastion said. "You really messed him up good." He pointed to the spot where Paper's sword had sliced the beast open.

"Yeah, me too."

"I don't," Nightfall said. Without a second thought, he pulled the flair rifle from Bastion's back, shoved the barrel in the windigo's mouth, and pulled the trigger.

Bastion and Paper just stared at Nightfall as he resumed the delve down into the tunnel.

"Well damn, Nightfall," Bastion said, still in shock at what had just transpired. "I take back everything I just said about you being soft."

"Yeah," Paper agreed. He saw his chance and went for it. "Nightfall is what you would call... wait for it... weathered."

Nightfall and Bastion both groaned, smacking themselves in the face with their hooves.

After the small skirmish, among other things, it didn't take long for the group to get back on track. They ventured deeper into the mine and after a mostly silent walk, found a mine cart filled to the brim with fire crystals. Other than that and what they had already come across, the tunnel was empty, and by extension, now secured. Nightfall gave the order for Bastion and Paper to return to the surface with the stockpile and start getting the guards thawed out and treated for MISA exposure.

"What are you going to do?" Bastion asked.

"I want to see what lured the windigos down here," Nightfall answered. "They don't just bypass an entire town and fly down a mine for no reason."

"You think they found something?"

Nightfall shrugged. "Maybe. I'll call you if I find anything."

With that, Paper and Bastion took off back towards the entrance, while Nightfall delved deeper into the tunnel. The mine itself was for coal, which was often used for the heating of furnaces and homes. While not as efficient as the fire crystals used in the signal fires, it provided a perfectly adequate means of producing heat, and universally it was accepted that the burning of coal was much wiser than using the only thing that kept the windigos at bay. Had it not been for these mines, Equestria's fire crystal supply would have gone out years ago.

This mine in particular, was nothing special though. There were only a few tunnels that branched off of the main shaft and none of them went more than a few meters. The equipment here was outdated as well. In Canterlot, sophisticated magic run machines operated day and night to dig up valuable resources from the caverns below the city and deep within the mountain. The ponies here were operating with nothing but pickaxes and push carts. Everything about this place was unremarkably standard.

Nightfall spent a good ten minutes examining the walls only to come up with nothing. He could see in the dark just fine and according to the ranger medical examiner he had 20/20 vision, something that he actually hadn't known. Yet, whatever it was that he thought he was searching for alluded him. Surely there had to be something down here though. Why else would the windigos come down here? They were known for relentlessly hunting their prey, no matter where they had been barricaded or hid. Why had they left the townsfolk alone?

After growing frustrated from a lack of answers, Nightfall finally decided to try something that he hadn't done in quite some time. Being a thestral, he had some unique advantages over other ponies other than being able to see much better in the dark. It was just like how unicorns could use magic, pegasi could cloud walk, and earth ponies connected with the earth, except his ability boiled down to evolution rather than magic. It was also something that had to be practiced many times over and required complete silence to affectively execute.

Nightfall removed his helmet before looking down into the tunnel. He closed his eyes and drew in a calm breath of air through his nostrils. After holding it for a few seconds, he let out a smooth, high pitched, but faint whistle. He held the note for some time, before letting go to listen. The note, which had been barely audible to anypony other than a thestral echoed softly in his ears as the sound waves bounced around the cavern, creating different pitches based on material that they hit. The sound resonated especially within a mine cart that had been cast off to the side of the rails. From just these noises, he could tell that the rock became more and more dense the deeper the mine went, but there was one thing quite strange and out of the ordinary. From the end of the tunnel, a tone returned that seemed to suggest that the rock ahead was indeed hollow.

"Well, hello there," Nightfall said as he opened his eyes and made his way to the end of the tunnel. He ran a hoof along the wall. It was smooth, perhaps some kind of igneous or metamorphic rock. It didn't much matter. To Nightfall, rocks were rocks. He placed an ear to the wall and tapped it hard with his hoof. It was definitely hollow.

He looked around before finding a pickaxe. Replacing his helmet back on his head, he took the pickaxe in his hooves and carefully began to chisel away. Initially, it resisted firmly, but with several more strikes, the rock wall gave way and a new chamber was revealed. With each swing of the pickaxe the hole between the two chambers grew until finally there was enough room for Nightfall to squeeze through.

