Legends of a forgotten Age
It is the nature of history to be a fickle beast. Events of the past often go from established truth and common knowledge to be slowly transformed over time into legend, or even forgotten. While some tales may be forgotten, they are not all lost. There are some stories that slip through the cracks of the endless pages books of history; words that quill have never met and ink has never seen. In a time before the reign of Clelestia, when the very foundations of Equestria had yet to be built there was an age, not of friendship and peace, but of war, corruption, and death. Sometimes they do reveal themselves to those who know where to look, though perhaps there are some stories that should remain forgotten.
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Picture the world as it was nine thousand years ago. It’s a primitive age, all our modern commodities are millennia away, everything is hoof made, and the land scape completely changed. Though there are somethings that remain the same. Ponies were then, as they are now, divided into three different races: The Earth Ponies, the Pegasi, and the Unicorns. Though during this time they had not yet even learned of the other race’s existence. The three races lived independently of each other in a world that is much different than it is today. Resources were plentiful, plants of all shapes and sizes grew freely, no planting required; weather occurred naturally on its own, left untouched by the Pegasi, and the sun and moon rose and fell every day without the Unicorns giving them a thought. The tribes lived happily in their own separate corners of their world. The lands of the tree tribes grew and grew to accommodate the fast growing numbers of pony folk for millennia, their numbers swelling in excess of millions of ponies strong in all the tribes. Inevitably their claims grew so big that scouts exploring the wilderness began to return with reports of other towns and villages in the distance. Not only was there civilization beyond there’s, but there were other ponies as well! Not normal ponies like they were used to, but strange, new ponies that didn’t look like them. Soon the Earth Ponies of the South, the Pegasi of the north, and the Unicorns of the East had arrived at each other’s door steps and their worlds were about to change forever.
The pony’s reactions to the other tribe were mixed at best. Some were curious about the differences between them while others were terrified. Not only did the other tribes of pony look different, but also differed in other ways like leadership and even language. The Pegasi, a characteristically aggressive race, existed under martial law with the entire country controlled by the hoof of their Commander, one Commander Squall. The Unicorns, on the other hoof, lived under their King, King Aurora, and the Earth ponies under their Grand Chancellor Ironhoof.
Meanwhile, each of the three tribes debated amongst themselves how they should approach their new neighbors. Some wanted nothing to do with them. Some thought they should meet these strange new ponies and learn as much as they can about them. Others didn’t even know what to do, so they all looked to their leaders for guidance. After much debate they decided to hold a summit where the three leaders would meet to size up these strange new ponies. When the three leaders meet these strangers they’re all shocked and dumbfounded by each other. The Earth pony Chancellor was blown away by seeing others with wings and magic powers perhaps a little scared and intimidated by these dangerous and unnatural looking beings. The Pegasus Commander was unimpressed by their pathetic, Earth bound display; though weary of the Unicorns, their magic posing a potential threat. They discussed many things: who they were and what they wanted. None of them wanted any trouble, but there was uneasiness among them; A wary feeling that if they weren’t careful these ponies would turn from allies to dangerous enemies.
The three Kingdoms continued to grow and their lands continued to stretch in all directions, quickly filling up the no-ponies-land in between. After much debate they agreed on boundaries between the lands and a relative peace settled between the races. As long as the other ponies kept to themselves they’d be left alone as well with the exception of guards placed at the borders. This agreement worked so well that after a few years of peace and second successful summit later they even agreed to open the borders between the races. For the first time in history an Earth pony, Pegasus, and a Unicorn could be seen in the same place, though it rarely happened. Most of the ponies where still afraid of these strange ponies and decided against intentionally going to the other Kingdoms, but some brave ponies did and in time they all became more comfortable around each other; trading, making friends, and, unfortunately, making enemies as well. As the years went by it was more and more common to see ponies living with their sister tribes, but all was not well. While some ponies met these now comers with open minds and hooves, a majority didn’t want them there and did their best to degrade them. Ponies living away from their home tribes were often looked down upon as second class citizens and forced to live on the streets, begging for food and bits. Soon distrust and hate grew between the tribes separating them even further. It continued like this for years. The three lands hit hard times after their third straight year of a horrible drought. A limited supply of food drove up the costs exponentially leaving many ponies poor and hunger, and with poverty comes lawlessness. Crime having skyrocketed over the years left the guards unable to handle all the muggers and thieves that ran rampant in the streets. Muggers like one Unicorn thug who was unfortunate enough to pick a first cousin of the Pegasi Commander himself as a target. The commander’s cousin happened to be a strong headed mare that refused to relinquish her belongings to the brute and struggled with him. The colt let off a stray bolt of magic that struck and killed her.
Furious, the commander demanded to speak with the Unicorn King. The commander blamed the King for the colt’s actions and even went as far as to accuse him of sending assassins, but the King managed to convince him that it was a freak accident and would not happen again. They departed again bitterly despite saving face for now. Though it didn’t get any better after that. That one act opened the flood gates for numerous other pony killings and muggings on all sides inflating the rift grew between the three tribes as tensions rose. As the lives of the ponies continued to worsen, the more the relationship between the tribes deteriorated. The drought dragged on making their living situations worse and worse as time went on. Ponies were starving. Ponies were dying. And they wanted somepony to blame. The tribes all blamed each other for their shortcomings, quickly turning the situation into a powder keg waiting to blow.
