A Collection of Headcanons

Among other things, I like to think this clears up the continuity errors shown in Hearths Warming Eve where Equestrian lore comflicted, time-wise.

Long ago, after the fall of Discord, but before the Lunar Rebellion, there was a Unicorn wizard named Starswirl the Bearded. He was a master of magic, skilled in even the most complex of areas; from potion making to alchemy, from charms to rituals. He was a teacher, a student, a healer, an armorer. But there was one magic that he never understood.

Harmony.

Or course, most ponies know this nowadays; how Starswirl allowed his studies to get the better of him, how he refused to make any social connections. The closest thing he had to a friend, to family, to anything, was his apprentice, Clover the Clever.

In the dark time where the Empire was falling, where the Sisters of the Sun and Moon were fighting a long and terrible war against the Shadow King, Sombra. It was a war that lasted many years - but of course, to such power of the Sisters, to such darkness of the Shadow, it felt like mere hours.

But during this time, Celestia and Luna placed care of the land in the hooves of their subjects. At first, there was concern for the Alicorns. Then there was fear. And before long, the ponies began to mistrust other tribes as the time since their Princesses' departure lengthened.

And of course, everypony knows what happened next. The Windegoes came.

When the Wingdegoes were defeated and purged from the land, from the new Equestria, ponies began to learn that harmony was the only way forwards. When the Princesses returned, they were heartened to see that their subjects, albeit with a false start, were happy and prosperous together. Life was good.

But the Windegoes were smarter than anypony gave them credit for. They plotted for another way to feed, to grow, to strengthen. They decided that, if they could not find disharmony to feed upon, they would make some.

And so, the Sirens were created.

Beautiful equine creatures, but their appearances were squandered compared to the melody of their voices, the majesty of their song. The Windegoes had decided that, the best way to create disharmony, was to wheedle in, feigning harmony. Feigning harmony through both kindness, and music. Then, seeds were planted. Seeds of mistrust, of annoyance, of hurt. These seeds prospered and grew, and the Sirens succeeded in growing strong, and came close to conquering Equestria. They grew powerful, so powerful, and there seemed nothing that could stop them. Even the kind and good Princesses were powerless to the Siren call.

But one pony was not.

Starswirl, because of his refusal to befriend, saw the world with clear eyes. He lamented at the sorrow and anger before him, he cursed the Sirens, and realised that he was only free of their spell because he had no friends to argue with. he had been a neutral being, with only Clover as a companion; Clover who cursed and screamed at him when he came near her notes, lest he "steal them from her". Never before had Starswirl been so miserable. His freedom was not a blessing, but a badge of shame. Look at this stallion, it said, look at how he is so alone, that there is no harmony to turn into disharmony, see him for his loneliness, for his solitude.

And that was when he realised just how important Harmony was. How key, how vital, to the natural order.

So, he summoned the Sirens with his most powerful spell, to the Cavern of Worlds. Inside the cavern was a shining slab of glittering crystal, one that led to another world when the Time was Right. In the years to come, a vain and ignorant Unicorn would discover the Cavern - for it was little-known - and have it fashioned into a fabulous mirror, and remain ever clueless to its power until she lost her manebrush through it one morning.

But Starswirl summoned the Sirens to the Cavern, and though he knew the Portal was closed, he bound them with their own power. But alas, this did not leave enough magic to forcefully open the Portal. As such, when it finally did open, and the Sirens were locked on the other side, Starswirl did so at the cost of his life. For a soul is the most powerful piece of magic there is.

Celestia never forgot his sacrifice.

And because of Starswirl's sacrifice, the Sirens fell through the Portal and into a strange world. But they were not aware of this. For one thousand years they lay dormant, like sleep without wake. An in-between state of life and death. They were first awakened when a young Sunset Shimmer ran away to their prison world, and they woke, enraged, to find themselves powerless and banished. Over the coming years, they cultivated what little power they had left and tended to them. The power, in turn, twisted their souls. But the final step came when Twilight Sparkle defeated Sunset Shimmer, and unleashed the most powerful Equestrian magic that the Sirens' world had ever seen.

I expect you know the rest.