Cosmopony

by Fauffi

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe
Length: 2075

A short story about Equestria's cosmogony.

How did the ponyverse come into existence and why the cosmos is the way it is?

A very special thanks to Sol for editing.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-27 14:50:03 UTC

Cosmogony

In the beginning, there was a single, perfectly pearl-white feather.

With it, came an immense heat without a single flame. Cosmic expansion had begun.

The universe roared to life. In an instant, existence floods nothingness, expanding everywhere and creating the universe. Matter sprung to life, its sole purpose to exist and fill this universe, only leaving a single, small area untouched. Divine magic flows freely in the young universe, unhindered and uncontrolled. Its source is one unimaginably powerful creature - the universe’s first being.

Did the creature’s birth also create the universe? Did the birth of the universe create it? The classic chicken-and-egg question.

The sleeping creature needed no name, but yet it had one, and Celestia was what this one called herself. She was not even a she, yet she was far too intelligent, far too powerful to be an it. So she was Celestia. She was born asleep in her cosmic womb, and the single perfectly pearl-white feather was hers. In her long sleep she dreamt, and in her dreams she saw a being like her, and that being was her sister.

In the blistering heat of the newly created universe, there still was one spot where nothingness remained; a single, lone pool of emptiness, emptier than the mind can comprehend. From that dark well rose a creature, similar to Celestia. Similar, yet different – like opposing sides of a coin. That creature’s name was Luna, and with her birth, the universe was whole.

And yet, it was far from complete.

Matter had filled the universe, but yet it was still a void. It was still absent of light. It had not yet taken the shape of everything we know to be. It was only in the overwhelming heat that remained that this matter bonded together. But still, it was unstable. It was only in the eons following that the universe finally began to cool enough so that this matter was able to take shape.

The moment of Celestia’s awakening approached. Large chunks of space began to slowly collapse around the dreaming creature as she stirred. When her eyes opened, a new place of existence was created. This plane would eventually come to be known as Sunshome.

Celestia gazed at the young universe around her and saw it shift before her very eyes. Stars exploded from the blank void, bringing light into being and illuminating planets, galaxies, entire nebulae, for the first time, feeling an even more ancient, primordial force resonating in perfect harmony with this sudden creation. Her innate knowledge of the universe was vast, her power beyond imagination, able to warp the very fabric of existence by merely willing it to be, and yet she still wished to learn more. About her surroundings, her sleeping sister - and more importantly, about herself and her place in this universe.

However, sensing Luna’s impending awakening, Celestia glided across space to where her younger sister slept.

When Luna woke, her first sight to greet her, and welcome her to the young universe was Celestia. The moment the Sisters were united: the force of existence, the force of entropy, nothingness and darkness, something fell into place and the universe was again one step more mature. Around the two beings, six orbs appeared in a flash of prismatic light. Their origin was unclear to the Sisters, but they were unmistakeably objects of great power. They radiated positive, restorative magical energies. Five represented the core personality traits that exist in every living being, while the sixth was a ‘spark’ that activated the others. The Sisters took the mysterious artifacts with them, believing they might be of great use in the future.

The space where Luna awakened went through a similar phenomenon as what had happened with Celestia, this time creating a world called the Shade. To connect all the planes together, the Sisters forged a new plane; the Neither Realm. The Neither Realm does not only act as a hub of the planes, but it is an intensely magical environment and arcane magic pools there.

The Sisters finally united, they began studying the universe around them.

But, something was forming in the shape of a great serpent. Something that would disrupt the primordial harmony. What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? What is created when ocean waves crash onto the shore? Discord. The embodiment of chaos: Discord has born the counter-balance to the harmony and the Sisters.

Perhaps the Ancient Ones working together could have found out the answers behind their existence, but Discord found little interest or humor in 'why.' While the reasons behind Discord’s birth are highly debatable, all agree with his nature. Discord, unlike the orderly Celestia and Luna, was a being of chaos, as he was a creation of differences. Unlike the Sisters, whose bodies were beautiful and symmetrical, Discord was a frightening creature. Mismatched in every part of his being, he was like the creation of an absolute madman, his component parts assembled from nearly every creature that had yet to exist.

With an impossibly large, crooked grin, he approached the two alicorns for the first time. With a twisted honeyed voice, he asked if they would be interested in a game of cosmic pinball, with the young moons and planets as balls and the cosmos itself as their board. The Sisters were unamused, and declined his offer, greatly displeasing Discord. He said they could not recognize true fun even if it was sitting on their heads, and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The Sisters could not shake the feeling he could be source of great trouble one day.

As time went on, the Sisters sometimes ran into Discord, or happened to stumble to his ‘crime scene.’ Discord was not intentionally malicious, but he was not empathic, and his history is a tale of goofing off, crafting his own ideas of practical jokes and being a general clown, all for the purposes of his own amusement.