Upon entering, the sight before him was something that he could not seem to explain to himself. Before him, was an alicorn. Or at least there was a statue of one, a strange one at that. Nightfall had seen depictions of the alicorns who supposedly ruled hundreds of years ago, but never any so lifelike. Usually they were found in books or on the stained-glass windows in Canterlot palace that had been preserved from a long forgotten age. These depictions had always been stylized and artistic, but clearly the sculptor had gone for accuracy in this piece. Truly, it was fine work as well, as if nature itself had carved it.

The alicorn in question was tall and of a slim build. Her main, although long and flowing, was neatly kept. She wore metal shoes and a sort of large medallion around her neck. A crown sat upon her head, signifying the status of a ruler or at least someone politically significant. All of these were covered in a thick layer of dust, but further inspection proved that they were indeed made of gold.

Other than the painstaking attention to detail and the seemingly one to one scale, there was one more oddity. This was the pose. Statues of leaders that Nightfall had seen always showed the figure in stoic or heroic stance. The pose here was entirely different. Instead of standing with her head held high, the alicorn sat back on her haunches with her head turned to the side. Her eyes were closed and she held her hooves up as if trying to shield herself from the blinding beams of a floodlight. Nightfall could only guess what this piece was supposed to be depicting, but without the corresponding pedestal, there was no way to know who had created it or what their vision for it was.

Although interesting, the statue was not the only thing of note. The chamber itself was perfectly spherical and was imprinted with all manners of magical runes all along the walls. The runes ran like tracks all around and in different patterns. Different lines and shapes swirled around these runes, but all met at the very top, just above the statue, connecting to each other via a large circle. At the center was a much larger runic symbol. Nightfall recognized it. It was one of the few that he actually knew: the Old Equus symbol for 'Time.'

After a few more moments of thought, Nightfall buzzed his radio. "Hey, guys. I've got something... interesting over here. You'll want to see it."

"Copy that."

Nightfall wandered around the chamber for several minutes as he waited. Surely, there was a reason for such a statue to be down here. He inspected it closely, searching for any identifying marks or indication of where it may have come from. He wiped the dust from the shoes and medallion. Despite the intricate engravings, there were no clues. The lack of a pedestal only caused his confusion to grow.

Finally, Nightfall looked to the crown. It was more of a tiara really, but it too was made of gold and was adorned with all manners of masterful engravings. As he attempted to wipe away even more of the dust, in search of a signature, he found that it was not even attached to the head it sat on, gravity being the only thing to keep it in place. "Well, how about that," Nightfall said to nopony in particular as he removed the crown from the statue.

Suddenly, there was a flash. Nightfall jumped back in surprise, dropping the crown as he attempted to cover his eyes, allowing it to hit the ground with a clang. His second visor had been up and he now found himself blinded. As he stumbled, the rock melted away from the alicorn's form. Small sparks of yellow magic flowed upward from the statue like bubbles underwater and the chamber was filled with light.

Nightfall fell back onto his haunches as water seeped from his eyes. "Gah!" he exclaimed, throwing off his helmet. For a moment, the world seemed to fall away, blurring into one solid color.

"Hey, Nightfall," Bastion called from just outside. "You in there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Nightfall called back. "I found a statue, but something happened. I'm blind now. Just give me a minute." He heard Bastion and Paper both enter, crawling over the rubble that had fallen. Then everything went silent. "Hello?" he said, still rubbing the stars from his vision.

"Um, Nightfall?" Paper replied as he removed his helmet and lit his horn to provide greater visual clarity.

"What?"

"That's no statue."

Nightfall opened his eyes, which had been closed for some time now. As everything came back into focus, he searched the room. Paper had indeed been correct. The statue was gone. In its place sat a pony, not one made from stone, but a living breathing pony. More specifically, it was a living breathing alicorn.

Her coat was snow white and her mane was a soft pink. Her mark adorning her flank was that of a sun or some other star like entity. Not a single one of her delicate feathers was out of place and her polished horn would have no doubt reflected the light around her had they not been in relative darkness at the moment. She twisted her body, stretching her aching muscles and popping joints as if she had just woken from a long nap. Meanwhile, the three rangers just stared at her in dumbstruck awe.