Desperate to save themselves, the ponies took drastic measures. Within one week attempts were made on all of the tribes’ leaders. One rogue Pegasus was able to sneak into the Unicorn King’s bedchamber and murder the Queen in her sleep before being caught; the King only spared the bladed by the fortune of having stepped out. The time for piece was over. The fuse of war had been lit and it was time they were rid of their pony brethren, for good. The people were calling for blood and their leaders were happy to give it to them. And so, on the very next day, the war began.
No prisoners would be taken, no apologies to be made, only one winner. Weapons and armor were made by the millions to arm the masses for war and when all the preparations were made, they set out to the battle field. They gathered at the center where their lands connected, setting up camps, forming ranks and building up an enormous phalanx of millions of ponies forming an impenetrable wall of horse and steel. Then, the sun rose and the charge began. Soldier’s cries and the thundering of hooves filled the air. Swords rang, armor cracked and blood flowed as they hacked away at each other; constantly fighting the endless hoard of enemies until the sun set below the horizon. Unable to see their foes in front of them they returned to their encampments; Taking time to bury the dead, tending to the wounded and to rest. All three tribes had taken big losses. The Earth ponies were sitting ducks on the ground, unable to fight the Pegasi up in the air, while the Unicorns were able to pick them off easily from the ground with their magic, though the Pegasi weren’t as tough as the Earth Ponies with their brittle avian skeletons and the Unicorns lacking in physical strength. The battles continued every single day, with countless new bodies added to the piles with every battle. The weaknesses of the tribes soon lead to innovative ways of getting around them. The other tribes each thought of ways of taking to the sky themselves, soon filling the air with strange metal flying machines and massive balloons filled with ponies armed with all sorts of weapons and magic, while majority of the fighting was done on the ground. The Earths built siege machines to aid in combat against the Unicorn’s magic. The Unicorns were no push overs either. Some of the more powerful Unicorns could summon dragons and other terrible beasts to aid them in battle. The body count rose and rose as time went on and something had to give.
Before the war, a team of Earth pony explorers had ventured into a thick wood that they came to call the Everfree Forest. The ones who made it back alive had told strange tales of monsters beyond imagining, but one creature they found was different, they had brought back these small, round, fuzzy creatures with gossamer wings. It was odd to see such a small and seemingly harmless little thing in such a dangerous place, so they brought a few back to their villages to study them, though they soon realized that they weren’t as innocent as they appeared; the little monsters quickly devouring all the food in the town before they were all exterminated or captured. Now the Earth ponies saw use of them again, releasing them as a plague into Unicorn and Pegasi land and letting them quickly multiply and devour all their food and starving the other tribes. The battles continued despite massive food shortages even after the drought ended while the war raged on.
The Pegasi were the next to take drastic measures. During times of peace young Pegasi developed a liking of playing with the soft clouds in the sky in their spare time and it was proven that Pegasi could move and strategically place clouds and affect the weather on a small scale. With supplies low they sent teams of ponies to grab storm clouds and wield them against the enemy, showering them with torrential downpours and massive thunderstorms. Teams of ponies could even spawn tornados at will by simply flying around in a tight circle and forming a cyclone that’d suck up any unfortunate soul who happened to get too close. They darkened the sky, filling it with clouds twenty-four seven and soaked everypony in a never ending rain.
The Unicorns finally had enough. It was their chance to turn the tables. One night after battle the King gave an order; they were going to stop the moon where it stood and keep the sun from rising. So, in the middle of the night every remaining Unicorn assembled together and turned their eyes towards the sky. Parting the clouds enough so they could see they all took hold of the moon with their magic and pulled it to a stop. The next morning every pony awoke to something strange, it wasn’t morning at all. The sun had never come up. They waited and waited for day to come and the battles to begin again, but the sun never rose and eventually they decided to trudge out in the dark. It was like nothing could stop the fighting. Nopony could stop the war machine.
The battle raged on and on. Corpses piled high all around, the smell of death and rot all around. Disease was rampant, supplies were scarce, but still war continued. Generations past; No one remembered days of peace anymore, only war and stories of a different time remained. They didn’t even remember why they were fighting any more. All they knew was war and death. The millions that returned to camps at the end of the day were now reduced to a little over a few hundred and they were still dead locked. Neither tribe could come out with a decisive win with such an even match. How foolish they had been, letting their fears get the better of them and turn everypony on each other; foolish to hate so recklessly and let it lead to so much suffering, so much loss. The streets ran with blood and tears as the ponies cried out again, only this time, for peace. With only a hundred or so remaining on all sides the leaders came to a decision; another summit would be held and they were going to discuss a subject that had only been dreamed about for many years, peace.
The Commander of the Pegasi, Unicorn King, and the Earth pony Chancellor met in the middle of the field of battle and came to agreement again. The war had to stop. They decided that if the war didn’t stop all three races would go extinct and no one would win. They decided to leave the land and move back to where they previously lived under the conditions that: First, the Earth ponies would have to provide food for the other too tribes, now unable to make their own after the plague; Second, the Pegasi would have to make it their jobs to control the weather. After they had run amok with the clouds for so long, if left unchecked they had tendencies of instantly sparking huge and destructive storms; And lastly, even after the Unicorns had let go of the sun and moon with their magic they had broken the cycle and it now wouldn’t move on its own, so they all had to use their magic every day to raise and lower the sun and moon. So with that they left the battle field, a place which would one day be the foundation of Ponyville, and left the land that they had fought over, that would one day be called Equestria, and stepped towards a new, brighter future and never forget what had happened there so long ago. The Dark Age was finally over.