Princess Historia

[You]: Thank you, your highness, for meeting me today.  I know you must be very busy on a daily basis.

Princess Celestia has a soft smile on her snout, her eyes slightly looking into nothing, perhaps her memories.

[Princess Celestia]: It's quite alright.  I wish I had more time to devote to my subjects, so this will be a good session.

[Y]: So, let's start from the beginning, shall we?  What can you tell me about Discord and his rule before you and your sister overthrew him?

[PC]: Discord was a monster.  He played games with everypony and everything for his own personal amusement.  My sister and I had had enough, so we tracked Discord where ever he went until he gave up running and stood to face us.  Before we set out to fight him, my sister and I did a lot of reading on the Elements of Harmony.  They had been crafted by my ponies, the Alicorns, long before we were born.  I don't remember what their exact purpose was for, but they made an effective weapon when dealing with threats.

[Y]: I'm sorry to interrupt, princess, but what can you tell us about your race?  Until Princess Cadance came into the light,  everypony had assumed that it was just you and your sister.  Where's the capital, for instance?

Princess Celestia's eyes cloud and she blinks back a tear.

[PC]: When we found Discord, we realized we had earned some sort of right to wield the Elements of Harmony.  So we did, and we ended his reign of chaos.

Princess Celestia smiles fondly, perhaps thinking back on the good she had done.

[PC]: We saved our home; everypony's home.  We were heroes, and we sort of liked that.  During our travels we had learned a great deal about all ponykind.  Their likes and dislikes, what they thought was best for the ponies and so on so forth.  My sister and I made an agreement right then and there, after Discord was encased in stone:  We would rule this land, which we had named Equestria, and serve the ponies.  Never again would our home fall into chaos and disharmony.

[Y]: So it's safe to assume that you had a strong bond with your little sister, is that right?

Princess Celestia gives a simple nod.

[Y]: It must have been incredibly painful to be forced to banish her, right?

Princess Celestia sighs sadly.

[PC]: It was incredibly heart wrenching, but she left me no choice.  She had broken our agreement for her own selfish desires, and I saw that if I didn't act it would lead to another Discord.  I did what I had to, but we're over that now.  She's still my little sister and I love her.

[Y]: What was Luna like before her banishment?

[PC]: She was very shy and timid.  She rarely left the castle or even talked to her guards.  She was living in my shadow, and it denied her a lot of opportunities to make friends.  It was around this time I adopted my first pupil, Starswirl.  He would later become the head magician for our kingdom, but he was still young and a bit childish.  His first task was to go out and travel Equestria, sending me back friendship reports.  I'll admit I did this to show my sister the values of friendship, but only later would I realize the affect his reports had on the kingdom.

[Y]: And what were those affects?  I'm assuming you made his reports public.

[PC]: Yes, I did.  After the reports had been duplicated and sent out, the ponies started forming towns and cities closer to each other.  Starswirl had shown them that just because one pony is a unicorn and the other is a pegasus doesn't mean they couldn't get along.  There was a lot of racial tension before and after Discord's rule, but after Starswirl it all disappeared.  I hadn't realized how little the different races got along, and so after Canterlot was finished building, I created the Grand Galloping Gala.  Everypony was invited to make friends, and the first few years we were flooded with ponies.  It became such a problem, unfortunately, that we had to start giving out tickets instead of just allowing ponies in.  It was a stupid decision, I admit, because none of the ponies that wanted to or needed to make friends where coming; it was all just 'high-class' unicorns.

[Y]: You say 'high-class' like you're disgusted.  Why?

[PC]: I am a bit disgusted.  I love all of my subjects, but the purpose of the Grand Galloping Gala had been...'Tainted' by a group of ponies who thought themselves better than all the rest.

[Y]: And that kind of ticked you off, am I right?

[PC]: Of course it did!  I had set up a reign of peace and prosperity between all the races of ponies, and they were ignoring it completely.

[Y]: So why didn't you cancel the Grand Galloping Gala?

[PC]: I hoped that eventually a 'lower-class' pony would come forth and ask for a ticket.  Even if they were all gone, I would've personally made a few more for them.  But none ever did, and I still don't know why.

[Y]: That sounds rough.  I hate to abandon this subject, but I feel like we're kind of straying from the point here.  Forgive me for being so brash, Princess, but I feel like there's a lot more than you're telling us about the past.  This session is supposed to be a personal look into you.  You mentioned you and your sister tracking Discord down.  What about the other alicorns?  And you said you talked with other ponies while you were traveling.  Did you make any friends for yourself?

Princess Celestia stares down at the table, her eyes clouded and staring at nothing.

[PC]: I think you should leave now.