Upon noticing them, the alicorn opened her mouth to say something, but the words never came. She looked down toward her snout, as if baffled by her own inability to create speech. She tried again. Still, nothing, but the dry hissing of broken vocal cords. She coughed loudly several times, before finally getting the words out. "Hello," she barely managed to say in a rough voice that strained her throat to no end. She coughed violently again.

"Uh..." Paper droned, completely bamboozled by what he was seeing.

"This is... very unexpected," Bastion added as he too removed his helmet.

"Um, hello?" Nightfall greeted, still confused by what exactly what was happening. "You... uh, you were a statue just a second ago."

The alicorn made a confused face before peering down at her hooves and looking them over with great interest. She looked back at the ponies with the same puzzled expression as before. They just continued staring at her as if she was an other-worldly being so she instead began to observe the chamber she was in, before returning her gaze to them. "Where?" she asked, her voice still scratchy.

"I think she wants to know where she is," Paper whispered.

"I know that." Nightfall finally stood up and collected his helmet. "Okay, okay," he said. "Enough of this standing around with our hooves in our mouths crap. It isn't getting us anywhere. Who the hell are you and how did you get down here?"

The alicorn just blinked, looking even more befuddled than she had before. She pointed to the ground. "Down here?"

"Yeah," Bastion answered. "You're about a quarter of a mile underground, just past the Unicorn Range to the east."

The alicorn seemed to think for a moment, putting her hoof to her chin. Clearly something was off. After a moment of thought, she took a few steps forward, stumbling slightly as her legs gave out from under her. Both Bastion and Paper rushed forward to aide her. When she was up, she gave a smile and a nod, as if trying to express her gratitude. "I don't know-" She coughed, cleared her throat, and tried again. "I don't know what's happening," she managed. "My name is Celestia."

"It's nice to meet you, Celestia," Paper said. "I'm Paper Cut. This hunk of meat next to me is Bastion and that guy over there is our glorious leader, Nightfall."

Celestia smiled. "It is very good to meet you all," she said, her voice returning and beginning to clear. Though it was still scratchy, there was a soft and comforting, almost mother like, tone to it.

"Well, this is just great and all," Nightfall interrupted, "but, Celestia, do you have any idea how long you've been down here?"

Celestia just shook her head.

Each of the rangers exchanged glances, a sudden feeling of dread building in each of them.

"Excuse us for a moment," Nightfall said. He waved his teammates over, away from Celestia for a moment. "Paper, find out as much as you can from her, but don't tell her a thing yet. This might all be a little overwhelming."

"Gotcha," Paper said, before breaking off to talk to the alicorn in question.

Before Nightfall could even turn to Bastion, he was bombarded with a question from the panicking earth pony. "What the hell are we going to tell her?" Bastion blurted out in a yell of a whisper.

"I have absolutely no idea," Nightfall answered. "This is all beyond me. We cant just go up to her and be all like "Oh, hey, you've been frozen in rock for the last thousand or so years. Can we?"

"Sure, if you want to give her a heart attack."

"Well, she's got to find out at some point," Nightfall argued. "It might as well be from us. I just don't know how you're supposed to break that kind of news to someone."

Bastion sighed. "So what's the play here then?"

Nightfall looked over his shoulder, back to where Paper was keeping Celestia occupied. The unicorn, just like he always did, had been taking notes in the journal he carried around. Now though, he and Celestia were exchanging jokes. They both seemed to be taking great pleasure in their shared sense of humor. Nightfall just sighed. "For now, let's just keep it simple. We'll get her back to town and tell her everything she needs to know. Once the storm clears, we'll head back to Canterlot and go from there."

Bastion hesitated, but eventually nodded in agreement. "Let's make sure we can find her a soft place to sit down when we do break the news," he said. "She'll need it."

"Yeah," Nightfall said, turning to the others.

Paper was still talking to Celestia. Despite the fact that they seemed to be getting along, the alicorn wore an expression that showed something was clearly bothering her and it seemed as if Paper was faltering in his attempt to keep her from asking certain questions.

"Well, alright," Paper said as his teammates joined them. "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that Celestia here is a princess."

"And the bad news?" Nightfall asked, bracing for what would no doubt give them all headaches.

"Her magic may be burnt out."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bastion asked.

"It means it's burnt out," Paper repeated. "Gone. Kaput. Won't work. Right Celestia?"

