The Land of Equestria – Home for the three Main Pony Tribes of the World of Equus
Everyone knows of the Great Unification of the Three Tribes, of how it was because of their Bonds that helped drive away the Windigoes from their new home. It’s been told time and time again during the Holidays of the Hearth’s Warming. What wasn’t said, however, was what happened soon after.
It’s true that the leaders of the three Tribes all came to an agreement of living in Harmony, thanks to their Loyal Aides. But what was not said in the tales, however, were the bitterness that still lingered after that event.
Harmony did not come in a single day, where years and years of bitterness could be simply forgotten. There were those who were opposed to the Unification. Unheard and untold, their names were forever erased in history; forgotten and silenced in the secrets of the past.
It’s here where they will be laid to bare. Allow this humble storyteller to share some of their tales; the voices left unheard and the words left unsaid.
Now, this story begins at the dawn of the newly christened land of Equestria. Well, actually this tale begins a few years after the Unification, the time where the ponies were forced to come together and live with each other.
That… didn’t end as well as you would think. Like I said, you can’t simply tell three Tribes with a history of bitterness to forgive and forget. That won’t work. These ponies, though still retaining some herd mentality, have a Will of their own. Like a child being forced to do something that they do not want, they tend to rebel and cause certain degrees of migraine to those in the seat of authority.
Of course, this little show of Disharmony enticed the Windigoes to return and bring forth another blizzard to the land. If the leaders of each tribe had been a bit more patronizing they probably would have said “I told you so.” to their fellow ponies.
Well… I think Princess Platinum did it, but this was a little bit before my time so I can’t be sure.
In light of this little show of proof, the Tribes grudgingly accepted their leaders’ decisions and settled in small villages comprised of every type of pony, scattered across the country, but with a little space in between them.
…Okay so maybe a bit more than a “little” since you needed half a day’s worth of travel just to get from the Earth Ponies’ side to the Unicorn’s side. The Pegasi had an unfair advantage of having the high ground as their home; with them living on clouds.
With this uneasy truce, they all lived relatively well in peace. For a while.
It was during the time when the Unicorns all decided that their homes needed more… glamour that things started to turn bad for the new residents of Equestria.
They started decorating their mansions, castles and estates with every pretty little stone that they can find. It was quite a sight, truth be told; definitely a home worthy for nobility and royalty. The dragons that flew over them certainly agreed.
If you were a resident of Equus, you would probably know that the relations between dragons and gems were similar to how mice would always leer at a cheese wheel. Just add a bit more drool and fangs and you’d get the perfect picture.
The dragons, adoring the Unicorn homes so much, decided that they would express just how much they loved the sparkling décor and how much they would love to own some for themselves. They did this by simply plucking the gems right from where they were embedded: in the walls and structures of the pony homes that decorated them.
The mansions crumbled, the great castles toppled, and the grand estates were reduced to rubble. The dragons simply took everything that their enormous claws could grab and cared nothing for the destruction that they caused. They laughed with glee as they devoured the gems and carried the rest for their hoards.
Some historians would probably think that this was the time when all the tribes banded together to drive away these draconic menace, where their bonds and friendships were formed and strengthened through the experience of trying times.
I’m afraid that they would be wrong.
The ponies didn’t band together at all. This problem was mostly for the Unicorns and the Unicorns alone. Thanks to the distance between each tribe settlements, the Earth Ponies and Pegasi were left relatively alone. The dragons had no use for clouds and the earth ponies lived in houses made of sticks and stones. Both had nothing of interest unless you count the weapons of the pegasi and the farm tools of the Earth Ponies.
To be honest, though, the other tribes thought that the smug nobles got what they deserved.
These raids sparked a conflict between the dragons and the Battle Mages of the Unicorns. Princess Platinum called for the aid of her fellow leaders, but the ponies of both tribes refused to act for their assistance. No matter how hard Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead tried to rally their citizens, the pegasi remained stubborn and the Earth Ponies remained indifferent.
The leaders of each tribe wondered if this was going to be the spark that would reignite the tension for all of them. It was only because of one unlikely individual that this problem did not come to pass.
