Mankind.
Just a few years back it seemed like they were unstoppable. They had built cities. They had tamed almost all other creatures and wiped out the rest, save for a few. They had their revolutions, and they had their wars. In spite of it all, man survived through it. But, alas, history was to repeat itself, and who better to destroy man but man himself. With the flip of a few switches, the world was plunged into nuclear war. All life was obliterated in the cataclysmic event known only as 'The Desolation'. Flesh turned to ashes, bones to dust, even the Earth beneath their feet turned to sand. By the time it was over, all traces of life had been buried beneath the sands. All life, except for four colorful, horse-like creatures.
Each equine was different. One was blue like the night sky, and a crescent moon adorned her flank. Standing next to her was her sister. They were very similar, apart from the fact that the older one was white with a multicolored mane, unlike her sister's starry one. Their manes seemed to wave as if there was an ethereal wind blowing through them.
"For how much longer must we proceed through this sea of sand, sister?" Asked the blue one, Luna. Every night she would use her magic to raise the Moon, much like her sister raised the Sun. The Desolation had apparently affected the celestial bodies around the planet and preventing them from orbiting. The radiation also mutated the four survivors into ponies and, as if to make up for the damage, gave them the power to control them. Luna was starting to question why they bothered to do it, as in her eyes, death by burning in the Sun's rays or freezing in the Moon's shadow would have been preferable to wandering aimlessly for the rest of her days.
"I know it seems hopeless, but there is still a chance we might find something," replied Celestia. "I realize that Obsidian and Crystalis share your sentiments on the matter, but we must not give up." The pair slowly trudged towards their comrades.
The other two survivors were a bit different. The strangest was surely Crystalis. Her brown horn was curved unlike the others but what truly made her stand out were her wings. She could control the very planet they were standing on. They were shaped like a butterfly's and shined a few different shades of green, as is they were made of crystal. The youngest among them, Obsidian, was a mere teenager when the Desolation began. The other three had found her in the ruins of Manhattan bawling her eyes out over the loss of her family. She was a lot like Celestia and Luna in most aspects, but her mane, instead of looking ethereal, was a mass of black smoke billowing in the wind. She was the first to notice the sisters.
"Celestia! Luna!" she called to them. "You two have got to see this!"
"What is it, Obsidian?" Celestia asked, her voice full of curiosity.
"It seems we are not the only survivors," said Crystalis, pointing her hoof over the sand towards six equines. They were too small to be horses, and Celestia assumed they were ponies. Celestia was thoughtful for a few moments.
"Do you suppose our magic may be strong enough to give them sentience? It only seems right that some form of intelligent life should survive," Celestia thought aloud. The others heard her and were just as eager to not be the only sentient survivors.
"Do you truly believe they could survive out here, though. This place is a disaster," Obsidian piped up.
"Our young friend has a valid point," Luna realized there was no hope for these ponies the way they were then.
"What if they weren't normal ponies though? We have magic. Why can't they have it too?" The stunned look on her comrades' faces told her she had said something truly ridiculous. Before she could feel embarrassed, Celestia stepped forward.
"That's...actually not such a bad idea. Obsidian, you may have just saved them."
"I bet I can make cooler ponies than you, sister!" Luna challenged. Her horn started glowing and two of the ponies were covered by a blinding light. When the light faded, the ponies' coats had turned to colors unnatural for their species. To the surprise of the alicorns, each also had a single horn on their head. "Magic! Beat that!"
"Does your magic-" there was another flash and two more ponies turned technicolor and had wings "-allow them to fly?" Celestia smiled smugly. The sisters looked ready to strangle each other when Crystalis interrupted.
"You both have good imaginations. But I believe I haven't had a turn." The last two ponies were recolored. The other alicorns were not impressed. They had no wings nor a horn.
"Boring..." Luna muttered. Crystalis smiled as one of her ponies raised its front hooves before bringing them to the ground with a thunderous roar so loud the others had to cover their ears. "Forget I said anything," Luna exclaimed over the ringing in her ears.
"Well done, my creation!" Crystalis said while laughing at the alicorns' reactions. To the surprise of all present, the pony replied.
"Thank you. I was quite amused by their reactions as well," He walked over to them. "My name is Diamond Hooves."
"That... was not intentional," Crystalis whispered to her friends.
"Well to be fair, our objective was make intelligent life... I suppose they need a way to communicate anyway," Celestia reasoned. The others nodded in agreement. Luna suddenly noticed there was still no shelter for their creations.
"Diamond, is there any shelter for you and your friends nearby?" She questioned. Diamond frowned.
"The closest shelter was that way, but I doubt it survived," the earth pony replied. As the group headed to where Diamond had pointed, the alicorns were up front while the other ponies were talking among themselves.
"You all got to give two ponies powers, but I didn't get to do anything!" Obsidian pointed out. Crystalis turned to the young alicorn.
"It may not seem like you did anything, but let's not forget it was your idea to do what we did." Obsidian did not reply and started talking to the other ponies instead.
After about an hour of walking, the group found the ruins of what looked like an old castle, the ruined towers barely sticking out of the sand.
"Alas, I do not see how this can be restored," Luna looked doubtful.
"Allow me." Crystalis lit her horn and the ruins slowly started rising until the entire structure was above ground. To the surprise of all, it was not just a castle, but rather an entire city. It would not last much longer in its current state but, fortunately, Crystalis' ability to control the Earth gave her power over dirt and stone. The ponies stared in awe as the ruined stone began to transform into shiny crystals of varying colors. Before long, the entire city was made of crystal. Crystalis smiled as she turned to the others but was shocked to see the ponies all bowing.
"What is the meaning of this?" she asked. Diamond rose to his feet followed by the rest of them.
"You saved our lives, gave us sentience and now, you have given us a place to live. Because of all you have done, you shall be our leaders," he said.
"But how would this work? There are four of us, one city and three different races," Obsidian pointed out. "If one of us becomes the queen, the rest would be left out. If we refuse their offer, the whole city would fall into chaos." She suddenly realized a solution that she dreaded more than anything. "If we each become leaders of the race we created, I become ruler of nothing..."
"Do not concern yourself, Obsidian. We shall not do that to you. Here's my solution: none of us has total power. We will rule together," Celestia suggested.
"But there cannot be four queens!" Luna exclaimed.
"Then we shall be princesses. There is no rule saying there can be only one princess. Those who agree say 'I'," Celestia heard three voices saying 'I'. "Then it is settled. From this day forward, we are not survivors, nor are we queens. We shall be known as the Council of Unity, for none of us would have survived had we not decided to work together!"
Celestia's speech was followed by a chorus of cheers as they all entered their city.