Many worlds, most notably the ones created by Celestia’s and Luna’s awakening, were blooming with early forms of life. But the Sisters felt like something was missing. They wished to create a species similar to themselves; the ponies. Together, they created unicorn ponies with a horn granting them innate telekinesis, pegasus ponies with wings that would give them the ability of flight, and control over the skies above them, and earth ponies with neither a horn nor wings, but an innate connection with the earth below them. To support their creation, the sisters created a planet. It was given ideal conditions to support life and unto the planet they gave the name Equestria.

The Sister gave the evolution of ponies small ‘nudges’ if needed, but otherwise not interfering with the world and its life. Soon, the ponies found themselves not alone on the planet of Equestria; other forms of equus had split off from the original pony, giving rise to new species and alongside them some that were not equine at all, their origin shrouded in mystery.

As the Sisters had their focus on the world of Equestria, they ascended a selected few individuals from the new world’s species to divinity. These deities were mere fledglings compared to the Ancients Ones, but they were still gods of considerable power. These new deities created their own planes and took residence there.

Seeing these new deities as means to amuse himself, Discord framed gods and baited them against each other, and snickered as the gods blamed each other for what were in truth Discord’s doings.

As the conflict between the gods was about to come to blows, the Sisters stepped between the furious deities and calmed them, explaining that it was Discord behind it all. The embarrassed and humiliated gods and shook on it, and silently returned to their own worlds. Discord was predictably disappointed, his greatest prank fizzling to nothing from the Sisters' interference. What followed was severe lecturing from the Sisters. What exactly was said between beings greater than gods, is better not to give a full account.

Discord, while impressed that the Sisters had stood up to him and foiled his plans, still only pretended to listen to their lecturing, and promised to be good with fingers crossed behind his back. Then, an idea formed in his mind; if the Sisters would not allow him to have fun in heavens, he’d settle for mortals. And he’d choose the Sisters’ most favorite project: Equestria and its inhabitants. He’d wait, bide his time until he felt Equestria was ready and its inhabitants could understand the chaos he'd bring to their poor society.

Soon, Discord felt the time to be ready, and he revealed himself in Equestria, and he would let all creature of the land know it. His handiwork is what could only be described pure chaos. Lakes raining into the sky, massive animals destroying the fields and eating all but the foods planted within, his handiwork even finding its way inside the very minds of Equestria's inhabitants, dulling their coat color and reversing their personalities; the kind became ornery and mean, the generous greedy and selfish. Discord relished in the chaos he had wrought and his laughter reached the heavens themselves.

The Sisters quickly learned of Discord’s acts, and they hastily teleported to Equestria, but even they weren’t prepared for the pandemonium that was awaiting for them. Discord's actions had caused great suffering to the land and its inhabitants, and even the Sisters, in their eternal kindness and infinite capacity for forgiveness, could not bring themselves to forgive Discord for what he had done here. Neither of the Sisters said anything, but they both knew what had to be done.

The Ordering

The Sisters entered Discord’s ‘capital of Chaos’, demanding him to restore everything. He was intentionally disturbing the planet’s balance and endangering countless lives. In an unexpected fit of anger, Discord refused their demands, unwilling to abandon his 'playground' and his 'toys.' Gone was his former playfulness and frivolity.

The Sisters were unwilling to engage the enraged draconequus in combat, for they knew that a fight between the Ancient Ones would lead to the utter destruction of Equestria. However, a solution occurred to them - the Elements.

Discord could only respond with raucous laughter at the baubles floating around them as the Elements were summoned, neither Celestia nor Luna knowing what to do with them. It was only in surveying the chaos and destruction around them, the countless lives on the brink of ruin, that the answer was revealed. Together, they focused their minds and brought forth memories, actions, expressions of the core traits that exist in every being, reflected in the history and life of Equestria, and with this a brilliant rainbow beam was formed from the Elements, fired at the shocked chaos serpent in the blink of an eye, the infinite power of even an Ancient One proving futile against the attack.

The once mighty draconequus was defeated, encased in a stone prison and the fear he experienced at the instant of his demise forever encapsulated. Everything he twisted and warped had returned to normal. The cosmos was once again in harmony.

Seeing the confused ponies gathering around them, the Sisters introduced themselves. They have always been present, watching from afar their little ponies grow into the great society that they've become. They simply chose this time to appear in the world and intervene, saving them from Discord.

The havoc caused by Discord was restored by the Elements, but curiously, Equestria had stopped moving around the sun, and the moon had apparently stopped moving completely, and now both were up in the sky next to each other. It would be a trivial matter to reset their orbits, but then Celestia suggested that instead of departing once more, they would continue moving the two celestial objects to symbolize balance’s reign over chaos, and remain behind as their rulers and protectors afterward.

The Kingdom of Equestria was formed quickly after and its capital would be the city of Coltlumbia. Under the guidance of the Sisters the kingdom prospered and expanded rapidly. The kingdom’s founding ushered in a new age of prosperous tranquility to the continent of Equestria and far beyond. It was truly idyllistic existence.

“We are Equestria’s servants, not its puppeteers. We remained here so ponies and other species would have always somepony to turn to. Through guidance, we can optimally lead civilization toward a bright future.”