He drove the dragons away. He made the tribes band together in a way that they would all live in harmony. He was the reason that tensions vanished and the great Unification was a success. When the ponies were asked of who this being was, they would answer you with one word.
Discord
“Wait.”
“Hm?” I turned towards Sweetie Belle. “Something wrong?”
“Well…” she furrowed her brows and looked down at her notebook, then started skimming through a history book that she brought with her. “It’s just that there’s nothing in the books that said anything about this, and Miss Cheerilee wanted us to make a report about Equestria’s history.”
“Yeah.” Scootaloo nodded, sitting beside her friend with her own notebook in hoof. “Are you sure that this stuff happened? We kinda don’t want to get an ‘F’ for our reports.”
“Trust me, my little ponies.” I said to them, waving my hand in a placating manner. “This all happened a long time ago. You can ask Luna for confirmation when you see her in your dreams. You might even get some visual presentation along with it if you’re lucky.”
“I don’t know.” Applebloom muttered, sitting on the other side of Scootaloo. She was scratching her head and looking intently into a history book, one with the same title as the one in Sweetie Belle’s hooves. “We might get laughed at in class if we give this to Miss Cheerilee.”
“I’ll vouch for it.” I said with a careless shrug. “Besides, you can’t get any more proof than one who’s lived through it.”
“But are you sure that this happened?” Scootaloo asked, a mite rudely.
“Yes.” I deadpanned. “What else do you think lured Discord into Equestria after the Unification? The ponies were in disharmony, the Unicorns were throwing out whatever magic they could to drive away the dragons, and said dragons were causing a pretty good amount of chaos. It was pretty much an ideal bait for the Spirit of Chaos himself.”
“Okay, so maybe you have an idea about that.” Scootaloo conceded. “But can you explain why we’re doing this like… this?” she gestured to the trees around us, a part of Sweet Apple Acres that had its trees planted a little too close together and where the leaves were thick enough to cause some dim lighting.
The three little fillies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, then looked at the bonfire that was burning between the four of us. It was a pretty weird one as well, from their perspective. For me, however, it was a little bit of nostalgia from my days on Earth.
The bonfire was made from my magic, shaped into a sword and stabbed into the ground beside some gathered rocks. The tip was then converted to produce fire while using the rest of the sword as a fuel source. Think of it as an upside down candle.
“This was for the sake of the atmosphere.” I answered Scootaloo’s query. “A bright, cheery and sunny day isn’t really a good place to tell you about Equestria’s past. It’s got a little too much dark theme in it, ones that you can’t find in textbooks. Those were removed for the sake of peaceful times.”
“And you’re just going to tell us about them?” Sweetie Belle asked, pointing at me with her hoof.
“Yes.” I said to them. "If you haven't noticed, there are a lot of holes in your history books about the past. They don't really capture the emotions of the ones that lived in that era. The only one that the author could have asked for the source would have been Celestia, and you should probably know how she favors Unicorns more than the other tribes, right?"
“Huh?” the three fillies chorused.
“I guess I shouldn't corrupt you three with this kind of talk.” I chuckled, shaking my head. "How about I continue my story and maybe I'll tell you about a secret that only one tribe knew and the others didn't?"
The three fillies nodded in sync, filling me with some amusement as they watched on in rapt attention with their notebooks at the ready.
“What happened next?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“You were in the part where Discord saved Equestria, right?” Applebloom asked.
“Yeah!” Scootaloo nodded eagerly.
I smiled at the three of them before I looked into the flames of the bonfire. I reached out with my hand towards the sword and fed it more of my magic. The fires burning at the tip of the sword, buried in the ground, roared for a brief moment before coming back down into its calm crackling.
“Well, to move further into the story, I’ll have to tell you how Discord managed to make the ponies cooperate with each other.” I said.
“How?” Sweetie asked. She and her two friends began to lean forward, to hear what I have to say better.
“Misery.” I said with a chuckle. At their confused looks, I elaborated. “Discord made them all miserable enough to make them all confide into each other. This made them all bond with each tribe, create friendships. This was also that beginning of Discord’s reign in Equestria.”