Celestia nodded. "I am afraid this is the truth," she said. Her voice had only improved slightly and was still but a whisper. She pointed up towards her horn. Despite being nearly a pure pearly white for most of it's length, there was slight discoloration towards the top that darkened into an ash gray at the tip. "It's complicated," she explained. "I don't entirely understand it myself, but I believe it may be my own fault."

"How so?" Paper asked.

Celestia sighed. "It is a long story, but if I am here, it can only mean that our spell did not work as intended." She took on a sad tone. "Please, tell me. How long has Equestria been without me?"

The rangers all just looked at each other, not really knowing what the answer to the question was or how they should go about answering it to begin with. As the leader of the group, the responsibility ultimately fell on Nightfall and he knew it. He took a second to collect his thoughts.

"Well," Nightfall started, scratching the back of his head. This was going to be bad. He just knew it, but continued anyways. "None of us have ever heard of you. Rumor has it that the alicorns ruled anywhere from one to two thousand years ago. So... I guess it's been quite some time."

The tunnel fell into dead silence. Celestia just stood there after hearing the words. Her expression was not sad, although her eyes had grown wide she looked as if she had simply fallen into deep thought, trying to piece together whatever it was she knew beforehand and what she had just been told. As she thought, her eyes began to dart back and forth between the floor and the ponies before her. It would seem she was about to need that soft spot to sit down.

"I take it you don't know about the blizzards," Nightfall said.

Celestia shook her head. She seemed to know something related, but didn't say anything. Instead, she remained silent, preferring to avoid before jumping to conclusions and overcomplicating things with unnecessary questions.

Nightfall just turned and waved her over as the group now began the short trek towards the surface. It was a quiet one, with only the sound of their hooves making contact with the ground to break the silence.

"How bad is it?" Celestia asked sadly as they neared the entrance.

No one said a thing. Instead, they just showed her. Stepping out of the mine, an evening breeze brushed passed them, the crisp air chilling Celestia to her core and burning her lungs with every breath she took. The puffs of white from her muzzle grew with every second as reality began to set in.

Around her was not an Equestria she knew. The sky was covered in complete overcast, the grey clouds diming any and all light from the sun that sat at the end of the horizon. The snow mixed dirt beneath her hooves was hard and frozen over. No grass, or any plants for that matter, naturally grew here any longer. In the distance, just beyond the storm spires, she could see a seemingly endless, swirling void of white.

Suddenly, Celestia began to feel a bit dizzy and she fell back on her haunches as if she had been knocked down by a punch in the chest. "One thousand years," she muttered.

Nightfall gave a sad nod. "Give or take."

"I'm really sorry, Princess," Bastion said. "I really wish we had better news for you."

"Yeah," Paper echoed. "I'm trying to find a bright side to point out, but..." He didn't finish as he got dirty looks from both Nightfall and Bastion. He responded only with a sheepish grin.

Celestia just sat there, staring up into the sky as if trying to force it to clear with her gaze. "No," she said. "This can't be happening. We were so careful in our preparations. Twilight even checked the list a tenth time to make sure we had everything we needed. This has to be a mistake. I can fix this though. There has to be a solution." She took a second to gather her thoughts, before her expression slowly grew into that of a scowl. "Or maybe that damnable draconequus made us a warped focusing crystal. That's it! Discord, if this is your idea of a joke then you are going to have Tartarus to pay!"

"Whoa there," Nightfall called out as he grabbed Celestia to keep her from storming off. "What are you even talking about?"

Celestia sighed as she tried to calm herself, her long pink mane falling into her face as she held her head low to the ground in grief. "Nothing of any consequence," she replied sadly. "Not anymore at least."

Nightfall stared down at the broken mare for a moment before returning his gaze back to his team. They all seemed just as confused as he did.

None of them had any idea what was actually going on here, but if there was one thing that they could all agree on, it was that an explanation was in order.

Author's Notes:

12/26/2018: Hey there. Thanks for reading the first chapter of my story. It means a lot to me. I have a quick favor to ask though. As of writing this, the story has 340 views but only 14 ratings (13 upvotes + 1 downvote). I'd really appreciate it if you took the extra second to click on one on of those thumbs. Every rating really helps me to get a feel for how I'm doing. Thanks a ton!