When the world was young, there was only one spirit who called it home. Mother Earth, the Earth Spirit, she lived on this world happily. She molded the ground into mountains, and scooped up the earth to make hills, creating valleys in her wake. There were gorges and crevices soon too. But with her world crafted, the Earth Spirit grew lonely.
The Water Spirit answered her, drawn to the tears she shed from her loneliness. He showed her how to use her tears, filling the land with lakes and rivers. They worked together to make ice, water as hard as the earth itself, and set their masterpieces aside in the north and the south poles, where no one would meddle with their creation. Still, the world was empty.
All the Air Spirit could do was hide his jealousy. Earth and Water could not see him, for he was as invisible as the air he commanded. He had been the breeze that cooled the Earth Spirit, and stood by her side since the first mountain was placed. But when she placed her first kiss upon the Water Spirit, Air grew furious.
He stole ice and water from the earth, bringing it up to his home in the sky. With it, he crafted vast clouds and biting storms. But he could never hold on to what he stole, for the Water Spirit would always fight to bring his precious water and ice back down to his beloved Earth.
But Mother Earth was not content with the rain and snow. Her land was fertile with water, but nothing grew from it. Everthing was stagnant and lifeless, and no matter what the Water Spirit did to please her, he would never make her happy.
However, the Fire Spirit could. When he awoke, his first blink formed the sun, his eternal home. It brought light to the world, and gave him an appreciation for creation. Seeing the beauty of the Earth Spirit for the first time, he vowed to lend his powers for good, not mere destruction. For the first time, the Fire Spirit left his home in the sun, and brought fire to the Earth Spirit.
She was delighted with his presence, and, to the Water Spirit's dismay, she loved him the most. They made love, promising to make a world full of life together, and from their energies life began to sprout. Grasses drank the Fire Spirit's power, growing from the Earth Spirit's fertile soil, followed by gorgeous blooming flowers and magnificent trees.
But then the lava came. The seed that the Fire Spirit had planted within the Earth Spirit grew stronger as she spent more time with him. It grew into a fiery core, and erupted before she even knew to control it. The lava came. It scorched the life the two had made, killing anything it touched. Fire and Earth were horrified, but Water was delighted. He stepped in, pulling the rain with him, and doused the lava with his water. He had saved much of the world's life, but he had made an enemy of the Fire Spirit as well.
The Fire Spirit cursed Water for dousing the lava born from Earth's womb. It was his creation, he argued, and Water had no right to meddle. But the Earth Spirit was quick to turn her back on her lover, blaming the destruction of the lava on his reckless nature. She embraced the Water Spirit, and rejected the Fire Spirit.
But life still grew, feeding off of Fire's energy. Mother Earth did not truly despise Fire's powerful nature, and kept the secret of his power in her molten core. She relished her memories of their time together, even as the Water Spirit fertilized her earth and brought entire jungles and forests up from the dirt.
Cast into the background, the Fire Spirit found that he could sense the Air Spirit. His flames fed off Air's energy, giving him strength while he was away from the sun. They made a pact, finding a common enemy in the Water Spirit. Fire wanted to flee back up to his sun, and so the Air Spirit gave him a chariot of clouds to do so. In return, the Fire Spirit would put heat into his sun's light, and burn away the water from the world so that the Air Spirit may take it for himself.
The Water Spirit saw this and lashed back, flooding the Earth's Spirit wildness to protect her with the ocean. Continents formed as small lakes grew into oceans, covering much of the world in water. In their fighting, none of the spirits noticed their beloved Earth weep for her world.
If they would not stop, then she'd have to do it herself. The Earth Spirit made the first animals from the mud, molding them into living creatures. She gave plants power too, allowing some to move freely and fend for themselves. But the spirits were too great for animals to survive alone, for the magic of the spirits would always overpower the base matter of the earth.
So the Earth Spirit made a sacrifice, imbuing one species of her animals to carry her magic so that they may protect themselves from the warring spirits. In honor of the magic they controlled, she named them Earth Ponies. They spoke to the earth, bringing plants up from the wastelands that Fire, Air, and Water had created. Dams of sand blocked the ocean, while mountain ranged stretched across the world to block the winds. Trees and thick canopies were fashioned to shade the gentle earth from the hot sun.
The other spirits, seeing this, halted their conflict. They begged the Earth Spirit not to condemn them, but she refused to hear it. Realizing what their destruction had caused, they vowed to reduce their differences to one day appease the Earth Spirit.
But their base urges could not be entirely stopped. Fire's sun still gave water to the Air Spirit, even if it was only a pittance, and storms still came and went whenever Water and Air struggled for control. In one act of desperation, when it became clear that the Water Spirit would keep his oceans forever, the Air Spirit lifted a piece of the Earth Spirit's world into the sky.
As a gift to his old friend, the Fire Spirit trickled his power down to the Earth Spirit, making a new race of ponies who would manage the sun and the moon. Fire and Air agree to share the sky, parading around the world to appeal to the Earth Spirit. She said nothing, secretly condemning Fire for his Unicorns, and Air for accepting them.
Water stepped in once again to appease the Earth Spirit, swearing that his tides could reach up and pull down the moon. It took all of Air's strength to keep the moon away, lifting it far into the sky where no wave or tide could go, but that did not stop the Water Spirit from trying. From that point on, his tides would follow the moon wherever the Unicorns would move it.
Now unable to focus on the weather, the Air Spirit felt that Water had driven him away for good. He was not content with his piece of the Earth Spirit, but he could not risk reaching down to the world to see the Earth Spirit, for the tides would steal away his moon. Parted from the world in an endless conflict, he shed his own tears, dripping his magic down to the animals below. From his tears, birds sprouted from the ground, flying to the sky, always eager to reach their creator.
But one tear did not fall upon the earth. It found its way to the remaining ponies that had yet to be touched by magic. With no influence from Fire or Earth, these creatures became one with the sky, taking it upon themselves to continue their creator's work. The left the ground, building villages in the clouds, so that they could command the weather and storms. Unsatisfied with the water that the Fire Spirit evaporated, they stole directly from lakes and rivers, teasing the Water Spirit as he chased the moon.
The world was just as bad as before the ponies. They struggled for power using their magic to dominate the other. But the Unicorns and Pegasi had the advantage with their magic. The Earth Ponies needed one last gift from their creator to thrive in what remained of Equestria. So the Earth Spirit taught her children something she had never shared with anyone before. Into their ears she whispered the secrets of fire, given to her by the Fire Spirit himself. With knowledge of fire, they could survive. With fire, they could forge a new path for pony kind.
